21 replies to this topic

[Sara Stampede]

There are probably a million threads like this already, but I figured another wouldn't hurt. The community here is so cool, I feel very safe posting an "I'm a returning newbie who hasn't played in over a year, what do I need to know?" thread.

So. I'm a returning newbie who hasn't played in over a year. What do I need to know?

A bit of background: I come from a pretty rich background in tabletop BattleTech, so I'm very well versed in the actual mechs, their various builds, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Luckily, this game is so faithful to the source material that all of that knowledge translates almost DIRECTLY to useful game knowledge.

I played pretty steadily for a few months about a year ago, but due to life circumstances, I had to take an extended break, and never picked the game back up afterward. I only own 2 mechs - a CPLT-C4 Catapult (which I ~LOVE~) and my "Rifleman", the Firebrand Jagermech.

I'm rejoining the game now, and loving it just as much as I was before. There's definite things I need to relearn, but a lot of it is like riding a bike. What I'm really more concerned about is the meta-game... What is the easiest role for a newbie to fall into with relatively little experience? What should my next mech purchase be? is it worth it to focus on one particular chassis, buying the variants and leveling up the skills on each, or should I branch out a bit and have a different mech for various situations? Are there any useful resources I should review (videos or written guides) that are popular for learning the parts of this game that aren't taught in the tutorial?

Thanks in advance for your help, everyone! Good hunting! o7

[MadTulip]

glhf !

[Agelmar]

CW is coming soon^TM.

So you should decide on Clan or IS and master 1 light, 1 medium, 1 heavy, 1 assault so you can participate. I'd suggest watching twitch streams. Ngng, JagerXII, Deltaspectra, Sebnitu.

You should also get on a TS, again either ngng, ComStar NA, or Mercstar are all active TS servers to find people to group up with and ask questions.

[Sara Stampede]

I'll be playing Inner Sphere, as I want to make sure I'm going to stick with the game before I start spending money on it. On your suggestion of mastering one of each weight class, I was thinking:

• Raven
  
• Centurion
  
• Catapult
  
• Banshee

I'm pretty set on the Catapult and Banshee - I used to play them all the time in tabletop, and I've been doing a bit of reading about how they translate into MW:O and it's still a pretty solid transition of the playstyles of those mechs.

I'm NOT as set about the Raven and Centurion. I figure for my light choice, I would like to go with an electronic warfare suite, which the Raven traditionally was. My medium choice is based largely on the idea of a mech that can move & punish, making it a good skirmisher. If there are mechs that would better fit those descriptions, by all means, PLEASE let me know. I haven't spent any c-bills yet, so I'm not committed to anything.

Twitch streams were my next stop, and you just put a bunch of waypoints on that map for me. Thank you!

[Redshift2k5]

Welcome back!

You have picked an exciting time to come back, if you can play 100 matches between now and you will be eligible for the one year anniversary gift; if you purchas(ed) MC at any point you will quality for an additional gift http://mwomercs.com/...iation-program/ (not a lot of time to catch-up but not impossible)

I answered a very similar post the other day so here it is:

Redshift2k5, on 16 September 2014 - 06:24 AM, said:

You can actually read over every patch note though http://mwomercs.com/...61-patch-notes/

Some notes in brief of balance changes that come to mind:

• multiple attempts to desynch gauss, ppc, and ACs (gauss charge time before firing, maximum of 2 gauss rifles charged at a time, slower, hotter PPC) to lessen one-shot-kills or absurdly high damage pin point alphas
  
• "ghost heat"/heat scale: mlutiples of weapons/related weapons if fired at the same time generate extra heat (such as medium lasers, you can fire 6 of them fine but if you fire 9 there is a penalty)
  
• LRMs changed a dozen times with different flight paths, speed changes, removal of splash damage, etc
  
• AC2s, AC5s and AC20s nerfed in max range, reload time, etc
  
• more quirks to give some chassis a buff and some chassis a nerf (awesome gets bonus heat dissipation, some battlemasters have nerfed torso twist, etc) see Smurfy's quirks list for full details
  
• Seismic sensor added then nerfed severely because it was really really good
  
• hill climb, bigger mechs have much more trouble going up slopes and go slower (no more full-speed atlases up a slope)
  
• some mechs got rebalanced hitboxes (Awesome, centurion, etc)
  
• Artillery and airstrikes added, biffed, nerfed, then limited to only one total and not one of each
  
• UAV added, very cool feature. Shoot enemy UAVs

Clan mechs were added last June which is a whoooooole other thing. Clans have clan XLs, lighter weapons, better equipment, omnipod swapping. No engine customization, often have big hitboxes. Clan lights much slower than IS lights. Clan ERPPC, Clan ACs/UltraACs, clan LRMs spread damage around a lot more than IS counterparts (Clan ballistics are burst-fire not solid slugs)





Clans tend to have better DPS but IS weapons do better pinpoint front loaded damage. Don't stare at a clan mech and let him pummel you in the CT, he probably has better DPS than you. Hit and run, shoot and twist, learn the hitboxes.

If you have specific questions please feel free to ask!

• What is the easiest role for a newbie to fall into with relatively little experience? Heavies are a good place to start, not too frail and not too slow. You will want to experiment with missiles, ballistics, etc (which you've probably done with your Cat and Firebrand)
  
• What should my next mech purchase be? You should probably complete "3 of a kind" for one of your existing chassis, need 3 to complete the skill tree and skills matter.
  
• is it worth it to focus on one particular chassis, buying the variants and leveling up the skills on each, or should I branch out a bit and have a different mech for various situations? Same as above. Jagermech and Catapult are a great chassis to start with.
  
• Are there any useful resources I should review (videos or written guides) that are popular for learning the parts of this game that aren't taught in the tutorial? We don't know what you don't know, but Spike Brave and Kanajashi post lots of great short tutorials here in the New Player Help section.

Please feel free to ask any specific questions you may have, you'll probably get more answers than you can handle

Edited by Redshift2k5, 17 September 2014 - 07:36 AM.

[Rogue Jedi]

unfortunately there is no great weapon for a beginner, some people may suggest LRMs but they are highly situational. as Lasers are instant travel and do not require you to lead the target it is easy to hit with them but it can be a challenge to hold the beam on target (let alone a single component) for the full burn time, ACs PPCs, Gauss and SRMs require you to lead a moving target because of the projectile speed and travel time which varies greatly between weapons

Since the recent PPC speed reduction the "meta" is no longer about a specific Mech or weapon load out that will dominate all others, current popular competitive builds can be based around Gauss, SRMs, (u)AC5 and ER Large Lasers, a fast brawler will defeat a sniper on maps which make it relatively easy to get into range, while on e.g. Alpine ER Lasers and long range Ballistics dominate. every weapon (with the possible exception of the Flamer) can be viable depending on the Mech loadout and map you are using.

your Catapult and Jagermech are still good mechs, it would not hurt to get another 2 ether Catapults or Jagermechs to elite the chassis before trying another chassis (completing the Elite skills doubles the basic efficiencies making the mech run cooler and improving its handling)

almost all mechs are currently viable, there are some poor choices for certain roles but if I was to go into pros and cons of each Mech it would be a really long post. if you want specific recommendation please tell us what you want to do and someone should be able to suggest a good Mech.

e.g. 130+ KPH Laser boat would be any Firestarter or the Jenner F, Heavy Ballistic boat would be Jagermech or Cataphract

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 17 September 2014 - 07:55 AM.

[Agelmar]

Sara Stampede, on 17 September 2014 - 07:33 AM, said:

I'll be playing Inner Sphere, as I want to make sure I'm going to stick with the game before I start spending money on it. On your suggestion of mastering one of each weight class, I was thinking:

• Raven
  
• Centurion
  
• Catapult
  
• Banshee

I'm pretty set on the Catapult and Banshee - I used to play them all the time in tabletop, and I've been doing a bit of reading about how they translate into MW:O and it's still a pretty solid transition of the playstyles of those mechs.



I'm NOT as set about the Raven and Centurion. I figure for my light choice, I would like to go with an electronic warfare suite, which the Raven traditionally was. My medium choice is based largely on the idea of a mech that can move & punish, making it a good skirmisher. If there are mechs that would better fit those descriptions, by all means, PLEASE let me know. I haven't spent any c-bills yet, so I'm not committed to anything.

Twitch streams were my next stop, and you just put a bunch of waypoints on that map for me. Thank you!

I'd go with:

• Lights - If you want ECM go Raven or Spider for JJs
  
• Medium - Shadowhawk or Griffin as you get a good mix of range and brawl builds available and both have JJs
  
• Heavy - Catapult or Cataphract (JJs) or Jager (depends if you want indirect or direct fire)
  
• Assault - Banshee becoming a popular IS assault (4x AC5 2x ERLL) or Atlai

Jump jets are more important now than they were a year ago. They provide huge advantages in manueverability on certain maps.

Good link for information on popular current builds:
http://www.mercenary...php?topic=194.0

Edited by Agelmar, 17 September 2014 - 07:56 AM.

[5LeafClover]

Centurion & Catapult were my first pair of mechs. Both are excellent, though my favourite is probably the Catapult K2, with a pair of UAC5s.

Reading around, Raven is a great choice for light, being one of the better 35Tonners. I opted for spider, but partly because Raven was a little too similar to my Cicadas.

Banshee seems competent too, if a little bland looking.

As for play tips:
1. Mastering 1 at a time, while dull, will help you reel in the cBills faster and limit grind overall
2. Maybe master the lights last as the costs are high when you factor in XL engines and they don't cope well as stock
3. Beware the LRMs. Avoid being the first person seen and sacrificing yourself to the rain.
4. Play to survive. I don't mean hiding/camping out, but the longer you live the more damage you can rack up. It's obviously beneficial to team up with others, but there's more to it than this. Keep half an eye on the mini map to avoid becoming separated from the team. Team positions do shift. Also, focus fire, i.e. shoot at the same target as your team mates, at the SAME time, not taking turns over a ridge.

[Creovex]

Sara Stampede, on 17 September 2014 - 07:13 AM, said:

There are probably a million threads like this already, but I figured another wouldn't hurt. The community here is so cool, I feel very safe posting an "I'm a returning newbie who hasn't played in over a year, what do I need to know?" thread.

So. I'm a returning newbie who hasn't played in over a year. What do I need to know?

A bit of background: I come from a pretty rich background in tabletop BattleTech, so I'm very well versed in the actual mechs, their various builds, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Luckily, this game is so faithful to the source material that all of that knowledge translates almost DIRECTLY to useful game knowledge.

I played pretty steadily for a few months about a year ago, but due to life circumstances, I had to take an extended break, and never picked the game back up afterward. I only own 2 mechs - a CPLT-C4 Catapult (which I ~LOVE~) and my "Rifleman", the Firebrand Jagermech.

I'm rejoining the game now, and loving it just as much as I was before. There's definite things I need to relearn, but a lot of it is like riding a bike. What I'm really more concerned about is the meta-game... What is the easiest role for a newbie to fall into with relatively little experience? What should my next mech purchase be? is it worth it to focus on one particular chassis, buying the variants and leveling up the skills on each, or should I branch out a bit and have a different mech for various situations? Are there any useful resources I should review (videos or written guides) that are popular for learning the parts of this game that aren't taught in the tutorial?

Thanks in advance for your help, everyone! Good hunting! o7

Welcome back! The last few months have really changed for the better! Enjoy!

[RazorbeastFXK3]

Welcome back, Mechwarrior!

If you don't already have them, the UAV module and the seismic sensor module are starting to become more commonly used in battle. I'm still having fun with the Artillery Strike but might start using the UAV once I get enough C-Bills.

As for being solid with leveling up all variants of certain mechs or branching out to random mechs of choice either way you choose isn't a bad decision but keep in mind that mastering three variants of the same mech will give you better bonuses towards piloting them if you didn't already know.

With my first mechs I started off with the Centurion 'cause they're fun to pilot. Moved onto the Ravens to get a feel for a heavyset light mech then worked on the Catapults and Stalkers for nostalgia reasons of Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries and Mechwarrior 3. After I mastered all those I decided to work on mechs according to their weight.

[Ramble]Locusts were a blast and became increasingly easier to pilot after I got the hang of them. (nothing like loading them up with SRM4s and just going to town on the enemy) then the Commando and so on. Currently I'm up to Spiders, Jenners and Firestarters which surprised the hell out of me with how much slower their response times are compared to the Locust but still fun to pilot so far.[/ramble]

[PictishWolf]

In my ELO bracket at least, clans seem seriously OP. To kill one, you have to take out BOTH side torsos or the CT or both legs. They have a lot of armor, better firepower than IS mechs, and especially with the Timberwolf, better mobility. In almost every match I play, most if not all of the Timberwolves survive to the end and end up getting the majority of kills. I know that it is canon for it to be a great mech but in an FPS/MMO, it breaks the game. Balancing fail, IMHO. A team with multiple Direwolves and Timberwolves is almost a guaranteed win if the other side is mostly IS mechs. My W/L ratio has dropped very quickly since the clans came in. It was steadily climbing before that. They HAVE to offer all of these gimme prizes to keep the servers populated with targets for their PTW clanners. OK, maybe they aren't pay-to-win, but the game is no longer FTP, it's FTL (L=lose).

Yes, of course I'm unhappy that my favorite game has become virtually unplayable. If your experience is other, good for you.

[RazorbeastFXK3]

Crippling Direwolves, Timberwolves and Novas is rather fun. Figure out where their main weapon is and destroy it instead of trying to just go for the CT or their legs. MW:O is still FreeToPlay as there isn't a monthly fee to continue playing but with all the extra modifications (dumbing down/beefing up) to how weapons used to work and how LRM/SRMs don't swirl anymore and how Streak Missiles split up to hit different locations on your target it is a bit frustrating but shouldn't make everyone lose interest in playing the game.

I have seen people lose their minds and go ballistic over a simple game of TicTacToe.. this game is no different than any other. Some people just take it a bit too seriously for their own good and that's when they stop having fun and enjoying themselves.

PictishWolf, on 17 September 2014 - 10:20 AM, said:

In my ELO bracket at least, clans seem seriously OP. To kill one, you have to take out BOTH side torsos or the CT or both legs. They have a lot of armor, better firepower than IS mechs, and especially with the Timberwolf, better mobility. In almost every match I play, most if not all of the Timberwolves survive to the end and end up getting the majority of kills. I know that it is canon for it to be a great mech but in an FPS/MMO, it breaks the game. Balancing fail, IMHO. A team with multiple Direwolves and Timberwolves is almost a guaranteed win if the other side is mostly IS mechs. My W/L ratio has dropped very quickly since the clans came in. It was steadily climbing before that. They HAVE to offer all of these gimme prizes to keep the servers populated with targets for their PTW clanners. OK, maybe they aren't pay-to-win, but the game is no longer FTP, it's FTL (L=lose).

Yes, of course I'm unhappy that my favorite game has become virtually unplayable. If your experience is other, good for you.

[Redshift2k5]

PictishWolf, on 17 September 2014 - 10:20 AM, said:

In my ELO bracket at least, clans seem seriously OP. To kill one, you have to take out BOTH side torsos or the CT or both legs. They have a lot of armor, better firepower than IS mechs, and especially with the Timberwolf, better mobility. In almost every match I play, most if not all of the Timberwolves survive to the end and end up getting the majority of kills. I know that it is canon for it to be a great mech but in an FPS/MMO, it breaks the game. Balancing fail, IMHO. A team with multiple Direwolves and Timberwolves is almost a guaranteed win if the other side is mostly IS mechs. My W/L ratio has dropped very quickly since the clans came in. It was steadily climbing before that. They HAVE to offer all of these gimme prizes to keep the servers populated with targets for their PTW clanners. OK, maybe they aren't pay-to-win, but the game is no longer FTP, it's FTL (L=lose).

Yes, of course I'm unhappy that my favorite game has become virtually unplayable. If your experience is other, good for you.

Do you really think that is an appropriate response to a returning player looking for advice in the new player help section?

Tips on killing clan mechs are valid, your rant on clans, 'gimme prizes' and personal W/L isn't helping anyone.

[BigBadVlad]

Well You may want to consider a jump capable chassis for either your Light or Medium just so you have something that jumps and moves quicker in your hangar.

Depends on how you like to fight. If you like the run and gun in closer quarters the Griffin is a decent choice for hitting people with SRM's. SRM's are a decent weapon choice now, they can dish out damage and the Griffin has good speed and agility/rotation making it a good SRM hit and run speed boat.

Shadow Hawks are widely regarded as one of the best medium chassis. Good maneuverability as well and if you like to use direct fire weapons (AC's/PPC's) then the Shadow Hawk chassis work pretty well for this.

Cent is fun but it is down a notch due to lack of JJ and giving up 5 tons to the Griff and Shawk. Also if you played when the Cent had the narrow CT hitbox that allowed it to zombie really well and took a fair amount of damage before going down completely, it's not quite like that any more. CT hitbox got enlarged enough to make a difference to put a dent in the Cent's longevity in a match.

If you like the idea of the Jenner from the old days, hard hitting fast light, then the Firestarter's are regarded as doing what Jenner's do but a bit better. If you want to have ECM then Raven or Commando is your only choice. Ravens have a definite advantage to do more damage than a Mando but personally I do have fun blazing around in my little Mando (2D with ECM and 130'ish kph? or the Death's Knell no ECM at like 170kph?).

Blackjacks are decent as snipers or brawl/skirmishers but they do give up tonnage to other mediums. The new Vindicators seem to be somewhat durable comparing to others 5 tons up or down but they are limited in hard-points and seem mostly to be energy boats with a little missiles thrown in.

Locusts can be fun at times but I'm not sure you'd want that to be your first Light chassis.

.02

Edited by BigBadVlad, 17 September 2014 - 10:58 AM.

[Sara Stampede]

These are all amazing responses, and far better than I'd hoped for. Thank you everyone, so so much!

~Sara

[PictishWolf]

Redshift2k5, on 17 September 2014 - 10:35 AM, said:

Do you really think that is an appropriate response to a returning player looking for advice in the new player help section?

Tips on killing clan mechs are valid, your rant on clans, 'gimme prizes' and personal W/L isn't helping anyone.

Are you saying that I should have, instead, completely mislead the OP by sugarcoating it and (as I see it) lying about the state of the game? No. I call it as I see it. Someone in a different ELO bracket might have a completely different experience but I can't speak to that. I can only go by what I've seen. YMMV, of course.

[n r g]

Sara Stampede, on 17 September 2014 - 07:13 AM, said:

There are probably a million threads like this already, but I figured another wouldn't hurt. The community here is so cool, I feel very safe posting an "I'm a returning newbie who hasn't played in over a year, what do I need to know?" thread.

So. I'm a returning newbie who hasn't played in over a year. What do I need to know?

A bit of background: I come from a pretty rich background in tabletop BattleTech, so I'm very well versed in the actual mechs, their various builds, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Luckily, this game is so faithful to the source material that all of that knowledge translates almost DIRECTLY to useful game knowledge.

I played pretty steadily for a few months about a year ago, but due to life circumstances, I had to take an extended break, and never picked the game back up afterward. I only own 2 mechs - a CPLT-C4 Catapult (which I ~LOVE~) and my "Rifleman", the Firebrand Jagermech.

I'm rejoining the game now, and loving it just as much as I was before. There's definite things I need to relearn, but a lot of it is like riding a bike. What I'm really more concerned about is the meta-game... What is the easiest role for a newbie to fall into with relatively little experience? What should my next mech purchase be? is it worth it to focus on one particular chassis, buying the variants and leveling up the skills on each, or should I branch out a bit and have a different mech for various situations? Are there any useful resources I should review (videos or written guides) that are popular for learning the parts of this game that aren't taught in the tutorial?

Thanks in advance for your help, everyone! Good hunting! o7

Meta game extraordinaire professor.

Clans 101:
Direwolf
Timberwolf
Stormcrow

IS 101: *IS is lagging behind atm and won't be comparable with clans tier 1 until they receive the IS perks. a PPC buff on velocity would help them as-well
Shadowhawk 2K (3erLL) or 5M (other 2ac5 1ppc variants suitable)
Dragonslayer
Stalker Misery (2ppc 1gauss, 2ppc 1ac20, 2largepulse 1ac20, 2large pulse 1gauss)
Cataphract 3D (2ppc 2ac5, 2uac5 2large pulse, 1 gauss 2large pulse)
Jenner 7F (6med)
Ember (4med 4mg)

Edited by E N E R G Y, 01 October 2014 - 12:31 AM.

[Draven Darkshadow]

a number of clan mechs are purchasable via cbills now, kitfox, nova, summoner & the direwolf...

[juxstapo]

Welcome back!

First off let me emphasize: YES, mastering a chassis (completely level three variants) makes for a totally new mech in most cases. Finishing all the elite tier efficiencies doubles the basics, suddenly you have a mech that accellerates, what? 20% faster, and cools 15% quicker, it's wondermous. Also, in order to elite any chassis, you only have to basic the three variants to unlock the elite tier. For example you could go
JM6-F - > Basic
JM6-S -> Basic
JM6-A -> Basic (elite unlocked)
JM6-F -> Elited - >Mastered
JM6-S -> {Sold}
JM6-A -> {Sold}

Not that you'd neccessarily want to sell your other Jagers, but you could as long as you'd basic'd them out and still be able to master your Firebrand. Oh, and on that front, I adore the Catapults. In fact I was working out of town, crashing in a small motel room with three other guys doing commercial construction in the middle of a Georgia summer about two months before Closed Beta opened. It was hot and humid and and hard work and uncomfortable lodgings and I wanted to be home and in the middle of one of those crappy days my wife calls me and says "Hey baby... what mech do you want?" and proceeded to pre-purchase me my Founder's Catapult [wipes tear]. For that alone I loves Cat's muchly.

But I'd recommend levelling your Jager first. Right now it's the much more competitive chassis.

On the light front, just want to throw this out there, when people say the Firestarter has become one of the topmost light mechs, they aren't lying. Combination of excellent hitboxes and enough weapon mounts to make a difference. I'm not trying to spark a heated debate with anyone, frankly I'm far more attached to my Spiders and beloved-since-closed-beta Jenners. But if you get a hankering to sink some money in a new chassis, I have to highly recommend FS-9's on the basis of sheer viability. They have arguably the most effective hero in the weight class right now, and if you feel like sinking real money into anything, the Champion version will supply you with a 295XL, which is the max engine for the mech... also there's an excellent deal on the "Light Mastery Pack" which contains three Firestarters (including the hero), a month of Premium Time and a few other knick knacks if I recall correctly, can't remember the price right off but it was a really good deal.

*{Oh!} on that "effective hero" remark, straight up The Go To build for the Ember (hero firestarter) is 4 arm mounted mLas and 4 torso mounted machine guns. (max engine, max armor, blah blah). Becaaause.. get ready for it.... machine guns actually do things now!!.
Well, not so much "damage" per se, but they seriously upped the crit seeking aspect, just have to get that armor off first.

SRMs are working again. Thank God.

Blackjacks looked lackluster on paper... wound up being dang Gnarly in game. Everyone's favorite BJ-1, the BoomJack (yeh, AC/20... essentially a lore-ruining jumpy midget Hunchback), wound up so popular it made it into the Champion lineup. I personally highly recommend them.

Cents are not the powerhouses they used to be. But they are perfectly fine mechs. I'm levelling them myself right now. So I salute you on that choice if you go that route.

Fall damage. Watch out for it, they've upped the damage you take to your legs for flopping off of stuff now, real important for lights especially. Also Jump Jets have been "tuned", so you can't just take one and call it a day if you want to jump over stuff.

Clan mechs are out there, and they're quite effective. If you elect to purchase jussst one, I'd recommend either a Stormcrow or Timberwolf for bar-none best bang for the buck.

Keep that optimism. This really is a great game. Not a perfect game, but a great one. They've improved things a lot here lately, despite what the bleeding hearts will say.
If you find yourself in need of a wingman (or wingwoman, we've got those too), my unit keeps an open TS server on which you'd be totally welcome. 87% of us are married parents (and I have no idea how that math works but it does), and the rest are just easygoing. (Our recruiting criteria are affable bonhomie, not mad skills); so we're generally a low-obnoxiousness group... well, as long as I'm not drinking and reciting Beatles or REM lyrics in the in-game chat window. (Amazing how many people that irritates, and by irritates I mean "enough to distract them from their game")

Our house: www.ransomscorsairs.com

Our Recruitment Farce.... uhh, thread

Edited by juxstapo, 01 October 2014 - 06:11 PM.

[Koniving]

Sara Stampede, on 17 September 2014 - 07:13 AM, said:

Luckily, this game is so faithful to the source material that all of that knowledge translates almost DIRECTLY to useful game knowledge.

o.O; Almost.

Quote

What I'm really more concerned about is the meta-game... What is the easiest role for a newbie to fall into with relatively little experience? What should my next mech purchase be? is it worth it to focus on one particular chassis, buying the variants and leveling up the skills on each, or should I branch out a bit and have a different mech for various situations? Are there any useful resources I should review (videos or written guides) that are popular for learning the parts of this game that aren't taught in the tutorial?

Meta has changed lately since PPCs are largely incompatible with things aside from AC/10s. Ballistics are still the most overpowered weapons in the Inner Sphere arsenal, but the gap between AC superiority and lasers has shrunken (from 38 to 40 damage in 10 seconds for AC/2 depending on elite status and 15 damage in 9 seconds for a medium laser [including all 3 beam times] to sub-30 damage in 10 seconds for an AC/2 with the lasers untouched).

Clan ACs might fire many more shots but the highest damage possible from a single bullet is "4" damage which is from the UAC/20. A UAC/2 does 1 damage per bullet. Where they get you is the rippling effect of being hit by chains of bullets. Unlike in the old days of the Earthquake Simulator where your reticule never moved and thus you always hit where you intend to, now the reticule moves too throwing off your aim.

LRMs seem very popular especially due to speed increases. Compared to a year ago they do considerably less damage. However between faster speeds, lack of 'swarming' in the flight path to spread the damage, faster reload rates and ghost heat requiring chain fire the missile spam is at a high rise. ECM is also popular for the same reasons.

Inner Sphere SRMs are deadlier than ever. Not only do they work but they have additional damage. In comparison you can laugh at Clan SRMs so long as you're not facing down a MadDog. Clan streaks recently got buffed with a faster reload time, the spread of a streak 6 makes a streak 4 very unappealing.

Far as mechs, I can't give you an opinion on that. We're about to see a huge overpass of IS quirks. Both positive and negative quirks. So keep your eyes open.

If you ever get the chance, try an LB10-X + AC/5 combination in the same body part (arm or side torso). It's become a favorite of mine; their speeds compliment each other very well.