10417 replies to this topic

[a gaijin]

Koniving, on 27 November 2017 - 05:58 AM, said:

Recently had to check this.

Don't do the "Respec", just activate and deactivate a couple of nodes.

Reactivating a node costs 400 XP or GXP. Deactivating costs nothing. Unlocking a new node costs 800 XP or GXP + something like 45k cbills.

For now, only use your Historic SP on a mech. If you need more SP, then tap softly into your GSP... because once the GSP is gone... it is gone and HSP is locked to the mech already. So whenever you see HSP, use it first.

From what I understand if you "Respec", everything becomes locked again. I have no idea why this would even be an option. Just change which nodes are on and off.

Note you can safely turn nodes on and off without cost, if you do not "Save" before making the final selection.

Whatever nodes that are turned off when saved will cost you to reactivate. And you are only charged for nodes you turned on (or reactivated) since the last save.

Thanks much! I appreciate the tips.
In my experimentation of course I made wrong choices. "School of hard knocks."

[Cyrilis]

OK, here is a tricky one:

As rocket launchers have the ammo in the weapon slot itsself and no external ammo, can they explode if they are still loaded? How much damage does that to internals?

[Tesunie]

Cyrilis, on 10 December 2017 - 11:32 PM, said:

OK, here is a tricky one:

As rocket launchers have the ammo in the weapon slot itsself and no external ammo, can they explode if they are still loaded? How much damage does that to internals?

As far as I know, no. Ammo inside the rocket launcher can't explode when the weapon is destroyed. However, with the weapon being so new and all, I could be mistaken...

[IllCaesar]

I'm a returning player, I haven't played since around late 2014/early 2015. I remember the fundamentals so I just have a handful of quick things to ask.

1) Who are the new top dogs in each weight class? When I left it was the Firestarter/Shawk/Cataphract/Stalker for IS, and since there were very few Clan mechs it was a landslide for the KitFox/Stormcrow/TimberWolf/DireWhale. You don't have to go into the this or that really, just name them off so I know who to worry about the most while I get my bearings, stalk the forums, and just generally get readjusted.

2) Is ECM worth running on anything bigger than a light mech? It had to be nerfed because it was still so OP at the time, and I imagine it was nerfed so that its only really useful for light mechs and maybe the Atlas D-DC just so it doesn't get LRM spammed when brawling.

3) Any fundamental changes to ghost heat, or is it pretty much the same with just some values tweaked here and there?

4) Is the C-Bill grind any better? It was improving as I left, especially with lots of new community events, but I heard it has gotten worse since then, almost as bad as it was at launch (70,000 for a top of the leaderboard match).

5) What is the best game mode for grinding C-Bills?

Edit: Awwe, I'm lone wolf flair. I think this is something changed in-game with contracts, right?

Edited by IllCaesar, 11 December 2017 - 09:55 PM.

[Tesunie]

IllCaesar, on 11 December 2017 - 09:53 PM, said:

I'm a returning player, I haven't played since around late 2014/early 2015. I remember the fundamentals so I just have a handful of quick things to ask.

1) Who are the new top dogs in each weight class? When I left it was the Firestarter/Shawk/Cataphract/Stalker for IS, and since there were very few Clan mechs it was a landslide for the KitFox/Stormcrow/TimberWolf/DireWhale. You don't have to go into the this or that really, just name them off so I know who to worry about the most while I get my bearings, stalk the forums, and just generally get readjusted.

2) Is ECM worth running on anything bigger than a light mech? It had to be nerfed because it was still so OP at the time, and I imagine it was nerfed so that its only really useful for light mechs and maybe the Atlas D-DC just so it doesn't get LRM spammed when brawling.

3) Any fundamental changes to ghost heat, or is it pretty much the same with just some values tweaked here and there?

4) Is the C-Bill grind any better? It was improving as I left, especially with lots of new community events, but I heard it has gotten worse since then, almost as bad as it was at launch (70,000 for a top of the leaderboard match).

5) What is the best game mode for grinding C-Bills?

Edit: Awwe, I'm lone wolf flair. I think this is something changed in-game with contracts, right?

1. Too many to be listed effectively. But I'll give it a try...
IS: Wolfhound, Assassin, Bushwacker, Grasshopper, Battlemaster, Annihilator.
Clans: Arctic Cheetah, Jenner IIC, Huntsman, Hunchback IIC, Timberwolf, Eben Jaguar, Linebacker, Marauder IIC, Kodiak.
I probably missed some... But a lot of mechs are good now.

2. ECM can be worth it, but it's been reduced from what it once was unless you take the ECM skill nodes from the Skill Tree. It doesn't matter what weight class it's on, as it's always useful for it's tonnage. However, it is no longer a better AMS system over AMS...

3. Basically the same, though the number of weapons may have changed. You also have some weapon combos that will incur the penalty. Combining PPCs and Gauss will trigger it, as well as ERML/SLs, HML/SLs combining and some other such things. If you have the chance of the penalty, the mech lab will inform you with an alert on the mech, and will tell you what weapons are causing the penalty.

4. Well, it's about the same or a little better. The level up system makes it a little nicer, as you no longer need to own three variants of the same chassis to level up to max. However, it's also a little worse as you now need to purchase skill points, which cost EXP and C-Bills to get... Overall, it's not too bad in my opinion.

5. Conquest. You get additional awards (as a team) for the amount of resources you have captured at the end of the match (win or lose), on top of your normal combat earnings. This means, with a presumed same combat earnings, you'll earn additional C-bills from the resources over a Skirmish match...

6. Yes. Contracts have changed a little. It's all done in game, and can have an effect on what you can do in the game, depending upon what mode of the game you wish to play. If you only ever play Quick Play (Solo or Group), it wont make any difference. If you play Faction play, just like before it will limit your mech selection and whom you can fight.


Oh, and welcome back. (And yes, I tried to be brief here.)

[IllCaesar]

Tesunie, on 11 December 2017 - 11:08 PM, said:

1. Too many to be listed effectively. But I'll give it a try...
IS: Wolfhound, Assassin, Bushwacker, Grasshopper, Battlemaster, Annihilator.
Clans: Arctic Cheetah, Jenner IIC, Huntsman, Hunchback IIC, Timberwolf, Eben Jaguar, Linebacker, Marauder IIC, Kodiak.
I probably missed some... But a lot of mechs are good now.

Not the least bit surprising that the Kodiak and Linebacker ended up on there. The Grasshopper was looking quite good as well, glad to see it was able to hang in there with the meta. I remember the Battlemaster starting to come into its own due to quirks and high weapon mounts but I never expected that it'd be that good. Kind of disappointed to find that my IS Hunchies are being taken down a peg though. At least the MRMs should make the SP viable now.

Quote

2. ECM can be worth it, but it's been reduced from what it once was unless you take the ECM skill nodes from the Skill Tree. It doesn't matter what weight class it's on, as it's always useful for it's tonnage. However, it is no longer a better AMS system over AMS...

Having played a bit I can definitely see its been nerfed. A lot more BAPs/CAPs running around and stealth armour makes ECM somewhat redundant.

Quote

If you have the chance of the penalty, the mech lab will inform you with an alert on the mech, and will tell you what weapons are causing the penalty.

That's a nice change. I can't remember how many times I've seen people being explained what ghost heat was in PUGs.

Quote

However, it's also a little worse as you now need to purchase skill points, which cost EXP and C-Bills to get... Overall, it's not too bad in my opinion.

I took a peek and wasn't a fan. I had many mechs mastered and now that's all gone and I couldn't fill out for the same traits to put them back on par where they were. This seems to have hurt the mechs that were struggling to keep up with new additions the most. After playing a few matches I found that my Hunchbacks and Centurions really did struggle with being slower. I haven't even touched my Vindicators because I assume that they're garbage tier with the Cicada now.


Anywho, since the search function doesn't seem to be working for the forums I have just three more.

1) Light Engines. It looks like they're like Clan engines in that you need to take out both side torsos, so they're lighter than standard engines without the fragility. Assuming that's true they're best on mechs with STs too big that to run XLs but also with CT weapon mounts, mechs like the Mauler and the Orion. That all the gist of it?

2) Community Warfare is now Faction Play and is very clan-dominated. I don't see a single IS victory in that War HIstory tab that goes back three months. The dropdeck seems to be 265, at least for me, where it was originally 240, so I'm assuming that PGI raised it by 25 tons to try and make it less of a curbstomp, right?

3) The Javelin looks like it was dead on arrival. That true? I really like that mech

[Tesunie]

IllCaesar, on 13 December 2017 - 02:09 PM, said:

Not the least bit surprising that the Kodiak and Linebacker ended up on there. The Grasshopper was looking quite good as well, glad to see it was able to hang in there with the meta. I remember the Battlemaster starting to come into its own due to quirks and high weapon mounts but I never expected that it'd be that good. Kind of disappointed to find that my IS Hunchies are being taken down a peg though. At least the MRMs should make the SP viable now.

Oh, the Hunchback is still a reasonable ride, depending upon what you are looking to get out of it. Many mechs are now considered "good", but the ones I listed are often times considered the "meta" mechs more or less.

IllCaesar, on 13 December 2017 - 02:09 PM, said:

Having played a bit I can definitely see its been nerfed. A lot more BAPs/CAPs running around and stealth armour makes ECM somewhat redundant.

AP does help by countering ECM, as well as UAVs, NARC, etc. The big thing is that they reduced the base attributes of ECM and placed it's original abilities into the Skill Tree nodes related to it. Get the skill nodes and it'll act more or less how it use to. Without, and people can spot you up to 800m away (with proper skills and such). It will still slow down missile locks though when it is active.

As another note, Stealth armor is unable to operate without an ECM equipped. It's also considered situational, as when it's active you can't capture objective points and don't reduce your heat through normal cooling (it disables your heat sinks essentially).

IllCaesar, on 13 December 2017 - 02:09 PM, said:

That's a nice change. I can't remember how many times I've seen people being explained what ghost heat was in PUGs.

It really is helpful, provided people actually pay attention to the notification warnings displayed in the mechbay...

IllCaesar, on 13 December 2017 - 02:09 PM, said:

I took a peek and wasn't a fan. I had many mechs mastered and now that's all gone and I couldn't fill out for the same traits to put them back on par where they were. This seems to have hurt the mechs that were struggling to keep up with new additions the most. After playing a few matches I found that my Hunchbacks and Centurions really did struggle with being slower. I haven't even touched my Vindicators because I assume that they're garbage tier with the Cicada now.

If you mastered it, then it's still mastered in the new system. Your mech should have 91 HSPs assigned to it waiting to be "bought". The new skill tree is different, but it's actually rather good (in my opinion). For the most part, get most of the survival tree (you can bypass three for the most part), from there it's more or less dependent upon what your build does. If it runs hot, get the Cool Run nodes first... If you want any additional advice, by all means. Ask away.

IllCaesar, on 13 December 2017 - 02:09 PM, said:

Anywho, since the search function doesn't seem to be working for the forums I have just three more.

1) Light Engines. It looks like they're like Clan engines in that you need to take out both side torsos, so they're lighter than standard engines without the fragility. Assuming that's true they're best on mechs with STs too big that to run XLs but also with CT weapon mounts, mechs like the Mauler and the Orion. That all the gist of it?

2) Community Warfare is now Faction Play and is very clan-dominated. I don't see a single IS victory in that War HIstory tab that goes back three months. The dropdeck seems to be 265, at least for me, where it was originally 240, so I'm assuming that PGI raised it by 25 tons to try and make it less of a curbstomp, right?

3) The Javelin looks like it was dead on arrival. That true? I really like that mech

1. LFE are good for anything that an XL basically wasn't safe in. It's good for any mech that needs to cut some weight down, particularly on heavier mechs. Assaults benefit the most from this probably. For the most part, if your mech had a Std engine, it may be a good consideration to upgrade it to a LFE. Std engines are honestly only good for mechs that can remain effective without anything but a CT and head (and at least one leg). In the end, what engine you use is up to you and what you think works on the mech. My Grasshoppers tend to like XL engines still, but my Zeus likes a LFE... My Crabs debate between LFE and a Std.

2. IS has been having some issues. Some of it lands on where the comp units tend to go, which is often on the Clan side of things. Balance has been better now than it ever has been between Clan and IS, and the matches can be rather intense. Clans seem to hold an advantage in the FP Invasion game mode, but IS seems to hold an edge in the FP scouting mode somehow, probably from their health quirks... and yes. IS has a tonnage advantage over the Clans currently.

3. It seemed to have mixed results. Some people love it, others think it's bad. I don't own one, so I can't overly say, though SRM spam currently is considered extremely powerful at the moment. No idea what the quirks are on it... Sorry I can't be overly helpful here. Though I will comment that most mechs are viable now compared to previously.

[Tim East]

IllCaesar, on 13 December 2017 - 02:09 PM, said:

Having played a bit I can definitely see its been nerfed. A lot more BAPs/CAPs running around and stealth armour makes ECM somewhat redundant.

I took a peek and wasn't a fan. I had many mechs mastered and now that's all gone and I couldn't fill out for the same traits to put them back on par where they were. This seems to have hurt the mechs that were struggling to keep up with new additions the most. After playing a few matches I found that my Hunchbacks and Centurions really did struggle with being slower. I haven't even touched my Vindicators because I assume that they're garbage tier with the Cicada now.

1) Light Engines. It looks like they're like Clan engines in that you need to take out both side torsos, so they're lighter than standard engines without the fragility. Assuming that's true they're best on mechs with STs too big that to run XLs but also with CT weapon mounts, mechs like the Mauler and the Orion. That all the gist of it?

2) Community Warfare is now Faction Play and is very clan-dominated. I don't see a single IS victory in that War HIstory tab that goes back three months. The dropdeck seems to be 265, at least for me, where it was originally 240, so I'm assuming that PGI raised it by 25 tons to try and make it less of a curbstomp, right?

3) The Javelin looks like it was dead on arrival. That true? I really like that mech

ECM is a component of Stealth Armor. You need it to run it.

You'll get a ton of free Historic Skill points if you mastered much in the way of modules, and every mech you mastered will give you the 91 or whatever it is skill points it can have active at a time as well.

1. LFE is a nice in-between engine. It dies like Clan XL, and weighs and costs between IS Standard and XL. Be aware that you are penalized for losing a ST now. (I don't know if you played after they set that for C XL, but it's the case for both C XL and LFE.) On a side note, I still use a standard engine on my Marauder IIC, just because it lets me tank 30 extra seconds of fire for my teammates.

2. Faction play is something I kind of quit during the last event where they put in objectives for it. Clans win a lot of the main invasion matches somehow, but the IS utterly dominates scouting mode. Bushwackers with their strong armor quirks and the extra 5 tons tend to just streak boat their way to victory. Scouting matches are way to predictable for me to even begin to enjoy, and even the invasion matches don't feel as exciting as they used to. So, I'm waiting for more changes.

3. Javelins seem to function really solidly against me, though I've not piloted one to say how they feel to run. Assassins seem to fill a similar role, and might do it better? Not really sure.

/edit: Tesunie, brevity please.

Edited by Tim East, 13 December 2017 - 07:20 PM.

[Tesunie]

Tim East, on 13 December 2017 - 07:18 PM, said:

/edit: Tesunie, brevity please.

But... I thought I was being concise there...

[SuperMCDad]

I really like my Javelins. They can be a bit fragile until you have them skilled up, and like any light, you need to always be moving. I run maximum XL engines in them, and you're running at around 140-150kph. Load up with as many SRM's as you can, and play the fast strike role. Or go with the 11A with 7 medium lasers. Once you've skilled those up, they can make some serious holes.

Admittedly, I'm pretty new, so are fighting in the lower tiers. But, I solo killed 2 Kodiak's in 2 back to back games, using a backstabbing SRM bombing Javelin. Normally takes 2-3 salvoes of 8-12 missiles. Ah good times.

They may not have been happy about it though.

Of course there are also those times where someone nails you with a double gauss, and you just die. Or you run around a corner into the whole enemy murder ball, and you get nailed. Well, live fast, die young, leave a smouldering corpse.

[IllCaesar]

Tesunie, on 13 December 2017 - 07:05 PM, said:

Oh, the Hunchback is still a reasonable ride, depending upon what you are looking to get out of it. Many mechs are now considered "good", but the ones I listed are often times considered the "meta" mechs more or less.

Yeah, I'm struggling with some of the other ones in my mechbays, especially since now they aren't as heat efficient or fast, but 4xML 2x10MRM is doing pretty well on the SP so I'm excited to see what my 4H can do with a UAC10 and 2 HMGs. The new weapons seem like they can revive some old mechs that weren't considered any good. I also tried out some Snubnose PPCs on my 8V Awesome and its actually a half-decent brawler.

Quote

If you mastered it, then it's still mastered in the new system. Your mech should have 91 HSPs assigned to it waiting to be "bought". The new skill tree is different, but it's actually rather good (in my opinion). For the most part, get most of the survival tree (you can bypass three for the most part), from there it's more or less dependent upon what your build does. If it runs hot, get the Cool Run nodes first... If you want any additional advice, by all means. Ask away.

I would've never noticed that the historic skill points were there if you hadn't pointed it out. Anyhow, can the points be freely equipped/unequipped or do you have to respec every time you want to change which is active?

Quote

1. LFE are good for anything that an XL basically wasn't safe in. It's good for any mech that needs to cut some weight down, particularly on heavier mechs. Assaults benefit the most from this probably. For the most part, if your mech had a Std engine, it may be a good consideration to upgrade it to a LFE. Std engines are honestly only good for mechs that can remain effective without anything but a CT and head (and at least one leg). In the end, what engine you use is up to you and what you think works on the mech. My Grasshoppers tend to like XL engines still, but my Zeus likes a LFE... My Crabs debate between LFE and a Std.

STDs for zombies like Centurions, LFE for anything that has everything with its payload in the sides, particularly for heavier mechs.

Thanks for all of the responses. I think I'm getting back into the rhythm of things already.

[Tesunie]

IllCaesar, on 13 December 2017 - 07:45 PM, said:

Yeah, I'm struggling with some of the other ones in my mechbays, especially since now they aren't as heat efficient or fast, but 4xML 2x10MRM is doing pretty well on the SP so I'm excited to see what my 4H can do with a UAC10 and 2 HMGs. The new weapons seem like they can revive some old mechs that weren't considered any good. I also tried out some Snubnose PPCs on my 8V Awesome and its actually a half-decent brawler.

New tech has revived a lot of old mechs that just weren't holding their own anymore, such as my Zeus. LFEs revived many mechs, as well as LMGs to be honest.

IllCaesar, on 13 December 2017 - 07:45 PM, said:

I would've never noticed that the historic skill points were there if you hadn't pointed it out. Anyhow, can the points be freely equipped/unequipped or do you have to respec every time you want to change which is active?

Never use the respec... ever... If you ever want to change your skills, just deselect them and reselect the skills you want. However, you can't just change freely. Reactivating a skill is free, but unlocking a skill costs a skill point, and reactivating a deactivated skill costs a small amount of experience.

FYI: GEXP is only useful currently for unlocking skills. Another note, skills are specific to the mech now, not across all it's variants. So feel free if you own several of the same variant to customize their skills differently as needed.

IllCaesar, on 13 December 2017 - 07:45 PM, said:

STDs for zombies like Centurions, LFE for anything that has everything with its payload in the sides, particularly for heavier mechs.

Thanks for all of the responses. I think I'm getting back into the rhythm of things already.

That's a good way to think of it. LFE also work well in those zombie mechs as well if needed, so it's a choice one needs to make on their own.

By all means, if you have more questions, feel free to ask. We are here to help.

[Rogue Jedi]

just to addd to what Tesune said
respec deactivates the skills, it does not refund them.
to reactivate a deactivated skill costs 400xp.

If there is a whole tree you do not want any more just deactivate the top skill, if there is a single skill or part of a tree you no longer want just deactivate that skill or the highest skill you no longer want.
there are very few scenarios I can think of where you would want to swap out much more than 30 out of 91 skills so the respec button is highly unlikely to be helpful, only use it if you want to deactivate more than about 70 skills, in any other scenario you are better off, in terms of time, deactivating the skills you do not want.

also if you are skilling a Mech ALWAYS assign and use Mech skill points and Mech XP before GSP and GXP, I did not see this mentioned but GSP like GXP can be used on any Mech so make sure you have used the Mech XP and SP first

[Jingseng]

short question... short answer....

else move it out to its own post (which will be easier for the op to keep up on anyway)

[IllCaesar]

So I just tried out Faction Play (or CW or whatever PGI wants to rebrand it as) and... jaysus christ...

Please tell me PGI wasn't stupid enough to think that 12 puggers against 6-12 people in the same unit is balanced. I came across the same group of the same eight dues three times in a row and every time they dominated because they all rushed with the same mechs at the same time in waves.

[Tesunie]

IllCaesar, on 15 December 2017 - 09:15 PM, said:

So I just tried out Faction Play (or CW or whatever PGI wants to rebrand it as) and... jaysus christ...

Please tell me PGI wasn't stupid enough to think that 12 puggers against 6-12 people in the same unit is balanced. I came across the same group of the same eight dues three times in a row and every time they dominated because they all rushed with the same mechs at the same time in waves.

FP doesn't and isn't suppose to have the balances that QP does. It's intended to be the "hard mode" and "end game" content of this game. Many things are different between QP and FP. For instance, third person view is disabled as well as any form of match maker. If you are dropping as a random solo, you take your chances. Though... I have seen solo teams defeat a premade group at times... All a matter of the players and communication.

As far as dropping against the same units over and over again... give it a little time between drops, and you'll have a better chance of dropping against someone different. So after a match, wait 3-5 minutes before trying to launch and you probably will avoid them (depending upon how busy the queues are at the time). Or, best bet would be to make a team of your own...

[IllCaesar]

Edit: Nevermind, don't want this thread to get off-topic.

Edited by IllCaesar, 15 December 2017 - 10:59 PM.

[Robaxacet]

Does the hanging MC medallion do anything? I checked the post battle stuff and I don't see any entry for it, so just wondering. The tournament supporter pack does have a separate listing, so it made me wonder...

[Rogue Jedi]

Robaxacet, on 17 December 2017 - 11:40 AM, said:

Does the hanging MC medallion do anything? I checked the post battle stuff and I don't see any entry for it, so just wondering. The tournament supporter pack does have a separate listing, so it made me wonder...

If you are talking about a hanging medalion with the MC logo then no, that would have no affect on earnings.

The items which increase earnings give a percentage increase to match earnings (as in what you see on the end of match screen), so even if it gave a 1,000,000% MC income boost it would give nothing as you do not ever get MC as part of match earnings, if you receive some after a match it is a prize for fulfilling requirements, thus would be unaffected by a bonus income item.

[IllCaesar]

I got a few questions bout the gauss rifle.

1. Do they still explode if you run out of ammo? I saw it commonly suggested that once out of ammo a gauss rifle should no longer be volatile.

2. Does the explosion damage different for the Light Gauss and Heavy Gauss weapons or is it the same as the regular Gauss Rifle?