An Analysis of Mech Cooldown Rates
Created by Shadow Panther
Posted: 02-25-2003 02:01 PM

Each Mech cools down at a different rate. Some Mechs like the Catapult and Bowman can completely cool down in 8 seconds or less. Other Mechs, like the Prometheus and Ymir, have much slower Cooldown Times, taking as long as 20 seconds to cool down. Because of these differences in Cooldown Rates, some Mechs can fire a particular weapon two or even three times longer than other Mechs before overheating. An Atlas can fire its Quad Autocannons over three times longer than a Ymir!

Listed below are all of the Mechs and their Cooldown Times.

Assault Mechs
Atlas: 11.8 sec
Prometheus: 20.0 sec
Ragnarok: Measured at approx. 18 secs
Ymir: Measured at approx. 20 secs

Heavy Mechs
Mad Cat: 12.6 sec
Timber Wolf: 16.4 sec
Thor: 15.7 sec
Summoner: 8.7 sec

Medium Mechs
Catapult: 7.9 sec
Bowman: 8.8 sec
Vulture: 11.9 sec
Mad Dog: 11.9 sec
Uziel: 10.8 sec
Belial: 10.8 sec

Light Mechs
Cougar: 10.9 sec
Puma: 10.9 sec
Raven: Measured at approx. 10 secs
Corvus: Measured at approx. 10 secs
Owens: 10.7 sec
Hackman: 10.9 sec
Uller: 10.0 sec
Kit Fox: 10.0 sec
Elemental: 9.1 sec

The numbers next to each Mech denote how long (in seconds) it takes for that Mech to go from being overheated (bottom of the red-line on the heat indicator) down to no heat whatsoever. Of those results, the most interesting were the faster Cooldown Times for the Atlas, Summoner, Catapult and Bowman. Each of those Mechs carries weapons that generate a decent amount of heat, but they are by no means the hottest. Without a doubt, the Ymir is the hottest Mech of all (armed with three weapons that all generate at least 2 - 3 bars of heat per shot), yet for some reason it has the slowest Cooldown Time.

I performed a quick test comparing the Ymir's Quad Autocannon to the Atlas' Quad Autocannon and came up with some shocking results. The Atlas can continuously fire its Autocannons for almost 58 seconds before overheating, while the Ymir overheats in about 18 seconds. Quad Autocannons generate the same 2.5 bars of heat at Level 1 for both Mechs, but the faster Cooldown Time for the Atlas allowed it to fire more than three times as long without stopping! After seeing these results, I have found new respect for the Atlas, while the Ymir has proven that it just runs too hot to be truly effective.

Armed with these new findings, I have modified my Stats and Rankings spreadsheets to reflect Cooldown Times for each Mech, which can be found on my website.

More Cooldown Information:

The map you are playing on has no bearing whatsoever on Mech Cooldown Times. A Ymir takes 20 seconds to cool down whether he is standing in Coliseum, River City or Frosty. As long as he isn't standing in Lava, Water or next to a Heat Vent, he will always cool down in 20 seconds on any map, when not firing his weapons.

Water (regardless of the map) decreases your Mech's Cooldown Time by about 30%. A Ymir standing in River City's river will cool down in 14 seconds. A Ymir standing in Ice Pack's "ice water" will also cool down in 14 seconds.