22 replies to this topic

[Wind of Horror]

Hello, I had a question about starting MWO. I've set my eyes on piloting a Timberwolf, however cliche that might be heh. I've been piloting the TBR-C(C) trial mech. I've read quite a few of the stickies and have been looking through posts and I understand that one should pick a certain mech and level up each different one.

My question is, does piloting the trial mech have long-lasting benefits, or should I try to buy one of the TBR's as soon as possible so I don't miss any "XP type thing"?

Thanks for your time.

PS: Does anyone else here play Megamek (Computer P&P Battletech)? If so let me know somehow so we can play a non-competitive lance vs lance skirmish, I use IS-Intro mechs, but up for anything.

PSS: Gameplay wise, I'm getting a grasp on the controls. I tend to pick the biggest assault mech I can find and try and "peek" corners with them. Any short tips on how to properly pilot a Timberwolf/Play MWO much appreciated.

Edited by Penumbral, 13 March 2016 - 04:14 PM.

[Wind of Horror]

Also any tips on what to spend my XP or whatnot on in the beginning. I read maybe the radar deprivation (lose targeted when out of LOS) is that a good idea?

[Roland09]

XPs you earn in a trial mech do count for that mech variant, but you can actually spend them only once you own that mech variant (not when you only run that trial mech).

[Wind of Horror]

Roland09, on 13 March 2016 - 04:20 PM, said:

XPs you earn in a trial mech do count for that mech variant, but you can actually spend them only once you own that mech variant (not when you only run that trial mech).

Awesome, thank you for the response.

[Roland09]

Penumbral, on 13 March 2016 - 04:18 PM, said:

Also any tips on what to spend my XP or whatnot on in the beginning. I read maybe the radar deprivation (lose targeted when out of LOS) is that a good idea?

In order to mount a module, you first need to unlock it by paying GXP once, and then acutally equip the module on a mech, paying C-Bills (once for each module you wish to equip on a mech). The radar dep module is pricey. You should consider getting it after you have your three Timber Wolves you need to get in order to level them.

That said, radar dep is incredibly useful. You'll live longer by being less of a target for enemy LRMs.

Edited by Roland09, 13 March 2016 - 04:28 PM.

[mailin]

Generally the two modules that we recommend everyone get first are Seismic Sensor and Radar Deprevation. The slower the mech is, the most useful Seismic is, so you may want to think about that one first. And, as mentioned, XP accumulates even on the trial mechs, so if you buy the same variant of the Timberwolf, you will be able to immediately use all of your acquired XP. Note, however that you earn two kinds of XP. Mech XP and G (general) XP. GXP is earned much, much slower and while it can be used to level up mechs, we don't recommend it. You only want to use your GXP for unlocking modules because that is the only way to unlock those.

One more caveat for you. The Timberwolf is a top tier mech and as such you WILL be focus fired. But, if you do what you are doing and stay by your fatties you will leave the enemy with a really tough decision: focus on the Timberwolf or focus on the assault. Not a decision I'd like to make.

See you on the battlefield and welcome to MWO!

[Wind of Horror]

mailin, on 13 March 2016 - 04:48 PM, said:

See you on the battlefield and welcome to MWO!

Thank you for the tips. Hope to see you on the field too. Actually, on that note, I come from a game with around 400 actives daily (Guns of Icarus) and over there you tend to see familiar faces often. Does that happen here? How many people play? If not, is this the best way to join a 'community' here?

[mailin]

Penumbral, on 13 March 2016 - 05:06 PM, said:

Thank you for the tips. Hope to see you on the field too. Actually, on that note, I come from a game with around 400 actives daily (Guns of Icarus) and over there you tend to see familiar faces often. Does that happen here? How many people play? If not, is this the best way to join a 'community' here?

No problem at all. We LOVE to help new pilots become better. They're an asset when they're on our team, and good pilots are a challenge to kill when they're on the enemy team.

You will see the same names in matches sometimes. The first thign that I'd recommend is use in game comms if you can, but that can really be hit or miss. The other way is to get on a Teamspeak server (comstar is the one I use sometimes).

As far as numbers, PGI hasn't told us, which is something of a contentious matter for some people.

No matter what, keep asking questions on the forum though.

Edited by mailin, 13 March 2016 - 05:16 PM.

[Wind of Horror]

So I finished my 25 matches. Bought a TBR-C. Not really liking the LRM's and no jumpjets. Any suggestions on weapon changes?

Also kinda feeling discouraged, at 150K credits per match, that's 100 matches before I can buy a second TBR, or $57 for two. Is there a better way to earn credits other than quickmatches?


Would removing the UAC, AMS, and LRM's and replacing them with 2x S-SRM, and AC10 w/ 30 ammo be a bad idea?

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...83868586eb87190

Edited by Penumbral, 13 March 2016 - 09:36 PM.

[Audacious Aubergine]

Welcome! As advance notice, if you'll see the lovely dull silver 5 under my name you'll notice that I'm in the barrel scrapers tier, so don't necessarily take my word for anything good!
Totally up to you how you build your shiny new mech, but I've noticed that the Timber Wolf isn't the best with S-SRMs since it's "fragile", but only because as mailin mentioned, every man and their pet goldfish will be shooting at you once they see you. The trial/champion loadout for that variant I've found is utterly fantastic, so save some pennies and kit it out the same if you liked how it played. If you're going to use the build you've linked, I'd suggest at least a full tonne of ammo - clan autocannons and ultra autocannons fire in bursts (AC20 = 4 rounds per trigger pull, AC10 = 3, AC5 = 2, AC2 = 1), so those 30 rounds is actually only ten "shots". Swap the medium laser for the small laser and put it on the same weapon group as the streak srms and you'll be fine and dandy since they have the same weapon range, that will free up that half tonne for ammo. I'd build it more like THIS
Also, clan mechs are expensive to buy but that's mostly because they already come pre-fitted with upgrades that would cost you a lot with other Inner Sphere mechs, particularly the XL engine which can easily run up about 5 or 6 -million- c-bills. Sad to say that really the only "quick" way to earn those c-bills is to keep playing, the more valuable you are to the team and the better you do each match, the more you'll rake in.
Other than that, enjoy your stay or die trying

EDIT: ALMOST forgot, clan ER large lasers are notorious to me for being the hottest running weapons I've ever freaking fired ever and I try to avoid them if possible, but that might be because I love to brawl and you can't shoot slowly at that point

Edited by FreebirthToad18999, 13 March 2016 - 10:06 PM.

[Wind of Horror]

FreebirthToad18999, on 13 March 2016 - 10:04 PM, said:

Welcome!

Thanks. Ty for information on weapons/ammo too. Gonna try and stick it out for a while, just wish it gave enough C-bills for two mechs heh. Though I usually manage to get around 350-450 damage, 7-11 Assists, and sometimes the lucky killing blow, so I'm having fun

I've read that "LRM's" are bad? Is that because higher tier enemies dodge better?

[Leone]

M humble suggestion would be to switch it up an try the other trial every so often. It's great to play around with your mechs,don't get me wrong, but yeah, the TBRs are expensive, and grinding those cbills can be a bit slow.

So, change things up a bit. Try dashing around in lights for a few matches so you can appreciate the toughness of your mech. Drop in some of the trial assaults to try out even more firepower and then you can come back an appreciate your speedy heavy.

As for weaponry, it's all about what works for you. That build there is a bit all over the place. Large lasers for range an side poking, Ac10 for mid range brawlin' an streaks for light hunting. It's not going to excel at any one thing. That said, there are those here who like, enjoy and can make the generalist mechs work for them, so go ahead an give it a try. (But more AC ammo! You'll want two tonnes, minimum. Three once you figure out how to not get focused down early.)

Edit:

Penumbral, on 13 March 2016 - 10:24 PM, said:

I've read that "LRM's" are bad? Is that because higher tier enemies dodge better?

Because people have opinions, and we like to share. Personally, I dislike Large lasers. I'm not gonna say they're bad or anything, because they work for some folk. LRMs are one of the hardest weapons to learn. They're slower than the direct fire, and they have plenty of soft and hard counters, like Ams, Ecm, Terrain, etc..

So, some folk have issue with them, don't try to learn to use em, cuz harder than point an click lasers, so they're 'bad'.

That said, Lrms can be very useful weapons, and I enjoy running them, even taking 'em into CW from time to time, despite how 'Bad' an idea it supposedly is. Also, I hear long range poking is the meta or something? I 'unno, I play the game how I want to and it works.

Oh, but yeah, run lrms enough an you'll know what to do when someone points some your way. Hard weapon to master.

~Leone

Edited by Leone, 13 March 2016 - 10:32 PM.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

Penumbral, on 13 March 2016 - 10:24 PM, said:

Thanks. Ty for information on weapons/ammo too. Gonna try and stick it out for a while, just wish it gave enough C-bills for two mechs heh. Though I usually manage to get around 350-450 damage, 7-11 Assists, and sometimes the lucky killing blow, so I'm having fun

I've read that "LRM's" are bad? Is that because higher tier enemies dodge better?

Well, I personally think LRMs are bad (personal opinion) due to the amount of informational warfare currently already in the game. First off, we have ECM which makes it hard to target enemies within its bubble. Then we have radar deprevation which can drop locks once visual confirmation disappears behind cover.

But we also have a lot of defensive tactics, like AMS, and hiding behind cover. Then theres also the fact that missles take a long time to reach their target.

And lets not forget extremelly fast moving lights with extremelly high close range alphas, that can quickly decimate enemy targets with lrms.

Please remember that this is my personal opinion. And also remember, in lower tiers, LRMs can be extremely deadly because a lot of pilots do not have access to things like radar deprevation. So if you want to learn LRMs, then its better to learn earlier then later, because as you climb into higher tiers, more players will know how to counter them (or at least limit their effectiveness).

[Rogue Jedi]

Penumbral, on 13 March 2016 - 05:06 PM, said:

Thank you for the tips. Hope to see you on the field too. Actually, on that note, I come from a game with around 400 actives daily (Guns of Icarus) and over there you tend to see familiar faces often. Does that happen here? How many people play? If not, is this the best way to join a 'community' here?

this game has at minimum 20,000 active players, the devs have never published player numbers but about 4 months ago they published numbers for an event, and over 18,000 people participated in it, shortly thereafter the game went on steam and apparently more than doubled in population, so 50,000 active players is not an unrealistic guess and it could be closer to 100,000. however it is not uncommon to run into people from your previous match presumably due to the fact there is a pretty good chance you will be hitting launch within a few seconds of each other for the next match

that is one way to join a community, another is to find a unit ^{(equivalent of clan in other games, but we do not use clan for that because we have factions called the Clans, Clan Wolf, Clan Jade Falcon, Clan Smoke Jaguar and Clan Ghost Bear, so that could easily cause confusion)} to find a unit check in the Community Warfare forum or look in player signatures. please check out a few unit websites and do a bit of research before joining a unit, you do not want to join a unit then find the unit rarely has anyone online when you are, or focuses on competitive play while you want casual play, or only plays Inner Sphere Mechs when you want Clan.

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 14 March 2016 - 01:17 AM.

[crustydog]

The Timberwolf is the goto work horse heavy of the Clans. It can be configured to accommodate most fighting styles, and thus gives you a lot of options in terms of weapon preferences. You can build the LRM boat, the dakka hot map fighter, the cold map long range laser vomit, the close range pulse laser brawler, the streak boat, the SRM splat boat, and the list goes on.

In other words, it is not a bad place to start.

You do want to get three of them and master them up. After that you may want to get even more of them, especially if you are going into serious Community Warfare down the road.

Time you spend in combat with the mech causes certain changes in your awareness of the game, and certain skill sets, or fighting preferences, tend to evolve over time. This will also lead to you redesigning the mech to better fit your own personal fighting preferences as your skills evolve. The more time you spend in the mech, the more familiar you will become with the finer points of fighting with it - and as your own brain becomes acclimatized to this, many of the finer points of fighting will be handled subconsciously - like not taking that third shot, over heating and shutting down, because your brain knows when the limit is reached so you don't have to think about it during a fight - stuff like that.

The process of mastering three mechs is a long tedious grind - but it does have the benefit of forcing you to spend the time to actually become familiar with the platform. I have found that usually by the time I have fully mastered a new trio of mechs, I have also figured out one or more effective methods of building and fighting them as well.

After you have mastered the Timber Wolves, I would then switch to something like Thunder Bolts. T-Bolt is one of the main work horse heavies for the IS, and it is also excellent, yet plays very different from the Timby's. Usually I like to be working on mechs from both sides of the tech tree. This way, you learn the full range of technologies, and you will then know what the mechs you are encountering on the field can and cannot do - a huge advantage if you are intending to defeat them.

[Wind of Horror]

Just a last update. I'm 2 mil away from my second TBR. Just entered tier 4.

I was thinking about getting TBR-S, because I really like the jumpjets. But it seems like it has a redundant amount of them, in the C(C) I get up most ledges fine.

Any recommendations on next one to buy? (I bought TBR-C for my first one)

I'm really liking the lasers, but would be willing to try anything. How do Gauss rifles/PPC do on Timberwolf's? I spend a lot of time finding good cover and popping in and out getting consistent DPS and safety which I enjoy. So far I'm at 50 wins, 31 losses. 67 kills and 42 deaths, 33K dmg.

Edited by Penumbral, 14 March 2016 - 10:21 PM.

[Kyynele]

Leone, on 13 March 2016 - 10:26 PM, said:

LRMs are one of the hardest weapons to learn. They're slower than the direct fire, and they have plenty of soft and hard counters, like Ams, Ecm, Terrain, etc..

So, some folk have issue with them, don't try to learn to use em, cuz harder than point an click lasers, so they're 'bad'.

And just to add the other point of view to discussion:

LRMs are a low skill cap weapon. There is only so much you can do with them. I've personally played over 1000 matches with my LRM catapult alone, and it's currently sitting at 1 million banked xp and 3.5 KDR, so I'm going to go ahead and claim that I don't hate LRMs because I don't know how to use them.

They may initially feel like they're a harder weapon system to master, but the fact is their efficiency depends mostly about positioning and your ability to anticipate the enemies' movements. There are also a lot of little tricks that can make you more effective than the average lurmer.

But once you get to the point in skill where hitting a mech isn't any problem anymore, LRMs are never going to get you to the point where you can pick the weak part in the enemy mech and instantly and reliably remove that enemy from play. In a medium/long distance trading game, even if LRMs get a lock, the enemy will have ample time to dodge all the missiles, while the LRM mech can't dodge the instant direct fire during the brief face time.

LRMs are a valid weapons system in the lower tiers, and can situationally work in higher tiers as well. I fully recommend using LRMs while they still are viable in the games you play. They do teach you good positioning, which will be useful with other weapons as well.

It's just good to keep in mind that if you aspire to some day be a high level player, there are other, arguably more valuable things to learn, like spreading damage by torso twisting under fire, targeting specific components with lasers, and leading with ballistics or SRMs.

Penumbral, on 14 March 2016 - 10:11 PM, said:

Just a last update. I'm 2 mil away from my second TBR. Just entered tier 4.

I was thinking about getting TBR-S, because I really like the jumpjets. But it seems like it has a redundant amount of them, in the C(C) I get up most ledges fine.

Any recommendations on next one to buy? (I bought TBR-C for my first one)

I'm really liking the lasers, but would be willing to try anything. How do Gauss rifles/PPC do on Timberwolf's? I spend a lot of time finding good cover and popping in and out getting consistent DPS and safety which I enjoy. So far I'm at 50 wins, 31 losses. 67 kills and 42 deaths, 33K dmg.

I assume you haven't noticed, but clan omnimechs like the Timberwolf allow you to switch omnipods from other variants into them. For example, if you really like the JJs, you can buy a TBR-S side torso for your TBR-C, and have JJs in it. Or you can replace that ballistic arm with TBR-PRIME's 2x energy arm if you find you can't really have a heavy enough ballistic weapon in there with enough ammo. For this reason, only the center torso really matters in an omnimech. For TBRs, there are 3 different types of CTs, PRIME has one ballistic hardpoint in the CT, S has JJs in the CT, and the rest have an energy hardpoint. The CT only has 1 slot space in it, and the only ballistic you can fit in one is a machine gun, which are pretty bad weapons at the moment, so I would recommend you to skip the PRIME. Get the S for your second and the A or the D for your third.

As for your current build, since you're still starting out, I'd seriously consider simpling it down to 2 different weapon systems so you can focus more on what you're doing and less on what weapon to fire now:

You could for example switch the right torso to S, the right arm to prime, and go 5x ERML + 3x SSRM6 + JJs:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...743170e78d79be0

Or get S and A side torsos and go UAC10 + 5x ERML + JJs:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...d8a24715ebbfd96

Or if you mainly like the longer range lasers, you could try switching to the more heat efficient LPLs and focusing on them:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...41dbb78520fc666

Edit: For Gauss and PPC:
Gauss+laser TBRs are strong even in top tier play. You can easily modify the UAC10 build above to work with Gauss: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...081aadba1ab9be1

PPCs however have so slow base projectile speed, that they're only competitively viable on mechs that have PPC velocity quirks, which TBRs don't have. Clan ERPPCs weigh the same as LPLs, but are hotter and harder to hit with, so on mechs without quirks, it's almost always better to choose LPL instead of ERPPC.

Edited by Kyynele, 15 March 2016 - 06:11 AM.

[Wind of Horror]

Had no idea you could switch parts like that. Thanks a ton for the information and builds. When I got the TBR-C I was disappointed with the ballistic slot too. I really like the how the C(C) is just two different weapon groups. I read about chainfiring, tried it a few times, but stopped, should I be chainfiring? Doesn't seem like I see my opponents long enough.

[Wind of Horror]

Kyynele, on 15 March 2016 - 05:25 AM, said:

Edit: For Gauss and PPC:
Gauss+laser TBRs are strong even in top tier play. You can easily modify the UAC10 build above to work with Gauss: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...081aadba1ab9be1

Hey would you mind critiquing this C/A build? One extra laser or full armor/better heat? I want to head towards S/A, but thought I'd see what I could build on the way with my C. I lose my arms first in the TBR-C(C), right arm first usually/hopefully. Is having most my weapons on my arms a bad idea in TBR's? Like I have it setup here.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...efb1e4072a1567d
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6bb766b19891788

And what about this build C/A for learning to use LRM's in medium/close ranges? Is that enough ammo, I'll prolly try to just hit targets in the open without cover, don't want to scare them away from my lasers. Should I take the ammo out of my right arm, so it can't explode?
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b4c2c3806ecc9d3
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c03f4293b7321bb

Edited by Penumbral, 15 March 2016 - 03:58 PM.

[Rogue Jedi]

Penumbral, on 15 March 2016 - 02:34 PM, said:

I read about chainfiring, tried it a few times, but stopped, should I be chainfiring? Doesn't seem like I see my opponents long enough.

chainfire has both advantages and disadvantages, which you should use depends on the build and your situation.

advantages of chain fire
Missiles spread the more you launch in one go, so chain firing LRMs or SRMs makes them more accurate.
if a Light is pestering you and you alpha that light then has 3-4 seconds to pester you without you being able to fire back, however if you chain fire you can keep up a constant barrage making it harder for the Light to evade all damage.
chain firing ballistics can keep your enemy shaking making it harder to accurately shoot back.
it is easier to manage your heat if you do not have the huge heat spikes from firing a large group of weapons

advantages of alpha strike type fire
you are more likely to put all your damage in the same spot
you can fire then twist away to sheild

for the record I use both depending on the situation

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 15 March 2016 - 02:51 PM.