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Welcome to MW:O, the most advanced Battletech game to date. You have installed, patched (hopefully) read about the controls and you’re ready for your first match. You’ve looked at the Trials, and seen which ones are cool, which ones aren’t, and need some guidance for how they’ll perform. I hope that this little strictly non-technical blurb will help.
The COM 3-A Commando is tiny. It has a really small ammo supply, negligible backup weaponry for its SRMs, and nowhere near the speed people expect of light mechs. This means that you are not a scout. You’ll find this mech performing best as a harrier, striker- which means you need to stick to your allies, and do not get out in front. Once a larger mech starts fighting one of your allies, crank that throttle up and try to get behind or beside them- never in front. If you are in front of an enemy mech, you are dead, the screen just hasn’t loaded yet.
Next, fire your rockets and your medium laser. The Flamer isn’t really necessary, and it is very short ranged. Aim for center of mass, don’t try anything fancy on these initial runs. Once the wire-frame diagram of the mech has a section that is fully colored in , not outlined, fire up your flamer. It should destroy anything in the damaged compartment. As the immortal Zapp Brannigan once said, ‘Fire as many as possible, as quickly as possible and don’t stop for any reason.’ He may have been talking about awful pickup lines, but the same principle applies to this Commando- you are very unlikely to overheat if you fire whenever you get near a target and keep moving to other targets.
Don’t be afraid to run back and forth across the engagement, and hit many enemy mechs. This is actually much safer, because they are far less likely to shoot you. Think of yourself as a very small man running through a kung fu fight, kicking people in the shins.
Moving on up to the Medium class, you get the TBT-7M Trebuchet. This is one of the most advanced mechs available to you, but it does support a very specific range bracket and play style. You have Jump Jets, which allow you to go flying through the air to get on top of things. But that isn’t really what you are supposed to do. You have a trio of medium lasers which are useful under 300m- just like you yourself have some sharp teeth which you can use to bite someone if they get too close. Lead, and continue firing the LRM 15s as long as you have the lock. This is a great mech to practice torso twisting on, because you should never be within 300 meters of your opponent until you are out of LRMs. Constantly runn perpendicular or away from your target. Again, avoid the front lines. You are a fire support mech, and should try to shower your LRMS on a mech in the open that other people are shooting. Try not to shoot LRMs at anything near cover. You are a missile launcher that just happens to be on a mech- the goal of any match for you should be to end the match without any LRMs left in your tubes. An important tip from Regrets- remember you need to hit 'R' to target the mech, then hold your reticule on target until you acquire a lock. Your LRMs will also do no dmg under 180M, so do not fire if they are that close to you.
Proceeding, we hit the DRG-1C Dragon. You would never know it, but this is one of the most popular Dragon Chassis, once it has some modifications done to it. The AC2 is your only ballistic weapon to play with, and it is not typical of the weapon. It is fast firing, and hits like a kindergartener. Expect to keep it running whenever you suspect you might hit a target, and the heat warning isn’t on. The LRM 10 is your most fierce weapon. After the 30 LRM barrage that the Trebuchet can spit out, you can probably see that it isn’t exactly terrifying. Heck, the COM-3A can spit out more SRMs! What the Dragon brings to the table is speed. It is the fastest heavy chassis, and this one shows it off to good effect. Even though it is 10 tons heavier, and much, much sturdier than the Trebuchet, it moves just as fast. This combination of light weaponry and high speed makes it a bully mech. Your targeting order is simple- mediums, lights, other heavies, and as a last resort- Assaults. You have no reason to close to within under 200 meters, and the speed to get out when someone targets you. Pilot it like you piloted the commando- run through fights, bounce around on the edge, and don’t get bogged down in the melee. You just don’t have the weaponry for that sort of fight. Hit where you can, and focus on maintaining speed and avoiding the front of larger enemy mechs. Realistically, you shouldn’t run out of LRMs, and you probably will at some point run out of AC2 ammo. That’s fine, and means you did a good job. Apply as much pressure as you can for as long as you can. You are suppressive fire and distraction.
Then we move on to the hottest mech in this line-up the mighty STK-4N stalker.
The stalker has a weapon for every range, and heat sinks for a quarter of them. This will strongly encourage you to set up weapon groups, and use them when they are the right weapon. I strongly suggest putting the LL and LRM 10 on 1 group, like your mouse 2 button. This is easily accomplished by using your keyboard’s arrow keys to choose the correct group, and hitting the right CTRL key. That will put all of your long range firepower together. Next, put all of the Mls on group 1. I run with a 3 button mouse, so I’d set the SRMs to that. If you don’t , just put them to 3, and try to remember to hit them when you have a clear shot lined up. If you find yourself overheating, hit backspace to set group one to chain fire, and allow yourself to limit the number of Medium Lasers you put on target. Contrary to its name, the Stalker 4N is a front line brawler mech- point your comically oversized nose towards the opponent, shift slightly left and right to throw off his fire as you close, and keep shooting as much as your heat will allow. Engage with LRMs and LL at about 600 meters, and stop using them at 300- kick in with the mediums at 270 or less. Once within 200, start trying to line up SRM shots. Watch your heat- your priority should be to avoid shutting down, and keep firing something as long as possible. This is a balanced assault mech, which will reward restraint. Go forth, and break faces.
Personally, I highly recommend starting with the one you think looks the coolest- most of the Trial mechs have variants that can be modified to suit your play style, once you discover it and earn the C-bills. The looks won’t change. Once you’ve got a few games under your belt, I’d say 4 or 5, try a different mech. By the time you’re out of the cadet program and get your fat stack of C-Bills, you should know at least what weight class you want to buy into. Good luck, and good hunting!
I am totally open to suggestions to improve this guide. I know it always helps me to see what general advice someone has about a mech- like the Centurion Zombies, or the Black Hole Ravens. My goal was to provide that help for first time mechjocks, as they fire up their first few mechs.
Edited by Cairbre, 24 March 2013 - 06:43 PM.
