22 replies to this topic

[spartync]

I know there aren't any official requirements, but what SHOULD a pilot have and be able to do before starting down the CW path?

How many mastered mechs?
What tonnage of solely IS or Clan mechs should someone have in their bays?
What PuG mechs are simply not viable vs. those that are staples?
Does CW take into account PSR when lining up matches?
Is there an ideal minimum PSR to be competitive in CW?

CW is so under-documented from a practical standpoint for new players.

Maybe your advice here will make it so new pilots like me do t just dive into the CW world without being ready.

[Tarogato]

Choosing your mechs:
For CW, you preferably don't want to be in trial mechs. Also, you don't want to be in weak mechs. You want to be in well-built mechs that you know how to use properly. If you don't own any meta chassis', then it's fine, it's really the build that counts and how you use it. Your best friend is metamechs.com , you'll find viable and competitive builds for every variant in the game there. For instance, if you ever put a missile weapon on a Thunderbolt, you're doing it wrong and people *will* ridicule you for it. If you bring a weak chassis like a Dragon or Cataphract but put a strong effective build on it and you play it well, you're merely handicapping yourself, but you're not really doing anything wrong.

Leveling your mechs:
If you can help it, Elite all your CW mechs. Honestly, I wouldn't sweat it, though, it's not a terribly big deal. It's the piloting that matters, the skill tree bonuses hardly affect your performance, especially if you are a new or low tier player that isn't capable of squeezing every ounce of performance out of a mech. That said, Eliting all your mechs and getting them module'd up should be an eventual goal.

Matchmaking/teams:
There is no matchmaking in CW, all matches are first-come -> first-serve. You might get matched with or against the best teams in the game, or you might find entire matches full of unsigned solo players. This is the risk you take when playing CW as a solo player and it can be very punishing and demoralising when you're on the receiving end of a stomp. The best way to enjoy CW is to join a unit and play with them. The more people that join units, the more often we'll see full organised unit-vs-unit matches, which is always more exciting.

Tactics:
No matter the gamemode, make it your goal to die at the same rate as your allies. For every 12 kills the enemy has, you should have expended one mech. If the enemy team more than 12 kills and you're still on your first mech, that's an indication that you're playing too passively and that you should probably be up front more often. Likewise, if the enemy only has, say, 16 kills and you're already on your 3rd mech, then it means you are playing too aggressively and losing mechs faster than your allies. Ideally everybody on the team should be on the last mech at the same time at the end of the match, nobody should run out of mechs early. Use angles and cover to isolate enemy opponents from the rest of their team. Generally, if your heat reaches rock bottom, you aren't shooting enemies enough. If you ever notice that you've cooled all the way down, it's a good opportunity to reflect on "What could I have done differently so that I could be shooting the enemy right now?" But again, don't play aggressively to the point that you lose mechs faster than your allies.

Performance:
Average damage in CW is between 800 and 1200. Aim for 1000 every match. If you can't get 1000 reliably, then you need to improve your sense of positioning so that you have more opportunities to fire upon enemy mechs without getting shot by multiple enemy mechs at once.

---

Here is a very very concise and detailed guide to CW by Kin3ticX. If you want to really dig in and do some reading, this is where to go: https://docs.google....d40d24684_438_5

[T0rmented]

annnnnd /thread
grats taro, u ******* nailed it

[Not A Real RAbbi]

spartync, on 31 December 2015 - 09:21 PM, said:

I know there aren't any official requirements, but what SHOULD a pilot have and be able to do before starting down the CW path?

First, hello and welcome to Mechwarrior Online! Let's begin by answering some of your questions below, shall we?

Quote

How many mastered mechs?

MASTERed? Unless you really NEED that extra module slot, and have the extra 6,000,000 CBills to fill it, it's not a crisis. Full ELITE, though, is a good thing. At a minimum, I'd say you should have all BASIC skills done on any mech you take, and have enough of that chassis that you can put your XP toward ELITE skills. How many, then? As many as you're bringing in your CW drop deck.

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What tonnage of solely IS or Clan mechs should someone have in their bays?

Well, enough to fill out a drop deck for whatever side you're working for. So, call it roughly 265 tons IS or 255 tons Clan. More on this in a bit...

Quote

What PuG mechs are simply not viable vs. those that are staples?

TRIAL mechs that aren't also (C) Champion mechs? Yeah, almost universally BAD. Any stock configuration of a Clan omnimech, for instance, is assured to be a bad loadout for CW.

For instance, consider the EBJ-C Trial mech. It's the standard -C configuration. 2x cLRM-15, 2x cSRM-6, 2x cUAC/2. Not much ammo, either, at least for the ACs. Was FINE, if not GREAT, in tabletop BattleTech. It's not very competitive at all in MWO.

Just about any mech in the game has its fans, and can be competitive even in CW. That said, there are some that are just hard, REALLY HARD, to do well in, no matter how good you are.

I'd say, pay attention to what people are piloting in solo and group queues first. That's where we try out different builds and skill-up our mechs, before taking them out in CW. You don't see many Dragons out there (not even the -5N much these days), because they're pretty awful. Same for the Awesome (though it DOES have its fans, in whose hands it can be monstrous). You DO see lots of EBJs and TBRs and SCRs and ACHs. RVN-3L(C) doesn't seem like a really competitive mech, but it's a really good pick for a fourth when you have 35-40 tons left for your last spot in a drop deck. And so on.

Quote

Does CW take into account PSR when lining up matches?

Nope. CW match making is pretty much first-come-first-served.

Quote

Is there an ideal minimum PSR to be competitive in CW?

No. That said, you want to have an idea what you're doing there. There ARE forum threads on the basics. Also, go look up Kin3ticX's pinned thread on his guide to MWO, and read up on the CW section in there (starts on slide 48--it's PowerPoint). That's a good start. Also, read up on metamechs.com, which has a decent guide to CW strategies per map/side, and remember that the site is geared toward folks that are already comfortable in MWO. Some stuff might be a little heavy for new players, but I trust you can parse that out. And for the love of all that is holy, learn to read the planet queues and get in a drop with at least one group of FOUR OR MORE PLAYERS. Let them know that you're new and could use a little guidance. If they're on TeamSpeak or something like it, they'll sometimes invite you in (even if you have no microphone, you're often welcome to join in just to listen).

Quote

CW is so under-documented from a practical standpoint for new players.

Veteran players have been screaming this for a while now. Things like the Mechwarrior Academy are still coming together in increments, so there's hope (not sure how much) that a CW tutorial may come along in the future. But since even Open Beta, this game has relied HEAVILY on the community to take care of its own new players. This is one of the busiest sections of the forum, therefore. YOU HAVE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE!

Quote

Maybe your advice here will make it so new pilots like me do t just dive into the CW world without being ready.

Let us hope. You're likely going to get a LOT of responses to this, and most (if not ALL, which is likely) will be positive and encouraging. It's what we're here for.

Now, remember above when I said something about getting to that in a bit? Here goes...

You DO need at least four (4) mechs fully equipped with valid configurations, ready to drop (or some combination of owned and trial). I'd recommend up to 12, though, once you can swing it. Here's why...

In CW, as with public queues ("QUICK PLAY"), there are hot maps, cold maps, and temperate/moderate maps. HOT: Vitric Forge and Sulfurous Rift. COLD: Grim Portico and Boreal Vault (most common CW map). And then there's the NORMAL maps, Emerald Taiga and Hellebore Springs (Canyon Network, but bigger, basically). And the temperature of the map you're playing, affects what loadouts you will want on your mechs. You won't have time to go into mech lab and change your mech's loadout after you figure out which map you're dropping on.

So, you keep TWELVE mechs built and ready to go, for each Clan and IS. Or, at least for whichever side you're on right now (and you can swap mech modules when you swap sides). Mechs with hotter builds, you only run on Boreal and Grim. Mechs with the coolest builds, you run on Sulfurous and Vitric.

What's more, some maps are more 'brawly', and others more 'pokey'. For instance, on Emerald Taiga, engagement ranges are mostly A LOT shorter. No point in having that Pop Tart mech there, really. Sure there ARE players who can pull it off there, but most of us are better off with lots of pulse lasers and/or AC/20s (UAC/20s on Clan mechs). Short-range, lots of face time, BRAWL. On Boreal, on the other hand, engagement ranges are a lot longer early in the match, and late for the defenders if they get well ahead in the kill count. I can run a Firebrand with 4x ERLL on that one, without sacrificing armor for more heat sinks, and it isn't too hot at all. If I tried that on Vitric Forge, I'd be almost useless in it for sake of heat.

So, you have to have some mechs to substitute in your drop deck, for consideration of the likely engagement ranges you'll face, and for the temperature, on a given map. Having ONLY four (4) that you even CAN take on a CW drop, really limits you. You can build a cooler mech, but it's sacrificing firepower on the cold maps. You can take a hot-running, long-range mech Sulfurous Rift, but you're not getting much work done. So, at the least, you'll want a slid SIX (6) mechs. Call it a BEEFY brawly assault, a nimble (perhaps even ECM-capable) light or small medium, and then four heavies AT LEAST (or heavy end of medium) that you can swap between, based on the situation and your personal strengths as a pilot.

Good luck, and THANK YOU for asking the questions.

[IraqiWalker]

spartync, on 31 December 2015 - 09:21 PM, said:

I know there aren't any official requirements, but what SHOULD a pilot have and be able to do before starting down the CW path?

How many mastered mechs?
What tonnage of solely IS or Clan mechs should someone have in their bays?
What PuG mechs are simply not viable vs. those that are staples?
Does CW take into account PSR when lining up matches?
Is there an ideal minimum PSR to be competitive in CW?

CW is so under-documented from a practical standpoint for new players.

Maybe your advice here will make it so new pilots like me do t just dive into the CW world without being ready.

CW has no matchmaker. It's first come first serve, per each planet. So if 12 tier 5 players queue up to defend Wazan, and 12 tier 1 players queue up to attack it, that's the match. If it's 12 pugs against a 12 man, that's the match.



You need 4 mechs with full elites at least, you should have weapon modules when possible (it's preferred, but not necessary). Running meta builds tends to be very helpful as well.

However, even all of that can be tossed aside, as long as you have this ONE thing:

Willingness to work with the team.

If you bring that into the match, you will be one of the best gosh darn teammates anyone can ask for in a CW match.

If you can, use Teamspeak. If you can't, use in-game VOIP. If you can't, use in-game chat, faction chat, and LFG to group with people.

If you can use Teamspeak, then get on the Teamspeak server for the faction you are playing with (For example, if you are defending Steiner borders that day, then feel free to jump on their TS3 hub, and coordinate with any pilots you see there). You can find the addresses in each faction's section of the forums. Failing that, you can ask in faction chat, or even in-game chat.

The willingness to cooperate, and follow the team instead of running solo into the enemy's guns makes a world of difference. It's the single best thing you can bring, and it's the most crucial one too. Good mechs help, but this makes or breaks the battle.

Edited by IraqiWalker, 31 December 2015 - 11:11 PM.

[Spetulhu]

IraqiWalker, on 31 December 2015 - 11:09 PM, said:

However, even all of that can be tossed aside, as long as you have this ONE thing: Willingness to work with the team.

Far above meta mechs and headshot-capable FPS skills, this is what you want to bring. The will and skill to work with others, sometimes doing what the drop leader says even when it sounds stupid or really odd to you. Yes, your Headhunter HH-3 is still going strong at 35% ammo and most of the armor, but the drop leader has determined that the enemy team is powerful and you will be overrun unless all your mechs are at 100% - so he just told you to eject. Will you do it or refuse, maybe getting another kill for that chassis and then being unavailable while waiting to drop?

[Leone]

spartync, on 31 December 2015 - 09:21 PM, said:

I know there aren't any official requirements, but what SHOULD a pilot have and be able to do before starting down the CW path?

Should be willing to work with a team. Should be willing to push into a superior force knowing you have a spare mech, or even that it's your last but your sacrifice may not be in vain. Should be willing to move with the group an share armour. Should be willing to learn.

spartync, on 31 December 2015 - 09:21 PM, said:

How many mastered mechs?

Helpful, but not needed.

spartync, on 31 December 2015 - 09:21 PM, said:

What tonnage of solely IS or Clan mechs should someone have in their bays?

None needed. You can bring trials, but of course, if you've mechs your better with, it helps. Most teams appreciate a full, or close to drop deck, as more armour means more damage shared, means longer mech live means more damage dealt an higher chance of victory.

spartync, on 31 December 2015 - 09:21 PM, said:

What PuG mechs are simply not viable vs. those that are staples?

Those that you are best in are the best to bring. I don't care if your computer can't even run the game an you hafta bring LRM mechs. I dropped with a friend who got unit invites even though he couldn't aim because his machine kept clunking out.

spartync, on 31 December 2015 - 09:21 PM, said:

Does CW take into account PSR when lining up matches?

There is no Match maker. Player be warned.

spartync, on 31 December 2015 - 09:21 PM, said:

Is there an ideal minimum PSR to be competitive in CW?

No, I was tier five until this event.


~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 01 January 2016 - 01:56 AM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Ideally, probably tier 3, but tiers are not necessarily reflective of a pilot's true skill. If you know what you are doing, tier is not important.

[GotShotALot]

Just from another 'new guys' point of view, I went into CW (for the event points/stocking stuffers as well as to earn a quick mech bay) with 3 mediums and a heavy. Short on tonnage, no modules, no fancy builds, just weapons and mechs I do okay with.

So far I have generally been in the top half of the solo drops by match score/damage for the team. Won some, lost a few more - I think that is mostly because when dropping solo you are much more likely to run into 6-10 man teams on the enemy side than on your own.

I earned my mech bay, picked up a half-dozen stocking stuffers, didn't cause collapse of the entire Inner Sphere. Worth a try once you feel you aren't a drag on your team.

[Koniving]

spartync, on 31 December 2015 - 09:21 PM, said:

I know there aren't any official requirements, but what SHOULD a pilot have and be able to do before starting down the CW path?

How many mastered mechs?
What tonnage of solely IS or Clan mechs should someone have in their bays?
What PuG mechs are simply not viable vs. those that are staples?
Does CW take into account PSR when lining up matches?
Is there an ideal minimum PSR to be competitive in CW?

CW is so under-documented from a practical standpoint for new players.

Maybe your advice here will make it so new pilots like me do t just dive into the CW world without being ready.

Basic prerequisites:

Basic understanding of the game.

Four mechs at a minimum of 160 tons and preferably toward about 250 tons.

CW does not take PSR into account for matches; it's first come first serve (the community is growing, but people aren't waiting in those queues at all times of the day, and since the queues are "planet" based and not a "join community warfare queue" button, things aren't going that easy.

I honestly feel PSR levels mean about as much as asking whether we're having turkey or chicken for dinner, when there's 8 pounds of beef steak on the dinner table and everyone's already got a plateful including you. At that point, no one cares. All that matters is whatever plan comes down the pipeline is what you do as it's a team effort.

Far as mechs go, it'd be quite surprising what works. Unconventional, if it works well within a group, will surprise enemies and can turn the tide. At best, anything that doesn't play well within a group is probably not gonna fly. Speed is often another thing, if it's not going at least 50+, it shouldn't be there.

[Vlad Striker]

All of your drop mechs must be mastered and equpped with modules.

[Leone]

Nonsense. I use CW to Grind XP on new mechs and often forget to move my modules. I mix and match my mechs, swapping one out for another variant of the same chassis as whimsy dictates, or in order to get the 2x XP. While it'd be nice to have that many modules, half the time I've stripped em off for use elsewhere, or mayhaps the mech I'm taking hasn't earned it's modules yet.

And yet I do fine in CW.

~Leone.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

My current drop deck has ONE mech MASTERed, and only ONE of the 3 on-deck is MASTERed. (My Clan deck is ALL MASTERed, but that's its own story.) There's a BLR-1G(P) in there, piling up XP but unable to start ELITE skills because I no longer own the other BLRs (my bad, yo). I do alright with that.

Yeah, double BASICs would be nice for that mech (and most of the others in that deck are at least there), but I'll live. And, in the process, I'll grind up the money for more Battlemasters! OR something. (With the enormous DDs that IS has right now, maybe I'll get around to those Atlases...)

[Quintus Verus]

1. Don't bring 1 trick pony mechs (dual gauss, dual ac20 with no backup weapons) unless your extremely good in them.
2. Take mechs you are comfortable in and know how to move under fire in.
3. I don't have 1 meta mech in either of my CW decks. People rely on metamechs website too much. Use it as a guide but build mechs you are good with. Pick a range in which you want to do most of your damage at and build toward that.
4. Arty/Air strike on each mech. Bring at least 1 UAV.
5. Bare minimum is fully unlocked elite, but really you should be working to 4 mastered mechs.
6. Have at least 1 radar derp module. It will take you a while to buy 4, but use that as a goal. Put the Derp module on your best mech or your slowest.
7. If you're going to bring an LRM mech, make sure you can make your own targets. Pound mechs you get locks on. LRMs in CW are used for suppression.

[Vlad Striker]

You can go to battle naked (not mastered and w/o modules). But if everyone in your team will think in such key your team will lose. One unprepered does not matter but 12 will do.

[B0oN]

Wrong, Vlad .
That 1 man running around naked doing a bit less because unleveled mech/joker-build/no or wrong modules might become the absolut turnkey for a match .
DONT BE THAT GUY !


Always remember what @Tarogato wrote and also heed this :

PROPER
PREPARATION
PREVENTS
PISS
POOR
PERFORMANCE

so, please, please, please :

PREPARE !
all the information is just waiting

[Generic Internetter]

At the risk of repeating what others have said, here is a massive wall of text to take you all the way to 2017! Enjoy!

Clan Warfare dropship tonnage limits are minimum 160, maximum 265. You must take exactly 4 mechs. Keep all that in mind; I'll get back to that later.

Obviously, before you buy any mechs, you need to decide if you are Inner Sphere or Clan.

Inner sphere mech weapon hardpoints are set in stone. If it carries 3 lasers on the crotch, there's nothing you can do to change it. On the other hand, IS mechs can be re-fitted with different engines according to your intended build. Although selling things is always a no-no, keep in mind that if you REALLY don't need that 160 STD engine, you'll get roughly 1/2 the value back if you sell it.

Clan mechs come with engine and jump jets set in stone. If you don't want that heavy at 55 kph, then choose a different chassis. On the other hand, you can mix and match omnipods freely, enabling you massive weapon flexibility. Also clan mechs can use clan weapons, which generally have longer ranges, but heat up quicker.

To take part in CW, you should load your dropship with 4 owned mechs that you have customized yourself. These mechs should be the fruit of your hard labour, fine-tuned and maximized to suit your playstyle and make you the most effective team player possible.

I've typically gone through one or two engine changeouts, and around a dozen or so different weapon configurations with each mech before it's "just right". Each time you try out a new configuration, you'll think it's amazing in the mechlab, but only testing it in Quick Play a few times will really seal the deal.

One other element to keep in mind is effeciencies. All of your mechs should have ALL of the Basic abilities maxed out before you even dare to think about CW in that mech. Ideally, you should have the Elite efficiencies maxed out too, for the Basic "X2" bonus. (When you max out the Elite efficiencies, the effectiveness of the basic efficiencies is doubled.
Personally, I would consider this to also be a pre-requisite because a maxed out Elite mech is totally different than without the efficiencies; Different in a very, very good way. The mech feels like a smooth tiger charging through the jungle, miles ahead of the overheating paper elephant it was when you initially purchased it.Only with the elite skills all maxed out and after many revists to the mechlab for each mech will you truly "know" that the mech is spot on.

To unlock the elite efficiencies, you need three different variants of the same chassis. The quickest way to get a 4th mech maxed out to elite would be to simply buy a 4th variant of the same chassis. Obviously, make sure the toal tonnage falls within the 160-265 limits!
If you go for four mechs of the same chassis, then obviously the chassis would need to weigh 40-60 tons. Any higher or lower would leave your dropship too light or too heavy.
Some may say this lacks variety, but for new players it might be worthwhile focusing on one good chassis, to get to know it's nuances intimately. Obviously, another benefit to new players is that 4 mechs is cheaper than 6...

If you do like I did, you'll have 3 elite-maxed variants of one chassis, and the same for another chassis, giving you a total of 6 elite-maxed badass mechs, ready for CW action.
If you do EXACTLY like I did, you'll get 3 lights and 3 mediums, then realise that you're too light and are stuck using the 3 mediums plus 1 light. (DOH! I'm saving up for my 2nd assault mech now, so this problem is somewhat semi-solved)

Don't worry about modules or master effficiencies at all. Forget them.
Just save your GXP; You'll be glad you did later.

When you have at least 4 elite-maxed mechs that are all "just right", and if you're using them effectively and consistently in Quick Play, then you're ready to click on the Faction Play button for the first time.

...Then comes the a**-kicking.

In CW, you're thrown into the deep end with the best of the best. Each of them have massive arsenals of mechs, and they pick and choose their lineup and mech configurations to work for their team-based strategy.

Generally, in CW I see a lot of long-range power (ER Large Lasers and PPCs everywhere!). Range comes into force much more prominently than it does in Quick Play.

CW mech builds lean more towards alpha strike firepower, rather than DPS/Heat-resistant sustainability.
CW mechs are built this way because it's a tight team setting. You need to reduce enemy numbers quickly and it's easier to back away and shut down for 20 seconds to cool off while your teammates cover you.

In Quick Play, we get used to building good sustainable mechs that can pack a punch and wear the enemy down, while staying mobile and cool. This is all good, but this just isn't what CW is about.
Running around with 6 Medium Lasers at heat rating 1.6 works great in the frenzy that is Quick Play, but you'll have to be doing something very innovative and effective to make that work in STRATEGICALLY in CW. Of course, feel free to try whatever you like, but if you're in doubt about CW mech builds just go for the typical "CW hard-hitter" build.

I'm going into detail about this because I think that to be effective, the player should also have their mechs customized to fit into the CW playstyle, either the typical CW style, or some special niche build. Trail mechs and un-streamlined mechs are not going to cut it in CW.

Don't let any of this disuade you, and keep in mind that I'm talking about the general status quo, not what everyone "must" do. I've had decent success running around in my Pirates' Bane 20 ton Locust, pestering enemies and helping my heavier teammates get the upper hand in the fight. Keep in mind though, that I played MANY quick matches in that Pirates' Bane and got very skillful with it first. Knowing when to push, flank, retreat, etc.

In CW, the experts generally load 3 heavier mechs, then drop a good light mech in the 4th final slot. The 4th slot being light means they have more tons free for the first 3 slots. You could go with a heavy or assault chassis at 80 tons for the first three, then shove in a 20 or 25 ton light in the 4h slot. This is what I see them doing, generally. They make good use of the tonnage limit.
Again, this is just not law. If you have, say, 4 well-customized 60 ton mechs that you know well, at 240 tons you'll do just fine. After all... Walls and rocks are the best armour, and they weigh nothing!

Overall, don't take what I'm saying as "set in stone", just add it to your preparations.
In CW matches, the experts on your team will guide you; Follow their advice! They want to win just as much as you do!

Okay... Here's the TLDR list:

1. Max out your elite efficiencies on 4 mechs. Forget master efficiencies and modules.
2. Customize those mechs for CW play. (Hard-hitting, territorial, range is important).
3. Run those mechs through many, many quick matches until you get the build just right.
4. In CW, listen to the expert players and follow their orders.

Hope that helps. It just poured out of my mind.

[sycocys]

You should have Team Speak - or at the very least Voip enabled and configured.
There's a list in the CW section of all the faction TS hubs - bookmark them.

Also an ability to understand and FOLLOW commands by whomever is leading the round.


If you are solo/pugging it - you should NOT bring any specialized "support" mechs. No one else on your team is planning for you to be an LRM boat (in particular) or sniper so bring mechs that can handle themselves in a brawl because that is what 99% of what CW is designed for.
The closest to specialized you should be bringing is an ecm mech.

[MechWarrior3671771]

You really only need 2 mastered mechs, because the "elite" teams are going to spawncamp your 3rd and 4th mechs and farm them for points. Those last two mechs will be dead before they hit the ground.

So I advise mastering 2 heavies or assaults and placing them in your first 2 waves, and trial mechs for the last two.

[IraqiWalker]

Fen Tetsudo, on 02 January 2016 - 07:11 PM, said:

You really only need 2 mastered mechs, because the "elite" teams are going to spawncamp your 3rd and 4th mechs and farm them for points. Those last two mechs will be dead before they hit the ground.

So I advise mastering 2 heavies or assaults and placing them in your first 2 waves, and trial mechs for the last two.

Except that's a bad set up when your team actually wants to use lights, or mediums for the first two waves