42 replies to this topic

[REllana]

I'm very new to this game and I'm looking at buying my first mech,as none of the trial mechs appeal to me at all,although some of them gave me some ideas about what weapons I like and don't like. I've been experimenting with various builds in the machlab,here http://mwo.smurfy-ne...echlab#modified and the stalker 5m appeals to me as it has good missile and energy weapons slots,but is it a good idea to jump straight into a assault mech from the start? As I'm finding it hard to locate another mech that I like..

Secondly the build I did plan was based around a lot of SRM's and some PPC's as in one of my matches I had a good time with giving a light a SRM volley at point-blank range,and the sheer amount of damage amazed me,and being able to fire what looks like lighting,well that's something that seems rather awesome to me..

[Fnord Asteroid]

There are others that can help you much more than I, but for my part, as a stalker pilot, I say if you want to go straight to assault, do it.

Shooting lightning and missles IS awesome.

Happy Hunting!

[Edustaja]

Nothing wrong with the Stalkers if you find yourself enjoying the assault chassis
They certainly have firepower and durability mixed in with decent speed.

Remember that if you want to unlock the full potential of the mech you'll want to master three of the stalker variants.

There is currently a sale on the hero mech Misery for 3187 MC which you can get with the $30 MC pack and still have a 3000 MC for mechbays if you want to master another mech chassis The Misery is a good chassis that gives you 30% extra Cbills per match.

[Koniving]

Welcome to MWO. You're off to a much better start than most.

Truth be told the biggest thing is that assault mechs are extremely unforgiving for bad positioning. If you're in a bad spot there's no way to fix it. If you get isolated you'll never make it back to the team. Things of that nature. That's the only real reason not to use one; that and you won't have much money left over to change the loadout when you first get one.

That said... Stalkers are abuse-takers. I mean seriously they can take a lot more abuse than their armor gives them credit for due to their shape and hitboxes. The downfall to them is that much like Clan mechs, they can't handle being flanked. Limited torso twist to the side and the rhinoceros factor. These things are great at bull rushing but have trouble turning.

In the trial mechs, the Stalker trial has an Extra Light engine (XL), and this makes you MUCH easier to kill.
To get the most potential out of your Stalkers, stick to standard engines. 300 to 310 engines are best. 280 if you plan to go with LRMs. Those side torsos are long and easy to hit; both the secret to the abuse it can take and also the reason why it's suicide to pack in an XL engine.

Here's a few examples of the abuse these things can take.

Spoiler

Beware of ghost heat, they made some changes to Heat Scale (the official name for ghost heat) on SRMs so I was getting a lot of extra unnecessary heat as a penalty for firing too many missiles at once in this video.


Multiple assaults are butchered within seconds. My Stalker becomes the sole focus of all the enemies and I still survive for 4 minutes with just myself against everyone. Note: This video is old, mechs can't magically climb mountains with incredible ease anymore.


The Gauss Rifles did me in; too many enemies with too many Gauss Rifles. Fear them. This vid has both interior and exterior views thanks to Lordred's chase cam.


And finally, the epic 5M Flamer Stalker debut.


I should note: Flamer Stalkers are joke builds. They are effective in my hands, but those flamers are nearly worthless and the range doesn't work well against the Clan mechs. (Which is funny because the Flamer Stalker plays like a very slow Clan mech.)

I'll leave you with an armor recommendation. Despite having a loadout, it is not a loadout recommendation.

Though if you replaced the flamers with medium lasers you would have a fairly solid mech.

My Misery build since you mentioned PPCs.


Unlike the flamer stalker, this one always stays at medium to long range when possible. The small lasers, small pulse, and SRMs are for emergencies. Enemies that close are usually almost dead anyway.

Edited by Koniving, 01 July 2014 - 05:48 AM.

[Redshift2k5]

To share a smurfy layout, go to the "save & share loadout" link and copy/paste the plain link url, if you just copy the link from the address bar you'r only sharing an empty mechlab. It will look something like this http://mwo.smurfy-ne...5a83576cefdc07d

Stalkers are not bad, they have some nice traits. Their speed can make them difficult for a new player not used to maps, common points of engagement, and lack of situational awareness. My favorite Stalker is 2 large laser, 4 medium laser, 4 SSRM2s, but I haven't been using my Stalkers as SRM mechs since the SRM fixes.

[Jody Von Jedi]

RELLana,

Welcome to MW:O !

Can't over emphasize Koniving's caution above about assault mechs. If you're out of position, i.e. stick your neck out too far, you'll get your head chopped off. I prefer a faster mech for that reason. As a beginner, it allows you to get out of trouble easier if you do get out of position.

If you like SRMs, the nice thing about them is they don't weigh much, especially compared to ballistic weapons. That being the case, Medium chassis like Trebuchets, Griffins, Kintaros, and Shadowhawks all have chassis with either 3 or 4 Missile hardpoints. And as light as SRMs are, you can get volleys of 12-24 SRM out of them easily without sacrificing speed.

If you want to compromise to a Heavy chassis with big SRM potential, the Catapult and Orion are king of the heavy SRM platforms. Orions suffer from bad hit boxes and takes a special sort of pilot. Catapults "ears" get shot off quick. Quickdraws get honorable mention, but suffer from a lot of leg damage. Good chassis to run XL engines in though due to small side torso hit boxes.

Lately I've been running the TBT-LG with (2) SRM6 and (2) SRM4 for a total volley of 20 SRM. Your comment about SRM volleys and damage potential rings home.

Just my .02 worth.

Jody

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

Ive played this game for a year now and i still dont know how to pilot assault mechs

[Phobic Wraith]

Just thought i'd pop in and leave my opinion. Every weight class is hard, but for different reasons. Light mechs and assault mechs are difficult for similar reasons - believe it or not - they both require a special mixture of skill and mentality.  Light class mechs require very quick thinking and discipline to do well. Similarly assault mechs require patience and an understanding of exactly what punishment your mech can take at any given time. Assault mechs require a little bit of psychology too. You have to ask yourself, "how can I seem invincible, while admittedly i'm pretty well beat up (or even full health staring down several enemies)"
I certainly can't say don't get an assault, but this game has a pretty steep learning curve, as I'm sure you've noticed. Getting in an assault cockpit just makes it that much steeper. I personally recommend a heavy chassis and then decide later whether you'd like the extra responsibility with the firepower.
Welcome to the game. Sorry for any typos or errors, I'm posting from my phone...

Edited by Phobic Wraith, 01 July 2014 - 06:16 PM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Phobic Wraith, on 01 July 2014 - 04:11 PM, said:

Light mechs and assault mechs are difficult for similar reasons - believe it or not

Both are also very dependent on positioning.
Lights (obviously) have more ability to change theirs though.

Playing an assault is kinda like playing chess (all the more so if you have a "sub-standard" engine, IE: stock or lower for most, IE a 300std in an Atlas)
You have to already be in position when the time comes (which gets all the trickier in a PuG - but by far not impossible)

[REllana]

A lot of good suggestions here,so thanks. I'm still having a hard time choosing my ideal mech. There is a good youtube videon this entitiled What Mech To Buy First - MechWarrior Online at but it's 7 months out of date,so I'm not sure how reliable it is in general. A steep learning curve is what I'm finding out,as the trial mechs make it hard to enjoy the game,but what's hard is finding something that suits me,as I want something that's reasonably beeft,reasonably fast,so I can keep up,as being a lone wolf is not a good idea,and has a good number of slots and tonnage to play around with,as I only have enough c-bills for one mech at the moment and kiting it out. If I pick something and find I don't like it,I'm screwed.

[Jody Von Jedi]

REllana,

Take your time. Don't be in too big of a hurry. The C-Bills will only accumulate the longer it takes you to decide. They don't expire

When this game 1st started, there were only 4 trial mechs to choose from, and they weren't even Champions. We only had 1 from each weight class, so our exposure to different chassis/variants was limited to say the least. I think I played for over 3 months before I bought my 1st mech. You've got 12 choices (I think, or is it 10?) now to work with. Just be patient.

Another tip I can offer, is, stay in the match and spectate after your loose your mech. See other peoples builds, their play style, and tactics. It may help you make a decision.

Whenever you have decided on a chassis, be prepared to spend 30-40% of the cost of the mech more making customizations. You might even want to have double what the mech costs if you intend on changing out the engine. When I was buying a lot of mechs, I would save up until I had 30 mil C-bills before I even considered buying another new chassis. You probably want to elite the mechs you buy and you need 3 variants of a given chassis to elite a mech in skills. 30 mil gave me enough to buy any 3 medium chassis and customize them and still have money left over. Then I could build that fund back up while I was running those 3 up to elite skills.

Just be patient, the C-Bills aren't going anywhere.

Jody

Edited by Jody Von Jedi, 02 July 2014 - 05:51 AM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

REllana, on 01 July 2014 - 11:52 PM, said:

If I pick something and find I don't like it,I'm screwed.

Not as bad as you might think - Jodi gives very good advice there.

If it is any help, back when I started it was the same situation as Jodi.
The only medium "worth having" at the time was the Hunchback, but I went for the Centurion.
Very quickly I realized what others started realizing a few weeks later (IE how tough the Centurion can be)

Any of the mechs in the game can be of great use to their team (even the Locust - which can run up hills it takes any other mech JJ to climb - and turns faster than anything else to boot - look up Eglar's (I think?) scores in the bragging thread for more on that)

If you do not like it - don't worry to much about it, if nothing else it adds to your stockpile of weapons and engines.

So be patient, grab one that looks good to you.
Relax, and remember that when all is said and done, this is a game.

[Koniving]

Until you run through the 25 matches and that recruit tag disappears, you have all the time in the world. Even then you can still keep using the trial mechs. A comrade of mine STILL uses trial mechs despite having been in the game for a year and a half.

Remember that mechs that are ideal for me might not be ideal for Jody, and his mechs might not be ideal for Trowa there, and Trowa's mechs might not be ideal for me.

There's a limited selection of "fit almost everyone" mechs. After that, there's a number of mechs that cater more specifically to certain playstyles. Mechs that cater to the most unpopular playstyles tend to be very shunned, and even those that would benefit greatly due to their playstyles...will never try those mechs due to the bad reputation they received.

I agree with his advice to avoid certain mechs such as the Locust; despite its price it's actually a mech that requires a rather high skill level to effectively use it and make money with. I disagree with some of his advice as well. Trowa did good to try and be balanced with his decisions but I see some of them are still a bit biased to his own playstyles.

And his playstyles aren't mine, and neither his or mine are necessarily your playstyle.

So take your time. Discover your style.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Koniving, on 02 July 2014 - 11:34 AM, said:

might not be ideal for Trowa there, and

Trowa?

Is there someone who's posts got deleted that you are seeing that no one else is again?!

[Koniving]

Shar Wolf, on 02 July 2014 - 11:46 AM, said:

Trowa?

Is there someone who's posts got deleted that you are seeing that no one else is again?!

Video. Trowa Barton.

Barton's "which mech to buy first" video.

[Alaskan Nobody]

'Swat I get for not paying that much attention to the videos I suppose.

[ImperialKnight]

Buying an assault mech as a newbie is a good way to get yourself to quit the game.

Start with a good light or medium then work your way up. Playing an Assault mech requires much more understanding of the game than how to build a mech and how to shoot things

[REllana]

Thanks for all the help. I think my initial mistake was that I somehow thought because the assaults had more weapon slots to work with and could take more punishment,that somehow they'd be better than anything else. There's some good options in mediums that I'm looking into currently,so hopefully I'll see you on the battlefield sometime,and you won't kill me horribly.

[Edustaja]

REllana, on 05 July 2014 - 05:19 AM, said:

Thanks for all the help. I think my initial mistake was that I somehow thought because the assaults had more weapon slots to work with and could take more punishment,that somehow they'd be better than anything else. There's some good options in mediums that I'm looking into currently,so hopefully I'll see you on the battlefield sometime,and you won't kill me horribly.

That's one of the common new player mistakes, so don't sweat it
Mediums are fun to play with and more affordable.

[Modo44]

Yes, assaults require some unique skills. That being said, MWO in general is really hard, especially without prior military/team game/FPS experience. Nothing will help you develop better than playing a lot.