40 replies to this topic

[Entellex]

I am currently downloading MWO to try it out. I am looking for a Support AND/OR Long Range Mech.

I have been looking at the build called "Missile Boat" I like the all the pretty rockets taking over the sky.

Would this be considered support? If so which Mechs can do this and how?

Edited by Entellex, 20 June 2013 - 07:37 PM.

[Koniving]

Missile boat is rather generic in terms. But yes. Specifically we'd consider it to be "indirect fire support." Some builds can be both indirect and direct fire support (LRMs + cannons).

Until you earn enough cbills to get your own mech, I recommend the Cataphract 4x trial mech which is direct fire support. Press R to lock and then it's "3" to fire your lrm. It's a wimpy LRM 5 but it's still good practice.

Anything that can carry 2 or more missile slots can be made into a missile boat. Hunchback 4J or 4SP. Catapults C1, C4, A1. Stalkers (any of them). Awesomes 8V, 8R, 8T. Cataphract 2X (not ideal). The list goes on. The concept is that you build a relatively slow mech with big launchers (or many launchers) and load it up with as many missiles as you can to provide ranged support.

The result is this. (For the first video just watch to 1:10 as the build isn't practical but it is funny and the first LRM-20 Raven ever made).


Vids of more serious and practical LRM boats in use are in the spoiler. Watch to your heart's content.

Spoiler

Song starts at 2:16.



Music. Awesome 8R.



No hud here due to bugs back in December. Great way to view missiles without the hud.


Multiple mechs and lrm usage.


Stalker Awesome combination for LRM support of a team.


But before you get too invested in an LRM boat, remember that if you don't bring a friend you may wind up like in these two vids.

Not shown in those is my favorite boat, the lightning fast X-5 with LRMs and an ER PPC.

Entellex, you can use this website (Smurfy) to experiment with creating a mech. It works by a drag and drop interface. Begin by choosing a mech in the upper left. As an example this is my LRM Centurion build.

Edited by Koniving, 20 June 2013 - 08:41 PM.

[Entellex]

Shweet. Having installation issues atm. >:

[Watchit]

Some advice for the aspiring missile boater:

In case you didn't gather from the videos kindly provided by Koniving, that LRMs (or Long Range Missiles) have a minimum range of 180meters. So if any enemy mech gets within that range and you try and fire your missiles at them, they will do no damage.

SRMs (short range missiles) on the other hand have no minimum range but have a max range of only 270meters

[ZeProme]

Missiles are great for hampering enemies forcing them to withdraw and allow your team to advance. LRM boats are basically mechs specially configured to rain lots and lots of LRMs to support their team. Very valuable asset especially against heavy (because they can carry more weapons, ammo) and slow targets.

If you want a LRM boat support mech, get the CPTL-C1. The catapult chassis are very friendly for beginners. Here's a build that may interest you: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...0a31b0d998548e9

However, don't let this choice of yours consolidate your play style. To relate, based on personal experience, back when I was new to the game, I thought I would be suited to LRM support. However, after the recommendation of the HBK-4SP by the forum (And also Kon), I slowly developed my skills and realized my true potential fell around having a good balance of speed, mobility and armor for brawling purposes.

Do experiment with different chassis. Also, there is no "guide-book" to follow how a particular mech is played. You can have a CPTL-K2 mech and configure it to be a mid range sniper, or be a brawler. The choices are limitless!

Creativity is a great thing in this game. Finding what works for you is key to having fun and understanding how the game goes.

[Entellex]

Friendly community here. Thanks all for the advice. I just like support type roles. So I figured, as always, I would try support first.

[Koniving]

You're welcome.

Keep in mind when you first get into MWO, you'll be in the lower ELO bracket (match making system that pairs you by skill). While you're in the mud keep in mind the people that 'live' in that area are bitter and arrogant. Try not to let them get to you. With the starting ELO bracket comes the worst the community has to offer.

It gets much better as the game levels you out to a bracket that fits your demonstrated skill-set.

I highly recommend that you get a friend or two together with you and go into matches together.

Next month there's going to be a real training ground to teach you how to play and we'll have a much better user interface. Not long after that (September-ish) the main game (Community Warfare) will be available.

If you're totally new to the universe, I recommend this old post which has videos I found giving us the lore to around the current timeline.

Edited by Koniving, 20 June 2013 - 08:34 PM.

[Entellex]

Alright thanks. Atm I am having issues trying to install the game. :|

Error 0x800b0101: Failed to verify signature of payload: vcredist_x86.exe

I tried running it in Admin mode, but it sits at "Installing Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x86 Redistributable" when installing. Not sure if it is actually installing or not. Going to try to install that manually. Not sure why it is installing x86 when I have a 64 bit system.

[Entellex]

Woo, got it to work, now patching. (:

[Koniving]

Haven't had that issue. If you can't work your way around it, remember to delete what you have downloaded and the download folder created by MWO's installer (to get a truly fresh download) and then retry. Or hopefully someone with better knowledge of the issue may jump in and tell ya what you need.

-------------------------------------

Edit: YAY! Good job!

Remember that health is sectional. First and foremost to destroy someone you must either take out both legs, take out the cockpit (tricker than it sounds) or destroy the center torso. To disable weapons destroy their side torsos.

Press R to get information on the enemy located in the upper right.

Snag a mech in Mechlab, Trial mechs, and pick one to start with. You can't customize them since they are loaners. Before you jump into a match, go into the Testing Grounds (Icon left of Launch with a mech picture. Click on that, then testing grounds, then yes. This gives you a map to run around in, adjust your graphics and controls, and finally allows you to practice moving and shooting before you get into a real match.

If the map is dark, use N (night vision) or H (thermal vision).

Added a couple of Cataphract 4x trial mech vids.

Spoiler

Support role.


Playing solo.


Support and brawler.

(I run in trial mechs frequently because it's a skill building exercise).

Edited by Koniving, 20 June 2013 - 09:00 PM.

[Entellex]

Sweet. Can't wait to get in. ETA: 17m

[Koniving]

Good luck. Threw in some vids with the trial Cataphract 4x that may help you in my previous post.

The golden rule of MWO is the team with better teamwork will always win. Don't charge ahead but don't stay too far behind. Those that get caught alone will die alone.

Find a much larger mech and stay close to it, keep within 180 meters behind the big mech you chose and you should be good.

----

I'm watching a show while converting new vids on the Firebrand hero mech's stock build to clear space to make some Slender vids (because why not?). So I'll be on another hour if you get any more questions.

Edited by Koniving, 20 June 2013 - 09:07 PM.

[Entellex]

Thanks Kon, appreciate all the helpful advice.

Done patching.

Edited by Entellex, 20 June 2013 - 09:33 PM.

[Entellex]

I can buy MC and eventually will. I always tend to buy premium to help me get started on certain games. Any suggestions on what I should spend it on for a nice start?

[Koniving]

Entellex, on 20 June 2013 - 09:36 PM, said:

I can buy MC and eventually will. I always tend to buy premium to help me get started on certain games. Any suggestions on what I should spend it on for a nice start?

First and foremost, you'll want to get some extra mechbays. 4 is never enough.
I got 61 and it's still not enough! (Pictured is the ROFLpult. Fires 90 missiles per trigger pull. A direct hit can strip the armor off an Atlas. Has less armor than the smallest light mech available.)

Premium isn't a bad idea, though a hero mech is a much more permanent 'go to' mech to use for making money fast as they have a lifetime boost. Hero mech's 30% cbill boost stacks with Premium's 50% boost for a full 80% boost.

Since hero mechs are not cheap I recommend waiting a bit to test different types of mechs to figure out what kind of hero mech you want.

Do not buy any "consumables" for MC. It's a waste at the moment until they get buffed.

Every weekend there's a different sale. Usually on paint or camos. Sometimes a sale as a shortcut to get mechs without the grind necessary to get the cbills to buy them normally.

You can't buy weapons, ammo, engines, etc. with your MC. So no real pay to win schemes.

Edited by Koniving, 20 June 2013 - 10:02 PM.

[Edustaja]

A few good value items are:

- Champion mechs as they come with useful and expensive equipment you can use on other mechs too
- X5, Firebrand or Muromets hero mechs are decent for the cost if you plan on playing them a lot
- Mech bays when you run out
- GXP conversion when it's double rate

[Entellex]

Alright awesome. I just got out of a game. Controlling how the Mech move is disgusting, lol.

[Koniving]

Edustaja, on 20 June 2013 - 10:01 PM, said:

- Champion mechs as they come with useful and expensive equipment you can use on other mechs too
- X5, Firebrand or Muromets hero mechs are decent for the cost if you plan on playing them a lot
- Mech bays when you run out
- GXP conversion when it's double rate

Vids related to those. Both me using them and MWO's official vids for them with their stats and info.

Spoiler

Champion mech: Dragon 5N Champion.


Muromets -- personal build. Most prefer UAC/5s or AC/5s.

MWO's vid.


Firebrand -- check this thread that I recently made which has 3 vids with its default unmodified build.
MWO's vid.


For the X-5 I already gave a vid.
MWO's vid.

Entellex, on 20 June 2013 - 10:03 PM, said:

Alright awesome. I just got out of a game. Controlling how the Mech move is disgusting, lol.

Heh. Welp, you can set the following in the options to make it less "First Person Shooter-like."

"Throttle Decay." Off.
"Armlock." Off.

Once you do that, it'll feel a lot more like a mech with a cruise control (X to stop) that you can raise and lower.
Treat the mech like a tank. Mouse moves your torso. A and D turn. W and S adjust your speed. You will also now have two crosshairs. + is your torso weapons. "o" is your arm weapons crosshair. You can use left CTRL to isolate your control to your arm weapons for increased accuracy. Or to focus your fire in a specific area, press shift to lock your arms to your + crosshair.

Safe place to learn your controls! To the left of Launch but still on the right side, there's a (*) like icon with a mech inside of it. (Greyed out in this shot since I clicked on it.) Click there, then Testing Grounds. Practice moving in there, and remember the Cataphract 4x and Atlas RS are slow.


----------

I'm done with what I was watching, so I'm heading to bed. Good luck!

Edited by Koniving, 20 June 2013 - 10:33 PM.

[Aym]

Worth noting that there are a LOT of ways to play "support" roles in MWO that people don't think about. ECM supports your team, TAG and lock on, target info, target decay, all support your team. Even a medium/heavy mech hanging just behind the BIG guys and focusing your firepower with them supports your team.

[Revorn]

For supporting a Team at Longrange you can also take some Ac2´s. Missles arent the only Weapon for Longrange.