Mechabellum’s live patch right now is 1.8.2.1 (Nov 21, 2025), with Season 6 / 1.9 only on the public test server as of Dec 9, 2025.
Here’s an updated one‑pager style counter sheet that:
- includes all 31 units (Abyss, Void Eye, Mountain, Farseer, Rhino added), based on the current live roster
- folds in recent balance (Fire Badger, Vulcan, Hound, Phoenix, Raiden, Tarantula, Overlord, Farseer/Void Eye variants)
- cross‑checks high‑MMR counter relationships from MechaMonarch + Companion + community discussions, then compresses them to “hard/soft” picks.
- ✅ Hard – Primary answers you actively want vs that enemy.
- 🟨 Soft – Decent / situational, often good if you already have them.
- ⛔ Avoid – Typical traps into that unit.
- 🔧 Module – Priority techs / items when you’re answering that unit.
- 📐 Placement – High‑impact positioning rules of thumb.
- 🅔 / 🅜 / 🅛 – How scary that enemy is Early / Mid / Late (1 = low, 3 = very high).
(Patch 1.8.2.1 live, updated 2025‑12‑09)
| Enemy | ✅ Hard Counters | 🟨 Soft | Why (Rule) | ⛔ Avoid | 🔧 Module | 📐 Placement | 🅔 | 🅜 | 🅛 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crawler | Vulcan, Wraith, Fire Badger | Typhoon, Sledgehammer, Tarantula | High‑AoE flame/splash deletes swarms before they reach targets | Naked artillery or melters with no screen (they get overrun) | Vulcan flame techs; Fire Badger range/Scorching Charge if needed | Funnel with walls; tight concave; bait with one tank line | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Fang | Vulcan, Stormcaller, Typhoon | Mustang, Tarantula | High splash or multi‑target fire clears fragile lines | Low‑RoF single‑target frontlines that Fangs chew through | Stormcaller with Anti‑Missile support | Pull Fangs into flame/rockets; stagger your squads to dodge arcs | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Hound | Fire Badger, Rhino, Raiden | Scorpion, Vulcan | Flame or high‑HP bruisers eat dogs and shrug pulls | Letting them screen Melters/Overlords forever without AoE | Expect Armor Enhancement on enemy dogs (cheaper this patch) | Spread to avoid splash; watch pull paths into your carries | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Arclight | Stormcaller, Marksman, Rhino | War Factory, Phoenix | Missiles/long‑range hits punish clumps and outrange arcs | Shallow screens that let arcs delete backline DPS | Stormcaller + Anti‑Missile; Marksman EMP vs arc clumps | Spread lines; flank arcs with Rhinos or air instead of front‑brawling | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Marksman | Crawler, Stormcaller, Overlord | Steel Ball, Melting Point | Swarm/rockets bypass snipe cycles and force bad target swaps | Static lines in open LOS | Anti‑Missile on storms; walls/terrain to break sightlines | Use LOS blocks; force snipers to keep retargeting with flanks | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Void Eye | Mustang, Phoenix, Farseer | Fang, Typhoon | Fast AA + long‑range beams step into suppression range then burst them before debuffs stack | Mid‑range “ball” comps with lots of unarmored mediums | Mustang AA/Anti‑Missile; Farseer AA spec; Phoenix Range/Quantum | Fan out AA; don’t park all carries at one depth; pressure from flanks so beams must pivot | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Fire Badger | Sabertooth, Fortress, Hound | Phoenix, Rhino, Marksman | Shielded giants and cheap armored dogs shrug flame and punish its short range (especially after 1.8.2/1.8.2.1 nerfs) | Feeding endless chaff into its cone or giving long charge lanes | Hound Armor Enhancement; Fortress Anti‑Air; Phoenix Range/Shield to live burn | Spread lines; don’t clump chaff; attack from multiple angles so it can’t sit and farm | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Hacker | Overlord, Stormcaller, Crawler | Fortress, War Factory | Long‑range air or missiles outrange control beam; chaff soaks hacks | Leaving core DPS clumped with no screen (hacked giants grief you) | Anti‑Missile vs follow‑up missiles; photon/armor on key giants | Screen with cheap chaff; keep carries spread and behind EMP/AA | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Mustang | Vulcan, Stormcaller, Arclight | Sledgehammer, Rhino, Abyss | Splash/rockets erase clustered light air; armor/giants don’t care about chip DPS | Over‑relying on Mustangs when enemy has good armor/giant tech | Stormcaller Anti‑Missile; Vulcan flame range; armor on your own mediums | Central splash lines with tanks; pull Mustangs into flame/rockets rather than chasing | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Phantom Ray | Marksman, Phoenix, Overlord | Farseer, Raiden, Melting Point | Long‑range AA and burst delete cloaked carries on decloak | Mass early fast‑fire (armor tech bricks small shots) | Marksman Aerial Spec/Range; Phoenix Range/Shield; Farseer AA variant | Split AA pockets; maintain vision lines to break recloaks quickly | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Phoenix | Marksman, Wasp, Mustang | Fang, Fortress | Snipers & mobile AA catch flanks; Wasps can tank/trade early; Phoenix buff makes it deadly vs big HP if unchecked | Ignoring AA Fortresses or snipers in backline | Marksman Aerial Spec; Mustang Anti‑Missile; Fortress AA if you already have it | Angle AA to catch jump drives mid‑flight; keep tanks in front of fragile lines | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Rhino | Tarantula, Fortress, Crawler | Fire Badger, Steel Ball, Wraith | Thick frontlines & constant chaff stop charges and let AoE/giants grind them down | Isolated artillery/Marksmen with no tank – Rhinos dive and delete them | Tarantula Field Maintenance; Fortress Punch/AA; armor techs on your tanks | Wall off charge lanes; park big tanks or bait chaff in front of threatened carries | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Sabertooth | Melting Point, Fortress, Overlord | Phoenix, Rhino | Beam/Shield/AA out‑trade medium DPS cats even with slows | Trading medium brawlers into slow fields without range edge | Slow‑field tech amplifies your counters; armor on giants to survive burst | Catch in a concave; kite through slows; use Anti‑Missile if they tech it | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Sledgehammer | Phoenix, Stormcaller, Crawler | Overlord, Rhino | AA or rockets outrange slow reload guns; chaff soaks volleys | Close‑range brawlers trading one‑for‑one into buffed sledges | Phoenix Range/Shield; Anti‑Missile for giants vs splash | Flank or air‑angle them; deny long straight corridors for volleys | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Steel Ball | Phoenix, Overlord, Crawler | Stormcaller, Scorpion | Air ignores pathing while swarms/missiles overwhelm armor stacks | Short‑range trades into highly leveled balls without armor shred | Phoenix Range; armor‑shred items on Melters; crawler mass only with good screens | Kite along lanes; avoid pure brawls on their preferred ground | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Stormcaller | War Factory, Overlord, Phoenix | Crawler, Sledgehammer | Factory Anti‑Missile, big AA, and chaff all blunt missile alpha | Over‑investing into Stormcaller missiles into full AM tech | War Factory Missile Interceptor; Overlord Launcher Overload; AM buildings | Use crawlers to soak missiles; split lines to avoid full‑stack wipes | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Tarantula | Fortress, Melting Point, Marksman | Phoenix, Rhino | Shield/beam/snipe bypass its tankiness; HP buffs mean you must bring real AP or air now | Letting it front‑soak forever while poking with low‑AP fire | Fortress Anti‑AA as needed; Melter Energy Diffraction; Marksman EMP | Focus fire from multiple angles; flank so your DPS isn’t all stuck on its shield | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Wasp | Wraith, Mustang, Fortress | Typhoon, Tarantula | Mobile AA + AoE swat light air before jumps chain | Slow heavies with no AA – Wasps will pick them apart | Mustang Anti‑Missile vs nuke/jump plays; Fortress AA barrage | Corner AA pockets; split to avoid mass jumps and chain explosions | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Farseer | Fortress, Sandworm, War Factory | Rhino, Scorpion, Wraith | Giants & burrowers don’t care about missile intercept and delete the fragile support once in range | Leaning only on missiles (Mountain/Stormcaller) – Farseer’s AM + new variants make that unreliable | Armor/Photon on your giants so its beam is inefficient; speed tech on divers | Flank with Rhinos or burrowed worms; don’t park all missiles in one obvious lane | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Scorpion | Phoenix, Overlord, Marksman | Stormcaller | AA & snipers catch divers and punish commitment paths | Low‑AA comps – Scorpions get free dives on your backline | Prioritize AA positioning over greed tech; armor on backline | Anchor with AA towers; use walls & chaff to trap dive paths | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Typhoon | Steel Ball, Scorpion, Melting Point | Marksman, Overlord | Balls ignore barriers, Scorps dive, Melters beam through shield walls | Single‑shot artillery alone – barriers soak volleys for free | Scorpion Acid; Melter Range/Absorption; AP on balls | Kite around barrier lines; don’t feed barrier by shooting shield first | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Wraith | Overlord, Phoenix, Marksman | Melting Point | Single‑target AA melts high‑value air through stealth | Pure chaff – Wraith happily farms low‑value swarms | Marksman Aerial Spec; Phoenix Range; AA towers | Split AA to cover angles; protect towers from splash dives | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Fortress | Melting Point, Steel Ball, Marksman | Phoenix | High‑AP beam and sustained DPS chew through shielded giants | Swarming straight into a shielded front with no focus fire | Melter Energy Diffraction/Absorption; Steel Ball levels; AA on your own Fortress | Focus fire from range; avoid feeding shield with low DPS chips | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Melting Point | Steel Ball, Marksman, Phoenix | Crawler, Stormcaller, Hacker | Close bruisers & snipers punish beam while it locks giants | Leaving it to free‑lock your biggest unit with no LOS blocks | Balls need levels; Stormcaller needs Anti‑Missile; photon/armor vs Acid/EMP | Use terrain to break line‑of‑sight; swarm if its screen is weak | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Raiden | Marksman, Phoenix, Overlord | Farseer, Melting Point | Long‑range AA picks off mid‑air carries; 1.8.2 nerfs mean focus fire is more reliable now | Slow heavies with no AA cover – Raiden still shreds mediums | Marksman Aerial Spec; Phoenix Shield/Range; Farseer AA/AM | Angle AA from sides; avoid long chase lanes where Raiden kites | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Sandworm | Steel Ball, War Factory, Melting Point | Phoenix, Overlord | Tanks & beam blunt dives; AM clips missiles while burrowed | Loose backline with no intercept – missiles snipe towers & carries | War Factory Missile Interceptor; armor/HP on frontliners | Control beacons; body‑block missile paths with tanks/balls | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Vulcan | Fortress, Melting Point, Phoenix | Overlord, Rhino, Hound | Shield/beam/AA neutralize flame turret; 1.8.2 DPS nerf makes it easier to punish | Letting it free‑farm chaff with no dive or range pressure | Fortress Anti‑Air; Melter Range/Absorption; armor on your tanks vs flame | Dive with Rhino/Hounds from side lanes or angle AA so it must move | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Overlord | Marksman, Phoenix, Melting Point | Mustang, Fortress | High‑range AA & beams punish giant air; slower Mothership after 1.8.2.1 makes it less oppressive | Slow frontline with no AA angles – Overlord kites & farms | Marksman Aerial Spec; Phoenix Shield; War Factory/AM vs Mothership Wasps | Angle AA around tower; stagger lines so drones can’t fully surround one clump | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Abyss | Phoenix, Wasp (AA build), Sledgehammer | Melting Point, Marksman, Overlord | Abyss missiles can’t hit air; mass AA Phoenix/Wasps with range burn it while Field‑Maint sledges & chaff soak beam and missiles | Treating Mustangs or ground AA as primary answer – Abyss is tuned to delete them | Phoenix Range/Quantum or Launcher Overload; AA Wasp range/HP; Sledge Field Maintenance; Anti‑Missile on any existing stangs/Farseers | Keep constant ground chaff so missiles don’t snipe towers; fan air carries wide so beam pivots and wastes uptime | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Mountain | Melting Point, Phoenix, Sandworm | Marksman (EMP), Void Eye (EMP armor), Hound/Rhino flanks | Beams & burrowers chew through plating once in range while air ignores its ground‑only guns; flanks break stationary buff | Trying to match range with flimsy artillery or parking chaff in the open | Melter Damage Absorption/Range; Marksman EMP/Range; Void Eye EMP Armor; speed/armor on flanking dogs or Rhinos | Flank with Hounds/Rhinos to cancel buff; approach through LOS blocks so it starts firing late | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| War Factory | Melting Point, Scorpion | Marksman | Melter beam locks the structure; divers bypass AM and kill the factory body | Missile spam into full Anti‑Missile coverage or letting factories stack uncontested | Melter Range; Scorpion Acid/armor‑shred; AM on your own giants vs factory missiles | Flank to draw AM away from main army; guard Stormcallers & giants from spawned bots | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Very condensed, just to calibrate why some rows differ from your old sheet:
- Fire Badger – Repeated nerfs: damage, HP and most recently splash range + Scorching Charge HP modifier trimmed in 1.8.2.1, so it still farms chaff but is less of an auto‑pick and more punishable by armor/giants and Hounds.
- Vulcan – 7% DPS nerf in 1.8.2; still a premium anti‑swarm/anti‑Mustang tool but no longer deletes everything through armor.
- Hound – Armor Enhancement cost reduced significantly, making dogs a real counterplay piece vs Fire Badger/Vulcan instead of free food.
- Phoenix – Buffed damage vs high‑HP targets; it’s now one of your best universal anti‑giant tools, and the backbone of most anti‑Abyss plans.
- Raiden – Small damage/HP nerfs; still strong but much easier to focus down with proper AA.
- Tarantula – HP & Field Maintenance cost buffs make it a sturdier midgame tank; you now really need AP/beam/air rather than hoping it just dies.
- Farseer & Void Eye – New mass‑produced/fortified/emp variants and better documentation around their AA/EMP roles; Farseer is a more flexible anti‑air/anti‑missile pillar, while Void Eye is a midrange support/diver with suppression and optional flight.
- Abyss / Mountain – New Titans; Abyss is a flying laser/missile titan that hard punishes ground AA (especially Mustangs) but is surprisingly vulnerable to air that its missiles can’t target; Mountain is a ground titan “Fortress without AA + extreme range”, answered best by beams, EMP and flanks rather than mirror artillery.
Updated