467 replies to this topic

[Hellcat420]

Spleenslitta, on 07 July 2014 - 08:40 AM, said:

I enjoy my lights much more than any of the other weight classes i've tried.
I survive longer too.

well most people who play this game don't agree with you, which is why most people don't play light mechs. if light mechs were actually fun to play, you would see a lot more people piloting them.

[Andross Deverow]

Unlikely but if the devs would implement some objective based gamelpay that players could use a light mech to more specific roles i feel they would be more popular. Lets see what CW brings to the table maybe we will be surprised.

Regards

[Dano_man]

I still like to drive my lights and the Cicada is really just a heavy light. The problem is that in there best role it's as a scout / harrasser. I tend to run around and get behind the OF as soon as possible and then try to call in where they are. My biggest complaint with PGI is that unless you have the whole team on the same TS it is damn near impossible to do adequate scouting. Best I can do is target their mech hopefully showing my guys where they are or if I am hidden well enough, stop to type in coord's. If PGI could fix VOIP and make it useable...oh happy day. Otherwise I'm spotting and harrassing.

[AgroAlba]

Objective gameplay would be interesting.

Based on the equipment you're bringing, you get different objectives?

Bring an ECM? - Encompass 3 friendly mechs in ECM bubble for 2 minutes = Cbill and Xp reward
Bring a Tag? - Get 5 TAG damage assits = cbill and xp reward
Bring a Narc? - Get 2 NARC Damage assists = cbill and xp reward

Etc. etc. Give people an incentive to play these things in different ways!

[Nicholas Carlyle]

When a game entirely revolves around damage done, and arena style matches...you are always going to have this issue.

If they had done proper Role Warfare from the beginning, I still think lights and mediums would be smaller in population than heavies and assaults, but it would have been a better spread.

[Riptor]

Ah.. ir emember the good ol days when we were told that there wouldnt be an armsrace to the assault class and that every mech class would be important.

Thing is thought, without economical restrictions Medium mechs have absolutely no reason to exist.

And light mechs in the current enviroment also dont really have a place since you dont really need fast scout mechs.

Kinda the reason why we have MBTs nowadays and not the light, medium and heavy tanks of the WW2 era

[GroovYChickeN]

Two easy fixes to everything that has been said in this thread.

1) Some form of R&R. Make the players work for the right to run that Fatlas

2) Hardpoint restrictions. This is the best way to diversify builds and squash the ppc/ac meta.

won't ever happen though.

[Nicholas Carlyle]

Riptor, on 07 July 2014 - 09:23 AM, said:

Ah.. ir emember the good ol days when we were told that there wouldnt be an armsrace to the assault class and that every mech class would be important.

Thing is thought, without economical restrictions Medium mechs have absolutely no reason to exist.

And light mechs in the current enviroment also dont really have a place since you dont really need fast scout mechs.

Kinda the reason why we have MBTs nowadays and not the light, medium and heavy tanks of the WW2 era

I really this game would have benefited from having to earn an Assault mech.

[Vassago Rain]

Spleenslitta, on 07 July 2014 - 08:40 AM, said:

This guy has the right idea.

I enjoy my lights much more than any of the other weight classes i've tried.
I survive longer too.


Stay out of line of sight. Stay on the enemies flanks or rearterritory.
Get out of cover- shoot once or twice - get back into cover- relocate at least 300 meters to get the enemy from another angle. Repeat.

Don't hit the same target over and over again. That gets his attention.

Do not join your teammates on the firingline. That will get you the same amount of attention as your teammates.

Bro, I don't think you understand. If I see a light, I can take a leg off or outright kill it with one blast. No amount of weaving or pretending MWO has some secret, magical Power of one will let you avoid this.

If you get into a fight, you can will die in a single shot.

[Spleenslitta]

Lostdragon, on 07 July 2014 - 08:49 AM, said:

To me 500 damage in a light is a very good game. Getting that requires a good bit of skill. Getting 600+ in a light is along the same lines as getting 1000+ in an assault or heavy. I don't like to play sniper lights, though, I'm more a knife fighter, so my opinions are based on that.

I also disagree with you on how much skill and piloting play in to doing well with lights. Being able to make good decisions quickly IS THE SKILL that makes or breaks light pilots in my opinion. If you know and understand the OODA loop it makes you a more effective pilot no matter what you are driving.

With my tactics it's not necessary to shot and move at the same time....thus it demands less skill.
Quick decision making skill as you say is more important.
But for a close up and personal mech...you're absolutly right. It demands heavily on evasive skill and accuracy during movement.

Staying out of line of sight doesn't take piloting skill at all. Just know the map and have good battlefield awareness.
These 2 abilities takes a while to obtain though.

Vassago Rain, on 07 July 2014 - 09:40 AM, said:

Bro, I don't think you understand. If I see a light, I can take a leg off or outright kill it with one blast. No amount of weaving or pretending MWO has some secret, magical Power of one will let you avoid this.

If you get into a fight, you can will die in a single shot.

If the target stays out of sight you can't shot it. Then it pops out- shots you and is on the way into cover before you can aim properly.
You can't shoot through cover no matter how much firepower you have.

But you are right.....if you catch a light napping you take it's leg off.

[Screech]

I used to mainly run small laser lights and did a fair job with them. Things got tougher once they increased the size of groups from 8-12. The larger murder-ball largely reduced the effectiveness of hit and fade tactics as risk/reward changed. This reduced lights roles largely to scouting/sniping.

Larger maps are need, but more goals are needed in order for larger maps to work. Destructible objectives will go a large way to improve this I feel. If a light can reach and destroy/defend 3 targets in the time it take an assault to get to 1 then the light has a tactical advantage over an assault in the battle field.

I

[Clit Beastwood]

Spleenslitta, on 07 July 2014 - 09:48 AM, said:

With my tactics it's not necessary to shot and move at the same time....thus it demands less skill.
Quick decision making skill as you say is more important.
But for a close up and personal mech...you're absolutly right. It demands heavily on evasive skill and accuracy during movement.

Staying out of line of sight doesn't take piloting skill at all. Just know the map and have good battlefield awareness.
These 2 abilities takes a while to obtain though.


If the target stays out of sight you can't shot it. Then it pops out- shots you and is on the way into cover before you can aim properly.
You can't shoot through cover no matter how much firepower you have.

But you are right.....if you catch a light napping you take it's leg off.

It sounds like you need more seat-time in a light mech. Do hundreds of drops in testing grounds running 150kph passes past a stationary mech, holding your lasers on the faceplate of the enemy mechs. Pass after pass. Hundreds and hundreds. Once you learn how to get your lasers where you want them, consistently, without standing in one place, then you can start working on the other tenets of light mech piloting.

There are a bunch of MWO roles you can use lights for. Pick one, and stick to the role for greatest success. I have 5 spider 5d's outfitted for various roles (as well as every other light, but the spider feels like "home".)

Harasser - keep bothering the enemy team so they pay attention to you, and not to your team. Think "bringer of mayhem". This is the most fun . I generally adopt this role, engaging multiple enemy mechs and trying to get them to show their backs to my team. I especially enjoy causing the enemy team to FF each other. Usually in a commando 2d or spider 5d with 3mpl for this role. UAV, Arty, and 360 targeting so my lrms can rain on whoever I'm fighting.

Scout sniper - part harasser, really - you're doing long-range damage, so they have to spend time looking for you. Your primary objective is not to do damage or kill, but to occupy their time and provide recon to your team. Raven 3l with 2 erll, spider 5d with erppc and tag (I use the PPC to knock out ecm's, the tag to do the same and spot, and the TAG is handy for aiming the PPC at close ranges.)

Full-scout - Your job is to facilitate your team's success, at the expense of personal glory, etc. This can be satisfying in it's own way. Running into battle un(der)armed can be fun! Find homes for missiles, spot enemy formations, neutralize enemy ecm. I've used the spider 5v for this, with a tag and an MPL. xl280 engine and I think 10jj. 4 module slots. Also raven 3l with narc, etc. onboard.

Striker - look for damaged or vulnerable mechs, pop in, unload damage, and bug out. Wait until they forget about you, and go back. Jenners, Firestarters, commandos

Edited by Fierostetz, 07 July 2014 - 10:56 AM.

[Spleenslitta]

Fierostetz, on 07 July 2014 - 10:10 AM, said:

It sounds like you need more seat-time in a light mech.

I've been in Light mechs for.....let's see. 84 hours after the wipe. With the archived stuff it's 133 hours....But my time in my Commando isn't mentioned.
So roughly 160 hours of light mechs only. That's a decent amount of light mech experience.

Edit: typed wrong.

Edited by Spleenslitta, 07 July 2014 - 10:17 AM.

[FupDup]

Delas Ting Usee, on 07 July 2014 - 01:41 AM, said:

Ask Russ to make the hit boxes on lights SMALLER. by about 20%. Please.

If there are lights that have hitboxes larger than their physical models, then yes. For example, the Raven still has legs that are bigger than they appear to be. You can actually damage them by hitting the air near them rather than directly hitting them. That should be fixed, and any other light with "ghost hitboxes" should also be fixed.

However, the hitboxes should not be smaller than the model, because that would be strange. If a weapon hits a mech's body, it should hurt that mech. Hitboxes should 100% match the model size; no larger, no smaller.

[Spleenslitta]

Screech, on 07 July 2014 - 09:58 AM, said:

I used to mainly run small laser lights and did a fair job with them. Things got tougher once they increased the size of groups from 8-12. The larger murder-ball largely reduced the effectiveness of hit and fade tactics as risk/reward changed. This reduced lights roles largely to scouting/sniping.

Larger maps are need, but more goals are needed in order for larger maps to work. Destructible objectives will go a large way to improve this I feel. If a light can reach and destroy/defend 3 targets in the time it take an assault to get to 1 then the light has a tactical advantage over an assault in the battle field.

I hear you on this one. Small maps are one of the lights biggest enemies.

Caustic Valley and Canyon Network are the best maps for lights in my opinion. Lot's of small folds in the ground that only the smallest mechs can take cover behind on Caustic.
Upper E4 on Caustic for example. No way an assault mech can hide behind those folds. It barrelly reaches their bellies.

Alpine Peaks has good cover but some really flat areas that are deadly. Easy to get on the flanks but takes awhile.

Crimson Strait has that bottleneck at the saddle. Rarelly a good place for a light. To many players forget the sea route along A4, A3 and A2 if the enemy has the nearby buildings under control.

Forest Colony has loads of cover but only the route along the opposite side to the tunnel is comparitivly safe for flanking maneuvers.
Get caught in the tunnel and you're dead or badly damaged before you can turn around.

HPG Manifold has so many opportunities to flank it's almost ridicilous. A light running along the edges of the central area can cover their legs behind the ramp.

Terra Firma and Tourmaline Desert both have the same problem for lights and it ain't the heat.
It's the lack of small cover and the amount of time it takes to relocate after firing while staying out the enemies line of sight.

Forest Colony? It's a lights worst nightmare except for the Hills at lower B3, C2 and C4. Not many routes that allows flanking without getting seen.
Problem is that the map is too narrow.

River City has waaay too much water. Crossing that water is a potentialy lethal thing to do for any weightclass.

Come to think of it....i rarelly get legged. 7 out 10 times (maybe even 9 out 10) i get my torso ripped apart before that happens.
Maybe it's because i use cover so much?

[Clit Beastwood]

Spleenslitta, on 07 July 2014 - 10:15 AM, said:

I've been in Light mechs for.....let's see. 84 hours after the wipe. With the archived stuff it's 133 hours....But my time in my Commando isn't mentioned.
So roughly 160 hours of light mechs only. That's a decent amount of light mech experience.

Edit: typed wrong.

Nice! I've got 188 hours since then in my spider 5d, and maybe half that for each of the other light chassis keep at it, and never hold still! Don't run in straight lines, and stick to the low spots and shadows

Edited by Fierostetz, 07 July 2014 - 11:05 AM.

[Spleenslitta]

Fierostetz, on 07 July 2014 - 11:03 AM, said:

Nice! I've got 188 hours since then in my spider 5d, and maybe half that for each of the other light chassis keep at it, and never hold still! Don't run in straight lines, and stick to the low spots and shadows

Exactly. But i rely more heavily on line of sight and cover than other light pilots. That's what i find at least.
I almost always get cored instead of legged because i use cover so much.

[MischiefSC]

PPCs-MOAR splash.

Gauss....

what the hell do we do with gauss?

[Clit Beastwood]

MischiefSC, on 07 July 2014 - 11:37 AM, said:

PPCs-MOAR splash.

Gauss....

what the hell do we do with gauss?

Try moving? If you HAVE to cross open ground, weave and change your throttle %, it makes you harder to lead.

Edited by Fierostetz, 07 July 2014 - 12:01 PM.

[Ultimax]

MischiefSC, on 07 July 2014 - 11:37 AM, said:

what the hell do we do with gauss?

Nothing.

It's a 15 (12) ton weapon with a charge up mechanic, that explodes if you fart on it.

It has barely more DPS than a single AC 5.


It's supposed to be awesome at what it does, and it already pays the costs to be that.