46 replies to this topic

[BlueFalcon7]

Sean von Steinike, on 04 March 2013 - 10:59 PM, said:

There is no "trial que" in this game. You will be thrown into battle with others your skill level; brand new players, old hands with new second accounts, old hands using mechs they have not piloted much or are not very good with. The patch coming on the 5th should put new training grounds in the game though. This has been a long awaited feature. Your first few matches (25?) give you a "cadet bonus" to your c-bill earnings to help you buy your first owned mech. My advice is to give all the trial mechs a try, see what sort of wieght class suits you then come back and ask for advice on what model to buy in that class. Some varients are generally considered better than others. Welcome to MWO.

It sounds like in this game the type of mech has a much greater bearing than the old video games. And I played pretty much all of them back to the orginal Battletech where you just hoped a Battlemaster would show up for sale.

[Noobzorz]

You should be aware that the game isn't like other FPS games. I just downloaded the game very recently myself, and you are going to face an uphill battle. It's going to feel like things make no sense, and that you can't seem to do any damage and die instantly for the first few matches. Then it's all going to start to come together until you have that match where you do the most damage out of everyone by a margin of 200 over second place, and singlehandedly romp all over the other team.

A few key things:

1) Stick close to your teammates. Like, very close. You're slow, and you can't afford to be exposed for too long.

2) Shoot at what your teammates are shooting at.

3) That readout in the top right of your screen when you target enemies (press R to do that by the way)? Use it. It's important. You need to be getting in the habit of identifying where they are damaged and blowing those parts up. In fact, get in the habit of using your whole screen. It's not just cool filler information.

4) Get advice before you buy your first mech.

Happy hunting!

[MoonUnitBeta]

BlueFalcon7, on 04 March 2013 - 10:56 PM, said:

Based on my prior experience in MW video games I will probably go for a Medium or Heavy. They seem to suit my style of play best. I don't have the piloting skills to run a Light and Assault mechs really have to be used wisely on the battlefield.

My style tends to be: Work to have at least partial cover, move and fire at long range and try to whittle 'em down. I like trying to reduce enemy mechs mobility before moving in for a kill.

Well, that' my theory anyway, don't know if I can do it.

It's a steep learning curve but PGI is working to improve that. There's lots yet to come to help with it and the testing grounds to come with tomorrows patch is another one of those things.

All I can advise is these couple things to keep practicing:
When you are being circled by a light, .stop. and walk backwards, or butt up against a wall.
The longer you live, the more damage you're capable of doing.
Know when it's time to run away (if you can) or when to hide behind cover (incoming LRM's).
Being over zealous can put you in a bind real quick, but if you fancy long range you shouldn't have a problem with getting stuck in the thick of things.
Get comfortable with setting your weapon groups to avoid over heating.

There's more. there's always more... but you'll learn much more than anyone could ever tell you by just jumping in and being open to learning... and dieing

[jakucha]

Tomorrow's patch will bring training area you can test on. Be sure to use it.

[Noobzorz]

You should be aware that the game isn't like other FPS games. I just downloaded the game very recently myself, and you are going to face an uphill battle. It's going to feel like things make no sense, and that you can't seem to do any damage and die instantly for the first few matches. Then it's all going to start to come together until you have that match where you do the most damage out of everyone by a margin of 200 over second place, and singlehandedly romp all over the other team.

A few key things:

1) Stick close to your teammates. Like, very close. You're slow, and you can't afford to be exposed for too long.

2) Shoot at what your teammates are shooting at.

3) That readout in the top right of your screen when you target enemies (press R to do that by the way)? Use it. It's important. You need to be getting in the habit of identifying where they are damaged and blowing those parts up. In fact, get in the habit of using your whole screen. It's not just cool filler information.

4) Get advice before you buy your first mech.

Happy hunting!

[BlueFalcon7]

Noobzorz, on 04 March 2013 - 11:03 PM, said:

You should be aware that the game isn't like other FPS games. I just downloaded the game very recently myself, and you are going to face an uphill battle. It's going to feel like things make no sense, and that you can't seem to do any damage and die instantly for the first few matches. Then it's all going to start to come together until you have that match where you do the most damage out of everyone by a margin of 200 over second place, and singlehandedly romp all over the other team.

A few key things:

1) Stick close to your teammates. Like, very close. You're slow, and you can't afford to be exposed for too long.

2) Shoot at what your teammates are shooting at.

3) That readout in the top right of your screen when you target enemies (press R to do that by the way)? Use it. It's important. You need to be getting in the habit of identifying where they are damaged and blowing those parts up. In fact, get in the habit of using your whole screen. It's not just cool filler information.

4) Get advice before you buy your first mech.

Happy hunting!

I promise to Die in a Loud and Grotesque manner for several weeks Thanks for the tips, it sounds awesome

jakucha, on 04 March 2013 - 11:04 PM, said:

Tomorrow's patch will bring training area you can test on. Be sure to use it.

So I am going to have to download another patch tomorrow?
I'm hoping it's not nearly as large as this one.

How often are patches put out and are all necessary?

MoonUnitBeta, on 04 March 2013 - 11:04 PM, said:

It's a steep learning curve but PGI is working to improve that. There's lots yet to come to help with it and the testing grounds to come with tomorrows patch is another one of those things.

All I can advise is these couple things to keep practicing:
When you are being circled by a light, .stop. and walk backwards, or butt up against a wall.
The longer you live, the more damage you're capable of doing.
Know when it's time to run away (if you can) or when to hide behind cover (incoming LRM's).
Being over zealous can put you in a bind real quick, but if you fancy long range you shouldn't have a problem with getting stuck in the thick of things.
Get comfortable with setting your weapon groups to avoid over heating.

There's more. there's always more... but you'll learn much more than anyone could ever tell you by just jumping in and being open to learning... and dieing

That seems like the same tactic that worked well with Light Mechs in my previous experience.
One of the hardest problems I always had was managing heat when your getting your arse kicked and you just want to try out put the threat down.

[Star Colonel Mustard Kerensky]

BlueFalcon7, on 04 March 2013 - 11:09 PM, said:

I promise to Die in a Loud and Grotesque manner for several weeks Thanks for the tips, it sounds awesome



So I am going to have to download another patch tomorrow?
I'm hoping it's not nearly as large as this one.

How often are patches put out and are all necessary?

It's going to be a bigish patch. The next patch will be on the 19th and is going to add a new map and a new mech.

[Sean von Steinike]

All patches are needed and they usually come every two weeks. Sometimes they will have a small patch if they are starting or ending a sale or event but those are very minor patches.

[BlueFalcon7]

I need to get me an avatar up. While I'm un-affiliated are there any stipulations on avatars ?

[Fred013]

After my first kill, my KDR was about 0.07. It was in a Cicada.

[MoonUnitBeta]

BlueFalcon7, on 04 March 2013 - 11:12 PM, said:

So I am going to have to download another patch tomorrow?
I'm hoping it's not nearly as large as this one.

How often are patches put out and are all necessary?

They're aiming to put patches out every 2 weeks on Tuesdays, the game is back up early afternoon, 1 or 2 oclock, 3? I dunno. It's been consistently every two weeks on tuesday so that's something you can count on. They are releasing 1 mech and 1 hero mech every month, and I think a new map a month? We had a new one in Feb, and we're getting on this month, but we don't know about April yet.
The patch size should not be nearly as large as your first patch, and you shouldn't encounter as many problems

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 04 March 2013 - 11:19 PM.

[BlueFalcon7]

Fred013, on 04 March 2013 - 11:16 PM, said:

After my first kill, my KDR was about 0.07. It was in a Cicada.

Whats a KDR ?

MoonUnitBeta, on 04 March 2013 - 11:18 PM, said:

They're aiming to put patches out every 2 weeks on Tuesdays, the game is back up early afternoon, 1 or 2 oclock, 3? I dunno. It's been consistently every two weeks on tuesday so that's something you can count on. They are releasing 1 mech and 1 hero mech every month, and I think a new map a month? We had a new one in Feb, and we're getting on this month, but we don't know about April yet.
The patch size should not be nearly as large as your first patch, and you shouldn't encounter as many problems

It's good to hear that they are consistent.
So how hard is it to be effective at this game but not have to pay out $$$ to get there ?

[Fred013]

Kills to Deaths Ratio

[BlueFalcon7]

Fred013, on 04 March 2013 - 11:22 PM, said:

Kills to Deaths Ratio

So you got killed about 15 times before you got one kill.

If that's the way it goes for me I will probably be happy.

[MoonUnitBeta]

BlueFalcon7, on 04 March 2013 - 11:22 PM, said:

Whats a KDR ?



It's good to hear that they are consistent.
So how hard is it to be effective at this game but not have to pay out $$$ to get there ?

Don't need to pay any money to play effectively. Don't get caught up about this Pay to win stuff on consumables. Consumables are not released yet and that's not something you should be worried about as a new comer yet.

Note: the Trial mechs you play now, you will get XP for. Say you go with the Catapult Trial mech.. you will get experience as you play that mech and the better you do in matchs (kills, component destruction, assist, win or loss, etc). This XP is for this mech variant only, and with this XP you can can buy effeciencies for it, under Pilot Lab > Mech Trees


To progress to Elite (middle 4 boxes), you need to unlock 3 variants at basic level (8 blue boxes), and that opens up the elite efficiencies.
These are just things that help you improve. It's a bit of a grind, but this is where you can spend money to convert XP from an unused mech, or a mech that doesn't need XP anymore, into GXP (general XP) and place it on a Mech that needs XP.
It's just to save you from having to grind on mechs you don't want to play, but rather play on a different mech. You slowly get GXP from the XP you get from playing matches. But it's slow.

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 04 March 2013 - 11:35 PM.

[Grotoiler]

BlueFalcon7, on 04 March 2013 - 11:22 PM, said:

Whats a KDR ?



It's good to hear that they are consistent.
So how hard is it to be effective at this game but not have to pay out $$$ to get there ?

As to effectiveness, it's not all that hard.... I may have a founder's package, but i've only ever spent my real-money on cosmetic items (paintjobs, cockpit items and such) and extra mech bays, which are really cheap compared to other real-money purchasable items. I have premium time banked, but I haven't touched that yet... So you don't need to drop much at all to enjoy the game and still be competitive.

I don't worry too much about the KDR personally... Mine's a miserable 0.47 at last check, after playing since around August last year.... It's slowly picking up, but I enjoy the game all the same, and that's what counts for me.

[Znail]

BlueFalcon7, on 04 March 2013 - 10:56 PM, said:

Based on my prior experience in MW video games I will probably go for a Medium or Heavy. They seem to suit my style of play best. I don't have the piloting skills to run a Light and Assault mechs really have to be used wisely on the battlefield.

My style tends to be: Work to have at least partial cover, move and fire at long range and try to whittle 'em down. I like trying to reduce enemy mechs mobility before moving in for a kill.

Well, that' my theory anyway, don't know if I can do it.

I would recomend the Cataphract then as it have several variants usefull for long range fire.

Heavy mechs are the main mechs in the game right now. They have the firepower to deal with any opponent without the crippling sluggishness of an Atlas. You will most of the time use that firepower face to face to the enemy to bring him down.

Medium mechs as some what faster and more nimble then Heavy, still with decent firepower. A medium mech has to use that extra mobility to be where he is needed. You will often have to flank or rear shot enemies to be effective.

Also note that there are some special case mechs, some call them +5 mechs: Cicada, Dragon and Awesome. They essentially play like the weight class below them as they are just +5 ton above the highest in that class and can mount large engines. Use them if you value speed and armor hightly.

[Revorn]

To be effetive depends on what you meet. If you meet good players, its hard to be effektie, if you meet bad players its easy.

Meet 8man syncdrop pros, you are dead in seconds, meet 8 man pugs in Trials, you will mostly do well. With some time, your Elo starts to work and begin to match you with players equal to your skill. So you get some comeptive matches and intense figths, even if you are not so good.

[BlueFalcon7]

woo hoo... 50% downloaded.

[MoonUnitBeta]

Hope you don't work in the morning!

Edit: Like I do. Ganna hit the sack. Good luck. Hopefully see ya out there!

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 04 March 2013 - 11:40 PM.