11 replies to this topic

[Lamblaska]

Hello Mechwarriors,


I play MWO since 2014, so I've little Knowledge of the BT universe and lore, but I do like how this community work, and how there are lot of players committed to this game. I've seen a lot of great topics and guides about not only mech builds and lore, but also game experience and tactics. I've learned a lot from this guides and from other veterans players, from my own unit (VAR) and from other friendly units from the Steiner Hub (Like the DOGS, the ORMC and INEX).

So, I decided to write something, a small guide, with the principles and thoughts I've on my cockpit.

I'm a Light (and Cicada) pilot. I've no way with heavy or assault mechs. My hear is with the fastest mechs, no matter how small they are. Nothing in this game is comparable to the adrenaline of driving a locust.

So, understand this game as a personal expression of my own gameplay, of how I understand using how to use this kind of mech, and it's role on a team match.

I truly hope that this will be somehow useful to the pilots, specially our new guesses from the Steam.

Edited by Catalina Steiner, 19 December 2015 - 07:59 AM.

[Lamblaska]

I- Introduction

“If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected .”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

I cannot think a better quote to represent how I see strategy inside the drop. Each of these sentences come to life in the battlefield. And you, as a light mech, can be the key to execute each of them.

Playing as a light mech is not as glorious as driving a assault mech. You won't carry as many guns, neither have that armor, you usually won't do as much damage.

Also, sometimes, you'll get frustrated. When running a light, life is something thin. A wrong move can get you killed, a accidental friendly fire can get you killed, and the worse, even the map can get you killed sometimes. But don't let this shake you.

Remember, a light mech can make all the difference. And I hope you'll find it below:

Edited by Catalina Steiner, 21 December 2015 - 06:33 AM.

[Lamblaska]

II - Know Yourself

First of all, you should know yourself. And with that I mean two things - The Mech you're using, and yourself as a pilot;

Ok, Light mechs are a type of mech, but this is quite generic and not light mechs are alike, not even close. So don't look at them as just as a light mech, but which light mech can fit your objectives better, as well as your gamestyle. I suggest you to take these things into consideration:

• How fast is it?

Keep your speed in consideration, always. The top speed will tell you if it's possible to do certain things or not (like doing a long run in the map, chasing another mech, or avoid being chased of another light). Knowing how fast you can run, as well as other mech is something critical.

• How small is it?

To take best advantage of your light, you must be aware of your size. That will define if you can get into some corners of the map, if you can use the map to cover yourself, and how hard is it to shoot you.

• What weapons it can/will carry?

The weapons you carry will define your fight limits. Aim, range, dmg, how long you can stay in battle (ammo and heat). That always be put in consideration. The fight approach changes according to your limits.

• How hard is it to manage its heat?

As a light mech, you should be aware of a lot of things (your team positioning, Air strikes, Artillery strikes, UAVs, enemy position, the map, if you're under fire or not, and so on). In this mess of things to keep aware of, heat management can be tricky. Get yourself shutdown is a death sentence for light mechs;

• Do you got Jump Jets? And how many?

Jump Jets are crucial for movement. They gave you flexibility to get in and out easily, avoid getting stucked, and get even harder to hit. You should consider how you jump (or not) on how you'll move in the map.

• How fragile is it?

Understand how long can you stand or what are your weak spots should guide you on your approach. Also, how your hitbox works will help you on how to survive for longer. Keep that in mind, always;


When you get used to the mech, this things will come more naturally. But understand the mech is half of the job. Understand you as a pilot is the other half of the job.

Things you should ask yourself:

• How patient are you?
  
• Can you keep the calm during the chaos?
  
• Do you get crazy to kill the target? Or are you cold blooded to wait for the right time?
  
• How many things you can keep aware at the same time?
  
• What weapons do you manage best?

Considering your game style and personality. Which mech fits you the most? What are the things you really like and feel you're good with, and what things you can't stand? Respect your own gameplay and don't push yourself with a style that does not please you. It will most likely reduce your playing experience;

Edited by Catalina Steiner, 21 December 2015 - 06:40 AM.

[Lamblaska]

III. Understanding your light role (look at the big picture).

Remember.... You're not alone out there. Of course, as a lone wolf, you can make some trouble. But lone wolves don't win matches by themselves, specially in pre-mades.

You should also have noticed that playing as light against larger group is harder. They usually don't let their assaults or other slow mechs behind, and they simply don't ignore their teammates. In the same way your foes won't ignore their teammates, you should not ignore yours.

That's why you should understand what you can do for your team that other mechs can't do. What roles your light can play during the match? How you can increase the chances of a victory?

Here follows the roles I identified during the match. Don't understand this as a class that you should choose, but as a set of actions you can apply during every match. You'll also notice that some of them are implied in your pilot style.

• Sniper

Basically, sniping with light mechs means to annoy them from a safe spot.

There's no certain range or weaponry. You can snipe with ER Large Lasers, or with Medium Pulse Lasers.

The main factor here is the positioning. Being close enough to deal some damage, but far enough to get out of enemy fire easily .

It's not about kills, it's about divide the enemy focus. If they're paying attention to you, they're not paying attention to your team. Each mech looking at you, or chasing you, it's one mech less to your team worry about.

If your foes decide to keep their focus on your friends, don't be upset, you'll have a lot of sitting ducks to practice your aim. Just try to be as must effective as you can.

• Backstabber

If their back armor glows... it's already too late.

Mostly of the mechs has little armor on their back, that's no secret. And that's because their armor is mostly needed on their front, where all their weapons will be looking at.

Think a backstabber as an opportunist. Waiting to exploit weak spots when enemies are distracted. This is the most effective way to take assaults mechs down. Even if you're not able to kill them before they notice you, this will make them frenzy and their attention will be spited.

• Scout

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
- Sun Tzu

As a light mech, you can easily and quickly gather information about your enemies. You can see things like:

Where are they moving to? (this is vital information to prepare your team)
Which mechs or builds do they have? (understand their combat range efficiency)
Is there any mech behind? (Show no mercy to the slow ones)

This information can change the whole movement of your team, giving time to prepare themselves before the surprise. Or decide the best way to strike them.

• Bait

Being the bait works in the same fashion as the sniper. But the difference is that the bait does not work in a safe distance and it's willing to sacrifice its life for the sake of his teams push.

When you're the bait, you're not that much worried about not hurting yourself. You're also not interested in killing enemies. You're worried about bringing chaos to enemies lines. Using your speed and maneuvering frenetically near their legs and the structures. Many locks are on you.

For every mech trying to shoot at you, it's one less mech holding your team push. For every missed shot at you (After all, it's not easy to hit a light running amok) , it's wasted ammo, wasted heat. Their blood heat ups and they're more impulsive.

• Toolbox

You have what is needed, when it's needed.

There's not much to tell here. Being the toolbox is to carry resources that are needed to enhance your team. UAVs, Air Strikes, NARCs, TAGs and ECMs.

If your teammate is under LRM fire, your ECM will arrive to hide him.

If your team don't know where the enemies are. Your UAV will show to them.

If you LRM need targets, you'll give them something to shoot.
And so on.

Edited by Catalina Steiner, 21 December 2015 - 06:44 AM.

[Lamblaska]

IV. How to effectively manage your light.

This are some principles, some things you should keep in mind while driving your light mech.

• A Matter of Speed.

AC/20 has no mercy to ones who hesitate.

Lights don't rely on armor to survive. Lights are not designed to take damage, they're small and fast, making them a harder target. If you stop, you're a sitting duck, and likely will get killed.

• A Matter of Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

If you can't see the gun, the gun can't see you.

Except for LRMs, Artillery and Air Strike, you know pretty well where the damage come from. Mechs has no weapons on their backs, and except for Streak, the shots won't bend to hit you. So if you you're out of the line of fire, you're safe.

Also, armor is always higher in the front. When you're on your enemies back, you're not only safe, but also in a very privilege position, where you cause a lot of trouble with much less effort.

• Be patient, don't be greedy (Think long-term)

Lights that survive live to fight another mech.

The target fascination is real, and you should be worried about. You can get happy if you kill 4 times you tonnage, but you can kill 10 times you tonnage if you manage to play safe. When you're focused on killing the prey, you start to forget the fight around you. And sometimes, you'll get killed after kill that target.

So, manage your aggression, come in and out of the fight without expose yourself too much. Try to stay alive (and with legs) as much as you can. A light in a good shape can make all the difference at the end of a match. And don't worry about that almost dead assault mech that escaped. You'll get him, in time.

• A Matter of Courage

You're harder to hit than you think.

Don't get out of control if you get yourself in a bad spot. Don't run amok and get stuck in the map objects.

You're small and fast, and it's not that that easy to hit you, specially in close range, when the guns does not hit according to the aim. And, at the time you are susceptible to the target fascination, your enemies are to and there's a big change they will spend a lot of ammo and heat in a not effective way on you.

With training and experience, you'll get used to "avoid" some guys. Being predictable (like, run in line or run at the same speed) you get you killed. But if you move in a non-regular fashion, it will be harder to hit you.

Also, learn how to use your courage to help your allies, to taunt enemies mechs out of fight and make them stop firing your friends.

• A Matter of Ego (Understand Your Limits)

This is delicate. Don't get this as a vertical line and you're limited by your skill. Is not that you're bad or good or better or worse than other pilot. This is a matter of recognize limitation. Mechs and the actual condition of the battle are also limitation. Here are some examples:

If your mech don't jump, that's a limitation.
If you got no armor, that's a limitation.
If you are not used to distribute your damage, that's a limitation.
If the map is hot and you're a laser vomit, that's a limitation.
If managing heat is not your strong, that's a limitation.
If your aim shakes when you're anxious, that's a limitation.
If you get desperate under LRM fire, that's a limitation.

Think limitation as restrains. Once you get aware of them, you can use yourself in the most effective way.

Example: If you're not a good heat manager, and hit manages consumes you . To deal with that, try to use very cool mechs and get out of intense combat when getting critical. The changes you get yourself shutdown staying in intense combat are pretty high.

• A Matter of Teamplay (You're not alone out there)

I know, I know. You already have to deal with so many things at once. This is the last one, but not less important. We already talked about your role, what can do for you team, but, besides your own game, you should keep an eye on your teammates. Being in sync with them. This is one of the most valuable skills. And you should always consider if your approach was useful to your team.

Edited by Catalina Steiner, 21 December 2015 - 06:48 AM.

[Lamblaska]

IV. Conclusion

There won't be any chapter about mech builds or recommendation. In my perspective, build your light (like any other mech) is something very personal and you should consider a lot of things. The build and model of your choice should be a result of your style and that cannot be provided in a simple way that could fit this guide. Also, there're hundreds of topics that will provide you great assist and ideas to build your mech.

I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also hope you learn something from reading it, because I do learn a lot from writing it.

Hope to see you on battlefield, bringing victory to your teams and chaos to your enemies.

Edited by Catalina Steiner, 21 December 2015 - 06:48 AM.

[L a S e R]

I play lights my self and this is a great guide! See you on the battlefield.

[Catalina Steiner]

Excellent guide... even as a passionate light pilot I have learned a lot. You rule this class, Lamblaska.

[The Amazing Spider Man]

Good guide, but needs a few corrections. Jump jets get you stuck in the map with no way of getting you out. Even if you are flawless with JJ usage you can still lose legs to poor map design. Also please consider a section on capping points, it's importance and when and why to cap depending on mode. Thanks for your input!

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Well done, Lamblaska! I do hope this is only the beginning, and not nearly the end, for your thoughts on light mechs.

[MadFrenchie]

I really enjoyed reading this.. I'm trying to run a Jenner D right now mainly and there are some good points. Specifically, about not panicking when taking damage/LRMs.

I still have trouble with figuring out my role as a Jenner in some matches. Matches with lots of snipers and LRM boats seem to relegate me to doing nothing but hoping to spot a target without getting noticed. If I try to flank, and another light gives chase, I end up taking massive damage from LRMs/snipers simply following the red Dorito their light is providing. My Jenner isn't the absolute fastest on the battlefield, but he does sport SRM4&SRM2 with 4 Mlas. So I can pack a punch if I'm accurate with my salvo. Just trying to do that without being railroaded is the challenge. I'm not bad at avoiding larger mech unguided fire.. But if an LRM boat takes a liking to me, it usually ends up stunting my effectiveness in a major way.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

MadFrenchie, on 23 December 2015 - 09:14 PM, said:

I really enjoyed reading this.. I'm trying to run a Jenner D right now mainly and there are some good points. Specifically, about not panicking when taking damage/LRMs.

I still have trouble with figuring out my role as a Jenner in some matches. Matches with lots of snipers and LRM boats seem to relegate me to doing nothing but hoping to spot a target without getting noticed. If I try to flank, and another light gives chase, I end up taking massive damage from LRMs/snipers simply following the red Dorito their light is providing. My Jenner isn't the absolute fastest on the battlefield, but he does sport SRM4&SRM2 with 4 Mlas. So I can pack a punch if I'm accurate with my salvo. Just trying to do that without being railroaded is the challenge. I'm not bad at avoiding larger mech unguided fire.. But if an LRM boat takes a liking to me, it usually ends up stunting my effectiveness in a major way.

A SLIGHT modification to that, if I may be so bold. This was THE meta-Jenner before the Clan invasion. BAP makes it easier to run off those enemy lights chasing you, if they're ECM. You see that crossed-out ECM on your HUD, and the LRMs start coming in, it changes your attitude. Streaks with BAP, combined with those 4x ML, should be plenty to get you through a dogfight. SURE would be nice if we could run bigger Streaks on IS mechs, but it is what it is. What you gain against light mechs in a dogfight, though, you lose in concentrated punch against bigger enemies. Personal tastes kind of thing, I suppose.