10376 replies to this topic

[martian]

Gagis, on 10 October 2021 - 01:04 AM, said:

Being good and succeeding in games is a ton of fun though. No reason not to try.

... and if you recommend them how to improve their tactics or adjust their 'Mechs even slightly,
they will tell you that you are a tryhard and that "they" are playing for fun.

Gagis, on 10 October 2021 - 01:04 AM, said:

I recommend trying some high-damage mediums and pairing up with heavies and assaults to shoot whatever they are shooting at as a good excercise for developing situational awareness and gut feeling for when you can do more damage than you take in return. Keep at it even if the "host" makes dumb moves. Educational to see how and why you get rolled over too and you can still do a lot of damage while the assault caught in a kill zone goes down first.

Pretty good advice.

[Ulrich von Helfenstein]

martian, on 10 October 2021 - 01:01 AM, said:

You should play for fun, not for Tiers. As long as you are having fun, who cares what Tier you are in?

Use 'Mechs that you like to pilot with loadouts that work best for you.

I most certainly do play for fun .. and (IMO) watching that little 'Tier' bar go up just a little bit is even more fun .. that way I can gage if I am improving or not ... yes twisted, but my idea of fun ...

Gagis, on 10 October 2021 - 01:04 AM, said:

Being good and succeeding in games is a ton of fun though. No reason not to try.

I recommend trying some high-damage mediums and pairing up with heavies and assaults to shoot whatever they are shooting at as a good excercise for developing situational awareness and gut feeling for when you can do more damage than you take in return. Keep at it even if the "host" makes dumb moves. Educational to see how and why you get rolled over too and you can still do a lot of damage while the assault caught in a kill zone goes down first.

Sound strategic advise I say .. thanks!!! I will keep that in mind

[ScrapIron Prime]

Gagis, on 10 October 2021 - 01:04 AM, said:

I recommend trying some high-damage mediums and pairing up with heavies and assaults to shoot whatever they are shooting at as a good excercise for developing situational awareness and gut feeling for when you can do more damage than you take in return. Keep at it even if the "host" makes dumb moves. Educational to see how and why you get rolled over too and you can still do a lot of damage while the assault caught in a kill zone goes down first.

And profitable. There's a bonus you receive in game every so many seconds when you're a medium mech in close proximity to a friendly heavy or assault called "Protected Medium". It's worth a few cBills each time it pops up as well as a small bit of match score. Over the course of a match, it could net you another dozen match score as a bonus, and anything that props your match score up is good for advancing your tier.

Think of it as a small bribe to get you to use teamwork. Hang out with a larger mech, shoot what they shoot, help keep the light mechs from jumping their shorts, and maybe cover them with your ECM or AMS if you have it.

[Ulrich von Helfenstein]

ScrapIron Prime, on 10 October 2021 - 06:02 PM, said:

And profitable. There's a bonus you receive in game every so many seconds when you're a medium mech in close proximity to a friendly heavy or assault called "Protected Medium". It's worth a few cBills each time it pops up as well as a small bit of match score. Over the course of a match, it could net you another dozen match score as a bonus, and anything that props your match score up is good for advancing your tier.

Think of it as a small bribe to get you to use teamwork. Hang out with a larger mech, shoot what they shoot, help keep the light mechs from jumping their shorts, and maybe cover them with your ECM or AMS if you have it.

Yup understood!

But of course I have a follow up question ... once a player makes it into the next 'Tier' .. is that a one-way trip or does that player drop back down if he/she does poorly with now more skilled opponents ?

[martian]

ScrapIron Prime, on 10 October 2021 - 06:02 PM, said:

And profitable. There's a bonus you receive ...

Personally I absolutely do not care about this bonus. Good active gameplay nets me far more that I would get for trailing a heavy or Assault 'Mech.

Ulrich von Helfenstein, on 10 October 2021 - 07:41 PM, said:

But of course I have a follow up question ... once a player makes it into the next 'Tier' .. is that a one-way trip or does that player drop back down if he/she does poorly with now more skilled opponents ?

The "B" option is correct.

Players can drop from higher Tiers back to lower Tiers. Exactly as you rise, you can drop down within a Tier too - even to a,lower Tier(s).

Of course there is no lower Tier under Tier 5.

[Ulrich von Helfenstein]

martian, on 10 October 2021 - 08:36 PM, said:

Personally I absolutely do not care about this bonus. Good active gameplay nets me far more that I would get for trailing a heavy or Assault 'Mech.



The "B" option is correct.

Players can drop from higher Tiers back to lower Tiers. Exactly as you rise, you can drop down within a Tier too - even to a,lower Tier(s).

Of course there is no lower Tier under Tier 5.

Thank you for that explanation .. and yes there isn't one 'below' 5 .. I would have found it by now

[martian]

Ulrich von Helfenstein, on 11 October 2021 - 12:50 PM, said:

Thank you for that explanation .. and yes there isn't one 'below' 5 .. I would have found it by now

I am sure that you will resume your movement towards Tier 4 soon.

[w0qj]

+1
I was there not too long ago!

Tier 4/5 is actually fun, players do unexpected things, and no...cough...NASCAR...

To break into Tier 3, you need to get most of these under your belt:

1) Mech choice, weapons/equipment/engine layout, skill tree all in harmony with proposed mech playstyle.
~Know your own playstyle, what mech you are good at (Light? Heavy? Assault?)
~Know your weapon preference (Laser vomit? Ballistic dakka? Or...cough...LRM missiles?)

2) Ingame situational awareness, including map familiarity, and how to get to eventual central battleground without being detected/shot, to preserve your armor before the main battle is joined.

3) How to shoot Lights (if you are Heavy/Assault, learn backing into wall/corner, Seismic Detector skills? etc.)
~The Big Four: ECM/Stealth Flee, Piranha, Commando, UrbanMech
~Newcomer: Firestarter

4) Stick with your QP/FP buddies to fight together as a team.
When to rush enemy Team. When not to rush enemy Team.

5) Would really help: increasing your above skills to the point that you can level up both your unskilled mech and your PSR Tier rating goes up at the same time!

6) Getting your Ace of Spades (8 killing blows in a game) would be a big indication that perhaps it's time to graduate into the higher Tiers, instead of shooting seals...oops...fish in the barrel!

Ulrich von Helfenstein, on 11 October 2021 - 12:50 PM, said:

Thank you for that explanation .. and yes there isn't one 'below' 5 .. I would have found it by now

Edited by w0qj, 11 October 2021 - 05:33 PM.

[Ulrich von Helfenstein]

martian, on 11 October 2021 - 12:53 PM, said:

I am sure that you will resume your movement towards Tier 4 soon.

Yup looks like I am getting close .. the bar is almost at the end .. best guess about 98% done .. woohoo !!!

w0qj, on 11 October 2021 - 03:55 PM, said:

+1
I was there not too long ago!

Tier 4/5 is actually fun, players do unexpected things, and no...cough...NASCAR...

To break into Tier 3, you need to get most of these under your belt:

1) Mech choice, weapons/equipment/engine layout, skill tree all in harmony with proposed mech playstyle.
~Know your own playstyle, what mech you are good at (Light? Heavy? Assault?)
~Know your weapon preference (Laser vomit? Ballistic dakka? Or...cough...LRM missiles?)

2) Ingame situational awareness, including map familiarity, and how to get to eventual central battleground without being detected/shot, to preserve your armor before the main battle is joined.

3) How to shoot Lights (if you are Heavy/Assault, learn backing into wall/corner, Seismic Detector skills? etc.)
~The Big Four: ECM/Stealth Flee, Piranha, Commando, UrbanMech
~Newcomer: Firestarter

4) Stick with your QP/FP buddies to fight together as a team.
When to rush enemy Team. When not to rush enemy Team.

5) Would really help: increasing your above skills to the point that you can level up both your PSR Tier unskilled mechs and your PSR Tier rating goes up at the same time!

6) Getting your Ace of Spades (8 killing blows in a game) would be a big indication that perhaps it's time to graduate into the higher Tiers, instead of shooting seals...oops...fish in the barrel!

As always a great answer! I will really keep these tips in mind I don't have an 'Ace of Spades' yet .. but I have a 'Bad Company' .. its a start !

" ... both your PSR Tier unskilled mechs and your PSR Tier rating goes up at the same time!" you lost me a little on that ... PSR unskilled mechs? all my mechs are maxed out at 91 not sure if I am understanding you correctly

[martian]

Ulrich von Helfenstein, on 11 October 2021 - 04:22 PM, said:

Yup looks like I am getting close .. the bar is almost at the end .. best guess about 98% done .. woohoo !!!

Congratulations to your advancement to Tier 4!

[w0qj]

Yeah, Congrads

[Ulrich von Helfenstein]

Thank you both !!! It was quite exciting seeing that little dark part in the end getting smaller and smaller .. then getting backside handed to me and slipping back a little .. and then back up fun stuff!!!

All of your good advice's sure helped .. thanks for taking the time! ...I very much appreciate them!

[Ulrich von Helfenstein]

Now .. (of course) .. there is another question .. how in the world do I do a cool 'selfie' like this?



I can only get the 3rd person view combat camera to come up .. and I only get the view from behind ... can figure out how to 'swivel' it around to the side or front.

Edited by Ulrich von Helfenstein, 12 October 2021 - 11:31 AM.

[martian]

Ulrich von Helfenstein, on 12 October 2021 - 11:29 AM, said:

Now .. (of course) .. there is another question .. how in the world do I do a cool 'selfie' like this?

Try F5 in training grounds and then usual movement keys.

[Ulrich von Helfenstein]

martian, on 12 October 2021 - 11:42 AM, said:

Try F5 in training grounds and then usual movement keys.

Thanks! will try that

[martian]

Ulrich von Helfenstein, on 12 October 2021 - 11:20 AM, said:

Thank you both !!! It was quite exciting seeing that little dark part in the end getting smaller and smaller .. then getting backside handed to me and slipping back a little .. and then back up fun stuff!!!

Keep in mind, though, that in Tier 4 you can meet more competent players that in Tier 5.

[Ulrich von Helfenstein]

martian, on 12 October 2021 - 08:28 PM, said:

Keep in mind, though, that in Tier 4 you can meet more competent players that in Tier 5.

LOL .. already noticed that .. still loads of fun !

Btw. thanks a bunch for the 'F5' tip .. now I can take a few screenshots for some desktop backdrops

[martian]

Ulrich von Helfenstein, on 12 October 2021 - 10:37 PM, said:

LOL .. already noticed that .. still loads of fun !

The higher you move, the smaller mistakes you can afford to make. There are some things that you can do in Tiers 4 and 5 that would be punished by enemy players quickly in higher Tiers. Of course, in Tier 4 this is not much noticeable.

Note that you are in Tier 4 now, so considering the 3-Tier matchmaker span, you can face Tier 2 players sometimes - when the number of active players is really low, even some players from Tier 1.

[Ulrich von Helfenstein]

martian, on 12 October 2021 - 10:43 PM, said:

The higher you move, the smaller mistakes you can afford to make. There are some things that you can do in Tiers 4 and 5 that would be punished by enemy players quickly in higher Tiers. Of course, in Tier 4 this is not much noticeable.

Note that you are in Tier 4 now, so considering the 3-Tier matchmaker span, you can face Tier 2 players sometimes - when the number of active players is really low, even some players from Tier 1.

Understood ... so far it's plenty of fun, almost a bit more ... not sure if it's me, but it seems to me that efforts are a bit more coordinated, lots of fun when it works out .. still sucks when it doesn't .. and it will take some time to get to 3 .. in the meantime I will try not to slip back down ... and time will tell

Thanks again for taking the time to share some noteworthy insights, very much appreciated

[w0qj]

Tier 3/4/5 is the time to experiment and know what your playstyle is, what mechs/weapons & fighting style you are better at...

And procuring a Hero mech that fits you well (lots of wins, assists, and even a few kills) would help jumpstart your ingame CBills economy, as well as grinding for a pool of GXP.

Once you get to Tier 1/2, especially if you are in a more serious Unit, others would frown upon you getting a new unskilled mech, as that may drag down the stats for win/loss/etc. I've heard that therefore folks need to almost instantly skill-level up their new mechs, using your pool of GXP, or even procuring GSP (loot bags, even buy GSP with real money).

Not my idea of fun, frankly. ymmv

Edited by w0qj, 14 October 2021 - 06:43 AM.