19 replies to this topic

[Seal Farmer]

any tips or hints for me as i start the game ?

seems like the game is pretty hard for new players, so any info to help is good.

Edited by Seal Farmer, 04 June 2015 - 12:50 AM.

[o0Marduk0o]

Seal Farmer, on 04 June 2015 - 12:50 AM, said:

any tips or hints for me as i start the game ?

seems like the game is pretty hard for new players, so any info to help is good.

Hello, welcome to the forums.

http://mwomercs.com/...ideo-tutorials/

Check out this thread, for the most part it is still up2date and videos are better than reading guides.


General tip, don't spend your earned Cbills on anything until you are experienced enough to make thought-out purchases, as you gain more money for your first 25 matches.

When I would start again, then I would make it totally different.
I would make an account to learn the game.
Then I would make the "real" account, use the 1 day premium time every new player gets for free to make most profit out of the cadet bonus (= increased income for first 25 games). Premium time boosts the cadet bonus very well, giving more money and as a result more options for the first own mech.

Edited by o0Marduk0o, 04 June 2015 - 01:25 AM.

[FlipOver]

Besides this forum there are a few links to keep in mind (and bookmark)

Smurphy: Where you will find all mechs and their information, including quirks and base loadout (what kind of weapons and upgrades you get on the purchased mech)

Smurphy Mechlab: Where you can play around building any mech without having to spend C-Bills in game. The go-to tool for people who want to know and share loadouts

Sarna Wiki: Everything you need to know about everything regarding Mechs.

About the game itself:
1 - Do not spend C-Bills without knowing what you need. For that, it's advised to play around past the cadet bonus 25 matches and try around with most of the trial mechs first.
Then you should come to this forum and ask for advise on mechs to buy and builds for them, that fit to your play style.
2 - Never ever make constant changes on a mech without testing all the weapons for at least 40 matches. Most people burn through C-Bills because they never give themselves a change to adapt to the new weapon systems, so they play a couple matches that go wrong and they change the loadout again. This is a sure way to get broke fast.
3 - Make sure you go to the Training Grounds plenty of times to fine-tune your aiming skills and targetting and the mouse sensitivity. Most people are not as good at shooting others because they have a too high sensitivity on their mouse.
4 - Check youtube videos about tests and builds and play styles. Get to know the game from outside and inside.

I think this might be enough for now.

[SilentFenris]

Seal Farmer, on 04 June 2015 - 12:50 AM, said:

any tips or hints for me as i start the game ?

seems like the game is pretty hard for new players, so any info to help is good.

Yes, the learning curve is harsh. Suggestions to make it easier:

1) If you want easy one on one help, download Teamspeak and log into a server (linked list below). MWO has in-game voice chat but most players are too busy during a match to answer several questions. Many players are happy to offer advice and spend time teaching you the ropes. The players may try to recruit you to join their unit, which is not forever, you can quit the unit anytime.
http://mwomercs.com/...mspeak-servers/

2) If you prefer to go it alone, or don't have a microphone for teamspeak continue to read and post in these forums.

3) Try to stick near the biggest group of teamates, you will survive much longer if the other team shoots at them first. More experienced pilots twist their mechs around to spread damage rather then get cored out (destroyed).

4) Use the trial mechs for free. Do not buy mechs until you are comfortable playing. It is temping to buy and customize your first mech right away but...
i) It can take more c-bills to build a mech up to competitive equipment then you initially bought it for.
ii) You need 3 mechs of the same chasis to unlock higher skills. You get 4 mechbays to start. Do not worry about filling these yet. Plus you get can earn mechbays in game or buy more with real money.
iii) Never sell a mech you purchased. Items sell for much less than you bought them for and your wallet will be hurt more if you upgraded anything on that mech. Use the trial version before you buy to learn a mech first anx to help avoid making a mistake by purchasing a mech you will hate.
iv) When it is time to buy, purchase a mech that is good for your playstyle. The Direwolf and Kingcrab tear other mechs apart, but that doesn't mean you will play best in that mech. If you prefer hit and run, take a light mech! When you learn the game you will know which playstyles you enjoy.

5) Have fun. If you are not having fun, take a break.

Good luck!

Edited by GrayFenris, 04 June 2015 - 02:36 AM.

[Modo44]

I would say do not sell anything for a while. Even "bad" weapons or mech can become buffed, or you get more proficient in them, or they work in a different role. Getting Cbills is the most grindy part of MWO, and the easiest method to fix it -- long term -- is to minimize your Cbill losses. Consumables should also be avoided until you have them fully unlocked for maximum power.

[Rogue Jedi]

play the tutorial, it is not great but will teach you some of the basics.

use training grounds, try a few maps with a few different trial Mechs and practice shooting at the target Mechs while moving.

when you are ready chose a Mech and click launch.

you will die horribly the first few matches but if you put in a bit of practice in the training grounds first you will at least be able to move and shoot relatively effectively, although you will improve with time

lock targets (default the R key) if you lock targets your team can see them on radar, you get information on the status of the Mech including armor, a list of weapons carried by the Mech and if the weapons are still working

Lasers fire a beam and deal damage over the beams duration, the longer you hold the beam on target the more total damage you will deal, you are likely to spread your damage all over the enemy Mech and possibly miss with a significant portion of your lasers beam time.

Gauss, IS Autocannons and PPCs all fire a single slug which travels to the target, if the target is moving you will likely need to aim a little ahead to hit. Gauss and AC2s have a very high projectile velocity so you will not need to aim much ahead unless trying to hit a fast moving target at 500+ meters, the AC5 has lower velocity and shorter range, ERPPC and PPC are slower than AC5, and AC10/AC20 are slower still, to the point that I would not usualy fire those at a moving target further than about 200m away.

Clan AC/UACs fire a stream of shells (2 for AC2, 5 for AC20), the larger the AC the more shells, UACs can fire twice as fast if you keep tapping the trigger but that comes with a risk of a jam, a jammed AC requires time to clear, (I think about 10 seconds).

LBX-ACs and SRMs work like a shotgun, they fire a cluster of small shells or missiles, which spread out more the further you are away from the target


LRMs work better if you have a missile lock (red circle), LRMs have a minimum range of 180m and do not do damage past 1000m maximum range, they are best used at 200-600m as there is a warning if you are targeted by LRMs, this will on most maps give you a few seconds to find cover, when you get the warning you want to put something like a cliff or tall building between you and the missiles, missiles can be very effective, especially against newer players but against more experienced players they are more of a suppression weapon than a damage dealer on most maps. if you loose the lock the missiles will stop tracking

Streak SRMs, are homing SRMs which will only fire with a lock

[Nightmare1]

I would recommend joining a casual Unit. Casual Units are normally pretty friendly towards new players and can help you get your feet under you.

In the meantime, take it slow and don't let yourself get overwhelmed. There is a steep learning curve, but it's well worth it in the long run. If you'd like, PM me sometime and we can run drops together. I don't have much time during the week due to work, but I often run drops on the weekend.

If you are interested, I will be on tonight for about an hour or so. I teach a training class once a week for new pilots in my Unit. You're welcome to join us tonight if you would like. We'll be covering Mech heat at 8:00 PM, CST. Just hit up our TeamSpeak 3 server at brethrenmwo.enjinvoice.com. If I'm not there yet, tell whoever's present that Nightmare sent you.

Also, I would recommend watching some YouTube vids on my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/NightmareONe

You can pick up some hints and tips as well as get a general idea of how to properly use cover and whatnot. I plan to release some New Player Tutorial videos eventually, and have already released one for LRMs:





Other posters have already listed links to other Training Materials, so I think you're pretty much covered now. Just remember to use cover! That's a big mistake a lot of new players make. Yes, you have armor, but it can only take so much battering. If you get caught away from cover, then the enemy will make mincemeat out of you quickly. Also, newly purchased stock Mechs (and often Trial Mechs), do not have full armor ratings, so if you are using those then you will already be "soft" compared to customized Mechs.

[Seal Farmer]

thanks

[Leone]

Okay, surprised no one mentioned this yet.

Sometimes you'll see your teammates doing things that seem like obvious tactical blunders. This is often because they are. It is still best to follow the group. There is power in numbers. As classical RTS's have taught me, more soldiers on the field is better. Think of this game as an RTS where you get to play only one part.

~Leone, Raid Leader of the Crimson Hand.

[Mazzyplz]

the game is like a business transaction;

if you have ever played chess you know this - a rook for a queen is a bad trade.

if you go in your assault mech on a suicide mission to kill a medium that's probably not the best use of your chesspiece.

this also applies shot-by-shot.

if you got blasted in the CT bad to 90% health, but managed to hit your enemy and bring him down to 89% health - you won the exchange; you can retreat.

it doesn't matter if you did less damage to their blackjack in your zeus if you got him down to a lower percentage than you - you got more armor so at the end of the day your team has a player in better shape than their team

likewise, if you come out badly of an engagement but the enemy is just one-upping you every shot, cut your losses and retreat. you may be able to hurt one of his weaker buddies later on and make up for your bad trades that way.
secret is not to panic.

if you manage to snipe an enemy and get no return fire you're getting all those shots in for free, but don't get too excited and chase em out in the open; just keep in mind you have the upper hand and you can change position or retreat knowing you won that small engagement - this is useful when popping in and out of cover to deal damage and go back, which is big in this game - it will provide you with a measuring tool besides knowing if you killed the other guy or not. every % of health of each of the 12 players is important enough to try and keep track of to get a good big picture of what's going on in the battlefield

Edited by Mazzyplz, 05 June 2015 - 08:46 AM.

[happy mech]

do not leave matches, spectate

[Seal Farmer]

cool, will try

[Koniving]

Welcome to MWO.

I see you've been privy to quite a bit of information overload.

Relax. Seal, remember you don't have to ingest all the information at once.

Play for a while, read a post or two of tips, play for a while, repeat the next day. The thing about free to play games is that they tend to be around for a long time. "Just relax and play."

Return and ask specific questions when you're ready.

As for advice: Wherever you decide to shoot the enemy, keep shooting there until it breaks. One thing a lot of early players will do is spread their fire without realizing that where you hit the enemy does matter.

Related quickies:
Target too fast? Give it a limp; break its leg.
Target too strong? Target where the scary guns are. No more scary guns.
Target seems invincible? Shoot somewhere else.
Target doesn't know you're there? Get a little closer to make that first shot count.

Last two pieces of advice.
1) You can change weapon groups. This can be done in the mechlab or in game (when in game the arrow keys select weapons and groups and the right CTRL key enables/disables. Blue is enabled, Black is disabled).

2) The weapons display on the bottom right is a lot more useful than you might think. The 'range' it displays is a suggestion for maximum damage. Pay attention to their colors! Green means great/full damage. Yellow means lessened damage. Black means no damage; don't bother to fire. Red means weapon is destroyed.

[Koniving]

Seal Farmer, on 04 June 2015 - 12:50 AM, said:

Be sure to check back in to tell us how you're doing.

[mailin]

Stay with your team. Generally they will be made up of (hopefully) more experienced players. Get used to running in 1st person perspective. (More information is available in this mode). Access 1st person by pressing F4 (toggle). Press R to lock your CURRENT target. Look at paper doll and fire on what's solid red, orange, yellow. In that order. Also, if anyone uses your lock to hit them with lrms you get bonus c-bills and experience.

Good luck and I'll see you on the battlefield.

[Mighty Spike]

Important thing is to inform yourself about weapons and Equipment. i see often new players,shootin IS LRMs in 20,50,100 meters to an enemy,wondering and asking ingame chat why they did no Damage,some weapons have a minimum range, under that range they will deal no or not full damage.To get infos bout the game,Mechs,weapons and equipment like AAms,Ecm,Bap,is in MWO very important, in general first stop should be here the new player help forums before you start,

Edited by Mighty Spike, 13 June 2015 - 02:21 PM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

o0Marduk0o, on 04 June 2015 - 01:19 AM, said:

Premium time boosts the cadet bonus very well, giving more money and as a result more options for the first own mech.

Premium time does NOT boost the extra cadet bonus anymore. That changed when they restructured the cadet bonus as acheivements. Premium time does not affect achievements.

[o0Marduk0o]

TheCaptainJZ, on 14 June 2015 - 05:30 AM, said:

Premium time does NOT boost the extra cadet bonus anymore. That changed when they restructured the cadet bonus as acheivements. Premium time does not affect achievements.

Ok, it's a long time since I used it on a 2nd account.

[Sjorpha]

My main advice is to focus on dealing damage and aiming each shot carefully. Focus on keeping your teammates alive first and yourself second, becuase that is how you survive longest in the end. Many players in this game hide and dance away selfishly way too much at the expense of effective damage dealing and letting teammates die.

If you are in a standoff, don't peek against multiple enemies, wait for them to peek against you and your team. Peekaboo is a way overrated tactic and a bad habit you'll need to unlearn as soon as you move on from solo que in any case. The basic name of the game is push together on offence, make a firing line on defence. Take a superior position and don't lose patience.

Stay with teammates if you want to be useful. It takes a good player to do solo missions properly. Always communicate if you are about to do something fancy even if you know how to do it, otherwise you may lure a less competent player into a trap of following you or doing his own solo suicide. For example a fast light sniper could say "I'm gonna scout the saddle and distract a bit, don't follow me." That kind of thing helps a lot.

Even many players who think they are proper badasses running around the map on their own are in reality just weakening their team by reducing the number of targets and armour in their main group, thereby getting their teammates focused down faster and often confusing newbies so they split up too much. Then they parade their kills and damage and feel special for losing their team the game while looking good in their own head. Don't be that guy.

Once it's time to push, be aggressive and don't stop because you are taking fire. Especially not in chokepoints when there are teammates behind you. If you have teammates behind you and stop, you are stopping them from reaching the fight. If you have teammates ahead of you and stop, you are letting them get focused down and die. Both these cases ultimately shortens your own life. 90% of the time surviving and winning is about superior aggression and appliance of firepower, not hiding.'

The proper position for a LRM boat is just behind the frontlines, lobbing missiles into the brawl with the shortest traves path possible to minimise the chance of avoiding before connect. In cover yes, but close. The proper targets for LRMs are enemies who are shooting at your frontline mechs. Keeping your armour mint 1000m behind while raining ineffectively at every dorito in sight is NOT the right position of an LRM boat. And if your armour is fresher than that of your teammates then your place is in front of them, not behind.

Edited by Sjorpha, 14 June 2015 - 08:12 AM.

[Averen]

I'd say the most important thing is, considering my recent experience with a lot of bad players, to get a feeling for where you and your teammates are, and where the enemies are. Situational awareness is really important in such a messy and punishing game with very little coordination, limited information and poor communication methods.
Learn when to engage enemy, when to draw back and avoid tunnel visioning. Getting the damage done is more important long term than kills. It'll even give you the ability to stay alive and finish the damaged mechs off.

Personally i learned a lot by using jägermechs. They are basically about running around between your team, or finding single/damaged enemies, and use your devastating firepower to kill them off before you'll get to receive lots of counterfire, all with a solid amount of speed and usually a nice mid distance to enemies. JM6-DD, despite the XL, is imo one of the best mechs to start with, since it's 3xUAC variant is absolutely devastating, one of the strongest Dakka-Mechs in the game and still the ability to place well aimed shots (compared to clan uacs, which just spray everywhere). Vulnerable, yes, but that also forces you too efficiently use cover and think twice about where to go.
Or, the easier path, a crow. That thing is ultra-fast, tough, and got ridiculous firepower. Won't teach you too much tho, since it's a bit overpowered.

Edited by Averen, 14 June 2015 - 08:16 AM.