37 replies to this topic

[Totenxcx]

I started playing the game recently and found it enjoyable enough to justify spending money on it. At first I was really keen on buying a timber/dire wolf a la carte. But now after waiting for my hype to pass and looking at other options I wonder if it's better if I got 12k mc for the similar price and buy hero mechs, hangar bays and paints when they're on sale. What do you think?

[Modo44]

Welcom to MWO.

The only really necessary long-term purchase is mechbays, since they allow you to unlock skills and change weight classes without selling and re-buying mechs. Everything else revolves around fluff or preorders, which you can safely skip. Colors (unlocked for all mechs) and hero mechs (30% moar Cbills) are the most desirable purchases after mechbays. The rest is really a matter of how much disposable income you like to get rid of.

The Clan mechs are coming out for MC/Cbills slowly, and they do get minor MC sales on introduction. You would have to wait until next year for a bigger sale on those.

Hero mechs, camos, and other stuff is on sale pretty much every week. It is a wait and see game -- they only get announced as they start. Up to 50% off of hero mechs is pretty nice.

As far as MC buying goes, there will most likely be a sale at or around Black Friday. The most optimal use of your money would be to get a big MC package then, followed by waiting on sales for a double discount on whichever items you want. That would mean a long time, though, so I would suggest a smaller MC package for some mechbays and colors, and a hero mech or two.

Edited by Modo44, 15 August 2014 - 12:46 AM.

[Sky Hawk]

- Buy some Premium times!

- Buy Hero on sale, that you really likes!

- The best would be, if you take time, and wait for MC sale, too!

(There is so many stuff for C-Bills.. try that first out..)

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

+1 for hero mechs,premium time is nice,but it runs out since you cant manage it in any way.

Just wait for the sales patiently,Ilya Muromets and Dragon Slayer seem to be the most used ones atm.

[IraqiWalker]

Modo gave a great summary of the best cost for benefit expenses.

I also recommend coming to the forums before buying a mech, and seeing the responses you get about it. (You usually get a couple days heads up before a mech is on sale sometimes, and if not, MW:O sales last 3-4 days on average, so you have time).

However, don't make the forums your ultimate decider. A mech that might not work for others, can possibly work for you. However, use the opinions you get for an analysis of what the pros and cons of a mech are for you, and whether or not it will eventually fit with your play style.

[The Basilisk]

ATM don't buy heros.
I once bought Ilya, Firebrand and Dragonslayer only to find myself now with a bunch of mechs that are now either nerfed next to uselessness ( dragonslayer ) or that are now so mainstream you have to wait ages before you get a match to play.

And since Clanmechs will most likely be banned from mixed public ques but rather will drop in C vs IS or C vs C matches its highly questionable to buy one with real money.

Mechbays are safe, C-bills packages are safe if you want to skip the moneygrind for modules or your third variant. Regarding paints and cockpit thingis I advise you to wait till there are sales where you can get some for less cash.

Oh and wellcome to twitchmechs online

[Totenxcx]

Ok, thanks for all the answers!

[dragnier1]

As already mentioned, mechbays are the best bang for your buck. Permium time is good too, especially the daily ones. Colours/camo/cockpit items are mainly fluff. MC for cbills package is optional, if you don't want to grind.

As you mentioned, it is good to wait for sales, they have sales for different stuff every now and then.

As for hero mechs, it really depends on the individual. If we take the Jester as an example, many dislike it while some, like me enjoy taking them out for a spin every now and then. I suggest working out on the cbill variants first, if you enjoy running them, go for the hero mech as your third variant (when on sale).

[Chrithu]

My advice: Don't spend money on this alpha build pretending to be a finished, polished game. Saves you a lot of regret.


Nevertheless if you absolutely need to spend money go with your plan B, get a pack of MC and wait for the Heroes you want to go on sale. With most Heroes you get a nice unique variant and the 30% CBill boost helps tremendously on farming the money for any non-hero non-champion mechs you want to get.

Edited by Jason Parker, 15 August 2014 - 02:32 AM.

[Davegt27]

what I spent my money on was Memory upgrade for my PC, Head set and mic to chat with (haven't used it once) and a new mouse all told about $100

[GunnyKintaro 01]

Get yourself at least one hero

[The Massive]

The way I chose to spend money on this game is Hero Mechs. Unique camos. Unique harpoints. C-bill bonus. You might read about some hero chassis being poor, but I own them all (except hellslinger and anansi) and I don't regret any of them.

But wait for sales. There's always sales.

[Vimeous]

Running a hero mech at 30% extra cbills is great.
However it means you'll spend most of the time playing 1 or 2 mechs as you try and grind out the next mech, and the next, and the next.
That's great if you love that mech but Hero mechs are not always the best builds for a given the chassis or they take an experienced player to make the most of their alternate hardpoints.

Personally I spend cash on premium time in 30day chunks. It avoids 50% of the grind so I level as fast as others while only having half the time to play.
Besides it also allows you get more cbills and exp for every mech you play - to me variety is the spice of MWO!

I do have some Hero's but not explicitly for the grind.

[Redshift2k5]

Having a Hero mech is great, since it's a permanent, dependable C-bill boost to assist in unlocking even more content.

Note that while Timberwolvesa will be out for plain MC in a few months, and available for free C-bills after that, the a la carte or clan pack version comes with an Invasion Variant which functions like a hero mech (permanent C-bill boost). If you want to have both a Clan mech and a hero mech in one chassis, a clan pack or a la carte clan mech is the way to go. A clan pack will also kit you out with some premium time if you buy a high enough tierm, and prem time plus hero mech c-bill bonus is great.

Obviously the other route is to buy MC, which is great for mech bays (required) and paint/camo (for coolness), and for direct-buy of a hero mech. So, depends on which chassis you want to invest in- if you love Timberwolves, it's probably worth it to get a clan pack/a la carte, but if you love IS mechs there are great heroes on that side as well.

Edited by Redshift2k5, 15 August 2014 - 04:29 AM.

[Barkem Squirrel]

MC sales- there have been two that I know of. Both were before Christmas in 2012 and 2013. In 2013 I got 30,000 instead of 25,000 MC for $99.95. So 5000 MC free.

Mech bay sale - I have seen 1. That was a few months ago. (note there has been challenges for 2 mech bays this year and for the Centurion chanpion mech and the 9s thunderbolt with a mech bay added) I picked up 10 mech bays at 210 MC.

Paint, camo patterns, cockpit items, hero mechs, champion mechs and regular stock mechs have been on sale from time to time. (Note: with the faction sales now I am seeing Stock mechs on sale for C-bills also)

Consumables I have not seen on sale, but they are 15 MC.

Premium time and the various Bundles I have not seen on sale. The bundles are interesting with some premium time, cockpit items, hero mech and two other mechs.

I like to think of the Founders mechs at 25% C-bill bonus, Hero, Phoenix, Clan package prime variants at 30% C-bill bonus as the poor mans Premium time. That lasts forever.



Try to buy items available for C-bills only with C-bills.

Try to buy items on sale, but if you really, really, really want it, go ahead and buy it. This game is about your enjoyment.

[Koniving]

Totenxcx, on 15 August 2014 - 02:02 AM, said:

Ok, thanks for all the answers!

My best advice for you, is while you can get your at any time, wait for Fridays after 1 PM Eastern (10 AM Pacific).
Almost every single friday there is a sale.
Since there's typically mechs, heroes, paints, etc. coming 30 to 50% off, that's the time to buy.

On a side note: Mechbay sales are ultra rare. Believe there's only ever been one. Ever. So don't hold out for that if all you're after is mechbays.

(I personally don't get premium time unless it comes with some package I get; then again I've got...all but the Spider and Battlemaster hero mechs.)

Since today is Friday, in about 4.5 hours you'll see a sale.

[JC Daxion]

I would not buy a timber wolf.. Not because they are not good, But because they will teach you to many bad habits because armor and firepower will over compensate. that said.....


I would pick either a shadow hawk, griffin, or wolverine as your first mech.. (though neither of these have heroes yet.. but hopefully soon) Shadow hawk is more ballistic based and people like them, but limited torso twist, the griffin is more missile based, and the wolverine has 3 unique mechs, each slanted towards energy or missiles, or ballistic, so you can really get a grip on what you like.

Keep grinding, and saving your money till you at least get your first mechs to elite level.. by then you will know what you enjoy...

learn the twist, and learn the maps.. and learn what you like, as that will defiantly slant your thinking on a hero you may want to try.. but honestly, i would not try a hero before trying out the chassis first

.
But to get the most out of your MC

Buy paint/camo on sale

Buy mech bays..

as for premium time, I don't bother much with it as my play is very erratic. That said, you can now buy day or weekend passes, so it could be worth it if you are going to spend like 12-20 hours one weekend just grinding your butt off. You can really boost your money, especially if you have a hero you like.. Ilya, and the jester are the only ones i have played,, and they are both great.. the Illya is more flexible, over the laser boat jester.

Buy a hero, or perhaps even champions on sale (some champions have great engines and give a XP bonus on grinding, so it is the only way to get those expensive XL engines with MC)


good luck and welcome to Mech warrior!

Vimeous, on 15 August 2014 - 03:54 AM, said:

Personally I spend cash on premium time in 30day chunks. It avoids 50% of the grind so I level as fast as others while only having half the time to play.

this is good advice, unless you are like me, that takes weeks, or months off from time to time.. and i swear they only happen when i buy the month, then a week later i end up taking a break.. So glad for the day and weekend passes now!

Edited by JC Daxion, 15 August 2014 - 05:39 AM.

[Modo44]

Koniving, on 15 August 2014 - 05:26 AM, said:

On a side note: Mechbay sales are ultra rare. Believe there's only ever been one. Ever. So don't hold out for that if all you're after is mechbays.

On the other hand, PGI sometimes runs events that are essentially mechbay or even mech giveaways. My alt accounts (started at the beginning of the year) are up from 4 to 9 free mechbays now.

[JC Daxion]

Modo44, on 15 August 2014 - 05:37 AM, said:

On the other hand, PGI sometimes runs events that are essentially mechbay or even mech giveaways. My alt accounts (started at the beginning of the year) are up from 4 to 9 free mechbays now.

You mean like later today? wish i knew about last weeks, but i won't miss this one!

Edited by JC Daxion, 15 August 2014 - 08:29 AM.

[IllCaesar]

In my opinon, MechBays > Premium Time > Hero Mechs.

Mechbays are super important, since one of the rules of the game is to never sell anything (only thing I've sold and didn't regret was the worst Cicada variant - the worst variant from arguably the worst chassis. Everything else I've ever sold, including mechs, I have regretted), you'll want to keep all of your mechs. Premium Time really cuts the grind and depending on how much you play, will be a more cost efficient way of buying mechs, as the amount of extra C-Bills with premium time can easily outweigh MC cost. Just last weekend, I bought three mechs on sale for over 8 million total, and to help get there, I got a month of premium time for 2500 MC. That premium time garnered me additional XP as well as over 3 million extra C-Bills, which roughly translates to 1200MC. I still have 24 days left of premium time. Basically, if you play the game any considerable amount, even if you suck, its more cost efficient to buy mechs using extra C-Bills from premium time than MC. Hero and champions are the only mechs you cannot buy with C-Bills, and champions are a waste, as anybody will tell you. Hero mechs permanently give you a 30% bonus to C-Bills, but only so long as you use that mech, and its quite easily to drop a large sum on a Hero mech that you don't end up using much. I don't see many 6,000 MC Pretty Baby mechs around, do you? And as its been said, if you're going to spend MC, wait for a sale. Just about every week there's going to be a hero on sale, and there's always colours on sale as well. Lastly,if you buy Premium Time, its probably best to get it in 30-day increments. 180 Days only saves you 1500 MC as opposed to buying 30 days six times, and you never know when in a six month period you'll stop playing. You can't pause premium time, so if you have to spend some time away from the game for any reason, its being thrown away.

Edited by MarsAtlas, 15 August 2014 - 06:55 AM.