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Buying My First Mech

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#1 Czerkthejerk

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 07:47 AM

I downloaded this game yesterday after yearning for some Star Conflict action without the massive grind, and it seems pretty good so far. Now something that confuses me is the trial mechs. How long do I have them? Can I buy them permanently without using real money? Can mod them?

I've been saving up and I have around 2mil credits to spend on mechs. I read in the forums a "Leon the Professional" analogy about how us noobs should start with long range heavy mechs and then move closer in range. Unfortunately, being a day 2 player, that's about all I got since I don't yet understand the lingo here.

So anyway, third gripe is I go into the mechlab to maybe window shop until I have enough mulah for one and it says I own all of these mechs, yet we all know I do not. Also, is there any way I could buy just the chassis or the weapons and what not separately? I like having something my own in games like these. Please help. I'm drowning.

#2 Xeno Phalcon

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 07:56 AM

View PostCzerkthejerk, on 17 July 2014 - 07:47 AM, said:

I downloaded this game yesterday after yearning for some Star Conflict action without the massive grind

Im so sorry XD welcome to another grind.

Quote

Now something that confuses me is the trial mechs.

Quote

How long do I have them?

They used to rotate them but now they are always there, and more will be added in the future.

Quote

Can I buy them permanently without using real money?

Trial mechs are "Champion" variants, that is they took a regular version and upgraded it , added a meager bonus to xp and then priced it with real money (known as Mech Credits) so the only way to actually own a trial mech is to buy it with real money.


Quote

Can mod them?

In their trial format no, when you buy it it becomes yours and is considered a Champion mech, and you can modify them from there no problem.


IIRC Trial mechs are exactly what they sound like for the most part, they are there for people to try out and are also the starter for new players, most players graduate from those on their Cadet Bonus to whatever mech they came to the conclusion they might like after playing the Trial mechs for awhile. Some buy the mechs trial mechs are based on, some buy others for various reasons.

Trick is not to knee jerk buy something, as your cadet bonus is pretty important and can mean the difference between getting a good start or a grueling grind. (Note I went for option two and spent my cadet bonus on a Dragon, FML - dont do it.) Watch some videos, wait untill koniving finds you and showers you with videos, read up on some mechs and use the trial mechs to see what sort of gameplay style you feel you will enjoy.

Edited by Xeno Phalcon, 17 July 2014 - 08:00 AM.


#3 SethAbercromby

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 08:05 AM

View PostXeno Phalcon, on 17 July 2014 - 07:56 AM, said:

Trick is not to knee jerk buy something, as your cadet bonus is pretty important and can mean the difference between getting a good start or a grueling grind. (Note I went for option two and spent my cadet bonus on a Dragon, FML - dont do it.)

I hear ya. Busted my cadet bonus on a Catapult. Not the worst decision to make, but not a very good one either. Having some funders MC heped not being locked in a meaningless grind till I would eventually get another 'Mech, but yeah, don't just buy a 'Mech on a whim. You might regret it (even though i then proceeded to spend most of the remaining MC on a Yen-Lo-Wang and a Stalker 5S because they looked neat. I'm regretting none of them, but in hindsight I might have wanted to spend the other half of those MC on another Hero (Misery didn't exist yet)).

#4 Jody Von Jedi

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 08:55 AM

Welcome to MW:O

Whatever you do, don't spend any of your CBills, until you finish your 1st 25 matches. There is a cadet bonus that will give you around 8-10 Mil CBills after you've completed the 25th match.

The Trial mechs will always be in game and you will always have access to them. The individual mechs may change over time, but there will always be "free" mechs to play to earn CBills with.

I would divide the mechs in game today into 4 classes:

1. CLAN MECHS - Not available for purchase in game client. Only available here for real money. Over the next few months, these will become available for CBills, but don't worry about Clan mechs for the moment.

2. Hero Mechs - Available for purchase with MC (Mechwarrior Credits). These credits are only available in exchange for real world money as well. You can load your account with MC here. Hero mechs give a 30% increase in CBill rewards.

3. Champion Mechs - Champion mechs are similar to Heros, but only offer a 10% increase in Mech XP (experience points). Most players regard the Champion mechs to be the least desirable to spend real money on. These to are only available for real money. (Although PGI did give us a Champion Centurion several months ago as a promotion).

4. Standard Mechs - Every IS (Inner Sphere) mech chassis has 3 or more variants. These represent the majority of the mechs you will see in game. They are available for purchase with the in game currency, CBills.

Spend your CBills wisely, they are hard earned after the Cadet bonus runs out after 25 matches. Use this time to figure out your play style, Light pilot/harasser, Medium/fire support or flanker, LRM boat, Heavy/Tank pilot or pop-tarter, or Assault pilot. (Lights and Assaults are regarded by most as the most difficult weight classes to play, and I tend to agree).
Once you settle on one of the styles of play that suits you most, purchase a Variant that will support that play style and stick to it. I usually try to have at least twice the amount of CBill banked as the variant will cost, since you'll want to customize the mech after making your purchase. A large XL engine can cost as much as 6 mil CBills, so don't let the sticker shock surprise you.

As you play you will build up XP that will make your mech perform better, i.e. torso twist speed, anchor turn, decrease startup time after overheating, etc. If you purchase 3 variants of a given chassis, you can "Elite" the mech making it even more responsive.

Hope this helps to clear up the confusion. Forum member "Koniving" will be along shortly to flood you with information. Prepare yourself. :(

Jody

Edited by Jody Von Jedi, 17 July 2014 - 09:16 AM.


#5 Turist0AT

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 09:11 AM

My first mech was Cataphract 3D and oh boy, what a great machine to start in.

Wellcome to MWO Czerkthejerk have fun and good luck.



Oh and dont bother with the Store button. Just go into mechlab and change Filter to Purchasable, youll get more info about avalible mechs and stuff.

Edited by Turist0AT, 17 July 2014 - 09:17 AM.


#6 Son of the Flood

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 09:33 AM

Welcome to the game! I agree with Jody and others above about saving your C-Bills and spending them wisely on your first mech. The trial mechs these days are pretty decent and with a dozen of them to choose from you have a good variety to test drive.

The only thing I would add is you may have some buyer's remorse when you plunk down several million c-bills on that first mech.

Hang in there and don't sell the mech off if you are struggling. The economy in the inner sphere ain't what it used to be, so the resale value of mechs is not very good.

As you try different builds and unlock skills you will get more and more out of your mech (and have a lot more fun doing it).

You are in the right place if you have questions on specific mechs/builds when you get to that point. Lots of helpful people on the forums here.

Good luck!

#7 dragnier1

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 10:17 AM

Welcome here. I thought i'd cover the types of mechs (giant stompy robots) available in-game but since jody did so i'll briefly cover other things.

First, mechlab.

At present all you will see are the trial mechs in the main window if you click "Mechlab" (top menubar). If you look at the bottom left you will see total mechbays you own against available mechbays. The only ways to increase them are purchase with MC (you need real cash to do so) or wait for some tournament/challenge that gives a free mech/mechbay upon winning/completion. Below that is information of MC and cbills (in-game currency, stands for comstar bills) you currently own. The top left side menu is for you to split viewing of mechs according to weight categories should you find the main window too cluttered (too many mechs). At the top of the main window you should see a filter. Clicking on that allows you to change the view from "owned" to "purchasable".

Should you require in depth information of a mech, you can mouse-over said mech or, click on the mech, then "mech details" button on the bottom right (just above some info of selected mech, blue button). After you purchase a mech, you need to click on the mech, then click on the "configure" button below its icon to begin. After which, refer to the left menu for details (loadout, modules, etc).

Second, the grind.

It's unfortunate, but this game has a grind as well. At prescent, the cadet bonus (first 25 games as mentioned by others) is giving you a boost in earnings and might give you the impression that there isn't a need to grind c-bills for mechs. In addition, the price of the mechs is mostly just the base cost, as you could spend more just to upgrade the mech (a good example is the mech Raven-3L, it costs 5.3mil but with upgrades you end up spending 11-12mil on it). Worry not, there are ways to reduce the grind once your cadet bonus ends.

Some of them include kill assists (big money earner, all you need to do is deal enough damage to opposition mechs before they get shot down), saviour kills (assist in taking down an opposition that shot badly damaged teammate) and spotting assists (keep watch over opposition target being shot by long range missiles from your team. This one earns you less, but you can get as many as 12x if you spot all. You need to target the mech you're spotting). One other way (which requires MC) is to purchase premium time, which gives you 50% extra cbills and xp per game. Most recommend getting 1 day premium time, as you cannot pause it once you activate it.

Edit: Somehow it looks too wordy...take your time to read...

Edited by dragnier1, 17 July 2014 - 10:18 AM.


#8 Turist0AT

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 10:31 AM

View Postdragnier1, on 17 July 2014 - 10:17 AM, said:

Somehow it looks too wordy...



Im on it!

Posted Image

Better?

Edited by Turist0AT, 17 July 2014 - 10:31 AM.


#9 Koniving

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 10:54 AM

View PostTurist0AT, on 17 July 2014 - 10:31 AM, said:

Im on it!

Better?

*Looks at the Awesome.* Man that thing's center torso is tiny!
*Looks at his Awesome in MWO.* Man this thing's center torso is HUGE!

I think I got screwed.

(Random funny note, in a picture full of alpha strikes, I love how the Awesome is only firing 2 PPCs, as if the artist knew you can't fire 3 at the same second in BT without an immediate shutdown).

Edited by Koniving, 17 July 2014 - 10:55 AM.


#10 Koniving

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 11:14 AM

Everyone has covered stuff in great detail and I'm late to the party so I'll keep mine short and simple....ish.

Trial mechs are loaners; just pretend whoever you are working for is loaning these to you. For 25 matches you will receive huge lump sums. The cheapest mech might be about 2 million, but kitting it out will need quite a bit more (and you won't be happy in it anyway it's a walking coffin).

As suggested wait until after 25 matches and the final cadet bonus.

View PostCzerkthejerk, on 17 July 2014 - 07:47 AM, said:

Unfortunately, being a day 2 player, that's about all I got since I don't yet understand the lingo here.


On the subject of lingo.. I refer you to this post in the short question, short answer thread... it may need some updating in terms of imagery/screenshots but it still holds true. It includes, of course, explanations of the weapon types, difference between normal and pulse lasers, what ER means, etc. In the spoiler at the bottom, it also has a lot of lingo and what they mean. Now it's certainly not a Clanner (the invading sleek mechs with completely different weapons that should not be on the same side but is until the next stage of the game is ready) dictionary, but it will help you out quite a bit.

View PostCzerkthejerk, on 17 July 2014 - 07:47 AM, said:

So anyway, third gripe is I go into the mechlab to maybe window shop until I have enough mulah for one and it says I own all of these mechs, yet we all know I do not. Also, is there any way I could buy just the chassis or the weapons and what not separately? I like having something my own in games like these. Please help. I'm drowning.


If you would like to window shop, I'm aware the store is there but it's incomplete. On Mechlab, click "Filter" and "Purchasable"
Posted Image
to see all the mechs currently available for MC and/or Cbills. Note that is real money and is what you earn from playing or "credits."

I use a low resolution because I find the words impossible to see at high ones, but here's the info when you select a mech you haven't bought and want to see its stats.
Posted Image
I should note that I'm on the hero mech tab, which are all only mechs.

Though now, for better details you can get them by pressing the new mech config button leading you to see this screen.
Posted Image
What you're seeing in this example is one of my Orion loadouts.

Edited by Koniving, 17 July 2014 - 11:18 AM.


#11 Maver0ick

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 11:49 AM

Welcome Czerkthejerk!

Jody Von Jedi has already given the perfect guide to buying your first mech.

I should add that most people you will be playing against will already have the efficiencies on their mechs unlocked so if you are not able to perform as well as them at the beginning it is ok and it does not necessarily mean that you choose a bad mech. You will want to unlock those efficiencies yourself and to unlock all the efficiencies you will have to grind 3 variants of the same chassis so like the others have said, take you time and make sure that you like the playstyle of the mech before you buy.

Also to clarify what the others said, when you buy a mech stock, it will not have the upgrades that the trial mechs have and you will have to spend some additional Comstar Bills to put in the upgrades if you don't want to run a sub par configuration.

#12 TheCaptainJZ

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 12:11 PM

I also want to add that any mech you start with will probably feel like it sucks at first. Partly because you have no mech skills unlocked, and partly because you haven't gotten used to the feel of the game. Just don't go off and sell whatever you do get because it doesn't feel successful--that takes time. Having your own mech (customizable!) is still far better than none at all, even if the mech itself is not a top tier mech. In other words, some mechs are innately better than others, but you can make any mech work for you if you give it time and thought. Success is relative.

#13 countTZT

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 12:15 PM

My first mech was the Spider SDR - 5k.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...02da8213246694c


With 4 machine guns and a Er Large Lasers gives a nice punch at short range against lights and an aviable long range weapons.

Jump jets allow him to go aroung as he wants, and the XL engine gives notable speed.

I doesn't overheat, that is good for new players.

And finally, with the cade bonus you can buy it and fully upgrade, and with the money left you can start to save to buy the other 2 variants and master it.

#14 Dremnon

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 12:35 PM

Welcome Czer!

To answer the question that this thread is asking, my answer to you would be to get one of the Shadow Hawk variants. They're relatively inexpensive (~4.5 million per variant), offer decent speed and survivability, and allow for many different viable load outs (both long range and short range) which will allow you to get a feel on what type of play style is best suited for you. In total I've played around 7000 matches to date with 33 different mechs, and I find that the Shadow Hawks are one of mech variants I play and enjoy the most.

Also as people have already mentioned, save your C-Bills and utilize the smurfy website that countTZT posted above so you can build your mech before you buy it.

Most importantly, don't get discouraged and have fun!

#15 Ballimbo

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 01:40 PM

Hi and welcome.

Many good things already said (written?) here, so I'll make only a short note:

Take a look at the List Of Community Created Guides/tutorials

There you'll find a cornucopia of guides, threads with information and what not. Everything really good stuff.
For your specific questions, I recommend to take a look at "Buying and Selling Battlemechs" guide from Spike Brave on that list.

So hoist the flag and have good fun among us bizarre-dudes-who-love-stompy-robots-from-something-strange-but-beautyful-called-battletech


On a sidenote: I spent my cadet-bonus on a Trebuchet 5J. Because, you know... no, actually I don't know, but I somehow have a strange urge to go with all the mechs no one talks about. (Neither for good nor for bad). And then, even go for the supposed worst variant on those chassis. Anyway, the Trebuchet isn't a bad mech by no means, but I felt awkwardly misplaced in that thing by the time back then. And then.... I went... and sold it to get something else! Boy *sigh*. Now I think I would be doing much better in it, but yeah, what shall I say... I was young and ignorant then :) Bottom line: don't sell a mech, if you can avoid it. You never know if you will play it later on when things have changed, or you have changed over time for that matter.

P.S. What, there is not one single video inlcuded in Konivings post? That's a bit worrisome... :ph34r:

#16 Nothing Whatsoever

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 02:19 PM

View PostCzerkthejerk, on 17 July 2014 - 07:47 AM, said:

I've been saving up and I have around 2mil credits to spend on mechs. I read in the forums a "Leon the Professional" analogy about how us noobs should start with long range heavy mechs and then move closer in range. Unfortunately, being a day 2 player, that's about all I got since I don't yet understand the lingo here.


Just wanted to make clear, that that was in jest for that particular thread, so it shouldn't be taken seriously (I happen to like that movie, and play FO:NV that has a perk referencing the movie, which was why I shared that in that thread).

Everyone will have different comfort levels using different weapons on different mechs; and many play styles are viable for new players once they get a feel for MWO's mechanics and maps.

I myself began playing MWO in Commandos before the Cadet Bonus when we had Repair and Rearm, so fear not if you are a new player you're off to a good starting with this game seeking advice here.

There is tons of great advice on the forums, and we will help you and don't forget to watch youtube gameplay videos to also help you decide on your first mech!

#17 bar10jim

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 02:44 PM

Hello and welcome.

First off, don't buy anything until you finish your cadet bonus.

Second, one more item I would like to add concerns the selection of your first mech. When you decide on a chassis ( I strongly recommend the Shadowhawk), you will notice that one of the variants usually has a higher cost. In the case of the Shadowhawk, the 5M costs 8 million cbills while the other variants cost ~ 4.4 million. The difference is that the 5M comes with an XL engine. Keep in mind that if you buy the 5M first, you can pull the engine and use it in the other variants when you purchase them (or other chassis, for that matter). You can save quite a bit of cbills in this game if can use the same engine in multiple mechs.

BTW, the single most useful engine in the game is the 300 XL. I've used it at various times (and various build) in my Jenners, Centurians, Trebuchets, Shadowhawks, Jagermechs, Thunderbolts, Cataphracts, Battlemasters, and Highlanders. Not always successfully, but it is still the *almost* universal engine.

#18 Ertur

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 03:51 PM

View PostXeno Phalcon, on 17 July 2014 - 07:56 AM, said:


Trial mechs are "Champion" variants, that is they took a regular version and upgraded it , added a meager bonus to xp and then priced it with real money (known as Mech Credits) so the only way to actually own a trial mech is to buy it with real money.


While this is true, you can buy the base variant with CBills and use CBills to upgrade them to be the same as the champion build. It's a grind getting the CBills, kinda, but the only thing you lose is the minor EXP bonus. If you are planning on spending real money, then some mechs (The Jenner F, for example) are possibly worth-while to get the champion version; but it isn't neccesary.
Having played other versions of MechWarrior, I started off knowing I wanted to be a light/medium pilot so I started off with Jenners. Starting as a light pilot is hard, though, as is starting with an assault. Generally mediums and heavies are recommended to start with. However, don't do anything too early. You have 25 or so matches where you get a massive bonus to earnings. Use each of the trial mechs and see if any of them work better for you than the others. That will let you get a sense for what weight class may be best suited for your style of play.

#19 Troggy

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 04:00 PM

It's slightly dated, but this is a very informative thread for anyone looking to buy their first mech. Much discussion.

http://mwomercs.com/...mech-tier-list/

#20 Maver0ick

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Posted 17 July 2014 - 06:07 PM

View PostPraetor Knight, on 17 July 2014 - 02:19 PM, said:

There is tons of great advice on the forums, and we will help you and don't forget to watch youtube gameplay videos to also help you decide on your first mech!


Also Koniving doesn't sleep so he is available 7/24 to answer questions and give advice.

Edited by Maverdick, 17 July 2014 - 06:08 PM.






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