19 replies to this topic

[Blue Hymn]

There are certain times in a match when the following conditions are met:

• Your team is doing well, and the enemy team is either on the run or getting annihilated in the process.
  
• Your team is not doing well, and the enemy team is pushing their advantage.

In the event that you do find yourself being routed or the enemy team is performing a search-and-destroy function, these methods "might" possibly increase your survivability against enemy odds - while providing a certain opportunity for ambush if the situation presents itself.

One of the ways to increase that survivability, is using the power down option on your mech to your advantage. By placing yourself in certain positions on the battlefield when the enemy is out hunting for you, you may potentially have a good chance to score a few kills before the enemy becomes aware of your location, and radios in your position to their team.

Example: I was in a match on the Canyon map, piloting an Awesome 8T. The objective was Conquest. My team was wiped out midway into the fight, and I'm heavily damaged after taking down some heavies. Using tab, I checked how many survivors there are on the opposition - 4 still alive, but probably damaged - and I made a mad dash towards one of the bases where my team has control over currently. Positioning myself to the walls of the canyon, out of general sight and still having a good viewpoint to overlook that base, I powered down and waited for a chance to attack.

A short while later, two mechs appeared - an Atlas, and a Catapult. Since I was powered down and not in the line of sight, they proceeded to cap, turning about to scan the perimeter, unaware that their backs were turned to me.

I powered up, checked which mech was more damaged, and proceeded to unload my entire arsenal of ppcs onto their unsuspecting back. In three shots, the Catapult was destroyed in the rear without realizing it, and I switch fire to the atlas that is now turning around from the commotion. It was unfortunate that the Atlas still had full armor on himself when I engaged him, but he took a good thrashing of my weapons before I fell under a hail of ballistics and srms.

While I may not have won the engagement against the Atlas, I was able to ambush one of the enemy players and bag myself a kill, taking at least one more of them down with me.

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Shutting down provides a few perks in the late game when the situation is desperate. Not only does it mask you from sensors, if your camouflage is the same general color of your surroundings, you can literally become overlooked while the enemy tries to hunt you down. Other than certain maps (River City Night, or Frozen City Day), often many players do not use their thermals to scan for targets either, relying mostly on their sensors and modules (Seismic) to search for targets. If you can position yourself properly - out of the general route that mechs usually take, you can set up an ambush on any unsuspecting mechs that come across your way. Certain, unorthodox spots are potential positions for ambush. For example, if you are a small enough mech, powering down directly over the corpse of another mech provides you with cover to hide yourself in. The smoke may provide some camouflage, and in thermal, the destroyed mech still produces heat, masking your signature from any casual glance.

A word of warning however - this method doesn't always work. It is a gamble that capitalizes on the enemy's overconfidence late in game, a blind spot in their numbers while you position yourself for the kill. While I do not guarantee its chance of success, it does provide you with a bit of extra survivability that you can capitalize on before the enemy decides to out-cap your base or move in packs.


Hope this helps.

[KrazedOmega]

I've thought about trying it a few times but I would probably get teammates ratting out my position to the enemy team because they think I'm giving up instead of trying to plan an ambush.

[Benjamin Davion]

KrazedOmega, on 30 July 2013 - 04:09 PM, said:

I've thought about trying it a few times but I would probably get teammates ratting out my position to the enemy team because they think I'm giving up instead of trying to plan an ambush.

I have literally had that happen before.

On the other hand, I have used shut-down to hide and ambush a few times myself. Rarely has it worked out for me, but still. Good idea.

[General Taskeen]

Just be careful. "Tactics" like ambushes are a "No No" for the impatient kiddies that play this game, but PGI has yet to turn off the annoying dead player chat. But anyways, good account.

This is also useful for Light Mechs during the beginning of a match. I often power down on the very far flanks (in a Light Mech) of a map where Light Mechs are most likely to travel to cap. Wait for them to pass, then follow behind them. An example would be the very obvious side routes on Tourmaline. My Jenners are painted Charcoal Black, the same color as the crystals.

[Skydrive]

I remember one time in Tourmaline with my Dragon Slayer, I was the last mech alive, and the enemy had... five to eight mechs still up... don't remember the exact number. I used my Jump Jets to go up one of the crystals, turned around, and stood still. First mech to go by was a Jenner, then the big boys started moving, all from the direction my back was facing. I fired my ER PPC and Gauss Rifle, and this made them turn, since the velocity on those weapons were so fast, it took them a while to realize where I was. When I saw the Atlas noticed me, I came down upon him before he could fire off his weapons. Don't recall if I got a kill from this, but did a lot of damage.
Oh and, should be noted, I didn't power down, was relying on my Seismic and was unsure if any of the enemy had BAP.

[Remarius]

My beagle active probe equipped Jenner-D LOVES powered down mechs ... luckily for you not many people seem to equip them.

[GMAK]

I shut down sometimes to avoid missile. I'm not even sure if it work.

Sometimes when I have nothing to do, I take command of the company instead of shuting down.

[Bront]

There are situations where shutdown is a useful tool.

However, doing it just to survive a match you can't win is simply being a tool.

Know the difference.

[Dawnstealer]

In a beat-to-hell spider, near the end of a Conquest game, whole team dead, the timer clicking down on a win and enemy Jenners (2) hot on my heals, I ran to the smoking body of an assault mech, entered the smoke column, and shut down. They ran right past and began a frenzied search for me. Won the game because they couldn't find me.

[MoonUnitBeta]

Bront, on 31 July 2013 - 01:55 PM, said:

There are situations where shutdown is a useful tool.

However, doing it just to survive a match you can't win is simply being a tool.

Know the difference.

Hey, atleast it scored him a kill and the rest of his team assists for who ever hit the catapult.
It's a lot better than trumping down an ally way and get creamed by both the catapults and the atlases alpha strikes, and not scoring any additional c-bills or XP. Give the guy some credit for thinking tactfully and squeezing every drop of juice out of the lemon.

[Bront]

MoonUnitBeta, on 31 July 2013 - 02:13 PM, said:

Hey, atleast it scored him a kill and the rest of his team assists for who ever hit the catapult.
It's a lot better than trumping down an ally way and get creamed by both the catapults and the atlases alpha strikes, and not scoring any additional c-bills or XP. Give the guy some credit for thinking tactfully and squeezing every drop of juice out of the lemon.

The OP and others here are using it as a tool, not being tools.

[MoonUnitBeta]

Bront, on 31 July 2013 - 02:26 PM, said:

The OP and others here are using it as a tool, not being tools.

Oh. haha! I read it wrong then. Sorry 'bout that! Yay for plain text

[Kilroy]

Me and the lance I play with love to do ambushes.

Unfortunately 25% of the time we get team killed right away or our teammates alert the enemy.

When we try telling the team our plan they tend to tell the enemy/start shooting at us.

When we don't tell team they tend to kill us.

[RTDouglas]

What an excellent post. I too LOVE to do the ambush, but mostly it is about survival. I HATE that I have to shut down with my camera facing the ground or wall but I have absolutely no choice because of TEAM-MATES. These players not only betray your position to the enemy, but constantly abuse verbally any player who even ATTEMPTS to survive longer or get that last kill. I have been threatened by so many players screaming that I am "wasting their time" and that somehow unless I kill myself I am being a coward? These players even threaten other players that shutting down to survive is a "bannable offence" This is ridiculous and I hope those players learn to hit the exit button if it is unbearable to watch.

[oldradagast]

The shutdown trick sometimes works - I died to it the other day.

I was on Mordor in a badly damaged Victor, chasing down another badly damaged mech, when out of nowhere an enemy cataphract powers up practically next to me - he was nearly black in color and blended in perfectly with the nearly black walls - and destroys me. It was a good play, though it did require a dark map + dark paint job + easy target (my badly damaged mech.) Still, a win is a win.

[Turist0AT]

Had a game on Alpine in one of my Stalkers outfited for very close range and was very slow.
My team got annihilated extremly fast, leaving me alone with basically most of the enemy team. While i was slowly stomping towards the enemy i stopped next to the big hill, powered down on the side of the road. See like 6,7 mechs, bunch of atlases walking right past me. Luckily the did not notice me, tho i was in plain sight. When most of the team passed, i picked out the atlas in the back, powered up, marched right up in his face, killed him before the team reacted and died like a hero.

But allot of ppl cary bap, so powering down is like playing russian ruolett.

[DONTOR]

I decded to play a locust last week with MLs. I was the last mech left and went to a cap ppoint we had and powered down just 50M away behind a small building. A cicada came up first and powered down under the cap tower, I powered up and alphaed him twice in the RCT klled it. Moved back to my sneeky position and shut down again, a few moment later a TDK came whizzing by right infront of me but didnt look at me, he stood still on my base and I powered up and alphaed his side torso killing him. The remaining Shawk did me in however but this tactic can be really fun and quite a rush, when it works.

[Turist0AT]

quite a rush indeed

[Buckminster]

I've also seen smaller mechs successfully shut down and hide in the smoking wrecks of other mechs.

[grayson death carlyle]

War story time!

In MW4, my clan and I were getting ready for a league match on Big City (night) and were playing against some high-and-mighty group that constantly smack talked. We decided to have a little fun at our opponents expense.

In short, we pulled a Mech Commander 1 ()

Our entire team fit ourselves into an blind ally like a traffic jam and shut down pointing towards the entrance. Our fearless leader in his trusty Raven (we had to pay homage ) then proceeded to run directly to the enemy and to do everything he could to piss em off.

Once he had their undivided attention, he began retreating to our location while we cheered him on in TS. You would be glad to know that little has changed since then in that when a light mech starts harassing an enemy force, its like a rabbit darting past a pack of wolves: people seem to have some instinctual urge to chase that mech down and damn common sense.

After 5-10 minutes of luring these guys on, we finally see his (slightly singed) raven fly past the ally. Shortly after, we see a couple enemies blindly stomp right past us.

"wait for it....
waaaaaaaait for it...
waaaaaaaaaaaaaaait...
GO!"

I would have paid good money to see the reaction of the enemy commander's face when all of our mechs suddenly pinged on radar at minimum range. What came after was complete chaos as we flooded the street and went to town. Tactics and strategy were tossed out the window and communications were down (we were all laughing so hard TS was useless) but we caught them so far out of position that within a couple minutes we had wiped out their entire team.

My experience with MWO is limited (and I am not a huge fan of many of the maps) but large-scale shenanigans like this are probably possible on a couple maps during organized play.