The following message is intended for new players trying to get their bearings in MWO, so I will keep it as brief as possible.
First, Welcome to Battletech. If you haven't already, check out www.sarna.net for tons of in-depth information on the universe.
Second - this is not a first person shooter.
Part 1: How Battlemechs Work
No, this is not about how to build your own fusion reactor - it's about the game mechanics.
The important things you need to know about battlemechs:
Spoiler
- Each 'mech has a total weight in tons (in five-ton increments from 20 to 100 tons) that is the sum of all it's equipment - engine, amour, and weapons.
- Based on the 'mech's weight, it will be considered light (20 to 35t), medium (40-55t), heavy (60-75t) or assault (80-100t), though this has no meaning in the rules. As soon as 3/3/3/3 is properly implemented, every game will be played with 3 mechs of each class per side (with some exceptions in premium private matches - don't wory about that just now). That means each 12-man 'team' in the game will have 3 light, 3 medium, 3 heavy and 3 assault mechs, which may affect your choice of a ride.
- All weapons are the same for everybody. An AC10 is an AC10, wether you put it on a 50 ton Centurion, or a 70 ton Cataphract. Besides weight, which can make it difficult, there are no restrictions for equipping particular weapons - light 'mechs can carry PPCs and AC20 if you can make it fit. This is different from class-based pvp games, where certain equipment is restricted by class.
- There are 3 basic types of weapons: Ballistic, Energy, and Missiles. Ballistic weapons require ammo (duh) and are heavy, but generate less heat. Energy weapons are lighter than ballistic and have unlimited shots (no ammo), but generate more heat (more on heat later on), while missiles come in Long (LRM) or Short (SRM) range variety. LRMs are semi-guided (you need to lock-on and maintain the lock. LRMs an be fired "dumb", but with no tracking capability and long flight time, good luck hitting anything that doesn't stand still as a statue.) and have a minimum range before they arm. SRMs are dumb-fire and have no minimum range. A special variety, Streak SRM2 is available right now, that is a guided (fire and forget, but won't fire without a lock) version of the SRM.
Part 2: Game machanics
Heat
Spoiler
Firing your weapons generates heat. Too much heat, and your mech will shut down, defenseless. When your heat exceeds 100% capacity, you will also take internal damage, so beware. Shutdown can be avoided with the "override shutdown" button (press before shutting down), but the damage from excessive heat will still apply.
You'r 'mech's ability to handle heat buildup is determined by heatsinks. Double heatsinks, contrary to the name, dissipate 1.4 times as much heat, as standard heatsinks (this is to prevent heat becoming irrelevant after upgrading to double heatsinks, or DHS for short, and is one of the few things not exactly matching the Battletech board game rules).
Note: to prevent "boating" (stacking multiple weapons of the same type, usually energy), MWO uses a system called GHOST HEAT. In short, Firing too many lasers will produce more heat, than the simple sum would indicate. Likewise, rapid firing autocannons will produce increased heat beyond what the weapon profile indicates.
Damage (Help, there's a hole in my mech, and I still cannot find my health bar)
Spoiler
Damage is handled differently in MWO, than in traditional FPS games - instead of regenerating health, or a traditional health bar, each mech has 11 sections, shown on a 'paperdoll' in the lower left corner of your screen. Each section has two values associated with it: armour and internal structure. Armour depends on the 'mech's loadout, structure depends on the tonnage - all 50 ton mechs will have the same structure, be they Hunchbacks, Centurions, or Trebuchets, etc.
Damage will be applied to whatever section of the 'mech was hit - first to armour, then to structure. When there is no armour, any hit may be a 'critical' (this is different from "right arm critical damage" announcement from b*tching betty - your onboard computer, which simply denotes internal damage to a component). Critical hits may destroy your weapons and even cause your ammo to explode. Additionally, destroying a section of a mech will have the following results:
Head: destroys the mech
Center Torso: destroys the mech
Left/Right Torso: destroys the corresponding arm. For mechs fitted with an XL engine, this will destroy the engine as well, destroying the 'mech.
Leg: limits speed to 50% or 40 kp/h (whichever is slower)
Both Legs: destroys the 'mech.
When you start the game (new account), you will have no money (c-bills). This limits your 'mech selection to the "Trial Mechs", which are free (and change regularly). Trial 'mechs used to be stock variants from the board game, but that went horribly awry, so now they use decent, battle-tested configs. For your first 25 games, you also get bonus c-bills, to get you started.
Once you have the credits, you can buy yourself a mech (that you will be able to customise). Most 'mechs can be bought fot c-bills. The exceptions are Hero 'mechs (unique variants, sometimes belonging to famous characters from the Battletech lore like the Yen Lo Wang, and the Protector), Champion Mechs (the trial variants that come loaded with all the good stuff and a 10% exerience bonus) and ofcourse mechbays and colours/camo patterns. These all can be bought for MC (which you get with real money). You can also buy regular mechs with MC, if you prefer to pay than to grind. I will not raise the Pay 2 Win issue here - suffice to say it is non existent.
That's it for game mechanics. Now on to basics.
Part 3a: Piloting your 'Mech
Spoiler
Your battlemech is a vehicle, not a suit of armour (despite its vaguely humanoid appearance), and should be treated accordingly. By default, W and S keys control your throttle. With throttle decay on (check settings), pressing W sets your throttle to 100% forward, while pressing S sets it to 100% reverse. A preferred control method is to use regular mode (throttle decay off) - pressing W and S will increase/decrease throttle, allowing you better control of your speed, and also - you will not stop moving when you decide to type something in the chat (though you may run into something, but that's a different problem).
A and D keys turn your 'mech, nothing more to say.
Your mouse controls your torso. Depending on the mech, torso movement range will be greater, or smaller.
Tip: If you intend to use a joystick, use it for controlling the legs (turning) and general systems (targeting, jump jets etc.) and leave torso control to the mouse. While in the battletech lore, mechs were controlled by joysticks, the mechwarriors also used neurohelmets, so unless you have one of those on hand, a joystick will never match the precision of a mouse-controlled torso.
Part 3b: Aiming weapons
Spoiler
There are two crosshairs - a circle, and a regular crosshair. With arm lock on (again - check settings), the two stay together. Without arm lock, the arm crosshair (circle) has a greater range of movement. Arm lock can be toggled by holding down left shift.
Tip: Arm lock makes your torso movements slightly slower and smoother - useful for long range sniping.
Pressing 'R' will target the enemy closest (radial angle) to the crosshairs. Doing this is important for two reasons. First, it will allow your teammates to target the mech as well, even if they are out of sensor range, or without a clear line of sight - this is essential for indirect LRM attacks. Second, and more important, it will display a 'paperdoll' of the enemy mech in the upper-right corner of your screen, along with his weapon loadout, which will tell you where to aim your weapons. You may even be able to guess, if he has an XL engine (and can be killed more easily by going for the side torso).
Firing weapons is done by pressing whatever key corresponds to that wepon's set group. Groups can be set in the mech lab, or in the game using arrow keys and right ctrl.
That's pretty much it for controlling your 'mech. Besides the movement tutorial, I strongly suggest selecting the TRAINING GROUNDS from the home screen menu (within the game, not the section of these forums, obviously) and getting a feel for the mech against unmanned, practice targets (also good for touring the maps).
Tip: when configuring your weapons, try to stick to 3-4 weapon groups. You can comfortably control them with any mouse that has additional thumb buttons.
Part 3c: The principles of 'Mech combat
Spoiler
First thing - STAY ALIVE. I cannot stress how important this is. There are no respawns during the match, and the team with more 'mechs has a huge advantage.
Killing a mech is not as easy as squeezing off a burst in a 'normal' FPS. Getting killed, on the other hand, is very easy, especially with several people shooting at you.
Many new players get blown up when they "go for the kill" - avoid that. From personal experience, I can tell you that it is better to focus on "doing damage" than "killing enemies". Do not be afraid to retreat from a fight even if it means handing over a kill to someone else. The longer you survive, the more good you will do.
Second thing - PAY ATTENTION. To the minimap, and the battlefield in general. At all times you should keep in mind where your friends and enemies are both - this will help you avoid running into an angry mob of battlemechs all by yourself.
Try not to get separated from the rest of your team, and forget any clever ideas to "sneak around and ambush the enemy" all by yourself.
Part 4: Selecting your first 'mech
Spoiler
This is a touchy subject, since every player with some experience under his belt, will generally have his own idea of how you should start your first foray into mech combat.
Personally, I would warn you to stay away from assault mechs for now. While the previous Mechwarrior endgames were all about the heaviest mechs with the biggest guns, this is not the case in MWO, and assault mechs' sluggish movement can be a huge liability for new players.
Also try to avoid light mechs since they require a speciffic approach.
My advice would be to get a medium 'mech, or a missile boat (yes, I did say missile boat).
First - mediums like the Shadowhawk and Centurion are considered top tier 'mechs - they can take a lot of abuse, and have both the punch needed to do some damage, and the mobility to traverse the battlefield with relative ease.
Second - at the moment at least, missile boats are easy to use. LRMs are the easiest weapon in the game to use effectively, and with their long range, and indirect-fire capability, allow you to engage enemies easily, and without exposing yourself too much. They are not invincible, nor the best battlemechs out there, but a quick way to get results for little effort. If you understand the reference, they are the hundred-hand slap of MWO.
Looks ok kinda skimmed it but I think you should mention ghost heat under the heat section. Many new players do not know about ghost heat and it could pose a serious problem
added info on ghost heat. Like I said - this is not supposed to be a complete guide - more like an introduction to make new players understand what is happening.
0
