83 replies to this topic

[Scavenger77]

Hello,

I'm very new to this game. I know the table top version from the late 80's early 90's. (I haven't played it active) And i now found out that it now is online. It looks very interesting to me.

A little to my motivation to write this post. I want to become quickly a acceptable pilot which can help the team to win and not to be a burden to it.

Last years i've played a lot "World Of Tanks" (WoT). Honestly i was not the best players there, but also not the worst.

Ihope you can help me a little bit to get fast familiar with this game.

I've two questions:
Q1: Are there some kind of "Training Clans" in this game? Where Rookies, like me, can learn fast how the game mechanics work in this game? I think about things like draw distance and scouting range/view range.
Q2: Which kind of mech should i choose? Which one fits best to newbie to learn the game? (For example in WoT it is/was the KV-1.)

Many thanks in advance for your answer.

Edit on August,13th 2014: Here a quick link to a summary of 80 posts full of knowledge: http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__3636470

Edited by Scavenger77, 13 August 2014 - 09:16 AM.

[Koniving]

1) There isn't per sé but several individuals have taken it upon themselves to help others out.
The most neutral of these parties is the No Guts No Galaxy.
http://www.nogutsnogalaxy.net/
Just click the "Teamspeak" in the upper left, it'll try to open your teamspeak 3 and ask if you want to bookmark, connect, or bookmark and connect.

2) While we can spam answers to this, you may regret choosing a mech that gets told to you if your playstyle can't be fit into that mech. So it's best to discover how you play MWO first, and give us an idea which can then allow people to focus on mechs and starting builds that would suit you.

[Modo44]

Welcome to MWO.

As Koniving said, hop on the NGNG Teamspeak, and try to group up.

Check out the community guides.

You can also watch the Twitch streamers. Unlike with other games, the chat will not give you cancer -- ask away. Some will also invite viewers to drop with them.

[Redshift2k5]

Playing in a group can certainly make the adjustment easier, you'll have players to learn from both in terms of answering questions on the spot and showing tactics & teamwork in play.

There is no easy answer for what mech to pick as a new player, since mechs cover some broad ranges; Lights play very differently than Assaults, and some will find the extreme speed of a light gives them the freedom to learn the map while others will feel the extra armor of an Assault will be more forgiving of small errors... There are trial mechs of various sizes, speeds, and loadouts, so try them all out to see if you want speed or armor or firepower, see which weapon sysems you enjoy, etc.

Think about how fast you want to go and which weapons you want to bring when you get there. If you want missiles that really changes your mech choices than if you want lasers or ballistics or some sort of mix or whatever you enjoy.

[JigglyMoobs]

If you want to be competitive, try watching these streams:

http://www.twitch.tv/mwopro

http://www.twitch.tv/jagerxii

The streamers are generally happy to answer game play questions.

Good luck and have fun!

Edited by JigglyMoobs, 28 July 2014 - 11:50 AM.

[CocoaJin]

What tanks did you enjoy the most and do well with in a WoT?

I ask, because the tanks I excelled at in WoT parallel the mechs I enjoy and do well in for MWO.

Edited by CocoaJin, 28 July 2014 - 11:37 PM.

[Charronn]

WOT..........nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
Fixed mm,fixed rng,siemkas,bots,ameobas,teamkillers and that's on the good team.Horrible horrible game and community.
Welcome to MWO,way better game and community.You won't go back after playing this (at least I never).

[TheCaptainJZ]

Since the good answers have been given, I'll go with this:
You play MWO correctly by playing for fun

[AlmightyAeng]

There is the option of going into the 'Testing Grounds' with either the trainer mechs, or mechs that you've bought and customized to test out weapons on non-moving dummy mechs and to learn the maps.

You can also, if you AND a friend have purchased and activated premium time, get together in a private match to do 1-on-1 training battles.

Hooking up with a group in Teamspeak (the NGNG reference is a good place to start) can also be a great boon...you aren't left alone and you have some idea of where you'll be most effective, position-wise, just by listening.

Feel free to throw invites to people in game that post here in the new-player section...most of us have a TS that we use, either privately or with a clan/merc corp/household, and you'll receive a surprising number of invitations to come hang out and play, if not necessarily to join (and some rampant recruitment offers as well, I'm sure, heheh).

Edited by Ghost Badger, 29 July 2014 - 05:59 AM.

[Koniving]

Ghost Badger, on 29 July 2014 - 05:39 AM, said:

There is the option of going into the 'Training Grounds' with either the trainer mechs, or mechs that you've bought and customized to test out weapons on non-moving dummy mechs and to learn the maps.

Testing Grounds.

Training Grounds forces a Cataphract 3D.

[mailin]

Mainly all the answers have been given. Welcome to MWO, and I'm glad that you're posting on here. I really wonder how many new players get frustrated and leave the game because they haven't found how useful this forum can be.

[Scavenger77]

Many thanks for your answers!

I will try the twitch channels first, also the training grounds, and the NGNG after i get my microphone working.

@CocoaJin - I mostly enjoyed playing TD's and arty. My situational awareness wasn't that good at all. Being at the frontline wasn't my play styl. It was better for me staying in the 3rd line and give the others cover while they crush the enemy.

[CocoaJin]

Scavenger77, on 29 July 2014 - 10:35 AM, said:

I will try the twitch channels first, also the training grounds, and the NGNG after i get my microphone working.

@CocoaJin - I mostly enjoyed playing TD's and arty. My situational awareness wasn't that good at all. Being at the frontline wasn't my play styl. It was better for me staying in the 3rd line and give the others cover while they crush the enemy.

LRMs and Sniper builds for you in heavy or assault chassis. I'm not sure which chassis and build, its outside my expertise...I ran M24 Chaffee and Lorraine 40Ts with brutal effectiveness...to the point I used to call guys out from across the map, letting them now I was going to kill them (here is my horn, I'm gonna toot it).
In MWO, I used(computer died over a year ago)a Cicada to great effect...considering my exclusive PuG play.

Edited by CocoaJin, 29 July 2014 - 04:56 PM.

[IraqiWalker]

Scavenger77, on 29 July 2014 - 10:35 AM, said:

@CocoaJin - I mostly enjoyed playing TD's and arty. My situational awareness wasn't that good at all. Being at the frontline wasn't my play styl. It was better for me staying in the 3rd line and give the others cover while they crush the enemy.

As cocoa Jin said, LRMs and snipers are for you.

These are the chassis I would recommend for each weight class:

Light:
RVN-3L (it's 2xERLL build is a decent damage sniper build)
SDR-5D (it has Jumpjets, and ECM, however it's the only one you'd enjoy out of the spider line up)


Medium:
CDA-3M(2xERPPC+ECM)
Blackjack(all variants can become snipers because of their high mounted "arm" weapons)
Hunchbck (with a gauss rifle, can be a decent sniper. Significantly better as a second line mech with AC 20)
Trebuchet (Good for both long range sniping, and LRM support fire. It's fast enough to keep up with the main body too.)
Shadowhawk (toted as the king of the medium mechs, it's adept mostly at sniping and suppression fire, can use LRMs effectively as well)
Griffin(LRM boat would be it's only role for you, however get used to flying, as these babies mount lots of JJs, they also have good cockpits)
Kintaro (LRM boat as well, missile heavy, with decent energy fall back weapons)

Heavies:
Catapult (most variants other than Jester, and K2 are LRM boats, the A1 is just missiles, LOTS of missiles)
Jagermech (wonderful sniper mech, and one variant can also mount LRMs for double whammy support. It's a bigger, more armored Blackjack)
Cataphract (The king of Dakka, and can mount lots of ballistics, which are a great sniper weapon)

I would recommend the Orion as it is a great heavy mech, but only 2 variants can really mount LRMs, and it's not good as a sniper.

Assaults:
Awesome (Good for sniper roles with energy weapons, but significantly better as an LRM boat)
Battlemaster (known for having high energy mounts, the mech can be a decent sniper with the 1G variant, and a great LRM boat with the BLR-1S variant)
Stalker (great LRM boat, and can mount a scary number of energy weapons, allowing to be an energy sniper)

Banshee (can pull off sniper, but I think it's much better as a front line brawler).

Play at least 10 matches in each weight class using trial mechs, then tell us what you found out.

After that, we can help you pick a mech, and I am willing to personally help you build it to the pristine murder machine that you want it to be.

[plodder]

One thing you might try when confused as what to do, hit control f4, it will stop the game so you can think without distractions.

No, really, my only advice is, never use center torso function, and focus on where your legs are directed solely, and make them your primary focus, your torso will follow.

And, find more geeks in teamspeak, the knowledge and a little wisdom they leak, and reek with victories, bogus and chic, they boldly attack, or bolder sneak.
P.s. watch out for evil Jenners. You will know which ones they are by the fact they are Jenners. Gl hf

[JigglyMoobs]

Guys, another important bit of advice is to tell your team that you are brand new at the start of the match. This will make them often much nicer and more encouraging to you. Otherwise they can get really frustrated with you.

Rage happens n this game. A simple guys im new please give me tips and advice can innoculate people's heads from exploding.

[JigglyMoobs]

http://mwomercs.com/...ger-1-answered/

[Hamish McPiton]

Try out the trial Cataphract (I wish it had a regular ac10 instead of the lbx) or the Catapult. You can snipe with the 'Phract's lasers or LRM with the Catapult. And don't worry about being a newbie - I've seen several players that brag about being here since closed beta that really aren't so hot. Try to learn the maps and where most people go - pretty soon you'll be an asset to your team, and start to figure out what mech you want to buy.

Another thing is ignore non-helpful people in chat when playing - I had a genius berating me for not helping attack in the tunnel in Forest Colony, "um -I'm using LRMS here" "blah blah blame QQ wah wah you suck blah blah"
Dead man talking talks nothing of help. How about "ecm Atlass and two mediums exiting our side" or something helpful? - nope. Ignore them.

[Scavenger77]

Hello

many thanks for all of your advices and tips.
I've started trying the trial mechs in the training grounds. I will stay there until i've found some mechs which i can handle.

Yesterday i've tested some heavies and meds. The Highlander and the Shadow Hawk got as trial mechs range weapons i think, because of the 675m range in the highlander and 620m in the Shadow Hawk. In this mechs i feel quite comfortable at the training grounds. Also i've tested one or two mechs (sorry, i've forgotten to note their names) with the long range missiles. This weapon typ doesn't make much damage. At least i haven't done much damage at the training targets.
I will keep up trying there and give you more informations tommorow evening.

I'm looking forward to play my first matches against human players at the weekend.

[IraqiWalker]

Scavenger77, on 30 July 2014 - 07:42 AM, said:

Hello

many thanks for all of your advices and tips.
I've started trying the trial mechs in the training grounds. I will stay there until i've found some mechs which i can handle.

Yesterday i've tested some heavies and meds. The Highlander and the Shadow Hawk got as trial mechs range weapons i think, because of the 675m range in the highlander and 620m in the Shadow Hawk. In this mechs i feel quite comfortable at the training grounds. Also i've tested one or two mechs (sorry, i've forgotten to note their names) with the long range missiles. This weapon typ doesn't make much damage. At least i haven't done much damage at the training targets.
I will keep up trying there and give you more informations tommorow evening.

I'm looking forward to play my first matches against human players at the weekend.

Be sure to acquire your locks before firing, and yes, LRMs individually don't deal much damage, especially since the salvo spread and hits multiple parts, unlike other weapons where you can aim accurately.

The advantage for LRMs in return is that they are hard to miss a shot with, if you have a lock, and can fit scary amounts of ammo into a mech, allowing for sustained fire, and good support. Basically, they will net you high damage, and assist numbers in a game, but might not get that many kills. However, they are a force multiplier. Allowing you to turn any 1v1 fight within 1000 meters of you into a 2v1 fight almost immediately.

I think you may have tried the Catapult-A1. Did it also have Streak SRMs?