InRev, on 09 December 2014 - 05:18 PM, said:
I'm a predominantly medium and light pilot, that has forayed with some success into the land of Assault recently, so from my perspective on what would help out the team, here are some tips:
1) Don't shoot at targets with your AC/20s if they're 600m away.
2) Please upgrade your engine. I know you want MOAR DAKKA, but seriously. Half the Crabs I see are either too late to the fight, or ambushed while pulling up the rear. If you're going to PUG, accept that no one will rescue you, so upgrade the damn engine
3) Please no XLs. Just . . . please no. You're a giant wall of "SHOOT ME PLEASE". Dying early due to XL is rarely compensated by the extra Dakka, especially if you are new to assaults.
4) Take a second to actually aim. I know this sounds stupid but I've seen a lot of AC/40 volleys go flying wide due to panic. Ignore the flashing explosions and Bitching Betty and try to place your shots. If you have to tweak your mouse sensitivity, play around in the training grounds.
5) Don't try to stare down Dire Wolves, especially at range. Believe it or not, you're a bit more agile. Use that to dictate the engagement. All that armor that you have won't last long against a Starebear if he picks the fight.
6) At the same time, don't be afraid to eat a few hits if it gives your team a better position. Bully the enemy when and if you can and, Blake willing, your mediums and lights will take advantage of the distraction. If you're getting hammered though, it's still better to preserve your mech than throw it away for nothing.
7) Bottom line, you are a team asset. Playing an assault means you need a looot more situational awareness than anyone else. You're slower and tend to be committed once you pick a flank. Keep an eye on what your skirmishers are doing and look for opportunities to roll up a flank.
I know these sound obvious, but after seeing Crab after Crab die to a poor understanding of what seem to be common sense essentials, I feel like I should state them.
By and large, all of this is good advice. Especially items 1 and 2.
As a caveat to item 1, I'd just like to say that you should really learn the ranges of ALL your weapons, and pay attention to the range indicator next to your targeting reticule. Barring modules and quirks, Inner Sphere Medium Lasers have a max optimal range of 270 meters, a max range of 540 meters, and past 500 meters you really are barely doing enough damage to ruin the paint and p*** the target off. And I can't tell you how many times I've seen people repeatedly fire MLs at targets 700+ meters away. It boggles the mind.
Another point. A lot of the trial mechs are pretty decent. Use those until you have the c-bills to properly kit out your mech. An incomplete mech is almost a waste of a slot on the team. Similarly, you should know your mech's role before you drop in it, and try to play accordingly. If your mech is all LRMs with some backup medium lasers, don't go looking to dive into close quarter combat. If your mech is twin AC20 with some token backup guns, don't hang back when the fighting gets heavy, once teams have committed to a fight you need to be out there mashing face (but be mindful of your approach, slow mech are very vulnerale to getting jumped).
1
