13 replies to this topic

[klebold]

What does the future bring for Mechwarrior? For years I thought we saw the end of it with MW4 Mercenaries & Vengence. Are they going to constantly update this game with new maps, mechs, game modes, or alternative ways to accumulate money?

My only complaints: Lasers don't seem effective. Lots of overheating with not much damage output. Maybe it's just the training mechs, but the only time I ever get even close to a kill is when I use ballistics or rockets.

Back in Mw4 you could customize your weapon classes... like binding certain weapons to 1, 2, 3, etc... I couldn't figure out how to do that on my catapult and ended up firing everything at once.

Is there an alternative way to accumulate money at the moment? Due to trail-and-error, buying, upgrading, selling different mechs, I'm down to 1.3 million and only making 200k per win and 20k per loss. And like I said, unless I use something with ballistics I'm not even getting a shot off before dying.

At this point, barely any GXP or money, should I just make a new account?

[SmithMPBT]

Heres a great video explaining Weapons Grouping setup.
http://www.youtube....d&v=vl2gWUjO3rE

Edited by SmithMPBT, 10 December 2013 - 09:25 AM.

[TygerLily]

Hey kebold,

Weapon groupings are tricky but easy once you wrap your mind around it.
http://youtu.be/2yFrj7vlJo4

Ballistics and PPCs do all their damage to one point which is incredibly powerful. But the PPC runs hot and the AC's are ammo dependant. Lasers are generally good because their beam duration lets you track your fire into the holes in people's armor. One of my favorite mechs is the Hunchback 4P with 9 medium lasers...if there's a hole, it's really easy to pinpoint three or four grouped lasers.

The "end game" is still being worked on and the game officially released in September...so it's being supported. A new map is coming next Tuesday and we'll be seeing a large star map soon. All your solo play matches will affect the big star map for your faction.

[MagicM0E]

Klebold use this smurfy to do your trial and error mechlab stuff. It will save you a load of C-Bills.

Lasers are very effective, but maybe not so much in the trial mechs that tend to be less heat efficient. Use the trial mechs to learn the game, not to judge it.

Other than paying for and using MC, grinding the C-Bills is the only way. Can I suggest you get a premium account to boost your C-Bill earnings. (Premium accounts cost MC,which you have to buy with real money)

I'd also recommend you get on one of the many voice comms systems (eg: TeamSpeak). Talking t the more experienced pilots can save you a load of heartache and even more c-bills

http://mwomercs.com/...e-chat-servers/

M0E

Edited by MagicM0E, 10 December 2013 - 09:15 AM.

[Elyam]

While it's true that ballistics are favored at the moment, this will work itself out as things are tuned over the next few months. It has partly to do with tuning of the heat system and partly just people's perception of the use of each weapon type.

That said, lasers are completely viable when you know how to use them and learn the difficult skill of keeping them on target (i.e. on one section of the mech) through the duration of the burn. Last night I was consistently in the top 4 across a dozen matches with a laser-based Thunderbolt, for example.

[Kanajashi]

First off welcome to the game, enjoy your stay

klebold, on 10 December 2013 - 08:58 AM, said:

What does the future bring for Mechwarrior? For years I thought we saw the end of it with MW4 Mercenaries & Vengence. Are they going to constantly update this game with new maps, mechs, game modes, or alternative ways to accumulate money?

The game will be constantly updated and improved upon over time. The game will never really be "done", as long as people continue to play they will continue to add new mechs, maps and gamemodes. Right now we are getting a new mech chassis about every month and a new map about every 4 months.

klebold, on 10 December 2013 - 08:58 AM, said:

My only complaints: Lasers don't seem effective. Lots of overheating with not much damage output. Maybe it's just the training mechs, but the only time I ever get even close to a kill is when I use ballistics or rockets.

Lasers require a steady hand to deal full damage. Over the duration of the laser it will hit in a series of damage "pulses", the longer you hold the laser over the enemy the more damage will hit them. This is unlike how it worked in MW4 where the laser did all of its damage up front. Also if you are moving your lasers across the enemy's torso and hitting multiple sections, you are spreading your damage out which is not very useful. Try to pick out a section of the mech (say one of the side torsos) and try to aim only for that specific section.

klebold, on 10 December 2013 - 08:58 AM, said:

Back in Mw4 you could customize your weapon classes... like binding certain weapons to 1, 2, 3, etc... I couldn't figure out how to do that on my catapult and ended up firing everything at once.

Several people have linked the youtube tutorial for this so I would say to check that out

klebold, on 10 December 2013 - 08:58 AM, said:

Is there an alternative way to accumulate money at the moment? Due to trail-and-error, buying, upgrading, selling different mechs, I'm down to 1.3 million and only making 200k per win and 20k per loss. And like I said, unless I use something with ballistics I'm not even getting a shot off before dying.

At this point, barely any GXP or money, should I just make a new account?

If you feel like your current account has been depleated because of the learning curve, you can always make a new one. You will get your cadet bonus again and can start with the knowledge you have now.

At present the only way to earn c-bills is to play in matches. You can improve your income through the use of Hero mechs and premium time however. If you feel that the game is good enough and are willing to put in some money buying a hero and a month of premium and almost double your earnings. They give +30% c-bills for heros and +50% for premium time. If you are having good results with balistics I would strongly recomend either the Ilya Muromets or the Firebrand for heros, I own both and they are my most played mechs.

My builds:
ILYA MUROMETS
FIREBRAND

If you do decide to create a new account and also feel that you want to get some boosts, get them right away before playing any games. The hero and preimum boosts will apply to the cadet bonus and give you an additional ~7million

as a few people have linked already check out http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab This is an extremely useful tool for designing and tinkering before having to put up the c-bills. Experiment with some builds and see what works. If you have a design and want input, post a link for it here and the resident mechwarriors will gladly give input.

Edit: Spelling errors

Edited by Kanajashi, 10 December 2013 - 09:41 AM.

[divinedisclaimer]

klebold, on 10 December 2013 - 08:58 AM, said:

What does the future bring for Mechwarrior? For years I thought we saw the end of it with MW4 Mercenaries & Vengence. Are they going to constantly update this game with new maps, mechs, game modes, or alternative ways to accumulate money?

My only complaints: Lasers don't seem effective. Lots of overheating with not much damage output. Maybe it's just the training mechs, but the only time I ever get even close to a kill is when I use ballistics or rockets.

Back in Mw4 you could customize your weapon classes... like binding certain weapons to 1, 2, 3, etc... I couldn't figure out how to do that on my catapult and ended up firing everything at once.

Is there an alternative way to accumulate money at the moment? Due to trail-and-error, buying, upgrading, selling different mechs, I'm down to 1.3 million and only making 200k per win and 20k per loss. And like I said, unless I use something with ballistics I'm not even getting a shot off before dying.

At this point, barely any GXP or money, should I just make a new account?

Lasers, due to their damage over time mechanic, are the hardest to utilize and least understood weapons in the game. Bring mediums if you spray and pray with them; don't bother with Large Lasers unless you're highly skills and can level the entire beam on an enemy component.

If you can do that, they're awesome. They are misunderstood.

Generally you should not ever sell anything except engines below 200 and excess weapons you bought be accident (if you have like 30+ medium lasers).

Edited by divinedisclaimer, 10 December 2013 - 10:21 AM.

[luxebo]

Did anyone mention ghost heat yet? That maybe why the OP thinks that lasers don't work too well. If ghost heat disappeared then we can see a lot more balance in the game.

Edit: Did you get Mekpak 3.1 for Mercs? I miss it, but it's still a good game.

Edited by luxebo, 10 December 2013 - 04:26 PM.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

There maybe another element with some weapons, that seems to be known as Heat Retention, that may allow certain weapons to produce more heat than what is listed, which is separate from the Heat Scale penalty.

The given example is with MLs, where if the player does not let go of the trigger, heat on a each ML grows to a cap of 5 heat before Heat Scale penalties can be or are applied.

[Shade4x]

klebold, on 10 December 2013 - 08:58 AM, said:

What does the future bring for Mechwarrior? For years I thought we saw the end of it with MW4 Mercenaries & Vengence. Are they going to constantly update this game with new maps, mechs, game modes, or alternative ways to accumulate money?

My only complaints: Lasers don't seem effective. Lots of overheating with not much damage output. Maybe it's just the training mechs, but the only time I ever get even close to a kill is when I use ballistics or rockets.

Back in Mw4 you could customize your weapon classes... like binding certain weapons to 1, 2, 3, etc... I couldn't figure out how to do that on my catapult and ended up firing everything at once.

Is there an alternative way to accumulate money at the moment? Due to trail-and-error, buying, upgrading, selling different mechs, I'm down to 1.3 million and only making 200k per win and 20k per loss. And like I said, unless I use something with ballistics I'm not even getting a shot off before dying.

At this point, barely any GXP or money, should I just make a new account?

To set fire groups, use the arrow keys and right control (the button)
To chain fire a weapons group hit backspace when the group is selected

Lasers seem to be balanced by pilot and mech skills. Once you get 2x cool runnings (after you unlocked all the normal skills AND ALL the elite skills) they work fairly well. They do spread damage alot, so you have to keep them on target.

One thing you will not know unless it's pointed out, some weapons have something called ghost heat. Thats when to many weapons of the same type are fired at the same time. For instance you can fire 2 large lasers together without penalty. If you fire 3, you will take the heat of 3 large lasers and additional heat. This is different for each weapon. There is no in-game indication as to what weapon, how many, or even that their is ghost heat. You'll have to look for the article on it or go to http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/ that actually has the weapons that ghost heat and when. If you weight 0.5 seconds you can fire the 3rd large laser without the penalty.

The future of the game is suppose to be updated maps, new mech's, new mechanics, planatery assult, etc. However to be honest the future of the game is pretty iffy. The company, PGI, is kinda like the team that made duke nukem forever. I would enjoy it for what it has now, and not really expect anything big to be added, as their roadmap has had so many dates pushed back, they have lost all relavence. Besides, if you want to know the direction of the game, go figure out ghost heat, and after you figure out a more logical and superior system, which will be litterly right after you read it, ask yourself where ya think the game is headed.

[Atlai]

divinedisclaimer, on 10 December 2013 - 10:18 AM, said:

(if you have like 30+ medium lasers).

Im not sure how it happened, but i had 63 med lasers.....

[Koniving]

Q: Are they going to constantly update this game with new maps, mechs, game modes, or alternative ways to accumulate money?
A: That is the norm of Free to Play games, to continuously give out new updates until the eventual end. Some F2P games last over 10 years with continuous releases of new content.

Statement: Lasers don't seem effective. Lots of overheating with not much damage output. Maybe it's just the training mechs, but the only time I ever get even close to a kill is when I use ballistics or rockets.

Response: There's a few tricks to lasers. Chain firing helps (backspace) on hotter maps. Medium and Large lasers require a full second to do full damage. Small requires 3/4ths of a second. Large and medium pulse lasers require 3/5ths of a second for full damage to do superior damage. The SPL requires 1/2 a second and has the fastest firing rate of the energy weapons. Personally I don't like the slow firing rates of medium and large lasers so I favor the smaller ones that run much cooler and fire more frequently.

Question: Is there an alternative way to accumulate money at the moment?

Answer: Kill assists (shoot something at least once), savior kill assists (save someone, so to speak), spot assists (just look at someone and press R; wait until missiles hit that target), defensive kill assists (assist in defending the base by shooting an enemy), and numerous other methods.

Question: At this point, barely any GXP or money, should I just make a new account?
Answer: You could, but chances are the account can still be salvaged.

[Buckminster]

klebold, on 10 December 2013 - 08:58 AM, said:

At this point, barely any GXP or money, should I just make a new account?

My question would be, what all do you have in your mech bays? Maybe we can help you get the most out of what you have, rather than restarting. Especially since you've been accumulating experience, I'd look at how feasible it is to make it work.

Also, check the public Teamspeak servers, and join a group. The people you'll find are generally very friendly and helpful, and should have lots of good advice to give.

[Tonberry King]

Buckminster, on 11 December 2013 - 05:36 AM, said:

My question would be, what all do you have in your mech bays? Maybe we can help you get the most out of what you have, rather than restarting. Especially since you've been accumulating experience, I'd look at how feasible it is to make it work.

Also, check the public Teamspeak servers, and join a group. The people you'll find are generally very friendly and helpful, and should have lots of good advice to give.

Nothing. I made a new account and now I'm just trying to figure out how to capitalize my username. I raised 10mil and bought a Highlander. About to go test it out.