16 replies to this topic

[Ben The Boxer]

So I have played for about 2 months now, and found my calling as a light pilot; particularly the Firestarter...

I bought the very last variant after the new exp system, and im noticing its a hell of a lot harder to get exp with the way im playing... I elited 3 variants in a long session pre patch and this last variant has taken my best part of a week and still isnt quite there

I play purely for fun so this isn't too much of a problem, but it kind of stings and i get the feeling that il be stuck in tier 4 forever because of it.

For example: just played a game where everybody left an assault behind so i decided to escort him a little closer, scouting where i can i the meantime. Good thing i did got a assist protecting him. Then proceeded to chase a ECM cheetar to his grave via legs (which im not very good at) pulled a heavy far from his team (but didn't engage) and squeezed in another 3 assists before the enemy was no more...

Felt like a great game to me, got only 350~ dmg but im genrally pleased with that as i go for backs and legs... felt like i was doing my job as a light then i was gutted to see i got the lowest match score, lower in fact than most of the enemy team as well

Should i not be doing those things above? Do i need to join the death ball if i want exp? Can it be right to have the same rewards for assaults as lights?

I know solutions need to be put alongside a complaint but i don't know if i have any....

More rewards for lights; but what?

Guess there is no reward and cant be for pulling mechs away from their team, protecting stragglers or keeping eyes on far targets behind enemy lines for LRMS (without tag)...

Maybe its time to talk about reward mutipliers or even better quicker reward cooldowns, as we are quicker?

As i said im pretty new here, so probably not my place to be talking about changes, but i would like to feel good about good games and i dont want to be stuck in tier 4 forever!

What do you think?

[Aetes Nakatomi]

Personally I think matchscore needs a little tweaking still.

That aside, don't worry about being Tier 4, Tiers 3, 2 and 1 get the same amount of cash and exp as Tier 4 and 5. It has already been confirmed by Paul that the biggest factor to tier movement is games played. If you are in Tier 4 and are a casual player you likely will not move out of it fast but I wouldn't worry about it. The main thing you should be doing is trying to have fun, did you enjoy your game and do you think you took part in a helpful way? If the answer is yes then forget about what PGI think you should be doing in a match and do your thing.

[bad arcade kitty]

hunting lights is my life

i want a locust leg hanging item

[JohnnyWayne]

Well I see myself doing all that in my cheetah. Yet I also gank lone assaults from behind. Or pick enemys in a teamfight. Or create general chaos by being everywhere at the same time and do damage like crazy.

When you are in a teamfight you need to know when you have to move and when you can stand still and aim.

General things like map awareness become less important (as you can move faster out of bad situations, you also need to abuse bad situations and placement of the enemy) but the need for memorization of weakpoints grows to be able to finish an enemy quickly.

Damage rolling and evasion is also pretty important. Move that the damage is spread across your mech, and use the terrain to cover yourself eg your legs while still fireing on an enemey.

[RockmachinE]

The funny thing is. Tiers have been around for matchmaking purposes for a while. No one cared, no one noticed. Now that people get to see the actual number its become an issue.

The game is the same, you get matched with the same people and everything is the same as it was before, the only difference is what you make of it.

[JohnnyWayne]

I cared, and I knew I was in a tier that was too low for me. I have matches with 6 kills at least once out of five in solo queue. In group queue larger groups hold me back as I play this game in hardmode (2 man group).

Now Im also aware that there is no skill involved in PSR - just games played.

Edited by JohnnyWayne, 26 September 2015 - 04:12 AM.

[RockmachinE]

I think it has to do with personal bias not objective skill. Most people overestimate their ability and believe they play better then they actually do. I never had the feel I was in the wrong place, occasionally I would get matches with players clearly worse then me and then I'd get the opposite too.

Be honest with your abilities. And if you really are too good, enjoy stomping the noobs until you naturally move up. If you're not moving up its you, not the system.

JohnnyWayne, on 26 September 2015 - 04:11 AM, said:

I have matches with 6 kills at least once out of five in solo queue.

I'm sorry I don't buy this. And this probably illustrates what I'm talking about. 20% of the matches you kill half the enemy team?

[Ben The Boxer]

I think i've been slightly misinterpreted I am not really fussed about being in tier 4. Im definitely a tier 4 player its just i like to be moving the right direction and it feels like with my play style that hasn't changed pre/post patch is now scoring so low i might find myself in Tier 5 -.- When before i was hitting 200/350 tops (with the exception of Viderian Bog Teir 2 there fo sure)

Plus its a little humiliating when you thought you played well and you get scored 135 >.<

JohnnyWayne, on 26 September 2015 - 03:50 AM, said:

need for memorization of weakpoints grows to be able to finish an enemy quickly.

This is what im working on now, you mean like what hitboxes to hit on what mech right? Had a lot of fun taking out atlas eyes! but generally its just suicide, worth it for the fun though

JohnnyWayne, on 26 September 2015 - 03:50 AM, said:

Damage rolling and evasion is also pretty important. Move that the damage is spread across your mech, and use the terrain to cover yourself eg your legs while still fireing on an enemey.

And this one I have got locked down, will finish a match critical all over or dead most of the time but never healthy also choose my aproaches based on where ive taken dmg and even block my good leg with my broken leg if it happens ( thats why i wanna take it a step further eliting my FS9-A and finish games with no arms too)

Deosn't mean i go looking to take dmg though...

But yeah i guess you guys are right, wasn't gonna change my style anyways. I'll just have to try and be more refined in the component destruction and solo kills

[SolCrusher]

I know why i'm in T3, i still use things like BoomCats and splatcats

[stealthraccoon]

Aside from the occasional Hunchback or Vindicator run, I'm nearly always in my lights. I've got goldwings for my Urbanmechs (of course!) and all my Locusts are mastered. Have a few mastered Commandos but are currently gathering dust, I should be working on them soon. Still have to make the effort to master Spiders and Ravens, about halfway there (but honestly they don't do much for me).

My play style just goes along with lights in general - peek-a-boo, relocate and harass; I can't stand being huge and immobile. Even with my slower Urbies, using cover and calling your shots is a lot more thrilling than anything in the heavier brackets. I'm still slowly leveling my Cataphract line, for the sake of my faction, but it is downright painful sometimes!

Edited by stealthraccoon, 26 September 2015 - 10:03 AM.

[Light-Speed]

Lights are the reason why I am still around after 1 yr and 8 months.


They don't go stale easy because little games are exactly the same and there's just that spirit of being a light, of being free to execute whatever crazy plan you come up with, of winning against the odds based on your own actions and not how big the guns you are holding.

But yeah, the rewards are ********.


Here's an argument I wrote a while back:


Lights are not paid enough for their strategic value, are more expensive than you think, and basically the match scores are biased against them.


I'll start with the psychological duties.

Lights can help contribute to a victory by distracting the enemies, and if they lure away a couple of them, those enemy mechs are as good as dead to their team for the next half or couple minutes. Both of which can be critical to a team push and occupies my light without giving me any c-bills for it.

Then there's scouting. Scouting can be the difference between our team's slowasses getting cut off or the front of the faster friendlies running into the enemy one by one and the team deploying themselves properly. Those of you who have played strategy games will know how important information is.

UAVs are very handy at helping you scout, because you are not stupid enough to stick around the mass of hostile heavy ass weapon platforms close enough to lock them long enough to get through the thick skulls of those had had to be handed a red dorito.
They also give lights the situation awareness that is extremely critical to lights (are there so many around that I should run? which way is that guy looking so I can sneak behind him? are there people heading past this place towards my direction looking for me or am I safe to leave/go back?)

Which, of course, eats up a large portion of your monetary rewards which is miniature to begin with.


Speaking of modules, Artillery strikes are particularly helpful to lights with their low alphas, finish off wounded mechs whose their teammates are coming, and covering their retreat.

Which makes grinding a pain in the rear. How does this make sense anyways; which army makes its soldiers pay for improving the chance of a victory.

Oh, and did I mention the exceptional reliance of lights on modules such as seismic, shock absorbance, radar derp...


In addition to everything, scores are biased toward damage. I am sure that this was complained about enough already, but do note that a light's performance should not be based on the amount of damage it did. As I have mentioned before, a light doesn't have to do damage to help the team win, but you should also know that a light doesn't have to do as much damage to kill someone. If they are lucky or they know what they are doing, they'd kill an enemy through the back. This is very effective. But match scores favor inefficiency and inaccuracy...

Edited by Nightingale27, 26 September 2015 - 12:48 PM.

[Xetelian]

Running in a light should give you 20% more Cbills and 20% more exp than other weights and mediums 10% and 10%

Anything to get more people into lighter than heavies.

Might as well give assaults 5% bonus to both.

At this point it is clear that 3/3/3/3 is often 1/3/5/3 or 0/3/5/4 when the release valves are trying to match people.

[Durant Carlyle]

Kills, Kills Most Damage, Solo Kills, Savior Kills, Component Destruction, Assists, Protected Light, Lance In Formation, Protection Proximity, Spotting, Spotting Assist, Hit And Run, Flanking etc. Do more to help the team and you will score higher.

Edited by Durant Carlyle, 26 September 2015 - 01:06 PM.

[Monkey Lover]

If lights are your calling be happy your in tier 4 the higher you go the better people shoot. Fire starters don't last long anymore. Cheetoos are a little better because of the extra leg buffs/ecm.

[JohnnyWayne]

Louis Brofist, on 26 September 2015 - 04:19 AM, said:

I'm sorry I don't buy this. And this probably illustrates what I'm talking about. 20% of the matches you kill half the enemy team?

I have a k/d of 5.10 in my ACH after 308 matches. That is pretty accurated I'd say?

Ben The Boxer, on 26 September 2015 - 05:44 AM, said:

This is what im working on now, you mean like what hitboxes to hit on what mech right? Had a lot of fun taking out atlas eyes! but generally its just suicide, worth it for the fun though

What mech in general (where is the ECM? Primariy weapon?) and specific (what is the weakened part? whats the loadout, chances for XL on IS mechs? Where is the gauss rifle, can you focus it down fast enogh?).

[Mycrus]

If you are a new light pilot stick with the team and skirmish...

Once you are more comfortable go out on your own and gank something.

[xMintaka]

JohnnyWayne, on 26 September 2015 - 03:11 PM, said:

I have a k/d of 5.10 in my ACH after 308 matches. That is pretty accurated I'd say?

The cheeto isn't really representative of other lights from a purely KDR standpoint. It tanks far better than a 30tonner has any right to, packs one hell of a punch and comes with ECM. My K/D on it is a little higher than yours, but it's a massive outlier (KDR of 5.83 on the cheeto, 1.95 overall).

Monkey Lover, on 26 September 2015 - 01:13 PM, said:

If lights are your calling be happy your in tier 4 the higher you go the better people shoot. Fire starters don't last long anymore. Cheetoos are a little better because of the extra leg buffs/ecm.

How can you say that? Staying in a low tier basically promotes mediocre piloting. Sure, you might be able to rek scrubs 1v1 more often in T5/4 but that's just a battle of the bads. It won't teach you anything and leads to your gameplay becoming very stale and repetitive.

No offence intended to anyone. But if you're not trying your best (joke builds and lols aside) then you can't say you're unhappy about being in a low tier.

Mycrus, on 26 September 2015 - 03:44 PM, said:

If you are a new light pilot stick with the team and skirmish...

Once you are more comfortable go out on your own and gank something.

This. All of this. Don't focus on flanking/backstabbing until you are confident you can at least fight your way back to your team or hold your own if you get ganked yourself. Be that annoying little **** that is adding his firepower wherever it is most needed and always poking from a different location.

Learn to spot when a team mate is a lost cause too. It's all well and good going back for the fattie that forget "W" is the go button, but if you take significant damage trying to defend them you've defeated the point. Sometimes it's better to leave a sacrificial whale behind.

Edited by Lunatech, 26 September 2015 - 04:04 PM.