hijinks the turtle, on 19 December 2014 - 04:14 PM, said:
1) I know this feels like a pretty vague question, but which playstyle is each mech type/class good for?
2)What's the deal with this 'choosing faction' thing?
3) In general, which mech type/class is well suited for beginners?
4) I, personally, like stealth; is there something similar to cloaking in MWO?
EDIT: I think that'll be my last post for today. Already reaching the limit.
1) Vague question gets a vague answer. Anyway the cannonical / TT 'roles' are along the lines of this...
- Scout
- Striker
- Skirmisher
- Brawler
- Juggernaut
- Missile Boat
- Sniper
Scout - Fast mech, usually light on weapons but high in speed. This also uses certain equipment to make it peform it's role. which can range from ECM, BAP, TAG, NARC, etc. (No idea what those are? I will list them on the bottom of my post)
Common weight classes: Light, Medium.
Striker - Usually a fast mech that is often there to haras the enemy and to attack the enemy when it's distracted (often when the enemy is firing on larger mechs). It's similar to a scout but focuses more on firepower, 2nd to Scouts in speed
Common weight classes: Light, Medium.
Skirmisher - This mech is designed to be a jack off all trades, master of none. It is designed to have short, medium, and long range weapons to do virtually an equal amount do damage output at each range, while having decent speed. It often out guns what it can't out run. It can't go toe to toe with a mech class that specializes at there range but can serve as a decent asset to the team as it's not useless at any situation.
Common weight classes: Medium, Heavy.
Brawler- This is a decently fast mech with quite a lot of firepower devoted to short range combat while also having more armour them a skirmisher of equal weight tonnage typically. It has sometimes a backup weapon for range combat but it focuses on short range. It is one of the best mechs at close range combat.
Common weight classes: Heavy.
Juggernaut - Master of short range combat, these mechs have high armour and high short range weapons and are often very slow, They often have a very heavy hitting weapon like an AC/20, it can take virtually any mech on at short range combat and often see's combat with other mechs of a simular class.
Common weight classes: Assault.
Missile Boat - This mech is typically a slow mech that specializes in indirect combat. These are very good support mechs and often favour Long Range Missiles (LRM), they are often slow and hide back near other ranged mechs. They often have mediocre damage at close range so they are easy kills for most roles up close.
Common weight classes: (Clan) Light, Medium, Heavy, Assault.
Sniper - this mech class often focuses on long range direct combat, these can range from Particle Projection Cannons (PPC), Auto Cannon 2's and 5's. (AC), Gauss rifle, and other ranged weapons. These are often slow and are not always the best in close range combat.
Common weight classes: All
NOTE:
"Common weight classes:" these are determined by lore, TT, and stock load outs. This excludes out liars, ie the "Charger", an assault mech that is a scout. Or the Victor, Which is a brawler assault mech instead of the common juggernaut.
In MW: O this can be a bit more different but this is the general idea.
In MW: O these are (by the new people, who just make it up on the spot half the time and stuck to it and use terms losely) condensed these roles into these.
"Brawler"
- Scout
- Brawler
- Skirmisher
- Juggernaut
- Striker
"Sniper"
"Missile/LRM Boat"
- Skirmisher
- Scout(?)
- Missile Boat
It does annoy me when someone calls a 40 kph assault mech with 2 AC 20's and a few medium lasers as a brawler because that kinda implies it goes 60 kph + and has say a long range weapon. However the thing is these classes are deffined by fuzzy edges. There is no determined statistic really to call something a skirmisher when it's a juggernaut or a scout being a harasser.
Now... how this relates to MW: O? Well there is 'flavours' off each role.
I will not get into the details as it involves lots of technical stuff that involves you to know the game pretty well but in a short example. "Missile boats"
A)You can be a missile boat going on the verge off 100 KPH or faster. (Light/ Mediums)
B)Or a well rounded 50-70 kph LRM boat that has better short range weapons and decent speed and armour. (Mediums/ Heavies)
C)or a slower 40-50 kph LRM boat with lots of armour, more then okay close range weapons or a large weapon besides LRM's. And lots of armour. (Heavy/ Assault)
Even then, there is more defined flavours for these. ie B. Are your LRM load out just there to harras the enemy or put on fire supresion? (Catpault A1, Mad Dog B. with ie 6 x LRM 5) or are you there to put more off a burst or a large pounding? (Catapult C4, with ie 2 x LRM 20) ? Or having lower ammo or less missiles nad have it just to pick the enemy appart before rushing in and firing LRM's barely out of min range (Mad dog, catapult C1, timberwolf. etc)
(mech variants are just an example, as other stated you can customize mechs a lot)
Each mech also can convey a different 'flavour' of a role and even make it finer by the variants.
There are something called quirks as well. which can say make you fire faster. make less heat, longer range, etc. This can make certain mechs shine for a role or flavour.
"What mechs are good for what roles?"
Technically speaking you can do anything you want if you are not restricted (ie engine cap, armour cap, weapon hardpoints, tonnage, etc) However the above "Common weight classes" show the good majority off where you can do certain things.
2) It's mainly for Community warfare and involves a bit off lore (go here
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page to learn a good part of BT lore and finding stuff out!). Pretty much you are fighting a war and you have to be on a side.
You need someone to supply you and stuff to fight.
Also you can't really go out into a middle of a battlefield between people [A] and
and fight them for no reason. (if that's so, why you fighting a war that isn't yours? xD)
[b]3) can't really say roles but I could say medium and heavy weight class mechs are good for beginners...
Sniping, LRM boating, scouting, Jaggarnauting, etc take quite a bit of skill and idea of the game and maps to be good in.
4) yes... ish.
"ECM" and the module "Radar deprivation"
ECM makes it harder for you to be detected and you can't be detected beyond like 270 meters and you can't get locked on by guided weapons (which atm is only missile weapons). this ECM has like a bubble, and friendlies inside it get the similar abilities while people outside it don't. simular to enemies but in a negative way, enemies inside the bubble can detect you but can't lock on you or send your position info to other friendless.
ECM can only go on certain mechs though.
Radar dep is a module that means when you get out of line of sight with an enemy they lose lock and your location virtually instantly.
BAP can counter ECM, BAP increases the max sensor range of a mech and counters ECM within a similar distance.
NARC is a projectile (missile) that is fired and latches to a mech, it can counter an enemy ECM but doesn't detect mechs withen a friendly ECM bubble. it helps lock on speed as well for missile mechs. it stays on the mech for awhile.
TAG is similar but it's a constant beam, however it doesn't counter the ecm mech, it just detects them and slowly gets you the ability to lock on. it doesn't work when your inside the enemy ecm bubble.
UAV is a consumable module that goes above an area and detects all mechs there and give target info and stuff and gives locks. mechs in ECM and such take longer to lock on but they still can be. see missiles raining while no one see's you? look up, there may be a UAV. You can shoot down a UAV, they are fragile but very small.
in lore there is 'Stealth armour" that is combined with ECM and other stuff that practically makes you undetectable however in game timeline it isn't here yet and we do not know if it'll ever come.