18 replies to this topic

[Bkid]

So I'm completely new to MW:O, but I'm definitely looking to get into it since I've been accepted in the beta for a while, but just got around to building a computer that can run it.

I played Chrome Hounds back when the servers were up, but that's about the extent of my mech-game experience. From what I've briefly read, there doesn't appear to be anything sniper-ish in this game (at least not as of yet), but I'm looking for something close. I want to either be fast and long range with precision, or medium with precision and close range options.

Any suggestions for what to blow all my hard earned cbill on? :]

[Redwo1f]

I am going to suggest looking into a medium. It will help you to learn to play the game, be relatively fast, but not fragile either.
My suggestion is a Hunchback 4SP which is a really nice chasis and doesn't have that huge hunch target that the others do. It can be very vesitile depending on how you want to load it (eg., you could mount LRMs or SRMs in the torosos, depending on your style, and compenstate with longer ranged energy or shorter ranged). A very good starter mech, imho.

[Hex Pallett]

HBK4-SP

Everyone and their mother would agree.

[John MatriX82]

Remind that there's the cadet bonus. Play for 25 matches using the trial mechs and you'll learn nearly 8 million cbills, with these you can buy a HBK 4SP that comes with this loadout: HBK-4SP

If you want to go cheap, simply upgrade to Double Heatsinks, replace the smlas in the head with a MLAS, add 2 armor points in the CT and raise leg armor to 47, placing the SRm ammos here rather than in your CT: HBK-4SP. Try this out and see how you fare with this.

If you want to upgrade it, I'd suggest this: HBK-4SP

Upgrade to ENDO steel (removing the DHSs from the arms) and purchase a faster and more efficient STD 250 engine. The latter will allow you to have 2 more DHS working within the engine (STD 200 holds 8) and much more speed to close on targets and unleash your dual SRM6. With the latter config, you can still stay within the cadet bonus amount of money, and you can also sell the STD 200 for a little money.. if later on you'll play other HBKs to level them to master, you'd rarely use any engine below the STD 250, so it's an investment that you can keep and swap in among any of them.

[Revorn]

For the fast Sniperthing.

When you got a bit familar with the Game and think about a second Mech and like to try the Sniper way with something moderate fast, take a look to this buildt.


http://mwo.smurfy-ne...0c6f97ba30d9b23


Gauss, pelenty of Ammo and 107kph. Its not an realy imba Build, but you can do some goofing Things with it if you can move and hitt.

Edited by Revorn, 30 March 2013 - 02:59 AM.

[Bkid]

John MatriX82, on 30 March 2013 - 01:56 AM, said:

Remind that there's the cadet bonus. Play for 25 matches using the trial mechs and you'll learn nearly 8 million cbills, with these you can buy a HBK 4SP that comes with this loadout: HBK-4SP

If you want to go cheap, simply upgrade to Double Heatsinks, replace the smlas in the head with a MLAS, add 2 armor points in the CT and raise leg armor to 47, placing the SRm ammos here rather than in your CT: HBK-4SP. Try this out and see how you fare with this.

If you want to upgrade it, I'd suggest this: HBK-4SP

I'm not crazy about any of the weaponry in the build, mainly because of the lasers (they don't seem to go very far..).

I love the one Revorn linked, but I am not ready for it.


Thanks for all the replies, I'll definitely consider all of these things!

[John MatriX82]

Bkid, on 30 March 2013 - 03:48 PM, said:

I'm not crazy about any of the weaponry in the build, mainly because of the lasers (they don't seem to go very far..).

I love the one Revorn linked, but I am not ready for it.

Unfortunately that's the best loadout for the 4SP, it's a brawler of course, and you must get close. Do not underestimate an alpha of 5 mlasers, they can do 12-13 dmg up to 400m, you can exchange laser blows from 450m and below, and withing 150m you're pretty nasty of a 50 ton mech.

If you want to go snipey or faster there are other mechs, but usually the 4SP is the mostly adviced mech, since it's ready to go and stays upgraded to its best well within the cadet bonus

Plus generally all HBKs are quite economic and once you get the STD 250 you can keep it for all the others so you can exp 3 variants and then keep the ones you like most.


About revorn's build that's not something I advice on a Cent. XL on them is somewhat suicidal, that kind of gameplay/build fares much better on a dragon rather than a Cent, although to employ ballistics on the D you practically need the XL.. I was using this variant to exp it before I sold it away CN9-D (I of course don't reccomend this at all, you buy 3 HBKs with that amount of money); CN9-AL and A are fairly better, since you don't need the ballistic slot to play them well and you can use STD engines (270-275 on them is a nice and fast solution)..

Edited by John MatriX82, 30 March 2013 - 04:49 PM.

[Warskull]

There is simply only one choice, the Hunchback 4SP. It isn't the best mech, but it is by far the best mech for new players.

This 4SP loadout will teach you how to play the game and will force you to improve. Sure it has limited range, but it is fast enough to get to that range. Plus it will teach you how to use cover making your approach. It also teaches heat management, aiming both arm and torso weapons, brawling, and how much cowardly players hurt the team. The 4SP teaches you nearly everything you need to know about the game.

Edited by Warskull, 30 March 2013 - 07:07 PM.

[Blue Frog]

I have 3 hunchies and one is an SP. I have double heat sinks, endo steel structure and artemis to enhance my SRM6's. I upped my medium lasers to medium pulse lasers and it seems to do fine. It also has AMS. I think it's a good mech, any shortcomings are due more to the fact that I can't pilot worth a darn !

[ZeProme]

HBK-4SP. It's just a really good starter mech. Just like what others said, the HBK-4SP is forgiving and gives you amplitudes of experience to play and improve as a brawler.

[Goregrimm]

If you want to snipe then I recommend a Cataphract 4X or Cataphract 3D. You need an XL engine for the 4X but you can load either one with 2 Gauss Rifles. Personally, I think the Cataphracts are the best mechs in the game. I own 3 of them and have considered buying the last variant. I don't count the hero Ilya just because I already own a hero mech and do not intend on getting another for a while and that is real money. Thats just my opinion but if I could only own one mech it would be a Cataphract.

Edited by Goregrimm, 31 March 2013 - 01:21 PM.

[Bkid]

I got the Cata 4X, but I'll have to get the engine later (poor :/ ). Also, how (or when) do I get Gauss Rifles? I don't seem them as a purchasable item yet. I'll be getting that, along with the Advanced Zoom once I get enough GXP to unlock it. :V

Edited by Bkid, 31 March 2013 - 12:51 PM.

[Goregrimm]

Bkid, on 31 March 2013 - 12:50 PM, said:

I got the Cata 4X, but I'll have to get the engine later (poor :/ ). Also, how (or when) do I get Gauss Rifles? I don't seem them as a purchasable item yet. I'll be getting that, along with the Advanced Zoom once I get enough GXP to unlock it. :V

Go into mech lab and choose the right or left arm on your Cataphract. All the options will show up including the Gauss Rifle. You should look around on here to find builds or check MechSpecs.com. You can find complete builds down to armor total and engine sizes.

Edited by Goregrimm, 31 March 2013 - 01:25 PM.

[Bkid]

Goregrimm, on 31 March 2013 - 01:20 PM, said:

Go into mech lab and choose the right or left arm on your Cataphract. All the options will show up including the Gauss Rifle. You should look around on here to find builds or check MechSpecs.com. You can find complete builds down to armor total and engine sizes.

Ah, I see now. Yeah I'm trying to play my new mech with stock loadout to build up my xp, but it's hard when I literally just had circles ran around me by a spider, and I couldn't do ANYTHING about it. I can't seem to even turn fast enough to keep up with him..

Edit: I can almost build this, but I don't have enough for the engine yet.

Edited by Bkid, 31 March 2013 - 02:12 PM.

[Edwyndham]

If you want sniping, go for PPCs / ER PPCs, or Gauss. For Hunchbacks, the 4H would be a good bet if you want to build something around a Gauss cannon, and the 4P could fit one or two PPCs in the hunch for the same purposes.

[Wrenchfarm]

Welcome to the game!

The HBK-4SP as previously recommended is THE starter mech of choice. A close/medium range workhorse that won't let you down.

But, as you say you like a little more range.

The Centurion-AL might be a good choice for a affordable medium mech that will let you play at a range. Personally, I like a build like this. 2xLLAS will let you deal damage from a respectable distance, not really a sniper, more like a support mech. Great if you are just learning the game, you can hang back a bit behind the Assaults and other brawler types and help focus down the targets they open up while staying relatively safe.

If you really want to snipe, you can always swap out one of the LLAS for a ERPPC, with a third MLAS and extra heatsinks to boot. You can sucker punch with the ERPPC at insane ranges, then finish them off with the 3 MLAS when they get close. ERPPCs are hot, but running just a single one with 19 DHS is basically neutral, you'll only have problems if you use it with the MLAS at the same time a bunch.

If you are fully committed to sniping, some mechs to save up for include the Cataprhact-3D, which can mount a powerful combination of PPCs, Guass cannon, and jump jets ("poptarting" with this config is actually bordering on over powered, the devs have mentioned they plan to tone it down by adding aiming shake while jetting in the future), basically any Stalker that can mass mount PPCs, and the Awesome-9M, which can combine 3xPPCs with a massive engine and over 20 heatsinks to run around and slap people for 30 damage a pop all day.

[Goregrimm]

Lights are going to run circles around you, get used to it. I would recommend putting a SSRM2 in your head instead of the SRM4. Streaks will lock onto the lights and let you hit them as long as they dont have ECM. Enjoy the Cataphract.

[Kaylos Thex]

If you want a good solid mech as your first, the Hunchback 4SP is the defacto entry mech.

However, if you really do want a starter sniper mech, then the Hunchback 4P was my first.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...7f45c0523ca8273

With a very straightforward build, and only two expenses to set up (double heat sinks, and an ER PPC).

While it may appear that this mech is simplistic, it does follow the tendency for mechs to have 3 distinct fire groups.

Group 1 is the lasers in the arms. These are great for tracking high speed light mechs, which can be infuriating to hit otherwise.
Group 2 is the ER PPC.
Group 3 are the backup lasers for extra firepower when putting a mech down.

This was the very first mech and loadout that really started to perform well for me.

I find that torso mounted weapons, especially ones high up on the frame, make better long range shooters. Even the slight movement of depressing the mouse button to fire, and the general jittery-ness of arm mounts makes long range shots harder to aim. And the arm weapons of the Hunchback sit too low to make proper use of cover.
Additionally, an energy based weapon means that you can have bad aim and waste shots. An ER large laser could do this as well, but the beam will spray damage all over the target unless you stand still. And it makes a wonderfull blue beam that can be traced back to the shooter.

A PPC lets you take a shot, put all the damage on one spot, and retreat into cover sooner. An ER PPC also lets you ignore the 90 meter minimum range drop off.

So that is my recommendation for a starter sniper mech.

Edited by Kaylos Thex, 31 March 2013 - 05:56 PM.

[Bkid]

Goregrimm, on 31 March 2013 - 05:06 PM, said:

Lights are going to run circles around you, get used to it. I would recommend putting a SSRM2 in your head instead of the SRM4. Streaks will lock onto the lights and let you hit them as long as they dont have ECM. Enjoy the Cataphract.

The funny thing is that I was shot to hell, ended up completely weapon(and arm)less, but still lived, and my team killed him.



Also on a slightly unrelated note: I have a friend of a friend selling, among other things, Steel Battalion and its controller. I had my friend ask his friend if he'd be willing to break the game and controller out of the bundle of stuff he's selling. If I can get my hands on that + buy an adapter, I'm going so man-mode on this game.