42 replies to this topic

[ChickenLips]

I decided I'd be cool and just read lots of threads instead of asking questions here, which, I suspect, has cost me millions in mistakes. Biggest issue, I was reading a nice thread with tons of good input here in New Player Help when one of the forum veterans showed a pictured of a shiny CPLT-K2 fitted out with the following;

(2) Med Laser
LB10 X AC
(2) ER PPC
Machinegun
(13) DBL Heatsinks
XL300 Engine
Endo-Steel Structure

So I play a bunch of matches with my newbie bonus, plus purchase premium. I get some money saved up, and I buy myself a tasty looking CPLT-K2.

Then I try to outfit her...

Whoops. First I wasted half my money buying double heat sinks (I suspect) the wrong way, then I bought Endo Steel Structure. Now I'm saving for the engine, but how the hell do you fit all of this onto the frame? None of it fits, I can't even pick any engine right now. Is there a good tutorial on how to fit out? I don't know where things are going or how to properly fit.

I suspect I've wasted a good portion of my starting funds, and that's fine. Learning curve and all that. I'd appreciate input on how to make this work, or where to look.

Thank you, in advance.
~CL

[edit - so everyone knows, I was trying to say I'm an I D I O T in the thread title, nothing actually profane]

Edited by ChickenLips, 21 October 2013 - 06:48 PM.

[Krivvan]

It costs 1.5 million cbills to upgrade from single heat sinks to double heat sinks. Only then can you start adding double heat sinks to a mech. A mech cannot combine single heat sinks and double heat sinks.

I think it's worth pointing out that that build.....isn't a very good build by a long shot. I know it doesn't matter that much for a newbie whether a build is good or bad, but the XL 300 is going to cost 4.5 million. Having 2 LBXs would probably be easier to use instead of 1 LBX and 1 Machine Gun.

There are some videos around for how to use the mechlab (which is changing in a week or so with UI 2.0):

Oh right, in the future, it might be prudent to use this before buying anything in game: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/

[Lightfoot]

Best to make your mistakes on the Mech-planner here http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab

You can't run 2x ERPPCs now because of DHS 1.4 and that they restored the ERPPC to it's Battletech heat value of 15.... well, not with just 13 DHS. Maybe switch out Large Lasers or ER Large. Go full armor except for the legs on a Heavy where you go about 3 fifths armor. The rest comes naturally.

[Wolfways]

You can try out builds here: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab

Personally i'd advise against a K2 for a new player as it has a huge head hitbox and torso making it one of the easiest mechs in the game to destroy.
Even shooting at the torso will often hit the head.

lol i type so slow

Edited by Wolfways, 21 October 2013 - 07:01 PM.

[Navy Sixes]

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/

Play around in here with different builds before you spend your Cbills. You're probably going to need those double heat sinks anyway (especially in a k, unless you go Gauss) so you shouldn't beat yourself up too bad about buying them.

Glad to hear you're taking the steep learning curve in stride; once you get the hang of things it's really pretty fun. Welcome and stick with it!

edit: looks like a few people beat me to the smurfy link. Still, welcome!

Edited by Tycho von Gagern, 21 October 2013 - 07:04 PM.

[Krivvan]

This is what the mech you mentioned might look like.

Like I said though, it's pretty awful.

[Mahws]

I'm not sure if anyone has linked you yet, but you should check out http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/. ( )

That build isn't particularly great though. A single machine gun is a waste of space/weight and the medium lasers will be competing with your ERPPC for what little heat you have. LBX10 and the PPC aren't a bad match, the LBX generates very little heat, so you'll be able to use it whilst you cool down from the PPC.

Running double ERPPC is perfectly doable, but I'd recommend regular PPC for better heat. Disadvantage is less range and no damage under 90 meters.

What I'd suggest: CPLT-K2

Edited by Mahws, 21 October 2013 - 07:13 PM.

[Krivvan]

Or perhaps something like this for a more ranged ballistic boat while making use of the standard engine that it comes with?

[ChickenLips]

Krivvan, on 21 October 2013 - 07:13 PM, said:

Or perhaps something like this for a more ranged ballistic boat while making use of the standard engine that it comes with?

First off, thanks for all the replies. The boat I was aiming for is here:
http://mwomercs.com/...er/page__st__40

It's a post by Koniving who was seemingly brilliant in that thread so I suppose I assumed his builds would be solid. Thanks for the input/

[Krivvan]

ChickenLips, on 21 October 2013 - 07:16 PM, said:

First off, thanks for all the replies. The boat I was aiming for is here:
http://mwomercs.com/...er/page__st__40

It's a post by Koniving who was seemingly brilliant in that thread so I suppose I assumed his builds would be solid. Thanks for the input/

It's also worth pointing out that the other mech he showed, the Awesome, is considered to be by far the worst (although maybe now second worst) mech in the game with little to no redeeming factors.

Edited by Krivvan, 21 October 2013 - 07:26 PM.

[ChickenLips]

Krivvan, on 21 October 2013 - 07:25 PM, said:

It's also worth pointing out that the other mech he showed, the Awesome, is considered to be by far the worst (although maybe now second worst) mech in the game with little to no redeeming factors.

Roger that, lesson learned. Don't trust the internet(s). I'll trial by fire and figure it out myself through the standard "should not have purchased that" method and just grin and bare it.

[FireSlade]

The stock K2 is not too bad with a little help. http://mwo.smurfy-ne...ec57b97a10b50c8 Very cheap until you buy an XL engine. A few things to remember is that PPCs do "0" damage under 90 meters. At that range rely on you medium pulse lasers and machine guns. The other thing that helps is to put the PPCs on chain fire, which I believe is Backspace by default, to help with heat build up. When you can afford it http://mwo.smurfy-ne...22111ae4a89556f is a decent build that I have seen people use; I kept the PPCs (used to be ERPPCs and since K2s do not look right without them) and use this http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b79fb0d405ab04c. Hope this helps you out and good hunting.

[MavRCK]

You have a good mech, a good XL engine and lots of help here. You're on the right track - don't get discouraged. Definitely try the dual gauss or dual ac20 K2.

Lots of guides and links to good resources are stickied at the top of the new player help forum and in my signature too.

GL!

[Johnny Marek Summers]

Kon is actually pretty knowledgable. The thing is, he's so good he tries to find ways to nerf himself, either with silly builds or just using stock trial mechs (back when the trials were stock mechs).

Now if Kon actually posts a build for you it should be good. If he posts a build he has played well before... well, then it's buyer beware (like his AC/20 Raven or his flamer Commando), they work for him but a new player might not be able to make it work.

[Ialti]

Krivvan, on 21 October 2013 - 07:25 PM, said:

It's also worth pointing out that the other mech he showed, the Awesome, is considered to be by far the worst (although maybe now second worst) mech in the game with little to no redeeming factors.

Hey now! I mastered awesomes back at the start of open beta and still run them. They're not for beginners, for sure, but they definitely have their redeeming factors.

Really, the beauty of this game is in its customization, all mechs have enormous potential for damage and great gameplay.

[Krivvan]

Ialti, on 21 October 2013 - 08:27 PM, said:

Hey now! I mastered awesomes back at the start of open beta and still run them. They're not for beginners, for sure, but they definitely have their redeeming factors.

The problem is that every one of their redeeming factors is redeemed much better in another mech. What kind of build works better on an Awesome than any other mech in the game? You can run an alright missile boat with one, but your CT and mech in general is still fat and gigantic.

[SuomiWarder]

When running double heat sinks and XLs, you have to keep an eye on how many open side torso crits you have - especially if you have endo steel or FF. You can have the open tonnage, but not the three crits per side torso an XL needs to be put in the mech.

It is possible to have unused tonage and no open critical slots to mount more stuff whith some endosteel/XL/Chasis combinations.

[ChickenLips]

Another question, I bought a package last Saturday which was supposed to come with some Mechs. It was my understanding these only get delivered on Monday and Thursdays or something. I still don't have the Mechs as of Tuesday AM. Do I need to do something? I can't find the page from which I purchased them originally (this game has a rather unintuitive scheme, at least at first) so I can't review it except via the email confirmation which contains no information other than order number.

[ARamaLamaDingDong]

ChickenLips, on 22 October 2013 - 04:18 AM, said:

Another question, I bought a package last Saturday which was supposed to come with some Mechs. It was my understanding these only get delivered on Monday and Thursdays or something. I still don't have the Mechs as of Tuesday AM. Do I need to do something? I can't find the page from which I purchased them originally (this game has a rather unintuitive scheme, at least at first) so I can't review it except via the email confirmation which contains no information other than order number.

If nothing weird happens, you should get your Mechs in a little over 4 hours from this post.

Every friday and tuesday at 10:00 AM PDT the game servers are taken offline for a few minutes and when they come back up the package should be delivered to you.

Edited by ARamaLamaDingDong, 22 October 2013 - 04:52 AM.

[FireSlade]

ChickenLips, on 22 October 2013 - 04:18 AM, said:

Another question, I bought a package last Saturday which was supposed to come with some Mechs. It was my understanding these only get delivered on Monday and Thursdays or something. I still don't have the Mechs as of Tuesday AM. Do I need to do something? I can't find the page from which I purchased them originally (this game has a rather unintuitive scheme, at least at first) so I can't review it except via the email confirmation which contains no information other than order number.

As Aramalamadingdong mentioned the servers restart every Tuesday and Friday at 10am PDT so that they can add and remove the weekend sales. The current UI was jury rigged together enough so that we can be able to do some things and play the game but it does not update with the website in real time. When they release UI 2.0 it will become a lot easier to use and they can add and remove sales, give us mech bays with hero mechs, etc. or so they say. So you will get the Phoenix mechs in 4 hours and I recommend the Thunderbolt 5S when you can afford it. It is a great support mech; the LRMs can hit between 180-1000meters as long as you keep a lock (if you lose it you have to reacquire it), the ERPPC can hit out to 1620meters and disables ECM for a few sec, the medium lasers (540m) are for close range back up and the machine guns (240m) are there to destroy internals when their armor is gone.