28 replies to this topic

[Rando Slim]

So as the title implies, I have hit a wall with the game. Im not gonna rant for once, and Im sorry for some of my angry topics in the past, the reasons are similar things everyone with a few thousand matches has felt I'm sure.

I DO take breaks and play other games, but at the same time I feel obligated to play when I have premium time running, and I like piloting with my group. But as I have admitted multiple times, Im not very good, or not good enough anyway given how much I play. My aim isn't bad, but my situational awareness sucks, I get too antsy, I like to play faster mchs and the current game environment just makes it so hard because all the clan mechs stick together too well by default and they have just so much firepower. I feel like all I can do is cause a distraction, but then of course I end up in some really bad position. What do you "top men" do that makes you so "good"? I fundamentally feel like this game isn't actually that hard, that the perceived differences in skill levels is nowhere near as wide as some people think.

So whats the trick? Is it that you all just use T-Wolves and Dragon Slayers non-stop? I saw one guy with a 7 K/D ratio, but like dude only ever used like 2 or 3 mechs, that's honestly really lame, but is that the only way to be good? I spend an inordinate amount of time in all sorts of inferior mechs and I still manage an overall positive K/D ratio (1.04 but it fell a bunch from all the new Clan mechs to grind through), but I just cant find any chassis that I excel in. Like I'm so mediocre its kind of amazing really. I can pilot the absolute best or worst mech with whatever build and do about the same mediocre job (K/D ratio between 0.6 and 2.0) in ANY of them built for ANY role, whether its an Adder, Jenner, Trebuchet, Orion, Dragon, Shadowhawk, Quickdraw, Blackjack, or Awesomes, built for sniping, brawling, harassing, or lrming it doesn't matter its always the same: 0-3 kills, 200-600 damage. I get a few more kills while doing less damage so maybe I have gotten a touch better at aiming for what I want to hit when I need to hit it, but still I haven't even sniffed a 1000 damage in 6 months, not even 850 even.

And its stupid I KNOW how to play, good grief we ALL know where every fight takes place on EVERY map EVERY time. I've gotten better at avoiding lrms, I know how to min/max a mech if I feel like it, I stick with my team, I torso twist, I shoot down UAVs, like I am much improved at helping a team win a match (my win/loss ratio is significantly higher than my k/d ratio) but I still just put up the same sad match scores as always. Like this game really doesn't require much skill or reflexes in a comparative sense so I don't get it. So if anyone here can take pity on and underhiver, give me some tips, what makes you good? What advice would you give to semi-competitive players? If any of you have seen me pilot and remember it somehow, what do I do wrong? How do I post videos on here so people can give constructive criticism?

Sorry this is long.

Edited by Scrotacus 42, 19 September 2014 - 09:53 AM.

[Johnny Z]

2 easy rules are stay near cover and dont over heat.

2 biggest mistakes I see are lrm boats without tag and overheating.

[Lynx7725]

You already know the answer.

Patience and situation awareness.

[Elizander]

Watch these:

Cicada 1v3



Medium Mechs pub matches

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

The hard skill is paying attention to your HUD. Watch your heat, watch your radar (those blue triangles are very important to keep track of, nearly as important as the red ones), and most of all watch your target info. I cannot tell you how invaluable it is to know where to aim at a particular hostile.

The soft skill is getting a feel for the flow of a battle. This sort of follows from practicing the first paragraph, as you'll eventually develop a kind of subconscious real-time evaluation of positioning, ebb and flow, and even team morale. A losing battle can turn into a win if you and those with you commit to an attack at the right time and place, and a winning battle can turn into a loss if your team loses the initiative due to lack of coordination and individual senses of self preservation.

[Rando Slim]

Cool, well I never use lrm boats, eh I do overheat too much but its not fair I overheat using 4 medium lasers and an srm 4 which is peanuts for firepower but oh of course the silly clan energy boats can do two to three times the damage before they overheat. I stay in cover but like how do you balance that with you know, actually having to go harass things in a faster mech?

EDIT: I wonder if its just that the community as a whole has gotten better, me along with it, and as such my scores never change, lol.

Edited by Scrotacus 42, 19 September 2014 - 09:59 AM.

[Elizander]

Scrotacus 42, on 19 September 2014 - 09:55 AM, said:

Cool, well I never use lrm boats, eh I do overheat too much but its not fair I overheat using 4 medium lasers and an srm 4 which is peanuts for firepower but oh of course the silly clan energy boats can do two to three times the damage before they overheat. I stay in cover but like how do you balance that with you know, actually having to go harass things in a faster mech?

Watch Sean play in the videos I posted. He harasses very well. Just don't be impatient watching them but you'll see the subtle differences. Sometimes he even explains what he's doing.

[Lynx7725]

Scrotacus 42, on 19 September 2014 - 09:55 AM, said:

Cool, well I never use lrm boats, eh I do overheat too much but its not fair I overheat using 4 medium lasers and an srm 4 which is peanuts for firepower but oh of course the silly clan energy boats can do two to three times the damage before they overheat. I stay in cover but like how do you balance that with you know, actually having to go harass things in a faster mech?

Part of the game is learning how to build to your playstyle. If you are overheating that badly, you need to tweak your build to something you can work with, even if it means giving up on firepower.

You have to gauge the attack to see if you can survive it. Admittedly, I'm not a good light pilot, but the good ones I understand always look for an escape route before they attack. Again, patience is key, and developing situation awareness is key.

[Elizander]

If all else fails, here is a breakdancing mech:

[Apnu]

I have a simular problem. I too get bored with the opposition driving the same 3 or 4 mechs with the same builds on each one. The game is pretty shallow right now. I and my whole unit is waiting with baited breath for CW. We keep dropping however to keep our skills sharp.

I keep interest in the game by collecting mechs and mastering them. And I have an attraction to "bad" mechs. Ugly mechs, and mechs people hate. I picked the HBK-4G as my founders choice and its still considered the "worst" founders mech of the lot. I played the hell out of it back before hero mechs and there was little to do with MC. I found the BFG build (AC20, 3xML, STD 250 engine, ES, FF) way before anybody else was using it. I ran that thing while everybody running medium mechs only took the HBK-4SP or the zombie Cent.

I learned I really liked finding ways to make a "bad" mech successful. My best archived stats are in that HBK-4G, though I own and have mastered every single HBK. The second HBK I love is the 4J running LRMs. I used to get laughed at in that mech, not any more.

Same with the Blackjacks. I run my BJ-1 and BJ-1DC with 2xAC2s and MLs. I don't run the AC20 BJ that everybody else has and runs. I get respectable results out of the AC2 BJs.

Another build I love is turning my TDR-5S into a LRM30 CPLT-C1 clone (doesn't jump but has more electronics and AMS). I hit a drop on Canyons about 9 months ago and someone bitched about my build on that thing. Guy called me a waste of a pilot and a waste of a TDR in general chat. I proceeded to net 800 damage and 3 kills and 7 assists in that game. And this was when LRMs were "bad" before the changes that everybody complains about today.

Proving nay-sayers wrong is fun for me.

Another way I avoid hitting the wall? Finding a good unit that fits my play style. HHoD has that for me. I can't stress this enough, find a group of like-minded players and this game becomes far more interesting and fun. Dropping in 4-man groups is a blast every time I do it. It can be quite a chore when the group is 6+, and very bland at full 12v12 meta-garbage, but in smaller groups on TS? Tons of fun.

[Apnu]

On the topic of LRM boats specifically, I always carry backup energy weapons.

My HBK-4J has 2xLRM10s and 4xMLs
My TBT-5N has 2xLRM15s and 3xMLs
My TDR-5S has 3xLRM15s and 3xMLs
My ON1-P (or K, or VA) (when LRM'ing) I have 2xLRM15, 2xLL.

Heat's an issue, yes, but having something to do when you run out of LRM ammo, or enough weapons to deter fast flankers is a key to surviving in a LRM mech.

Another key is terrain. Knowing where your cover is and how long to it takes you to get there. Because when you get NARC'd... ouch. The reverse is true for your target. You have to learn when they are in cover and when they aren't. I see so many players sending rain when the enemy has a good umbrella up. Its painful to watch sometimes. Only time and expirence teaches the pilot when its good to send missile and when its not.

[Lynx7725]

If you guys are that keen on LRM boating, try this one.



I swear by it. And get swore at from time to time using it...

[Rando Slim]

Yes Apnu that's about exactly what I do, for instance I really have fun in Trebuchets, but they're "bad". I put a 390 XL engine in the 3c, and its absolutely hilarious. But like yea I wanna help my team, I can pilot a Cicada 3m pretty well (k/d ratio 1.78) for when my team needs me to be serious (my group is like minded, they are all about finding non-standard ways to win and yet we are kinda competitive and want to win, doesn't always work well lol) But what happens if they nerf ECM? I've been using it as a crutch basically, and Im no good with PPCs anymore. I dunno I think I have a pretty good feel for the soft skill part Levi mentioned but maybe not the hard skill part? I don't rely much on target info because it takes bloody forever and everyone uses radar derp, bythe time the info pops up I've already had to decide where to shoot them if at all. I do pay attention to my team, I stick to them and don't wander off like I used to, but still I gots to MOVE man I try to always find a way to get behind someone or try to get an angle to shoot where no one is looking at me.

EDIT: Lynx the only missile boats I've ever had success in were re-purposed shadowhawks. I rather like the "lurmisher" style of play but like still lrms make me feel dirty.

Edited by Scrotacus 42, 19 September 2014 - 10:26 AM.

[XxXAbsolutZeroXxX]

It might help if you posted some of your builds.

.

[Ultimax]

Scrotacus 42, on 19 September 2014 - 09:37 AM, said:

...but my situational awareness sucks, I get too antsy...

You've identified two major weaknesses, and they are pretty huge.

Situational awareness, and patience, are both extremely important.

Scrotacus 42, on 19 September 2014 - 10:23 AM, said:

for instance I really have fun in Trebuchets, but they're "bad". I put a 390 XL engine in the 3c, and its absolutely hilarious.

This is a secondary weakness.

You are taking a sub-optimal mech, and then compounding that by giving it a ridiculous engine that before shaving armor leaves you with 7 tons to make a build out of.


You can play less than perfect mechs and get good results, but not with oddball builds that you think are "hysterical".

Edited by Ultimatum X, 19 September 2014 - 10:42 AM.

[DaZur]

IMHO... Your suffering from "Not enough for a light to do in a kill-or-be-killed environment"...

Reality is, until PGI creates and implements a deeper mission environment, lights largely cannot "contribute" at the same level other classes do when the singular goal is to be the last man standing...

Yes, absolutely some pilots are able to do this despite the heavy imbalance at the moment... That said those pilots are pretty exceptional.

[Rando Slim]

Well like I said I do pilot a Cicada 3M for serious purposes, I use an XL-300 4 Mlas, ECM, and an AC/5. Works fine but I cant kite stuff at long distance like a noisy cricket back in the day. My BJ-1 is a gaussjack as opposed to a boomjack. I use a Jenner -D with an XL-280 4 mlas and 2 srm 4s. So I mean those are pretty legit builds I think. Shadowhawks are set up as lurmishers or srm brawlers with machine guns and medium pulses for backup and standard engines. The treb-3c was a bad example, I don't expect to carry hard, but I expect to consistently cause havoc and scare the crap out of some light mechs with it. I guess then the root of the matter becomes HOW do you develop situational awareness? Like I said I play often enough that should have totally developed by now considering all the maps play out the same all the time. I can certainly build a more sensible t-bucket, my 7k is an ac/10 and 2 er larges, which I think is legit, runs around 95 kph, yea shadowhawk can do it better but eh you get your right arm blown off in a shad and lose the lasers, the treb keeps it all in the torso which I like since its not a brawling build.
I watched the video of that cicada 3m a few [posts up and like well ok Im a decent shot but not that good of a shot to hit legs all the time, I go for it sometimes but not from long distance much (its a lot easier whnthey are already legged of course). Guess I just gotta go for legs by default until target info gathering pops up to tell me otherwise? I really need to post a video to make this easier (sadly I don't know how).

EDIT: Again, Im not like a total suicide derp running off by myself away from my team, maybe Im just picking the wrong time to try and swing out wide or behind in a faster mech? I'm not completely impatient, just somewhere in the middle.
I guess what Im getting at is that yes, I do practice these things, but it still doesn't seem to change my results, hence the frustration and then this topic. I assume the fact that my win/loss ratio is higher than my K/D by a good margin now means I have improved on these areas a little but I don't know what the next step is. Obviously yea Im not gonna bring my Troll-bucket to a 12 man, lol.

Edited by Scrotacus 42, 19 September 2014 - 11:10 AM.

[Cranky Poed]

Lynx7725, on 19 September 2014 - 09:59 AM, said:

You have to gauge the attack to see if you can survive it. Admittedly, I'm not a good light pilot, but the good ones I understand always look for an escape route before they attack. Again, patience is key, and developing situation awareness is key.

yes...its like a strafing run...you look for cover on the other side of the attack...or if your feeling crazy just stick around to see what happens...personally I like it when the big boys turn to face me and expose their backs..

[wolf74]

Some time to brake the wall you have to have a "Fun Mech", A fun mech is just a mech to goof around in and have fun. You do your best but don't worry about winning or losing.
For me my fun mech is a Spider-5k build like an UrbanMech (Endo-steel, Ac10 3tons of ammo, small laser, 2 jumpjet, std heatsinks, std 100 engine, the rest in armor). I relax in this mech. I need to try to take the top UrbanMech pilot slot. PhoenixFire currently hold it with 6kills and 4 assist if i Remember right.

[Lynx7725]

Scrotacus 42, on 19 September 2014 - 10:23 AM, said:

EDIT: Lynx the only missile boats I've ever had success in were re-purposed shadowhawks. I rather like the "lurmisher" style of play but like still lrms make me feel dirty.

Shrug. It's fine. Each of us have our own style and we work at it best we can. The medium LRM boats can be quite good, but serious LRM work require a balance of bigger tube count, ammo load, and launcher size. As with everything else, your performance in battle starts with how good or bad your mech build suits your play style.