Where to find catapults?

[Tamren]

I really want a missile cat but in ~80 hours of playing I have seen a grand total of two Catapult K2s (one of them in a story mission) and ZERO missile cats.

Is there a specific faction I should be fighting against? I can't find the damn things anywhere, thunderbolts and orions are a dime a dozen by comparison.

[[XeS]SuckMyShotgun]

I am fairly sure enemy lances are randomized for each encounter. I have also heard that you can actually reload from before a drop, and the mission can have different mechs. You may be able to load up a mission until you get what you want.

I am still waiting for a stalker and a king crab. I have an atlas and two highlanders, but not the ones I want the most.

[Luke]

To find them as enemies, I think it is just random assignment from various weight classes based on mission skull rating and your drop tonnage. See what missions give you 65 ton opponents, and repeat them.

For sales, different worlds have chances of selling different mechs, based on their tags. I saw Stalker parts for sale twice over on some Taurian worlds.

According to the .JSON, you will sometimes find CPLT-C1 parts for sale on planets with the Starleague tag.

[RasaNova]

I was wanting a catapult for the longest time. Found one on an assassination mission (only one salvage part) and 1 in a store but that's it so far. But after playing the game a bit I don't think I'm missing out... The catapult will never launch more than 40 missiles. The Centurian can field as many if not more LRMs while still being well armored, more mobile, higher initiative, and harder to hit. And I've heard that there are better heavier mechs for LRM boats.

(But I do still want a Catapult... They look so cool!)

[Luke]

The nice thing about the Cat, is that the LRM slots are on the arms so you get a little bonus there. There are other mechs that do that better: the Jaeger variant for example.

The Stalker can pack in more total hardpoints (and potentially more missiles) but still only has two in arm slots. I'm not sure how important that is, once you get your pilot bonuses up and maybe a targeting computer. But it is something to consider.

[Luke]

If the 'unseen' update or DLC ever comes along, you could potentially get a Catapult and Marauder in your lance, and be halfway to having a Timber Wolf.

Just need to get them to have babies.

[RasaNova]

Arms give a bonus? I had no idea, but now that you mention it yeah I do notice sometimes the same weapons have different chance to hit. I just figured it might be angle or position or something. Good to know! (and another reason I wish they gave a detailed manual)

[HeadWar]

One of the Orion versions makes a very nice missile boat, at 75 tons it can easily handle two LRM20s, one in each arm for that lovely to hit bonus, and still have plenty of armor and some backup lasers.

The Catapult would have been more traditional though, but just like the TS, I've barely seen any in the wild. Not sure if they're weighted somehow, or if 65 ton mechs are in some kind of odd middle bracket that doesn't fit neatly into the mission skulls.

[guardianru]

4 LRM20... no Cats - they has only 2 slots in arms, not in torso, so very breakable...
Kitaro, Jagger - are better then them...

[DarkFenix]

Ironically the Catapult makes a terrible missile boat, since it only has two hardpoints for them. At the 65 ton level, the Jagermech JM6-A makes the better missile boat, with double the hardpoints.

[hammerinn]

Originally posted by XeSSuckMyShotgun:

I am fairly sure enemy lances are randomized for each encounter. I have also heard that you can actually reload from before a drop, and the mission can have different mechs. You may be able to load up a mission until you get what you want.

I am still waiting for a stalker and a king crab. I have an atlas and two highlanders, but not the ones I want the most.

I didn't get stalkers until 4 1/2 star missions, and 5 star for king crab.
They show up as elite pilots "elite flanker" etc.

[Nemund]

I'm seeing them after castle a lot more. Of course at that point you aren't bothering with them.
I wonder if it's because they are a support mech and the game is set up to go lighter tonnage on support type mechs.

[Tamren]

Yeah it's not so much the missile cat is amazing, I just want one to complete the set.

Does anyone know if mechs are restricted by faction or if they are just randomized by tonnage? It would certainly explain a lot. The 55 and 65 ton brackets are especially clogged with other variants. I had a hell of a time finding a Shadow Hawk D for instance.

[Sword_of_Light]

What I've observed is that in addition to the random element, certain mechs dont show up until you beat the level bosses. In other words, until you beat Story Mission X, you're not going to see Mech Y - or even Mech Class Y. So, it may be that you're not seen a Cat because you need to beat your next Priority Mission.

That said, I'm not sure how the random generation works - whether it's entirely random, or whether its based on the templates you see in Multiplayer. I have only the final Story Mission to complete, I've seen all the mechs in the game - except for a Stalker. Which is a heartbreaker, because that's one of my all-time favorites. So maybe its not in a template? Or merely that the Directorate knows I'll take their stuff if they field any Stalkers.

Cats, late game, are not uncommon. Last random mission I fought there were two - the standard missile Cat and a PPC Cat. Poor bastards (a medium and a heavy lance v. an assault lance, where my smallest mech was a Cat - barely a contest)


(edited for clarity)

[Teralitha]

2.5 to 3.5 skull missions. If you get an assassinate mission, you can reload it til a catapult shows up. Thats how I got mine.

[Asmosis]

Pretty sure its entirely random, but FWIW i farmed in a tauron system, the farthest south east as its the highest skull system (well theres a couple, but i chose that one) and i got a bunch of missle cats, as well as stalkers coming out my ears.