44 replies to this topic

[Sharp Spikes]

Mogney, on 06 July 2013 - 01:42 PM, said:

Make sure you go at least 125kph. And get CLOSE to them.

Make sure them don't have SSRMs before closing in. If you won't it might go this way: one runs close to big mean Stalker, gets some SSRMs to his as... errm... CTR, tries to run away, gets 4 PPC alpha to his already hurt CTR, dies, QQs on forums.

Edited by Sharp Spikes, 06 July 2013 - 04:17 PM.

[Mogney]

Sharp Spikes, on 06 July 2013 - 04:17 PM, said:

Make sure them don't have SSRMs before closing in. If you won't it might go this way: one runs close to big mean Stalker, gets some SSRMs to his as... errm... CTR, tries to run away, gets 4 PPC alpha to his already hurt CTR, dies, QQs on forums.

Bah, if they have SSRMs you just circle them, they cannot maintain a lock if you get behidn them for long, not even with the decay and 360 targeting modules.

Edited by Mogney, 06 July 2013 - 04:19 PM.

[HansBlix WMD]

Mogney, on 06 July 2013 - 04:19 PM, said:

Bah, if they have SSRMs you just circle them, they cannot maintain a lock if you get behidn them for long, not even with the decay and 360 targeting modules.

Quote

if you get behind them for long, not even with the decay and 360 targeting modules.

Quote

360 targeting

That's... uh.. yeah.

[Sharp Spikes]

Stalker with 300 engine is not THAT slow at turning. And good PPCWarrior never wanders alone, so in attempts to stay behind him you'll get in front of his mates.

[Blue Hymn]

If you spot a mech sporting ppcs, and he spots you - don't run at him. Run perpendicular from his aim. Harder to lead a shot than fire at a mech that's coming straight for you.

Cover is your friend. Even better than your dog.

If you find yourself facing off a ppc mech - in a most unfortunate way - try and hug close to him. Most mechs don't have arms to aim those ppcs (Stalker requires it to turn its torso in order to aim directly at the target, for example), and it's much harder to get a good shot up close.

If you have some decent weapons, blowing off the arm might help. What better way to avoid ppcs than destroy the component itself?

[MonkeyCheese]

This game has gotten really ******* pointless for light mechs as of late, nothing but ppc boating whores who can either blow bits of my jenner in one alpha or turn a body part blood red instantly, I miss srm fights, only the stalkers and splat cats would hurt if you were stupid enuf to get in range.

This game has gotten really pathetic I come back after a break and the ppc problem is worse than before, sure we had poptarting highlanders and phracts but no everyone is mass boating ppcs with EVERYTHING, sure lets change some numbers and alter the large pulse in one patch but oh srms and ppcs? Nah lets make them wait months while we gather useful "DATA"....

Also 20 ton fleas and locusts...

Edited by MonkeyCheese, 07 July 2013 - 02:19 AM.

[Magicbullet141]

1: Don't play Mechwarrior Online
2: profit

[Takony]

Good light pilots are few and far between. The rest: thinks just they can circle me, can afford to stop to aim, can get stuck on slopes, can cross ridges, can jump into my firing arc and not get shot when they stop at the end of their descent, can overheat,can back behind a ridge in a straight line,can stare at me instead of ducking and veawing into cover, can run in open terrain, can just **** lasers all around my mech instead of coring my XL side torso, can fight heavier mechs alone, can forget about HSR,can skimp leg armor,can store ammo in legs, just from the top of my head.NO you cannot do these because you die in one shot.Good light pilota are way over my elo, and I don't see them because they core my side in 2 alphas while running 8-s behind me.This from AC40 Jager and occasionally 3 Ppc Ctf 3d.

[JigglyMoobs]

The only times I've seen lights get one shot killed have been times when:

• They do something stupid, like power down at a resource point at the start of a match or run straight at an assault
  
• Get really unlucky, turning a corner into several guys with their weapons pointed in the direction of the said corner
  
• Get ambushed by an assault mech who's waiting them
  
• Run across open ground at a nice convenient distance in front of the assault mech

I think all three situations are just the cost of being a light: ie, you're not a heavy mech that just happen to go at 120 kph and you are not supposed to be. Heck, if I did most of the above in my Atlas, I'd get killed too. It would just take a few more shots and look more epic.

If you're still frustrated, why not just get a Spider? Those things are bleeping impossible to hit.

Edited by JigglyMoobs, 08 July 2013 - 05:48 AM.

[Doranut]

HansBlix WMD, on 06 July 2013 - 12:44 PM, said:

So far the only valid advice I've seen is "hide." Any rebuttal?

Trying to duke it out mano y mano in a 30 ton mech against an 85 ton mech packing enough firepower to level some small countries isn't "highly recommended"*. Doing so leads to sadness, and sadness leads to posting on the forums. This is the path to the dark side.

*it's a terrible idea

The real advice is to be smarter than those players. This is more difficult for some players than others.

So go, play a ppc boat for a while. Learn how they think and react. Watch the lights that are successful in matches on the other team. Figure out what they do that really ****** you off.

If I see a mech that can level me in one shot, my goal is never to let them take that shot. There are times when of course they get that shot, but that should be few and far in between. More luck on their part than anything else.

Instead I try to disrupt what they are doing and contribute, and then go somewhere else while they turn around to try and find me. I'm lowering their DPS through distraction. Do that a couple times and they might learn not to turn. And then you can really let them have it, because they've decided to just focus on what they're doing, you can go to town. Or you keep taunting them away from doing something productive, either way it's a win.

You're not going to be the hero 45 matches out of 50 in your tiny little mech. You're going to be the skill player who helps your other teammates do better. Your stats aren't judged by damage or KDR, it's all about win/loss ratio. You're the punter. This isn't satisfying to some folks, so they do poorly. They try to solo that stalker. I'm just keeping the ball downfield, and I do just fine. And when I do lead my team occasionally in damage and kills, it's all the sweeter.

[Phobic Wraith]

Simple tip from the hunchback pilot: carry an AC/20 and know when to fire. After a while of playing you kinda get the cringe before Mr. PPCWarrior unloads on your center torso (or hunch as some of you more debonair pilots can testify). When you get "the timing of the cringe" down you can unload your cannon full of 20 damage hurt just before they fire -- shaking Mr. PPC's cockpit like someone taking a baseball bat to a gunfight. IF you're lucky you'll have time to run behind some cover before retaliation commences.

I just realized this is in the Light battlemech guides. Those of you who carry AC/20's are... few to say the least. I apologize.

Edited by Phobic Wraith, 08 July 2013 - 09:05 AM.

[StoneRhino]

I have been running Commandos the past week or two. I always liked the design since I started playing Battletech back in the late 90s. When I saw it was in game I had to try it out. I am on my 3rd variant right now. As you know the Commando is not a fast light mech. It is also the lightest mech in the game, meaning it has the least armor around. This is not a good combination against ppc boats.


Clearly, there is no way not to get one shotted by a ppc boat with enough ppcs to gut your light mech. There is no AMS for ppc bolts. The ppc is clearly the "best" energy weapon since it is a single impact instead of the beams of the lasers that can be spread all over a target. The assault mech players would be fools not to want to maximize their damage potential, and where that damage hits and how is part of that.

Strangely, the best way not to be one shotted by a ppc boat is to get close to them. The further out you are, the more their weapons have to converge on a single point on a target. If you had a mech right in front of the stalker, for example, chances are there would be ppcs hitting the arms, ct, lt, and rt because the weapons are firing and hitting something right outside of their barrel. The further you are from them the greater the chances are of those weapons coming together and hit the center of their crosshairs, thus resulting in 6 ppc bolts slamming the same spot on a target.

Light mechs are few and far between. The light mech I have seen the most of is the machinegun spider. I don't know how much damage they really do, but they annoy the hell out of my teams. I have also noticed that everyone hates light mechs, this is proven every round where the opposing team makes a great effort to try and kill me by firing everything they have instead of targeting my much heavier teammates. It sucks, it really does since I know I'm rollin the lightest unit in the game and it isn't even the fastest but they still get tunnel vision when they see me and drool over what they perceive to be an easy kill.

Even the relatively slow Commando can survive for some time. I have scouted in some matches and stumbled upon the entire team that is waiting for me. I'll take some serious hits but I will also see several weapons missing as I find a better place to be. They will chase, fire and miss, but in order for that to happen I need to keep it moving, and keep it moving in a way that is unpredictable.

With an assault mech you have the armor to screw up badly. You also have the weapons to kill lighter targets with ease. This makes for less of a challenge per round as you reduce your risks. You cannot do so with light mechs, you either need to know what you are doing, or be going so fast that the other guy simply cannot track you. One relies upon the light mech pilot understanding their mech's ability, phsyical attributes, and how to use the terrain properly which includes knowing the chances of making it to better terrain. The other relies on your luck to be going in a random direction that is beneficial to you, and the other guy being a poor shot. If you are relying purely on blind speed then you'll find that you didn't pick the right random direction you selected worked out in your favor, and or the other guy is actually a decent shot. You cannot rely on your armor and you cannot rely on your weapons to bust you out of a bad situation.


As for the devs and their weapon slots, I hate the idea. I hated it in MW4 and I hate it now. What is going to end up happening is that the devs are going to have to resort to making the variants static. They will have to lock all the weapons and gear as they are. There will be zero customization in the game. They will have gutted a big part of Battletech from the game. It will suck. You will just end up seeing people go with Awesomes and the like. If there is a problem with the PPCs then it has to be found in the cycle time of the weapons. It will not stop people from going with ppc boats, it won't reduce the damage output per shot, it will not stop someone from being able to oneshot a light mech by using 6 ppcs. What it will do is force people to consider how good of a shot they are and compare that to the damage output they might have holding their fire until they get a good shot instead of firign like mad by using weapons with lower cycle times. Those that are good shots are going to keep their ppcs, the rest will start to switch weapons opting for damage over time instead of volley damage.

[Just wanna play]

carry a flamer, both causes hot builds to be hotter AND blinds the mech targeting you, i also ran a std engine in my commando back when i still ran lights which helped, even if your not actually in range to use the flamer it still messes up their view of your mech causing shots to miss the ct

[Wagamama]

Doranut, on 08 July 2013 - 08:38 AM, said:

Trying to duke it out mano y mano in a 30 ton mech against an 85 ton mech packing enough firepower to level some small countries isn't "highly recommended"*. Doing so leads to sadness, and sadness leads to posting on the forums. This is the path to the dark side.

*it's a terrible idea

The real advice is to be smarter than those players. This is more difficult for some players than others.

So go, play a ppc boat for a while. Learn how they think and react. Watch the lights that are successful in matches on the other team. Figure out what they do that really ****** you off.

If I see a mech that can level me in one shot, my goal is never to let them take that shot. There are times when of course they get that shot, but that should be few and far in between. More luck on their part than anything else.

Instead I try to disrupt what they are doing and contribute, and then go somewhere else while they turn around to try and find me. I'm lowering their DPS through distraction. Do that a couple times and they might learn not to turn. And then you can really let them have it, because they've decided to just focus on what they're doing, you can go to town. Or you keep taunting them away from doing something productive, either way it's a win.

You're not going to be the hero 45 matches out of 50 in your tiny little mech. You're going to be the skill player who helps your other teammates do better. Your stats aren't judged by damage or KDR, it's all about win/loss ratio. You're the punter. This isn't satisfying to some folks, so they do poorly. They try to solo that stalker. I'm just keeping the ball downfield, and I do just fine. And when I do lead my team occasionally in damage and kills, it's all the sweeter.

Very well said.

[JigglyMoobs]

So I tried playing a Spider 5D for a day. It wasn't too hard to survive but I found the experience very frustrating. It all had to do with teaming.

First drop I end up in a game where the majority of mechs were lights. My team had an entire lance of Spider 5Ds. We ended up running round and round in circles with the enemy team.

Second drop we played assault. At first I had lots of fun sneaking around and Taging enemy mechs for the team, until I realized that no one on my team had LRMs. Well, now what? Maybe I can stick with my team mates and provide ECM support? But then the guy I tried to support wandered off by himself in the middle of 4 enemy mechs, and got killed.

I can see how lights can be incredibly useful to a team that can make use of their capabilities, but a lot of the time it will be very frustrating to play in pugs in teams that are not structured or not willing to make use of your abilities.

[B0oN]

Try something else than the "standard" 3L build (3medlas/2streaks) that actually lets you work outside of the "seismic hot-zone" . And maybe try something else than the RVN chassis .

[TheFlyingScotsman]

HansBlix WMD, on 06 July 2013 - 10:28 AM, said:

Hi fellow light pilots. I was just wondering how you survive the 45+ point alphas that are rampant these days. Keep on getting one shotted and I realize you vets must have some secret that prevents this from happening. Please share.

By not playing a light or medium, sadly.

[Mad Porthos]

Phobic Wraith, on 08 July 2013 - 08:59 AM, said:

Simple tip from the hunchback pilot: carry an AC/20 and know when to fire. After a while of playing you kinda get the cringe before Mr. PPCWarrior unloads on your center torso (or hunch as some of you more debonair pilots can testify). When you get "the timing of the cringe" down you can unload your cannon full of 20 damage hurt just before they fire -- shaking Mr. PPC's cockpit like someone taking a baseball bat to a gunfight. IF you're lucky you'll have time to run behind some cover before retaliation commences.

I just realized this is in the Light battlemech guides. Those of you who carry AC/20's are... few to say the least. I apologize.

This tends to be how I use my Raven 4x, Ac20. The cringe in that case is as much to keep the AC20 on the other side of Raven till time for use, but the fun thing about having jump jets is you can turn in mid air, so on occasion, you'll pop up, like a tart...pivot and fire, continuing to spin and landing with the canon away again... ready to run as well.

[Gaan Cathal]

Never, ever, ever move in a straight line if you believe PPC/Gauss mechs have a line to your position.

[CeeKay Boques]

Already be thinking about how you are going to get out, before you get in.