56 replies to this topic

[RagEneT]

Roughneck45, on 22 January 2014 - 11:21 AM, said:

Unlocking the basic skills for all 3 will allow you to unlock the elite skills for the one you do want.

Thanks for the clear answer.
Guess what? Playing with my own mech I am now getting better and survive for longer. Though PUGs are fine nothing would beat a premade group of people.

So, yeah the best thing would be to build 3 different ShadowHawks and see what kind of build I do enjoy the most.

So unlocking:
Fully Unlocking BASIC set for all 3 variants unlocks ELITE for one variant.
Fully Unlocking ELITE set for all 3 variants unlocks MASTER for all of them?

[TheDevilsIncarnate]

RagEneT, on 22 January 2014 - 11:29 AM, said:

Thanks for the clear answer.
Guess what? Playing with my own mech I am now getting better and survive for longer. Though PUGs are fine nothing would beat a premade group of people.

So, yeah the best thing would be to build 3 different ShadowHawks and see what kind of build I do enjoy the most.

So unlocking:
Fully Unlocking BASIC set for all 3 variants unlocks ELITE for one variant.
Fully Unlocking ELITE set for all 3 variants unlocks MASTER for all of them?

Yes that is correct. Once you have all ELITE efficiencies unlocked, you can sell the chassis you don't like and keep the ones you do, and then master them. Or you can keep them all and master them all, the choice is yours.

[TercieI]

RagEneT, on 22 January 2014 - 11:29 AM, said:

So unlocking:
Fully Unlocking BASIC set for all 3 variants unlocks ELITE for one variant.
Fully Unlocking ELITE set for all 3 variants unlocks MASTER for all of them?

Unlocking BASIC for all three will allow you to start unlocking ELITE for all three. (This is per chassis and is straightforward)

Unlocking ELITE for all three will allow you to start unlocking MASTER for all three. (This is actually by weight class, so is a little less clear. Once you have finished ELITE on (for example) three Shadow Hawks, you'll be able to just BASIC three variants of (for example) Blackjacks and then take any of them directly all the way to MASTER.

This is why it's a good idea to start with a chassis in each weight class that has three solid variants.

So, another example: If you go lights, go Jenner first, all three c-bill variants are solid (D&F are much more than that), don't go Raven (one very good variant, two not very good ones).

By weight class: Jenner, Shadow Hawk, Cataphract, Highlander are probably the best choices for first chassis.

Edited by Terciel1976, 22 January 2014 - 11:35 AM.

[Roughneck45]

RagEneT, on 22 January 2014 - 11:29 AM, said:

Guess what? Playing with my own mech I am now getting better and survive for longer. Though PUGs are fine nothing would beat a premade group of people.

You are quickly on the path to maxing the potential fun of MWO.

Here a list of public team speak servers
http://mwomercs.com/...e-chat-servers/
Comstar and NGNG are generally the most populated and great for pick up groups.

You can also check out the various teams here
http://mwomercs.com/...corps-outreach/

And put an application in the hiring hall if you so choose
http://mwomercs.com/...94-hiring-hall/

Edited by Roughneck45, 22 January 2014 - 11:54 AM.

[Metafox]

I know that this is coming a bit late, but I'd like to suggest a few more SHD builds:

AC10+SSRM2+ML 2D2:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f743e84d2775ac7
This is my favorite SHD build, but you might not have the money to buy a 295XL engine right away. I use the AC10+SSRM2s as the primary weapons and I use the lasers as backup weapons for when I really need the extra damage or for when I really need some more precision damage.

LB-10X+SSRM2+ML 2D2:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...68540614377258c
Same as above, but with an LB-10X AC, a more common 300XL engine, and an extra JJ.

AC20+ML 5M:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f1f1e4b4a8d8c84
This is pretty standard AC20 5M build. I forgo some of the bells and whistles in favor of a larger engine.

AC5+SRM4 2H:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f4cb430ebe874a4
I'm not a big fan of the 2H, but I enjoyed this build somewhat. The AC5s make a great long-range weapon and the SRM4s can pack a decent punch at close range. This mech is pretty ammo-dependent, but as long as you're reasonable accurate, you'll do more than your share of damage by the time you run out.

And one more tip: Be sure to put upgrade to Artemis if you're using Streak SRM2s. Artemis will halve the time it takes for them to acquire a lock.

[dragnier1]

RagEneT, on 22 January 2014 - 11:29 AM, said:

Thanks for the clear answer.
Guess what? Playing with my own mech I am now getting better and survive for longer. Though PUGs are fine nothing would beat a premade group of people.

So, yeah the best thing would be to build 3 different ShadowHawks and see what kind of build I do enjoy the most.

So unlocking:
Fully Unlocking BASIC set for all 3 variants unlocks ELITE for one variant.
Fully Unlocking ELITE set for all 3 variants unlocks MASTER for all of them?

If you have the means to get some mc for mechbays you should consider keeping all 3. They are all versatile enough that you can play around with them (different weapons and engines once you have the cbills). If you complete master skills (add module slot) for all 3 the cbills you'll earn should be enough to buy a new mech, somewhere around 12-18 million.

[TheCaptainJZ]

In general, you should keep your mechs, depeding on how much money you want to spend on mech bays. The reason being that a poor variant now might not be a poor variant after some balance tweak in a patch. Or, you may suddenly realize that you've become really good at a weapons system you sucked with before, and this poor mech is great for that setup. Obviously, some variants are overall stronger than others, but it's great to experiment with different kinds of builds as time goes one. I constantly redesign my mechs. I'll play a few matches, select a different mech, redo the loadout. Switch to another, redo the lodadout, repeat.

Another thing I'd like to add to this discussion of the Pilot Lab:
All mechs have 3 variants. Some have more than 3. For those chassis, you only have to pick 3 of them to unlock stuff with. You never have to buy all 5 Awesomes for example.

[DaisuSaikoro Nagasawa]

RagEneT, on 21 January 2014 - 04:01 PM, said:

Now I feel much more confident and ready to play more and farm that GXP

Wait to buy too much new equipment. As a new user you're going to make mistakes and money is precious. If you don't love your user name you can make a lot of mistakes up front, and then switch to a new account once you really get your feet wet.

Make sure you uncheck throttle decay.

I'd also recommend a medium or heavy. Stay away from Assaults until you get your feet under you. Lights are nice if you want to learn how not to die but be mindful. The extremes are very hard to pilot.

Do not buy any new engines as you will get some new ones as you build your mech collection. THe same with weapons... and all weapons and engines are swappable.

Regards...
DSN

PS. Forgot... Work through 3 designs. Even if they're not the best. You'll become a better pilot and you will learn the pros of having maximized chassis. And don't sell mechs. Grab as many MCs as you can and open up your bays. The designs are always being tweaked and you never know when something is going to come back in style. Last, you put the time into building those mechs out... you will get very little return for selling them.

加油！

Edited by Daisu Saikoro, 23 January 2014 - 01:09 AM.

[Denolven]

Katus, on 21 January 2014 - 02:31 PM, said:

Turn OFF 3rd person view (...)

Just to add a bit info on this: The point of view can be changed in game via the F4 button. The checkbox in the options just says whether you want 3rd person view on or off at the beginning of a match.

Quote

3. Turn OFF Throttle decay. It is cool but not a good idea, especially if you want to look at the map or text chat while moving to a better location to kill the bad guys.

Why does everyone say that? It's not true. The numpad keys can be used to set percentual speed (in steps of 10%, 0 = 100%), so I see no point to ever disable throttle decay, other than being used to the old way. Especially in more agile mechs, the decay leads to much better acceleration behavior.

Also, a personal tip: do NOT buy several versions of the same chassis as a beginner. This will cost tons of ingame money and will feel basically all the same. So you pay insane amounts for insane boredom. For a start, I recommend getting 2-3 very different mechs, so you can have some variety. You can still upgrade them later. The upgrade doesn't change the way a mech works, just gives small buffs for heat management and movement. Too small to be worth it for a newbie.

Edited by Denolven, 23 January 2014 - 02:13 AM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Denolven, on 23 January 2014 - 02:05 AM, said:

Why does everyone say that? It's not true.

Because for them it is very true.
Key words being: For Them.

For me it was very very true - for my friend Gwilliy (who tends to actively avoid the forums) it was very much not true.
I would stand by the people saying it at least, as both methods should be tried, and if people don't actively bring it up, most people will not realize it was even an option.

[ApolloKaras]

Denolven, on 23 January 2014 - 02:05 AM, said:

Just to add a bit info on this: The point of view can be changed in game via the F4 button. The checkbox in the options just says whether you want 3rd person view on or off at the beginning of a match.

Why does everyone say that? It's not true. The numpad keys can be used to set percentual speed (in steps of 10%, 0 = 100%), so I see no point to ever disable throttle decay, other than being used to the old way. Especially in more agile mechs, the decay leads to much better acceleration behavior.

Also, a personal tip: do NOT buy several versions of the same chassis as a beginner. This will cost tons of ingame money and will feel basically all the same. So you pay insane amounts for insane boredom. For a start, I recommend getting 2-3 very different mechs, so you can have some variety. You can still upgrade them later. The upgrade doesn't change the way a mech works, just gives small buffs for heat management and movement. Too small to be worth it for a newbie.

A few things here. I have two keys for my throttle - max and stop lol (outside of throttle up and down). The acceleration of some light mechs it doesnt make sense to hold the speed up key (whatever you have it mapped to) as your light mech has the potential to out accelerate that. Also sometimes you need to fine tune your throttle to match whats around you, sometimes the jump between 10% is too much.

All 3 shadow hawks are great. They give you a mech that can do all the weapon groups. Which is very important when you are starting out. I would go with one of the shadowhawks, and see if you like it. If you do then buy up the other 2. You get a decent set of 3 mechs that can run everything thats arguably suitable for any elo. You get an XL 275 (4.4 million) with the 5m, which you can use with some of the more serious later down the road builds - 1 ppc 2 AC5s.

If you want to play around with LRM's you'll get 2 LRM 5's and a 20 (500k). Streaks? Eh they give you two inbetween all 3 chassis, but you get a great mech to mount them on in the 2D2. You end up getting 2 AC 5's (250k ea), and an Ultra Ac5 (400k ea) for ballistics. Most of the weapons you'll get aren't trash, so you are getting maximum value, save the SRM 2s lol.

So not only are you getting a mech you can use now, but also wont be outclassed on down the road.

Edited by Saxie, 23 January 2014 - 12:03 PM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Denolven, on 23 January 2014 - 02:05 AM, said:

Also, a personal tip: do NOT buy several versions of the same chassis as a beginner. This will cost tons of ingame money and will feel basically all the same. So you pay insane amounts for insane boredom. For a start, I recommend getting 2-3 very different mechs, so you can have some variety. You can still upgrade them later. The upgrade doesn't change the way a mech works, just gives small buffs for heat management and movement. Too small to be worth it for a newbie.

I disagree. I think you have a valid point, but I think it's generally better to level up the chassis especially if you are weary about buying anything into the game at first (You only have 4 bays so that leaves you 3 for one to level up and 1 spare). I do think you should fully basic one out, decided if you like it enough or not, sell it if you hate it and move to a different chassis. But be aware you may really be missing out on it's full potential. You can always come back to it later if you decide to give it another chance but that is going to be a lot more wasted cbills to sell and buy back. However, this is something that is reasonably acceptable with the low cost of light mechs. Not so much anything else.

[Hammerhai]

Never sell XL engines. The go to ones are

350 or
360 for Dragons and Quickdraws, and the like. I have used the 360 as heavy as the Orion before the meta change and hitbox change. Nowadays YMMV.

For lights the absolute Go Tos are the 280 and 300. Note that the Raven 3L cannot take a XL 300 and needs a 295. The 300 at one time at least used to be the best engine to fit on Cicadas as well, although you can go up to 330/340 in theory

[TercieI]

Hammerhai, on 23 January 2014 - 03:36 PM, said:

Never sell XL engines. The go to ones are

350 or
360 for Dragons and Quickdraws, and the like. I have used the 360 as heavy as the Orion before the meta change and hitbox change. Nowadays YMMV.

For lights the absolute Go Tos are the 280 and 300. Note that the Raven 3L cannot take a XL 300 and needs a 295. The 300 at one time at least used to be the best engine to fit on Cicadas as well, although you can go up to 330/340 in theory

Don't undersell the XL295 for lights. Notably, it can swap in for the XL300 on fully optimized Jenners. That .5 ton sometimes matters more than the <2kph.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Terciel1976, on 24 January 2014 - 09:33 AM, said:

Don't undersell the XL295 for lights. Notably, it can swap in for the XL300 on fully optimized Jenners. That .5 ton sometimes matters more than the <2kph.

That 0.5 ton is worth 1 JJ if nothing else.

[TercieI]

Shar Wolf, on 24 January 2014 - 11:07 AM, said:

That 0.5 ton is worth 1 JJ if nothing else.

Yeah. Or allowing you to cheat half a ton of armor (because there are spots on a Jenner you can) and get another heat sink.

[Koniving]

Prefer an XL 280 in my Cicadas; I find being able to focus my fire to be more important than the 'run fast and spray/pray' tactic that many use.

Saw a Locust a little bit ago. Get beside someone, stop and spray. Gets noticed, moves before looked at directly, stops, spray, moves, stops, sprays. Granted he never stops firing, he does stop when focusing the fire. And this Locust, almost single-handedly, took down an Atlas with MGs and an MPL, while being shot at by a Grid Iron with SRM-6 + Artemis and a UAC/5.

It was rather marvelous to see.