35 replies to this topic

[Kaldor]

Ive played some WoT as well. Both games have their merits. Dont really care for one over the other.

I agree with most of this quote. A few counterpoints though...

E N E R G Y, on 27 May 2014 - 06:08 PM, said:

1. Adjust video settings to obtain at the minimum 30 frames per second (1920x1080 resolution if you have a 16:9 resolution monitor, try to match native if you can. If not, lower resolution but keep aspect ratio i.e. 16:9 is 1920x1080, 1600x900 and 1280x720 and 4:3 would be 800x600). I would AIM for 60FPS however, though it's difficult with MWO because it seems poorly coded i.e. I can get near 300FPS on CS:GO in 1080P High settings and near 200fps in BF4 with a mixture of high/low settings on 1080P but for some reason dip to even 50 fps on MWO with almost every setting on LOW. I've seen simliar results with other peoples high-end set-ups. You can even aim for 120fps if you have a 120Hz monitor like myself i.e. BenQ XL2420TX.

Great advice. You need to be able to run this game smoothly to effectively aim. Upper end FPS doesnt matter, however running at a minimum of 30fps at all times is a must.

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2. Adjust keybinds to allow for ease of movement/shooting. Map important keys near your "cluster" i.e. ASWD or arrow-keys or whatever you like. Set mouse sensitivity where it's slow/fast enough that you can aim accurately.

Good point. Plenty of people in this game use something like a Nostromo, and a programmable mouse with good adjustable DPI settings. I use a Nostromo N52TE and a RAT 7. Some tweaking and macros built in on both. Saves precious seconds, which is important.

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3. Arm lock/throttle decay. Most MW4/old school mechwarrior pilots play MWO with arm lock ON, including most of my team (Clan Smoke Jaguars, http://www.smokejaguars.com). Though the "new" crowd to MWO tend to use arm lock OFF. Both can be used effectively and simliarly. If you find torso turn with arm lock ON too slow, raise mouse sensitivity and vice versa if mouse feels too twitchy/fast with arm lock OFF. You can snipe faster and more accurate with arm lock ON due to convergence between equal with arm and torso weapons whereas with arm lock OFF torso weapons LAG behind arms, though arms move FASTER (again, you can simply raise mouse sensitivity with arm lock ON to obtain a similar feel to arm lock OFF). Throttle decay ON essential mimics modern day FPS where you hold "W" to move forward and when you let go you STOP. At first glance it looks trivial and more cumbersome than simply using the "stick throttle", which lets you throttle the mech in increments forward and let go, but still MOVE. After analysis though, one can see the mechs THROTTLE FASTER with throttle decay "ON". yes, it's true, the mechs will ACCELERATE and DECELERATE FASTER with throttle decay ON. you can test it yourself. it's very minute, but more noticeable with fast light mechs.

IMO, a new player should use arm lock ON, unless he absolutely wants to use arm lock OFF and use throttle decay OFF, unless he is used to FPS like CS:GO or Battlefield.

No! Arm lock and throttle decay attempted to turn this game into a FPS. Convergence in this game used to be a little slower, which was a good thing as it increased TTK/TTL for mechs. They drastically increased convergence time at some point which allowed people to get all weapons to bear on a target much quicker. Was a bad change, and only contributed to the FLD meta we have right now because it made it really easy for noobs to pinpoint alpha strike with minimal effort.. And most of the old guard MWO players did not really care for this change...

My advice is to leave both off. Use the Shift Key to toggle arm lock on for bringing all weapons to bear on a target quickly. Mechs with arms are great for shooting lights and fast mediums. When you lock your arms you make yourself vulnerable to them because it can be difficult to stay on target. Throttle decay is helpful for rank noobs, so I say dont use it. This allows you to set your speed and forget it, or modify on the fly as needed. Sometimes the fastest speed is not the best speed. That allows you to concentrate on other things like staying alive and shooting people

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4. Mech builds. Even with good FPS, good keybinds, good in-game settings, you will essential be "mediocre" unless you have a solid mech build. Most people putting up 500-1000dmg every game have a SOLID, POWERFUL and reliable mech build. Usually meta, which is PPC and AC5 at the moment.

Very true. Learn to build mechs that move as fast as possible, hit hard, and have decent dissipation so you can maintain fire. Nearly any build (except really stupid frankenmechs with bad weapons) can be effective if put in the hands of a decent player. Direct fire FLD is the meta now, which is most easily done with PPC and ACs of some type. That doesnt mean that beam weapons and missiles arent effective, just require a little more skill and work to use.

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5. Get a team. I wouldn't have the win/loss ratio nor K/D i have now, had I NOT played with my teammates so often at CSJ. Actually, coming from competitive CSGO and BF3/BF4, I would have already un-installed this game since the learning curve IMO tends to be higher and new players more oblvious.

If you want to keep your sanity and really test your teamwork, head to COMSTAR or put in applciations for a solid unit so you can at the VERY Minimum drop with at-least 4 teammates.

That's all I can think of at the top of my head at the moment, if I missed something let me know.

"Get a team" Most important point in this quote. Players that have been playing longer will help you become a better player and make the game more enjoyable. MWO is a team game, more-so than any other FPS shooter style game I have played in the last 20 years.

[dragnier1]

Back when i started there was no match maker and all trial mechs were stock builds (others were running dhs+endo). I remember being matched with/against really good players, as well as 8 mans. I also remember reading about 8man ravens, atlas and awesomes. The learning curve was really steep back then.

These days with champion mechs featured as trial mechs and match maker the learning curve is easier, as i see it. Those complaining about MM don't remember/know about the days without MM. There were 8-0 stomps then as there are now.

Edit:
That being said, there is still a learning curve in this game. Unfortunately the current way to overcome it is to read, ask, watch (youtube, etc) and then try it yourself. It might even take a long while to get a hang of it.

Edited by dragnier1, 28 May 2014 - 07:12 AM.

[Buckminster]

Matchmaker (and the trial mechs) are significantly better now than they used to be. That doesn't change what is one of the fundamental flaws with the MM - that it pits brand new players against seasoned veterans.

WoT had their tiered tank system, and the intro Tier 1 tanks were the 'noob tanks' - their MM specifically set it so that people in those Tier of tanks would only face other Tier 1 tanks. Even if you had seasoned veterans running around in Tier 1 tanks for lulz, the equipment was all on the same page. That alone was enough of a field leveler that new players weren't as overwhelmed.

Since MWO doesn't have (and can't, really) tiers, MM ends up mixing together players that don't belong on the same field.

You also have the fact that mechs are a lot more complicated than tanks. In WoT, all you need to do is drive around and shoot your main gun. In MWO, some mechs can jump, most have multiple weapon systems, and you have heat management. A new player doesn't necessarily know how to handle all of those different factors, and you end up with new players firing their weapons ineffectively (beyond max or below min range), and ultimately overheating and shutting down dead. I remember watching a new player in the trial Stalker, and he was having worlds of problems with his LRMs. He didn't know that he needed to lock, and he didn't know that he could use 'R' to target. Imagine the frustration of a player not being able to effectively use his main weapons system!

So yeah, the new player experience is sub-par. It's something they know about and are fixing. So to the OP - you already made a great first step in coming to the forums. There is a wealth of good info here, and once you find your groove it really is a fun game.

[ExoForce]

As (almost) dedicated assault Stalker LRM/laser boat pilot here is my tip:

Try to master Catapult. Why? Catapult is Stalkers skinny little brother, very vunerable, low on fire power compared to assault mechs,can easily be dissarmed and destroyed. So what is the point?

You will become very paranoid, you will feel naked on open fields, you will stick with your team because you will need company , you will learn that TAG brings bonuses, you will learn to seek cover, you will became aware of terrain, you will predict enemy movements on the map and you will learn to think about your movements in advance on the battlefield.

After mastering Catapults, you will be very confident and feel like god in assault mech.

My 5 cents...

[Kjudoon]

Dan Nowak, on 27 May 2014 - 05:16 PM, said:

Any tips on learning this game faster. I have been playing WOT for about a year and am doing ok. I have been getting nothing but frustration from MWOL and am about to uninstall it and go back to the panzers.

Welcome to MWO, first off.

This game's learning curve is a pain. No question about it. It takes usuallly between 100-200 matches before you start getting the idea of what's going on. Problem is, many will not put up with that and will quit. Hang in there. The game does get better but let me tell you the brutal truth of what it takes.

1. Join a team. (yes yes... everyone knew I was going to say this again) I'm not kidding here. Pick a faction you like, find a unit you are interested in, install teamspeak or whatever they use and get with a group. I lonewolfed it from a month and was ready to ragequit too till I decided to give a group a try. I found the Seraphim and I was able to love the game again and thrive. So join a team. Don't torture yourself.

2. Learn your role. Not everyone's a brawler, or a scout or a support pilot. Right now, the trial mechs are all direct fire, and generally brawly mixes. Other than the Orion trial (IMHO) they're fair builds. That Orion sucks so hard it bends light. The point is, till you are able to get a feel for what you like and buy that first mech, you aren't going to enjoy this game or find what you really do well. I was stuck in a Jenner for the first 200 matches and then bought a blackjack... ick... before I learned I was a stone LRM pilot. So learn what you like to play and it will dramatically increase your enjoyment.

3. WOT will teach you how to play this game better. Take those skills and use them here. You can't oneshot targets as easy as you can in WOT, but skills there are transferrable.

4. Use your rookie bonus to buy a good "generalist" mech like a Shadowhawk, Griffin, or Orion (yes when you can load them out they're fantastic). The point is, a generalist mech will allow you to customize and get a feel for what you can do and enjoy. A medium mech is tricky to run, but the most versitile.

5. There is only one thing worth spending real money on at the moment: mech bays. Do not buy anything other than that with MC till you know what you like... Getting yourself 12 mech bays is very much worthwhile, but till such time as the Clan Mechs and Community Warfare prove to not break the games.... hold fast and wait. It may be worth it to you, it may not.

I hope that helps. Oh... and as Koniving has pointed out, do not let the nattering nabobs of negativity (me included when I get on my rants) drive you from the game.

[oldradagast]

One thing about buying mechs - stick to the middle weight groups until you know what you're doing.

The trial mechs are mediocre, but they do give you an accurate feel for size, speed, and mobility. If you find that light mech too fast or the assault mech too slow, you've learned a valuable lesson about what type of mechs you like to pilot.

Light mechs: Speed is life, as is mobility and proper use of terrain. Perhaps the hardest weight class to pilot since you need to always be moving in a fight and you must pick your fights wisely while at the same time be mobile enough to be a threat anywhere on the field. Also, map knowledge helps a lot with lights since you're fast enough to go anywhere in a game.

Medium mechs: Still use speed a good deal, but can carry enough armor and weapons to at least slug it out a bit. Still not easy to pilot, but far more balanced for a new player than racing around at 130 kph+ wondering what is going on. Most mediums benefit from engine upgrades so they are faster than heavy mechs.

Heavy mechs: Probably the easiest weight class to start in. Reasonably tough and well-armed, but not too fast, though they are not super-slow, either. Good, all-around mechs that can handle many situations.

Assault mechs: Not the place to start for most people. Yes, they have huge armor and guns, but they are the slowest mechs out there and are targets because of how scary they are. Piloting one of these well requires the ability to spread damage and not over-commit early in a fight since if you do, everyone will focus-fire you into scrap metal.

Good luck.

[Koniving]

Kaldor, on 28 May 2014 - 06:12 AM, said:

No! Arm lock and throttle decay attempted to turn this game into a FPS. Convergence in this game used to be a little slower, which was a good thing as it increased TTK/TTL for mechs. They drastically increased convergence time at some point which allowed people to get all weapons to bear on a target much quicker. Was a bad change, and only contributed to the FLD meta we have right now because it made it really easy for noobs to pinpoint alpha strike with minimal effort.. And most of the old guard MWO players did not really care for this change...

My advice is to leave both off. Use the Shift Key to toggle arm lock on for bringing all weapons to bear on a target quickly. Mechs with arms are great for shooting lights and fast mediums. When you lock your arms you make yourself vulnerable to them because it can be difficult to stay on target. Throttle decay is helpful for rank noobs, so I say dont use it. This allows you to set your speed and forget it, or modify on the fly as needed. Sometimes the fastest speed is not the best speed. That allows you to concentrate on other things like staying alive and shooting people

This. The 'simulator' aspect took its final hit with the combination of Armlock and removal of delayed convergence (also known as 'time to converge'). It also ended many advance techniques, like using arms to 'swat' enemy fire WITHOUT torso twisting (nothing seemed more invincible than an Atlas that would beat AC/20 rounds with his fist while still firing his own). That technique is completely lost in today's MWO, which makes Atlases seem so easy to kill you can do it while dipping a Twinkie in coffee.

The ability to suppress enemies by firing in two different directions to buy yourself time for your teammates to catch up -- completely lost.

Arms as LRM shields? Bet people don't even know you could do it.

Advanced targeting; any lock on weapons will target where the 'o' crosshair is pointed. Any Victor complaining about the lack of torso twist speed isn't using their arms to keep streaks locked.

LRMs at two separate targets at the same time? Requires armlock off.

Aiming at things too high, too low, etc? Armlock off.

Bunny hopping laser/missile boat (jumping over players over and over while shooting without a care for JJ shake as it does nothing much to lasers or lockons), requires armlock off.

Now for a precision shot with all weapons? Hit shift, armlock turns on just as long as you hold it.

For a precision shot with the arms? You can use shift or use left CTRL (which can allow you to shoot things without exposing weak body parts).

ExoForce, on 28 May 2014 - 07:47 AM, said:

As (almost) dedicated assault Stalker LRM/laser boat pilot here is my tip: Try to master Catapult. Why? Catapult is Stalkers skinny little brother, very vunerable, low on fire power compared to assault mechs,can easily be dissarmed and destroyed. So what is the point? You will become very paranoid.

And to master Catapults and become truly paranoid, run a ROFLpult! (How to build) 9:00 for action and an ideal match.

126 points of armor, less than even a stock Locust...

Or this for more direct to action matches with it.

(Seriously though, only run a roflpult with some experience and a desire to make the game as difficult as possible. Great skill building exercise though!)

Edited by Koniving, 28 May 2014 - 08:18 AM.

[ExoForce]

Will try, used to pain and heat.

[Bigbacon]

best advise is just keep playing. No amount of people telling you stuff and recommending mech builds is going to make you better.

[Mecheart]

Best bet really--from one new player to another--is to find a niche within the game. Find a role to serve, one which you enjoy playing; one that benefits and compliments similar mechs in your lance and company in battle. A cool aspect of MWO: there are many viable roles to play on the battlefield. Some require a ton of responsibility to play well--such as piloting an Atlas or scouting for your team. In other roles one can be more of an independent operator while still contributing to each and every win.

Discover your role ... your MWO identity. Are you a natural leader? Do you like to go fast and harass much larger enemies? Does the idea of peeking over a hill and sniping away at distant foes get you excited? What about piloting a medium mech protected by less than half of an assault mech's armor yet serving as the big guy's body guard ... kind of like riding shotgun in the Old West? Want to be a force multiplier? You can do that too. Regardless, once you've found your role and mastered the mech which serves it best, you'll no longer get the ******* during countdown to drop because you'll know without doubt exactly how you fit in.

[White Bear 84]

Dan Nowak, on 27 May 2014 - 05:16 PM, said:

Any tips on learning this game faster. I have been playing WOT for about a year and am doing ok. I have been getting nothing but frustration from MWOL and am about to uninstall it and go back to the panzers.

Do things, try new stuff, test your limits. Get killed. You will soon learn through death, how to live (or at least stay alive longer).

Edited by White Bear 84, 29 May 2014 - 06:57 PM.

[White Bear 84]

Koniving, on 28 May 2014 - 08:06 AM, said:

(Seriously though, only run a roflpult with some experience and a desire to make the game as difficult as possible. Great skill building exercise though!)

Why I like running my dual gauss K2.. ..great for re-training aim & developing patience (with limited ammo). Set challenges like try to always hit the RT/LT or get 100% hit rate.. ..the fact that it has the charge is what makes hitting moving targets tricky and what makes timing essential. I love practicing this on lights mwhahaahah

[n r g]

Kaldor, on 28 May 2014 - 06:12 AM, said:

Ive played some WoT as well. Both games have their merits. Dont really care for one over the other.

I agree with most of this quote. A few counterpoints though...



Great advice. You need to be able to run this game smoothly to effectively aim. Upper end FPS doesnt matter, however running at a minimum of 30fps at all times is a must.



Good point. Plenty of people in this game use something like a Nostromo, and a programmable mouse with good adjustable DPI settings. I use a Nostromo N52TE and a RAT 7. Some tweaking and macros built in on both. Saves precious seconds, which is important.



No! Arm lock and throttle decay attempted to turn this game into a FPS. Convergence in this game used to be a little slower, which was a good thing as it increased TTK/TTL for mechs. They drastically increased convergence time at some point which allowed people to get all weapons to bear on a target much quicker. Was a bad change, and only contributed to the FLD meta we have right now because it made it really easy for noobs to pinpoint alpha strike with minimal effort.. And most of the old guard MWO players did not really care for this change...

My advice is to leave both off. Use the Shift Key to toggle arm lock on for bringing all weapons to bear on a target quickly. Mechs with arms are great for shooting lights and fast mediums. When you lock your arms you make yourself vulnerable to them because it can be difficult to stay on target. Throttle decay is helpful for rank noobs, so I say dont use it. This allows you to set your speed and forget it, or modify on the fly as needed. Sometimes the fastest speed is not the best speed. That allows you to concentrate on other things like staying alive and shooting people



Very true. Learn to build mechs that move as fast as possible, hit hard, and have decent dissipation so you can maintain fire. Nearly any build (except really stupid frankenmechs with bad weapons) can be effective if put in the hands of a decent player. Direct fire FLD is the meta now, which is most easily done with PPC and ACs of some type. That doesnt mean that beam weapons and missiles arent effective, just require a little more skill and work to use.



"Get a team" Most important point in this quote. Players that have been playing longer will help you become a better player and make the game more enjoyable. MWO is a team game, more-so than any other FPS shooter style game I have played in the last 20 years.

Thanks for your analysis of my post. I actually agree with the majority of your points and like your approach.

The only reason I will not necessarily disagree, but counter your arm lock/throttle decay argument is becausing using throttle decay allows for fast reverse/forward throttling than using throttle up/down. Don't believe me? try it in the testing grounds. It's much more noticeable with fast lights however, but still applicable for even assaults. And you must remember that I was a die-hard "throttle up/throttle down" guy in MW4 and used that here in MWO as-well, until I started using decay more.

Also, the "holding" it down aspect doesn't seem to be as negative as most would think, since letting it go essentially "stops" the mech, and you can set the speed then jump jet and it retains that speed while JJ'ing even though you let go of "W".

Now, for arm lock, most old-school players use it ON. It seems the only people that "laugh" about it being n00bish and such are the NEW MWO players. Most of my team, CSJ, uses it ON. Reason is, it allows for reflex-type sniping with 100% convergence of torso/arm weapons. And I don't roll with the "it's too hard to hit lights with it" argument because you can simply increase the mouse sensitivity to allow it to swing/manipulate it faster.

With this all being said, I don't necessarily find anything wrong with using Decay OFF or arm lock OFF, and I really feel that until the game progresses (leagues come out, competition increases), we won't see what "truly" is best or the "standard", so to speak.

[Void Angel]

I'm told that if you use a joystick for throttle and turning you can get better responses than with the keyboard - not only do you have a faster throttle control, you also can turn in analog, instead of it being just off/on. I haven't tested this myself, however, because I am poor. =)

[Buckminster]

Void Angel, on 29 May 2014 - 10:36 PM, said:

I'm told that if you use a joystick for throttle and turning you can get better responses than with the keyboard - not only do you have a faster throttle control, you also can turn in analog, instead of it being just off/on. I haven't tested this myself, however, because I am poor. =)

Analog movement controls FTW, I don't think Id play without them. For me, it's what helps keep MWO from being just another FPS.

Although I'm not exactly a rich guy, I'm using a 15 year old Sidewinder 2.

[Kaldor]

E N E R G Y, on 29 May 2014 - 09:37 PM, said:

Thanks for your analysis of my post. I actually agree with the majority of your points and like your approach.

The only reason I will not necessarily disagree, but counter your arm lock/throttle decay argument is becausing using throttle decay allows for fast reverse/forward throttling than using throttle up/down. Don't believe me? try it in the testing grounds. It's much more noticeable with fast lights however, but still applicable for even assaults. And you must remember that I was a die-hard "throttle up/throttle down" guy in MW4 and used that here in MWO as-well, until I started using decay more.

Also, the "holding" it down aspect doesn't seem to be as negative as most would think, since letting it go essentially "stops" the mech, and you can set the speed then jump jet and it retains that speed while JJ'ing even though you let go of "W".

Now, for arm lock, most old-school players use it ON. It seems the only people that "laugh" about it being n00bish and such are the NEW MWO players. Most of my team, CSJ, uses it ON. Reason is, it allows for reflex-type sniping with 100% convergence of torso/arm weapons. And I don't roll with the "it's too hard to hit lights with it" argument because you can simply increase the mouse sensitivity to allow it to swing/manipulate it faster.

With this all being said, I don't necessarily find anything wrong with using Decay OFF or arm lock OFF, and I really feel that until the game progresses (leagues come out, competition increases), we won't see what "truly" is best or the "standard", so to speak.

Different strokes for different folks man.

Not using throttle decay doesnt seem to effect my play at all. I use throttle up, full stop to get to 0 quickly, and reverse. The throttle will always move faster than the mech will accelerate or decelerate.

I agree 100%, arm lock is win for sniping. I use it, but as a toggle. However, arm lock is part of what got us into this current meta funk we are in. You also did not play when convergence was alot slower, and it took alot more skill and timing to line a shot up. Overall, Ill stand by my comment, arm lock with increased convergence speed was a bad change. This is an area that could use some balancing, but with the potential issues (real or just PGIs inability) with hit detection and the Crysis engine, this may never happen.

Im as old school as they come too... Started back in the MW1 days on a bitching IBM 286 if I remember right. My disks for 2, 3, 4, and all the Xpacs are in the garage in a box somewhere.