Mauler
The Mauler is an exceptionally high DPS second line mech. No matter if using Ballistics, Missiles, or any combination of weapons really, the Mauler packs the same effective alpha and DPS as the strongest 100 tonners. On-top of having massive firepower, all of the weapon mounts are exceptionally good, (too good in the case of missiles).
The two big downsides to this firepower however, first being that it is exceptionally squishy, very large, easily isolated hit boxes (especially CT), poor mobility, and almost zero durability quirks means that being aggressive in a Mauler is almost a last ditch effort and nothing more. The final primary drawback is the lesser amount of heat gen quirks, combined with generally high crit slot builds with fewer DHS, means that most builds will run hotter then their comparable 100 tonner counterparts.
At the end of the day, the Mauler stands out as an excellent and fun to play glass cannon, just be prepared to play more reserved then in most other Assault 'mechs.
| Variants | LA | LT | CT | RT | RA | HD | JJs | MASC | MaxEng | Accel | Twist | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 MAL-1R | 1 | 22 | 22 | 1 | 0 | FALSE | 325 | 10.8 kph/s | 70o @ 63.0o/s | 20o | ||
|
MAL-MX90 | 1 | 31 | 31 | 1 | 0 | FALSE | 325 | 10.8 kph/s | 70o @ 63.0o/s | 20o | ||
|
MAL-1P | 2 | 21 | 21 | 2 | 0 | FALSE | 325 | 10.8 kph/s | 70o @ 63.0o/s | 20o | ||
|
MAL-2P | 3 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 0 | FALSE | 325 | 10.8 kph/s | 70o @ 63.0o/s | 20o | ||
|
MAL-KOH | 1 | 22 | 22 | 1 | 0 | FALSE | 325 | 10.8 kph/s | 70o @ 63.0o/s | 20o |
MAL-MX90
By far away the best, and most unique variant of this powerful chassis. 6 ballistic hard points ensure any mass ballistic build you want to run, you can. And of course all of them have the vaunted excellent convergence and mounts standard of the Mauler torso mounts. All that said, it's a fairly standard affair, the rest of the hard points leave little to the imagination, even if the quirks are quite good for the other hard points, don't bother using them most of the time, stick to its specialty, not to what isn't special.
The other primary ballistics build for the Mauler. It's more difficult to play than the 3 AC5 2 UAC5 build primarily because you have to stare longer at enemies in addition to the build not being as pinpoint, but also for the larger heat build up than the already hot 3 AC5 2 UAC5. However, the trade off is significantly higher burst DPS, sustained too. The 3 RAC2 alone are over 20 DPS(!).
MAL-1R
This variant is the premiere missile boat of the Maulers. Excellent missile quirks relatively speaking,
and 4 missile hard points, means you can run any missile builds you desire pretty much, given that it also has ballistic cool down quirks and 4 ballistic hard points. If you want to run any lighter hard-point ballistic build on it, you would choose this variant over the MX90. Of particular note, this variant makes an excellent LRM or MRM boat.
This build is the king among pinpoint burst ballistic builds, 50 (much more pinpoint due to the nature of IS UACs). Beware, that while heavy hitting, this build does not at all play like its clan counter parts, as this build lacks much of the sustain of those builds, while being quite a bit more pinpoint in nature. In other words, rather then open gun boating un-till you jam, you generally hug corners and terrain, much like playing a UAC Slepnir.
NOTE: You can swap the AC5's for UAC5's for even more heat and more burst, beware if you do that, though, you might as well be piloting a furnace at that point. Also, you can run this build exactly the same on the MAL-1P. It's simply listed under the 1R due to more people most likely having that variant, and the possibility that people have the MAL-1R(R), for bonus c-bills.
Among the best LRM boat assault 'mechs in the game, if not the absolute best. You play this just as you play any other LRM boat, but with an added focus on front-lining when possible, you have some armor and durability, and you should try to use that to ensure your LRM's become pseudo ATM's to melt targets. However, given that the Mauler is not particularly durable, nor does it have very good backup weapons, it's safe to more or less camp in the back. The most optimal application of your DPS lies somewhere between the two play-styles.
MAL-1P
This variant is a bit of an odd ball. It retains the 4 ballistic hard points and the ballistic cool down quirk that makes 4 ballistic builds superior on it then the MX90. However, it has size-able PPC quirks, as well as size-able missile quirks, with 4 ballistic and 2 missiles, this allows for some more off the shelf build combinations, such as AC + PPC, ballistic + 2 missile, or frankly anything in between. Also of note is the substantial AC2 specific cool down quirk, which works well when matched with its other quirks and hard points.
Among the ultimate in pinpoint assault 'mech builds, also among the most fragile Mauler builds. If you play with caution, you will be rewarded with an extremely juicy, high velocity, good range, 60 pinpoint "alpha". It is imperative that you play around corners and terrain, and minimize the damage you take, while maximizing the damage you deal to enemies.
This build combines strong AC2 cool down quirks, with strong PPC quirks, to make something rather fearsome at long range, if 6 AC2 or 6 UAC2 doesn't do that for you on the MX90. Due to quirks, the 4 AC2 are closer to 5 AC2, and with 2 pinpoint very high velocity ERPPC's, you get a decent 28 pinpoint alpha that cycles fast, with good heat, and strong DPS.
This build is an extremely effective pinpoint monster, with use-able DPS too. The play-style is extremely straight forward, shoot, twist, shoot twist, if the opportunity presents itself, abuse the DPS of those 4 AC5's, rinse repeat.
With the addition of an LBX spread quirk and a general 10% cooldown, the 1P is the premiere quad LBX10 Mauler.
MAL-2P
This Mauler is among the more fun variants of the Mauler. A competitive laser heat gen quirk of 10%, sizeable missile quirks standard to the Mauler chassis, and ballistic cool down quirks mixed with a 20(!)% UAC jam chance quirk, means that you can legitimately run any two paired ballistics combined with anything else you may want to make a very fun 'mech. However, as mentioned before, taking a Mauler into close range is a very dangerous idea, so this variant can definitely be considered a glass cannon among Mauler variants. Capable of packing the largest alphas and the highest burst, but is it worth the cost of having to play up close in one of the squishiest assaults in the game?
It must be stated right away that this is not a particularly strong build by any means, but it exists as an option nonetheless. Yes, the heat efficiency is actually very competitive, for a 6 ERLL mech, a decent amount of DHS and a 10% heat gen quirk ensures this. However, mounting all of your firepower on the wide shield-like arms, negates one of the strongest selling points of the Mauler chassis as a whole, the excellent convergence on its torso weapons, thus giving you actually quite bad convergence. Expect to lose your arms on a fairly regular basis too.
Effectively an Inner-sphere UAC Deathstrike, complete with UAC jam chance and a similar laser load-out of 5 ERML. You play this in exactly the same way, just mind the extra fragility, lack of JJ, and the arm mounts being a fair chunk lower then the Deathstrikes'. However, compared to that mech, in addition to having superior DPS, you do have the slight benefit of when you lose a side torso, you aren't completely useless, just mostly useless.
This build plays very similar to the earlier mentioned 2 Gauss 2 HPPC build. You have an XL, you have Gauss rifles in your side torsos, and you have a stonking huge alpha strike. So you have to minimize exposure to damage taken at all costs and maximize damage done, or you will find your side torsos popping off very quickly.
This build is difficult and easy to play at the same time, on one hand, you have an extremely high almost completely pinpoint alpha. On the other hand, your effective range is very limited, on a very squishy assault chassis. BUT, you can reach out further than your optimal to boop some snoots if you have to, just keep in mind the somewhat limited H Gauss ammo. Play this much as you would any dual HGR assault 'mech, but keep in mind the Maulers' inherent fragility, add in a 10% ballistic cool down quirk, and you will have a good time.
MAL-KO "KNOCKOUT"
This variant has very little going for it, the Mauler 1R has the stronger missile quirks with the same number of hard points. While it can actually brawl well, for a Mauler, brawling in the Mauler is a pretty quick way to ask for death.
The primary upside of this variant is that it has all of its energy in the torsos, instead of the arms as with every other Mauler. But with no energy quirks of any kind you won't expect to be using these except for back-up weapons.
Also another benefit it has the nice c-bill bonus, so running traditional a traditional LRM 1R build on it will work fine, that is assuming you don't have the MAL-1R(R), of course.
One last debatable benefit is that its two ballistics are in the arms, not the torsos, some people may prefer that for Gauss rifles, but due to lower arm actuators, you can't mount anything stronger then a pair of Gauss or LB-10X in them, of which the LB-10X actually has decent quirks.