6 replies to this topic

[Riddler9884]

What Mech/Combat styles would you mix in a 4 man drop?

For example:
- 4 Lights with cap accelerator
- LRM Boat, Spotter, 2x Brawlers
- Etc..

The most common thing I tend to do in this game is join a 2-4 Man drop. I have had epic rounds scoring 500+ dmg and have plenty of rounds where get taken out before I can contribute to the team. The guys I drop with can certainly hold their own, I don't consider myself that bad, but our philosophy is play whatever Mech you want regardless if its what your leveling or enjoy playing.

Without giving you story of my life, I got to thinking recently:

Is our lance configuration hindering us? Are we hurting ourselves by bring Medium Support brawlers but no Assault Mech to follow into battle?

[Mercules]

It can all work, but if you want to be a Lance and not 4 individuals you have to account for what each of you are bringing and play into the strengths of those mechs.

4 lights with cap accelerator is obvious what the tactic is. However you could throw in a fairly fast and maneuverable medium to bump up the firepower a tiny bit also with a cap accelerator and hunt down the opposing lights while doing so. So you have multiple ways to contribute.

LRM Boat, Spotter, and 2 brawlers would mean you would have to figure out where you guys fit into the battle. On some maps it would be good for the brawlers to close in witht he LRM hanging back only about 80-100 meters and dropping fire support on whatever target they are focused on. The spotter would guide the lance into good combats and slip back to help cover the firesupport if a fast mech does break through. On other maps it might be good for the spotter to get an angle that allows the firesupport to apply pressure on the enemy while the brawlers close in.

Assualt brawler, heavy sniper, medium LRM fire support, light capper. <- seriously mismatched.

You have a mech with mostly close range who isn't very fast, a mech that wants to maintain distance, one that needs locked targets, and one that wants to run over to the enemy base. How do you get these guys working together. Some would say not to bother because they are too different and can't focus on anything.

Here would be my take. Communication will be key!. Light will move through cover to try and get eyes on the enemy so that the Assault can plan out it's movement. Team will have to agree on the best location to engage so the assault has time to get into position. Meanwhile the sniper takes what shots he cans and then moves to a support position for the assault. They will need a good spot with cover but a view over the shoulder of the assault or into the area the assault will be brawling in.

LRM takes targets of opportunity but hovers between the sniper and brawler ready to add extra damage to whomever. If the enemy doesn't come into your chosen area you get the light to bait them(along with some LRMs) or the light goes to the base and tries to pull a few. If successful then the team pushes to a secondary brawling area inside enemy territory.

Yes you can actually do this with voice coms with the most unfocussed builds out there. The key is going to be communication and knowing what each mech can do and each of you accounting for the other mechs and players.

[juxstapo]

Ironically, that's my four man's best mix, lol.

A sniper heavy, brawler/support medium, a single light, and a mixed role assault.

We've theory crafted scads of potential lance compositions fail on one metric when it comes to real world implementation; the personality of the pilots.
Although we've come up with some very viable possibilities, our light plays better as a skirmisher/capper than as a dedicated spotter, trying to adapt our snipers into LRM jockeys went poorly, etc.
Have to focus the theory around what your guys are good at or enjoy the most. (granted "competitive pilots" will bend themselves to suit the team, our approach is more casual hobby)

[Gorgo7]

Similar tonnage and speed (mobility) is essential. Speed (mobility) more then anything.
Brawlers, snipers, support etc. is a secondary concern as pilot personality makes them work or fail on their own.
Provided situation awareness is good, all members from a lance in communication should be able to provide support or focus fire provided they have similar mobility and can "Bring the most the fastest."
For me, in both pick-up games and in scripted builds, similar tonnage and speed are paramount.

[Denolven]

juxstapo, on 12 November 2013 - 05:53 PM, said:

We've theory crafted scads of potential lance compositions fail on one metric when it comes to real world implementation; the personality of the pilots.

Very much this. The battlefield is chaos, so it's always a chance based game. It helps alot when the pilots are allowed to do what they can do best. This way, their intuition will chop away some of the luck factors.

• Know your pilots, their persona
  
• translate that into mechs
  
• apply the personas properly when in combat

Also, keep in mind that with random maps, you never know what you get thrown into. So having some versatility is never a bad thing. If the peoples personas allow for it, maybe put in a hybrid or two.

If you tell us your personalities and preferred mechs, we can help you alot better. In my experience, that is easier, more efficient and alot less frustrating than trying to bend someone to fit into the theorycrafted model. Work with what you've got, not with what you'd like to have. The key is to find a way to apply your assets properly.

(wall of text about my lance mates)

Spoiler

I have 2 friends playing a significant amount of MWO. One of them is a dogfighter type and likes to be where the action is - if you ever loose sight of him, you can be sure he went forward. He loves his Ilya Musromets. When playing with him, I try to use either a light mech to distract opponents and keep his back safe (I have SSRM), so he can deliver bullet rain properly. Or I just stay close to him with my triple AC/2 Victor for even more focused frontline mech shredding. There are many lights recently, so I find myself playing alot less AC/2 matches.
The other one is a dogfighter/assassin/supporter hybrid. He is more versatile (less focused on action) and plays either stuff like Yen Lo Wang, Jenner or LRM60 Awesome. For the LRM boat I offer great synergy with my anti-light light. I'm a scout at heart (unfortunately not really well supported by the game mechanics), and I fight mostly in defensive situations. I get him targets and keep him somewhat safe, he kills stuff for two people, fair deal. For the dogfighting though, I haven't really found anything that works for us .

However, if you put the two fighters together, you get a pretty deadly mix. Having me in the team is a bit awkward, because I suck at pretty much everything that is the core gameplay (bad reflexes, bad aiming). What I provide is battle awareness, the ability to see the less obvious stuff and the versatility to pick and apply the proper tactics. I scout, I cap, I defend bases, I distract, I buy time, I counter opponent tactics etc. Also I spend alot of time holding the brawler guy back when I'm certain he will die, because I know he doesn't see as much of the invisible stuff as I do.

So basically, I'm the eye and the brain of the lance and do the stuff that nobody wants to care about, while the other two are main hand and offhand and kill stuff. I enhance their performance, at the drawback of me performing below average if I'm ever forced into a fight. Together we do a decent job. Not overwhelmingly good (not as long as there is no weight matchmaking, because I'm only worth 25 or so tons), but at least not too shamefull.

Edited by Denolven, 18 November 2013 - 05:56 AM.

[NeoTech]

Or you could do like some of the most egotistical "pro" pilots out there and drop as a 4 Sniper Highlanders and own the entire game every single time. Can't wait till they fix that.

[Nick Makiaveli]

NeoTech, on 22 November 2013 - 02:15 AM, said:

Or you could do like some of the most egotistical "pro" pilots out there and drop as a 4 Sniper Highlanders and own the entire game every single time. Can't wait till they fix that.

Hating much?

They found a build that works for them, wins games and what? You want to them to run Jenners with SLs instead?


@ the OP The main thing is to coordinate what you do have. If someone brings a LRM boat, then whenever ANYONE has a solid lock they should call it out. Just about any combination can work together. Long range focus fires on the brawlers target, cappers can lead enemies back to the brawlers or out into the open for the snipers etc.