5 replies to this topic

[The Buddha Assassinator]

I have been playing mwo for about 5 month now. And I have been in matches where my team got wiped 8 to 0 by 6 enemies, and I have been in matches where my team wiped the enemy without losing a single mech.

People talk about boating and how cheesy a build is, but no single build can substitute for strategy. The times when lopsided wins or losses occur, is not because one side had more boats and cheese builds.

I think people often make very basic strategic mistakes. I will list a few here.

1. Peekaboo fail

I have see this a hundred times. The guy who feels like he should just keep peeking out from behind cover from the exact same spot to fire. After the first 2, your enemy have seen you and they are ready for you. The next time you come out from there, you are gonna eat a face full of ERPPCs, Gauss and Lasers. If you play wack-a-mole, and there is only 1 hole, it's gonna be a very short game for you.

2. Sir Turn-a-lot

If you can't catch a light who is strafing circles around you by turning your torso, turn the OTHER WAY! I have spected players who just keep turning in the same direction and getting cored from behind. Also, remember to zoom out when fighting lights at lose range!

3. The Lone Flanker.
I did this a lot in earlier games. I thought I was clever when I managed to get behind the entire enemy team. I figured I can come from behind and nail a whole bunch at once. But usually your main front line and their main front line is fighting over some cover, if your flank is not timed with a strong push from you team, you will die. One time I jumped out from behind and fired my AC20 x2 at the back of an Atlas. He and his 5 buddies turned around and reduced me to a pile of scrap metal in less than 10 seconds. Now if I actually timed my flank with my team making a concerted push, my team could of capitalized on their surprise and nailed a few of theirs for my sacrifice. But instead they were just twiddling their thumbs hiding behind cover.

4. Leeroy Jenkins

The key to fight LRM boats is getting in that 180m range, but Charging at LRM Boats from 800 meters away without any cover is not a good idea(with or without AMS). Especially when you only move at 70 kph. Why? Because while you are charging at them, LRMs are falling on your head, and by the time you get to them, you will be so damaged and a few medium lasers will take you down.

This also applies to a fire squad of enemy mechs with PPCs/ERPPCs. Don't do a lone wolf samurai charge, you will die.

5. I forgot to flush

Your mech runs hot? okay, so before you fire you last alpha that will send you into overheat shutdown, flush your coolant. Because once you are shutdown, you can't flush coolant. It's simple no? but it happens quite often.

6. Don't run in front of your teammates.
If you block your teammate's life of fire with your body, they can't help you kill the guy who is lighting your mech up. I have definitely avoided death a few times, by using an enemy mech as cover.

7. Know basic strategy against Common builds.

If you keep strafing, or moving up and down a hill, it will be harder for a laser/PPC boat to focus all their weapons on a single point. An mech that uses high alpha, long cyle time weapons like twin gauss and twin AC 20, are susceptible to cockpit fire. Keep putting srms and autocannon rounds into the vicinity of their cockpit will mess up their screen/aiming, giving you a fighting chance.

8. Chasing Lights

When you team sees a light harassing you, only 1 or 2 of your team should bother to chase it. You should not ALL chase the one lone raven/spider and lose sight of the main enemy team.

9 Know your mech size and trajectory of your weapons.

Just because you can see your foe, doesn't mean your weapons will reach. One of your arms might not have cleared cover, or your torso guns might not have cleared low cover. Don't waste your ammo or a high heat alpha only to have it blocked by a bunch of rocks.

10. And finally: If you are a complete newb to MWO, turn arm lock on.

[Jman5]

Good points overall.

For the record, I am one of those lone flankers. While I agree that timing it for a push is ideal, it can still work if your team continues to sit. You just have to make sure you're not over-committing to the flank. What I like to do is flank around, blast one or two of them from a decently safe distance, and then flee when I get them to turn and/or chase. At the very least, you're giving your teammates some relief and throwing the enemy team off balance.

[El Bandito]

You forgot the Alpha Warrior. The guy who doesn't know what is chain fire.

[Whompity]

El Bandito, on 11 June 2013 - 10:37 AM, said:

You forgot the Alpha Warrior. The guy who doesn't know what is chain fire.

You've spectated me in my 4P? I'm getting better!

I agree with the OP. The addendum I'd make about the Lone Flanker is that it really depends on what you're running, too. You CAN Lone Flank in an Atlas DDC (world's fattest ninja) but you won't get away if they spot you. Lone Flanking in something that can go 100kph is a lot safer. Get in, spot, take a few shots, sow some mayhem, get out, out, out. They WILL eventually turn on you if you overcommit.

[The Buddha Assassinator]

There are definitely 2 kind of alpha warriors:

The inexperienced kind will alpha on sight, even on low percentage shots and far targets.

The veterans will still alpha, but they will pick their shots. They won't alpha into shutdown in an exposed area and become sitting duck for enemy fire. They will alpha when they have the ability to retreat to dump heat. They save repeated alphas for finishing off an enemy or in an all out do-or die brawl.

[PEEFsmash]

El Bandito, on 11 June 2013 - 10:37 AM, said:

You forgot the Alpha Warrior. The guy who doesn't know what is chain fire.

Most top players rarely chainfire. Chainfiring just exposes you the whole time, sprays damage all over the place, and doesn't allow you to torso twist.

The most effective thing to do is Alpha, twist/cover, then alpha again.