68 replies to this topic

[Rando Slim]

Yep, I'm new.......very new. Played a few matches and bought my first mech. I went with a Jenner JR7-K. But I totally didn't realize you have to use 3 variants of one mech, and though I like the Jenner, I don't imagine myself wanting three variants of ANY mech really I like to mix it up. Now that I know, it looks like I made a fairly n00b unfiriendly choice as Jenner variants don't offer a ton of variety. I am now reading some guides, but I did all this before checking out the forums (big mistake). I sold off my jump jets because they seem hard to use, downgraded my engine just a little to save weight and get some more armor (is that bad?), upgraded to Ferro-fribrous and endo-steel (good I think) and am now realizing I have made some loltastically bad choices and now don't have any c-bills to do much. Anyway I'm now looking at the jump maneuvers manual, the quick tips thread, and the wonderful MWO guide that you have to download, its a lot to take in. I've been playing a lot of Hawken recently (don't hate, its a good game too in its own way) and so this is a bit of a shock even though I'm not completely unfamiliar with the battletech universe.

My question(s) that I didn't see addressed is (and forgive me if its stupid): does it matter WHERE I put heat sinks? I notice my overall efficiency doesn't change when I move them around. Should I put heat sinks in my torso where my missiles are? Pretty obviously they should go where the lasers are. Does C.A.S.E. offer the same protection regardless of how much missile ammo I have? Do I need CASE to protect me from anti-missile ammo? Finally, when should I align with a faction and try to join somewhere? I'm pretty busy like every other adult, and I play other games too but still I'd like to be affiliated with someone for lore's sake (I read some of the books and played the table-top game as a teenager) but I don't wanna get people mad at me for lack of commitment. Anyway, sorry for my painfully noobish topic here.

EDIT: And because I haven't read far enough yet.....do the "variants" on the mech tree mean "passive bonuses"? I'm assuming they stack as you buy them for each variant? I just got confused a bit because the mech tree says "Basic variants unlocked 0 of 3" What? Thats some confusing wording there.

Edited by Scrotacus 42, 08 July 2013 - 11:53 AM.

[Lefty Lucy]

Since the Jenner K is the worst Jenner due to having worse hard points than either of the other two variants, I would grind basic efficiencies in it, then buy the F or D. Before you purchase *any* other upgrade for either of those mechs, double heat sinks is the highest-priority. The game is virtually unplayable without DHS.

[zraven7]

Ok, here goes.

First of all, it does not matter where you place heat sinks for the most part. One's placed in the legs do better when you're in water, but that's about it.

Second, Jenners are great lil mechs, but there are only so many builds that work with them. You want the biggest XL engine you can fit in, the 300 xl, and you want to upgrade to double heat sinks, endosteel internals, and ferro-fibrous armour.

As far as weapons, for the K, running 4 mediums lasers and an SRM 6 is a good combo.

The efficiencies do NOT stack with each other. They are specific to mech variant. However, once you get all of the elite efficiencies on a mech, all the bonuses on the basic ones are doubled.

You want at least one Jump Jet on a Jenner, as it exponentially increases your mobility. You need to be able to move and be fast.

Here is a completely decent Jenner k build.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c572ff209b48ef5

Hope it helps.

Edited by zraven7, 08 July 2013 - 12:03 PM.

[Felicitatem Parco]

Double Heatsinks will greatly increase combat performance, and you don't really have to worry about where you put them. DHS have the same effectiveness where ever you mount them (only single heatsinks work better in legs, but double heatsinks generally out-class the SHS). If your engine is at least a 250-sized, then you'll have 10 DHS inside your engine and you are not legally obliged to add anymore. If your engine is less than a 250-size, then you'll have to add Heatsinks until your Mech carries at least 10.

The Jenner K model is specifically designed to get it's "bonuses" in the form of long-term electronic and equipment upgrades that you can unlock in the Pilot Tree, since the Jenner-K can hold more Modules than the other Jenners. The Jenner-D and the Jenner-F are designed to put more immediate firepower on the field than the Jenner K, but they have fewer mounting slots for Modules.

C.A.S.E. can protect you from your own ammo detonating, and this includes Missiles and AMS. 1 case unit per side torso is sufficient. If you have an XL Engine, though, using CASE won't really help you because CASE is a "blow-out" device that causes the explosion to exit the back-end of your Mech instead of being contained inside the Mech, but you still lose the entire Side Torso and the loss of that Side Torso will kill you if you have a XL Engine.

Edited by Prosperity Park, 08 July 2013 - 12:06 PM.

[Blalok]

First off, welcome. Personally, I wouldn't feel too bad about getting into a Jenner to start with; they're about the best lights out there IMO, but if the role doesn't suit you, shop around. The trial mech rotation is a little slow for my taste (new set with the first patch of each month lately, but I have the impression they used to change more frequently), but this does allow you the time to spend a handful of matches in each class. And I do recommend going at least 10 matches in each of them to give yourself time to adjust. Most people will tell you the trial mechs are just terribad (and in many cases they are) but learning to work around their limitations will make you a much more effective pilot.


My first rule is: Never sell anything (except maybe medium lasers, which just seem to accumulate with every mech you buy).

Heat sinks: 2 quirks that might take a fair amount of forum-lurking to find... At 25-rating intervals, larger engines include additional heat sink hardpoints, which (when you have DHS upgrade) give you an added bonus over DHS installed elsewhere. Heatsinks installed in legs (which isn't possible with DHS for any mech I've used) are more effective when you're wading in the water. (there's another advantage to being in the water - reduced damage below the waterline). Other HS location considerations - Heatsinks can also be used to protect equipment via crit padding; search forums for description. Otherwise, stick em where you can fit em.
My understanding is that you only need 1 CASE in a location to get it's benefits. I only use them if I can't come up with another use for the 0.5 ton / 1 slot. Saves you from AMS explosions as well; not needed for gauss ammo (it doesn't explode, but the gun does...)

Faction affiliation doesn't really do anything yet, but there will be faction-loyalty points and territory coming with Community Warfare... soon.
There are a number of groups using TeamSpeak, if you're looking for some actual living person affiliations as well; I find games to be much more enjoyable when I can talk to other players, but b/c of my schedule (and the lack of integrated voice comms), have almost exclusively gone the PUG route.

[Rema86]

Zraven's correct on efficiencies but forgets to mention the average Xl cost's around 4-5 mill cbills.
That's allot of cbills to lose early on.
If you're looking for a cheap cross-over build so you don't waste to much of your starter/cadet bonus, i'd go for something like this: (assuming you went for a standard engine and downgraded that)
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...2663e203ef15df9

If you went for a standard engine you're unlikely to be fast enough to counter other lights or properly scout.
So just hang about as a sniper/support role untill you can upgrade or get something better.

Ultimately, yes you want to go for a build like zraven mentioned. The Jenner itself is not a bad choice, but given the current 'endgame' you might want to consider a nice heavy if your that new.

Edited by Rema86, 08 July 2013 - 12:21 PM.

[MoonUnitBeta]

HEAT SINKS:
it doesn’t matter where you put heat sinks. Could put them in your legs if you wanted.

You can put them into your arms or torso’s if you would like with your weapons, you won’t gain an efficiency benefit, but the heat sinks take up space. If it’s just your lasers in the arm, the chances of them getting damaged and becoming unusable are pretty high if you get hit with a big hit, or machine gun which strike for critical hits. If you have heat sinks in there, then it’s just more stuff that can be damaged or destroyed instead of your lasers. BUT. If your arm gets blown off, then you’re down that many heat sinks for the rest of your lasers.


C.A.S.E.:
You only need one case (per side torso), and that covers all the ammo you can fit into the torso that case is in.
It protects you against all ammo explosions inside the torso where you're keeping your ammo.
The only type of ammo that doesn’t explode is gauss ammo.
There is only a 10% of an ammo explosion happening.
If an ammo explosion happens, it damages your internals for the amount of ammo that was there. 1 ton of AC/20 ammo has 7 shots - each one does 20 damage - you take 140 damage from an ammo explosion. If you do have an ammo explosion in your legs the leg has 20 points of armor left, and 19 internal hit points, it takes 39 damage from the 140. The remaining 101 damage carries up to your side torso and then what’s left goes to your center torso.
Case doesn’t protect you against incoming external ammo explosions (from your arms or legs).


There’s lots to take in, lots to learn about, but you’ll slowly come to learn it all by reading threads and looking at patch notes, etc. You’ll definitely get overwhelmed if you try to learn everything at once, so don’t get discouraged!!

Save up the rest of your c-bills. You get a cadet bonus each game, but that cadet bonus goes away after your first 25 games.

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 08 July 2013 - 12:59 PM.

[Rando Slim]

Ok thanks a lot for the quick reply, so just to clarify: any investments I make in the mech tree for a variant I own have to be chosen between (as in I can only use one efficiency at a time)? Or is it that I just unlocked the coolrun efficiency, if I then unlock kinetic burst then I get the benefits of both efficiencies as pemanent passive effects for that variant? Thats what I meant before when I said "stacking" poor choice of words on my part. Thanks also for taking the time to show me that build. Very helpful, just might take me a while to get there.

[zraven7]

Scrotacus 42, on 08 July 2013 - 12:25 PM, said:

Ok thanks a lot for the quick reply, so just to clarify: any investments I make in the mech tree for a variant I own have to be chosen between (as in I can only use one efficiency at a time)? Or is it that I just unlocked the coolrun efficiency, if I then unlock kinetic burst then I get the benefits of both efficiencies as pemanent passive effects for that variant? Thats what I meant before when I said "stacking" poor choice of words on my part. Thanks also for taking the time to show me that build. Very helpful, just might take me a while to get there.

Oh, no, that's entirely right. You get all the effects for the variant.

[Felicitatem Parco]

Yeah, as you unlock efficiencies, they do stack. They are also specific for that variant (i.e. unlocking Cool Run for the Jenner-D will not chill your Jenner-K).

Once you unlock all the "Basic" efficiencies for 3 variants of the same Mech chassis-line, you can then start unlocking the "Elite" skills. unlocking all 4 Elite Skills on any Mech variant will then give you a special bonus: it will double the bopnus effects of all your basic Skills (!). Then you can also eventually unlock the additional Module slots for 21,500 xp and that's as far as you can level your Mechs (for now.)

Also, 1 more thing - if you do decide to sell an entire Mech one day in the future, and you then later decide to buy it back, it will come pre-leveled to where it was when you sold it (you do not have to re-level mechs you sell and buy back later ;-)

Edited by Prosperity Park, 08 July 2013 - 12:31 PM.

[scJazz]

Scrotacus 42, on 08 July 2013 - 11:47 AM, said:

*SNIP* Newbie mistakes

You know... now might be a great time to start Scrotacus 43! Kinda wipe the slate start over and don't being by blowing your whole wallet on a Jenner

Just a thought...

[Roughneck45]

scJazz, on 08 July 2013 - 01:31 PM, said:

You know... now might be a great time to start Scrotacus 43! Kinda wipe the slate start over and don't being by blowing your whole wallet on a Jenner

Just a thought...

Yeah, a new account would be a good idea if you are not invested in this one yet.

There is much to learn, and it is most important to do so before you spend your c-bills, because once that cadet bonus is gone the hill gets a lot steeper.

[Koniving]

Scrotacus 42, on 08 July 2013 - 11:47 AM, said:

Mistakes, not mistakes, and questions.

Hello there and welcome. Around here you'll find there's a number of active new player helpers. Redshift2k and myself are among the most prevalent.

By the JR7-K, you have 1 missile launcher and 4 energy (2 per arm). Correct? I spent a moment to make a build to help you get started; keep in mind if you do get the XL engine that makes this rig so expensive, you will never want to sell it because there are a lot of mechs that benefit from this engine all across the board whether you want lights, mediums, heavies, even assault mechs.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f546b9b6604335c
This build has a few merit-worthy traits.

• Small lasers tend to have limited range and lower damage, but deal their damage faster and recharge faster than medium lasers. At high speeds this actually equates to about twice the damage potential of medium lasers when fired while moving. (Against enemy lights aim for legs, unless it's another Jenner then aim for the CT).
  
• Heavy rear side torso armor -- side torsos are very difficult to hit and are always accidentally hit from the front. However they are very easy to hit from the back. When retreating from enemies with your back to them, {LT-MOB-25} your torso about 45 degrees left or right.
  
• The "center torso" counts as the entire phallic-like protrusion as the sides, top, and bottom, all the way to this tiny but wide "back plate" on the back. As such the armor is concentrated heavily on what's considered the "front," and very light on the "rear." So long as you don't run away in a straight line, you will not have to worry about this low rear CT armor.

Explanation picture enclosed.

Spoiler

Note that the side torsos are the skinny mounts between the main body and the arms, and are as thin as the arms on the front. They are slightly wider on the back. That entire main body on all but a semi-flat plate on the back counts as the front CT. This is both the mech's strength and its weakness. My build channels a lot of armor to the "front" CT to protect this area.

• All other armor is beefed up to max or close to it.
  
• BAP (Beagle Active Probe) allows you 250 meters of additional scanning and targeting range. This helps you scout (meaning learn where enemies are and avoid running into the bulk of them ideally). But more importantly this helps you target enemies sporting ECM (Electronic Counter Measures) which would otherwise prevent you from using your streaks. At 180 meters jamming will prevent you from locking on. At 150 meters or less, you can lock on but you'll have to fight with the jamming (takes time). Better than not being able to use your streaks.
  
• Equipped with a streak missile launcher. While I prefer an LRM-5 or an LRM-10 instead, streaks are very helpful in anti-light combat.
  
• Equipped with AMS to (help) protect you from missiles and streaks. The AMS ammo is stored in the head where it is least likely to be destroyed. Chances are you as the pilot inside the cockpit will die before the ammo explodes.
  
• Since Jenner legs are extremely difficult to hit, the BAP and the streak ammunition has been placed in the legs.
  
• Features just enough JJs to clear obstacles for escaping. These are not enough for quality combat maneuvers, just escape.

Now, moving on. The other two Jenner variants admittedly have combat superiority in terms of damage output. However you only need 2 more Jenners to produce the maximum results out of your Jenners. My Founder's Jenner has been alone in my mechbay for a year now. Never got more. It performs superbly. Oh sure it'd perform even better if I make the unlocks of the other two variants, but the fact is that's a low priority and it does real well as it is.
Does it matter where you put your heatsinks?
Without environmental circumstance? Doesn't matter at all. Only if you're using STD heatsinks. Ideally you want your heatsinks as close to the bottom as possible either way, but the only time this truly matters is with standard heatsinks and the environment. The deeper you are in water, the faster your mech cools off. Just having up to your knees in water would double the cooling efficiency of your leg-mounted standard heatsinks. Other environmental bonuses and hazards include but are not limited to: Cooling vats, lava (it's coming), the Caldera on Caustic Valley (mechs with 10 standard heatsinks will eventually explode in there).

Raven Shark has found prey.

This guy with standard heatsinks installed, this Raven would have the benefit of double heatsinks due to his submersion in water.

Hawken is a solid game that's quite a bit farther along than MWO is. Its vastly simple nature has allowed the team to make far more advances in graphics, while PGI has been forced to dumb down the graphics (since 80% of the fanbase has barely above minimum system requirements). But overall, MWO's combat is rigorously more involved (even more so with the hot balance issues being addressed soon).

Does C.A.S.E. offer the same protection regardless of how much missile ammo I have?
So long as it can be placed between where your Standard Engine is, and where the missile ammo is placed. Note it means nothing with the XL engine, hence why my build has the missiles in the feet.

Do I need CASE to protect my AMS ammo?
Standard engine? Ideal if you can't place it in your head. Otherwise don't bother; put it in your head.

When should I align with a faction and try to join somewhere?
Right now it has no meaning. What you're currently playing is the combat testing and about 30% of the overall planned game. Community Warfare is the big time to choose. However if you can find a playgroup, whether it's a merc corp, a faction group, or a lone wolf support group, the game is a lot more fun in groups where you can coordinate through voice. Only the extremely competitive groups get angry, and they tend to be run by kids in their early 20s. http://zhizhu-mercs.net/home is a good spot (group I'm in) and we have an open-door policy to let people in. If you want to join up, by all means after a grace period to see how well you mesh in with us then great. If you decide you don't want to, well feel free to drop by whenever you're lonely. We try to keep the rude people out. (Btw in the Screenshots of the Week, I'm the Trebuchet with the flamers burning the Atlas.)

Do the "variants" on the mech tree mean "passive bonuses"?
Variants are the the different types of the same mech chassis. For example the JR7-F can carry up to 6 energy weapons, but has no missile mount, and the JR7-D has 4 energy and 2 missile hardpoints with a 4-tube twin-feed launcher (can pump up to 8 missiles simultaneously). The benefits are exclusive, but if you have 3 Jenners completed through Basic, your pilot has enough overall experience to make advanced tweaks to the Jenner line, unlocking Elite. To progress to Master, any 3 light mechs (of any chassis or variant) brought through Elite will allow you to Master any light mech.
Please read this post of mine for more information and pictures on the experience trees.

Edit: Added "hitbox overlay" to existing Jenner image to indicate why the armor allocation is the way it is.

Edited by Koniving, 08 July 2013 - 06:26 PM.

[Sadistic Savior]

Scrotacus 42, on 08 July 2013 - 11:47 AM, said:

now realizing I have made some loltastically bad choices and now don't have any c-bills to do much.

This is unavoidable. You have to determine your play style before you will know what to invest in. This takes time and money. Remember that you can always earn more CBills and that you can always sell off old equipment if you need to. You just have to be patient.

Unlike other games, there is no hierarchy in this one. No "best" build or mech type. The best will depend on your playstyle. Expensive is not necessarily better.

Quote

My question(s) that I didn't see addressed is (and forgive me if its stupid): does it matter WHERE I put heat sinks?

Yes. Because:
1) They take up a critical slot. If you get hit on your right torso, it is better to take a critical hit on a heat sink than on a gauss rifle (for example).
2) Heat sinks in limbs will be automatically destroyed if that limb is destroyed. So in general it is best to put them in the interior all else being equal. That does not mean you ALWAYS put them in your torso...it depends on the build.

Quote

I notice my overall efficiency doesn't change when I move them around.

In theory, heat sinks work better if they are submerged in water. So people commonly put them in legs. In this game that does not matter so much because almost everyone uses double heat sinks, which won't fit into legs. And I don't even know if the water bonus is still in the game at this point for single heat sinks.

Quote

Does C.A.S.E. offer the same protection regardless of how much missile ammo I have?

Yes. CASE is only really useful for preventing damage from stuff mounted in the arms or legs. It is useless in the Torsos right now.

Quote

Do I need CASE to protect me from anti-missile ammo?

It will protect from any ammo damage. AMS ammo will explode just like any other ammo.

Quote

Finally, when should I align with a faction and try to join somewhere?

Right now it is only cosmetic. it will not really matter till Community Warfare is activated, which probably won't happen for at least a few months. Right now Factions mean nothing.

Quote

EDIT: And because I haven't read far enough yet.....do the "variants" on the mech tree mean "passive bonuses"? I'm assuming they stack as you buy them for each variant?

Mastering variants will give you real in-game bonuses with that mech. So yes, you will want to progress up those trees. I would recommend NOT doing this till you have determined what your playstyle is first. Because you will need to commit lots of time and CBills (or MC) to do it.

Quote

I sold off my jump jets because they seem hard to use, downgraded my engine just a little to save weight and get some more armor (is that bad?), upgraded to Ferro-fribrous and endo-steel (good I think) and am now realizing I have made some loltastically bad choices and now don't have any c-bills to do much.

There are no good or bad choices. All those items have assets and liabilities. You will not know what is best until you determine your playstyle.

[Rando Slim]

Wow thanks again. The idea to make a new user account is a good one.......except.....I kinda bought 6,500 MC after I realized that I loved the concept of the game and appreciated the work that went into it and figured it deserved support. So now I've probably burned through half or more of my cadet bonus matches.......yea my bad, unless the MC transfers to a different account somehow. Ah well, live and learn, I'm ok with sticking with this Jenner variant, I'd probably have to get it anyway if I wanted to upgrade to elite anyway, might as well start with the wrost one and work my up. Right now its just a punchj to the face learning to pilot the thing and not overextend and get obliterated. Hawken is exponentially simpler in its nuances for the most part, this is gonna take some practice.......I played one match since reading these replies......to say it didn't go well is to hilariously understate the level of fail that other people on my team witnessed.

I will look into all of these builds provided, I never considered switching to the small lasers before. I'm glad theres a suggestion not utilizing the XL engine also. I guess I'll just have to buy some premium time and invest more money down the road if I want a hero mech and some nice liveries.

Edited by Scrotacus 42, 08 July 2013 - 03:06 PM.

[Tor Gungnir]

Don't know if anyone has touched upon it yet, but having both Ferro and ENDO is generally a bad idea because while they free up a lot of Tonnage, they will leave you short on Slots to put equipment in. You'll only want one, and it is the general consensus that ENDO is the superior choice 99% of the time. Oh and listen to Koniving and you'll be fine. I did

EDIT: And here is my tip: if you need C-bills, don't go all in to kill one enemy. Instead try and zip around as fast as possible and hit each enemy at least once. You only need to scratch them to get a Kill Assist when they eventually get destroyed (even if you died before them!). It is rather cheap, yes, but it does bring in the C-bills if your team manages to destroy all eight opponents. And when/if you do die, don't leave. Spectate. Spectating the remaining pilots taught me much.

Especially since a skilled Light pilot is a delight to "ride along" with!

Edited by Tor Gungnir, 08 July 2013 - 04:23 PM.

[Aym]

Scrotacus 42, on 08 July 2013 - 02:46 PM, said:

Wow thanks again. The idea to make a new user account is a good one.......except.....I kinda bought 6,500 MC after I realized that I loved the concept of the game and appreciated the work that went into it and figured it deserved support. So now I've probably burned through half or more of my cadet bonus matches.......yea my bad, unless the MC transfers to a different account somehow. Ah well, live and learn, I'm ok with sticking with this Jenner variant, I'd probably have to get it anyway if I wanted to upgrade to elite anyway, might as well start with the wrost one and work my up. Right now its just a punchj to the face learning to pilot the thing and not overextend and get obliterated. Hawken is exponentially simpler in its nuances for the most part, this is gonna take some practice.......I played one match since reading these replies......to say it didn't go well is to hilariously understate the level of fail that other people on my team witnessed.

I will look into all of these builds provided, I never considered switching to the small lasers before. I'm glad theres a suggestion not utilizing the XL engine also. I guess I'll just have to buy some premium time and invest more money down the road if I want a hero mech and some nice liveries.

You can get a free day of premium from the website go to where you downloaded the game, click it and it should bring up a free day of premium time offer on the left side of the next page. Activate that when you have some time to play with a group on TS3. Simply being in a group will get you a MUCH higher win percentage as you work together and communicate to overcome your lower skill level. Also, a 300XL engine is USUALLY a great investment, and if you like piloting a Jenner it is the absolute be-all end-all of engines for that mech.

Some of your bad experience may be that smaller engine, a light mech like the Jenner MUST go fast to survive, don't stand still, and going slow is about the same thing, you might not feel slow but a Jenner should be going as close to 150KPH as possible at all times

[Tor Gungnir]

As for HAWKEN:

There are two types of Mech games in my opinion: You have the "simulator" ones that try to accurately imagine how piloting a big Mech would be. Games like MechWarrior and the late ChromeHounds belongs to this category.

Then you have the "anime mecha" ones where the giant robots are capable of highly unrealistic feats such as sliding and dashing around at the speed of light and whatnot. Gundam and Armoured Core would be examples of this category.

HAWKEN is an interesting mix; it takes some elements of both and tries to combine them. You have the simulator aspect in combination with the dashing around, albeit toned down greatly. HAWKEN isn't bad, but I prefer the "depth" of MechWarrior and ChromeHounds.

Edited by Tor Gungnir, 08 July 2013 - 04:30 PM.

[scJazz]

Scrotacus 42, on 08 July 2013 - 02:46 PM, said:

*SNIP* Good news, $$$, and hope!

Things are not as bad as we feared.

You get one day of Free Premium time just for downloading the game.

http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__2529203

Just suck it up for now and finish your Cadet matches. See how much Cbills you have left. Don't spend any of the MC yet whatever you do! Now is a great time to sit back and make informed decisions in a calm and thoughtful manner

Give a shout when you finish your Cadet Matches. Let us know how many CBills you have and how your Jenner is set up. The Community will help you plot your next move.

Edited by scJazz, 08 July 2013 - 04:32 PM.

[Clideb50]

Welcome to MWO. The Jenner is an excellent light 'mech in my opinion. If you find that you don't enjoy lights, I'd recommend reading this post before choosing another 'mech.

http://mwomercs.com/...f-all-76-mechs/

The author has taken the time to sit down and review almost every 'mech in game. It may seem like a lot but it helps tremendously if you are undecided.