Mechabellum Arclight Guide
All units Arclight
Arclight
Used against
Crawler
Fang
Mustang
Steel Ball
Sledgehammer
Fire Badger
Typhoon
Countered by
Marksman
Stormcaller
Rhino
Overlord
Fortress
Phoenix
Wraith
War Factory
Scorpion
Sabertooth
How to play Arclight
Arclights are very strong against crawlers through out the game. Against fangs they are good early but struggle once the fang shield is teched. So don't build arcs against fangs, only versus crawlers.
It's a good idea to pair your arclights with stormcallers, since storms are good versus everything that the arcs are weak to (fangs / fortress / scorpion / marksmen / etc.)
With charged shot, they counter most medium units like sledgehammers and steel balls.
If the enemy keeps feeding your arclights early game with medium units and chaff they will level quite quickly and there might be an out to go carry arcs with the Elite Marksmen technology.
Mechabellum Arclight counter
If you see enemy starting with arclights or building early arclights, don't build crawlers as your chaff unit - build fangs. This way you can get the shield technology for the later and lock the arclights in place.
Keep in mind that the charged shot will counter all medium units so don't go too heavy on them if you see the enemy with arclights. It's ok to build a few sledges / balls to tank the arclights and try to bait out the charged shot and sell them.
If you identify the enemy is trying to go carry arclights, exploit his lack of antiair by going some air units for force him off the arclights. This will buy you a little bit of time to get into Fortresses with fang summoning which will demolish any kind of carry arclight attempt.
Arclight Builds
Listed below are all some highlighted Arclight builds.
Surrey's Arclight build
I usually use the Arclights without any technologies against crawlers. Sometimes I go range on them if the enemy has a lot of chaff and my Arclights die before they can clear them. Against aggressive Steel Balls I go charged shot first since the range is not needed. I dropped anti-air because I felt It's better to build 2 packs of mustangs instead of teching it. The armor is not that useful either but it's sometimes good vs mustangs.
Arclight Technologies
Listed below are all available technologies for Arclight, their viability and how to use them.
Charged Shot
Increases ATK by 200%
300
Makes Arclight good vs Sledgehammers and Steel Balls. Most typical situation for me is that the enemy has some kind of Steel Ball + Crawler push and I just go charged shot Arclights to obliterate them all.
Armor Enhancement
The effect increases with unit level, reducing damage received by 60 per level. Additionally, increases HP by 35%.
150
It's very good tech when flanking with Arclights as there are mustangs or crawlers usually. I only use it when flanking or defending a push to pin down enemy small units.
Anti-Aircraft Ammunition
Can be used against aerial units
300
The idea of this technology is that the Arclight becomes an all around unit that kills everything. The reality is that this tech as the other techs will be so expensive it's better to build another unit type like mustangs. It's also quite a bit problem if you tech this and your high leveled Arclights will get stuck on shielded Wasps instead of big targets.
Elite Marksman
The effect increases with unit level, increasing range by 5m and ATK by 25% per level
300
Very powerful late game. This technology unlocks the potential on arclights single handedly. With levels + elite marksman + charged shot, they obliterate everything. I like this a lot but it depends on your play style if you want to end up in a position where the elite marksman upgrade is needed.
Electromagnetic Shot
Causes electromagnetic interference on hit, temporarily disabling the target unit's Tech and reducing its movement speed by 40%
200
You have to have EMP on some of your core units. I use them most on my stormcallers and phoenix, but Arclights are a good option as they hit decent splash damage and are cheap. Can be used to disable crawler acid or mech div steel balls for example.
Range Enhancement
Increases attack range by 40m
300
Usually my second or first Arclight tech. During mid and late game, the main benefit is that your Arclights stay back and don't die before clearing the enemy chaff.
