15 replies to this topic

[Riverboat Sam]

I bought a Jenner JR7-F with my cadet bonus. I later bought two other Jenners and leveled my -F up to full elite skills.

I know people consider the Jenner, "easy mode". Personally, I found it the hardest mech to play that I own. I've been having fun with my Kitfoxes recently so decided to dust off the Jenner and give it another go. I just got stuffed match after match. I'm obviously not doing something right.

Could someone offer some simple tactical rules to follow with a Jenner that might help me at least accomplish SOMETHING in matches with the thing. Based on my results I obviously have no idea what I'm doing.

Oh, and if you're wondering how I leveled it up, just add up how many matches you would have to run earning minimum XP to fully Elite a mech. That's the kind of determination I have.

[Mobile Ordnance Platform]

did you optimize your armor ? front load the ct and st with only 2 at the back
http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__3833699

jenner takes alot of damage to the ct easily because of its hitboxes and if your not aware it definitely feels like you die fast

well anyways i feel like this helped me alot

[Ertur]

Build: 300XL, DHS, Endo, FF, 2JJ, Max armor - 6 points (from head, arms, side torso -- never take armor from Jenner legs or CT), 4 extra DHS, and either 6MLas or 5MLas and another DHS until you can get better at managing the heat. Like this:Jenner F
Or, like I said, take one MLas off and put in an extra DHS.

Don't hit things from the front. Use speed and maneuver to get on the flank or rear of your target. Keep good awareness of what else is around that may shoot at you. If there is something shooting at you then disengage, run for cover, and look for something else to shoot. Watch your heat. If you go down on heat, then you stop moving, and someone kills you. So don't do that.
To select a target, look for something that is on its own on the flack or rear of the enemy formation. Also cycle targets to find things that are injured and hanging back to avoid further damage.

[3xnihilo]

Do you run ecm on your kitfox? You might be suffering from "oh crap, I forgot I show up on radar now". Anyway, I think of jenners as big locusts with jj. Never stop moving get into the enemy flanks and rear unload an alpha strike then get behind cover. then just be glad it was a Jenner and not a locust when you do get caught by some enemy fire because you are still alive (maybe).

[TercieI]

Easy mode? No. Very good mech, but nothing easy about using it well. It's HOT and has that giant CT hitbox.

As others have said, you can strip armor on head, arms and STs on Jenners. Legs and CT are how you'll die. I run both my five and six ML JR7-Fs with 15 DHS, they vary by armor and JJs. I advise against stripping your back too low, especially on the CT. Simply as a result of your amazing twist, you'll get shot in the back some.

[Gangnail]

First off as a dedicated light pilot (Jenners being my favorites) I will say whomever told you "easy mode" lied.

I have been piloting the Jenner chassis for almost a year now and boy have things changed. No longer can you joust like a mad flying crazy person. Nerfed JJ, more fall damage, higher alpha strikes, narc improved, improved LRMs, better hit detection on SRMs etc... The way of the Jenner has changed. I will try to post builds and explanations of the new meta and tactics in this post.
Overall the load out of the mastered Jenner F hasn't changed much: 6 medium lasers, xl300 engine, 1 jump jet, endo, ferro and double heat sinks. Some people use 1 more JJ or one less laser. I have followed and watched some great Jenner pilots, P33p3rs, siriothrax, edmiester, Peefsmash, Adiuvo and read tons of light mech guides. There are some slight differences in the higher ELO Jenner pilots load outs and I will try to bring to light the "why's".

First up: The Standard!
The Meta...

This is the standard loadout for competitive matches. Things to note. 45% cooling efficiency gives you 3 Alpha strikes before shut down on Caustic Valley and 5 on Frozen City. Notice the placement of the heat sinks in the arms. They are there to "crit pad" those lasers.

P33p3rs Poker:
P33p3rs Build
This guy is incredible to watch! (ever see a Jenner do 1500+ damage?) His build fits his play style perfectly. He is a master at the peek-a-boo shot. Notice that he only has 2 armor in his rear ct? I asked him why and he said he would rather have the extra armor in the front for peek shots and rarely gets hit in the back

Modules:

Consumable:
#1: Cool Shot
#2: Artillery Strike
#3: Air Strike

Mech:
#1: Target Info Gathering
#2: Radar Deprivation
#3: Capture Accelerator

Weapon:
IS M laser range
IS M laser cooldown

Weapon Groups: Two styles
#1: Alpha strike button 1( left mouse)
Alpha strike on chain fire button 2( right mouse)
#2: Left arm lasers- Button 1 (left mouse)
Right arm lasers- Button 2(right mouse)
All lasers on chain fire - Button 3

Strategies:

LEGS, LEGS, LEGS!
YOUR LEGS are the most important part of your mech. Keep them from damage by using your JJ efficiently. Never use all of your jump capacity. Always save some to create a soft landing. Remember a legged Jenner is a dead Jenner! •Light 'Mechs start taking damage at 38 m/s

OPPONENTS LEGS: Your favorite target.
There are 3 ways to take down a mech. Headshot, engine destroyed or taking out the legs.
"If you aim at the legs the damage will be spread over the two legs, but the beauty of it is that none is actually lost since both need to be destroyed! (it will be lost only when one leg is destroyed: damage transfers to side torso)."
"Protip: ammo is used from the left leg before the right leg. Thus, to maximize your chances of ammo explosion go for the right leg. Even if it doesn't kill him (no explosion after all, or CASE) you have suppressed his bigger reserve of ammo."~ epikt
Just come over a hill and have a mech in front of you? Go for a leg!
I have included a link to a great article that is very in depth on this subject below

YOU ARE NOT AN ATLAS
This one I am struggling with still. Your the ninja not the samurai. You may have a 30 point alpha and have incredible speed but you are a 35 ton tin can. Know when to bug out of a fight. Your power shines from mid match- end game ( nothing is more dangerous to a group of beat up mechs than a fresh Jenner ) In the beginning of matches try to keep from getting hurt, spot enemy forces and relay that to your teammates. Let the big guys do the brawling. Also never run directly away from a mech. You are just one alpha strike in the back from being salvaged parts. Zig zag, take angles, tap those JJ's, climb a hill and torso twist.

SPEED IS LIFE!
Never stop moving and never overheat. Period.

Resources:

War room: top light pilots discuss what it takes to be a comp player
War Room

P33p3rs: House of Lords Jenner ace
P33p3rs Twitch

Adiuvo: House of Lords light pilot and one of the best
Adiuvo's Twitch
His build: Jenner F

Peefsmash light solo guide Old but still GREAT!

Legs: your favorite target by Epikt
Targeting 101


Hope this helps. Come by our site and do some drops with us or ask questions. Always willing to share what I can. See you out there!

Edited by Gangnail, 05 November 2014 - 11:02 PM.

[TercieI]

Great post, Gangnail. Big +1.

EDIT:

Edited by Terciel1976, 04 November 2014 - 10:48 AM.

[Gangnail]

Yeah this was before the module changes. I have edited this. I run both now as well. o7

Edited by Gangnail, 04 November 2014 - 10:48 AM.

[TercieI]

Gangnail, on 04 November 2014 - 10:47 AM, said:

Yeah this was before the module changes. I have edited this

Likewise.

[epikt]

I'll add few things to Gangnail's excellent post:

First, my article about legging can now be read at this address, no login required: http://www.mechspecs...te-target.1771/
(Mechspecs recently changed the forum engine, old links are broken)

One common misconception about the Jenner is to think about it as a scout mech. It's a skirmisher, an harasser and a finisher - and a pretty good one. You'll still do some basic scouting, like moving ahead of the pack and try to locate the enemy, but don't take unnecessary risks trying to keep locks for missiles (for example).
Your job is to strike, and to be exact to strike precisely at the weak mechs and components (the"R" key is your best friend!). You're some kind of scavenger actually.
The more the fight will go on, the more the mechs will be damaged and the formations disbanded, the more freedom of action you'll have.

Also, piloting one of the best light mechs does not mean you should look for duels. Lure your enemies into your team's fire as much as you can. When they realise their mistake and turn tail you'll have some free shots, but beware of falling into an ambush yourself.

The skill you might want to pay special attention to is situation awareness, you certainly don't want to be caught off-guard. Ideally, you should always have an escape route in mind.

Whatever you do always max the armor on legs (true for all light mechs) and CT (the Jenner takes everything there).
Those basic rules observed, armor repartition is highly depend on ones individual playstyle and you might want to experiment and tweak what's working for you. Take screenshots of your mech status at the end of game and see what components are damaged or not, and adjust your armor repartition accordingly.
The bullet magnet CT can be seen as a problem, it also can be seen as a opportunity to save moar tonnage: here's my JR7-F build, with low armor on side torsos in order to mount a second jet (I still mostly die from CT destruction). I'd advice against going with such low armor on your first games, but you might want to think about it in a few months, when you'll feel comfortable with the mech.

Anyway, stay focused and keep practicing, the Jenner is not an easy mech to master but it's extremely fun and rewarding once you get the feeling right.

Edited by epikt, 04 November 2014 - 04:29 PM.

[Gangnail]

Thanks epikt for double checking the link. I was trying to copy/paste as fast as I could because the server was gong down. I will edit my original later after work.

[Riverboat Sam]

Very helpful. Thanks so much guys!

[John1352]

The Jenner isn't "easy mode", it's kinds tricky to play, but once you understand how to use it, you can cause ridiculous amounts of damage without taking any. This week I got my highest damage game in any mech in my JR7-F at ~1100.

The Jenner is really bad at tanking damage (compared to say, a firestarter), all the damage goes into the CT and sometimes legs. This means you need to minimize your time exposed to the enemy. Fortunately, you are really fast and have high hardpoints. If you have a good idea of where an enemy is (within range of your medium lasers), peep over hill or around corner, already aiming where you expect them to be, fire as soon as you can, and get back in cover before they have a chance to fire back. This gives you ~1 second of exposure, which is usually short enough that you won't take more damage than a laser swipe.

I have my lasers grouped as 3 left and 3 right, meaning I can stick half my mech around a corner and avoid making unnecessary heat. Radar deprivation is critical for this playstyle, as otherwise LRMs will keep tracking you once you get out of line of sight. Another trick, that works well with all lights, is to expose yourself for half a second, let enemy assaults fire their heavy weapons into the building/hill, then go give them a good blasting while their guns are on cooldown.

[Rando Slim]

The Jenners were my first mech a year and a half ago, I am not an elite pilot, but I am very dangerous in a Jenner among the mid level/semi-comp pilots. For the Jenner F I shave my back armor down to 6 on the torsos, just enough to survive one decent shot to the back if it happens (Im not quite good enough to ensure it never does), I use 2 jumpjets because I find one is pointless, you cant escape over terrain as quickly with only one. I utilize 5 medium lasers instead of 6 because its rather hard to manage the heat on hot maps, I use the xl-300 engine because speed is life, and nowadays I use a TAG laser inthat last energy slot because although I hate missile boats, I might as well help them a little if they are on my team (don't get too busy trying to be a spotter though, a Raven 3L is much better at it, but its nice sometimes, if you are dueling another light getting some support and some extra c-bills), then 14 double heat sinks keeps it nice and cool with a mechlab rating of 1.38

As far as tactics go, don't ever run straight at or away from anything, for that matter don't run in straight lines ever if possible. Don't get stuck running in a circle in the same direction over and over. Switch your circling direction, zig zag forward and then go back to circling, Use jumpjets to ambush people from terrain, then use them again to keep flying by up and over the next piece of terrain (like say on canyon network), peek-aboo shots: do them. HPG for instance people often rush the "top" satellite dish area, there are 4 ramps leading up to it, peek over the top of one when no one is looking, alpha strike, back down, recharge, peek and fire a second time unless someone is looking at you, then switch ramps and repeat over and over till they get off the top. Maybe someone has seismic sensor and sees you, but hopefully your team will also be surrounding the middle/ramp areas and you wont be the priority target. Personally I try to stay away from the other "good" light mechs, A good firestarter pilot is about the most dangerous thing to a Jenner, also rubber-banding and ping issues seem to pop up frequently in a light mech duel. Juicy fat targets are juicy, if you can het behind them, or get through a distracted enemy line your team is firing on, theres only so far most mechs will turn to try and shoot you, cause they don't wanna expose their back to bigger badder things, so they will resign themselves to the fact they cant do much about you and hope that you just piss off. But so long as they don't have a light mech to respond to you, DONT bug off completely, go around a corner and cool off, give them enough time to think you are gone, then come back and start punching hings in the back until they turn, then repeat the hiding process.

For weapon grouping I put left arm lasers on button 1, right arm lasers on button 2, and my TAG on button 4 cause its on the side of my mouse and tha way I can fire, move, and TAG all at the same time if I want, DO NOT stand still to TAG in this build. TAG when you can and if that means you only hold it on them for a second or two and your friendly LRM boats may or may not get missiles on them then so be it, let em get pissed they aren't the ones piloting a paper meche death-mobile.

Edited by Scrotacus 42, 04 November 2014 - 06:42 PM.

[epikt]

Scrotacus 42, on 04 November 2014 - 06:38 PM, said:

I utilize 5 medium lasers instead of 6 because its rather hard to manage the heat on hot maps,

Thanks for pointing this out. The 5 MLas build is indeed a good alternative for those having a hard time managing the heat.
But keep in mind that, since because of slot restriction you can't use the ton for a DHS, this build does not cool-off faster, it only builds heat slower (just because it doesn't strike as hard).
Thus (except if you want additional JJs or a TAG) the 6 MLas build is indisputably better as long as you can handle the heat.

That being said, if you're desperately seeking heat efficiency, there is a way to mount 5 MLas and 16 DHS by using an XL295 and not upgrading the armor.

Edited by epikt, 05 November 2014 - 08:17 AM.

[Gangnail]

If you need to just turn 1 laser off at the beginning of the match on my 6ML build