96 replies to this topic

[Koniving]

Dragons, while incredibly awesome (After using Clan mechs, the Dragons are even easier to use than I've ever experienced before; it's almost the same experience as driving with the speed of and arms of a Nova while hauling the body of a Timber Wolf), are plagued with a small but simple fact...

...If you don't know how to use the arms, you'll never have fun with it. And most players don't ease into using the arms too well when already trying to learn most of it.

[Orbit Rain]

If you're ok with throwing 55 bucks straight at the devs, I'd get a MadCat/Timberwolf...

Jaegers will let you use any weapon system, and you can experiment with fast/slow builds with lighter/heavier loadouts. You're gonna want to figure out how to easy-mode with a build eventually...because at some point you're gonna be sitting on an xp and a cbill "grind" of sorts, wishing you could make/have more cbills...

Atlas is a beast...obviously...if you know how to play it right...expensive as hell for a beginner, that'll need to learn *while* grinding for cbills. Of course I'm doing it cash-free on an alt-account. Have all the free bays, got the free mechs on it too, so plenty a mech-bays. Got the two Atlases when they were half-off for cbills. Started D-DC, was gonna buy the D next, basic it, then grind for the RS in the RS trial...(thank you for the cbill sale PGI! - yet somehow I think at some point I'll have to drop some cash into this account too...

Anyways...if you've tried the Blackjack, that still works in the current meta imho...AC/20 always should. Wolverine splats are gonna be better and more fun than a Centurion srm build...given enough jump-jets and speed...If you can figure out lrms, they're good money makers....Orions are best for that in the heavies IMO (well, probably not better than an A-1...don't think I'd throw you down that road, but if you(want* to *really* learn the hows and why's behind lrm'ing...master out an A-1 with max engine jump jets and 6x;rm5's... I digress...

Orion's can run all weapons too, like the Jaegermechs. Different spots the bullets they come from Jaeger's are pretty damn easy to aim. If you want to go light, start with a spider or a raven, so you'll have ecm, and learn where the "edge" of the battle starts...and how long it should take to get there.

With assaults...let's face it...*nothing* wants to get caught out by a 3xAC/5 2ppc Banshee. 4xAC5 jaegers are like that. If you shut down for ten seconds..someone's gonna put 20 points of damage on a particular spot every second and a half. Mediums...to learn....for the love of God don't take a hunchie at this point in our mechwarrior timeline. Of course you could pay the price up front, and do it on a hunchback...probably learn more paranoia and caution than you would with the stronger chassis...lol

Lights you could do jenners...6ML jenner...I mean come on..it's a beast. I sometimes think I should run it more...definitely a different game and mindset than flying around from flank to flank flinging lrm's.

Me, I'd said F' it and grind the Atlases (with the resets this'll be the fourth time I've done it, come to think of it), also the BJ-1 Champion build, of course, since it's my build. Grinding for cbills for DHS's is actually a nice break from the 115 mastered mechs and 360 million cbills I'm sitting on on this account...and btw people...new people really are pretty damn lol bad...I can see why some bad habits/builds kinda creep up the Elo chain....only to get hammered down at some point...but I digress...

The more I think of it, if you want to go ape**** srm brawling...wolverine or shadowhawk...

: )

[Hervedgerse]

ice trey, on 28 July 2014 - 03:28 AM, said:

Firstly, my advice to you is "Take what's comfortable, not what's Meta"

Rest cut for space.

This is very solid advice. From my personal experience I'm too aggressive for the wait and poke game. So if you liked SRMs the Wolverine is a great starter chassis because of its durability and jump jets on 2/3 variants. One variant has ballistics too. The best part is they are mediums so you can afford to purchase and upgrade them. They're like fast centurions with jump jets.

Good luck with you decision.

[Koniks]

I'd recommend looking at the Thunderbolts, Quickdraws, and Orions.

TDRs give you a lot of flexibility to learn energy, ballistics, and missiles. They can go fast or slow. You'll be able to learn how to torso twist well with a STD engine since they have decent hitboxes. They can take asymmetrical loadouts so you can use cover to shoot without exposing your whole mech. Some of them have high mounted torso hardpoints which you can use to fire from defilade behind hills. There's also a jump jet variant so you can learn the finer points of that, too. The ballistics are in the arm, so you're not going to be able to use an AC20. They're decent out of the box but a bit hot. The STD 260 has somewhat limited use in other mechs.

Quickdraws have some of the best torso agility in the game. None of the CBill variants have ballistics and their missile tube counts are a bit limited. So you can learn SRM brawling but not really LRMishing. The STD 300 engines will be useful in lots of mechs.

Orions are real tanks and offer similar versatility to the TDRs with a bit less energy but more missiles. The side torsos are not particularly friendly for XL engines, so the only time to use one is with LRMs or a long range build. The ballistics are in the torso so you can take an AC20 if that strikes your fancy. Most variants are loaded with STD 300 engines stock. The ON1-M is a bargain since it comes with an XL300 which will be useful in lots of mechs as well as double heat sinks at below retail price. The downside of the chassis is its hitboxes. The arms don't really shield the side torsos well, they're low slung so you might turf a lot of shots, and they're also an easy target.

Edited by Mizeur, 28 July 2014 - 06:16 PM.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Kay Wolf, on 28 July 2014 - 01:52 PM, said:

Scrutinizer, let me just say that, without having read everything before -I read about half of it-, apart from going to Smurfy's and trying out multiple builds, ALL of the previous advice is bollocks.

My two favorite 'Mechs from BattleTech are the Catapult and Wolverine; I have tried out every other 'Mech in the arsenal, apart from Clans, as you actually have to put money to those, and I've no interest in them, and the two 'Mechs I drive the most are my Wolverine and my Catapult. If you like something from previous experience, you're likely to like it, again, once you have the opportunity to master it out.

If you don't have any favorites, stick with the advice these guys are giving. The one 'Mech I never did notice in the mix was the Dragon... I wonder why?

Once you have your basic chassis, start working with it, don't give up on it, do what you can with it, build it up, and your purposes on the battlefield will soon be fulfilled.

<S>

Sadly though, if I go with what I love, it'd be a TBolt, wide as an Awesome, clan bait for sure. Something like this:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9f87e1d906e9a9a

Really sucks I wasn't here when PGI was giving the damned things away.

[Kiiyor]

The Central Scrutinizer, on 28 July 2014 - 03:11 AM, said:

If experienced pilots can spare the time for a lengthy thread from a struggling & aspiring Mechwarrior, you'll have my gratitude.

Here's my situation.

I finished my Cadet matches.....horribly. I realize stats, especially this early, mean nothing, but 0 kills, 24 deaths and 18/25 losses later, it was all I could do to keep from just uninstalling, and go play a game I'm actually good at.

I have 9.4 million Cbills to burn on that 1st owned Mech, but I don't want to buy something I'll later come to despise and I'm paralyzed in deciding what Mech is right for me, here's why:

I played all the light Mechs. On occasion I did a fair amount of damage, but where 'speed is life' for a lot of you, mostly speed was far too stressful and challenging on my old arthritic hands and lack of twitch reflexes.

I played the mediums. The venerable Centurion, with the exception of one match where the enemy team was clearly mentally challenged, usually ended up with some Clan Deity blowing my brains clean out....why a brand new player gets thrown in amongst those wolves (pun intended) is clearly beyond my comprehension..The Devs must surely hate noobs....I did, however, seem to have an affinity for aiming those SRMs

The Trial Shadowhawk, in all it's Meta glory, a monster of the battlefield in capable hands, was by far my worst showing of any Mech of any weight I tried. I am not, nor ever will be a jump sniper (which may spell my doom in playing MWO). The Mech felt clunky, unresponsive and the visibility in the cockpit was a HUGE handicap for me.

The heavies showed promise, however the weapons on that Orion seemed unable to deter TWolves, SCrows, etc. from out DPSing me long before I could find any cover. The Cataphract, well again, jump-combat eludes me, and I felt like a huge target most of the time, even when I tried torso twisting my a$$ off to avoid punishment.

The assaults? One time I almost got a few kills in that cow of a Highlander, but they were 'secured' by other pilots. Mostly it was a bad fit for me. The missile laden Catapult that cannot jump was a death trap. Even when my missiles CLEARLY hit their intended targets, red reticles and all, the actual damage was surprisingly miniscule. The Victor felt like it had a "Shoot Me" sign on it and I rarely got close enough to do real damage, or if I did, I wasn't alive long enough to sustain it.

I want to spend that 9-ish million on a Mech that suits me, but have NO idea what the hell that would even be, especially with the pittance I earned after 25 matches.

In theory, I'd like something kind of "tanky" that can deal a big damage blow up front then retreat a bit to cool down. I'm fond of autocannons, especially the AC/20 and SRMs with artemis would be great too. Speed between 70-90 when tweaked would be sufficient enough for me.

I don't want a medium, pretty sure a heavy, MAYBE an assault would be ideal. What really, really sucks is that the Mechs I would love to play, either by PGI's scaling, or the meta & clan tech of this game, are pretty much turds by any sensible players standards.

TBolts are wide as an Awesome, an Awesome simply isn't, Jagers are glass cannons and Orions do nothing other Mechs can't do better. The Phract 3D would take me a month of grinding to buy & outfit, the Misery is the only Stalker with a ballistic weapon.

So here I sit, looking at a meager 9.4 million in currency with not the foggiest clue what the hell to buy.

Sure, I could just break out the credit card next week on payday and buy a Clanner, or wait till damned near 2015 to buy a good one with Cbills. But honestly, I'd like to be playing NOW, in my shiny new, hard earned Mech.

Ponderous man, ponderous

Constructive advice entirely welcomed, thanks in advance.


*** edited for typos

Stick at it! The trial mechs are a good intro, but can be unforgiving, ESPECIALLY if you're driving lights and mediums. I think the weight classes are reversed from the lore in MWO for new player performance; the skill curve for surviving and doing decent damages increases greatly the lighter mechs go.

I believe that new players should try their hand at support to get to know the ropes. Brawling, striking and Harassing are very, very unforgiving playstyles for new players, whereas missiles and long range direct fire support are far more forgiving ways to learn how not to die feebly. Sitting at a comfortable distance behind some cover and filling your enemies with missiles or Dakka is, IMHO, a far better way to get to grips with the game.

So, depending on your playstyle, my recommendation would be the Jagermech.

The Yagerbomb is a near perfect support mech. High mounted arms with tiny hitboxes allow you to peek over cover and expose very little of yourself to return fire while you fill the enemy with Dakka. You can mount a fairly potent variety of missiles or lasers, but it's big strength is Dakka. It is reasonably fragile for a heavy, but if you play carefully and sit near the rear of your group, you should do well.

3 AC5's are very potent, even against the Clans. Dual Gauss is hilarious, and though it was once frowned upon, it's not cheese in any form when compared to the legions of DireWolves and MadCats slaughtering their way across the battlefields.

If you're really struggling though, i'd advise visiting the corp/clan forums and asking for help from one of the units there. They're usually very welcoming to new players, and there are even units that don't require you to have teamspeak/comms.

[Straylight]

drinniol, on 28 July 2014 - 03:21 AM, said:

What about a Catapult K2? High weapon mounts are the next best thing to jump jets, very good speed and especially twist, good survivability and you won't get focused as fast as an Assualt mech.

I'll second that. I'm working on my Catapult masteries now, and running my K2 with 2 PPCs, an AC/10, two ML, and an XL300. It's quick and agile for its size, and it delivers a strong punch with very short time on target, meaning that you can pop out of cover and blast someone without exposing yourself to the long beam durations of Clan machines.

It's not a brawler; getting into a Circle of Death is a bad idea (it's called that for a reason), but it's good at hunting down enemy fire support 'mechs in the early game, and in the mid- and late game good at finishing off wounded targets. In particular, I like going after DDCs from beyond the range of their inevitable autocannon. Keeping their ECM suppressed and their team exposed has won me more than a few matches.

[Threat Doc]

It might be as wide as an awesome, but the bodies on the Clan 'Mechs are even larger, in general. It has to be something of a personal choice... if you go with a meta build, or you go with something you're uncertain you're going to like, you're going in the wrong direction, and being unhelpful as far as trying to get this community away from meta-builds as much as possible. Besides, PGI did it with the Centurion, and may do it with the T-Bolt, when they get time, to reduce the component visual sizes, and the hit boxes, as well. PGI began making hit box passes about two months before the Clans, got about six 'Mechs done, including the Centurion, before the Clans, but then redirected everything to support that bloody launch, and now they're supposed to be getting back to business as usual, redirecting toward the creation of Community Warfare, but also getting out maps, 'Mechs, balance to weapons, hit boxes, etc. So, you never know when they might get to your T-Bolt, if that's what you decide to go with?

[Appogee]

Sounds like you had a remarkably bad cadet run. In your situation, I'd be inclined to get a new id and start over. You'll probably do much better.

Something else you could consider is buying a single Hero Mech. Levelled and properly equipped Mechs are much better than trial Mechs. Plus you earn +30% bills and XP and level/buy other Mechs much faster. They're half price for the next 12 hours, too.

In terms of which Hero: the advice "Take what's comfortable, not what's Meta" applies. Some Heroes (Ilya) are much better than others (Pretty Baby)... but only if they suit your playing style.

I generally encourage new players to go for Heavy Mechs, as they are a sweet spot which can tank somewhat while still being able to move freely.

Edited by Appogee, 28 July 2014 - 10:39 PM.

[CocoaJin]

How about a Jagermech? I haven't run one, but you can wield some ACs, plus some lasers to supplement the limited ammo stores.

Ideally the turret like construction will simplify gunnery, even though it might leave you vulnerable to smaller, fast movers once they get in close.

The hit boxes have large side toro surface area, this might only be a major concern if you mounted an XL engine or stored ammo in them.

The high weapon mounts could aid firing from cover, behind hills, some structures/obstacles, etc.

Use it to escort Assaults. Hang behind them, have your Assaults draw fire, concentrate your fire on your Assault's target while moving out from behind cover and/or flanked out to the side a bit. Use it to swat lighter mechs off your Assaults and other Heavies.

Use the ACS to frazzle your Assault's target. Between your Assault's fire and your unexpected barrage of ACs, the opponent will think he is taking more of a beating than he really is. It's bound to put him in a defensive posture and allow you two to gain the advantage in damage output.

Don't seek kills on your own...steal them. Let the bigger, badder chassis draw all the attention, just focus on the parts of the armor he has worn away on his target.

[Charronn]

Jaegermechs are probably my favourite heavy.High mounted ballistics mean less face time,which means you live longer.The S variant is probably the most versatile tho I run the DD cos I like big boobs.

[Koniving]

Thunderbolts.

2 versus Clans.


2 versus everything else.


Thunderbolt in fire support and cleanup role. There are some time skips, but 2:54 is when the action finally starts. First a long range engagement until I can no longer fight at range, then I come down to try and do some urban isolating and brawling.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Koniving, on 29 July 2014 - 12:02 AM, said:

Thunderbolts.

2 versus Clans.


2 versus everything else.


Thunderbolt in fire support and cleanup role. There are some time skips, but 2:54 is when the action finally starts. First a long range engagement until I can no longer fight at range, then I come down to try and do some urban isolating and brawling.

I got all the TS stuff taken care of and bookmarked your channel...sorry I've been unable to play just recently. I take care of 2 elderly parents in declining health and dementia. My mother tokk a terrible fall 2 days ago and I'm back & forth from there and home tending to her since my father is unable.

My brother lives one block away and when he returns from vacation in a couple days, he'll be taking over for a bit and i can play some MWO with you.

Thanks for your patience, hope the new job is going well for you!

[Koniving]

The Central Scrutinizer, on 29 July 2014 - 05:58 AM, said:

Thanks for your patience, hope the new job is going well for you!

Sounds like you've got your hands full, and thank you.

Also it's typically fine to truncate (cut down on) quotes when they're long.

Wish you luck and I'll see you when you can get on.

[xeromynd]

Here's the twentieth post advising you to get a Jagermech. Start with the S, then move to the DD, and then if you like them enough, get the Firebrand (best purchase I've made in MWO).

Jagers are only glass cannons if you use stock armor. Armor up, get Endo Steel, and load on the high mounted weapons. I believe you can fit two PPCs and an AC5 on it with a STD engine, so there's your meta-compliant non-squishy XL jager. Or just stick twin AC20 or Gauss on any variant and go to town. But remember, you're support, not a brawler. If you go up against a Timberwolf solo, you'll probably lose. Especially if you have an XL.

[Koniving]

Jagers.

Spoiler

Lance firesupport (lore-friendly-ish). 4-man.


Joke Jager tops team.


Two-man (well guy and girl). Support Jager and Centurion


Jager with my current favorite loadout. (Suddenly Shadowhawk! Suddenly rust-pile!)


And if you didn't have enough Flamer and Shotty Jagers... Another one with 3 kills and 333 damage.


Chase cam Jager.

Just because. >.>

[Redshift2k5]

The Central Scrutinizer, on 28 July 2014 - 06:05 PM, said:

Sadly though, if I go with what I love, it'd be a TBolt, wide as an Awesome, clan bait for sure. Something like this:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9f87e1d906e9a9a

Really sucks I wasn't here when PGI was giving the damned things away.

That's more firepower than any of my Summoners for less tonnage, with only a small loss in speed (and a nice big standard engine for survivability)

Edited by Redshift2k5, 29 July 2014 - 06:31 AM.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

The Jagers with more than two cannons, or two cannons & PPCs is attractive, but damned if I can smurfy one up with a standard engine that either isn't well over 11 million cbills, lacking armor, or ammo.

Then I again, I'm new at this!

[xeromynd]

Koniving, on 29 July 2014 - 06:24 AM, said:

Jagers.

Spoiler

Lance firesupport (lore-friendly-ish). 4-man.


Joke Jager tops team.


Two-man (well guy and girl). Support Jager and Centurion


Jager with my current favorite loadout. (Suddenly Shadowhawk! Suddenly rust-pile!)


And if you didn't have enough Flamer and Shotty Jagers... Another one with 3 kills and 333 damage.


Chase cam Jager.

Just because. >.>

Please stop.
This post makes me want the old weapon sounds too much.
That PPC though. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhghgh

[Koniving]

For some reason I didn't see the build link before.
Aside from perhaps shifting at least 11 armor to the back side (that way 2 PPCs doesn't devastate you from behind and you can feel comfortable turning your back briefly), the only change I might do since this is a heavily energy-focused build with jumpjets... is trade 1 ML (the IS MLs in this game are much hotter than they should be anyway) for 1 additional jumpjet. Here.

Though if you were purely against IS mechs, I'd drop the SRM for streaks, and the LLs for PPCs. Front loaded damage is brutal. I'd rather face a Clan mech than an IS PPC + AC/5 combination any day of the week.