75 replies to this topic

[Reslin]

Alright this isn't a whine thread or an I quit thread. I just got into mech warrior online and I'm using the trial mechs. I started playing yesterday(This also isn't a TRIAL MECHS SUCK THREAD) and I can't seem to kill anyone. I get 1-6 kill assists but I can't kill anyone. Even if someone is pretty badly damaged I'll fire my weapons tried aiming for the legs, cockpits, etc no matter what I do I die or need someone to come clean up for me. I seem to be really really bad and I've never been this bad at a video game.

That being said, I have followed the video guides and browsed through the forums. It's not seeming to help me. Without further ado I have turned to the community in hopes that someone can point me in the right direction to "Get a kill." the only problem is.. I don't know what I'm asking. I don't exactly know where i'm going wrong. I'll admit I don't fully understand the weapon grouping but I'm pretty sure I'm doing more wrong than that and I'm not afraid to admit it. I need direction.

[Aym]

Well practice makes perfect, many/most of us had to go through at least a dozen matches before getting a kill, and much longer than that to learn that hitting cockpits in battle isn't too effective, there are exceptions but... as a general rule center torso is your best bet.

[Koniving]

Reslin, on 22 July 2013 - 08:48 PM, said:

I need direction.

Which of the 4 trials have you been the most comfortable with, for starters?

[zraven7]

Honestly? The trial mechs really do suck. I'm sorry dude.

Also, weapon groupings are one of those things are really easy once you get it, but really hard to explain without just showing you.

You'll get the weapon grouping mechanic down pretty quick, and you'll be happier once you get your own mech.

There are a few free TS servers for anyone, and I'm certain that a bunch of the Rasalhague groups have their own, too. Get on Voice Chat with someone, and have them show you the ropes in a few games, and talk you through a few things.

Check the guides on basic gameplay, and starting out, stick with your group. "Follow the Atlas" is a common piece of advice, and it is still a good one. Follow a nice, big Assault mech, shoot what he shoots.

Feel free to message me if you want to ask anything privately. Also, this thread will likely light up with advice in pretty short order.

Koniving, on 22 July 2013 - 08:54 PM, said:

Which of the 4 trials have you been the most comfortable with, for starters?

I was hoping you'd show up, Koniving . Do you have a video showing basic weapon grouping?

[Reslin]

Aym, on 22 July 2013 - 08:51 PM, said:

Well practice makes perfect, many/most of us had to go through at least a dozen matches before getting a kill, and much longer than that to learn that hitting cockpits in battle isn't too effective, there are exceptions but... as a general rule center torso is your best bet.

That's good to hear. I came from eve so I'm not one to get discouraged easily. I'll stick with a game and figure it out even if it takes me awhile to do so. So center torso is better than the cockpit? Thanks, all I've been targeting is legs/cockpit! (Sometimes "arms.")

[zraven7]

Reslin, on 22 July 2013 - 08:55 PM, said:

That's good to hear. I came from eve so I'm not one to get discouraged easily. I'll stick with a game and figure it out even if it takes me awhile to do so. So center torso is better than the cockpit? Thanks, all I've been targeting is legs/cockpit! (Sometimes "arms.")

Cockpit is a way to a quick kill, but it's ridiculously hard to hit. Busting both of the legs will net you a kill. Destroying center torso internals will get you a kill, and if they are using an XL engine, side torsos will get you a kill as well.

[Koniving]

zraven7, on 22 July 2013 - 08:55 PM, said:

I was hoping you'd show up, Koniving . Do you have a video showing basic weapon grouping?

Not yet.
Was a low priority and haven't been able to work on the videos since Friday.
There is this. Dated or not, it's perfectly valid.

Edited by Koniving, 22 July 2013 - 08:58 PM.

[Reslin]

zraven7, on 22 July 2013 - 08:55 PM, said:

Honestly? The trial mechs really do suck. I'm sorry dude.

Also, weapon groupings are one of those things are really easy once you get it, but really hard to explain without just showing you.

You'll get the weapon grouping mechanic down pretty quick, and you'll be happier once you get your own mech.

There are a few free TS servers for anyone, and I'm certain that a bunch of the Rasalhague groups have their own, too. Get on Voice Chat with someone, and have them show you the ropes in a few games, and talk you through a few things.

Check the guides on basic gameplay, and starting out, stick with your group. "Follow the Atlas" is a common piece of advice, and it is still a good one. Follow a nice, big Assault mech, shoot what he shoots.

Feel free to message me if you want to ask anything privately. Also, this thread will likely light up with advice in pretty short order.


I was hoping you'd show up, Koniving . Do you have a video showing basic weapon grouping?

Thanks for that advice! Glad to see the community is so helpful. I'll definitely see about getting on teamspeak with some veterans. It'd be great to have someone show me the ropes. Despite being blasted into oblivion I'm having a lot of fun. I used to play mechwarrior back when I was a kid and have been reluctant to give this one a go. Glad I did.

As for the trials to answer Koniving's question let's see.. It's hard to say because I'm really bad with all of them but I'm "Not as bad." with the blackjack (I think it's called) and Atlas. Anything else I don't even get a kill assist. Let alone a kill. As for the teamspeak idea it's good that the community is so helpful. After trying the blackjack and seeing some mechs in play I kind of like what I've seen from the hunchback. I have enough Cbills to grab a hunchback right now but it'd take up all of them. So I haven't bought one yet.

Edited by Reslin, 22 July 2013 - 09:02 PM.

[Koniving]

Reslin, on 22 July 2013 - 08:55 PM, said:

That's good to hear. I came from eve so I'm not one to get discouraged easily. I'll stick with a game and figure it out even if it takes me awhile to do so. So center torso is better than the cockpit? Thanks, all I've been targeting is legs/cockpit! (Sometimes "arms.")

When possible go for the following things:
Really fast enemies -- legs. (Except Jenners, easier to go for that long body).
Modest speed enemies, CT. Unless it falls under heavily armed then refer to below.
Slower, or heavily armed (lots of weapons) enemies -- the side with the most weapons first. Once that's taken out you'll have removed at least half to most of their weapons. Then CT.

When it comes to the heavily armed enemies with small arms, 'test' the arms. If the armor turns orange or red unusually fast, focus on the arms instead of the side torsos.

(CT = center torso)

Edited by Koniving, 23 July 2013 - 02:06 PM.

[Benjamin Davion]

I'm pretty sure I didn't get my first kill until my 20th match. It wasn't until the last month and a half or so, with a decent understanding of tactics, good builds, and just experience, that I could routinely get at least one kill, often times now two or three. Last week I got five and nearly had a stroke. It takes a very long time to get even moderately good at this game, so don't despaire. Getting six assists is a great thing, btw. You're actively contributing to your team by doing that. Also, for headshots, I've only recently started trying for head-hits. Catapults and Jagermechs are your best mechs for cockpit kills, but hitting the cockpit reliably from any further away than about 200 meters is a total crapshoot. Highly unlikely without a lot of luck. I have specific 'head-hunting' mechs, too. My 4LL, 2MG Catapult does suprisingly well cockpit-killing at close range.

[Reslin]

Koniving, on 22 July 2013 - 09:02 PM, said:

When possible go for the following things:
Really fast enemies -- legs.
Modest speed enemies, CT.
Slower, or heavily armed (lots of weapons) enemies -- the side with the most weapons first. Once that's taken out you'll have removed at least half to most of their weapons. Then CT.

(CT = center torso)

Thanks. I'll definitely do this and I keep watching that weapon grouping video but find it hard to understand. I think what I'm going to do is watch the video a few times while in training until I get it down. Also as for the hunchback another problem on why I haven't bought it is because.. I don't really know which "version" to grab. So I pretty much held off on purchasing as a "Not experienced enough to buy." kind of deal.

[Koniving]

Alright Reslin. Trust me, there will be no shortage of help piling in here. But since I won't be on very long, I threw you an add on MWO. Check the Social tab, then Invites. And wait for a second invite which will be to a group. I'll tag along with you in some trial mechs.

Jist of the training video:
Weapons have groups of 1 through 6 that they can be assigned to.
Use the arrow keys (up, down) to choose a weapon.
Arrow keys (left, right) to choose a group.
Right CTRL key to toggle a weapon as in-group (blue) or out of group (black).

Any weapons that have a blue "3" are in group 3. So if you press number 3 or what you set as fire group 3, they will all fire.

If you use Backspace, you can make them 'cycle', allowing you to fire them one at a time without having to do weird groups.

Edited by Koniving, 22 July 2013 - 09:10 PM.

[Reslin]

Koniving, on 22 July 2013 - 09:06 PM, said:

Alright Reslin. Trust me, there will be no shortage of help piling in here. But since I won't be on very long, I threw you an add on MWO. Check the Social tab, then Invites. And wait for a second invite which will be to a group. I'll tag along with you in some trial mechs.

Alright. I don't have really anytime to play right now. Which is why I came on the forums but I'll definitely accept.

[Benjamin Davion]

Koniving, on 22 July 2013 - 09:06 PM, said:

Alright Reslin. Trust me, there will be no shortage of help piling in here. But since I won't be on very long, I threw you an add on MWO. Check the Social tab, then Invites. And wait for a second invite which will be to a group. I'll tag along with you in some trial mechs.

Jist of the training video:
Weapons have groups of 1 through 6 that they can be assigned to.
Use the arrow keys (up, down) to choose a weapon.
Arrow keys (left, right) to choose a group.
Right CTRL key to toggle a weapon as in-group (blue) or out of group (black).

Any weapons that have a blue "3" are in group 3. So if you press number 3 or what you set as fire group 3, they will all fire.

If you use Backspace, you can make them 'cycle', allowing you to fire them one at a time without having to do weird groups.

Koniving, have I ever told you how awesome you are? Like the Yoda of the forums.. "COME, YOUNGLINGS. Teach you to kill Atlai, I will.'

[TehSBGX]

Also when you have enough C-bills for your first mech, may I Suggest the Hunchback 4sp? It's pretty well rounded for a medium with nice survivability, fire-power and okay speed. Plus it's cheap since you don't have to worry about an XL engine, make sure to upgrade to double heat sinks and Endo-steel though. Both of those upgrades are pretty much manditory to get the most out of a mech.

[Sam Slade]

Hunchie 4SP is a good starter. Simple weapons groups and a great intro to heat managment.

Also, 6 assists is really good work. Often times in this game a kill is incidental; if I'm in a brawl and am outgunned Im always happy yto have someone throw in an extra bit of damage to finish the job.

As to a few basic things:
- read carefully the assigned keys area of the options screen.
- turn 'arm lock' and 'throtle decay' off(you'll be happy for this later)
- Long Range Missiles need a target lock(default 'r' buttin to target) and have a MINIMUM range of 180 meters and a maximum range of 1000 meters
- Short Range Missiles detonate after 270 meters
- look at your weapons ranges and group them accordingly(right control anr arow keys)
- stick with a group and KEEP YOUR HEAD. I always look for weapons spammers in combat because they are usually going to overheat and shutdown due to lack of control
- do what Koniving says

Edited by Sam Slade, 22 July 2013 - 09:29 PM.

[Reslin]

Sam Slade, on 22 July 2013 - 09:27 PM, said:

Hunchie 4SP is a good starter. Simple weapons groups and a great intro to heat managment.

Also, 6 assists is really good work. Often times in this game a kill is incidental; if I'm in a brawl and am outgunned Im always happy yto have someone throw in an extra bit of damage to finish the job.

As to a few basic things:
- read carefully the assigned keys area of the options screen.
- turn 'arm lock' and 'throtle decay' off(you'll be happy for this later)
- Long Range Missiles need a target lock(default 'r' buttin to target) and have a MINIMUM range of 180 meters and a maximum range of 1000 meters
- Short Range Missiles detonate after 270 meters
- look at your weapons ranges and group them accordingly(right control anr arow keys)
- stick with a group and KEEP YOUR HEAD. I always look for weapons spammers in combat because they are usually going to overheat and shutdown due to lack of control
- do what Koniving says

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely do all of that. I'll be back on tomorrow and I'll check this thread when I wake up. I'm really glad so many people are willing to help me out. I just had two games with Koniving and had a blast. Really awesome person for taking the time to help me out.

[Koniving]

Mkay. Through text in match I helped him with the weapons grouping. The BJ shouldn't be so hot now. >.> Tomorrow I'll go through and play some matches together. In the meantime since I have to draw a bird and its skeleton now, I suppose filling this thread with various useful info is a good idea.

First mech choices are a good start. Same any advice you might give someone.

In the meantime for fun, these were taken Friday.

Spoiler

And I think I'll be pulling my blackjacks out of their boxes to run some factory standard and tricked out tomorrow.

[Koniving]

Benjamin Davion, on 22 July 2013 - 09:11 PM, said:

Koniving, have I ever told you how awesome you are? Like the Yoda of the forums.. "COME, YOUNGLINGS. Teach you to kill Atlai, I will.'

I believe you just did.

You know -- I wish I didn't delete most of the closed beta video I recorded for fun. Of the 60 minutes or so of closed beta footage I've put up (after the NDA lifted) the two things I apparently did not keep would fit quote very well.

The first was using an Awesome 9M with -- at the time -- a standard 400 engine and a small laser. Nothing said "I'm going to ruin your day" better than chasing down light mechs by going faster than them (no XL engines, no DHS) and knocking them to the ground. Few things could knock down a Dragon or an Atlas without leaping into the air first. The Awesome could. Turn your shoulder to one side and jerk the throttle forward.

The second was shortly after the Raven 4X and XL engines with DHS, endo and ferro were released. XL 170, AC/20, JJs, endo, and anyone large and in the way was a gonner. Leap up, drop kick an Atlas or Awesome or anything really. Sometimes I fall too. Most of the time I land on my feet. Turn around, AC/20. Hope his body doesn't teleport (it often did). Anything dies when you do it twice; solidifying my love for the Raven 4X to this day. After all, what other Raven can you put jump jets or an AC/20 on?

Spoiler

Shots by Lordred. Raven is Koniving's.

I do have this -- sadly it's me on the receiving end of a Lariat. Fist to my cockpit. (If it's not smooth-playing, click on the video response and skip to 14:36)

(edit: Inserted missing words after re-reading.)

Edited by Koniving, 22 July 2013 - 11:16 PM.

[Royalewithcheese]

#1 thing I'd say is don't worry - this game has a really steep learning curve, and everyone has exactly the experience you're having right now at the start. (I remember how psyched I was when I actually killed something.)

My top two tips would be:

• Staying with the rest of your team is the best way to survive and get your damage/assist/kill numbers up, especially starting out.
  
• Don't hesitate to ask the forums any questions you might have - this is a really helpful + active community

And you definitely should get your own mech at the first opportunity - customization is a lot of fun and mechs get a lot stronger once you install double heatsinks (this is always one of the first things you should buy for any mech that doesn't start with them), start getting pilot skills with them, and start tweaking them to your liking. My top four recommendations for this would be:

• JagerMech 6A. This is a really flexible chassis. You can fit pretty much any weapon in the game on this thing, and depending on how you configure it you can make it durable, fast, or both. The stock version of this comes with weak armor, but you can fix that by adding more armor (maximum armor is by weight.)
  
• Cataphract 2X. Also very flexible - pretty much the same basic idea as the Jagermech 6A in that it can run basically any weapon and can be built many different ways. Compared to the Jagermech 6A, the Cataphract 2X is slightly more durable and can carry slightly more weight, but has (IMO) a slightly less flexible set of weapon slots.
  
• Hunchback 4-SP. Lots of people recommend this one - it's cheap and reasonably effective.
  
• Atlas D-DC. This is expensive, and if you want to start out with it you will probably have to grind a bit with the trial mechs. Personally, I really like it, and it's the mech I started out with. It's like the Jagermech 6A and Cataphract 2X in that there's a lot of room for a lot of different weapon set-ups. It also carries ECM, which jams a lot of enemy equipment including missiles and sensors. It's slow, but is also very powerful and amazingly hard to kill.

Edited by Royalewithcheese, 22 July 2013 - 10:16 PM.