13 replies to this topic

[wanderer]

If you're in a Trial 'Mech and having to grind up from scratch, you are in a special kind of hell generally reserved for people who talk during movies and make moves on your underage sister. I don't envy you.

However, in the interests of understanding said suffering, I just did it for the tune of enough to buy a medium 'Mech (in my case, about 5 million), at a relatively casual pace. This is what I've learned. Use it and you can grind at a good rate without looking like a complete jerk.

First, your goal is not to win. It is simply to cause as much damage as possible while dying. This does not mean "alpha every time", it means you attempt to hurt the other side as much as possible, as often as possible, so they do their best to kill you. Winning is a bonus, not a requirement. You are in a PUG, PUGs usually do NOT involve teamwork. The only time to not do this is if you DO end up the tail end of a not-quite-full premade. In which case, try to help and listen. You might learn something. Every shot you land is literally money in your pocket, every spotting bonus and kill assist more money. Regard every match as you are already dead. Losing doesn't matter, your sole purpose is to squeeze as much money out of performing with little to no regard for yourself. After all, you have no repair bills.

Second, pick the biggest 'Mech you feel good at killing with. Killing means "firing as constantly as your heat bar allows without shutting down". Shutting down means less killing gets done. Less killing means less money. It also means that the match will tend more to slugfests, as you'll help weight the PUG matchmaker towards more assaults or heavies. That's what you want. Big, slow targets you won't miss much shooting at- or will miss you much. It'll give your team more easy targets, and being PUGs, you need all the easy shots you can get.

Third, choose the direct route to the enemy base and use it without fail. In Frozen, take the tunnels. Forest, go lake. Caustic, march straight up the caldera.River City, take the river route between bases. Encourage the rest of the team to rush with you. Base rushing is the fastest win if unopposed, and the fastest way to a fight if not. Take the whole team with you if possible, regardless of actual movement speed. It doesn't matter- if three or more of your team can spend any appreciable time unopposed on their base, you will likely win in a minute or so and end up with a capture bonus besides.

Fourth, expend long range ammo on viable targets whenever possible before closing, preferably while on the move to avoid return fire. This allows you to deliver more damage before getting killed, as close range is where even the worst shots are going to make it felt. Hurt them as much as possible from a distance, then close.

Remember, more damage, more spotting, more destroyed components or kills = more money. Get in close when you're out of LRM ammo, but spend it freely on anything that gets in your way. After all, it costs you nothing. Focus on non-Trial 'Mechs first and foremost if they're easy targets- mediums, heavies, assaults. You can also enjoy the fact that you're literally carving away C-bills from their rewards with every hit, especially if you kill a custom assault- which if they lose is often enough to actually make them lose money in repairs. Customs are the biggest threat- other Trials are even matches at best.

Fifth, drive opponents relentlessly. If you see a damaged target, latch onto it and keep firing until it dies or you do without regard for whether it kills you in the process- just make sure you keep hitting it. Constant damage panics many players into shutting down from over-firing wildly. Take advantage. Shoot them some more, always focusing on any damaged section of worth. Chainfire is often better at shaking a target's morale than firing entire weapon groups at once, as constant damage tends to make people evasive.

Sixth, stay around for the match. If you've done it right, the fight will be over quickly and anyone you damaged that dies will end up more money in your pocket at the end of match, win or lose. The idea is to drive your group into the teeth of your opponents or cap their base trying. Feel free to be helpful (or if they didn't listen to you and are losing in pathetic fashion, mock them gently for not listening) with whatever you can spot on spectator mode, such as where any easy kills remain or the damage on whatever you died chewing on. Leaving gets you into another match faster, but watching is more amusing and can occasionally be insightful- and gives your head a break between fights.

Your purpose is to be the mad alpha wolf of your PUG, to goad them into swarming in a single direction and encourage them to throw themselves at the enemy heedlessly. It costs you nothing to die, after all. Forget real strategy or tactics- PUGs aren't meant for that. Just get them to roll straight into the enemy in a pack and win or lose, who cares, just shoot things as efficiently as possible while it happens and you might, MIGHT just break them doing it and win. Actual serious strategy is for premades with VOIP.

[Name140704]

I encourage all of the opposing team to use these tactics.

[Amonchakad]

Sad fact: even by following these "cheap" guidelines, you'd still earn just a fraction of what you get by constantly joining a game and leave as soon as it starts.

[wanderer]

Amonchakad, on 31 October 2012 - 10:36 AM, said:

Sad fact: even by following these "cheap" guidelines, you'd still earn just a fraction of what you get by constantly joining a game and leave as soon as it starts.

Of course you would. The objective here is NOT to be cheap, but to simply try and direct a PUG player into a fast-but-effective mode of play. Join-and-leave is considered exploiting the system at this point by PGI, and I'd much rather not see newer players aimed at doing something that'll just get the account suspended or banned.

[buckX]

I like you.

[BigTaeng]

Amonchakad, on 31 October 2012 - 10:36 AM, said:

Sad fact: even by following these "cheap" guidelines, you'd still earn just a fraction of what you get by constantly joining a game and leave as soon as it starts.

Not any more.

Even though I have a feeling wanderer's post was intended as satire, I do agree with the basic gist. The point of this game is to have fun. Sure losing is not fun, but at least you can go out in a blaze of glory.

Especially for new players who are still getting used to the controls for the first time, trial 'Mechs provide the perfect opportunity to learn how your weapon groups work, how to direct LRM fire and how to lead targets. Stick with the group, shoot what they are shooting at. If everyone spreads out, try and find at least one other player to stick with. Two is better than one.

As you get comfortable with the game, then you can start dropping with others so that when orders or directions are given to you, you will be more familiar with the grid system and map layouts and not running around like a chicken with your head cut off using Apple Maps.

Edited by BigTaeng, 31 October 2012 - 01:13 PM.

[wanderer]

BigTaeng, on 31 October 2012 - 01:09 PM, said:

Not any more.

Even though I have a feeling wanderer's post was intended as satire, I do agree with the basic gist. The point of this game is to have fun. Sure losing is not fun, but at least you can go out in a blaze of glory.

Actually, it's not satire at all.

Quite honestly, trying to get PUGs to be anything but PUGs costs you time and energy you could be spending having fun instead- and if you're grinding, helping make sure matches end fast and in large explosions all around is the best way to do so. Not suicide, but not watching people randomly flail across the map for 10 minutes straight. Win or lose, do it fast, get it done, and honestly,the one most successful tactic for PUGs is "head straight at enemy base", attempt to cap or run into defenders on way and blow each other up. Either you cap fast, they cap fast, or people end up in a nice tightly packed brawl that racks up a body count in a hurry and the match is- you guessed it, over fast so you have fun (or at least get a bad game over with fast) and relaunch with more C-bills in pocket to do it again.

[Pekiti]

In a PUG, simple tactics work best. Use the brief countdown delay to anounce a simple plan. The key is massed mechs. If everyone scatters, you are going to lose. If everyone heads to the same spot in a mob, chances are better that you will win.

Fight alone, die alone.

[Darius Otsdarva]

I find that when in a PUG using the chat option and the commanders chair to be a massive benefit.

Just a little typing with polite orders and a few map markers can sway the game tremendously. I try to help out by giving out simple instructions that get overlooked such as 'R to lock on', 'Make sure you have your weapons grouped' and stick together.

Be encouraging too, especially with the experienced players. We've been through the closed beta and have been annihilated by the vets. Lets try ease the pain of being a new player as much as possible.

[Kivin]

This is what happens when this ridiculousness is executed on a PUG: http://postimage.org/image/9l0tc5et7/

I launched in to ice map, said "rush tunnel gogogogo" and everyone followed my crappy *** centurion through. About a minute and a half later, she-bang!

[Beo Vulf]

NARCoMAN, on 31 October 2012 - 08:51 AM, said:

I encourage all of the opposing team to use these tactics.

YEs please! Tunnel crossfire ambush /rubs hands together.

[Tuoweit]

While the proposed tactic is pretty braindead, the fact of the matter is that as long as the whole team is following one tactic, it will be more effective rather than following 8 individual uncoordinated tactics regardless of how cunning those might be. So yes, I tentatively support following this for as long as you feel you don't know what the heck you're doing in the match. But be observant, and once you start to get an understanding of the game, try something a little less all-or-nothing (and try to corral your team to go with you

[wanderer]

Kivin, on 01 November 2012 - 10:13 AM, said:

This is what happens when this ridiculousness is executed on a PUG: http://postimage.org/image/9l0tc5et7/

I launched in to ice map, said "rush tunnel gogogogo" and everyone followed my crappy *** centurion through. About a minute and a half later, she-bang!

Beo Vulf, on 01 November 2012 - 10:27 AM, said:

YEs please! Tunnel crossfire ambush /rubs hands together.

Ayup. Quick matches, quick win/losses, fun, repeat. That's the idea here.

Tuoweit, on 01 November 2012 - 11:06 AM, said:

While the proposed tactic is pretty braindead, the fact of the matter is that as long as the whole team is following one tactic, it will be more effective rather than following 8 individual uncoordinated tactics regardless of how cunning those might be. So yes, I tentatively support following this for as long as you feel you don't know what the heck you're doing in the match. But be observant, and once you start to get an understanding of the game, try something a little less all-or-nothing (and try to corral your team to go with you

That's part of the point. PUGs are brain-dead, collectively speaking (regardless of their components) and rapidly lose attention to any plan whatsoever. The best plan is almost no plan at all. Point the PUG at the enemy base by the shortest available route and charge. This is, by far the easiest way to maximize your odds of any sort of focus whatsoever in a PUG- and if it fails to do so, the easiest way to get said PUG obliterated so you can go have another round and pick up your worry-free stack of C-bills in the process.

In addition, a mass rush almost guarantees numerical superiority, at least in the short term unless the other team is really on the ball. That can result in a quick 2-0 in your favor, which is about the tipping point in PUG play for "steamroll opponents".

None of it will really have any effect on an organized team, but the vast majority of teams are neither premades or even remotely capable of organization, and there's a certain pleasure in winning while the enemy customs are off in the distance, trying to get back to their base in vain after realizing you just walking into their base with three buddies and the capture bar is evaporating before their eyes- and not one of your team in sight is outside of a Trial. It's often one of the cases where the REALLY A.D.D. players occasionally come in handy by wandering off at random moments for a brief chew toy encounter with the other team before they explode, making nice speed bumps.

I've been playing this game since June. You want fancy tactics, you aren't playing in a PUG. The failure rate on anything but literally the simplest of tactics (and "CHAAAAARGE!" is as simple as it gets) is horrid.

[wanderer]

Bumped, the better to be read over the various trollworthy LOL KILL YERSELF FAST HURR HURR DERP "guides" we've been getting deleted on General Guides.