21 replies to this topic

[ApexX Ataraxxia]

Hello all! I recently got into MWO and started playing using the Trial Mechs! Im so far really enjoying the Raven Variant and the Snipe and Move play style! Ive been trying to decide what Mech to actually work towards and I have no idea on the meta or what weapons are even good. I have played a ton of MW starting with 2/3 back in the old days, through 4, and then all the Mech Warrior games on the Xbox so I know the weapons and what to expect from them, just not how useful they may be in this game. I remember loving Gauss Rifles for sniping, are they useful? What sort of Mechs have builds/loadouts the can compliment using a Gauss Rifle? Are Autocannons worth using? All I really see is LRMs and Lasers and was hoping to do something outside those two if able haha.

Ive also looked up some youtube vids explaining the basics but they dont really say what each Mech can be used for or what Mechs are even the go to right now. I was hoping you guys could answer some of that haha.

I guess what Im asking for is insight into the Meta. What is used and why the others are seen as subpar as well as can I make something work if I really like the look or feel of the choice.

[Xbwalker]

ApexX Ataraxxia, on 14 October 2015 - 01:04 PM, said:

Hello all! I recently got into MWO and started playing using the Trial Mechs! Im so far really enjoying the Raven Variant and the Snipe and Move play style! Ive been trying to decide what Mech to actually work towards and I have no idea on the meta or what weapons are even good. I have played a ton of MW starting with 2/3 back in the old days, through 4, and then all the Mech Warrior games on the Xbox so I know the weapons and what to expect from them, just not how useful they may be in this game. I remember loving Gauss Rifles for sniping, are they useful? What sort of Mechs have builds/loadouts the can compliment using a Gauss Rifle? Are Autocannons worth using? All I really see is LRMs and Lasers and was hoping to do something outside those two if able haha.

Ive also looked up some youtube vids explaining the basics but they dont really say what each Mech can be used for or what Mechs are even the go to right now. I was hoping you guys could answer some of that haha.

I guess what Im asking for is insight into the Meta. What is used and why the others are seen as subpar as well as can I make something work if I really like the look or feel of the choice.

All 3 ravens are decent snipers with the large lasers. The Raven 2X is my personal favorite with 2 ER Large Lasers.

Most Inner Sphere mechs are at least marginally wide on options. Check out the different tier suggestions here http://metamechs.com...ists/comp-list/

Personally, I love ravens and their hero mech variant. Play with the different trial mechs and see what you like.

Oh and gauss is a great snipe weapon but very heavy and requires ammo. I usually go for non ammo weapons but that is a personal choice.

[Koniving]

ApexX Ataraxxia, on 14 October 2015 - 01:04 PM, said:

Hello all! I recently got into MWO and started playing using the Trial Mechs! Im so far really enjoying the Raven Variant and the Snipe and Move play style! Ive been trying to decide what Mech to actually work towards and I have no idea on the meta or what weapons are even good. I have played a ton of MW starting with 2/3 back in the old days, through 4, and then all the Mech Warrior games on the Xbox so I know the weapons and what to expect from them, just not how useful they may be in this game. I remember loving Gauss Rifles for sniping, are they useful? What sort of Mechs have builds/loadouts the can compliment using a Gauss Rifle? Are Autocannons worth using? All I really see is LRMs and Lasers and was hoping to do something outside those two if able haha.

Ive also looked up some youtube vids explaining the basics but they dont really say what each Mech can be used for or what Mechs are even the go to right now. I was hoping you guys could answer some of that haha.

I guess what Im asking for is insight into the Meta. What is used and why the others are seen as subpar as well as can I make something work if I really like the look or feel of the choice.

The Clan mechs tend to be very laser friendly (because they are light and you can stack a lot of them), also recently released mechs are heavily energy-focused. This is why you're seeing lots of lasers. LRMs, well, upcoming ECM changes are going to remove the "No target" block from ECM... so people are practicing with them again. That, and well they may not be very useful but they do soften targets.

Gauss Rifles are still sniper weapons. They require a short 3/4th second charge (hold and release) before they can fire. Note if you take too long to release the GR will not fire. Depending on the mech it is wise to compliment them with different things. On a Raven... to be honest the only thing you are going to carry is the GR. It is almost half the mech's weight. On something like the fire support/anti-air (sadly no airborne stuff that you can shoot at and kill) Jagermechs, I usually back them up with a couple of medium lasers for 'clean up' or quad MGs to disable a heavier target's weapons while waiting for the reload.

Alternatively, you can try twin AC/2s or an AC/5. Featured here is an AC/5 Locust (Skip to 5:57, but watch from near beginning to see a twin PPC 6 ML Hunchback at work).

Now if you're not dead-set on a Raven... The Firestarter also makes a great sniper with a Gauss Rifle.

I used it to make... "The Hollander."

[bayoucowboy]

most of my mechs with Gauss rifles are heavies or assaults due to the high tonnage requirement and fragility of the weapon (thus requiring some form of backup)

committing to the system (due to its slow charge activation and its 30 pinpoint damage) on the IS side you see double gauss builds on Jagermechs, Catapults, king crabs

most posts recommend starting with IS Hunchbacks or Clan Stormcrows due to the variety of weapons that you can equip, the lower cost of medium mechs, relative durability, and speed (for escaping from a bad decision)

Play for free MWO is all a trade off between $$ and time for the game and firepower/armor/speed on the mechs - check the forums/web for other game and mech selection advice

See you on the battlefield

[DR4GONFLYE]

Welcome to MWO!

[Leone]

Heh Koniving. That's actually how I trained myself in gauss. Didn't allow myself to put it on another mech till I could burn through three tonnes of gauss on my FS9-H.

As for the OP, the only real sniping weapons are gonna be Er Large Lasers, Er Ppcs, and Gauss. AC/2 have the range, but are sustained damage, and thus ranged brawling, not sniping. Ac5s are great for ranged brawling, but again, even with three of em stacked or so, you wanna maintain contact with those. Also, ignore the meta builds unless they actually work for you.

~Leone

[patataman]

The current "meta" is mostly centered around gauss rifles and laser boating. Clan streaks can also be devastating to lights, so run away if you are facing a clan mech boating SSRMs in the raven. The main advantage for gauss and lasers is the travel time, lasers are instant, and the gauss travel time is very short.

To give you a quick guide about weapon weaknesses:
- Gauss have a chance to explode when they receive a critical hit, and damage your mech. The ammo is inert. All other ammunitions aren't.
- Ballistics have travel time (the bigger the weapon, the slower the projectile and shorter the range) and need to compensate both the deviation for the target movement and the fall of the projectile at long ranges.
- The PPC family is quite hot, and need to compensate for target movement too.
- Flamers are, in short, useless. They are considered energy weapons and don't need fuel.
- SRM don't always register, but i'd say are ok.
- LRM efectiveness depends on the positioning of target and attacker, there is a lot of cover on the maps, and if the enemy has good ecm cover they become almost useless. They also require extra equipment to work well, a BAP to nullify close ECM, extend sensor range and reduce lock on time, a tag or narc to acquire targets, and some backup weapons for short range.
- Streaks work well with a bap and tag or narc to acquire targets. But IS streaks are limited to 2 missiles for launcher, so ideally you want to use them in mechs with lots of missile hardpoints.

Here you can find detailed weapon stats: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/equipment
And a mechlab, quite useful to design your mech without using c-bills: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...ab#i=33&l=stock

Like Koniving said, there are some undergoing tests oriented to balance weapons, so this status quo may change soon.

Edited by patataman, 14 October 2015 - 05:02 PM.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Gauss is a good long-range primary, but a strong backup is HIGHLY recommended. The dual gauss thing can be cool, but you give up a LOT for that. Take the magnet gun, sure, but back it up with some bright-n-shinies.

On a light? Well, you read above that two GREAT mechwarriors have run gauss on the FS9, so it's not out of the question. But not for the average player, either.

Want the meta for a given IS chassis? Look at the Champion mechs.

Oh yeah. It's all gonna change, sooner or later.

Welcome aboard!

[NiuqOteen]

If i had to start over, without any prior knowledge i would pick something that had at least one of each hard point type.
The ability to play around with all the weapon systems is a big deal. Stormcrow comes to mind can carry a single ballistic or multiple missile and/or energy. The speed diverse load outs twist, make it fun to drive/able to recover from mistakes. No Jump jets sucks but have alot of speed to make up for it.
LRm carrier with 6 er smalls Uac 20 / 10 with lazer back up Srm's with ErLL etc etc.

As for Dual Gauss one of the Mechs in the Academy is setup for dual could jump in and test drive see if you like the feel.

Find a weapon system you like ?
Figure out how much speed is enuff ?
Jump jets or can live without ?
Preferred fighting range?
IS or Clan?
How Durable do you want to be? Some mechs like the catapult feel about as durable as a 35 ton light
Accept and embrace Lasers as they are used on almost everything.

Once i answered these, i started having more fun.

[ApexX Ataraxxia]

Wow thanks for all the replies!! Well I'm not set on the Raven I am just enjoying that play style. I tried a more short range focused Light and I feel too scared to get up there because I KNOW how weak I am so I end up just taking pot shots at range with short range weapons. I was looking in the store at the different Mechs as well as their loadouts (as best as I can understand them at this point haha) and the Direwolf looks like a Heavy Sniper fitting the style I seem to enjoy. I enjoy being Mobile so I dont think I would enjoy a LRM firing platform style. Are there any Mechs that work towards going solo with a flank that arent Lights?

[Xbwalker]

Well you said no lights. If you like solo but are willing to try light, go Huginn. Thing is a freakin little monster.

Perhaps the Cicada is worth a look due to its speed. You could stay out of most trouble if you stay on the move.

TBH, solo isn't very smart in this game. Working closely with teammates is just about the only way to not die and for your team to win.

[BarHaid]

You might want to give the Blackjack a try. It has the high mounts that let you peek over cover, it has ballistic and energy variants to try a gauss or PPC/LL, and it is rather nimble, with jump jets. It is a low end medium, however, so don't get caught in the open, or you're done for. You aren't all that fast, but faster than a Jagermech (which shares your arm-style). If you want to be a stronger flanker, I'd recommend the Jager instead just for the extra armor and heavier load out options.

[DR4GONFLYE]

Try the trial Banshee 3M(C). Be one of the cool kids

Come on, you know you want to.....

[Not A Real RAbbi]

ApexX Ataraxxia, on 14 October 2015 - 06:33 PM, said:

Wow thanks for all the replies!! Well I'm not set on the Raven I am just enjoying that play style. I tried a more short range focused Light and I feel too scared to get up there because I KNOW how weak I am so I end up just taking pot shots at range with short range weapons. I was looking in the store at the different Mechs as well as their loadouts (as best as I can understand them at this point haha) and the Direwolf looks like a Heavy Sniper fitting the style I seem to enjoy. I enjoy being Mobile so I dont think I would enjoy a LRM firing platform style. Are there any Mechs that work towards going solo with a flank that arent Lights?

One great thing about the Raven, though? It's a RIDICULOUSLY versatile chassis.

Three of the four (2X, 4X, and 3L) make good energy (especially LL) snipers. The 3L especially, though, can also work up close (I have a build with 3x ML, SRM-6, SSRM-2). There are other variations on that, too. Want a match finisher and quick striker? The RVN-H hero mech is freakin' VICIOUS at tossing SRM-4s like a machinegun, and the 4 MGs make finishing off exposed components a snap.

If you want a fast Medium with lots of versatility, the SCR can't be beat. Also, the HBK chassis has a lot of diverse variants, all with MLs aplenty to back up their primary weapons.

Heavies? Clans again rule with the TBR, EBJ, and HBR. TDR has some good variants for IS heavy. The MAD and WHM are coming to MWO, too.

Assaults? STK is one of the greats. DWF and WHK are both really good, too (the former is one of the most feared mechs in the game).

OR, go with something they'll never expect. Pick a least-favorite in the community, and MAKE it great. Some of the game's best players have non-meta mechs that they just absolutely LOVE, and they wreck MUCH face in those.

Keep playing with the Trial mechs until you find something that really feels right to you, then work from there.

[Xbwalker]

The wonderful thing about ravens....


Been playing group matches all night with ApexX. He is learning well. What a difference watching training vids and playing around in training grounds makes. Keep it up!

[Audacious Aubergine]

TheRAbbi, on 14 October 2015 - 08:37 PM, said:

OR, go with something they'll never expect. Pick a least-favorite in the community, and MAKE it great. Some of the game's best players have non-meta mechs that they just absolutely LOVE, and they wreck MUCH face in those.

^ This. Some of my most enjoyable games have been in an autocannon Gargoyle (generally not exactly fearsome) or an Urbanmech (released more or less as a joke but can be built dangerously [ie, 2 ERLL and 4 MG, or an AC20])

[Zephalt]

.

[Koniving]

patataman, on 14 October 2015 - 04:54 PM, said:

- SRM don't always register, but i'd say are ok.

You significantly increase the chance of registering hits by firing launchers 1 or 2 at a time. The whole spiel many players have of firing 3 to 6 launchers at once is barely worth while even before ghost heat. That said, it depends on what else is going on:if no one else is really fighting your mass missiles should work great; yet if there's a lot of LRMs or SRMs flying, anything more than 12 missiles (2 SRM-6s) is gonna lose a lot of registration.

I personally chain fire my missile launchers.
This was one of the few exceptions, but as you might notice no one else was really using missiles and even then I'm only using two SRM-6s. Once a number of LRMs take flight in the air... your SRM registration is gonna be horrible.
Mind you -- the King Crab wasn't released at the time. So this was an imitation I made. First kill is shortly after 3 minutes. Another, a Timber Wolf, is shredded from full health in seconds between twin LBX-20 and twin SRM-6.

And this is old, old, but it shows what happens when you chainfire lots of missiles (LRMs).

(Last edit I swear; had to stop to rush and get the trash out for pick up.)

Edited by Koniving, 15 October 2015 - 04:10 AM.

[Anunknownlurker]

A couple of things:

1. LRMS do not mean static game play. I think this is one of the biggest mistakes a new player makes with LRMS (I know I did!). There is nothing wrong with putting a few LRMs on a fast moving mech and using them at mid-long range. The HBK-4J is probably one of the best for this currently, stick a TAG in the head and hang out 200-300m from the enemy until your tubes are empty then push in for some laser goodness. There are many other mechs which can do this too.
2. Cicada for IS and Shadowcat for Clan - both very versatile and mobile chassis can be armed with long range weapons (ERPPCs, LRMS, Large lasers etc) and come with ECM (CDA-3M and any SCH with the correct omnipod) for extra protection. Both make fast and elusive snipers/spotters if that is what you are looking for

Good luck out there!

[Koniving]

To demonstrate what Jimmy stated on fast mechs:
Cicada X-5 (basically a 40 ton Jenner), LRMs + PPC.
Jenner aggressive support-recon. Very old video, 2012, but bunny hopping Jenner with LRMs + lasers.
LRM Commando -- also very old. Post ECM.
LRM Commando before ECM -- this is also an ancient video but placed because of relevance: it is what you're about to face in upcoming patches -- ECM will delay locks not prevent them.