56 replies to this topic

[Peanuckle]

So I grabbed this game at the behest of my brother and I love it to bits. I'm actually doing pretty good (years of older Mechwarrior titles have translated pretty well) in the shooty bits, managing an even K:D ratio. I do pretty well with a Stormcrow.

But everything outside combat confuses me. In mechlab, I can't do anything but select a trial mech to pilot. There's experience gain and I can see various unlocks, though I don't want to commit anything without understanding it. Can't purchase, can't customize loadouts, nothing.

And then there's the politics. Aligning with a house or clan, or going merc, or whatnot.

Is there some kind of threshold of time I need to play to unlock the mechlab? Do destroyed mechs get lost forever? Is signing up with a merc group or noble house a lifelong committment? How does the metagame work?

Basically, is there a comprehensive manual someplace that isn't grotesquely out of date like the one on the wiki?

[Modo44]

You can find information in various YouTube videos, and asking in MWO Twitch streams is generally the quickest way to answers. But, the game is pretty complex, so if you have the time, read this guide. It is pretty comprehensive and current.

The free trial mechs are locked -- no modifications or XP can be used on them. To customize mechs or unlock pilot skills with XP, you need to buy a mech first. To do this, select Filter: Purchasable in the mechlab view, then click on Buy for the mech you want. It is highly recommended to start with a medium mech. Something like the Stormcrow, Shadowhawk, or Hunchback is a good, versatile first mech.

You do not lose mechs, nor do you pay for repairs (MWO is truly free to play in that regard -- no pay to play bullshit like in e.g. War Thunder), but there are no respawns, and mechs are locked in a match until it ends. Being new, you might want to spectate until the end, to see various builds and playstyles. Or, leave and start a match in another mech. You will still be awarded Cbills and XP after the match ends, if you leave after your mech is destroyed. (You can not farm match rewards by disconnecting early, and it is a bannable offense if you try.)

Edited by Modo44, 04 April 2015 - 10:29 AM.

[mailin]

Spectating has lots of advantages once you're dead. You have the possibility to gain more XP and C-bills (game money) due to kill assists, which any kills that happen after you leave are lost XP and C-bills. Also, by spectating you will be able to have a ringside seat to the match and notice things that you would otherwise miss.

This game has a very steep learning curve, but many including myself find this game well worth the time.

GL and HF

[muskrat]

Salute Peanuckle

You can not modify any of the trial mechs. Once you have completed your 25 matches you will be able to "purchase" a mech of your own. Xp you are earning now in the Trial mechs should convert to that mech IF you purchase it. (I.E. the stormcrow)

Quote " Aligning with a house or clan, or going merc, or whatnot." UnQuote Please read Modo's linked guide on "Factions" Initially be sure to use short term contracts, Until you find a "Team" you will enjoy fighting with.

If you have questions this is the place to ask them. The only "dumb" question is the one "unasked"

Welcome to the game
Muskrat

[Peanuckle]

Thank you all for the help. I'll get to reading that guide, and hopefully I can pull off an approximation of a skilled player.

[Elizander]

Peanuckle, on 04 April 2015 - 10:40 AM, said:

Thank you all for the help. I'll get to reading that guide, and hopefully I can pull off an approximation of a skilled player.

Make sure to select your first mech after figuring out your playstyle. Don't rush buy since you get less c-bills after your first 25 matches.

And don't worry about being lost. Some mobile phone games have better tutorials than MWO.

[Coralld]

Welcome to MWO.

As others have said, this game has a steep learning curve, but when you figure it out it's not so hard and things start to make sense. Also, PGI should be launching a patch here shortly to make the mech lad more stream line and the tutorial more in depth.

You started with a trial Stormcrow, which is a good mech, but a word of warning, the Crow is known for having bad hit detection and warpy hit boxes depending on which angel you get hit from. So you might find it more difficult getting use to other mechs because of this and may have picked up some bad habits along the way.

Recommended starter mech in the Medium class, Hunchbacks and Centurians are a good place to start, cheap, and simple to customize effective builds. Heavies, IMO, would be Thunderbolts and Hellbringer (Timberwolf is also known to have warpy hit boxes, plus, they tend to get primaried and singled out over any other mech most of the time).

One more thing. Check out Smurfy mech lab to help out on what mech to buy and how to kit your mech out with out spending your space bucks and possibly wasting a lot of time and C-Bills.

Edited by Coralld, 04 April 2015 - 11:13 AM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

When you do decide to get your own mech post here and we'll give you recommendations. Tell us what you liked from the trial mechs, what weapons you like and how you like to play. Be sure to give each trial mech a few rounds for the experience.

Things to remember when purchasing is that unlike previous games you have to pay attention to a mechs variant in addition to chassis. You have to buy 3 different variants (and those with letter designations in parentheses are duplicates of the same variant with out the parentheses and don't coumt) in order to fully level them up in the xp skill tree.

Each match earns you mech xp (XP) and global xp (GXP). Use gxp to unlock modules and mech xp to unlock the actual mech skill tree. You have to unlock all the basics for 3 variants before you can advance to the elite skills. The trees are per variant. Modules are pieces of equipment that serve as enhancements or upgrades. You must unlock them with gxp which accumulates slowly then purchase the actual module with cbills. Don't worry about modules yet.

Since you really want 3 variants of a chassis it's important to make an informed choice before blowing all your cbills.

[DrSlamastika]

hehe, new meat in the grinder . . . . ouch, I meant WELCOME ON BOARD

[Void Angel]

The Mechlab is an excellent example of things that are unnecessarily confusing - in fact, PGI's new and improved interface is in testing, so expect that fairly soon. Thankfully, however, we have Smurfy's Awesome Reference Site! Smurfy's pulls its information directly from the game, allowing it to be totally accurate within hours of any update (he does it manually.) The Mechlab section is superb, and PGI's rework is intended to allow this kind of functionality for the in-game UI - don't neglect the Weaponlab on the toolbar, to see how different weapon mixes affect your time to overheat!

The factions are, right now, just flavor. You're basically choosing a side in community warfare, but you don't have to commit long-term and it only matters on the Community Warfare screen anyway. Pick one that appeals to you based on lore, or just go with one of the ones with more territory - you can always swap in a week if you want to. However, you may want to grab your friend and join a unit (shameless plug!) - this will automatically align you with the unit's faction, and give you a group to help sort everything out. Just don't buy Inner Sphere 'mechs and join a Clan faction or unit.

Additionally, the Hunchbacks and Centurions are good Mediums, but there's a huge variation out there. Both of those chassis lack maneuverability, so a player may well come to prefer a Gryphon or Shadowhawk. Don't worry too much about flavor-of-the-month; the Quirk system (which you can see by mousing over a 'mech in the Mechlab or the store) is intended to level out the playing field. Just stick with the Trial 'mechs and try them all before committing. If I had to pick you the best starter 'mech, I would ask if you were inclined toward the Clans or the Inner Sphere - and then I would recommend the Stormcrow or the Thunderbolt, respectively.

Finally, an important point: the Clan 'mechs look more expensive when you browse the store - they are not. The cbill cost of a fully upgraded Inner Sphere 'mech will be similar to an upgraded Clan 'mech. The initial costs of Clan 'Mechs are higher because they are all heavily upgraded "off-the-shelf," and cannot be changed. The Inner Sphere has more customization options, but are limited by the same tonnage and space disadvantages you recall from other BattleTech games.

Finally, there are public teamspeak servers available! Many people will happily help you out and drop with you. If memory serves, some servers actually have dedicated new player channels (or did.) The thread is a bit old, but the last time I checked these sites were still active.

Edited by Void Angel, 04 April 2015 - 11:42 AM.

[Spike Brave]

I have a tutorial on the entire UI. Hope this helps and welcome! https://www.youtube....tNUCKmcC0Q7pKJQ

[Repasy Cooper]

Peanuckle, on 04 April 2015 - 10:09 AM, said:

So I grabbed this game at the behest of my brother and I love it to bits. I'm actually doing pretty good (years of older Mechwarrior titles have translated pretty well) in the shooty bits, managing an even K:D ratio. I do pretty well with a Stormcrow.

But everything outside combat confuses me. In mechlab, I can't do anything but select a trial mech to pilot. There's experience gain and I can see various unlocks, though I don't want to commit anything without understanding it. Can't purchase, can't customize loadouts, nothing.

And then there's the politics. Aligning with a house or clan, or going merc, or whatnot.

Is there some kind of threshold of time I need to play to unlock the mechlab? Do destroyed mechs get lost forever? Is signing up with a merc group or noble house a lifelong committment? How does the metagame work?

Basically, is there a comprehensive manual someplace that isn't grotesquely out of date like the one on the wiki?

When you start out in the game, you have access to a pool of "Trial Mechs" that you can pilot. These trial mechs have locked loadouts, so you cannot edit them in the mechlab. You also can't upgrade the tech tree for that mech until you own a non-trial version of that variant.

The first thing you need to do is purchase your first mech. You start out with 4 mechbays, so you can purchase a maximum of 4 mechs. From the mechlab menu, you click on the dropdown bar that says [owned mechs] and select [purchasable mechs]. From there you can buy mechs using MC or C-bills. After you buy a mech, you can customize loadouts, and upgrade the tech tree for that mech.

Faction politics are completely community run. There are no rules or guidelines other than what the community creates itself. You can also ignore it completely.

Mechlab is always available, but trial mechs cannot make use of it.

Destroyed mechs are not lost, and they become available to use again once the match is completed.

There are several options when contracting with a faction. The longer the contract, the more bonuses you earn per ComWar match. If you choose to break a contract before it's expired, you need to pay a C-bill fee, so be mindful of how long you want to play with a faction. You may want to test the waters first before signing a permanent contract.

The meta game involves mech builds, ComWar dropdeck strategies, and specific map tactics that have proven time-tested by highly skilled players. In general, the most popular builds these days are direct-fire weapons with either a constant barrage of fire or fast, extremely damaging group fire, though missile boats also see their fair use. Common dropdeck strategies for ComWar involve heavy pushes with assault mechs, or rushes with light mechs. The common counter strategy to the light rush is the heavy use of streak-srms and pulse lasers.

Each map has areas to avoid and areas to push for. It's too time consuming to go through all of them right now, but so long as you stick together with your teammates things usually work out fine. Likewise, when mechs start going astray they put your team in a dangerous position, so don't do it without a really good reason.

There's no manual unfortunately, and the tutorial is more or less useless. I do suggest using the training grounds at least once before trying a new mech, so you can adjust weapon groups to best suit your play and/or decide whether your loadout is good or bad.

The only way to learn about the game is to ask the other players. You've already done that though, so you're well on your way. Good luck!

[Koniving]

"How do I do everything?"

Well first you take 'thing' and attach it at the end of 'every'... Oh wait.

Peanuckle, on 04 April 2015 - 10:09 AM, said:

But everything outside combat confuses me. In mechlab, I can't do anything but select a trial mech to pilot. There's experience gain and I can see various unlocks, though I don't want to commit anything without understanding it. Can't purchase, can't customize loadouts, nothing.

You can use the "Store" tab; good for spotting sales (MC [cash] and Cbills [earnings]) and things you can't find in the mechlab like bundles.

Sadly you can't see much about the mech itself. You can hover for some details but it won't show you in the big window.

You can also use the Mechlab tab. Near the top you can see on this image I have "Filter" opened for purchasable mechs.


And this last image is the regular mechlab.

Quote

And then there's the politics. Aligning with a house or clan, or going merc, or whatnot.

At the moment, none of this truly matters aside from whether you can use IS or Clan mechs. That's about it. In time it will matter, so don't do a "permanent" contract yet. CW is very young and full of minor issues at the moment. There are differences in earnings for your contract per victory and these can be spotted on the Faction tab of the game itself when you go to choose a faction.

Quote

1) Is there some kind of threshold of time I need to play to unlock the mechlab?
2) Do destroyed mechs get lost forever?
3) Is signing up with a merc group or noble house a lifelong committment?
4) How does the metagame work?

1) 25 matches is the ideal time to wait -- this way you get enough 'injections' to open the way to getting your first mech. You should have around 9 million after 25 matches.
2) That'd be neat, but no. No issues there. There isn't even a repair / rearm mechanic at the moment. Though this may also change in the future (but I wouldn't count on it).
3) Only if you choose a permanent contract. Even then you can 'buy' your way out. But that sucks, so don't do it.
4) At the moment, picture Call of Duty trying to make a transition into Battlefield without the combined arms of vehicles and mechs instead of infantry. PGI has plans for the future, but right now they are struggling to figure out the basics of Community Warfare and I suspect they are a bit of a far cry from the more in-depth plans they had.

Said plans.

Quote

Basically, is there a comprehensive manual someplace that isn't grotesquely out of date like the one on the wiki?

Depends on if someone makes it.

In the mean time, I've seen the game from 2012 and could answer just about everything as your questions come up. Alternatively you can use this. (Smurfy, as many have linked you to already). It is updated with every patch as soon as the patch comes in.

[Stickjock]

The amount of help in this thread makes an old Mech Pilot smile.

Carry on, and welcome Peanuckle, you're in good hands here.

[grendeldog]

Void Angel, on 04 April 2015 - 11:40 AM, said:

Additionally, the Hunchbacks and Centurions are good Mediums, but there's a huge variation out there. Both of those chassis lack maneuverability, so a player may well come to prefer a Gryphon or Shadowhawk. Don't worry too much about flavor-of-the-month; the Quirk system (which you can see by mousing over a 'mech in the Mechlab or the store) is intended to level out the playing field. Just stick with the Trial 'mechs and try them all before committing. If I had to pick you the best starter 'mech, I would ask if you were inclined toward the Clans or the Inner Sphere - and then I would recommend the Stormcrow or the Thunderbolt, respectively.

I would just like to point out that that Hunchback 4P(C) - and the (C) part is important because only this champion variant comes with a STD260 engine instead of the stock STD200 - can go up to 92 kph with speed tweak. This is way faster than a Hunchback has any right to travel, and makes it nimble and responsive. When I have the opportunity - maps with a lot of cover like River City, Crimson Strait, and Tourmaline Desert - I play my 4P(C) like a light. That is to say hang back until the brawl begins, and then throttle to max, duck and weave, and do not stop until you have reduced the enemy to smoking wreckage. I got my best score yet the other day doing this on River City Night with 800+ damage, four kills, and I survived a full two minutes after the rest of my team was dead despite missing both arms and the left torso.

During that two minutes I actively hunted and outright killed a healthy-ish Stormcrow-C, badly mauled a Timberwolf (removed arms and a side torso), tore up some humanoid medium with jump-jets, damaged a Jager, and generally played havoc and sewed confusion amongst the slow, uncertain enemy - and this despite their numerical superiority. I only died when I got too cocky and slowed down to try for a headshot on the Jager - he had time to aim and as a result took out my right torso where I had my 6 lasers. That left only one medium laser in my head, so I chose not to run off and thus let myself die while ineffectually poking him with that single laser.

The previous game was on Crimson Strait, and I got 700+ damage and three kills there with the same strategy of max throttle, use of cover, and going faster than anybody expects of a Hunchback without stopping.

In all other variants you are absolutely correct about Hunchbacks being a bit slow and unwieldy; I just wanted to point out to the OP that he does have an option for a stupidly fast HBK if he is into that kind of thing.

[Void Angel]

Well, see... thing is, when I looked at the queue as I posted that, mediums were at 20% representation. There's a lot of competition out there, and I'd recommend new players take more armor to the field before buying one of those - of course, if they do well in the Trial Mediums, it's ok; but I'd be cautious about telling someone who doesn't know how combat works to jump into the current metagame. ;(

As for maneuverability, I meant that they weren't jump-capable; shoulda just said that. No one should ever evaluate a chassis based on their stock variants - I love my 4P, and the only Hunchback I have that doesn't go 98kph is the 4G Ac/20 brawler, because ammo is magic. But since jump jets allow you to get around the battlefield so much more easily, I try to recommend chassis that have those systems on at least some variants. Oh, that reminds me:

Peanuckle, always plan on heavily modifying a new 'mech. You don't have to do it, but it'll help a ton to have enough to add Endo-steel and Double Heat sinks to any chassis you buy. =)

[Jody Von Jedi]

Don't be in a rush to spend your Cadet bonus, it doesn't expire. After the 1st 25 matches, the earnings drop considerably. So spend that 10-12 mil you'll earn wisely.

You can sell mechs, but at a fraction of the purchase price.

[Peanuckle]

Thanks for all the help, guys. It's nice to walk into a game community and not get shot down by elitists.

*traumatic memories of DDO*

I've been loving the LBX on the Stormcrow. It's saved my rear more times than I care to admit, and the effects are satisfying. I'll probably try to swap out the lasers for an AC of some measure. Heat buildup is a rough problem, though I understand that the trial mechs are particularly vulnerable to it.

Like others have suggested, I've played with the Stormcrow and the Hellbringer and I like them both. I've tried to use the Mad Dog (it looks like the Vulture and I loved that) but I can't missleboat for crap. My instinct is to get into knife-fighting range, not sit on the corners and shoot at red reticules.

So what I'm seeing from the money aspect is that I'll be buying one mech that I'll rely on for a long time and focus on refitting rather than buying up several mechs. Making a good choice of mech seems paramount. Will I be able to use trial mechs after making my purchase?

[Modo44]

Peanuckle, on 04 April 2015 - 09:58 PM, said:

I've been loving the LBX on the Stormcrow. It's saved my rear more times than I care to admit, and the effects are satisfying. I'll probably try to swap out the lasers for an AC of some measure. Heat buildup is a rough problem, though I understand that the trial mechs are particularly vulnerable to it.

Note that while LBs (LB20 especially) can be fun, they are not the best weapon in the long run. In MWO, anything that spreads damage gets weaker the higher skilled players you face. Destroying specific components is what you want to learn in the long run. Shotguns only manage that at very short ranges.

Peanuckle, on 04 April 2015 - 09:58 PM, said:

I've tried to use the Mad Dog (it looks like the Vulture and I loved that) but I can't missleboat for crap.

Vulture and Mad Dog are IS and Clan names for the same mech, hence the similarity.

Peanuckle, on 04 April 2015 - 09:58 PM, said:

Will I be able to use trial mechs after making my purchase?

Yes. Trials are free for everyone. While you can not unlock anything for them, trial mechs earn XP for their specific variants. If you buy the exact same thing you tried, you can immediately get some pilot skills for it.

[Bluttrunken]

Peanuckle, on 04 April 2015 - 09:58 PM, said:

Will I be able to use trial mechs after making my purchase?

Yes, you will be. Also you might notice things get tougher after your cadet period has ended. Do not fret! You'll get into it, especially with the mechs you've chosen. SCR(Stormcrow) and HBR(Hellbringer) are excellent, top-of-the-line mechs. Versatile and deadly. After you bought, fitted and elited your first 2 chassis(my suggestion, that's 2 mechs, 3 variants each), you might want to think about getting a mech for MC/Dollars. The original clan sale is still online: https://mwomercs.com/clans. But a tad expensive if you want a mech which is in a higher package tier. My first Mech purchase in this game was an à la carte Stormcrow(55$). Nowadays I have more mechs I care to admit.

One last thing if you want to play Clan as well as IS mechs, consider making separate accounts for it.

Peanuckle, on 04 April 2015 - 09:58 PM, said:

Thanks for all the help, guys. It's nice to walk into a game community and not get shot down by elitists.

*traumatic memories of DDO*

It's kinda funny to hear that DDO has elitists. That's the last game where I would have expected them. And yes, this community is even too nice. We maybe should get a more military tone and drill cadets instead of padding them on the head until they get their first kill.

Edited by k05h3lk1n, 04 April 2015 - 10:41 PM.