51 replies to this topic

[Dan Nashe]

Syllogy, on 26 June 2013 - 07:53 AM, said:

Because it's a Spider. That's why.

We ran 8-man scrims with 8 Trial Spiders on each side last night, it took us nearly 14 minutes to kill everyone, even with calling targets.

We randomly dropped in 8 spiders one night.
We were NOT expecting the other team to also have 8 trial spiders!
It was ridiculous how long it took to kill each other!

In the OPs case. Bad rng. I haven't lost more than 4 in a row in a long time, there's a huge bad luck element. Even a new player in a vlbad spider should win one in three. But yeah. The trial spider is awful. Hilarious and fun. But awful.

Tha said, you should win 50 percent eventually if that's all you pilot.

You can check your actual stats on the forums, under profile. Sometimes it feels like you're losing more than you really are.

[M X Striker]

Playing with an organized unit will help a great deal as well. Please feel free to click the link in my sig if you're interested.

Good Hunting!

[Unnatural Growth]

I'm a noob myself,

I also pilot lights most of the time. Mine are Jenners, which arguably can take and dish out more punishment than a Spider...

However...

A GOOD Spider pilot is a scary sumb*tch!

Unfortunately you are not a good Spider pilot. Yet. You are also in a horrible bad weapon loadout. Almost useless really. So DON'T try and directly engage ANY other mech.

Lights are hard to pilot. And the Spider is the hardest light to pilot so far, IMHO.

You have to use your speed as your armor and keep moving. Go full throttle most of the time. Circle around the enemy positions and make a few full speed fly by strafing runs at the enemy mechs. Don't slow down while you do this, just run right by and plink at them as you go. You're not trying to do any crippling damage, you're just trying to break their concentration and disrupt their battle plan (assuming they have one).

Use COVER to approach. You don't have ECM, so if you can see them, they can see you. Stay out of sight, and never run directly at any enemy mech.

You'd be surprised how often an enemy lance will drop everything they're doing to chase a light mech. It's funny to everyone but the light mech getting all the attention. You can only hope that while you do this, your team is not asleep, and will actually take advantage of the diversion you're giving them. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes you die in vain while trying.

Avoid other enemy lights (for now), if one takes after you, and you're alone, run to your heavies for their fire support. If one of your heavies is getting harassed by a light, engage that light and help drive it away. Remember that unless that other light is another trial Spider, they ALL have more weapons than you do. You will lose a direct slugging match every time.

Try a decoy base cap (in Assault) to see if you can split up the enemy formation. If you're decoying, don't stick around their base long, you're about to receive a bunch of attention. If you're team is getting wiped, say it's already 4-0 or 5-1, etc then go cap the enemy base.

Also in PUG's, I've noticed a very large increase in premade 4's dropping into PUGs lately. I've been so lucky as to be on the random PUG side of this unbalanced match more often than not-at least in the last few days. This usually leads to us getting routed 8-0 or 8-2 etc. I think it sucks when that happens and greatly takes away enjoyment of the game. I wish there was a separate match for pure PUGging, but I doubt it will ever happen.

The other side of the coin is to join a premade yourself. Download Teamspeak and find some guys to drop with together. It will help, but it doesn't guarantee victory by any means (I'm proof of that).

[Kraven Kor]

Kazly, on 26 June 2013 - 07:03 AM, said:

To those of you that acknowledged a spider can be a valuable asset in the right hands, thank you.

Any mech is a monster in the right hands.

Excepting maybe the Raven 4X. And even there, I'm likely wrong

OldOrgandonor, on 26 June 2013 - 09:01 AM, said:

I'm a noob myself,

I also pilot lights most of the time. Mine are Jenners, which arguably can take and dish out more punishment than a Spider...

However...

A GOOD Spider pilot is a scary sumb*tch!

Unfortunately you are not a good Spider pilot. Yet. You are also in a horrible bad weapon loadout. Almost useless really. So DON'T try and directly engage ANY other mech.

Lights are hard to pilot. And the Spider is the hardest light to pilot so far, IMHO.

You have to use your speed as your armor and keep moving. Go full throttle most of the time. Circle around the enemy positions and make a few full speed fly by strafing runs at the enemy mechs. Don't slow down while you do this, just run right by and plink at them as you go. You're not trying to do any crippling damage, you're just trying to break their concentration and disrupt their battle plan (assuming they have one).

Use COVER to approach. You don't have ECM, so if you can see them, they can see you. Stay out of sight, and never run directly at any enemy mech.

You'd be surprised how often an enemy lance will drop everything they're doing to chase a light mech. It's funny to everyone but the light mech getting all the attention. You can only hope that while you do this, your team is not asleep, and will actually take advantage of the diversion you're giving them. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes you die in vain while trying.

Avoid other enemy lights (for now), if one takes after you, and you're alone, run to your heavies for their fire support. If one of your heavies is getting harassed by a light, engage that light and help drive it away. Remember that unless that other light is another trial Spider, they ALL have more weapons than you do. You will lose a direct slugging match every time.

Try a decoy base cap (in Assault) to see if you can split up the enemy formation. If you're decoying, don't stick around their base long, you're about to receive a bunch of attention. If you're team is getting wiped, say it's already 4-0 or 5-1, etc then go cap the enemy base.

Also in PUG's, I've noticed a very large increase in premade 4's dropping into PUGs lately. I've been so lucky as to be on the random PUG side of this unbalanced match more often than not-at least in the last few days. This usually leads to us getting routed 8-0 or 8-2 etc. I think it sucks when that happens and greatly takes away enjoyment of the game. I wish there was a separate match for pure PUGging, but I doubt it will ever happen.

The other side of the coin is to join a premade yourself. Download Teamspeak and find some guys to drop with together. It will help, but it doesn't guarantee victory by any means (I'm proof of that).

Do understand that, for my 4-man teams at least, we see an 8-0 stomp against us as often as we do for us, for the most part. If we stomp more than we get stomped, it is 60/40 at best.

Most 8-0 stomps are just due to the nature of the game; you lose a big mech, or the other team is focusing fire and you are split up, it becomes a domino effect.

PUGstomping happens, sure. But don't fool yourself into thinking every 8-0 stomp was due to an "evil premade" on the other team.

[Unnatural Growth]

Kraven Kor, on 26 June 2013 - 09:06 AM, said:

PUGstomping happens, sure. But don't fool yourself into thinking every 8-0 stomp was due to an "evil premade" on the other team.

Nope, not saying that at all. But also, don't blow smoke up my Jenner either. It happens, and often lately it seems. It also seems worse when they're running a contest like the last 2. It was terribad then. I stopped playing during the second one until it was over.

Sorry to the OP, don't mean to hijack your thread!

[Sadistic Savior]

MrDrBoi, on 26 June 2013 - 04:48 AM, said:

So far after few hours of play. I havent won a single game yet.

LOL!

If you are that impatient, you will not enjoy this game. It will take you days (at best) to get good enough to consistently win games except by luck. This game is complex and has a steep learning curve. This is not a point-and-shoot arcade game.

Part of the learning curve is figuring out your playstyle and then matching it to a mech you like. This may also involve customization to the mech as well. All this takes time and in-game money. It is not going to happen in a few hours.

MrDrBoi, on 26 June 2013 - 04:48 AM, said:

Im playing a Mech called Spider. Pretty Fun mech. But Cant Carry a team in it to win. All the Losses werent even close to a win.

All mechs have their strengths and weaknesses. Spiders are typically used for Scouting, spotting, capping, or harassment/distraction. if this is not your playstyle, you need to move to a different type of mech.

[Flak Kannon]

This game FEASTS on new players in trial mechs.

Its a steep, no,.... VERTICAL learning curve.

Do not despair. If you stick with it, your piloting skill will increase, Your situational awareness will increase. Your aim will better. Your sense of battle flow will increase.

But first and foremost, get the heck out of trial mechs, buy your own mech, max out it's armor, and lose the single heat sinks, buy the double heat sinks.

Go with a Centurion or Hunchback as a first owned mech.

In MWO, you learn by being a sacraficial lamb for those who have all of the above...

Get to the point where you have all of the above and you will be winning 50%, Losing 50%, if the ELO match making system is working correctly...

Edited by Flak Kannon, 26 June 2013 - 04:42 PM.

[mailin]

Some thoughts on the trial Spider from a Spider driver. 1) When I see a trial Spider on the other team, I momentarily weep silent tears for the poor soul who's driving that pile of junk. Why on earth PGI didn't at least give it an ECM is completely beyond me. When I see a trial 5D on my team I tell the driver to try to keep up and in my ECM bubble. 2) Stay at least 270 m away from any enemy with streaks. (Max streak range, but still within your mlas range.) 3) ALWAYS try to approach the enemy from the rear, fire on the rear and quickly retreat to their rear. Try to never expose yourself to their firing arc. 4) Don't cap the base right away. Wait until most of the enemy is engaged then cap the base for a bit (usually two or three times for Betty to say "Enemy Base is Being Captured"), then scamper off. 5) Do not forget that you have jump jets and can fly over obstacles that most other mechs have to go around. 6) Do not brawl unless your team is at a distinct numbers advantage and is obviously going to win. 7) If you enjoy driving a Spider, as soon as you can buy a Spider 5D and start saving those c-bills to properly equip it. You'll never look back at a trial mech again.

[Koniving]

My latest with the spider.


Spider with UAC/5 mostly solos an Atlas -- but then has the kill stolen.


First video ever put on youtube of a spider in MWO killing a Raven 3-L.


That said, spiders are not good starting mechs. If you really want to play them I suggest making sure to set the game mode to conquest (to the left of launch the little robot picture). This game relies on two conditions, capturing 750 resources the fastest by capturing bases or killing all mechs. Here a spider can thrive.

Remember to avoid using the flamer on the spider, other than blind the enemy it doesn't do much.

If you play on assault mode more often, consider the cataphract 4x trial mech. It's slow so you can't escape from bad situations but if you follow behind a big mech and shoot what it shoots you should thrive well enough. Never get caught alone.

[Napoleon_Blownapart]

i have been playing like 4 days or a week or so but used to play mw2 years ago.you will sometimes end up in a group of all heavies with noone capturing and lose or you just have the wrong team make up. the spider is fast and weak and is best bused to race to a base and capture it.it took a few days before i could score any hits at all but just keep trying and youll improve.i would say do conquests because you earn more cbills and can get 40k +even on a loss, also when you downloaded on the download page to the left there was a redeem button to redeem premium time(i wish i saw this when i was getting the cadet bonus) if you do this while earning the huge cadet bonus youll get enough cbill to buy almost any non special mech.try every class see what you like, practice different weapon groups , the hunch back has 9 laser that i group into 3x3 groups to not overheat.i even suggest when you die hit the spectate button and see what some amazing ppl can do with a mech.in other games losses have a big penalty but in mwo you get rewarded for losses , so hang in there.in a few days youll be hitting stuff.its 2am, im rambling just have fun.

[TheArcher]

Gorantir, on 26 June 2013 - 10:13 PM, said:

...
also when you downloaded on the download page to the left there was a redeem button to redeem premium time(i wish i saw this when i was getting the cadet bonus) if you do this while earning the huge cadet bonus youll get enough cbill to buy almost any non special mech.
...

According to http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__2492919 , premium time and cadet bonus don't stack. Not sure what Dude42's source was though.

[BlacKcuD]

I think it was mentioned before, but I tried this for a couple of weeks now and I can´t empazie it enough: play Conquest only.

(You can select the game mode by clicking on the blue square icon to the left of the big Launch button.)

By playing conquest, the game becomes more shaped and less random. The battles are smaller and more focused. Luck is less of a game deciding element.
Also, movement speed and piloting skills become way more important than raw firepower.

Especially on really large maps, a nice tactic to run for a Light Mech player: check out where the main heavy/assault bulk of your team is heading. Get as fast as humanly possible to another cap point. Try to cap it as far as you can without endangering yourself. Get back to your team and help with harassment and spotting.

[MrDrBoi]

So far from few days of playing, Only won like 3 games.

Game seems fine its just I cant hardly win ever.

Any Recomended Non Trial Mechs for a new person?

[Scout80913]

MrDrBoi, on 27 June 2013 - 03:23 PM, said:

So far from few days of playing, Only won like 3 games.

Game seems fine its just I cant hardly win ever.

Any Recomended Non Trial Mechs for a new person?

The 4SP model Hunchback was the defacto recommended first mech for a very long time. As SRM's have become less effective, that is now arguable, but I still recommend it. Even in its stock configuration, it will rarely let you down unless you get yourself into a horrible position or try to fire every single weapon every single time you fire. If you have the patience to save some money before you buy it and equip it with double heat sinks out the gate, it'll treat you much better. There are several builds out there that you can see by checking out the mech forums. I never strayed far from the stock configuration and had good success. I won't make a wall of text by listing a bunch of popular builds.

If that doesn't appeal to you, you might look to pretty much any of the other medium mechs (I enjoy the Centurion as well). Admittedly, the meta right now is slightly biased against medium mechs, but they have the right mix of speed, firepower and armor to get you used to piloting without being so fast as to run away with you, so weak as to get you killed if you make one mistake, and are not such a threat that you get yourself focused as a new player right off the bat.

Stick with it, and you'll get the hang of it. I am almost a life-long CBT/MW player, and I struggled with this game in the beginning as well, so don't get discouraged. Good luck!

Edited by Scout80913, 27 June 2013 - 03:56 PM.

[Kraven Kor]

MrDrBoi, on 27 June 2013 - 03:23 PM, said:

So far from few days of playing, Only won like 3 games.

Game seems fine its just I cant hardly win ever.

Any Recomended Non Trial Mechs for a new person?

It is a tough thing to buy your first mech.

Have you figured out a given weapon system or "role" that you enjoy, or want to dive into? A particular weapon type you feel more comfortable with?

Several chassis can fit multiple roles, depending on how you fit them.

Mediums are definitely a good place to start, as are faster heavies (Quickdraw, Jagermech, less so Cataphract or Dragon.)

[Dude42]

TheArcher, on 27 June 2013 - 11:23 AM, said:

According to http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__2492919 , premium time and cadet bonus don't stack. Not sure what Dude42's source was though.

Create a new account, redeem the 1 free day of premium time, play 1st match, look at "Player Stats" tab at the end of the round. Note that the cadet bonus is not included in the premium bonus calculation. My source was myself, when I first started

Edited by Dude42, 27 June 2013 - 04:26 PM.

[Xeno Phalcon]

As a current quickdraw pilot I would suggest avoiding them for now, they whoop alot of *** in lower brackets but when you get to mid-high elo bracket enemy teams turn on you in mass like firing squads as if you were a ac40 jager and require alot of skill, expensive engines and a good dash of luck.

My Suggestion List

Light - Lights are cheap and fragile, requiring a bit more skill to do well in but can be good for newer pilots simply due to being cheap to outfit and often having access to ECM. Commando is the lightest current mech, and the cheapest for about 2,500,000 you can get one no problem (The 2D can mount ECM). Jenners are the staple light mech, good firepower fantastic speed and jump jets. Ravens are interesting but have massive legs and are slower then jenners usualy, not recommended for newer pilots IMO.

Medium - Hunchback is a powerful if slow mech that had slipped from popularity but has of late begun cropping up more frequently, just be aware that most of its variants rely heavily on a massive shoulder thats easy to destroy. Centurions are durable machines all around if a bit slow, good all around workhorse though. Blackjack and Tribuchet are the newest additions to the medium bracket but both can be a bit challenging to get into, doing better in a fire support role in both cases due to design issues. (BJ having no horizontal arm movement and trib being ludicrously large.)

Heavy - Jagermechs and Cataphracts are solid machines but will eat most of your cadet bonus and leave little behind for upgades, Catapult is a pretty good one too though its large cockpit and easy to shoot CT make it a double edged sword: easy to use but easy to get killed in too.

Assault - By far the most popular weight class right now due to the 'meta' mentality, they are also the slowest and most expensive mechs to field it will easily devour your entire cadet bonus to pick up just one (and in some cases you still wouldnt have enough) let alone upgrade them. The Stalker is a current fav with its ability to boat ppcs or lrms in large quantities, it however turns like a bus with flat tires. I can't recomment the Awesome due to its large torso and lighter weight its pretty easy to get stomped in one, though it also has the best maneuverability of any current assault mech, while the highlander is pretty bulky its lethality is undeniable. The atlas is the biggest, most expensive mech on the market with enough armor to build a Commando battlemech, its large ponderous size makes it a easy target but they are indispensable on assault type matches where their mobility is less of a issue compared for the need for firepower and stamina.

[MrDrBoi]

I bought the Hunchback 4SP.

What should I upgrade?

[Scout80913]

I would install Endosteel and Double Heatsinks. With the weight savings, I would upgrade the engine. As I recall, a STD 250 is the most popular engine size. That's a good start.

I ended up with 5 x Medium Lasers, 2 x SRM6's, near max or max armor, and a larger standard engine.

I hide my SRM ammo in my legs and roll the dice on not using CASE. No one has ever tried to leg my Hunchback. You may want to consider an Anti-Missile System.

Other folks like to run with 2 x Large Lasers, 2 x Medium Lasers, and 2 x Streak SRM-2's. Pretty sure they pack on an XL engine to do this, though. I avoid XL's in my Hunchback. I don't like it being vulnerable to destruction because of the loss of a side torso. My humble opinion is that one of the strengths of the Hunchback 4SP is its ability to fight reasonably well, even missing an entire side torso. That's just my humble opinion, though, your mileage may vary of course.

Edited by Scout80913, 27 June 2013 - 06:50 PM.

[Just wanna play]

Ragnar Darkmane, on 26 June 2013 - 08:03 AM, said:

He's using the trial Spider with 1 Flamer and 1 Medium Laser only. Of course he is feeling useless because that's one of the worst (if not the worst) trial mechs in the history of Mechwarrior Online. The only useful trial mech right now is the Hunchback which is quite good IF you use Chain fire or different weapon groups.

THAT MECH IS AMAZING AT HARASSING, one, your underestimated because your a trial so you are either ignored allowing you to continue to blind people with the flamer, and second, it has a flamer and jjs as well as an arm, i do fine harassing in it, as well as capping, of course the spider was my first mech so im not new to it, better yet, don't use a spider when your new, its not good to have to learn that it requires self earned skill to do good instead of having a superior mech..........

also that flamer can help your team mate by forcing the person their brawling to either take longer to get back up after overheating or forcing them to stop shooting in order to avoid overheating