55 replies to this topic

[VVintersteel]

I suck at this and want to get better. Can anyone help me.

Being a noob and a fanboy, I want a Marauder II or Madcatt, I will sell my left leg for either.

Before this of course I want to learn how to be good at this game.

I'm literally 1:21 victory and have done literally 200 damage this whole time.

What do?

[B L O O D W I T C H]

VVintersteel, on 31 March 2015 - 04:38 AM, said:

I suck at this and want to get better. Can anyone help me.

Being a noob and a fanboy, I want a Marauder II or Madcatt, I will sell my left leg for either.

Before this of course I want to learn how to be good at this game.

I'm literally 1:21 victory and have done literally 200 damage this whole time.

What do?

200 damage average is pretty common for new players, also heavily depends on which class (light to assault) and which (trail)'mech you are using.
If you done 200 with the trail' Lynx-Prime, you done pretty well.
This game is a B* to start with, the learning curve is steep (so steep that it looks like a wall sometimes).

Marauder II won't be in the game anytime soon (possible never) thanks to design copyrights.
A madcat however could soon be yours. I would not recommend it for your first 'mech, tho.

Madcats are a high threat for the enemy team and will be focused over almost every other mech on your team (even assaults) so expect some heavy fire incoming as soon as you get spotted in a madcat.

You already visiting the forum, so i think you done the first step, ask whenever you want to know something (the community is happy about every new player and you will get help with whatever you need within hours.

http://nogutsnogalaxy.net is a good way to get in touch with people who can take you along and help you on the way.
https://www.youtube....7fxeEoe8u6PONDA NGNG on youtube with a lot of very outstanding gameplay videos to learn from
https://www.youtube....NfTRvVHeyo4OEpQ Silrace on YT with a lot of good tutorials on different mechs.
https://www.youtube....IRe6d06WLry2NTw Epikt on YT, again a lot to learn from and outstanding gameplay.
https://www.youtube.com/user/Koniving Koniving on YT, stupidly high amoung of gameplay-tips and advices and lot of gamemechanics explained.


http://www.metamechs.com best builds for mechs and how to use them.
http://mwo.smurfy-net.de build your mechs and see if loadouts work out before you even own the mech or the equipment, also build tips and discussions on almost every possible build for every possible mech.

That said, welcome to MWO, Mechwarrior. GL & HF, may GG close be with you.

Edited by LOADED, 31 March 2015 - 05:05 AM.

[Anunknownlurker]

Breath, relax and remember....you are doing this for fun!

In my opinion MWO is not an easy game to be good at and it will take time to even get close to the three-year veterans you will meet on the battlefield.

I am very new to the game - been playing just over a month - and, like you, did hardly any damage in my first few games but, slowly, my average xp per match is growing as I learn the maps, learn the mechs and learn the game.

I have found a few mechs I am comfortable with (Raven, Hunchback, Stormcrow) and some I just can't get my head around (Cataphract, any assault). Play those you enjoy, get the skills (they make a difference) and you will do better and better.

Once you know you are committed to the game, find a unit to join; my enjoyment of MWO has increased dramatically since joining one; they can advise you, teach you and make even being roflstomped by a 12 man pre-made in CW feel like fun. Send out friend requests if you have a good game with someone, what's the worst they can do? If they accept then you may have found a wingman, a potential lance and maybe a unit!

Check this forum regularly, there is almost too much advise available from one of the friendliest communities I have met online for many years.

And remember, there is no point in running, you will only die tired. Seriously though, as long as you have one working weapon you are of use to your team, so keep on fighting until you are a pool of molten, ferro-fibrous armour and after that keep pointing at them!

One thing to bear in mind is that the Mad Cat (Timber Wolf in this game) is the current flavour of the month; it is very good but everyone and I mean EVERYONE will attempt to blow your head off as it's often seen as the biggest threat, so it's not a very newbie-friendly mech (fun though if you get left alone).

That's enough from me for the moment. See you on the battlefield.

[Banditman]

Getting into a bigger mech only makes you a bigger and easier target. Not recommended for new players. It's also prohibitively expensive for a new player.

Your first task should be learning how to support your team. Find a lance of teammates that you can keep up with, stay with them, shoot what they shoot. The biggest contributing factor to score is longevity. If you die early, your score will rarely be any good. If you're alive at the end of the match, chances are you'll do really well.

Spectate. Learn what to do, and what not to do.

Personally, I love the idea of the cadet bonus, but I think those bonuses should start around match 50 and go to match 100. This would give players a bit more chance to learn what's going on, before they start making bad choices with that seed money.

[Chaos Strike]

Wintersteel,

Welcome to MWO. As has been said, this forum has ALOT of good information and tips. Sometimes the discussions will run off on a tangent, but there can be good info in the tangent as well.

I have been playing for about 5 weeks and am still learning. Here are a few bit of advice that have helped me and some things I learned the hard way.

Use the Trial mechs as long as you need to. Take them to the Training Grounds. Learn how they handle on that map and setup your weapons groups there rather than in the opening stages of a match. Run a few matches in each mech. Trial mechs do get switched out periodically. Try out the new batch.

Figure out what your playstyle actually is. Do you stay at longer range? Close to short range? If the enemy hits the other side of your team's line, do you quickly run over to help?

What class of mech best fits that style? Do you need more speed than firepower? More armor and punch than speed?
You will need to buy 3 variants of a mech to master them. Champion mechs are NOT a sepperate variant. They are considered the same as the one that does not have the (C). It is very much worth getting them through the Elite skill tier.

Clan mechs are quite expensive upfront but have few upgrades. Inner Sphere mechs are cheaper upfront but have more upgrades to work through. I do not recommed buying Clan right off the bat with your Cbills. You buy one and then it takes ALONG time to scrap up the Cbills for the next one.

As your skills improve; your survival time, damage and income will improve as well.

Unless you are a fast Scout doing recon, stay near your teammates and shoot at what they are shooting. Lock your target (hit the R key). Try to shoot the legs of your target, if you can. If you are behind your target go for the torso (back armor is ALOT thinner than the front).

This early in your Mechwarrior career, do not spend GXP or Cbills on weapon modules. They can wait.

Until you are ready to start doing Community Warfare (CW) drops, do not worry about the Factions. Factions only apply to CW. I do not recommend a permenant contract with a Faction. Not sure I recommend taking a month long contract either, but that is your choice.

If you do not feel that you want to join a unit, at least try to put together a small group of friends you can drop with. It is pretty comforting to drop with a few people you know.

Sorry, this has gotten to be more of a wall of text than I had planned.

Hope it helps.

[Voivode]

First off, that's a great attitude to have. I really mean that. Often we veterans will see new players that are pissed off and have to talk them down before they start to understand that the game has a sharp learning curve. You have the right attitude to succeed at the game.

There are many new player guides on the forums, look for a gentleman by the name of Koniving, he has quite a bit of good material out there on how to help new players learn the game. Here are links for Smurfy and a quirk tracking site. Both of these are good resources to help you decide what kind of mech you'd like to build before spending in game money.

Here's a little of my own advice to help you out.

1) Hang in there! The game gets much more fun the better you get at it, and getting better is just a matter of playing it. The process can be frustrating and that's OK.

2) Play the full variety of trial mechs. Most of them aren't that great, but they do give you a feel for the game mechanics. Take note of what mechs/weapons/roles you most enjoy playing as and what ones you do the best with.

3) Be cautious with your first mech purchases. During the first 25 matches you get a large bonus in CBills. After the first 25, that bonus dries up and your performance in match will determine your earnings. Since you are new, expect that to be a small amount. The first mech/mechs you buy will be the mechs you are stuck with for a while unless you spend real money on the game. Most people recommend starting with a medium chassis because you can get 2 to 3 of them set up with just the cadet bonus. The Hunchback is the medium that offers the greatest variety in variants and will teach the best piloting skills to a new player so it is often recommended to start with that mech.

4) After you die, always observe the rest of the match as a spectator. Watching the blunders and successes of other players will help you learn the game. Seeing the performance of a mech/build another player is piloting will also spark your imagination and get you to try new things you otherwise wouldn't have.

5) As far as spending real money, here are the things that are worthwhile if you feel inclined to do so.
a ) Mechbays. You need a place to put a mech. There are occasional challenges where you can get them for free, but I'd look into buying some as they are relatively cheap.
b ) Hero mechs. These get a 30% CBill earning boost which helps reduce grind. Champion mechs are not worth buying
c ) Premium Time. Bonus to CBill earning for all matches. Stacks with hero mech bonus.


Anyways, hope this helps and see you on the battlefield!

EDIT: One last thing, for all Inner Sphere mechs, adding double heat sinks is a must, so factor in an additional 1.5million CBills on the purchase price. Some IS mechs come with DHS, but most don't.

Here are some Hunchback builds that would allow you to unlock all the XP bonuses (requires three variants of the same mech) and give you a pretty versatile group to play with. The cost of each is in the 7million range, so you should be able to build all three from the cadet bonus. Please notice I strip armor from the right arm in all of them. Your right torso is a "hunch" (hence the name) that other players tend to target. If that hunch goes the right arm goes with it, so I like to ignore the right arm and maximize the firepower in the left arm.

HBK-4J
HBK-4G
HBK-4P

Edited by Voivode, 31 March 2015 - 08:39 AM.

[Jody Von Jedi]

Some people think that the bigger the mech, the better. Assaults and conversely, Lights, are both hard mode.

Mediums and Heavies will teach you the game mechanics better. In MW:O, speed = life. A fast medium will afford you the maneuverability to get out of a bad situation quickly and still survive the encounter. A larger engine not only increases top speed, it also speeds up every movement of the mech, torso twist, arm movement, etc.

If you find you have trouble aiming steadily, go into the game settings and slow your mouse movement down. The 2 sliders on the bottom, set all the way to zero. Set the top mouse slider to about 30%. It will greatly steady your aim.

Jody

[KodiakGW]

We are going to see a lot of these posts when this game gets to Steam. Elo/Match Maker (MM) is not kind, and will drop you with seasoned vets with optimal builds. This needs to be addressed soon.

Voivode, on 31 March 2015 - 08:21 AM, said:

2) Play the full variety of trial mechs. Most of them aren't that great, but they do give you a feel for the game mechanics. Take note of what mechs/weapons/roles you most enjoy playing as and what ones you do the best with.

This, above all, must do. Too many times I've seen posts about people frustrated with their choice of first mech. As mentioned, the trial mechs are not the most optimal builds, but give you an idea on what type of mech you are best at driving. I would stay clear of Assaults. They are tempting due to the firepower, but you become an easy target.

Voivode, on 31 March 2015 - 08:21 AM, said:

5) As far as spending real money, here are the things that are worthwhile if you feel inclined to do so.

d) Take a look at the Mastey Packs from the Store tab in game. My suggestion is to keep any eye out for sales where they give you XX% more MC for the same price, and spend $30. That should give you enough MC to purchase any one of the Mastery Packs, except maybe the assault ones. You might be able to even buy a light and medium pack, if those fit you play style. The Cicada one is really nice because of all the XL engines you get.

[warner2]

Get good at playing MechWarrior by playing MechWarrior 4 or some other similar game single player. Once you are actually OK at the basics of playing the game move onto facing other people on-line.

[Voivode]

KodiakGW, on 31 March 2015 - 08:50 AM, said:

d) Take a look at the Mastey Packs from the Store tab in game. My suggestion is to keep any eye out for sales where they give you XX% more MC for the same price, and spend $30. That should give you enough MC to purchase any one of the Mastery Packs, except maybe the assault ones. You might be able to even buy a light and medium pack, if those fit you play style. The Cicada one is really nice because of all the XL engines you get.

Ah yes, the mastery packs are quite good. You get the hero variant of that mech and two standard variants, allowing you to quickly earn all the XP bonuses.

[B L O O D W I T C H]

what voivode said!

agreed on all but 5a and edit.

mechbays for weekend challenges are common. you can earn mechbays by ranking up in community warefare (can be hell for new players, tho)

not all IS mechs require DHS, throw away mechs can get to basic skill level with SHS. if you know you won't keep the mech don't go DHS.
A lot of gauss and gauss only mechs don't need DHS.
thought, if you do want to keep a Gauss only build ( a jager for example) might as well put DHS on to try other builds.

Edited by LOADED, 31 March 2015 - 09:01 AM.

[Zookeeper Dan]

The learning curve has been really steep for me too, but it gets better!

Situational awareness is much more important than skill in this game. Either stay with your lance or try to meet up with the assaults. Focus on what they are firing on and try to make your trades beneficial. If you're taking more damage as then you are dishing out you won't last long. Your priority to start should be surviving as long as possible. And don't go chasing lights! It's a good way to run headlong into an entire ECM shielded firing line.

The best advice I got which made everyone click was (I'm paraphrasing):

"Usually solo queue matches are decided by a snowball effect. One player will put themselves into a bad situation and quickly get destroyed. The other team will then capitalize on this and ride it to victory. DON'T BE THAT PLAYER!"

I was usually that player until this was pointed out to me. Since then I've become much more patient and aware of the entire battlefield and my play has become enormously better.

[Spleenslitta]

There are lot of good tips here. Read it all. I'll give a few tips of my own.

1: Never peek out of the same piece of cover repeatedly. The enemy will know where you are and that means sooner or later you get a real nasty surprise when you come out of cover.
Slow mechs pay a heavier price for this than other since your accelerate/decelerate depends on your weightclass and how big your engine is.
The slower you are the more damage you pile up before you can get back into cover again.
Relocate after firing. The faster the mech to more distance you can cover before shooting again and still remain effective.

It is as Danth Reduviid said in the above post.
"If you're taking more damage as then you are dishing out you won't last long. Your priority to start should be surviving as long as possible."
Relocating often allows you to survive longer.


2: Unlock your arms and get used to it. This can be done in the game settings. It is incredibly important even if the mech you use doesn't have arms that can aim to the side.
This means you will have 2 aiming reticules to keep track of. The cross for your torso mounted weaponry and the ring for the arm mounted weapons.
Players often say you get more focused fire by keeping your arms locked and it's so much easier.
But you pay a very heavy and downright crippling penalty for it.

The penalty is that you can't aim as high/low and wide as someone with unlocked arms. This is very troublesome in close quarters combat and in uneven terrain.
At short distances even small height differences between yourself and the enemy could leave you without the ability to return fire.

Arm mounted weapons are very important when you're up close since the arms move much faster than the torso.
Whenever i fight against anyone in close combat with my Light Firestarter i look at the arms...are they locked or not?

If they are locked i snicker knowing i got a big advantage unless the enemy is packing a lot of Streak SRM's.
Having your arms locked means you put a limitation on yourself. No matter how skilled you get you cannot overcome this limitation.

Let me give you an example of how bad this limitation is.
I remember seeing a guy in a Dragon stand on top of a small hill with his enemy in a Catapult below.
The Dragon had his arms locked and could not hit the Catapult despite there being only 30-50 meters between them because of the heightdifference.

Even though he would have had the advantage against the Catapult with his arms and weapons selection which were better at close quarters he got picked apart.
That Dragon was like a harmless bunny.

Edited by Spleenslitta, 31 March 2015 - 09:49 AM.

[Voivode]

Spleenslitta, on 31 March 2015 - 09:44 AM, said:

There are lot of good tips here. Read it all. I'll give a few tips of my own.

1: Never peek out of the same piece of cover repeatedly. The enemy will know where you are and that means sooner or later you get a real nasty surprise when you come out of cover.
Slow mechs pay a heavier price for this than other since your accelerate/decelerate depends on your weightclass and how big your engine is.
The slower you are the more damage you pile up before you can get back into cover again.
Relocate after firing. The faster the mech to more distance you can cover before shooting again and still remain effective.

2: Unlock your arms and get used to it. This can be done in the game settings. It is incredibly important even if the mech you use doesn't have arms that can aim to the side.
This means you will have 2 aiming reticules to keep track of. The cross for your torso mounted weaponry and the ring for the arm mounted weapons.
Players often say you get more focused fire by keeping your arms locked and it's so much easier.
But you pay a very heavy and downright crippling penalty for it.

1) Totally true. Popping out when multiple enemies have a bead on your position is a sure way to get cored out.

2) I have to disagree. The left shift key (default setting) unlocks your arms. I prefer to leave mine locked for the better concentration of firepower in general circumstances and just use shift when I need a wider, higher, or deeper area of attack. Maybe it's all the years I've played guitar, but I don't find it hard to use my pinky to keep the arms unlocked while still steering my mech around. I've spectated a lot of players who wasted half or more of their shots in a mobile or close fighting circumstances because they couldn't keep track of where their arm reticule was. To each their own, I guess.

[RazorbeastFXK3]

Welcome to mwomercs, Mechwarrior!

Utilize the Training Grounds by running around in them and learning the different maps. It doesn't eat up your cadet bonus and it also helps you fine tune your mouse/joystick sensitivity settings so you're not whipping your head back and forth and you're also not scanning the field as if you were in molasses. Also, you can change your keyboard config to whatever you want so it's easier for you to function in the field. I printed off a map of the default keyboard config/controls from http://static.mwomer...me/controls.png It's good for a quick reference in case I forget what controls what.

Throttle Decay is good to have turned off so you're not constantly hitting the Full Stop button to keep from crashing into everything and everyone. I have my W key set for forward throttle and my S key is set to toggle throttle so I can make sharp(er) turns when running at full speed. X I changed to Reverse Throttle, R for Full Stop and E for target enemy.

After a few battles with other players you'll get to learn the points of attack, where a decent point of defense is and have a better idea of where to go in each map (Best bet is to follow the majority of the team, don't run off by yourself and try not to ride your team's bumper 'cause they can't see you directly behind them and if they need to back up and you're in their way, chances are they're going to take more damage than they wanted to 'cause you're blocking their escape path.)

LRMs have a minimum range of 180M so if an enemy is within that range they won't receive damage (if you're using Innersphere tech the damage will be 0% but if you use clan tech the damage will be reduced accordingly depending on how close they are to you) and a normal max range of 1,000M (some quirks extend that range but if the target is outside that range they won't get hit)

Ballistics, Lasers and PPC/ER PPC have an extended range where they will deal damage but it will be less than 100% normal damage when the target is hit outside the marked range on your HUD.

mwomercs now has a built in voice program which allows you to verbally chat with your team by holding down the Caps Lock key to talk. If you have a headset with a microphone that'll work great so there is less chance of reverberation.

If you have any other questions, feel free to surf through the forums and if you don't find an answer there, you can always ask in game or do what you did here by making a post.

Have fun and see you in the field!

[Spleenslitta]

Voivode, on 31 March 2015 - 10:07 AM, said:

2) I have to disagree. The left shift key (default setting) unlocks your arms. I prefer to leave mine locked for the better concentration of firepower in general circumstances and just use shift when I need a wider, higher, or deeper area of attack. Maybe it's all the years I've played guitar, but I don't find it hard to use my pinky to keep the arms unlocked while still steering my mech around. I've spectated a lot of players who wasted half or more of their shots in a mobile or close fighting circumstances because they couldn't keep track of where their arm reticule was. To each their own, I guess.

It is true that pushing shift unlocks the arms, but that means in a prolonged close quarters fight you might need to keep it pressed.
This could give you a cramp in worst cases. But it is as you say....to each their own.

[Voivode]

Spleenslitta, on 31 March 2015 - 10:16 AM, said:

It is true that pushing shift unlocks the arms, but that means in a prolonged close quarters fight you might need to keep it pressed.
This could give you a cramp in worst cases. But it is as you say....to each their own.

Oh those pinky cramps!

[Spleenslitta]

Voivode, on 31 March 2015 - 10:24 AM, said:

Oh those pinky cramps!

Yup...Painfull stuff.

Regardless i do believe we agree on one thing our all new players should learn.
Learn to fire your arm weapons in unlocked conditions whether it is done by pushing a button or not.

[Chaos Strike]

My first mechs were Novas. Just about all the weapons are in the arms. Being able to bring that all to bear on someone standing above or below me was fantastic! I deffinately recommend unlocking the arms, even if all you have in the arms is a MLas or 2.

[Voivode]

Spleenslitta, on 31 March 2015 - 10:47 AM, said:

Yup...Painfull stuff.

Regardless i do believe we agree on one thing our all new players should learn.
Learn to fire your arm weapons in unlocked conditions whether it is done by pushing a button or not.

Agreed. Not using arm movement with arm mounted weapons is simply wasted potential.