29 replies to this topic

[Nightmare1]

Sargon X, on 15 February 2015 - 09:44 PM, said:

I'm not really a "new" player, but I haven't played a lot and am still very inexperienced.

I just can't seem to do respectable amounts of damage in any match. I have been piloting a Warhawk with 2 Gauss rifles and a Medium laser and I average between 100-200 damage per match, which usually puts me toward the bottom of the pack.

Shouldn't I be doing more damage with an assault mech? Is there anything specific that I could be doing wrong or it is likely just bad aim, bad tactics, etc?

That build is more of a sniper type than anything else and will not provide high damage counts. However, precise firing should allow you to put most of your damage into single components, netting you decent kill counts.

While that build is not an optimal one for the Warhawk, it should yield scores higher than 200 damage if used properly. Without more information, it is difficult to say what is wrong, but I will hazard a guess that it is probably your piloting and gunnery. Do you find that you are missing with the Gauss Rifles? Are you staying back to snipe or are you trying to brawl? Your play style and tactics will be the strongest force for determining how much damage you accrue during battle.

[Phobic Wraith]

SethAbercromby, on 16 February 2015 - 05:20 AM, said:

I call massive BS on that one. Any damage you do is damage soneone else doesn't need to do. Claiming that only the kills count is a huge disservice to those that prepared them for you. Damage is not the primary factor, since someone that does low damage but got a lot of kills was good in finishing off annying stragglers, someone that did low damage and didn't score kills could still have contributed by providing the team with a vital ECM blanket.

Truth be told, one of the few factors that really matters is "were you satisfied with your contribution to the match?"

Catra Lanis, on 16 February 2015 - 04:37 AM, said:

I will have to disagree on this, sure if you are doing lots of damage but get no kills you might not be as effective as you could be but it hasn't to be the case every time. Imagine that you damage two mechs within an inch of their lives and someone else get the kill. Or imagine that you get 600 damage and severly damage 3 mechs. You can't say that it isn't contributing. Every single point of damage is an investment for the late stage of the match and makes the job a bit easier for your teammates.

Wow, my fast reply seems to have upset some people. I'll be the first to say that I should have been a little more clear. I was thinking in the vein of trying to make the situation as simple as possible. Of course, assists are vital. Absolutely. Every bit of damage you can do is important with varying degrees. Obviously if you critical damage a leg and someone cores the enemy from behind then not much was contributed except for perhaps a distraction. ECM coverage is absolutely important. TAGs and NARCs are very important. In reference to the OP's build, with no ECM, no TAG, no NARC, and a build that is almost completely pinpoint - it's a little more important to consider every shot, not wildly spraying Gauss rounds into random limbs and torsi. Hence damage being a little lower on the totem pole of important contributions to the team.

So I stand by what I said as I meant it. With that build, you may not have the DPS to do monster damage. That build will excel at picking the right shot and destroying the enemy. Will you always get the kill? no. Will you contribute to the team if you get no kills? maybe. There is something to being said for getting lots of assists. I proudly wear my "philanthropist" title, and I'll be the first to say helping the team can come in many forms. But if no one goes for the kill, it's going to be pretty hard for your team to get kills.

[Sargon X]

Nightmare1, on 16 February 2015 - 09:03 AM, said:

it is difficult to say what is wrong, but I will hazard a guess that it is probably your piloting and gunnery. Do you find that you are missing with the Gauss Rifles? Are you staying back to snipe or are you trying to brawl? Your play style and tactics will be the strongest force for determining how much damage you accrue during battle.

I try not to get right up next to people for close combat brawls, but I am probably getting too close. As for whether I am missing with the Gauss Rifles, that is possible, but another thing is that I don't find myself really aiming at specific components. I get the impression that maybe it is important to concentrate my fire at certain areas with the Gauss Rifles? I'm usually happy just to hit something and it seems like if I take the time to aim I end up getting pounded by enemy fire.

[Nightmare1]

Sargon X, on 16 February 2015 - 10:37 AM, said:

I try not to get right up next to people for close combat brawls, but I am probably getting too close. As for whether I am missing with the Gauss Rifles, that is possible, but another thing is that I don't find myself really aiming at specific components. I get the impression that maybe it is important to concentrate my fire at certain areas with the Gauss Rifles? I'm usually happy just to hit something and it seems like if I take the time to aim I end up getting pounded by enemy fire.

Guass Rifles, generally speaking, are not damage generators. If you are going just for damage counts, then you will probably be disappointed. However, if you are able to precisely aim your Rifles and place those slugs into the same component, then you can cause significant damage and dismemberment to enemy Mechs.

Think of it this way: Is it more important to attain 500 damage spread across eight Mechs with one component destruction and eight assists; or is it better to attain 300 damage with two kills, two assists, and three component destructions because you were precise with your shots and opportunistic with your target selections?

When I started this game back in Beta, I was very focused on damage and kills. I came to realize that the damage was relatively unimportant though, if I was able to concentrate the damage I dealt. If your heart is set on this build, then I would advise you to hang back and snipe and to focus your firepower on specific Mechs and their components. Sometimes this may mean passing up a shot or two in favor of waiting for a better opening. Regardless, use the Gauss like a crowbar to attack weak points and pry them open.

I think you will find this satisfying as you become more skilled at it. There are few things as pleasant in this game as watching a Gauss Slug rend a torso from an enemy Mech.

[Cael Rhythyr]

Let's see........if I lock you as my target and your loadout is 2xGauss & 1xMLAS, you have now become a prime target for me as a Kill. If I can close distance and dance around you I will. Using terrain, JJ's, speed, your long recharge times on the Gauss, etc., to close distance and use your lack of maneuverability against you will be my weapon of choice. If I have wingmen, we've probably already chosen you as a target and will focus you to no end.

As an earlier poster stated, dropping at least one of the Gauss and adding more lasers would do wonders for your game and survivability.

[DemonicDonut]

Appogee, on 15 February 2015 - 11:32 PM, said:

Your loadout doesn't do enough damage per second (DPS) to get a higher damage score. Gauss has a long reload time, and a single ML only does 5 damage.

Dual Gauss consumes way too much tonnage for a Warhawk IMHO. The chassis features heaps of mandatory heat sinks, so you can afford to use lasers - which are much lighter - to get higher DPS, without running into heat problems.

You can also shave your leg armor down to 70% of max to give you more tonnage to play with.

Here are a couple of my Warhawks to get you started:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9e8e33419190974

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...a4902b7a6b0e44c

They're not the highest DPS you will find in MWO - the Warhawk chassis has its limitations, such as the mandatory crapton of heat sinks, and less tonnage overall than a Dire Whale. But you will find these much better than what you've been using in terms of DPS.

EDIT: fixed an error.

Not sure if it's not showing it checked when I load, but to the OP be sure to have your lower arm actuators checked.

That's a huge advantage of the Warhawk. I always use the B arm for the added dexterity. Huge disadvantage is its size/hitboxes. Its an 85 ton mech that'll do 70kph, play it like a bulky heavy.

3 mpl + Gauss/Lpl gives you 8.5 tons for ammo/probe/tcomp and possibly missles depending on what you want. Gauss has great heat efficiency but they do blow up . . . B arm means you can keep on target easier and focus damage.

[Rogue Jedi]

DemonicDonut, on 16 February 2015 - 11:08 AM, said:

Not sure if it's not showing it checked when I load, but to the OP be sure to have your lower arm actuators checked.

That's a huge advantage of the Warhawk. I always use the B arm for the added dexterity. Huge disadvantage is its size/hitboxes. Its an 85 ton mech that'll do 70kph, play it like a bulky heavy.

3 mpl + Gauss/Lpl gives you 8.5 tons for ammo/probe/tcomp and possibly missles depending on what you want. Gauss has great heat efficiency but they do blow up . . . B arm means you can keep on target easier and focus damage.

unfortunately you cannot fit lower arm actuators if the arm holds a ballistic weapon or a PPC, and the Warhawk only has arm mounted ballistic slots.
but you are correct, if you can fit the lower arm and hand actuators it is generally a good idea to do so

[StonedDead]

Rogue Jedi, on 16 February 2015 - 08:57 AM, said:

.
the Warhawks biggest disadvantage is that it looks a lot like the Dire Wolf from certain angles

This is a big one. I mistake the two at first glance in combat all the time unless I get a really good view.

[DemonicDonut]

Rogue Jedi, on 16 February 2015 - 01:22 PM, said:

unfortunately you cannot fit lower arm actuators if the arm holds a ballistic weapon or a PPC, and the Warhawk only has arm mounted ballistic slots.
but you are correct, if you can fit the lower arm and hand actuators it is generally a good idea to do so

gauss/Lpl on left arm and keep PPCs out of the right arm you can add it. It gives dexterity to both arms. Like in This Build You can also do Gauss/ppc is the left arm.

You can do the previously mentioned 3 Lpl + Gauss build and just make sure the actuator is in.

Edited by DemonicDonut, 16 February 2015 - 02:50 PM.

[Koniving]

Okay, I just tried making a twin Gauss Warhawk, and there isn't much left over tonnage after you do this. I backed it up with a single streak 6 and a Clan ER ML, but even then with just 1 ton of streak ammo I barely had much left over without sacrificing big chunks of armor.

If you're wanting to sport Gauss Rifles, you're a bit better off with the Dire Wolf.

Quad Gauss Rifles.

On a side note you could work it out for your Warhawk by doing Gauss + twin ER PPCs. Specifically Gauss left arm, Clan ER ML left arm, twin ER PPCs right arm, 1 streak SRM-6 right torso, some extra heatsinks and a ton ammo for the Streaks and a ton and a half for the Gauss. Use the gauss for super long range, the Clan ER PPCs for medium to close range, the ER ML as a backup and the streaks to scare off lights or bonus damage.

If you can only do three weapon groups, then Gauss right arm, twin ER PPC left arm. In place of the Clan ER ML you might throw in an extra ton of Gauss ammo or maybe a Streak SRM-2 to backup the Streak SRM-6.

If you're gonna use ballistics on a Warhawk, try LBX.

Should be good to go from the start, 2:40 to see just before the first kill and 4:40 to watch the next several mechs get slaughtered.
Twenties are a bit heavy, so some LBX 10s backed by SRMs with plenty of ammo is a really good way to rack in the damage.

If you're going for long range combat, slap in a good sized targeting computer (to make your ER PPCs faster), 2 ER PPCs + twin large pulse lasers, and a good amount of heatsinks.

Edited by Koniving, 16 February 2015 - 03:30 PM.