9 replies to this topic

[TheFlyingScotsman]

Hello all, just a summary explaining nice and clear how to elite and master a mech, and the nuances of it.

First and foremost, XP.

There are two types of experience you earn in the game, General XP and Mech XP. General XP is earned at a slow rate, and can be used to unlock the ability to buy and equip modules, as well as unlocking mech efficiencies. Mech XP is earned at a much faster rate, but can only be used for the specific mech variant you piloted while earning it, and only for efficiencies. (You can later use MC to convert MXP into GXP, but I don't recommend it unless you are rich.)

All actions, such as playing a match, killing an enemy, or even destroying components, produce both GXP and MXP, which can be used as soon as your mech is released from the match.

Now, Eliting and Mastering.

There are three "tiers" of bonuses that can be added to your mech, improving its abilities permanently, even if you sell it and repurchase it later. These bonuses stay even when you do not own the mech currently.

These tiers are "Basic", "Elite" and "Master". In order to progress from basic to elite, and from elite to master, you must have the whole tier above unlocked first for three variants of the chassis (Hero mechs count as a unique variant, and can be used to elite like any other). It is important to note that once you have the traits unlocked for one variant, you do not have to have it in your mechbay to make progress on other variants of the chassis.

In example. I decide to buy and elite a HBK-4G. (Example me doesn't care about the extra module slot, and ignores mastery) But I only have four mech bay slots. I only have two slots open, and the rest are occupied. I can buy the 4G and put it in one slot, and buy a HBK-4P for the remaining one. Once I unlock the basic efficiencies, I can just sell the 4P, and buy a 4SP.

Now, I unlock the basic efficiencies for the 4SP, and then sell it. If I want to, I can put something else in the last slot, lets say a Jenner, it doesn't matter. I can now unlock the basic efficiencies for the 4G (If I hav not already done so) and progress straight into the elite tier, even though two of the mechs I used to unlock it are not in my bay. If I later decide to master the 4G, all I have to do is buy the 4P and 4SP again. When I do, all I have to do is fill out their elite tier (And then, for all I care, sell them) and the mastery slot will be unlocked for my 4G!

It is important to at least unlock all the elite skills, even if you ignore mastery, because once they are unlocked, all the basic efficiencies are Doubled.


I hope that made things a little more clear for people wondering all the odds and ends of eliting. It is very simple, but still needs to be explained.

Edited by TheFlyingScotsman, 02 October 2013 - 06:37 PM.

[Mahws]

TheFlyingScotsman, on 02 October 2013 - 06:35 PM, said:

These tiers are "Basic", "Elite" and "Master". In order to progress from basic to elite, and from elite to master, you must have the whole tier above unlocked first for three variants of the chassis (Hero mechs count as a unique variant, and can be used to elite like any other). It is important to note that once you have the traits unlocked for one variant, you do not have to have it in your mechbay to make progress on other variants of the chassis.

Great post, but one extra detail. That's only the case for your first Master in a weight class. Once you've unlocked Master on one mech it's unlocked for every mech in that weight class (light, medium, heavy, assault). After that you only need to get a new mech to Elite and it's all unlocked from there.

Example:
Three variants of the hunchback with Master unlocked (don't need to have all/any of them in your mechbay).

Buy a Centurion-A
Unlock all basics then sell.
Buy Centurion-AL
Unlock all basics then sell.
Buy Centurion-D
You can now unlock all skills for the Cent-D.

[Lord Baldric]

To add just a bit more. Any three mechs at 4/4 elite in a weight class unlocks it for the class.

For example I have master in my jenner, raven, and spider chassis. Only one of each is 4/4 elite the others are only 8/8 basic. You do not have to master any particular chassis to unlock it for the entire weight class. Any 3 mechs in a class at elite will do that.

Condensed version.
Unlocking elite is chassis specific, Unlocking master is weight class specific.

[Mahws]

Ah, thanks. Didn't realize that, I only figured it out after I'd already mastered 3 variants of the same mech.

So as an example:

Spoiler

TWO variants of the hunchback with all elite skills unlocked (don't need to have all/any of them in your mechbay).

Buy a Centurion-A
Unlock all basics then sell.
Buy Centurion-AL
Unlock all basics then sell.
Buy Centurion-D
You can now unlock all skills for the Cent-D (and also master for the two hunchbacks).

?

There really needs to be more information on game mechanics made available. Hopefully they'll include some kind of user guide with UI2.0, searching the forums for every game function (which some players might not even know exist) is a pretty poor option. Also things that no one knows anything about, like how flamers work.

Edited by Mahws, 02 October 2013 - 07:24 PM.

[Lord Baldric]

Exactly. I finally decided to take screen caps of my light mech trees to show it easier.

Initially I had no intention of going for master because I was, as were most people, under the impression you had to grind all the way to master on each chassis. I had my founder jenner and a raven at 4/4 elite at the time. Made a spider and got the one i wanted to keep to 4/4 elite. Soon as I bought the last skill, master unlocked.





The amusing part is the mech trees do tell you how it works but the print is above the basic tree and easily overlooked.

Quote:
"Purchase all ELITE efficiencies for 3 variants of this weight class to unlock MASTER."

Edited by Lord Baldric, 02 October 2013 - 07:38 PM.

[HelBound]

I've started playing MWO and have gotten one of my mechs to through the basic tree however to find it a bit silly that in order to progress to the elite tree one must purchase, play and level 3 variants of that mech.

Truly it seems more like a marketing mechanic then a game play mechanic. Which I might understand if the game was set up like EVE online where profit is made from player time. This seems unreasonable, used as a Cbill sink and mechanic to get players to spend more time on the servers.

In this case I'm working with a Locust, an LCT-3S and quite enjoying it. Just seems like a waste to spend and level all 3 variants....

I assume there is no way around this or plans to change this?

[Alaskan Nobody]

They are 'reworking the pilot trees' or something like that, but who knows what the end result will be

PS: they may not make their money off of 'time' (except perhaps premium time...) but it is angled toward encouraging you to spend real money to buy the mechs...

[GTV Zeratul]

A note on modules as they are mentioned in the OP and tie into the pilot tree.

Example: You have used GXP to unlock the sensor range module, now you are able to purchace the sensor range module in the mechlab. After playing alot more games you have the GXP to unlock advanced sensor range, if you unlock adv. sensor range you don't need to purchace the module again. Your sensor range module will automaticly be upgraded to advanced.

[BlueKnight925]

Great Post!! Very helpfull. I'm glad I found this, I just unlocked all Basic on a few of my mechs and was trying to figure out what to do next.

[Catalina Steiner]

I am using this thread because it seems being appropriate for my needs.



Finally it's done. I have mastered all light chassis available. I own three variants from each chassis type and they are all mastered now. I'm talking about the Jenner, the Spider, the Raven, the Locust, the Commando and the Firestarter. They got their master skill without any GXP convertions. But I got some help: two double XP weekends helped to master my Locusts and my Commandos and one day of premium time helped to master my Firestarters.

Maybe you know that I like statistics. So I try to give you some information about the time and the actions that are needed to master a chassis or a whole class of mechs.

First of all I can tell you that I needed ten months for it. In the meantime I mastered four other medium chassis (Cicada, Blackjack, Trebuchet and Griffin) for a change. I have chosen the conquest mode for nearly all matches I played with a light mech. I love to put in a seismic sensor module and the capture accelerator to beat the enemy by points.

Here are some statistics about the mastered mechs. Some mechs collected more XP than necessary because I played them after mastering them. But some chassis were just played to master this chassis type and they can tell about what's needed to master it.


You need to know that you need 57,250 XP to master a variant.
14,250 XP are needed for the basic skills (750, 1000, 2500, 1000, 1500, 2500, 1500, 3500).
21,500 XP are needed for the elite skills (3000, 4000, 6000, 8500).
21,500 XP are needed for the master skill (21500).

First chassis: Jenner
JR7-K: 119 matches; 58,120 XP earned; it took 12:24 hours to master it.

The other variants are similar. more than hundred matches and approximately twelve hours of playing.

JR7-D (S): 122 matches; 68,194 XP earned; played 13:23 hours.
JR7-F: 113 matches; 60,954 XP earned; playesd 11:33 hours.


Second chassis: Spider
SDR-5V: 158 matches; 61,388 XP earned; it took 19:23 hours to master it.

The Spider was even harder to get the master skill. My favourite variant, the SDR-5K was easier to master but it was really hard to master the 5V.

SDR-5D: 159 matches; 64,782 XP earned; played 19:13 hours.
SDR-5K: 154 matches; 81,943 XP earned; played 17:16 hours.


Third chassis: Raven
RVN-2X: 117 matches; 58,436 XP earned; it took 13:13 hours to master it.

I had no fun mastering the Raven in the early stages but later I really loved it. Especially my RVN-4X was a pleasure to drive.

RVN-3L: 125 matches; 61,687 XP earned; 13:41 hours played.
RVN-4X: 172 matches; 83,719 XP earned; 18:40 hours played.


Fourth chassis: Locust
LCT-3M: 127 matches; 57,309 XP earned; it took 13:48 hours to master it.

Certainly the Locust wasn't the easiest chassis to master. But I got some help from a double XP weekend. Otherwise I would have had similar playing time duration like the Spider.

LCT-1V: 135 matches; 57,491 XP earned; it took 13:53 hours to master it.
LCT-3S: 109 matches; 58,101 XP earned; it took 13:20 hours to master it.


Fifth chassis: Commando
COM-2D: 88 matches; 57,653 XP earned; it took 10:59 hours to master it.

This chassis was funny to master. I built LRM variants and played conquest, so I could fire at enemy mechs while capturing the points. This was a very successful strategy and additional to another double XP weekend, it did not take long to master all three variants.

COM-3A: 93 matches; 57,334 XP earned; it took 11:47 hours to master it.
COM-1B: 98 matches; 57,323 XP earned; it took 12:31 hours to master it.


Sixth chassis: Firestarter
FS9-E: 75 matches; 57,490 XP earned; it took 8:11 hours to master it.

The Ember is a very brutal mech and I never earned XP so easily with a light like that. I had help to master the other two variants by using one day of premium time.

FS9-A: 82 matches; 58,236 XP earned; it took 9:09 hours to master it.
FS9-H: 79 matches; 57,333 XP earned; it took 8:07 hours to master it.


Now it's done. *whew* Now I want to finish the medium chassis types, I'm thinking about the first heavy mech and I'm very curious to watch the first clan light mechs. There is still a lot of work to do.


Edit: Oh, I forgot something: if you ask yourself why I have mastered ALL mechs instead of just unlocking the elite skills: for me it was the minimum standard to master at least three variants to learn everything about a mech. I want to be a good pilot, I want to try different variants, with different hardpoints, different engines and different weaponry. Good pilots train a lot and so am I.
I know it wasn't necessary to master three variants to the very end but I want to be a very good pilot with improved skills. I want to know that mech. It should feel like a second skin - not just like a car.
After all it was worth the work.

Edited by Catalina Steiner, 29 May 2014 - 07:56 AM.