14 replies to this topic

[Azger]

Hi all,

Trying to learn the game and had a few questions. Whats should a noob concentrate on mech wise? i guess which type is more forgiving to a noob as I learn weapons and such?
I have been rotating through the trial mechs as of now but figured sooner or later I'm going to have to pick one to buy and was wondering which direction is good to go while still learning the in's and outs.

[Redshift2k5]

There's no real right answer here. I've seen new players who do well in lights, and I've seen new players who do best in Assaults.

There are trial mechs of each weight class, so try those out to see if you can handle the speed of a light, or if you need the durability of an Assault or need something in the middle.

If all else fails you can't really go wrong with a Heavy, like a solid Cataphract, or a Shadowhawk, which is my #1 reccomendation for a new player's first mech.

Edited by Redshift2k5, 23 May 2014 - 08:11 AM.

[Barkem Squirrel]

the best way to answer this is with a few questions.

How do you like to play?

What type of play are you good at?

What works for you?


Then the advice.

You are going to buy your first mech look at something that you can experiment with and even playing 100 matches you still may not be able to answer the questions above.

Look for something that can use Auto cannons, lasers, PPCs, SRMs, and LRMs.

You also may want to try jump jets and having larger engines for getting out of trouble and we all get into trouble from time to time.

Some mechs may have one variant that will have an XL engine, but also be the most expensive. Buy that one. Why, it is cheaper to purchase that mech with the XL engine than get another mech with the same size standard and still have to buy that XL engine. Plus you can use that with the the other mechs of the chassis.


As for play style, I learned more when I started to run LRMs. You have to have a good situational awareness when you run them. When running LRMs you have to think, is that mech in an area that I can hit him or are they flanking us and I have to move to a different position. That carries over to other builds later and will let you live longer. The longer you live the more damage you can do, more kills you can acquire or kill secure (kill stealing) and affect the outcome of the match.


There is one mech that I would recommend do to the ability to have different setups, the Shadowhawks.

Edited by Barkem Squirrel, 23 May 2014 - 08:19 AM.

[mailin]

To players who are first starting out, I usually recommend mediums, and then to start figuring out whether you want more firepower (heavies & assaults) or more speed (lights). At the extreme ends, you can't have one without the other, so becomes a matter of what works for your particular play style. As far as forgiving of new player mistakes, I find that faster mechs can get you out of trouble much faster than slower mechs, but they can also get you dead a lot faster as well.

[Azger]

awesome thanks for the help, playing more I am probably more a brawler type, not really good at the running and gunning type, so i'm guessing heavy may be the way to go.

Though had fun on the medium the last couple of times I tried it out.

[SaltBeef]

If You pick a heavy use cover or file in line slightly echeloned from your pug-mates to concentrate your firepower. Do not rush headstrong into Battle or you will find just how squishy a Core is under the direct impact of several mechs weapon-systems. Medium support mechs can be really fun in this role like a Cent with ac-5 constantly pecking at the armor of a enemy distracted brawler. It took me a looong time to figure this out myself. I wanted blood so badly the only blood spilled was my own in the attemp.

[Koniving]

Azger, on 23 May 2014 - 08:01 AM, said:

Hi all,

Trying to learn the game and had a few questions. Whats should a noob concentrate on mech wise? i guess which type is more forgiving to a noob as I learn weapons and such?
I have been rotating through the trial mechs as of now but figured sooner or later I'm going to have to pick one to buy and was wondering which direction is good to go while still learning the in's and outs.

If you have not, I highly recommend going into the testing grounds. You can use this to help you learn the maps though in due time you will learn them anyway. But more importantly you can use it to discover ways to be more effective in doing damage. For example, load up a map on the Testing Grounds and find the nearest test dummy. Hitting R will give you information in the upper right.

The "doll" there has several limbs. On the enemy, shoot different body parts (slowly) and see what happens to the doll.

Note that these dolls are 100% pure stock mechs, so they will die easier than the 'real thing' in many cases. Still, it is good to know how to concentrate your fire to better dismantle and kill your opponents.

Also note that lasers fired while stationary and concentrated on a body part are significantly more effective than lasers 'grazing' a target while moving. This is a concept lost on most players during their first few months. Give it a shot. Try to see how you can make that work for you.

When under fire and retreating, it is important to know that you should not run in a straight line. This should be obvious but for some reason it is not.

If you are receiving heavy damage during a fight; especially a brawl, the first thing you should do is look away. The enemy is concentrating a lot of fire into one spot. Take that away from them. If possible pull back, turn around, and come back later. Preferably when the enemy is busy with someone else.
Example can found in this fight:


Mechs with big arms are mechs with big shields. With armlock off and using the Left CTRL key you can take control of the arm for advanced aiming. You can also use it to control the arms to block enemy shots. The difficulty here is 'predicting' the shots because you actually have to block the shot before it occurs not when it occurs. (you'll feel like a time traveler before long).

Azger, on 23 May 2014 - 09:42 AM, said:

awesome thanks for the help, playing more I am probably more a brawler type, not really good at the running and gunning type, so i'm guessing heavy may be the way to go.

Though had fun on the medium the last couple of times I tried it out.

Brawling mediums tend to be in the 55 ton category. If you do this, the KTO-20, the SHK-5M, GRF-3M, and the Wolverine 7K are already nearly fully upgraded (the others may be cheaper, but by the time you upgrade them you'll have spent between 1,000,000 to 3,000,000 more to 'match' them).

Alternatively, a solid heavy or two include the Orion (the champion trial mech sucks compared to what can be done with it) and the Cataphract. They are the more expensive heavies, but both of them (more so the Orion) are much cheaper to get off the ground. (Smaller heavies tend to require an XL engine to really carry the firepower and speed you need for long matches, the Cataphract can get by without, and the Orion actually works ~Better~ without the expensive XL engine).

Other semi-recent videos that may interest you.

Spoiler

Heavy mech, using cover. Cataphract.


Heavy mech, the 'hottest' Orion (the Orion K).


Run and Gun style Brawling (nothing says you can't mix and match playstyles). Thunderbolt.


And because it may be a small while before you use them... The heaviest mechs.
What happens if you don't twist much. Also shows partial rebuilding. Banshee.


Atlas.

Edited by Koniving, 23 May 2014 - 10:40 AM.

[danneskold]

I usually run lights, but started in medium. I have to say, for overall versatility, I do like the Shadowhawks, that is a good chassis with reasonable speed for a medium so you can get used to different styles of play. Also, for me, JJ are an addiction, so if there are no JJ, I blow on by the model.

[mailin]

Yeah the Shadowhawks are great, and versatile, and my favorite mediums because they can have so many different kinds of weapons.

[Rogue Jedi]

Do you have a favorite trial Mech, or a favorite weapon, e.g. you like the handling of one Mech but prefer the load out of another, let us know and someone may be able to suggest a mech offering a good compromise

my preference is for speed and agility over armor, my favorite Mechs are the Spider, Jenner, Firestarter and Cicada, however just because I enjoy and am effective with those does not mean everyone will be.

[Saber1]

My only advice: Never buy a gold mech.

Unless you want to get TKed…

[Votanin FleshRender]

Things I wish I had done...

Buy small. Small mechs are cheap, and if you find you don't like them, you should still have a lots of $$ left over. I bought an assault, died constantly, and it took for-freakin-ever to work up the cbills to buy something else.

LRMs are very friendly to new players (although not very compatible with small mechs. I'm a mixed bag of advice) Stay in the back, let your teammates help you with targets until you get a feel for the flow of a game. I have extremely fond memories of the STK trial mech...

Would type more, but my sausage fingers are not very compatible with my iPhone...

[Alaskan Nobody]

Votanin FleshRender, on 24 May 2014 - 08:00 AM, said:

Buy small. Small mechs are cheap, and if you find you don't like them, you should still have a lots of $$ left over. I bought an assault, died constantly, and it took for-freakin-ever to work up the cbills to buy something else.

Probably more midweight - after you picked up the XL engine for even a Locust - its costs about as much to kit out as a Hunchback does, let alone the extra cost in a Raven, Jenner, or Firestarter.

Most Medium go very well without an XL - which really helps drop their total cost, some of them can even function (semi-resonably) without DHS (IE the "basic" AC20 Hunchback can, because of it's long cooldown - still does better with DHS, but if you cannot afford them, you can use it (above averagely) without)

[GLIZZY GULPER]

SHD-5M is a great medium mech, 2 of each hardpoint type means you can have quite a lot of diversity.

Comes with an XL 275 which is a surrogate for the most common engine in builds for other mechs like the Jager.

[Koniving]

Still hasn't made his 25 matches yet I see.
Something tells me trouble hit along the road.
Hope it wasn't LRMs. The helplessness those have been giving people with the constant spam has really been scaring people off.

Let us know if something is up Azger.