221 replies to this topic

[Peter2k]

fun times in MS

good being here

[Jun Watarase]

Khereg, on 24 December 2015 - 11:13 AM, said:

A couple of ideas:

1. Go to the other gate after distracting them. (see misdirection, above). We use this on Grim, Vitric, and Taiga, b/c those gates are relatively close together and it's easy to call an audible once you figure out what they're doing.

On Sulphurous and Hellebore, the gates are so far apart, if they gamble on stacking one, you have a 50/50 shot at catching them at the wrong one. If you get unlucky, you may be hosed. If they stay in the middle, you can get inside and set up before they can get to brawling range.

If they try this on Boreal and know what they're doing it's tough, b/c they can camp the E5 wall and no matter how you come in they're going to spring the trap... Although, Boreal is tailor made for the range game, so I don't know how often you'll see this there.

2. Strikes, strikes, and more strikes. Lots of strikes before committing... If you know where they are, they're likely tightly clumped. Use a bunch of strikes before going in and soften them up.

3. Finally, legs. Even after the structure buffs (or especially after the structure buffs), legs are still the weakest point of a mech. Many players strip armor there to free up tonnage. Punish them for this.

#3 takes a lot of skill to pull off and the whole team needs to commit to it. We have a routine where we know we want to hit X leg first, Y leg next to finish them off. If everybody commits to shooting the same leg on a called target, they go down amazingly fast. Seraphim Rising Storm (Seraphim's top comp team) uses this technique in comp matches regularly to great effect.

If some team members shoot legs and others torsos, you will die that much faster because you're spreading damage all over the enemy and playing right into their hands. I can't overemphasize: EVERYONE needs to be shooting legs. I wouldn't try this unless you have a real 12-man with everyone on comms.

Good luck.

Edited to add: With the clans' speed advantage it also helps to hustle and get a gate open and get inside. On Grim, Taiga, and (usually) Boreal, clans can get the gate open before the defenders have a chance to get in position. If you're lucky, you can catch them strung out and take a couple down before they form up. Don't bring DWF's to CW if you want to try this.

1. This only works on maps with close gates, and some of those maps allow the IS team to camp both gates at the same time. On vitric, they can camp the hill between both gates for example.

For maps with far away gates, they dont need to gamble, because scouts can easily spot you coming from a long way off and get their team to move to another gate if necessary. Most maps also have an optimum gate for attackers so its not a 100% equal chance.

2.So basically you need an entire team to take strikes. Ok.

3. How does this work when the enemy team can also go for your legs, which don't have structure quirks and when IS can run much heavier drop decks?

[Diddi Doedel]

Jun Watarase, on 16 December 2015 - 08:59 PM, said:

Hey MS guys, someone suggested i ask you guys about this, have any of you figured out a clan counter to the IS tactic of "wait around the corner, rush when the clans get close, kill them in short range due to tankier mechs and better heat efficiency"?

Go with the clan strengths. That means lots of dakka builds and a usually higher maneuverability.
IS usually goes for laser vomit due to shorter beam times and longer range, correct chassis choice required here!
As always, good team coordination, listening to the drop commander and hoping he or she knows what they are doing. But that is something that can be learned.
Push with the rest of your team, don't block your team mates, lock targets for your mates with LRM and Streaks.

[Khereg]

Jun Watarase, on 29 December 2015 - 12:39 PM, said:

1. This only works on maps with close gates, and some of those maps allow the IS team to camp both gates at the same time. On vitric, they can camp the hill between both gates for example.

For maps with far away gates, they dont need to gamble, because scouts can easily spot you coming from a long way off and get their team to move to another gate if necessary. Most maps also have an optimum gate for attackers so its not a 100% equal chance.

Which is why I said earlier that another component of the tactic is to bring a lot of ballistics. The fact is that clans have been overly reliant on laser vomit for the better part of a year. PGI has flat-out given the IS a brawl advantage, which is only exacerbated on hot maps like Vitric or Sulphurous. The clan attacker's advantage on Vitric is that moving between gates for the defenders on the inside is a long route. You can easily play the misdirection game and catch them at the other gate or split. Sulphurous is the one where defenders can easily reposition once they spot you.

The only way to up your dps enough to compete is to bring more ballistics. Historically, players have shunned ballistics (and missiles) in CW because of ammo limitations. That mindset has to change if you want to fend off an IS brawl. Dual AC10 EBJ's and TBR's are excellent at pumping out dps while staying maneuverable.

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2.So basically you need an entire team to take strikes. Ok.

Not to be flippant, but...yeah. Absolutely. If you weren't doing this before, it's time to start. Strikes make a huge difference.

The three most useful types of consumables are UAV, Arty/Air Strikes, and Cool Shots. In any given wave, a team only needs 1 - 3 UAV's and those should be carried by lights or fast mediums which can get in position to deploy them effectively and get back out again. Everyone else, and I mean EVERYONE else should have a strike available. Cool shots also help in a brawl, especially with a ballistic loadout.

If you see a team gathered up for a brawl (scouting, uav), you need to strike them repeatedly before they spring the trap. Airstrikes IMHO are more useful than artys because they can be placed on the front side of an obstacle and the strike carries over to the group clustered behind. They also go off instantaneously and in a predictable pattern, making targeting groups of mechs easier and more effective.

1 strike is a nuisance. 3 is becoming a concern. 5+ really soften op the group. Also, if they get struck more than a couple of times, they might rush out prematurely, giving you more time to hit them before they close range.

Quote

3. How does this work when the enemy team can also go for your legs, which don't have structure quirks and when IS can run much heavier drop decks?

It's a skill game, like I said. The main idea is to leg a 2 - 3 of their big guys before they close range and try to turn it into a 12 v 9 (or better) fight. if you can slow down a few and back off as you fight to keep those legged mechs out of the brawl, you can beat them. if they go for your legs it's going to come down to who can leg the other first. Calling targets and focusing one mech at a time really helps. I admit, though, this is not easy. Good comp teams struggle with maintaining focus during the chaos of a brawl. Casuals usually do this pretty badly.

If you can force them into the open outside of 300 m, you can generally beat them.

No single element of this works by itself. You have to layer the tactics:
1. Bring heavies with solid ballistic loadouts
2. Find the ambush before it happens and get in position - ideally 500 m out or more
3. Soften them up and try to goad them into rushing out while you still have the range advantage
4. Take the legs (if you have the skill) and make a fighting retreat, hopefully leaving one or more of them behind to give a numbers advantage

If a IS team is doing what you say, they clearly know it's a good tactic and PGI has certainly helped it be more viable with all the changes. Beating it is going to take some work. There's no easy button for this.

The last piece of advice I'd give is find some recorded competitive matches from MRBC, or other 12v12 tournament where one team goes brawl and the other goes range. you'll see a lot of maneuvering and positioning while the brawl team tries to get in position for a rush before the range team tears them to bits. CW is a little different because of the chokepoints and the clock, but look at the matches and pay special attention once the brawl team makes their move; see how the range team responds.

[Bleed Action Man]

I've read through a chunk of the thread and I would definitely like to give you guys a shot. I just started the other day, but I already own an IS and Clan mech. I also have TS, so I can join in at any time.

[LeeNTien]

Bleed Action Man, on 29 December 2015 - 11:00 PM, said:

I've read through a chunk of the thread and I would definitely like to give you guys a shot. I just started the other day, but I already own an IS and Clan mech. I also have TS, so I can join in at any time.

You need 4 mechs of IS and/or 4 mechs of Clans, mate.

Here's a good read by MS trainer:
http://mwomercs.com/...action-rewards/

___

As for the Steiner... here' our attempt at living up to the name:

Steiner Scouting Company

Edited by LeeNTien, 30 December 2015 - 12:25 PM.

[Khereg]

Bleed Action Man, on 29 December 2015 - 11:00 PM, said:

I've read through a chunk of the thread and I would definitely like to give you guys a shot. I just started the other day, but I already own an IS and Clan mech. I also have TS, so I can join in at any time.

Check out our web site for more info and for our teamspeak server (http://www.mercstar.net/). Feel free to drop in anytime and ask to join a group for a few drops. We're most active during North American primetime (7pm - 1am-ish EST). Find an officer and they can explain what we're looking for in a recruit.

Good luck.

[gloowa]

LeeNTien, on 30 December 2015 - 12:24 PM, said:

As for the Steiner... here' our attempt at living up to the name:

Steiner Scouting Company

Perfect. Now we just need inept commander that got posted as leader because of political and/or aristocratic reasons and we can all stamp our mechs with Katrina's Seal of Approval.

[Beik Ross Norst]

hey, just wanted to thank -MS- for a fun drop in CW today, haven't tried CW in a long time and it was nice to find a group willing to keep us PUGs in the loop. Too bad you require both Clan and IS to join, I'd be tempted to check you out but hate Clanners lol

[LeeNTien]

Beik Ross Norst, on 04 January 2016 - 10:45 AM, said:

hey, just wanted to thank -MS- for a fun drop in CW today, haven't tried CW in a long time and it was nice to find a group willing to keep us PUGs in the loop. Too bad you require both Clan and IS to join, I'd be tempted to check you out but hate Clanners lol

I know someone in MS, who at first refused to get any IS mechs, and for those weeks we went IS - remained with Clans, until we were back there. Meeting him in fights and initiating "kill him - get a cookie" with him on our TS - was certainly fun....
But this contract he'd finally got himself an IS deck, so staying behind wasn't much fun, I presume...

Anyway - you're always welcome. It's always good having good solo-droppers with a team, who follow orders and generally play good.
o7

Edited by LeeNTien, 04 January 2016 - 11:05 AM.

[Necromantion]

To the top! Join the fun where you can literally do nothing and still have people mad at you rather than PGI!

Oh and we have fun, lots of fun!

[Ekira Dragoon]

Hello
I played more than a year ago... maybe over 2 years now. I was told some of the guys I used to play with joined up with this clan. Was hoping to join up and learn to play again.

[Commander A9]

I have recently been invited into MercStar, and I am honored at the invitation!

I look forward to more of what they can teach me to help me improve my skills!

[Khereg]

Ekira Dragoon, on 24 January 2016 - 01:23 PM, said:

Hello
I played more than a year ago... maybe over 2 years now. I was told some of the guys I used to play with joined up with this clan. Was hoping to join up and learn to play again.

Sorry for the slow response - I just saw this. Come by our teamspeak and join us for some drops. If we're in the same faction we can do CW drops, if not it will have to be a public group.

You can find our TS server on our web site: http://www.mercstar.net

Edited by Khereg, 26 January 2016 - 12:59 PM.

[Swagpanda89]

If you think you are a good teamplayer and have no problems to run dropdecks in cw that are expected from your dropcommanders then drop by our website (www.mercstar.net) and fill out an application!

[quantaca]

Well although there can be mitigating factors (like fi someone at the door) thats certainly not the kind of gameplay we would like to promote, and hiding in the water with red internals does sound like a deliberate action... thank you for pointing this out to us.

Next time use the ingame feature to report him to PGI (on the endscreen or when you press tab, click on his name and a menu will appear) as posting this could be seen as naming and shaming which is also against the ToS, no need for you to get into trouble (if any) because of one of our players

Edited by quantaca, 19 February 2016 - 07:43 PM.

[LeeNTien]

Moving Jaguars across the sphere \o/

[LeeNTien]

Onward to Terra!

Edited by LeeNTien, 07 March 2016 - 01:47 PM.

[LeeNTien]

MS fields multiple teams for MRBC!

https://mrbcleague.com/leaguetable

[soaq]

LeeNTien, on 07 March 2016 - 01:19 PM, said:

Onward to Terra!

soaq, on 09 March 2016 - 09:26 PM, said: