416 replies to this topic

[ggodo]

Just figured I would check in. I'm going to be spending my MWO time Scouting in my Raven to get rep for mechbays to house my Griffin. I'm holding out on trying to convince my wife to let me buy Real Money Mechs until there's a dropdeck I could use to roll with the team.

Edited to complain about not getting a mechbay for hitting Rank 2 with FRR before Rank 2 got mechbays. Is that a bug? Or am I just unlucky? I probably should've complained sooner, but I wasn't sure how many bays I started with.

Edited by ggodo, 18 July 2016 - 11:18 AM.

[ggodo]

Replying to myself to admit I'm an idiot. I lost track of where they are listed in the new interface. I apologize for the salt in my previous post. I'm dumb.

[4EVR]

If you want to limit your spending, MC packs are the best bet. Buy mech bays only as needed until they go on sale. Personally I think you need about 20-40 mechs to be comfortable variety-wise. That said, if you do whale-out and buy everything you'll have a lot of premium time and other goodies to reduce the grind. Most new mech releases do not introduce power-creep so pay-to-win thankfully happens rarely. PGI's generosity with freebies varies a lot but the 2nd half / end of year events are usually the best.(*)

Regarding mechs, the main effect of the recent patches is to bunch mechs closer together. That means finding the single best drop deck is going to be harder but also less significant because the differences are smaller. Black Knights, Warhammers, Grasshoppers, Thunderbolts (especially the 9SE), Quickdraws, Griffins, and so on... lots of combinations. For beginners it would be great to continue to focus on mechs that have at least 2 viable cbill variants. I think it's likely that PGI will continue nerfing the top mechs. That would be the best strat for game balance.


(*) Though TBH, the grind is so much easier if you just buy a pack here and there. 45 mil for 3 variants all kitted out takes a while. It's a F2P thing. Just don' t buy mechs for MC unless there's a hero sale.


Edit2: The locust mastery pack is also good value for a small purchase. Month of premium, 3 mechbays, and you even get 3 locusts.

Edited by 4EVR, 31 August 2016 - 11:38 AM.

[Eov]

What's the current state of this dropdeck?

The initial post says something about an update in a week and a half?

I'm 3/4 of the way to getting the deck anyway but I must say I'm not very impressed.

The 9SE is ok if you like poking but the BJ-1X build seems very hot and you can't alpha all 7 of the med pulses on the 5SS without ghost heat, so that seems like a waste, it also seems fairly useless on long range maps with PUGs, I can see with 12 of them you could bumrush the enemy and then brawl em down, but if your teammates aren't with you that tends to end poorly.

Anyway I'll keep training the Stromtrooper deck, but I think I want more Ballistic weapons.

How about CTF-0XP CTF-3D SHD-2H SHD-2D2

Or if ECM isn't useful (CTF-1X for the first drop)

Probably a terrible idea for all sorts of reasons..

Let me know.

Edited by Eov, 15 September 2016 - 01:33 AM.

[Benjamin Kirsch]

I don't think you'll see an update until Energy Draw comes to the live server. As far as the rest, the Thunderbolt'so are intended to be 'starter' mechs, economical to acquire and easy to play. Tbolts serve that purpose quite well, but the real Stormtroopers were the QKD, which in the hands of a good pilot are still very good. That being said, not many are currently using the Stormtrooper decks right now, you would be advised to come to the FRR hub, find a group and try to sync your builds with theirs.

As for CTFs and SHDs, both chassis are fairly weak for FP and not usually recommended, WHM-6D/R is probably the top IS heavy right now, followed by the BLK/MAD/GRH.

[Sjorpha]

Eov, on 15 September 2016 - 01:23 AM, said:

Probably a terrible idea for all sorts of reasons..

Let me know.

Cataphract is to weak to be a dropdeck staple. I like shadowhawk but I think both griffin and blackjack are better suited for the stormtrooper deck.

I'd say the future of this project is tied to the future of Faction Play and whether being a loyalist becomes meaningful again or not. I'd love to see the FRR community rebuilt but I doubt I'll ever become a loyalist again after getting used to alternating between IS and clan mechs and building good dropdecks in for each.

[Bud Crue]

Sjorpha, on 25 September 2016 - 01:50 PM, said:

Cataphract is to weak to be a dropdeck staple. I like shadowhawk but I think both griffin and blackjack are better suited for the stormtrooper deck.

I'd say the future of this project is tied to the future of Faction Play and whether being a loyalist becomes meaningful again or not. I'd love to see the FRR community rebuilt but I doubt I'll ever become a loyalist again after getting used to alternating between IS and clan mechs and building good dropdecks in for each.

Its also tied to the status and interest of the ISEN folks. They were the folks who created the push for the Storm Trooper et al "official" drop decks; and frankly were the prime movers, via the FRR TS channel, of encouraging and emphasizing CW play at all in the FRR. Right now they are all focused (I presume) on the Tournament, and until that is over and they return their focus to the Hub, and the FRR "stuff" we will just have to wait.

One can only hope that there is motivation for them (and many others) to return to CW. Alas, given the current state of the mode and in light of Russ' proposals for its future, I fear that even if the ISEN guys do refocus their attention here at some point there may not be many people for them to lead or help.

[Sjorpha]

Bud Crue, on 26 September 2016 - 06:33 AM, said:

Its also tied to the status and interest of the ISEN folks. They were the folks who created the push for the Storm Trooper et al "official" drop decks; and frankly were the prime movers, via the FRR TS channel, of encouraging and emphasizing CW play at all in the FRR. Right now they are all focused (I presume) on the Tournament, and until that is over and they return their focus to the Hub, and the FRR "stuff" we will just have to wait.

One can only hope that there is motivation for them (and many others) to return to CW. Alas, given the current state of the mode and in light of Russ' proposals for its future, I fear that even if the ISEN guys do refocus their attention here at some point there may not be many people for them to lead or help.

Isengrim and Mech the Dane has done enormous work to create the FRR hub and keep it's community going, but they have never played a lot of CW themselves, I think most of the other units on the hub has been playing much more..

[Swagpanda89]

I saw Dane and a lot of ISEN guys (some within MS) dropping a lot in CW

[Bud Crue]

Swagpanda89, on 29 September 2016 - 10:13 AM, said:

I saw Dane and a lot of ISEN guys (some within MS) dropping a lot in CW

Yes, prior to the tournament they were a constant presence on the Hub and many of the ISEN folks, not just Dane, would often jump around providing suggestions and helping with other groups, at least during NA prime time. This reached a peak just before phase 3 when they were trying to get other groups to try the Stormtrooper deck. I still see a few of the ISEN folks when I am on (a couple came down and dropped with us during the last event) but it is not like it was before the tourney. But it is certaily not just them, I haven't seen many SOs on either of late and only a couple of 2323 folks regularly. Heck even my own unit of a hundred or so people rarely has more than a dozen members playing.

But I digress, my comment above was merely to note that ISEN are the folks responsible for this thread and the whole "official" FRR drop deck(s) thing. Unless they come back to update it, and push a new version of those decks, likely no one else will.

[Karl the Plumber]

So is this thread finally dead and buried? Is there a good place to go for up-to-date deck strategies? I'm running quickdraws and I seem to be stuck in the 1500-2200 damage tier, so I'm trying to change up my deck and find out if tech is limiting me or if I'm just right around the best I'm gonna be (i don't have modules on most of my mechs...maybe i should start there).

Edited by Karl the Plumber, 18 November 2016 - 01:13 PM.

[ggodo]

It's probably dead, but I hope if we keep necroposting Mech The Dane will notice us and shower us with his wisdom.

[Bud Crue]

Karl the Plumber, on 18 November 2016 - 01:12 PM, said:

So is this thread finally dead and buried? Is there a good place to go for up-to-date deck strategies? I'm running quickdraws and I seem to be stuck in the 1500-2200 damage tier, so I'm trying to change up my deck and find out if tech is limiting me or if I'm just right around the best I'm gonna be (i don't have modules on most of my mechs...maybe i should start there).

I believe it is their intent to get a new deck out soon
http://mwomercs.com/...33#entry5469833

As to your Quickdraws, I'd say you are doing very well in them. Your damage numbers are better than mine have ever been (take that with a huge quantity of salt as I am an old drunk terribad and merely shoot for 300 a mech in CW and often will eject if I get to 500 pts, even if I am undamaged, just to get a different ride), but I think even for a very good player 2000 damage in 4 QDs is damn good.

For what its worth, to do more damage I would suggest dropping at least one QD for a Grasshopper, or better yet if you don't need the JJs a Warhammer. I still like that 3 and 1 deck or 2 QD and 2 Thunderbolts (SE).

Regardless I have a feeling that the deck the ISEN folks come up with will not feature Quickdraws given the fact that it has been nerfed twice since rescale. Hope I am wrong though. Love my Quickies.

[Khalcruth]

Bud Crue, on 18 November 2016 - 01:48 PM, said:

often will eject if I get to 500 pts, even if I am undamaged, just to get a different ride

How exactly do you tell that you've got to 500? The only way I've ever been able to know how much damage I've done is after I'm already dead.

[Bud Crue]

Khalcruth, on 18 November 2016 - 05:05 PM, said:

How exactly do you tell that you've got to 500? The only way I've ever been able to know how much damage I've done is after I'm already dead.

Just a guestimate. I mean at my low skill level it is pretty damn rare, but it is typically when we wipe the 1st 2 waves, I almost always eject before the third, no matter how my mech is. In those circumstances I have never been less than 500 when I have done this...and I am a pretty bad shot. So if it works for me, it ought to be true for anyone.

[Khalcruth]

Ah. I thought there was some sort of checkbox is the settings or something that I had overlooked all this time.

[nehebkau]

If you are really stuck for a drop deck, make sure you check out the community warfare sections of metamechs.

[Sarsaparilla Kid]

Even that meta list is over 5 months old since the last update...2 Battlemasters, a Blackjack and an Oxide...those still typically used? I'm not being facetious...just haven't dropped in FP lately to see what's what. I'm just finishing my Blackjack mastery, but otherwise my mechbays are full of the poptart meta from over 2 years ago...Victors, Highlanders and Cataphracts, as well as other mechs that were fun or relevant back then. I do have Jenners, just not the Oxide, because it was a poor choice 2 years ago. I don't have most of the mechs listed on the various IS lists, so it would be nice to narrow my "get now" list to the ones that are truly relevant today, and add the others as time and money allows.

/s

[ggodo]

I'm a broke casual who like FW's concept, if not the execution, and would like to know what I should be saving up for, because I want to play in games with teammates who talk.

[Bud Crue]

ggodo, on 19 November 2016 - 11:53 AM, said:

I'm a broke casual who like FW's concept, if not the execution, and would like to know what I should be saving up for, because I want to play in games with teammates who talk.

Its impossible to say. PGI keeps dinking with quirks on mechs and weapons characteristics in general. Plus there is always the chance that at or around mechcon they may announce still more changes to basic game mechanics. Add to that Russ's assertions of changes to CW incoming (listen to NGNG podcast #145 for "specifics") and the potential for ED and/or the weapon stat changes that were modeled on the PTS potentially creeping in at some point, not to mention the ever present possibility that PGI could change drop deck weights on a whim, and it is pretty clear that everything about the CW mode is up in the air atm, and likely will stay that way until at least January.

Right now, based on those I talk to (I can rarely convince folks to play the mode so I can no longer pretend to be up to date in my own personal knowledge/experience) I would say for the IS fast heavies are still the way to go. Primarily Warhammers, Grasshoppers, Thunderbolts, etc. Problem is that could all change in an instant. To wit: When ISEN came up with the stormtrooper deck of 3 QDs and 1 GH, the QDs had really nice quirks. They have been nerfed twice since then (the preferred and still meta Grasshopper 5P has not been, though the other GHs were nerfed as well), so are they still considered a good option by better players despite those nerfs? No idea. Sorry.

Keep in mind too, that the "basic deck" ISEN originally put forth was mostly thunderbolts. I don't recall if those were substantively nerfed following rescale...I don't believe they were (do your research). But assuming that they were not, I would guess that those would still be a good option as the basis of a deck.

Finally, also consider the state of the meta, and its emphasis atm on daka, as well as PGI's latest monkeying around with UAC performance. That too will likely impact whatever deck those wiser than I come up with.

Sorry, wish I could help more.