30 replies to this topic

[Clownwarlord]

If you ask anyone I usually play with what mode I have been playing lately they will answer Community Warfare (CW). The reason for this is I have found it to be very profitable. There are a few things that need to be done to make one ready for this before you start just jumping into CW on your own.

First Base:

- Pick your mechs in your drop deck wisely. Just picking mechs to level up doesn't work well and makes it tougher to get the credits you are looking for. I suggest looking at: http://metamechs.com/ (More importantly the tier 1s are what you want to try and take, but tier 2 isn't bad either.)

- Get your mechs mastered at best (at least elited). If not then be very good in that mech (which means you will be mastered in no time anyway).

- This base is very important because you are prepping for success or a very long time in CW so please take the advice serious or you are wasting your time.

Second Base:

- Next is mech building Meta Mechs can help you with that as well as just picking which mechs for drop deck. Your builds will need to be useful in the way of removing enemy mechs not just doing damage. So laser builds or other direct fire front loaded damage are great builds (pulse, gauss, Inner Sphere Balistic are best).

- Have your modules for those mechs and your builds set for long time battle. If you have ammo dependent builds then you need to have enough ammo to last a match that you might be in that mech for the total 30 minutes or at least a good solid 15 minutes.

- Builds need to be verse to play on random maps from hot to cold just like any other game mode.

- This base is also in prep for CW if you completed first and now second with this simple advice you are half way home.

Third Base:

- Selecting who to play is very important. While defense is always easy counter attack is not so take that into account when picking which planet to go to and getting matches.

- Check where the matches are (PGI has given out many tools to help you find matches quicker than when CW first came out).

- It use to be said you couldn't make C-Bills in CW unless you where apart of a CW dedicated unit that won a lot, because if you where not you couldn't get matches for about 10 minutes and then got smoked causing 30 minutes and maybe 300k for the match. BUT if you follow the three bases you get in matches faster and do better just by being prepared for it.

HOME RUN:

- OK here is how you get the home run. Play smart ... sounds simple but many and I mean many people do not and then come onto the forums bitching up a storm about CW. (That would usually be those who rush in and die in 15 minutes ... all 4 of their mechs.)

- So how do you play smart? Well it takes a few things but first slow your game down and control the situation. Let the enemy come to you instead of your rushing out into 5 or more enemy mechs.

- Other tips would be angle. Find places where only one enemy mech can come at you.

- Follow your team ... to a point. If rushing into an area is a bad idea then don't do it. But if the team is holding up in a set area with plenty of cover ... then stay there with them and find your spot.

- Aim for a goal and hit it (even if you are a 12 pug vs a 12 man you can still make a goal and hit it). A reasonable goal for every match in CW is 1k damage and 4 kills. Why? Well you get 4 mechs and that is 1 kill and 250 damage per mech ... not bad you can do better though.

If you follow these and put some C-Bill boost mechs into the drop deck then you get around 500k C-Bills or more ... I have gotten 800k and higher on my own in pug on pug matches because I followed these tips and bases. By failing to prep you are prepping for failure.

*******************************

Now some side notes.

Clan mechs are better, but not all of their players are. So using Base 1 and 2 you can get pretty damn good IS mechs to give you the edge if you are a better pilot.

Clan mechs have the range, but some IS mechs do as well and most fighting is at 600m or closer anyway so keeping mech build able to do damage out to 600m is a good idea.

Clan is ECM heavy so if you are IS don't bring lrms unless your team is a group and prepped for lrm usage (narc, tag, uavs).

Having ECM is a great thing, but it isn't required. What is required is good aim and piloting.

Use Meta Mech Tiers to find which mechs to use ... because Tier 1s get used the most and so on down.

********************************

Now ... let the flaming begin!!! I will be here till the game dies to answer questions

Edited by clownwarlord, 22 July 2015 - 08:57 PM.

[DarkMetalBlade]

It's a shame that hardly anyone will ever see this, as most people will choose to exfiltrate CW as soon as they are able, given stiff enough opposition.

But hey, I'm still amazed that there are still matches to be had there, I thought that it would be ghost drop city by now.

[Clownwarlord]

Yes that is true many will not read this that should. Could be because they are illiterate or just ignorant but still the same result.

Edited by clownwarlord, 22 July 2015 - 09:14 PM.

[John1352]

Why do people post their best match with C-bill bonus variants and premium time then use it to argue that CW earnings are fine?

If you have a similarly brilliant game in solo mode, earn 200,000 base, then +30% and +50% you get 360k. An average solo game will take 10 mins, including waiting and playing. In the 40 minutes for a CW game (like you said) that is 1.4 million c-bills.

CW pay needs a big boost, then the players will come.

Edit: Your tips for earning more are valid, it doesn't mean it is worth playing CW from a cbills per hour perspective though.

Edited by John1352, 22 July 2015 - 09:34 PM.

[Clownwarlord]

John1352, on 22 July 2015 - 09:31 PM, said:

Why do people post their best match with C-bill bonus variants and premium time then use it to argue that CW earnings are fine?

If you have a similarly brilliant game in solo mode, earn 200,000 base, then +30% and +50% you get 360k. An average solo game will take 10 mins, including waiting and playing. In the 40 minutes for a CW game (like you said) that is 1.4 million c-bills.

CW pay needs a big boost, then the players will come.

Edit: Your tips for earning more are valid, it doesn't mean it is worth playing CW from a cbills per hour perspective though.

To answer your question don't know.

If I did take my best match in Cbill I would be looking at 500k for a solo cue match. But if I am looking at best match in CW pay out I am looking at 800k (before 100k bonus for winning or more depending on faction). So while I agree 10 minutes get me 500k and 30 minutes gets me 900k you can tentatively make more in solo cue in shorter time restraints, but you are forgetting one thing.

It is very important ... loyalty rank rewards. 50 million Cbills and a lot more but that is just one of the last rank in Faction Loyalty Rewards (you get more on your way up the ladder as well).

So reason to play CW is Cbills. Now how many factions are there? 6 Inner Sphere 4 Clan so 50 million times 10 equals half a billion Cbills.

Do you disagree 500,000,000 on top of the Cbills you earn in other ranks and other Cbills you earn from the matches isn't worth the CW grind? Not including other rank rewards .

Solo cue and group cue ... you don't get these rewards just your match earnings (outside of challenges which CW you get challenges as well).

(General Statement for everyone.)
So while you may look for instant gratification in solo cue and group cue, the long game is more worth it in CW in the end.

[sycocys]

That 50m c-bill bonus in loyalty rewards is vastly outpaced by how much you earn in the 4-5 times as many standard drops you would do in the same amount of time.

You'd actually be ahead of the total end reward of CW in as many matches as it took you to get to about rank 12 or 13 if you did standard instead of CW - and that's considering if you had a 100% win rate in CW with at least an average performance/same amount of consumable use.

Having occasional losses or bad matches in CW will cripple your averages because of the ridiculous amount of matches played advantage standard drops have.

You could have only sub par performance losses in standard matches netting 200k per match and still vastly outpace 100% average wins netting 500k per match in CW. That 300-400k per CW match cycle adds up very quickly.

[Kin3ticX]

John1352, on 22 July 2015 - 09:31 PM, said:

CW pay needs a big boost, then the players will come.

They can also get a pay boost by joining forces and not getting rekt-o-rama'd non-stop

[Rushin Roulette]

Damn... I had the bases all wrong this whole time then. I thought it was

Base 1: Hold hands with your teammates
Base 2: Go out on a date in the enemy base with your teammates
Base 3: Facegug someone
Base 4: Deep penetration with internal criticals.

[sycocys]

Kin3ticX, on 23 July 2015 - 04:12 AM, said:

They can also get a pay boost by joining forces and not getting rekt-o-rama'd non-stop

The average c-bill gain will still be much higher dropping standard matches. Reward-wise CW is really only worth it for the mech bays and trinkets. The only way CW would keep up with standard is if your average match reward was 90% of what you'd earn in 4-5 standard matches.

[Jaybles-The-PegLeg-PotatoCaptain]

my stats page tells me that after 4500+ matches since the stat reset, I earn 150k a match. My perception tells me that I average 500K a match in CW without faction bonus. For me, earnings are pretty even. With that said. I'll choose the game mode that lets me grind towards free mech bays, cockpit items, GXP, MC and Cbill bonuses. Sometimes that's pug matches when events are on, Cdubs the rest of the time. Just my personal preference. Oh and I like playing the CW lotto better than playing the PUG lotto every 10 mins. At least you have a chance in CW to pick your side and select your potential opponents. Pugging leaves you at the complete mercy of the MM.

As a side note, I find Cbill earnings on the clan side to be higher. Mostly from the ability to take the prime variants with the cbill bonus as opposed to taking heros on the IS side, which generally are not considered to be the meta.

[Leone]

Great post, and while I agree with some, I disagree with some as well.

clownwarlord, on 22 July 2015 - 08:16 PM, said:

Just picking mechs to level up doesn't work well and makes it tougher to get the credits you are looking for.

- Get your mechs mastered at best (at least elited). If not then be very good in that mech (which means you will be mastered in no time anyway).

If all your looking for is optimizing cbills, I concur. However, I find bringing one or two new mechs into CW while keeping your best mechs to carry them is a great way to 'power level' your new mechs.

clownwarlord, on 22 July 2015 - 08:16 PM, said:

Have your modules for those mechs and your builds set for long time battle. If you have ammo dependent builds then you need to have enough ammo to last a match that you might be in that mech for the total 30 minutes or at least a good solid 15 minutes.

Differences in play style. I have attacking mechs that often run dry if my team is doing too good. Running mostly clan mechs, every ton of ammo is one less medium laser. I never carry more than three tons of Gauss per rifle and usually limit my srms to 15 shots per launcher. You get four mechs. If each is designed to survive seven and a half minutes, well then, you should be able to keep going at optimum performance.

Personally, my SRM and ballistics mechs are designed with even shorter life spans. They are meant to be line breakers; meant to throw themselves at a fortified position and do more damage than they receive. By their very nature, SRMs and Ballistics lend themselves well to this role. A good meta build is designed for sustained combat. There are other options out there. If you want survivability, bring energy builds or meta builds, but know that not all meta builds may be right for your playstyle.

clownwarlord, on 22 July 2015 - 08:16 PM, said:

- Builds need to be verse to play on random maps from hot to cold just like any other game mode.

Eh, you get to know which map your droppping on before you launch. You could always tailor your deck to the map. Taking ballistics heavy mechs for Vitric and Energy heavy builds for Boreal.

clownwarlord, on 22 July 2015 - 08:16 PM, said:

- So how do you play smart? Well it takes a few things but first slow your game down and control the situation. Let the enemy come to you instead of your rushing out into 5 or more enemy mechs.

I find this to be rather team dependent. If your team is aggressive, one should follow, but yeah, If your holding the front line, waiting for reinforcements, the ambush and retreat to cover is a fine delaying tactic.

clownwarlord, on 22 July 2015 - 08:16 PM, said:

- Follow your team ... to a point. If rushing into an area is a bad idea then don't do it.

I've found it's better to die with the team than without. Once your allies get wiped, your next anyways, and if your not dying together, then your reinforcements get strung out and your mechs look like a cookie trail back to the Dropships. This is how spawn camps happen. Stick with the team, fight together, die together, group up for the next wave. One can still flank as part of the team, but don't leave them to die alone just because you don't think the team should assault a fortified position.

Besides, sometimes it takes that extra mech to break the enemy defence, and occasional even admittedly poor tactical decisions can work out. Sometimes a well fortified position is a few hold outs focusing a choke for the team, while they reposition and when they die, or thinking they're up against a full push and run, the defence breaks.

clownwarlord, on 22 July 2015 - 08:16 PM, said:

Clan mechs are better, but not all of their players are. So using Base 1 and 2 you can get pretty damn good IS mechs to give you the edge if you are a better pilot.

You should add on 'on average' or something in there. Sure, omnipods allow for more load out choices allowing a pilot to tailor the mech to their playstyle, but IS has actually hands down better mechs for specific roles, such as the DRG-1n and the Jagermech. Clan tech might have the edge in Lazer Technology, but IS ballistics are King.

clownwarlord, on 22 July 2015 - 08:16 PM, said:

Clan mechs have the range, but some IS mechs do as well and most fighting is at 600m or closer anyway so keeping mech build able to do damage out to 600m is a good idea.

It's nice to have a ranger I admit, but by the game's design closer range weaponry can output more damage, so I feel one should always have at least one brawler. I'm sure we can agree to disagree here, cuz I've known many a match where I've had to sit back an wait for minutes while two teams peeked at each other from 600m, and I can understand where your coming from.

clownwarlord, on 22 July 2015 - 08:16 PM, said:

Having ECM is a great thing, but it isn't required. What is required is good aim and piloting.

I would actually say that good aim is not as core a skill set as you claim. I know someone who drops heavy with LRM mechs because their aim is atrocious and the big red box is easy enough to hit. But good positioning and teamwork has gotten them invited into a unit where they will be a real asset to the team. Invited, I might add, where other pilots with better aim where not. Think about that, a unit knowingly felt inviting an LRM pilot aboard in CW was a good plan. This game is about teamwork, and teamwork trumps aim.

Seriously, alotta good advice, even if I disagree with some of it. And alotta that disagreement is still preference.

~Leone, Once Raid Leader for the Crimson Hand.

Edited by Leone, 23 July 2015 - 04:55 PM.

[Clownwarlord]

Leone, on 23 July 2015 - 04:30 PM, said:

Great post, and while I agree with some, I disagree with some as well.
If all your looking for is optimizing cbills, I concur. However, I find bringing one or two new mechs into CW while keeping your best mechs to carry them is a great way to 'power level' your new mechs.

Thank you, but power leveling will only effectively work if you go through all of your mechs and basically you will be playing a mech or two down if you burn those power leveling mechs before you get to the mechs that may or may not help recover your game play.

Leone, on 23 July 2015 - 04:30 PM, said:

Differences in play style. I have attacking mechs that often run dry if my team is doing too good. Running mostly clan mechs, every ton of ammo is one less medium laser. I never carry more than three tons of Gauss per rifle and usually limit my srms to 15 shots per launcher. You get four mechs. If each is designed to survive seven and a half minutes, well then, you should be able to keep going at optimum performance.

I can agree with that sentiment if you are expecting to go through all your mechs in that match. But I would not recommend it because if you are going through all of them then it is either a close match or a losing match, and only one of those is profitable.

Leone, on 23 July 2015 - 04:30 PM, said:

Personally, my SRM and ballistics mechs are designed with even shorter life spans. They are meant to be line breakers; meant to throw themselves at a fortified position and do more damage than they receive. By their very nature, SRMs and Ballistics lend themselves well to this role. A good meta build is designed for sustained combat. There are other options out there. If you want survivability, bring energy builds or meta builds, but know that not all meta builds may be right for your playstyle.

Your idea of a line breaker is nice and all but your ending of the statement suggest that you are not expecting to survive and survivability in any match means more damage, more kills, and more in anything that can earn you more Cbills. Although I can agree with the thought that some take survivability to far at the expense of the match.

Leone, on 23 July 2015 - 04:30 PM, said:

Eh, you get to know which map your droppping on before you launch. You could always tailor your deck to the map. Taking ballistics heavy mechs for Vitric and Energy heavy builds for Boreal.

Yes but some times you get thrown into a 50 second count down and that wouldn't be enough time to change out all four mechs. Better to be safe and have your deck put together before your drop in my opinion, but again is just my opinion.

Leone, on 23 July 2015 - 04:30 PM, said:

I find this to be rather team dependent. If your team is aggressive, one should follow, but yeah, If your holding the front line, waiting for reinforcements, the ambush and retreat to cover is a fine delaying tactic.

I've found it's better to die with the team than without. Once your allies get wiped, your next anyways, and if your not dying together, then your reinforcements get strung out and your mechs look like a cookie trail back to the Dropships. This is how spawn camps happen. Stick with the team, fight together, die together, group up for the next wave. One can still flank as part of the team, but don't leave them to die alone just because you don't think the team should assault a fortified position.

Besides, sometimes it takes that extra mech to break the enemy defence, and occasional even admittedly poor tactical decisions can work out. Sometimes a well fortified position is a few hold outs focusing a choke for the team, while they reposition and when they die, or thinking they're up against a full push and run, the defence breaks.

I agree it is team dependent hence why I bring up follow your team, but again only to a point because if it is a dumb idea saving your mech for a better idea later is best for you and the team instead of going down another mech in a counter attack when kill count matters. Both are logical opinions though so I agree to disagree.

Leone, on 23 July 2015 - 04:30 PM, said:

You should add on 'on average' or something in there. Sure, omnipods allow for more load out choices allowing a pilot to tailor the mech to their playstyle, but IS has actually hands down better mechs for specific roles, such as the DRG-1n and the Jagermech. Clan tech might have the edge in Lazer Technology, but IS ballistics are King.

Specific rolls while I can agree IS has better mechs for this they are only good for that roll when they are built that way which also makes them handy capped in a 30 minutes match where you are most likely asked to do something outside of that mechs natural roll. Also while I also agree the dragon and jager are effective ballistic mechs they usually have to carry an xl engine which makes that IS mech very vulnerable (unlike the clan xl).

Leone, on 23 July 2015 - 04:30 PM, said:

It's nice to have a ranger I admit, but by the game's design closer range weaponry can output more damage, so I feel one should always have at least one brawler. I'm sure we can agree to disagree here, cuz I've known many a match where I've had to sit back an wait for minutes while two teams peeked at each other from 600m, and I can understand where your coming from.

I agree having brawlers is great idea because the maps force you into brawls eventually, but you still want to be able to do damage out to 600 meters because damage dealt to the enemy mech then means less damage you have to deal later. So for clans it would be ER Mediums or just about any clan weapon because outside of a few LBX and small lasers they all can do some damage. As for IS you will need to look at quirks and the weapons range after quirk to see if you can do some damage at range.

Leone, on 23 July 2015 - 04:30 PM, said:

I would actually say that good aim is not as core a skill set as you claim. I know someone who drops heavy with LRM mechs because their aim is atrocious and the big red box is easy enough to hit. But good positioning and teamwork has gotten them invited into a unit where they will be a real asset to the team. Invited, I might add, where other pilots with better aim where not. Think about that, a unit knowingly felt inviting an LRM pilot aboard in CW was a good plan. This game is about teamwork, and teamwork trumps aim.

While I disagree in solo CW dropping with lrms I agree in a team effort to use lrms can be effective. BUT that team then has be willing to use narc, tag, bap, ecm, and uav working together effectively to do so. Otherwise it is a waste of a mech in a solo CW drop because lately ECM has been very abbundant in CW. This could change though with the changes said to be coming to ECM (http://mwomercs.com/...16#entry4562716).

Outside of the lrm point aiming is very important when it comes down to ending an enemy mech with a ct shot while you keep hitting the side torso. This could be also because people do not know hit boxes of mechs they face which then I suggest they troll the forums for the pictures of the hit boxes that many have done (and I thank those people who made those they are very useful).

Leone, on 23 July 2015 - 04:30 PM, said:

Seriously, alotta good advice, even if I disagree with some of it. And alotta that disagreement is still preference.

~Leone, Once Raid Leader for the Crimson Hand.

Thank you for the counter opinion, it is not usual to see disagreement in opinions in a friendly fashion, and I will agree to disagree with you.

[Leone]

clownwarlord, on 23 July 2015 - 07:18 PM, said:

Thank you for the counter opinion, it is not usual to see disagreement in opinions in a friendly fashion, and I will agree to disagree with you.

<o. Agreed.

And, as an arguement for your points, I did get kinda sidetracked and forgot that we were talking about getting better cbills out of CW. I started replying to certain points and got lost in my little CW world, going with what I felt was most effective in the match, rather than in the final cbill count. I do tend to earn less now than I used to, but part of that is joining a skilled unit. Only so many mechs to go around and when I'm dropping with the team we tend to have a good damage spread. I know however, that another part is time lost on rejoining the fray, and/or shots lost due to a short engagement range or an empty ammo bin. I made more as a new player tagging everything with uac and large laser fire than I do now focus firing with closer range weaponry, due to lost kill assist oppourtunities and a shorter mech life. Oddly, I feel I help my team more now, but I cannot argue against your points from the point of view of getting the most cbills out of the match.

Honestly I think your advice may help me out more, now, than it would have early on in my CW career. Being now in a unit, I may be able to pull off a longer lived mech build. I may hafta tweak my drop decks to put a decent survivalist in to try and get the most outta the match, see how it works.

~Leone

Edited by Leone, 23 July 2015 - 10:36 PM.

[Bulletsponge0]

John1352, on 22 July 2015 - 09:31 PM, said:

Why do people post their best match with C-bill bonus variants and premium time then use it to argue that CW earnings are fine?

If you have a similarly brilliant game in solo mode, earn 200,000 base, then +30% and +50% you get 360k. An average solo game will take 10 mins, including waiting and playing. In the 40 minutes for a CW game (like you said) that is 1.4 million c-bills.

CW pay needs a big boost, then the players will come.

Edit: Your tips for earning more are valid, it doesn't mean it is worth playing CW from a cbills per hour perspective though.

CW can be very profitable. That was a pug drop against a premade. over 1 million cbills earned using nothing but an adder. The key to good earnings in CW is to do a lot of damage and WIN the match. WINNING should be the #1 and only priority in CW, because thats where the earnings come from. Sure cbill boost mechs help, but not as much as just winning the match.

Too many pugs only play for themselves in CW, and don't play as a team or to win, then they complain about losing to the big bad evil premades. What they don't understand is that they directly contributed to the loss by NOT playing as a team, and no, you don't have to be in a big unit or a 12 man premade to play as a team in CW

[SeventhSL]

Great write up!!!! All new CW players should really read this.

I think old mate from meta mechs has a bit of a preference for Clan. That said, they are certainly much easier when you are learning. Once you skill up and get the hang of team work and mech roles it is a different story though.

[Clownwarlord]

Bulletsponge0, on 24 July 2015 - 06:32 AM, said:

CW can be very profitable. That was a pug drop against a premade. over 1 million cbills earned using nothing but an adder. The key to good earnings in CW is to do a lot of damage and WIN the match. WINNING should be the #1 and only priority in CW, because thats where the earnings come from. Sure cbill boost mechs help, but not as much as just winning the match.

Too many pugs only play for themselves in CW, and don't play as a team or to win, then they complain about losing to the big bad evil premades. What they don't understand is that they directly contributed to the loss by NOT playing as a team, and no, you don't have to be in a big unit or a 12 man premade to play as a team in CW

Agree winning is the best way to get cbills in CW and I hope my topic will help with some of the basic ground work to help in that, but as you also pointed out it is a team effort.

If you fail to prep you are prepping for failure and that is what i am trying to remedy.

[Paddles McSquee]

For a new player you're basically saying come back in a year.

[MaxFool]

Paddles McSquee, on 24 July 2015 - 05:00 PM, said:

For a new player you're basically saying come back in a year.

If someone new, who obviously haven't developed the skills yet, wants to play with inferior equipment (unmastered mechs, lack of modules etc), it does make much more sense to grind in ELO enabled enviroment than in queue with no matchmaker where he has to face lots of big good groups with meta mechs.

[Leone]

Paddles McSquee, on 24 July 2015 - 05:00 PM, said:

For a new player you're basically saying come back in a year.

Now now, the OP is trying to give advice on how to maximize CW earnings, that's not to say you can't drop CW to get the cbills needed to be prepared for CW. I, infact have a friend from my 'ole Table Top days who preferred to earn cbills in CW for his final Madcat so he could elite the chassis, because he got better cbills in it than in normal queue. Just know what your are working towards.

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 24 July 2015 - 10:07 PM.

[Moldur]

12-15 minute premade stomps that net 6-700k+ cbills are worthwhile since they are far more predictable and ensured than just doing really well and having a good team in pub. Ofc, that's telling of a couple other issues.

Edited by Moldur, 25 July 2015 - 12:24 PM.