33 replies to this topic

[SilentSooYun]

Never, EVER fight in the open. Not even with an ECM carrier. Always keep something (or someone) solid nearby, even if it's a low hill you can run over.

Watch your radar. It is incredibly easy to get caught up in the moment and find yourself all alone and surrounded. Keep at least one blue arrow (ally) on your screen at all times and support him if you can. Even in PUGs (pick-up groups), having or being a wingman can make your game last longer and thus more fun.

Check your shots! Friendly fire is active in this game and you can most certainly injure or kill your own team with careless trigger spam.

If someone takes the lead, do what they say. There's no guarantee he knows what he's doing, either, but someone with a plan has a better chance than eight scattered Rambos.

Study your radar map when you can. The map is divided into grid squares, and it's very useful to know where "F6" is on a given map so you can help a mate calling for help, or know the best cover when your leader tells you to go there.

[Wintersdark]

A common problem when new is closing with your enemy and developing tunnel vision. Keep looking around, watch out for other enemies. If your target is falling back to his friends, let him go - if you chase him, you'll be surrounded and overwhelmed quickly.

[Duncan Longwood]

Things I wish I had known:
HBK-SP is a powerful and inexpensive starter mech.

Every mech needs 10 heatsinks. 250 engine is the smallest engine with 10 heatsinks on it. Heatsink capacity goes up/down every 25 engine rating. i.e. 225 has 9HS and 200 has 8HS

Double Heatsinks are almost always better. The first 10 DHS on the engine are true 2X, while any DHS over 10 are 1.4X.

If you want to collect a stable of mechs, Premium time is a must. You must have already purchased MC to even click on the premium account button.

Lower the DPI of your mouse.

Total cost of a mech can be decieving when you first start. You may think you are getting off cheap by buying a low-priced mech, but total cost of a fully upgraded light can be mind-blowing for a new guy. That commando may start at 1.6mil, but a new XL engine will run you 3mil with another 1.5mil for double heatsinks. Do you want to grind out 6mil for a fully kitted-out light mech or maybe look at another chassis? Remember that you have to buy 3 variants of commando to fully upgrade the pilot tree. That puts total cost much higher than 6mil. Some of the most expensive mechs already include upgrades like DHS and XL engines.

Edited by Duncan Longwood, 10 March 2013 - 08:51 AM.

[Horkerkiin]

Thanks guys appreciate the advice will hit up the training grounds first and go from there! It's gonna be good to play MW again hope to see you all on the battlefield

[DarkDevilDancer]

Prepare to die alot, there's not alot to do about this at the start when you face people with alot more experience than you but it will get better so don't let the deaths get to you we all suffered through it.

Dont wander off solo thats a great way to die quickly.

Explore the maps and get to know them well.

Have fun, its mostly a great community but there are a few *** hats around like any other MMO.

[SilentSooYun]

Oh, yes... probably the most important bit of advice:

Arrow keys plus Ctrl to set your weapon groups!
You are very lucky that you can now do this on the Training Gounds (which is selected using that little button up top next to the Launch button). Until this very week, we all had to set weapon groups in battle.

[John Horrigan]

go to

na1.mech-connect.net in TS password: WordofBlake

hop in the looking for group channel

ask away and enjoy drops with a bunch of random stranger - a bit like the 70ties

[Bishop Steiner]

Ignore the Forums, buy a Raven 3L as fast as possible, followed by a Catapult A1, and don't let members of certain Merc Corps drag you into a flame war. While some of them can post useful stuff, most of it is just trying to instigate crap.

Oh, and bring a thick skin, the QQ and Immaturity is strong in these forums.

[Dr Killinger]

Take it slow and play it safe! This isn't your average shooter, you need to be think and need to avoid putting yourself in a bad situation long before it happens.

[CmdrPoopyPants]

Before you buy your first mech (after 25 matches and your cadet bonus is over), use the smurfy link provided up post.. it -really- will save you a lot of money in the long run. Also understand that Endo and Ferro "save weight" at the cost of slots/space, but you must upgrade those before you manage to get your full build (*if your build requires them.. that means, in the mech lab make sure you put those upgrades on if needed before you try to finish your fit.. I actually deleted an account because I wasted all my money not understanding where/how the upgrades worked and sold my "messed up mech" only to find my cadet bonus was gone and I had no money or owned mech.. that sucked!).

When building a mech, you will have problems if your heat efficiency isn't 40% or more, shoot for 50% or more if you can.. some builds don't worry about heat at all.. but if your efficiency is less than 40% you'll spend a lot of time waiting on weapons to cool.. -- overheating in a fight is a death sentence, avoid it when you can (note: brawlers mostly worry about that, and lights that can't afford to be sitting still.. if you're sniping from range and shut down you're in much less danger than, say, a spider that shuts down in the middle of 4 enemies ).

Most everything else has been covered in previous posts so I'll not be too redundant.. Except to say, Press R to get a target.. if you have no target, you will eventually target what you're shooting at.. if you have a target you will not "automatically" switch targets to what you're shooting (not a problem, really).. but by having a target locked your mech sends the "red triangle" to the team and lets them lock it as well.. that helps your LRM (long range missile) boats assist you! .. and locking a target -also- helps you because you can see where they damaged the most and helps you decide where to focus your fire. If you come across a mech with a very damaged shoulder, for example, drop your first few shots on that shoulder and destroy that side torso and make them lose the arm. Often that's less weapons and ammo they can use against you, and if they have an XL engine it will destroy them. If, say, they are fully healthy.. start on the center torso and keep all fire there.. core them..

Related to above, taking out both legs is a kill.. if you notice something with soft legs, LEG IT.. I'm surprised how many heavy and assault mechs skimp on leg armor to fit more ammo or weapons or heatsinks. Not all that long ago I ran into a mostly healthy Stalker sitting on a base cap and accidently hit its legs with 2 large lasers. To my surprise, the armor went red outline from that one hit.. so while he was trying to kill me as I ran around the base point, I was able to burn off his legs in short order and kill him. ... Oh, and often the best way to ruin a light mech's day is to leg it.. once it loses 1 leg, it's very easy to hit them.. with both legs, you'll miss them quite a bit.

[Koniving]

Under "Tactics?" there are some LRM suggestions on how to defeat them (which means if you know how people will try to stop you, you can come up with a defense against them) as well as a number of LRM videos (sort through the titles or read the huge amount of tactical help if you like). Hope they help.

[Aym]

Best advice is to get onto the public Team Speak servers for Mechwarrior and join a group. Let them know that you're new and the vast majority will be happy to have you around and help you learn.
Also they can explain the UI elements in a way that will help you learn the ins-and-outs like getting into the training grounds, buying your own mech and modifying it.

[Kageru Ikazuchi]

I'm so impressed with the advice provided here ...

If you haven't watched the tutorials (on the website, under media, videos), they can help you understand the basics.

Most of the rest has been said before:
> Take your Trial Mechs to the Testing Grounds, learn to pilot, manage heat, and aim
> Your mech will get destroyed, often. To increase your survivability (these seem like no-brainers, but they are the leading causes of death):
> > Stick with a group ... on your own, you will die
> > Don't be the first one to crest a hill ... when you peek over, your silhouette will be noticed and you will get shot, if you're lucky, it will be by only one guy
> > Always be aware of the difference between where you're looking and where you're moving ... torso twist is great for shooting on the run, but can lead to something unexpected in your path ...
> > Avoid running into buildings or other terrain ... moving mechs are hard to hit, mechs stuck on the side of a building, not so much
> > Scan your instruments ... the most important bit of information might not be under your target reticule ... it might be the red bar on your HUD indicating someone melting your rear armor
> Save your C-Bills and try out the mwo.smurfy-net.de mech lab before buying your first mech ... a well-equipped medium should run you significantly less than 10M C-Bills
> After your mech is destroyed, take a deep breath, don't hit [ESC] ... hit [Click to Spectate] ... watch your remaining team mates
> > see what kind of weapons they're using and how they're using them
> > watch how they maneuver
> > try to imagine what the qualities each mech piloted and encountered are, and how best to use the strengths and protect the weaknesses (or to avoid/exploit them in your foes)
> > avoid back-seat piloting

Edited by Kageru Ikazuchi, 10 March 2013 - 05:38 PM.

[Y2kHippy]

- Have a look at the Training Zone videos and they will give you a little idea on whats going on.

- There is a new training game type that you can practice piloting some mechs and shooting target dummies.

- Use "R" to lock on to a target. This not only helps you but shows them upto your teamates also.

- Fire at who ever your teamates are fireing at. Mechs are BIG and MASSIVLY armoured. It takes alot of hits over time to take even one down. So focus fire them with multiple attackers speeds this up.

- Play the trial mechs for a while to get a handle of the game before purchaseing your first mech. Find out what style of piloting you like. Fast and Agaile, LRM Boat or even the Assult tank that doesnt move much but kills all that come close.

- Stick with your teamates. Splitting up is an easy way of getting killed fast (reason the above tip)

- Take your time to learn the Maps and Mechs. The Mech variants will take longer to learn and they will give a slight indication on what they might be carrying. Just note that a Catapult doesnt always carry Long Range Missiles, the ocasional will carry alot of Short Range Missiles to destroy you instantly.

- If you have a bad game, dont let it put you down too much. Every now and then you'll get 3 or 4 kills and have no idea how but want to celebrate anyway.

- If you are out of Ammo or your weapons are all blown off, you can alway try and distract the enemy to get them to shoot you intead of the actual threats killing them.

- Dont be afriad to talk in game and chat to your teamates during and after the game. Communication is key to all games like this and is rarely used.

- If you have a Headset/Mic there are plenty of TeamSpeak Vent Servers out there to for you to join other players that could help guide you in your piloting career.

Enjoy the game and welcome.

PS... Dont shoot Hippies.. we are pasifists and im sure there is a "Hug" key here somewhere.