313 replies to this topic

[Shaemus Shadow]

That's a good idea. Some of the guys also mentioned buying mech bays. I will hold onto it for a little while. I didn't get enough for the Dragonslayer anyway and when I saw the "real money" price I would have to pay for it, I almost left a stain in the seat.

Edited by Shaemus Shadow, 04 November 2014 - 05:14 AM.

[DrSlamastika]

Shaemus . . best heros are ILYA and MISERY, from my point of view.

Edited by DrSlamastika, 04 November 2014 - 06:14 AM.

[Sandtiger]

Shaemus Shadow, on 03 November 2014 - 01:45 PM, said:

I learned my lesson from that...I have been staying off the the side and REALLY picking my shots so that my shots don't hit my teammates. My damage numbers still suck while I am trying to figure out which loadout I like best on my ShadowHawk 5M but I am still enjoying grinding away.

If you see PAINGUIN X running around in his pesky little Spider 5D, that's my kid.....keep him humble by kicking him in the pants. He's already better than I am.

Ironically enough so is mine. So if you see ShotZzZ please feel free to return the favor ~Grins

[Shaemus Shadow]

I bought 2 $10.00 Karma Koin cards to get some MC. I screwed up by not combining them together but did not realize that I could until after I put in both codes and bought 1250 MC for $6.95 each. I now have 2500 MC and $6.10 left on one of the cards that I combined afterwards. Why is there not an option for $9.99 or $10.00. Is there another option? I would gladly spend the rest on MC but.....

Wish I had a million c-bills for each time that I have I said, "I screwed up", on this forum...

I will have to dig MUCH deeper into my pockets to buy the best hero mechs but I wanted to give support to MWO by getting SOMETHING. I am seriously thinking about buying "The Death's Knell" for the low price and the 30% boost to my c-bills. My kid gets into matches faster because he pilots a light maybe I can use it to bank up.

I am going to have to play Metallica's, "FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS" while scooty-pootin' around with the TDK.

Edited by Shaemus Shadow, 04 November 2014 - 01:29 PM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Shaemus Shadow, on 04 November 2014 - 11:13 AM, said:

Wish I had a million c-bills for each time that I have I said, "I screwed up", on this forum...

If you contact support about that, they might be able to help with that.

Oh, and hello!
First time sayin anything here.

[Lucky Noob]

Shar Wolf, on 04 November 2014 - 02:45 PM, said:

If you contact support about that, they might be able to help with that.

Oh, and hello!
First time sayin anything here.

I agree here, Support is very Friendly, and you have nothing to loose, just give it an Try.

[Shaemus Shadow]

Thank you. I will just take my lumps and learn from them.
It just seems like maybe I said "I screwed up" too much.

I do think it is cool how friendly and helpful everyone has been to me and other newbies on this forum. As far as contacting support, I wouldn't mind talking to them about the possibility of converting the money left on my Karma Koin card to MC but it is an odd amount compared to the standard rate for MC. Then again , I could just another card later on now that I know how to combine then.....oh, i'm rambling again, sorry.

[3xnihilo]

Just wanted to chime in and say the tdk is a great mech, just remember don't stop moving lights can be tricky but insanely fun once you understand them.

[Koniving]

Shaemus Shadow, on 04 November 2014 - 11:13 AM, said:

I bought 2 $10.00 Karma Koin cards to get some MC. I screwed up by not combining them together but did not realize that I could until after I put in both codes and bought 1250 MC for $6.95 each. I now have 2500 MC and $6.10 left on one of the cards that I combined afterwards. Why is there not an option for $9.99 or $10.00. Is there another option? I would gladly spend the rest on MC but.....

Wish I had a million c-bills for each time that I have I said, "I screwed up", on this forum...

I will have to dig MUCH deeper into my pockets to buy the best hero mechs but I wanted to give support to MWO by getting SOMETHING. I am seriously thinking about buying "The Death's Knell" for the low price and the 30% boost to my c-bills. My kid gets into matches faster because he pilots a light maybe I can use it to bank up.

I am going to have to play Metallica's, "FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS" while scooty-pootin' around with the TDK.

Yeah, that kinda sucked. Definitely make sure to combine them in the future.

The more you get at once, the better off you are. I personally go for the 50 thing every now and then just because, then I make the amount of MC I get last me for a couple of months on whatever I might get (and only snag them during sales).

Far as TDK:

The official vid for it.


29 seconds in this vid of mine, a Death Knell (standard engine; no extra light crap) is put into play. Hard mode incarnate.

The match after it in the snow is even better. Though both are intense. (These are with my wide field of view, 100 degrees FOV). (Actually no they are not using the wide FoV, come to think about it.)

Edited by Koniving, 05 November 2014 - 10:50 AM.

[Phobic Wraith]

Shaemus Shadow, on 04 November 2014 - 11:13 AM, said:

I'm sure it's already been mentioned, but WAIT FOR SALES!

Every so often there are weekend sales that will include 50% off a hero 'mech or three. I picked up the Dragon Slayer and Illya Muromets during one of those.

[Shaemus Shadow]

Thanks again for the tip on sales and the videos. I do have a question though, Koniving...Why were you running 4x small lasers instead of the med lasers and which engine were you running? If ya don't mind.

[SnagaDance]

Also keep in mind that it is very likely that coming Black Friday (actually that whole weekend) PGI will once again do a MC sale. Last year I got 30% extra in MC, great for bargain hunters like me.

[Koniving]

Shaemus Shadow, on 04 November 2014 - 05:50 PM, said:

Thanks again for the tip on sales and the videos. I do have a question though, Koniving...Why were you running 4x small lasers instead of the med lasers and which engine were you running? If ya don't mind.

I'm back. In MWO, unlike Battletech, the small and medium lasers have extra heat while the large lasers have reduced heat. This makes absolutely no sense to me, and in a way is very counter productive to light mechs in my opinion. 4 medium lasers would consume 2 more tons that I had already dedicated to something else. Furthermore, it would be 16 heat per volley of 4 (instead of BT's 12), with a longer beam time (more damage spread) with bigger beams (draws more attention).

In a way, the only thing medium lasers have going for them is range. But if I am that far away, I'm as good as dead. That twin Gauss Jager at the beginning had clipped me once, but because I was so close instead of instantly killing me, his two guns became split between CT and a side torso, not only allowing me to live but making it so he'd have to try again. By then he panicked so bad he couldn't get them to fire again.

Hug in tight, and many mechs to include Shadowhawks can't look down far enough to touch a Commando, let alone focus weapons on it.

My 4 small lasers generate 8 heat (4 heat in BT). This allows me to keep ice cold; I could even run this build with standard heatsinks if I really wanted to and do quite well. On hot maps, the basic number of 10 double heatsinks ensure that even if 40 flamers are pointing at me while I stand in the lava of Terra Therma, I could never, ever overheat while firing at my maximum firing rate.

If you never overheat, you never shut down, so you never stop moving, and thus you will never die (as much).

4 medium lasers would shut me down in about 24 seconds or less on hot maps.

Far as the engine, one moment.... At the time I think it was a standard 180 engine (slightly better than the stock one if I'm not mistaken).
I'm currently using a Standard 200 engine (you can get this with any and every single hunchback you ever get) so it goes 129 right now (as fast as the Clan Ice Ferret).

My current rig uses twin Medium Pulse Lasers, which have even shorter beam times, a bit more heat, but slightly improved damage and significantly improved range.

[Shaemus Shadow]

Thank you for that. I have had more than a couple of matches where I have overheated with the 4 medium lasers ,just when I was doing pretty well in a duel with other lights. I thought about using 2 mpls from my Shadow Hawk but did not know if it would be a good idea until you said you were using them.....If you don't mind, i'm gonna copycat your 2 mpl setup. I am currently saving up for a bigger engine. Thanks again for the feedback.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Warning - this might get a bit long, and could probably be better phrased.

When it comes to the engines - if you are ever going to look at buying a mech that comes with one - I would not recommend buying the engine separate (especially XL engines!*)

IE: the 200 that Kon uses in his COM-TDK - can be found in every hunchback - and most of the Centurion


*Mechs that come partially or fully upgraded - such as the RVN-3L or the CN9-D cost less than the sum of their parts - to balance out the shock of the higher initial cost.
Meaning that if you ever want an XL engine (and have the spare mechbay) start looking at what might come with it.

Most stock mech's engines are based on a multiple of their weight (IE the 150 engines that the 25 ton COM come with - or the 210 the 35 ton Raven above comes with) - so don't go looking at a 50 toner if you want a 240 engine (though a 200 or 250 would fit )

Edit: ok, not so long - but still needs some phrasing.

Edited by Shar Wolf, 05 November 2014 - 02:44 PM.

[Shaemus Shadow]

Makes sense to me. Thanks for the tips.

While running around with my TDK, I noticed I was losing my right or left torso and I was able to fight a little while longer before I was destroyed. I have NO desire to put an XL in the TDK. I will use the little Hero mech to grind out cbills with the bonus. Thanks again for the help.

EDIT: I have played quite a few games with my new COM-TDK. It is alot of fun, but I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I rarely get close to 100 damage before I am a match-stick. I usually do get at least 5 assists but nothing that stands out. I do not feel like I am contributing to my team unless I am capping.

Edited by Shaemus Shadow, 06 November 2014 - 06:04 AM.

[CSHubert]

If you're looking for investments, look into the packages in the store of your mwo client. Here you can see a full mastery pack of ie centurions, comming with 3 cents, 1 of them a regular, 1 Champion and mr. Wang himself. They come with mechbays and 30 days of premium time. - And at a very good price. Just a suggestion.

@Shar Wolf : You were mentioned before you announced yourself

[Shaemus Shadow]

Thanks CSHubert.

[Phobic Wraith]

Shaemus Shadow, on 05 November 2014 - 02:50 PM, said:

EDIT: I have played quite a few games with my new COM-TDK. It is alot of fun, but I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I rarely get close to 100 damage before I am a match-stick. I usually do get at least 5 assists but nothing that stands out. I do not feel like I am contributing to my team unless I am capping.

Well, light 'mechs are "hard mode," so I can't say too much about what you're doing wrong. I will say that the situations light chassis excel in are a little unforgiving... I have never run a commando, but the setup you're running is pretty similar to Firestarter territory, and I DO run mine regularly. First, if you're getting into a duel, you're probably doing it wrong. That's not to say don't ever get in a duel, but it's way more effective to hit and run. You'll even get a bonus for that under the new rewards structure.

Damage is an interesting problem for light 'mechs. As a disclaimer, damage dealt is not the best indicator for effectiveness. In fact, team games tend to have very few indicators for effectiveness. But to your point putting out more damage is just a numbers game. Koniving mentioned earlier why he ran 4 small lasers, vs. 4 medium lasers. They run significantly cooler and Light chassis tend to have issues with overheating - lots of things go into that, but for now we'll just list that as bad design mechanics.

Less heat is a good thing, but you also have to remember that 4 small lasers only does 12 damage. 4 medium lasers does 20. The medium lasers have a longer range as well, meaning you don't have to get in as close to the enemy, that often isn't alone (if they're smart). The numbers say it all, as long as you're keeping those lasers on target, they're doing a specific amount of damage and that doesn't change. You have to ask yourself, "is the trade off worth it?" it depends entirely on playstyle. If you're running in a group of light 'mechs, a la school of piranha, then you're probably up close and the enemy's attention is likely being divided among your group and you can hang out and do a little better as far as DPS goes. If you're alone, then you might do a little better with the medium laser loadout. You can keep a little more distance, hit someone from behind and as they used to say "get thee hence."

Either way, my point is that the damage you're dealing doesn't have to be incredible to be effective. As a simple point, let's look at the average Clan autocannon vs. an average IS autocannon.

Clan autocannons on paper deal more damage and weigh less than their Inner-sphere counterparts. But IS autocannons are more effective, why? Because IS autocannons deal all their damage to a single location, and Can autocannons fire multiple rounds equaling a similar amount of damage, but spreading that damage all over.

Clan 'mechs on average can put out better damage numbers than just about any IS chassis. They have the pen and paper numbers on their side, but the "real life" human aspect of the game means that 5 damage to a single component that gets destroyed is better than 10 damage spread all over that doesn't destroy a component.

Like Koniving's dual Gauss Jagermech enemy. The damage was spread out over two components and didn't kill him. Do your best to destroy components and get kills. Heck, do your best to help your teammates get kills and you're doing it right.

Long story short, no matter your damage output, the only "effectiveness measurement" you can apply to yourself is, "Am I helping my team win?"

Edited by Phobic Wraith, 06 November 2014 - 10:04 AM.

[3xnihilo]

You may want to reconsider the xl engine. a 240 with 4 ml is kind of the standard tdk build. Then use your speed to harass your enemies and get the heck out of Dodge when they turn on you. Always lock your target and try to take out damaged components in a single hit & run pass, then hide until your weapons recharge. Generally you shouldn't be engaged in a dueling situation long enough to overheat. Lights are all about situation awareness and knowing where your enemies are and how long it takes to get to the enemy and from the enemy back to cover. They are tough at first and then incredibly fun when you start to get the hang of them.


Edit: And speed is life, never stop moving, and never run in a straight line.

Edited by 3xnihilo, 06 November 2014 - 10:22 AM.