41 replies to this topic

[Dragonsnap]

Hi All -

So, I'm not exactly 'completely new' to Mechwarrior, but I am pretty new to the different Clans / Houses, and I haven't really nailed down a style of play I like. I'm sure there are a lot of people like me out there who like the game, but may be a little 'green' when it comes to the lore, as well as the Founder's chasis selection.

If you wouldn't mind sharing some input, it be greatly appreciated (at least from me, and hopefully others)
- Benefits and Play Style for each Founder Mech
- Some insight on Ballistics vs Energy vs Missles would be nice. Personally, I've liked playing a brawler w/ LBX20's and avoiding lasers. Not sure if that's a good setup or not... My mechs seem pretty slow, but I've had bad luck w/ lasers, or maybe they just don't seem to do much damage to me.
- What are the charastics of some of the Houses, or is there a good link to reference this?
- How about some good 'beginner mech setups' and gameplay associated with them?

Thanks!

[Vaktor]

Davion!! Always House Davion!

As for you mech... well it all depends on what class of mech you like... I suppose the easiest starter mech would be the hunchback however.

[Schtirlitz]

Houses - do not chose the House, chose the people to play with.
In perspective, community is more imortant that role component.

And mech - until open beta no one can say something definite.
Have to wait and see later.

[Atlai]

Try sarna for info on the houses

as for mech, you said you are a brawler so i would go with Atlas, as hunchback is really just a weaker version and your repair costs are covered by the increase in C-bills.

Edited by Mason West, 10 July 2012 - 10:45 AM.

[Jost]

Steiner has the best beer.

The "beginner mech setups" are the standard variants - in general, the play styles are:
light: fastest, suited to scout or hit-and-run (mostly scout)
medium: not quite as fast, suited to scout or hit-and-run (mostly hit-and-run)
heavy: a bit slower, suited to brawler or sniper
assault: slowest, suited to being blown into splodey bits. Er, I mean brawlers or support.

[Zynk]

Download the MWO Primer here. >> LINK

Personally, I've liked playing a brawler>> Hunchback

[Atlai]

Jost, on 10 July 2012 - 10:45 AM, said:

assault: slowest, suited to being blown into splodey bits.

Isint that blasphemy coming from a Steiner?

[Jakob Knight]

Dragonsnap, on 10 July 2012 - 10:35 AM, said:

Hi All -

So, I'm not exactly 'completely new' to Mechwarrior, but I am pretty new to the different Clans / Houses, and I haven't really nailed down a style of play I like. I'm sure there are a lot of people like me out there who like the game, but may be a little 'green' when it comes to the lore, as well as the Founder's chasis selection.

If you wouldn't mind sharing some input, it be greatly appreciated (at least from me, and hopefully others)
- Benefits and Play Style for each Founder Mech
- Some insight on Ballistics vs Energy vs Missles would be nice. Personally, I've liked playing a brawler w/ LBX20's and avoiding lasers. Not sure if that's a good setup or not... My mechs seem pretty slow, but I've had bad luck w/ lasers, or maybe they just don't seem to do much damage to me.
- What are the charastics of some of the Houses, or is there a good link to reference this?
- How about some good 'beginner mech setups' and gameplay associated with them?

Thanks!

Answering those could end up being a very lengthy post. I'll try to address the Founder's mechs for now, as I have limited time atm (at work).

The Jenner is primarily about scouting and flanking. Speed is the main quality of this mech, along with a good amount of close-in firepower. The Jenner scouts the battlefields for their side, engages enemy Scouts to prevent them from doing the same, and works to hit the enemy in the rear and fade away before the enemy can react. This mech is all about hit-and-run, and being the eyes of a force. It is also the interceptor, keeping fast enemy units out of where they shouldn't be.

The Hunchback is a close-in brawler, with heavier armor than normal for a Medium mech, and a punishing autocannon that does massive damage. However, the mech lacks any long-range firepower, and only has average speed. This mech is about ambush, defense, and being the smaller target everyone underestimates until it is too late. Mainly, this mech wants to get up-close and personal, and will tangle with anything in that range. It isn't meant to engage other Medium mechs due to its slower speed, but it can go head-to-head with heavier mechs better than they, and will do alot of damage to any Medium mech that it catches in range of its cannon. Its average speed means it can react to problems and be redeployed to new combat locations fairly quickly.

The Catapult is designed as a general-purpose support mech. Its LRMs are used at long range to hit enemy targets before they can hit back, or to support its teammates from behind cover by using indirect fire. When an enemy gets close, it can't use its LRM missiles, but has 4 Medium Lasers to fight with. With jump jets and average speed, this mech has good flexibility, but can find itself outgunned by more specialized mechs. Mainly, this mech wants to stay at long range, supporting its team until out of missiles, then move in and engage at close range. Again, average speed means this mech has the ability to react to situations and be redeployed as needed.

The Atlas is the heavy-hitter and lumbering tank. It moves slow, so can't react to situations or chase down enemy units. However, where this mech is, other mechs have to avoid, as its weaponry and armor are among the heaviest on any mech. Able to fire indirectly like a Catapult, and having the same monster cannon as the Hunchback, this mech will outgun any other Founders mech, and quite a few others as well, and its super-heavy armor will mean it will take alot to bring down. Thus, this is the gate-crasher, the unit that moves into the enemy fighting forces and makes them break or die. While it has long-range capability, it shines best in close combat. This mech relies on the commander telling it where to strike, as it will take longer to get where it needs to hit.

In terms of customization, the Atlas and Jenner are the extremes of Armor and Speed respectively. The Atlas will never achieve above average speeds, while the Jenner will never have heavy armor. The Hunchback and Catapult represent more median areas between the two, with the Hunchback able to be modified slightly more for speed, the Catapult more for armor, but both able to be rebuilt for most roles (though not as capable in specific tasks as the specialist units Atlas and Jenner).

Hope this helps.

[AlienInvader]

House Liao has the best food (but you'll just get hungry again an hour later).

[Dragonsnap]

AlienInvader, on 10 July 2012 - 11:10 AM, said:

House Liao has the best food (but you'll just get hungry again an hour later).

Bwhahaha! <I'm Asian. I can laugh at this...>

[Dragonsnap]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I've been torn between the Hunchback and the Atlas. I am leaning towards the Hunchback I think.... Minimal scouting, defense, and taking out enemy scouts while providing support in battle, but still having a decent amount of speed to retreat.

The Atlas sounds morel ike how I play MW4:Mercs now.... Assault class loaded down with tons of ballistics. I get kills, but it's so slow I find myself in 'bad' situations a lot.

I'd consider a Jenner and play a scout role, but the lack of firepower worries me a bit...

And I guess I'm not a huge fan of missles, so the Catapult is probably out for me... Notthing against it, but it's just not how I like to play.

House wise, I agree... It's about the people you play with. I hope to find a good group!

And my only concern now is choosing the Hunchback and then being disappointed later... I guess the Founder Mech is a good mech to get c-bills, and then find a chassis I really like. I think I'd be able to make enough c-bill from the Hunchie w/o taking too much damage by retreating when necessary.

Thanks, all!

[ThunderThumb]

Why is nobody telling this guy about jumpjets?

[Dragonsnap]

Zynk, on 10 July 2012 - 10:47 AM, said:

Download the MWO Primer here. >> LINK

Personally, I've liked playing a brawler>> Hunchback

This primer is fantastic! As a 'newbie' I would highly recommend reading this!

Great post, thanks!

[Dragonsnap]

ThunderThumb, on 10 July 2012 - 11:27 AM, said:

Why is nobody telling this guy about jumpjets?

Now this is just me.... A rookie. But I personally don't like the Jump Jets. I think if you are an advanced player, they are probably more useful, but for me, I tend to get into more trouble than escape it. As for 'pop-tart' sniping, I'm assuming this won't be as big of an issue in MWO as it was in MW4:Mercs, but I could be wrong.

I would probably change my configuration around after getting a bit more familiar to encorporate the JJ's, but for ~6t, I think I'd rather have some additional fire power. However, as a rook, that could be why I also get my butt handed to me

[Jakob Knight]

ThunderThumb, on 10 July 2012 - 11:27 AM, said:

Why is nobody telling this guy about jumpjets?

Because there is very little known about how useful they will be in the game.

The main use of Jump Jets is to get over terrain that would block normal movement. How much do the Devs plan on making the maps user-friendly for non-jump capable mechs? If they intend all objectives to be in areas where non-jump mechs can easily fight, then having jump jets becomes redundant, as there is no advantage to using them. If they place some objectives in areas where jump jet mechs have a notable advantage, then having them becomes worthwhile but risks making those players with mechs that are restricted to ground movement angry that 'they aren't being given a fair chance'. What about general terrain? Will most maps feature terrain that a mech with even minimal jump capability (say jump 3) can overcome but non-jumpers have to take significant penalties to get past? We don't know.

Tactically, using jump jets makes you a big target. You are suspended in the air, unable to change direction, and without terrain between you. This means -every- enemy will have free shots at you, while you will be busy just trying to land where you want to. This is in direct opposition to the TT, where jumping made you a harder target and was often tactically advantageous. In other MW games, JJs were more often than not ignored or removed as wasteful and useless.

So, we can't really give good advice on JJs in MWO, because we have nothing to go on. The one time a mech used JJs in any of the videos, it was to decend a small hill, which hardly required them. The only thing that really can be said is that they -might- be useful in certain situations if the Devs make maps with terrain like chasms and severely-restrictive rivers that might make the costs in tonnage and tactical vunerability worth the capability to move where other mechs cannot.

Edited by Jakob Knight, 10 July 2012 - 01:25 PM.

[xRaeder]

If you want to face the Clans in a struggle to the death then the FRR wants you.

I say FRR players will get first shot at Clantech because of the amount of combat that we will see... assuming the devs hold true to the lore.

[Jakob Knight]

The OP wanted some characteristics insights for weapon classes, so I'll try to help there as well. Understand we don't have actual game battles to reference to, so this will all be based on TT characteristics and what we've seen in videos.

Ballistic Weapons: These are projectile weapons that fire unguided rounds at the target, usually single shells for each pull of the trigger. Ballistic weapons have a low visibility, with the only effects being the muzzle flash and impact flashes. The rounds will do all of their damage in one hit, which usually translates to concentrated damage to the impact location. All projectile weapons feature low to very high single-target damage and low heat generation. All projectile weapons require ammunition to fire, which is purchased seperately. Projectile weapons include Autocannon, which range from low-damage, extreme range AC/2s to extreme damage, short range AC/20s. The number after the AC designation is the damage each shot will do. Other weapons of this class are Guass Rifles, which feature very high damage, very long range, and very low heat, but with the weapon able to explode if it is hit, and Machine Guns, which feature low damage, extremely short range, but generate no heat when firing. Also included are LBX-class cannon, that can fire an alternate type of ammunition that spreads the damage over a target instead of a single hit, and Ultra cannon that can be set to fire two shots at once, but with the chance that the weapon will jam or explode. Ballistic weapons tend to be the heaviest weapons, however, so they are best used on units with a large amount of tonnage available, or that require low-heat weaponry.

Edit: Note that the longer-ranged AC/2 and AC/5 weapons may suffer similar short-range blindspots similar to LRMs and PPCs.

Missile Weapons: These fire semi-guided, self-propelled ordinance that can do a great deal of total damage to the target, but that damage is spread over several areas. Missile weapons have medium visibility, with the missiles leaving trails in the air and impact detonations. Missile weapons include the LRM (Long Range Missile), which can be fired at very long ranges but is rendered useless at 200 meters, and SRMs (Short Range Missiles) which fire fewer, higher-damage missiles up to a short distance from the 'mech. LRMs can be fired indirectly at targets seen by friendly units, which means they will arc over terrain in the way, and the firing unit does not have to see the target themselves. LRMs fired in this way do AoE (Area of Effect) damage, which means damage divided and applied to all units near the primary target. Another type of missile is the Artillery missile, commonly known as ARROW IV, which can be fired from extremely long ranges and always does AoE damage unless a special homing missile is used....however, this homing missile requires a system known as TAG to guide it in, so another friendly unit must act as spotter to use this system. The ARROW IV system is not solidly confirmed as a weapon included at launch of the game, but the 'Artillery' weapon type is listed as part of the Missile classification. Therefore, it may or may not be included in MWO in the form described here. Missile weapons feature good damage and moderate heat generation, but are specialized into long and short range weapon types (it's one or the other). Missile weapons require ammunition to fire, and are best used on mechs with some tonnage to spare that also require moderate heat control. Missile designations (such as LRM20, SRM2) list the number of missiles fired with each launch after the type of launcher.

Energy Weapons: These weapons all fire beams of focused energy at the target. They are highly visible weapons with bright lines connecting the firing unit to their target. Energy weapons include the Particle Projector Cannon (PPC), Lasers, and Pulse Lasers. PPCs do heavy damage to one location, have long range, but have a similar short-range issue as LRMs inside 90 meters. Lasers fire over a period of 1-2 seconds, and do their damage divided over that time, which can result in divided damage if the firer's aim does not remain on the same spot on the target. Not much is known about Pulse Lasers at this time, except that they are short-ranged lasers that -may- do all of their damage in one shot, similar to a PPC or AC, do slightly higher damage than normal lasers, and generate slightly more heat than normal lasers. All energy weapons feature low tonnage, high heat generation, and do not require ammunition to fire. An additional type of energy weapon is the ER class of PPC and standard Large Lasers, which feature longer range in exchange for considerably higher heat generation. Energy weapons are best used on units without much tonnage to spare that have many heat sinks to offset the large heat generation. Energy weapons are often put on units as 'backup' weapons, to be used when the main weapons cannot fire.

Remember, we don't know alot about gameplay, and so some or much of this could turn out to be incorrect, especially since they can change things before release. However, this should help understand how they relate.

Important note: From comments made during the Heavy Mech overview video, it seems that weapons will do damage to -whoever- they hit. This means that your weapons can damage your teammates, so watch your fire!

Edited by Jakob Knight, 10 July 2012 - 02:39 PM.

[Jost]

Mason West, on 10 July 2012 - 10:48 AM, said:

Isint that blasphemy coming from a Steiner?

Blasphemy, maybe... but it's my experience.
.
.
.
from piloting Atlases.

Edited by Jost, 10 July 2012 - 02:10 PM.

[Zynk]

xRaeder, on 10 July 2012 - 02:07 PM, said:

If you want to face the Clans in a struggle to the death then the FRR wants you.

I say FRR players will get first shot at Clantech because of the amount of combat that we will see... assuming the devs hold true to the lore.

All players will have access to all mech's, weapons and equipment, granted some "house" mech/items will have a discount but everyone gets access to everything that's available.

[Serevn]

AlienInvader, on 10 July 2012 - 11:10 AM, said:

House Liao has the best food (but you'll just get hungry again an hour later).

Your not aloud to attempt to recruit prospective members anymore.