18 replies to this topic

[I_am_Groot]

So I have played MW2 and 3 for years. I use to slaughter everyone back in the day with a Daishi in MP on MW3. I come to this game thinking I might do ok and I get my butt handed to me. Any other MW3 multiplayer vets wanna tell me how to change my tactics up a bit to get better at this game?

[infinite xaer0]

i never played MW2/MW3's MP back in the day, but balance-wise, this game isn't like those. All i can really suggest is to play more and try watch what other people do. There's also this whole part of the forums: http://mwomercs.com/...des-strategies/

[Nothing Whatsoever]

Welcome to MWO,

First, I recommend you check out the pinned threads here, they are a good foundation to build on.

So how would you prefer playing? Brawling range? Sniper? LRM boat? We can try to point you in the direction to try out what you prefer soon than later.

If you are looking to stay with an Assault you have many options, depending on your preferences.



And a major element for MWO is leveling up your mechs in the Pilot Lab so that they perform better on the battlefield as you gain XP and maybe GXP later on.

There are three Tiers in the Lab:

• Basic - has some nice boosts, and necessary to unlock Elite but with three variants of a Mech
  
• Elite - once unlocked, it doubles the Basic Efficiencies, very big bonus.
  
• Master - extra module slot

And also can go to Options to unlock Arm Lock, that keeps the torso and arm weapons together, it helps for some build is some situations, but you might prefer holding "Shift" for that instead of keeping it on as default.

Also you might like to tweak mouse sensitivity to your preference, because aiming can be tough when on the move and hitting a moving target. You can test in Training Grounds. and now you can choose your map there, so you can also take the Trial Light to check the Maps out.

Lastly, check out this resource for building mechs outside of the game: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/
There are others, but I prefer how this one works.

Hope that helps to get an idea on some basic details of MWO outside of matches, and we have a great community here for helping new players out.

Edited by Praetor Shepard, 25 July 2013 - 07:54 PM.

[Dalziel Hasek Davion]

Do you think about why your butt just got handed to you? Is there a pattern?

• If you strayed too far ahead of allied lines and blundered in front of multiple enemies as the sole target for them to shoot at, then use more patience.
  
• If you wandered away from allies and were ambushed by enemy 'Mechs, then stick with some buddies.
  
• If you sat out the initial engagement until several of your allies were dead, and then tried to face off multiple enemies, then keep up with the line of engagement and take part.
  
• If your team was dragged into a grand melee and you got busted 8-0, then focus your team's fire one enemy at a time.
  
• If you spent the early part of the match trying to take down some light 'Mech harassing you, only to find your team has been taken apart...
  
• If you were caught in open ground and were blasted apart by LRM barrages...

The general rule of thumb is simple. Think about why you died and what you could do differently. As an old-school MW2/3 player - it won't take long before you rule the roost again. One thing that will help enormously is being able to communicate with team mates. Consider downloading teamspeak and joining one of the free teamspeak servers and dropping as a team. More fun - learn from others - and coordinate your actions in-game.

[Redshift2k5]

As a new player, I feel you should focus on assists and survivability. Kills are fun, but not easy to do as a new player in a perhaps less than ideal mech. Assists will help you to earn and learning to survive will pay off in the long run. Sticking to your team, not getting caught out in the open without support, very helpful.

A technique you can work on is "defensive torso twisting". After you fire your guns, your weapons are all on a cooldown. Don't keep your front facing the enemy during the cooldown, turn your body so your arm faces the incoming fire. By turning your body, you force your enemy to spread his damage across multiple sections instead of putting it ll into one section. Of course you have a left side and a right side, so vary which side you turn into enemy fire to guard which ever side is more vulnerable.

By turning off arm lock, you can swing your arm-mounted weapons to the side (if your mech has lower arm actuators, like an Atlas) to shoot at targets not in the center of your view.

---

My #1 advice to new players, though, is simply to ask questions. The more specific the better.

[EyeDie I]

what controllers are you using?

[scJazz]

Yeah biggest problem here is... we don't know which mech(s) you are piloting or what your problem happens to be.

[Aym]

Eye raises a good point, if you're a veteran of the other mechwarriors, you may be trying to use a joystick in a mouse-and-keyboard world.

[Biplane]

davidb1986, on 25 July 2013 - 06:46 PM, said:

So I have played MW2 and 3 for years. I use to slaughter everyone back in the day with a Daishi in MP on MW3. I come to this game thinking I might do ok and I get my butt handed to me. Any other MW3 multiplayer vets wanna tell me how to change my tactics up a bit to get better at this game?

Well, part of the difference depends on what you're driving.

MWO has a much more pronounced difference between the weight classes (that is, Light, Medium, Heavy, and Assault) than any other Mechwarrior game I've played (in which 'Mechs generally get simply better as they get heavier).

In MWO, a Light 'Mech is as viable as an Assault, but is played in completely different ways.

The arm vs torso aiming is also new. No longer is there a single crosshair for all weapons, there are two: the circle for arms, and the + for torso (of course, if arm lock is on, as it is by default now, then they're locked together as in olden times).

There is a MUCH greater focus on cover. Keep your 'Mech from getting shot at first and foremost.

Hardpoints are new. Two 'Mechs of the same weight are no longer identical in terms of building capability (a Hunchback is VERY different from a Centurion, for example).

Pay close attention to where you are, where your friends are, and where your enemies are. Teamwork is critical, though it's difficult to effectively coordinate in public drops (doesn't stop me from trying).

The other stuff kind of comes with time: never be alone, try to react to what your allies seem to be doing to coordinate with them, aim for certain areas on certain 'Mechs, some strategies work better on certain maps than others, firing timing, tweaking your 'Mech for your playstyle, etc. etc.

Were you using a trial 'Mech? It gets a LOT better once you get your own ride.

[Kazly]

Also, instead of just watching players after you die, try youtube. It's good to hear/see what teams are communicating/doing.

I think the biggest problem I see in this game though, is patience. Wait. There's 15 minutes to play - the brawl doesn't need to happen in the first 2 minutes.You'll see some guys run in a straight line from their base to the enemy position, weapons firing, never turning - and then ***** that no one followed them.

Take your time. if you're a brawler mech, then you need to be really patient until the two teams close on each other. You'll learn to spot the opportunities and go for them with time, but for now, just be there for your team and be patient.

Some things to note, in no particular order:

Nearly all stock mechs are very short on armor.

DHS upgrade is pretty much mandatory.

Always take Endo over Ferro upgrade. Ferro is worded odd, and it sounds like you get more armor, but you don't - the amount of armor is the same that you can equip, it's just lighter. (Endo offers better weight reduction)

Ammo (except guass ammo) explodes, violently. Guass Rifles explode - so if it's in your torso, and it gets crit'd (high chance to crit too), boom/ouch.

XL Engines are nice, and offer a lot of versatility, but kill you if a side torso is destroyed.

Never sell engines if you only have 1 of that variant.

PPCs have a minimum range of 90m, ERPPCs do not.

LRMS have a minimum range of 180m

Some mechs have 'bay doors' such as the catapult and centurion. Press '/ (?)' key to open them, and your srms/lrms will fire instantly, instead of a delay.

Defaults settings lock your arms and center torso (Cross and Dot reticule) together. Take this off for more versatility.

Default settings make your throttle on a rubber band, returning to zero when you let go - again, i'd suggest taking this off.

Always target your enemy, and look for places that are cored. Aim there.

Always target your enemy. If it's a fresh Dual AC20 mech, you probably don't want to close with him. Instead, fight at more of a range.

Seismic sensor (purchased in the pilot lab with GXP) should be your first module - in my opinion.

GXP is hard to earn, if you purchase MC, wait until a double convert weekend is out, and convert xp to gxp.

Lasers, you shouldn't have to lead with - they are instant. Ballistics, PPCs and SRMS you do - this is balanced on the projectile speed (AC2 is faster than AC20), how fast your target is moving (lights vs assault), and distance. You'll pick it up.

I dunno what else. Hopefully one or two of these will be 'ooohhhh' for ya

Edited by Kazly, 26 July 2013 - 07:19 AM.

[Corvus Antaka]

start with a heavy or assault - more firepower, more killing stuff.

start with a light mech if you want to not learn bad habits and are persistent and cant be broken.

grind away. stay close to your team. watch what players do on the field.

[travelbug]

with my midrange system the best 'tactic' i employed was lowering gfx settings.
this game seems to be horribly coded. my screen would lag and stutter during brawls and turning battles, especially with those smoke effects.
my score has greatly improved after adopting the lowest settings although the game looks ugly. and although my laptop/computer (with 485m nvidia card) is not the newest, it can definitely play games with better eye candy like tomb raider, coh 2 , shogun 2, bf3. the issue is not the fps but the sudden dips and stutters, usually happening at the most inopportune moments.
start from low, and see how that improves your score.
i like this game but pgi has to do something about this gfx issue.

[Quaamik]

Some advice from an old MW2 player. PPCs are better, but the minimum range can hurt. ER PPCs rock Gauss guns are a LOT easier to hit with than in MW2 LRMs are much less useful (less dominating) than MW2 "legging" a mech is not as crippling as in MW2 You don't have to lead as much to compensate for ping

[Xeno Phalcon]

davidb1986, on 25 July 2013 - 06:46 PM, said:

So I have played MW2 and 3 for years. I use to slaughter everyone back in the day with a Daishi in MP on MW3. I come to this game thinking I might do ok and I get my butt handed to me. Any other MW3 multiplayer vets wanna tell me how to change my tactics up a bit to get better at this game?

First off what kinda freaky super connection did you have to be able to use a Fat Wolf playing MP with MW3's absolutely horrible netcode? Was rare to see anything bigger then a shadow cat due to lag shields back then.

Second best bet is through experience, take some advice from the forums with a grain of salt and a shot of tequila then go find your own groove cause everyone plays differently with different mechs or and loadouts. (Personally im waiting for the next month to roll over to see whats creeping down the assembly line before I invest in anything new.)

[Devari]

davidb1986, on 25 July 2013 - 06:46 PM, said:

So I have played MW2 and 3 for years. I use to slaughter everyone back in the day with a Daishi in MP on MW3. I come to this game thinking I might do ok and I get my butt handed to me. Any other MW3 multiplayer vets wanna tell me how to change my tactics up a bit to get better at this game?

The biggest piece of advice I can give (and it took me a few dozen games to figure this out) is that unlike other MW games you're part of a team. With the other MW games you just need to be better than your opponent without needing to coordinate. In MWO if you don't coordinate effectively you will lose no matter how good you might be individually. Once you start asking yourself, "what does my team need me to do", you'll start changing your gameplay in significant ways. Even without any other type of communication you'd be surprized how much this can help. Don't stray too far from the group, lock targets for LRM boats, help keep lights off your assaults, etc., and think about what the team needs to do to win. If you're capping a target, tell the team and check the map to make sure everyone isn't going to the same point, or tell your team to take a certain point if you know its critical. If your going back to base to stop a cap from happening, tell the team to keep them informed. A team can do this well without even talking to each other about it - they all keep themselves aware of what's going on and who needs help. I've played in PUGs exclusively so I've noticed that this has made the biggest difference in terms of how well I do in the game. It will take a while before this "clicks" so don't be discouraged and keep at it.

[Magicbullet141]

This game isn't too much different from MW3, just load up on as many PPC/ERPPC as you can and you'll do great.

[CG Chicken Kn]

So.....I have to ask. In what mod did you slaughter everyone in MW3 with a Daishi?

C1? C5? C6? C0?

Because I played MW3 for years, and Daishis were just big targets to be blown up.

Well, except for the C7 UA ice Daishi I made for lols, with 4 lrm 20's and 12 streak 6's.

Was pretty funny on big maps.


To answer your question though, biggest difference is no respawn. So you have to be a lot more situationally aware.
Working with your team mates becomes a much bigger part of the game, and it will come with experience.

Same as MW3. Die many many times to people better than you are.
Figure out how they did it.

Adapt and overcome.

GL HF.

[Gwydion Ward]

One thing that is different about MWO and 'any' of the MW games, is how easy it is to target specifically the CT.

I honestly cannot count how often ive been in a match, and have 'only' my CT take any damage at all. Moving, Close-up, Long range. Dosnt matter. My CT is almost ALWAYS the only thing hit.

And that of course, kills the mech.

When MWO first started out its beta, you'd almost always see mech's limping around missing arms, having broken legs, missing weapon mounts.. that sort of thing. Nowadays?.. 99.9% of all mecs are 100% intact, except for the CT's.

MW2/3 were all about the loadout mixture + aiming for specific points on certain mech's.

MWO has deteriorated into a game of 'load the biggest/most weapons you can, and alpha the CT over and over.'.

You just have to adapt your play-style to that.

[Koniving]

Well the long and short of it is this...

In MW3, we have 30 capacity.

In MWO, your capacity changes depending on how many heatsinks you have. Since it's unnecessarily complex my advice is this: Always have a 250 engine minimum, or you short-change yourself on heat capacity.

SHS for faster cooling at double the number of DHS. Use DHS for more capacity.

So 20 SHS is greater than 10 DHS in cooling, but 10 DHS gives you more alpha strike ability than 20 SHS...

This, I'm hoping, is temporary. But that said, build toward strong, fast alpha strikes for now.