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Useful Info and Quick Tips for New Players

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#1 Felicitatem Parco

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Posted 06 September 2012 - 01:14 PM

Here are some quick tips and tidbits for newer players. It was never meant to be a full manual or anything, but a collection of random tips that got somewhat organized into clumps prior to the introduction of the official MechWarrior: Online Training Grounds. The MW:O training grounds has great introductory material and gameplay demo/training videos; don't miss it ;-) Anyways, I do hope this guide helps, Enjoy! (oh, and to test your readiness: go to the game's options menu and try to see if you understand all of the keybinds... if you don't know what the keybind options mean, then hit the forums with more questions.


  • Where to get more info "In Blake's name, what is going on here?!"
-The Training Grounds section of the forums (not to be confused with the Official Training Grounds, which is a separate section of the Website) contains a Player-to-Player help section and the Guides. Guides are full of more useful info and discussions beyond this post. The Frequently Asked Questions are also quite informative.

- The Command Chair contains Developer Updates and updates regarding the Weapons, Matchmaking system, ect. You should check the Command Chair frequently.

-The Ask the Devs section of the forums contains Q&A sessions with the Devs and players (more than 40 sessions so far...)

-The Support and Feedback section is a good place to share your technical observations and feedback about the game, and get website support and stuff.





Okay, to business...
  • Economy "If you ever get annoyed, look at me; I'm self-employed. I love to work at nothing all day."
- You will earn C-Bills (the fictional in-game Currency) for accomplishing mission goals, such as shooting bad guys, helping your artillery units, and completing matches

-C-Bills can be used to buy most of the combat things in the game (most Mechs, and all Weapons, Equipment, & Modules [or their exact functional equivalent])

-MC stands for "MechWarrior Credits" and are purchased with real money through the game website (currently). Some things in-game are available for MC-only, such as some Mech Variants (The Hero and Champion Mechs that give you some C-Bill or other earnings Boosts), many colors, the Camo Patterns, and cockpit decorations. Also, you can buy Premium Time with MC (which helps you gain C-Bills and XP faster).

-MC cannot buy you special ammo, armor, weapons, engines, or anything like that that's a clear upgrade from what a Free Player can get their hands on.

-Premium Time is a block of time (3 days, a week, a month, or more) that you can "purchase" with the in-game cash currency called MC (MechWarrior Credits). Premium time is purchased from within the game client Home Screen somewhere near the bottom left corner of the screen using the MC that you bought over the internet via a secure transaction from the MW:O website.

-When your account is running in Premium status you will earn +50% C-Bills and +50% XP for every match. In the future, when additional game modes are presented along with the Community Warfare system, there will be additional benefits planned for users of Premium Time such as access to special tournament prizes and stuff like that, and more.




  • Radar "Don't fire until you see the reds of their triangles!"
-Gaining a target lock on an enemy (by pressing "R" by default) will give you useful target information, and it will share that target's location across your entire team's HUD.

-If you lock-on to an enemy, your whole team sees its location and they can all fire *their* missiles at it as long as *you* keep your target lock.

-Hollow triangles over a hostile's head signify enemies that you can see, but nobody on your team has a target lock on (not even you). Enemies marked with hollow triangles over their heads are not being shared across team radar; since nobody has a target lock, nobody is broadcasting their location to their teammates. Sure, it's possible that your teammates can see them if they have direct LOS, but if you see a bunch of hollow triangles and don't bother to target any of them, then you're not helping anyone.

-Solid Triangles mark enemies that at least 1 person on your team has a lock on. Your whole team will see the location of enemies marked with solid triangles because someone has a target lock and is broadcasting their location, so you should try to target enemies when you see them if nothing but to help your teammates know where they are.

-You can only broadcast the location of one enemy Mech at a time: just the one you have a lock on.
If you see a Lance of 4 enemies, you can quickly shuffle your targeting lock between them to demonstrate to your team that you see 4 Mechs... but you can't broadcast all their locations simultaneously.

-ECM can be used to hide radar signatures... more on that later :-)





  • Weapons' Misc. "Now a real killer, when he picked up the ZF-1, would've immediately asked about the little red button on the bottom of the gun..."
General

-There are several great articles on Weapon Stats in the Guides section of the Forums, they're awesome and contain weapons stats, FAQs, and all sorts of goodies.

-Missile, AMS, and AC ammo can explode and deal as much damage as the ammo, itself, would to the insides of your Mech. If you store a ton of AC/20 ammo in your Side Torso, and someone shoots it with a lucky shot, that's 120 points of Internal Structure Damage to you, my friend. "CASE" is a "blow-out device" that saves the rest of your Mech from destruction during these kinds of Ammo Explosions; CASE will save your CT from getting torn apart by the excessive damage caused by these explosions. Keep in mind that CASE will not save your XL engine from shutdown since XL engines will go out of commission with the loss of your Side Torso (with or without CASE). CASE cannot be Arm- or Leg-mounted.

-Lasers, PPCs, and Ballistics can travel a certain distance beyond their "max" range, but they lose power after that point until they eventually just do no damage. Energy weapons and Machineguns deal some damage out to 2x their range, autocannons and gauss deal damage out to 3x their range, but missiles self-destruct AT their max range. Sometimes your opponent might think they're being hurt by you... but a laser that's being fired 3x longer than its max range is no more dangerous than a cat toy laser pointer.

-PPCs and ERPPCs can disable enemy ECM. Shooting an emnemy with a (ER)PPC will shut their ECM down for 4 seconds, and then it will come back. If you hit them repeatedly, the shut-down-timer will keep resetting to 4 seconds (see the specific Command Chair posting here)


Energy Weapons

-Pulse Lasers are slightly more powerful than lasers and the beam duration is more condensed, but they have a shorter firing range and they weigh more.

-Normal PPCs cause reduced damage within 90m, with the least damage produced right at the tip of the barrel (full damage is applied at 90m -> onward . ERPPCs produce full damage at close range, though; they do not have this 90-meter problem.

-At this time, Large Lasers are more heat efficient than a Med Laser and deal almost 2x damage, with a peak range of 450m (where a Medium Laser barely causes any damage) and the beam eventually quits at 900m. The Extended Range LL generates about 40% more heat per shot than a normal LL, but it deals full damage out to 675m (basically the same range as a Gauss Rifle, but with pin-point accuracy) and continues dealing damage all the way out to 1350m.


Ballistic Weapons

-Machine Guns are great at causing damage to Items (such as weapons, ammo stocks, equipment and stuff) that are inside the Mech's components once you strip the armor away, first... but they can take a very long time to strip the actual armor.

-Ultra AC/5s, the ones that can fire a second shot during the cooldown cycle, have to use UAC/5 ammo... NOT the plain AC/5 ammo. The UAC/5 can fire a "second shot" while the weapon is cooling down between normal shots, and this double-rate firing is what makes it so Ultra. A drawback to this ability is that sometimes double-firing your UAC/5 can cause it to jam and you'll know this happened if it stops shooting and all the weapons group slots that your UAC/5 is set on will be red. To Unjam your UAC/5, just wait a few seconds.

-Gauss Ammo does not explode, but Gauss Rifles, themselves, can explode. You might want to CASE your Gauss Rifles if you torso-mount them with a Standard Engine.

-Don't forget about ammo if you're equipping an Anti-Missile System (AMS).


Missile Weapons

-The warheads on LRMs don't arm until they've flown ~180meters, so don't use them on enemies that are too close. LRMs also self-destruct after approx. 1000meters, so avoid using them on enemies 1200m away.

-StreakSRM2s are just guided SRM2s, and they *need* a missile lock before they are able to be fired.
Streak SRMs (SSRMs) are guided SRMs that only come in 2-packs. They cannot be fired until after you've achieved a missile lock, so they're not gong to be the weapon-of-choice when an enemy Hunchback suddenly appears in your face out of nowhere because you can't twitch-fire SSRMs. They are good, however, for nailing those annoying Scout Mechs that zigzag around and seem to keep dodging Autocannons and LRMs.

-NARC pods will attach to an enemy Mech and make it easier for your teammates to lock-on and blast it with Long Range Missiles. Its effects are temporary, so use them wisely.



  • More on LRMs "The other Death From Above"
-You have to get both a Target lock (red bracket around target, often using the "R" button) and a Missile lock (little red circular lock icon) before firing your LRMs if you want them to be guided.

-Your missiles will lose guidance mid-flight if your team (you or whoever is keeping line-of-sight) loses contact with the target (!), but they will reacquire their guidance if you're quick enough to get a new missile lock on the target before the end of their flight. When a missile loses guidance, it will simply fly to the Target's last-known location.

-You can power your Mech down to break missile lock... as long as the enemy doesn't have a Scout Mech nearby with a Beagle Active Probe (because BAP allows someone to target powered-down Mechs). There's a problem with shutting your Mech down to break a missile lock: Just image what a volley of missiles would do if the enemy Mech suddenly powered down to break the targeting guidance, but also held perfectly still in the exact location where target-lock was broken...

-Make sure your target isn't standing underneath a bridge, or a ledge, or behind a building... otherwise you can waste missiles shooting at an obstructed target. It's hard to hit a Scout Mech in a full sprint, but it's easy to hit slow Heavies and Assaults, and distracted enemy Mediums are just plain fun to shred with LRMs. Your teammates will sometimes tell you if your missiles are missing the target.

-Try to coordinate with your fellow Support Mechs and forward Spotters: combine-fire on the same target to maximize your Support Group's effectiveness. Also, it's good to make sure your spotter can hold their visual contact for at least 10 seconds so there's enough time for the missiles to arrive, otherwise you can waste hundreds of missiles to lost locks.

-If the enemy is shooting LRMs at you, then you might want to find some tall cover to block those missiles, and try to find out where the enemy spotter is... because you've been targeted, and your current position is being broadcast to the whole enemy team.

-TAG is a laser designator that, when aimed at and held-on-target, will cause friendly LRM carriers to lock-on faster with their Missile Systems, and the Missiles the fire will fly more accurately to the Target (dealing more concentrated damage). NARC is a missile that attaches a briefly-acting beacon to the target Mech, generating the same guidance-buff effect.

-The Artemis Guidance System, if installed on your Mech, will make certain Missile Weapons more accurate when you have direct Line-of-Sight on your target.. more later.




  • Weapons Groups "I thought 'Alpha Strike' meant it's the thing you're supposed to do first..."
-Use the arrow keys to move the highlighted cursor around, and use the right Control button to turn weapons on/off in the 6 firing group columns you have. You'll see what I mean once you try it.

-Keep them simple if you want an easier time putting fire down on target. I try to keep similar items on similar body parts, just to keep them firing on the same reticules. This will help to prevent half your weapons from drifting off target while you're in maneuvers.

-I, personally, use an standard mouse, so I typically put similar arm weapons on group 1 (mouse 1), similar torso weapons on group 2 (mouse 2), and missiles on group 3 (the "3" button right above the throttle, where my fingers spend a lot of time hanging out). Sometimes I bind the SPACEBAR to weapon group 3 when not using a Mech with Jump Jets... it makes firing Missiles easy with my Left Thumb.

-Use more weapons groups as you get more proficient at the game... it'll make you more versatile on the field.

-Chain-Fire is activated by pressing BACKSPACE. This will cause your Mech to fire the weapons in whatever column of the weapons chart you have hi-lighted to fire in sequence, one after the other. For ballistics and PPCs, you'll get "rapid fire," but keep in mind it won't actually make the weapons, themselves, fire any faster; for Lasers, you'll get one beam starting as soon as the previous beam has ceased. If you repeatedly press the fire button, then you will manually cycle through your weapons as quickly as you click while it's set to chain fire.

-Chain Fire is a helpful way to prevent yourself from going Gung-Ho on the grouped-firing sprees and overheating yourself in midst of the fray.

- There is a Heat Scale System that penalizes the simultaneous fire of certain amounts of certain weapons (i.e. if you fire too many X's at a time, you'll generate extra heat as a penalty). This is a new system, and is still subject to developer tweaking depending on Game Balance requirements. Please visit the linked threads for a general description of the idea and an in-depth analysis with tables of values sometime or an other to get yourself acquainted with the system.

-All guided missiles use the small, circular arm reticule to gain their missile lock, regardless if they are mounted on a torso or an arm... FYI



  • Electromagnetic Countermeasures (ECM) "Prosperity, are you wearing a tinfoil hat, again?"
-The Guardian ECM equipment suite is designed to interfere with the electronic sensors of your enemies, and disguise your own team members' electronic signatures.

-ECM can only be mounted on the following Mechs: the Commando COM-2D, Raven RVN-3L, Cicada CDA-3M, Spider-5D, and the Atlas AS7-D-DC

-ECM can function in 2 modes - Disruptive Mode ("offensive" mode that affects sensors and stuff) and in Countermeasures Mode ("defensive mode" that cancels-out enemy ECM)

-A Mech carrying ECM in disruptive mode creates an ECM bubble around their Mech that extends 180m in all directions. Within this bubble, friendly and enemy Mechs will be affected by the ECM field.

-The ECM-bearing Mech and their teammates within the bubble will be fairly well-hidden from enemy sensors, and walking up to enemy units will allow your ECM to block their sensors and their communication gear.

-Mechs that are being hazed by a hostile Mech operating disruptive ECM nearby won't be able to get any Missile locks, share targeting data, or know where their teammates are behind visual obstructions.

-A single friendly Mech's ECM operating in Disruptive Mode will be canceled by a single enemy Mech's ECM running in Countermeasures Mode, and vice versa.

-More information is available in the official Command Chair post on ECM available here.

- The Beagle Active Probe sensor equipment can be used to "cut-through" and neutralize enemy ECM, so equipping BAP will block the ECM function of any enemy Mechs (with ECM on-board) within 150meters of you. This is a good way to "protect" yourself from enemy ECM.

-The UAV consumable recon unit can also cut-through ECM to locate cloaked enemies close to its site of deployment... more later.




  • BattleMech Quick Facts "Did you know that Myomer microstrands slide past each other like how your kitchen drawers work, instead of folding and contracting like an accordion?"
-If your Mech's Right Torso is destroyed, your Right Arm will fall off, too.

-If your Cockpit, Engine, or both Legs are destroyed, then you're "dead" for the Match. You can pick up that scrapped piece of salvage on your way out the door Posted Image Don't worry, you get to keep your tattered Mech after the battle.

-You can twist your Torso left and right to protect vulnerable parts of your body while under fire. Is your Right Torso almost destroyed? Then run away with your Left side facing the enemy (if possible).

-You can rotate your direction of travel faster by reducing your Mech's running speed... so basically, slow down to if you want to turn sharper.

-If one of your Legs is "Destroyed," then you will limp slowly. If your Mech's other Leg is destroyed, then your Mech is knocked out of commission and you're considered "dead." Look on the bright side: you only have to pay for Leg repairs instead of expensive Engine repairs.

-Standard Engines take up 6 slots in your Center Torso. eXtraLight Engines take up 12 slots (6 in CT and 3 each in your side torsos), but XL Engines weigh almost half of a Standard Engine. So, you save weight, but lose space.. and the fact that XL engines protrude into your Side Torsos means you can "die" from losing your Left or Right Torso.

-Single heat sinks mounted in your legs are slightly more effective if you stand in water.

-Speaking of heat, the background temperature of Maps will affect your Mechs ability to dissipate heat. Caustic Valley is hot and you're Mech will run hotter, especially in if you're in the crater of a smoldering volcano (kind of a "duh" thing, if you think about it).

-"Critical Hits" are shots that have landed on a Mech's equipment/weapons/etc and deal extra damage to said item. Stripping the armor off your opponent and then riddling their exposed Internal Structures with shots will possibly cause their weapons to malfunction, ammo to explode, and engine to fail (whatever they have stored in an exposed compartment is fair-game to be shot away from Critical Hits), even prior to the body part, itself, becoming destroyed.

-Although Tanks and APCs can slam their brakes and skid to a stop, this isn't the case with upright, walking BattleMechs. Mechs have to slowly come to a stop and then reverse their direction of travel if you want to back up. Many times when you find yourself wading into enemy fire, slowing down and then backing up will take too long and cause to you to absorb so much hostile fire than you're dead before clearing the hot zone; sometimes you want to use your forward momentum to and advantage by making a quick U-turn, or rushing for cover where you can re-orient yourself prior to making your escape.

-A BattleMech's Arms can move with greater range of travel than the torso weapons can. You can utilize this feature in 2 ways: 1.) pressing the Left Shift button will "unlock" your arms form the torso and allow extended range of travel as long as you hold SHIFT (at the expense of possibly making your shots spread-out), or 2.) You can disable this Arm Lock feature in the Options menu, and thereby change the function of Left Shift to a temporary "Arm Lock" that will make your arms point in the same place as your torso weapons (at the expense of limiting their range of travel).

-Your Throttle has 2 functional modes - Throttle Decay ON or OFF. Keeping Throttle Decay ON means every time you take your finger off the throttle, your Mech starts to slow down (like how a First-Person Shooter plays). Turning Throttle Decay OFF will cause your throttle to stay where it is after you adjust it, and only by manually reducing your speed will your Mech come to a stop. This can be toggled in the Options menu.

-You can also use the number pad on the side of your keyboard to enter throttle settings in increments of 10%... (you can review these control options HERE )

-Mechs will slow-down if they try to climb a hill that's too steep, and Mechs cannot climb up hills greater than 45 degrees. Some mechs will be slowed by hills more than others, and the strength of this effect is reflected by a Mech's height and weight. There is a Developer thread in the Command Chair describing the detals of this system


DHS/SHS (Double or Single Heatsinks)

-DHS (Double Heatsinks) weigh 1 ton each, have more cooling power of a Single Heatsink (hence: Double Heatsink), but also take up 3x the space when mounted on your Mech's bodyparts. They are big and bulky, but weight-efficient. Their bulkiness, however, makes it so you can't mount them in the Legs, Head, or Center Torso

-Both single and double heatsinks take up the same space in an Engine, though. See below for more details.

Engine heat sinks

-You are required to install at least 10 heatsinks in a Mech to be "Ready" for deployment.

-Each rating increment of 25 lets your Engine hold a heatsink inside, and all engines up-to the 250-size will be manditorily stuffed with as many heatsinks as can fit inside. The number of heat sinks the engine is capable of holding is the same regardless of whether the ‘Mech uses single or double heat sinks

-Engines with a rating of 275 or greater can contain extra heat sinks (beyond 10) inside of them without taking up any of your Mech's critical slots. There is a mechanism to add/remove these extra heat sinks. The number of spots available and the number of spots taken are shown in the equipped engine

-When removing an engine, any heat sinks within the engine are also removed





  • Upgrades "Hell yeah, I want cheese on that !"
- Upgrades are options that affect the ‘Mech as a whole, there are currently 4 upgrade types to choose from:

Armor (currently selectable are Standard and Ferro-Fibrous)

-FF armor is 12.5% more weight-efficient than Standard Armor (fewer tons for the same number of armor points)

-Changing your armor type automatically replaces all of your armor with the new type

-Cost of the upgrade is a fixed price for the conversion (based on max tonnage of the ‘Mech) plus the cost of whatever armor of the new type you need to buy. Having an amount of armor of the proper type in your inventory will therefore reduce the cost of the upgrade

-Armor types other than Standard take up critical slots (14 for Ferro-Fibrous). These slots will be floating (see below)


Structure (currently selectable are Standard and Endo-Steel)

-Endosteel will reduce the tonnage of your Mech's Internal Structure by half, which can shed a few tons

-Cost of the upgrade is a fixed price based on max tonnage of the ‘Mech

-Structure types other than Standard take up critical slots (14 for Endo-Steel). These slots will be floating (see below)


Heat sinks (select between single and double)

-Selects whether your ‘Mech may use single or double heat sinks. Only one type of heat sink may be used on a ‘Mech at a time

-Cost of the upgrade is a fixed price (expensive! but worth it...)

-Engines are also automatically upgraded to double the heat sink capability

-When heat sink type is changed, all heat sinks are removed from the ‘Mech and new heat sinks of the proper type must be installed (and bought if necessary)

-Double Heatsinks in the Engine (up to your first 10) will cool you twice as quickly as normal heatsinks will, but DHS that are stored eiter in your engine's overage slots or anywhere else on your Mech will actually cool you just 1.4x as fast..not really a full 2x.


Artemis Fire Control System (FCS)

-Artemis FCS integrates with your Mech to improve the guidance and flight patterns of LRMs and SRMs. Artemis will make LRMs strike their target more reliably and SRMs will fly in a tighter formation.

-Equipping Artemis on your Mech automatically adds 1 ton and 1 extra slot to every missile system on-board that is compatible with Artemis (you can't just add Artemis to half of your LRMs, it's either the whole Mech or none at all).

-Missile systems with Atermis use special Artemis-compatible ammo which is more expensive than normal missile ammo. Be aware of this.

-The Artemis System only helps you if you have Line of Sight on your target, since Artemis uses an invisible microwave-band laser to manage targeting data (no, you don't have to aim it, Artemis automatically gives you the boosts it's supposed to give you as long as you can see your opponent).


Floating slots

-Some upgrades take up critical slots. These slots are auto-flowed into available empty slots

-If a floating slot appears in white, other items can be dragged on to it and it will be moved to an available slot somewhere else on the ‘Mech

-If a floating slot appears in yellow, then there is no open empty slot that it can be moved to and so can not be used for other items

-Floating slots are ignored in the critical hit system, so putting a ton of ammo in your left arm and nothing else means any impact that winds up being counted as a Critical Hit will cause damage to that ton of ammo and won't simply be assigned to damaging some empty slot.



  • The Cost of Repairs and Rearming "Thank you for calling AAA, how can we help you?"
-Repair and Rearming Costs have been removed from the Game at this time... you still have to buy ammo once, though, to get it into your inventory in the first place.




  • Leveling Up / XP "It's over 9,000!!!"
-The "Mech Leveling" system is how you invest Variant-specific XP into your Pilot's ability to drive those Mech Variants. For each Mech Chassis (Hunchback, Atlas, etc) there are several variants (Hunchback-4G, -4H, -4P, -4J, and -4SP) that all handle differently, so your Mech XP can only be applied to that particular variant.

-As you play the game with your Owned Mechs you'll gain "Mech XP" on those particular variants. You will also gain a small amount of "General XP" whenever you earn Mech XP for any reason, and that General XP can be spent like Mech XP, but on any variant you wish (think of General XP as "OmniXP").

-XP is spent in the Mech Tree of the Pilot Lab, on a variant-by-variant basis. You can use the Mech XP you earned on each variant to upgrade your piloting skills for that particular Mech type, supplementing your Mech XP with General XP whenever you wish. Say you're only 1 skill away from maxing out your atlas, but you don' have enough Mech XP to level up that variant anymore... you just might have enough GXP to level it up. if you want to... but I would rather suggest saving your GPX for other things, like unlocking Modules.

-In order to level-up your variants to the Max, you have to get through some "Bottle-Necks" along the upgrade path that require you to have at least 3 Chassis Variants all upgraded to the same level before you can continue further upgrades. That is why you should own 3 variants of the Chasiss you like to pilot the most. I have 3 Hunchbacks in my garage for that reason.

I chose 3 greatly different Hunchback types to give me a variety as I build up XP. I have a Founder's Hunchback 4G for ballistic ops, I have a HBK-4P "Swayback" for all-energy configurations, and a HBK-4J for chucking missiles. Right now I upgrade each of them in succession to whatever bottleneck I'm facing; when I get the third variant up to snuff and unlock the next Upgrade stage, I then go back to the first variant and run that one again for a while.

-You can convert excess Mech XP on your most-frequently played variants for General XP at the cost of MechWarrior Credits (MC), and this is a possible way to bypass the "grinding" of Mech Variants you want to upgrade, but don't want to actually play on; just play your "favorite Mech, convert the extra Mech XP for Gen XP, then spend the Gen XP to quickly upgrade a variant without even playing on it.

-Modules, once "unlocked" in the Pilot Trees section of the Pilot Lab, can be purchased in the Mechlab and then mounted on Mechs.




  • Base Capture "You have no chance to survive - Make your time."
-Bases are marked on the Radar with red (hostile) and blue (friendly) icons, and they are visible in the field as a red-tinted zone on the ground with a little probe-looking thing in the middle. If you capture the enemy base, you'll win the match even if the Enemy still has 8 surviving Mechs on their team.

-Standing your Mech in an enemy's base zone will start the capture process. Bases are captured at a rate of 2 Minutes divided by the number of capturing Mechs. So, you'll need to stand in their base zone for 2 min to capture it by yourself, 1 min to do it with a teammate helping, 40 sec with 2 teammates helping you... and a full Lance of 4 Mechs can capture a base in 30 seconds.

-Standing in the base for 30 seconds and leaving means you'll only need to capture for 1 and a half minutes the next time you return; the capture timer does not reset. You can monitor the yellow and red bars at the top of your screen to see how the bases are holding up.

-Standing in your own base will temporarily block the enemy from capturing it.. as long as you're in your own base, the capture timer will stop moving (even if the entire enemy team is trying to capture it). Just keep in mind that they will all be shooting at you so they can get the capture timer moving again.

-There is a Module that can accelerate your Capture Rate by 15%. It's a handy tool for those who intend specifically to capture bases; it can reduce the time it takes to capture a base by around 15 seconds which can be a make-or-break kind of thing if the enemy rushes to try and stop you.



  • Conquest Mode "Drill, baby, drill!"
- Conquest Mode (more information available here) is basically a multi-base Capture game where you try to generate "resource points" by controlling the various Objective Locations (which happen to be Resource Collectors, like little automated mineral mining rigs) throughout a map. These Resource Collectors generate Resource Points for your team at a constant rate, and you'll get points faster by having control of multiple Resource Collectors simultaneously.

-Your Team, and the Enemy Team, each start with 1 Resource Collector under their control, and 3 other Resource Collectors are scattered throughout the map. You can gain control over the Resource Collectors by "capturing them" as if they were a Base.

-You can "capture" a Resource Collector by anywhere from 1% to 100%, but as long as it's influenced in your Team's favor by whatever amount, you'll get the points it's generating. You can Capture a Resource Collector by only 1% very quickly, and you'll start to get the points, but it will be very easy for an enemy unit to waltz up and "claim" that Resource Collector in short order. You could capture a Resource Collector very thoroughly by sitting in its capture zone for a long period of time (capping it to a value of 100%), and that will force any enemy units to sit there for a long period of time, themselves, if they want to try and take it away from your control.

-The first team to generate 750 points of resources wins, or whoever kills the enemy team wins, too. You'll get a payment of 25 C-bills for every resource point you collect in the match, win or lose.

For more detailed information, view the Official Conquest Mode Announcement thread.




  • Testing Grounds "This is not good... we've got a flame out. Engine one is out... Engine two is out!"
-Again, not to be confused with EITHER the Training Grounds section of the Forum OR the Official Training Grounds section of the website... the Training Grounds Mission Subtype is available by clicking the orange box next to the "LANUCH" Button.

-You can test your Mech against a few dummy, non-moving target Mechs in the Training Grounds. It's a great place to test your weapons, configure your firing groups, and get a feel for your builds..

- Be advised, at this time your Pilot Tree skills are not available in the Testing Grounds (such as Cool Run, Speed Tweak, or XP-upgrades to consumables)





  • Consumables "This Eco-Flush Module will cool your Mech using 75% less Coolant than an ordinary Flush Module"
- Some one-time-use items called "Consumables" will be available for Purchase using MC or C-bills, and they will be carried in Module Slots.

-The Consumables planned the immediate future include Coolant Flush, Air Strike, Artillery Strike, and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). More information is available here in the Command Chair Posting about Consumables

-Coolant Consumables are available in 3 varieties: a low-power version available for c-bills, a medium power version available for [more] c-bills; and a high-strength version available for MC only. The Medium Strength Version that's available for c-bills can be upgraded to the same potency as the High-strength, MC-only version if you unlock a skill using GXP.

-The artillery and Airstrikes are available in 2 forms - the C-bill version and the MC-version. The C-bill version can be upgraded to the same strength as the MC-version by unlocking an upgrade path in the Pilot Lab with GXP.

-The UAV deploys in the air above your Mech and acts as a mobile Sensor post that can illuminate nearby enemies on your whole team's radar. it can be shot-down by weapons, though.




  • Team Commander "Stick together, people."
-The "Team Commander" is the one who decided to utilize the Command Functions on the in-game "BattleGrid" (Map) (pressing "B" by default brings up the Battlegrid/Map)

-A Commander can give "orders" to meet up, defend, and other things by placing Way Points on the Map for their Teammates to see and rally around.


  • Focused Fire Posted Image
- A wounded Mech with functional guns can kill you just as well as a healthy Mech with functional guns. Try not to leave a job unfinished, especially if they're armed and dangerous, but have chunks of their armor missing and would go down with a single well-placed shot... HOWEVER don't run into the entire enemy team's line of fire or run off from your group just to finish an opponent if it means securing your own lonely doom.

-If you blow off an enemy's left torso, then try to use that opening to land shots on their Center Torso [from the left side]. A weakened side is the best side to shoot at since the damage you inflict is "programmably" shunted inwards if you pummel destroyed pieces of Mech. Basically, you can Center Torso-Core someone by shooting their side enough.

-Here is a Hypothetical combat Situation where both teams have 4 identical Mechs, each Mech has the firepower to destroy 25% of an Enemy Mech's Health per firing turn, and all 8 Mechs fire at the same time each turn. In one case (the top half of the image), each Mech simply targets an Enemy and fires, dealing damage equally to everyone. No team gets an advantage here, and the fourth firing round will kill all 8 Mechs.

Posted Image
In the Focused Fire Example (bottom half of the image, only), the "Top" team has the ability to kill 1 opponent each and every firing round, whereas the "bottom" team has to whittle away at their opponents. The Top team (int his bottom example) is reducing their opponents' firepower-output capacity each time they focus and kill an opponent because fewer enemy guns are active on the field, thus at the end of Round 4 the Health Levels will be as such:

Focused Fire Mech 1 - 75%
Focused Fire 2 - 50%
Focused Fire 3 - 25%
Focused Fire 4 - DEAD (he eventually takes 4 hits and dies by the end of the match)
All 4 Bottom Mechs - DEAD

Therefore, the Top team wins handily in a "fair and balanced' fight simply by using Focused Fire. 3 of them survive while the entire enemy team is dead.
____________________________________________________________________



Contributed by Asakara:
  • Jump Jets "Check ignition, and may God's love be with you..."
-Default Keyboard bind is SPACEBAR

-While jumping you will start flying in the direction and at the speed you were traveling on the ground prior to the jump. So if you are standing still at the start of your jump you will only jump up and not forwards, backwards, or any other direction.

-You can adjust your throttle while jumping but it will have no effect till after you land. You can use this to jump onto a small building and then stop right away upon landing.

-If you land too hard you will damage your legs. Too hard of a landing can destroy a leg.

-Always, always, always save jump fuel for the descent. If you soar 200 meters into the sky and run out of fuel you will be in a world of hurt when you impact the ground. I generally keep about 1/3rd fuel for my landing, 1/4th for a rougher landing. The higher you go the more fuel you will need to soften your descent.

-Though you are subject to travel in the direction and initially at the velocity you were moving prior to the jump you can freely turn while in the air. This can be very helpful as you jump over a target while firing, turn 180 degrees in the air, and fire again at the target as you land.

-As you can turn any direction I have found it to be helpful to keep my torso pointed at the target while landing while my legs are turned fully left or right. This way when I land I will shoot off sideways which helps throw off the aim of anyone firing at me. The enemy on the other hand has to guess what you will do when you land, will you go left, right, or directly at them.

-When you are fighting a Mech in an area with a lot of of buildings or hills I find it very helpful to jump across gaps between cover. An enemy typically is expecting you to pop out at ground level instead of above and in an arc. It is much more challenging to hit an aerial target flying in an arc than a running target moving in a line. Make sure you start your jump before you get to the gap so you are already airborne by the time you come into view.

-Do not jump your way up a hill you can easily run up, you only slow down and waste your fuel and gain almost no altitude.

-Do be mindful of your altitude when jumping down a hill. You can get awful high awful fast and you are going to need a lot of fuel to keep from hurting your legs.

-You can surprise many opponents by jumping over a building or hill to get them instead of running around it.

-Use appropriate terrain as a "ski jump" to help propel your jumps farther or higher.

-Use your jets to slow your descent when running off a hill or cliff. Tap them, then tap and hold again (releasing and re-holding as you feel necessary) so you do not damage your legs.

-Try to lead non-jumping Mechs off cliffs and then jump back up yourself. Let the enemy waste their time to find a foot path back up while you go assist your forces.

-When at the apex of a high or long jumping arc it can be helpful to not slow your descent immediately. Let yourself fall 5-10 meters and then use your jets to slow yourself to a soft landing. This throws off the aim of anyone tracking you during your jump. You can also begin to slow your descent, cut the jets for a quick drop, then re-engage for a soft landing to help throw off the enemy targeting as well.

*From my long buried post on July 19th: http://mwomercs.com/...467#entry600467

__________________________________________________________________________

Contributed by Marzepans:
  • In-Game Chat "ARWA"
Pay attention to the chat box in the upper left corner of the screen. Pressing 'y' lets you chat to your team while 't' is global chat (edit - and the "u" button is now for Lance Chat, which is your personal 4-man unit). Pressing 'b' lets you see the large BattleGrid and will show any orders issued by your team commander. These will also show on your HUD as symbols on your compass. The two different green arrows are flanking orders (although these are only really relevant when moving South to North until we get another two in the reverse direction), the two green side by side shallow Vs is a move order, the yellow shallow V with a straight line is a move and hold order, the red cross hair is an attack order, and the blue shield is a defend order.

____________________________________________________________________

If you have some useful quick tips to post then please feel free to add them below, but let's leave this thread solely for tips and info, and not back-and-forth discussion about replies in the topic; I'd like this to be a Tips Thread and not a discussion thread about tactical opinions that some people might disagree with. Thanks for understanding Posted Image

Edited by Prosperity Park, 25 July 2013 - 08:35 PM.
updates n' stuff


#2 Kilpanic

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Posted 06 September 2012 - 02:45 PM

This kind of info is pure gold for new players. Thanks for this!

#3 Asakara

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Posted 06 September 2012 - 03:46 PM

  • Jump Jets
-While jumping you will start flying in the direction and at the speed you were traveling on the ground prior to the jump. So if you are standing still at the start of your jump you will only jump up and not forwards, backwards, or any other direction.

-You can adjust your throttle while jumping but it will have no effect till after you land. You can use this to jump onto a small building and then stop right away upon landing.

-If you land too hard you will damage your legs. Too hard of a landing can destroy a leg.

-Always, always, always save jump fuel for the descent. If you soar 200 meters into the sky and run out of fuel you will be in a world of hurt when you impact the ground. I generally keep about 1/3rd fuel for my landing, 1/4th for a rougher landing. The higher you go the more fuel you will need to soften your descent.

-Though you are subject to travel in the direction and initially at the velocity you were moving prior to the jump you can freely turn while in the air. This can be very helpful as you jump over a target while firing, turn 180 degrees in the air, and fire again at the target as you land.

-As you can turn any direction I have found it to be helpful to keep my torso pointed at the target while landing while my legs are turned fully left or right. This way when I land I will shoot off sideways which helps throw off the aim of anyone firing at me. The enemy on the other hand has to guess what you will do when you land, will you go left, right, or directly at them.

-When you are fighting a mech in an area with a lot of of buildings or hills I find it very helpful to jump across gaps between cover. An enemy typically is expecting you to pop out at ground level instead of above and in an arc. It is much more challenging to hit an aerial target flying in an arc than a running target moving in a line. Make sure you start your jump before you get to the gap so you are already airborne by the time you come into view.

-Do not jump your way up a hill you can easily run up, you only slow down and waste your fuel and gain almost no altitude.

-Do be mindful of your altitude when jumping down a hill. You can get awful high awful fast and you are going to need a lot of fuel to keep from hurting your legs.

-You can surprise many opponents by jumping over a building or hill to get them instead of running around it.

-Use appropriate terrain as a "ski jump" to help propel your jumps farther or higher.

-Use your jets to slow your descent when running off a hill or cliff. Tap them, then tap and hold again (releasing and re-holding as you feel necessary) so you do not damage your legs.

-Try to lead non-jumping mechs off cliffs and then jump back up yourself. Let the enemy waste their time to find a foot path back up while you go assist your forces.

-When at the apex of a high or long jumping arc it can be helpful to not slow your descent immediately. Let yourself fall 5-10 meters and then use your jets to slow yourself to a soft landing. This throws off the aim of anyone tracking you during your jump. You can also begin to slow your descent, cut the jets for a quick drop, then re-engage for a soft landing to help throw off the enemy targeting as well.

*From my long buried post on July 19th: http://mwomercs.com/...467#entry600467

Edited by Asakara, 06 September 2012 - 03:47 PM.


#4 Alexiel Shinteiv

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Posted 06 September 2012 - 07:57 PM

I'd also like to put in a thanks for this topic, it answered a lot of questions I had as a brand new tester. Excellent and detailed list!

#5 Zarka

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Posted 06 September 2012 - 09:57 PM

Thanks guys, just got into the beta and this already helped me out!

#6 Felicitatem Parco

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Posted 07 September 2012 - 12:50 PM

Let's see here... what's a meaningful thing to bump the thread with...


  • Ammo Costs
-DIfferent caliber of Autocannon have different ammo costs, with AC/2 being dirt cheap and AC/20 being marginally expensive, however it's still half the cost of Gauss Rifle ammo.

-Missiles are expensive! Check it out in the Mechlab. However, bear in mind that you pack much more damage-per-ton with missiles than you do with AC or Gaucc ammo (if you multiply the damage per shot by the number of shots in a ton).

#7 Felicitatem Parco

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Posted 08 September 2012 - 01:07 PM

  • Streak SRMs
Streak SRMs (SSRMs) are guided SRMs that only come in 2-packs. They cannot be fired until after you've achieved a missile lock, so they're not gong to be the weapon-of-choice when an enemy Hunchback suddenly appears in your face out of nowhere because you can't twitch-fire SSRMs. They are good, however, for nailing those annoying Scout Mechs that zigzag around and seem to keep dodging Autocannons and LRMs.

#8 Felicitatem Parco

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Posted 09 September 2012 - 10:44 AM

  • ER and Normal Large Lasers
At this time, Large Lasers are more heat efficient than a Med Laser and deal almost 2x damage, with a peak range of 450m (where a Medium Laser barely causes any damage) and the beam eventually quits at 900m. The Extended Range LL generates about 40% more heat per shot than a normal LL, but it deals full damage out to 675m (basically the same range as a Gauss Rifle, but with pin-point accuracy) and continues dealing damage all the way out to 1350m.

Edited by Prosperity Park, 09 September 2012 - 10:46 AM.


#9 dromedary

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Posted 10 September 2012 - 08:59 AM

Thx for your help Asakara.

Just a question more: what key have to be press to active jump jets?

#10 Cybermech

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Posted 10 September 2012 - 09:30 AM

drome.. please read this PGI must read thread

#11 CG Chicken Kn

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Posted 10 September 2012 - 07:31 PM

Plus 1 Prosperity.
Your continued efforts to help new folks are well done and appreciated.
*hands cookie

#12 Marzepans

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Posted 11 September 2012 - 01:48 AM

Pay attention to the chat box in the upper left corner of the screen. Pressing 'y' lets you chat to your team while 't' is global chat. Pressing 'b' lets you see the large battlemap and will show any orders issued by your team commander. These will also show on your HUD as symbols on your compass. The two different green arrows are flanking orders (although these are only really relevant when moving South to North until we get another two in the reverse direction), the two green side by side shallow Vs is a move order, the yellow shallow V with a straight line is a move and hold order, the red cross hair is an attack order, and the blue shield is a defend order.

#13 dromedary

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Posted 11 September 2012 - 11:16 AM

ok, sorry for disturb this thread but i'm new.
Thx Cybermech to get me to this other thread, it's helpful for me.

#14 Asakara

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Posted 11 September 2012 - 04:45 PM

View Postdromedary, on 10 September 2012 - 08:59 AM, said:

Thx for your help Asakara.

Just a question more: what key have to be press to active jump jets?


No problem. By default the key is the Spacebar.

You can change this key by clicking on MENU on the lower left, then click Options. You will see the various key binds on the right side.

#15 Wingit

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Posted 12 September 2012 - 04:58 AM

This topic needs to stay on the front page

#16 DrnkJawa

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Posted 12 September 2012 - 05:06 AM

no it doesnt

#17 Felicitatem Parco

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Posted 12 September 2012 - 08:59 AM

"The needs of the many do not outweight the drinks of the Jawa."

#18 Felicitatem Parco

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Posted 12 September 2012 - 05:54 PM

Posted Image

pardon the cheapness of the diagram... :P

Edited by Prosperity Park, 12 September 2012 - 06:02 PM.


#19 Cybermech

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Posted 12 September 2012 - 10:21 PM

This is shaping up to be a very nice guide.

#20 Felicitatem Parco

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 09:22 AM

View PostCybermech, on 12 September 2012 - 10:21 PM, said:

This is shaping up to be a very nice guide.

Thank you very much. I know there are many guides here, but I wanted to put up something that acts specifically to neutralize the "WTF, so THAT's how that feature works?!" moments of new players and make the game flow better for them from the start. Maybe a Moderator will think it's worthy of PINNED status, but [like I said] there are so many pinned guides already...

Edited by Prosperity Park, 13 September 2012 - 09:22 AM.






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