49 replies to this topic

[Clit Beastwood]

I clear a million every 3-4ish drops running IS lights. Use MG's and destroy as many components as you can instead of killing them. When I need cbills I spend the time to strip, when I just want to win the earnings are a lot lower because the kills are a lot quicker, less dmg.

[Rizzelbizzeg]

EmperorZombie, on 02 October 2014 - 08:37 AM, said:

InspectorG's stock tip:

Short Airstrike,

Long UAV with new mechs with ECM.

Coolshot flat with Dakka meta.

The 1%ers with their Premium time and C-bill bonus mechs will obviously create the jobs for the uneducated, government employees during CW. These self made Mechwarriors will be the Nobles of the Houses and various Khans of the Clans. Comstar will jockey for central banking because HGP fiat.

Quoted just so I can like it one more time. Crackin me up

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

i have not used a consumable in 2 months,its mostly useless in pug games

[Macksheen]

Every time I see your name Lucy, I smile. I do love that name.

I find now that they auto-refill, I tend to "use first, question later" ... and yes, it has slowed my CBill accumulation. That said, I'm not sure it's critically slow as yet.

[Xtrekker]

Funkadelic Mayhem, on 02 October 2014 - 08:15 AM, said:

What economy?

Ha, no kidding. It's all pretty much a one way mech collector with obstacles to frustrate you into paying real money.

[Mystere]

Lefty Lucy, on 02 October 2014 - 08:01 AM, said:

Especially Arty and UAVs.

If you don't bring these consumables, your team has a significantly lower chance to win. If you lose, you make crap c-bills.

If you do bring and use them, you have a much higher chance to win, but you make crap c-bills.

C-bill earnings in this game are a joke right now.

I have not used any consumables for months now and my stats and c-bill earning are still rising. Those who think strikes make them win are probably using them as crutches.

Also, is this game about fighting or farming?

[Mawai]

Lefty Lucy, on 02 October 2014 - 08:06 AM, said:

It leaves the game with the sad state where the most effective way to farm c-bills is to die as quickly as possible while doing as much damage as possible, then immediately quit out of the match and pick a different mech.

Sadly ... it has always been this way. The fastest way to make cbills is to cycle matches. Not necessarily suicide .. but get into the match quick ... do significant damage which will increase your sides chance of a victory ... then die and bail from the match. Rinse and repeat.

It does not make for a fun play experience. I believe it does increase cbill earning rate though I have never tried it ... I am usually one of those who sticks around and spectates the match ... win or lose.

As to consumables ... I have both UAV and arty equipped ... use is dependent on actually getting a good circumstance to use them. In lights I will use the UAV 50% to 75% of the time. In any other mech it is a lot less frequent.

Consumables do reduce net income if used but I typically have enough to get by despite the reduction. I have also found them a good way to increase XP return at the expense of cbills since the XP rewards for use can be significant.

Edited by Mawai, 02 October 2014 - 09:32 AM.

[Mawai]

Fierostetz, on 02 October 2014 - 08:56 AM, said:

I clear a million every 3-4ish drops running IS lights. Use MG's and destroy as many components as you can instead of killing them. When I need cbills I spend the time to strip, when I just want to win the earnings are a lot lower because the kills are a lot quicker, less dmg.

Impressive. I don't think I have ever seen a 333,000 Cbill payout in a light mech ... even with premium and a hero mech ... of course that is what you NEED to make 1 million in 3 matches.

Over 200k is quite common in a good match ... with premium and a cbill bonused mech ... but I have never been able to get every match like that since my W:L running in the PUG queue is typically around 1:1 as expected.

[Clit Beastwood]

here are my last 3 drop screenshots
good http://i.imgur.com/Vm9BZ99.jpg
good http://i.imgur.com/9gPaBhJ.jpg
normal http://i.imgur.com/j5YPvah.jpg


rescuing teammates, destroying components, and assists are the quickest way to $ - the uavs pay for themselves easily. My pug WLR is above 1. I will admit that I don't know if I have premium time running/active right now. I don't really pay attention to the cbills/etc. anymore.

Edited by Fierostetz, 02 October 2014 - 10:09 AM.

[Quicksilver Aberration]

ITT, people with premium disagreeing because they aren't taking near a hit thanks to consumable tax costs being flat and not proportional to earning rate.

Can't wait for CW and seeing 12 red smokes from both teams every match.

Consumables have been a bad idea since their implementation and will continue to be bad until they max it an unlock rather than constant tax.

[Dracol]

WM Quicksilver, on 02 October 2014 - 10:56 AM, said:

ITT, people with premium disagreeing because they aren't taking near a hit thanks to consumable tax costs being flat and not proportional to earning rate.

Can't wait for CW and seeing 12 red smokes from both teams every match.

Consumables have been a bad idea since their implementation and will continue to be bad until they max it an unlock rather than constant tax.

My premium time just ran out. Granted, I get the most out of my consumables, but I find they pay for themselves even on loses.

UAV in the middle of a pack of enemies with ECM, paid for itself.

Airstrike used near the later part of the match against a blob of mechs, paid for itself

Don't use anything but those two, and only in the situations I described.

If someone is not utilizing a module to its fullest potential, I can see how it can be viewed as a tax.

[RangerGee412]

I use uavs sometimes, most of the time I don't bother with consumables. They aren't necessary

[terrycloth]

There has never been a situation where I said 'having a UAV up right now would be worth 40k cbills'. I put UAV and airstrike on one of my mechs for a while but I never used them, so I eventually took them off. I think they're still sitting in my inventory.

Winning just seems so random. A lot of my best matches, we still lose. And you have to flip a loss into a win to make the consumable worthwhile.

[Lefty Lucy]

terrycloth, on 02 October 2014 - 11:22 AM, said:

There has never been a situation where I said 'having a UAV up right now would be worth 40k cbills'. I put UAV and airstrike on one of my mechs for a while but I never used them, so I eventually took them off. I think they're still sitting in my inventory.

Winning just seems so random. A lot of my best matches, we still lose. And you have to flip a loss into a win to make the consumable worthwhile.

That's the problem. Even in the best situation it's *not* worth 40k c-bills if you're looking to make an income. I don't like the fact that this game has an economy, but let's face it, that's never, ever going to change.

However, UAVs are *incredibly* powerful. They spot for LRMs regardless of enemy ECM. They show your team where the enemy position is, and allow them to cycle through to see their loadouts without LoS, without having to type or say *anything* at all.

A well-used UAV can be absolutely essential to winning a match if the players are halfway tactically competent (which I realize is asking a lot).

Here's the thing: I play to win. I don't play to pad my own stats. My WLR is quite high while my KDR is slightly less than 1. I will take every little advantage if it means being that much closer to a win, and comsumables do that, at a cost.

If you don't have premium, you can earn c-bills, or you can maximize your team's chance to win, but you can't really do both, as a light or medium pilot.

Sure, if you're driving your direwolf and getting 3-4 kills per match and making great c-bills that's fine, you're doing your part for your team. But as a scout and rapid response pilot I can't both do my part in helping the team win and earn c-bills at the same time.

[terrycloth]

Honestly, I'd prefer consumables not exist. They seem like a cheat that people who have more money than they need can use to directly buy a better chance at victory.

Or alternatively that they not cost money per use, so then everyone could use them once per match and the skill would be in deciding when to. Except that I really don't want to have 24 artillery strikes per round, so there'd have to be some other limiting factor.

Edited by terrycloth, 02 October 2014 - 12:13 PM.

[Clit Beastwood]

Lefty Lucy, on 02 October 2014 - 11:48 AM, said:

But as a scout and rapid response pilot I can't both do my part in helping the team win and earn c-bills at the same time.

Dude that's just not true. Like many other aspects of this game, it comes down to communication.

Pre drop chat
me: scouting, have a UAV, who's got lrms?
others: "me!" "LRM60 here" "I like turtles"

In drop
:pop uav: "I popped a uav, merry xmas, please make it worth it"
I wind up with.. c-ecm, several spotting assists, and a bunch of open enemies I can go in and harvest components from to farm cbills. Pays for itself easily, drop after drop. Maybe change up *how* you play your lights.

Do you drop in lights with specific purposes? I.e. do you have lights that are specifically spotters? Do you have strikers? Do you have counter-lights? You don't go grab a tool and try to make it work for the task at hand - you figure out what the task is (i.e. what your drop needs, or how you want to play) then select the appropriate tool. Doing so allows you more control, and thus you play a more active role in your earnings, etc. When I'm farming cbills, like I said earlier, I'll maximize damage and actively avoid killing an enemy until I have to. If I'm farming a helpless DWF and I have it to myself, I leg, then remove arms, then start critting out all the components I can. If I'm in a group, I change that up, and aim to kill as quickly as possible. Decide what you want to do, then do it. Being able to respond "in the moment" is good, but it'll never make you great.

terrycloth, on 02 October 2014 - 12:10 PM, said:

Honestly, I'd prefer consumables not exist. They seem like a cheat that people who have more money than they need can use to directly buy a better chance at victory.

Or alternatively that they not cost money per use, so then everyone could use them once per match and the skill would be in deciding when to. Except that I really don't want to have 24 artillery strikes per round, so there'd have to be some other limiting factor.

I tend to agree, realistically, I'd rather modules in general not exist. That's just me, nobody try to argue with me, I'm not saying get rid of modules, just that I, personally, think they skew the game in the favor of people that are *already* more experienced. I've been playing a long time, I have consumables, etc. and new guys that still dump lrms into the dirt are left wondering what the red smoke is, and go investigate it.

Looking at that last bit... commas are OP. But I'll leave them because it amuses me.

Edited by Fierostetz, 02 October 2014 - 12:16 PM.

[Clit Beastwood]

In addition to the bit about modules, I *do* think it's the... responsibility.. of every experienced mechwarrior to occasionally adopt noobs and try to show them the ropes. We need to keep the community alive and growing, or we won't have a game to play. I like MWO, I think you all do to. Adopt a noob. Drop some knowledge.

[Training Instructor]

I've gotten back into using coolshot with my clan mechs, since 1.4 dhs are a sad joke and clan lasers run ridiculously hot.

[Clit Beastwood]

Training Instructor, on 02 October 2014 - 12:18 PM, said:

I've gotten back into using coolshot with my clan mechs, since 1.4 dhs are a sad joke and clan lasers run ridiculously hot.

Nooooo coolshots are a bad habit.

[Bront]

I carry a UAV and Arty on most of my mechs at this point. I just try to not use them unless I get a great opportunity. If you use them right, they can nearly make back what they cost (Particularly if you have premium time running and are in a hero mech).

Sadly, PUG matches often seem like a better way to farm. You can get in and out quicker, and likely do more damage/get more kills if you're a skilled pilot. Heck, I ran out of ammo in my Ilya last night in one of the few PUG matches I've played in months, which is usually pretty rare for me (had something like 3 kills, 7 assists, 700+ damage, and made over 300,000, don't think I used a consumable that match)