46 replies to this topic

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Quote

But since I have absolutely no idea what mech would suit that or what weapons do that I'm looking for some help...

First thing I'll say, is that you will inevitably regret whatever you buy first. Why? Because the underlined/bold/italicized text, THAT'S why.

Seems I'm late to the party. Sorry. I'd have suggested that you keep playing trial mechs until you figure out what weapons do what, which mechs are good at what, and so on. Sure that cadet bonus is burning a hole in your pocket. LET IT, I say. Why be in a hurry to buy your first mech, if you don't know which mechs are good at anything, and aren't even sure what weapons are right for what you want to do? That's just BEGGING to be disappointed.

KGC was a good call, though, I think. Good luck with it!

[Metus regem]

TheRAbbi, on 11 January 2016 - 08:29 AM, said:

First thing I'll say, is that you will inevitably regret whatever you buy first. Why? Because the underlined/bold/italicized text, THAT'S why.

Seems I'm late to the party. Sorry. I'd have suggested that you keep playing trial mechs until you figure out what weapons do what, which mechs are good at what, and so on. Sure that cadet bonus is burning a hole in your pocket. LET IT, I say. Why be in a hurry to buy your first mech, if you don't know which mechs are good at anything, and aren't even sure what weapons are right for what you want to do? That's just BEGGING to be disappointed.

KGC was a good call, though, I think. Good luck with it!

Very true, the first mech I bought was a Highlander 732, due to liking them in TT, this was back before Wave 1 Clans were available for MC.... Yea I made a bad call there....

[orctin]

Couple of things to remember as a King Crab.

First - your slow. Playing new people it's fine as you go head on against them but playing more seasoned players they will come at you from the side, they know not to go head on and your going to be using XL engines so taking your side torso apart is better than trying to core you head on. Learn your enviroment and use it for cover as best you can. And never chase the squirrels, get your back to a wall and let them run around you.

Matches are setup on weight - as a KC your a large amount of the wieght of the group so you doing well is important to the group

Your a LRM's high target as your slow moving - try to stay with someone who has ecm or a big hill you can avoid missles from. If you caught in the open you going to take a lot of damage trying to get away from them.

[Maelstrum]

The King Crab is an excellent first mech. I usually go dual gauss, tri/quad med pulse over the shoulder and one small LRM5, just for the kick of showing a huge INCOMING MISSILES to panick my targets. I rarely use my KGC-000, just bought it to master the chassis. Never found a good hexa-dakka build for it that a good quad ac/5 couldn't beat.

Just learn to counter-manoeuvre lights. The KC has an excellent torso twist angle so you can track those lights pretty easily. To compensate your blind spot in the back, go full reverse, turn your torso the other way and let those alpha rip the light appart. You're not invincible though: 2+ lights can and will hurt you.

Stay with the group, don't go full Leeroy and you should have a great time with those KC.

[Sturmwolf]

I just started last week even though I founded the game like 3 years ago.

Anyway my advice you better start low and farm cbills. I bought me the Marauder Mech pack for 20$ + hero and I freaking love them. I also made plenty of bugs so I could afford me more mechs for my drop ship loadout. Centurion and Firestarter are lot of fun. Start slowly. Assaults are heavy in money.

[The Trumpet of Gabriel]

As a general rule, I never run xl in a King Crab. You can run the 4 UAC 5's with a std 300, 2 ac20, 3ml, 3 srm2 with a std 320, dual gauss 2 LL/2PPC with a std 300. All solid builds and much more durable without the xl engine.

[Sensei Aaron]

Heh, I've indeed been having problems with the air strikes and the scouts. I try to stay with my team to prevent getting picked off by scouts, but one of them caught me alone and there was literally nothing I could do. I tried turning all I could but the guy was simply faster. So, stick with my team at all times or put my back against the wall?

Another question: is it worth putting an AMS on my mech? Those damn missiles do give me trouble, I always take a few good hits before I get away from it...

[Sensei Aaron]

Metus regem, on 11 January 2016 - 08:20 AM, said:

An option, if you are willing to put some money into MWO, would be to buy some MC, to buy a mastery pack, those come with a champion, normal and a hero mech of that chassis, this isn't a bad deal as it gets you everything you need to master that chassis, as well as a C-bill earner in the hero mech (30% more C-bills), as well as three mech bays and some premium time.

Well I've been looking at those mastery packs but spending 50 bucks is a little much for me. Why not get the 20 dollar packs on this site?

[Digital_Angel]

Sensei Aaron, on 11 January 2016 - 10:19 AM, said:

Heh, I've indeed been having problems with the air strikes and the scouts. I try to stay with my team to prevent getting picked off by scouts, but one of them caught me alone and there was literally nothing I could do. I tried turning all I could but the guy was simply faster. So, stick with my team at all times or put my back against the wall?

Another question: is it worth putting an AMS on my mech? Those damn missiles do give me trouble, I always take a few good hits before I get away from it...

Smaller faster mechs in the hands of a good pilot will pick you apart if you are by yourself. Putting your back to a wall can help prevent them from getting through your back armor, but it is not always the best tactic as it makes you a stationary target for the most part. The main thing you can do when 1 on 1 with a mech much faster than you are is to learn to anticipate your enemy and learn the maps. If you can predict where an enemy will pop out from to hit you, you can have your guns waiting and nail them as soon as they show themselves.

AMS: It really depends. The better you are at shielding yourself with arms or knowing how to get to cover quickly (a combination of knowing the maps and situational awareness) the less you need it. Also at higher skill tiers, LRMs tend to get used less.

Some of my mechs that can carry AMS do, others don't. It depends a lot on the type of build it is. Close in brawlers are ideally goign to get close enough to the enemy that LRM minimum range prevents most of the damage. ECM/Radar deprivation lights rely on preventing locks in the first place with positioning and cover. Heavies and Assaults aren't as fast to get out of the way (plus they make attractive targets for the enemy), so putting AMS on them becomes more worth it.

Also if I am dropping as part of a group or in CW, it is nice to have 1-2 in the group with ECM and/or AMS but if the group stays close enough together then that protection helps cover others near them as well.

Edited by LadyDanams, 11 January 2016 - 11:11 AM.

[Digital_Angel]

Sensei Aaron, on 11 January 2016 - 10:26 AM, said:

Well I've been looking at those mastery packs but spending 50 bucks is a little much for me. Why not get the 20 dollar packs on this site?

This game is perfectly playable without spending any real $. I've spent some here and there, but honestly even that was mostly to support the devs (because I enjoy the game and consider putting $15-20 a year into it a fair trade for the amount of time I spend playing) or for convenience to not have to grind as much.

Mastery packs are purchased with MC. While you can buy MC with real $, you can also win it in events (about 1 event a month on average in game).

If you are putting real $ into the game for mechs the $20 packs ($35 if you include the hero mechs) are probably a better value than mastery packs if you do them in the early adopter phase where they come with extra goodies. Of course that is also a gamble on paying real $ for mechs aren't even in the game yet. The mastery packs are available for things that are known proven quantities (including sometimes having a version of the mech as a trail before spending MC on).

[Boulangerie]

Sensei Aaron, on 11 January 2016 - 10:19 AM, said:

Heh, I've indeed been having problems with the air strikes and the scouts. I try to stay with my team to prevent getting picked off by scouts, but one of them caught me alone and there was literally nothing I could do. I tried turning all I could but the guy was simply faster. So, stick with my team at all times or put my back against the wall?

Another question: is it worth putting an AMS on my mech? Those damn missiles do give me trouble, I always take a few good hits before I get away from it...

One trick to attempt is to move forward and turn to the right, trying to get a shot off on them, then, as soon as they pass out of your field of view, throw it into reverse and turn to the left. You should get another shot lined up with them at this point. If they have enough agility and are watching your leg direction and not torso, they won't be fooled, but it is usually good for at least one free shot off. If you can throw it into forward and turn to the right again afterwards, you can sometimes catch them again if they decide to bug out at that point. You can run this whole move in reverse as well if you feel more comfortable in that direction.

Putting your back to the wall can really save your bacon, but you are basically telling that light that he has you pinned down now. It can help you survive until your team gets there to help out, or force the light to take pot shots or get creamed, but you are essentially not contributing to the battle much either, so most teams will take that trade easily. If you can, stay on the move at all times unless you are with your team, and don't follow a light mech away from your teammates, even if he's almost dead.

One other tip, is to always leg light mechs. A legged light mech is a dead light mech.

[Sensei Aaron]

Ok now I'm regretting buying a dumb assault mech already... I'm so slow, I *always* peek at the wrong place and I once literally died before I got back into cover. If I'm lucky I get out in critical condition. I'm not contributing anything while cowering amidst teammates either, and when I do cower among teammates they often just suddenly disappear and I get picked off by scouts or sumtin. My mech is optimized for mid-long range combat but I just end up getting airstriked or sniped to death trying to see where the enemy is, how do I play this damn class?

It's so damn slow! I can't take how slow it is!

[Boulangerie]

Sensei Aaron, on 11 January 2016 - 12:38 PM, said:

Ok now I'm regretting buying a dumb assault mech already... I'm so slow, I *always* peek at the wrong place and I once literally died before I got back into cover. If I'm lucky I get out in critical condition. I'm not contributing anything while cowering amidst teammates either, and when I do cower among teammates they often just suddenly disappear and I get picked off by scouts or sumtin. My mech is optimized for mid-long range combat but I just end up getting airstriked or sniped to death trying to see where the enemy is, how do I play this damn class?

It's so damn slow! I can't take how slow it is!

Welcome to Assault class. First day of learning will be map positioning. Never stop moving until you reach where your team will be positioned. Always keep an eye on your minimap, and press B occasionally when traveling or in cover (will have to use number pad to set your throttle to check map while moving, or turn off throttle decay). You will be the anchor of your teams fire-power, but despite your high armor levels, you are NOT a tank. You will still die easily to 3-4 enemies focusing their fire on you. You should have the firepower to take out most mechs under your size however. Some KGCs will run dual AC20s, some dual Gauss, some like quad AC5s.

Try out Smurfy.net to play with builds free and link them here so we can all give you some tips!

[Digital_Angel]

Sensei Aaron, on 11 January 2016 - 12:38 PM, said:

Ok now I'm regretting buying a dumb assault mech already... I'm so slow, I *always* peek at the wrong place and I once literally died before I got back into cover. If I'm lucky I get out in critical condition. I'm not contributing anything while cowering amidst teammates either, and when I do cower among teammates they often just suddenly disappear and I get picked off by scouts or sumtin. My mech is optimized for mid-long range combat but I just end up getting airstriked or sniped to death trying to see where the enemy is, how do I play this damn class?

It's so damn slow! I can't take how slow it is!

First, Bougalengerie just gave some very good advice.

Secondly, The King Crab was the first mech I bought after running trials for a while. In a lot of the previous MW titles, I was better at Heavy/Assault mechs (of course my MW/MW2/MW2/MW3 Mercs days were a long time ago), and it was on sale at the time so I thought go ahead before the price went up. I hated it immediately for the same reasons you stated, and there was no KGC trial mech at the time to have tried it out first.

I went back to running trials and built up C-Bills again and kept trying to get the hang of the KGC. I ended up running mostly Lights and Mediums for a long time, and eventually decided I was GOING to figure out how to my decent use of the KGC that I spent so much time and so many C-Bills on and then if Assaults still weren't for me I'd sell it and just stick to lighter mechs. The dual AC20 default KGC setup forced me (kicking and screaming at points) to learn to brawl (which is still not my strong suite). Then I tried AC5 setups (similar in many ways to what became the Champion configuration for the KGC) and liked it a lot better. I tried off builds for a 100 tonner (missile boat, ERLL boat, AC2s, strange combinations, ...) until I finally got the hang of it. The KGC is actually one of the few mechs that I ended up keeping multiple variants of after unlocking all the skills on, and I still have 2 of them in my stable (including that first 1 that I HATED SOOO MUCH for so long. I swap between all 3 build types listed above (AC5s, AC20s, Gauss) and even occasionally run it as a ERLL/LRM boat for fun now and then. Most people think the last build is just nuts, but running 100 tons of fire support can wreck someone's day once you know your mech.

I honestly run my KGCs more than my smaller mechs (that I went back to running away from the KGC) anymore, but I mix drops across all weight classes.

Mediums and Heavies are probably the easiest to learn on over all. Assaults and Lights both require more specialized skills and more situational awareness to survive in than things in the middle. Lights need it because you have to always be moving and know where your opponents are or you come over a ridge and face hug the KGC or DWF. Assaults, because once you commit to an action, you are rarely fast enough to be able to back out with much of your armor left. 6-7 mechs all focusing their fire on 1 target will even take down a 100 ton mech in VERY short order. You have to learn when to wait, when to push, and when to rely on your team. You also have to learn when spearheading that push into the enemy ranks is worth dying for (and there is a good chance you might) because it will cause the entire enemy team to focus on taking you down long enough for the rest of your team (right behind you, hopefully) to do some serious damage to the other side in return.

TL:DR -- Lights and Assaults require more specialized skills to survive in than Mediums and Heavies do, but given some experience you will get the hang of it. Whatever you do, don't just turn around and sell the mech right off. You won't get nearly what you paid back out of it, and eventually you will probably wish you still had it once you get more experience.

Edited by LadyDanams, 11 January 2016 - 02:13 PM.

[Metus regem]

Sensei Aaron, on 11 January 2016 - 10:26 AM, said:

Well I've been looking at those mastery packs but spending 50 bucks is a little much for me. Why not get the 20 dollar packs on this site?

I don't remember how much they were, but I was talking about the ones you can buy through the in game store, not those rip off Steam performance packs.... I got my Centurion pack when it was on sale a while back, I rember that much, really like that pack....

[Koniving]

Sensei Aaron, on 10 January 2016 - 10:30 AM, said:

Oh and while you're here, what's the difference between inner circle and clan? I've seen people differentiate between them on the forums and I don't know why...

Canonically, a huge technology differential. Inner Sphere has been at war within its Great Houses and Succession Wars, brushfire wars, and general bickering with guns, mechs, politics and the ever rare plethora of nuclear missiles to the point that they've lost centuries of technological progress. The Clans never lost theirs, because they took a huge chunk of the IS's forces (the SLDF), and said paraphrased: "We're going that way, see you ******* later!" And several hundred years after that, they're back, loaded with genetically engineered clones and fancy improved technology.

Their lore.
IS (and when the future-to-be Clans pulled away from the IS).
The Clans (their development and their return).

In MWO? The Clans are basically a longer-range and DPS-oriented set of 4 factions hellbent on taking over Earth (Terra) from the 7 warring Houses and their front-loaded shorter-ranged rapid kill machines.

What it temporarily boils down to is that Clans have Omnimechs and Battlemechs. The IS just has Battlemechs at the moment.

Far as assaults, I haven't got to page 2 yet so I don't know if decided or not. But if you like, I am about to leave my mechbay into the field. Could bring someone in tow.

Having just read page 2, I see you got a mech. And it sounds like you could use a hand.

Edited by Koniving, 11 January 2016 - 02:12 PM.

[Maelstrum]

Sensei Aaron, on 11 January 2016 - 12:38 PM, said:

Ok now I'm regretting buying a dumb assault mech already... I'm so slow, I *always* peek at the wrong place and I once literally died before I got back into cover. If I'm lucky I get out in critical condition. I'm not contributing anything while cowering amidst teammates either, and when I do cower among teammates they often just suddenly disappear and I get picked off by scouts or sumtin. My mech is optimized for mid-long range combat but I just end up getting airstriked or sniped to death trying to see where the enemy is, how do I play this damn class?

It's so damn slow! I can't take how slow it is!

Don't worry, you'll sink into it by getting more experience at playing MWO.

Rules of thumb:

• Stay inside the mob.
  
• Stay with the assaults, strength in number.
  
• But don't block your firing lines: let others use their full potential and prevent getting shot in the back.
  
• Don't go straddle around lonewolf style, you'll get ganked. You're not a scouting mech.
  
• Don't peek unless your team has already established a good firing line
  
• Instead let THEM peak and unleash all your firepower right in their face.
  
• Be opportunistic: know your limits and learn your enemies weaknesses. If you see a tasty breach in the armor, go for it.
  
• But that is if you target: always target around you. Either to gather information on your enemy or to cycle towards an easy prey. Even if it doesn't directly help you, the lock might help the LRMs in your team.

Don't forget to go into the training grounds to familiarise yourself with your build. I personally enjoy training in Caustic Valley for the heat handicap. If you manage your heat and you're happy with your loadout in Caustic Valley, all other maps should be peachy.

And finally, you'll get steamrolled and you'll steamroll. Your team will be sometimes awesome, sometimes utter crap. It's very random but if you master your mech, whatever the game's outcome: you'll manage to enjoy each round. You win some, you lose some.

[Fobhopper]

My recommendations when it comes to assault mechs: Get a D-DC atlas. Its got a tall profile so it will teach you to stick behind cover or watch your head get blown off. Its bulky without being unmanageable like the Awesome and the KGC can be sometimes. Its got low mounted weapons, but it will teach you how to properly engage an enemy. And the Atlas is the best 'all comers' assault mech. Stick an LRM 15 in the LT, stick a AC20 in the right torso, and 2 large lasers (or better yet, 2 ER large lasers) in the arms and you got a good mech for reaching out and *****-slapping someone. put in about 2-4 tons of AC ammo, about 4-6 tons of LRM ammo, put on the ECM module (ignore the ams, its a waste of tonnage on the D-DC) and load it up with near max armor, endo-steel armor, and double heat sinks. Its going to be one of the best mechs for a newer player to learn assaults with.

Pretty much every assault mech has low slung weapons, the KGC even lower, but the atlas has enough survivability and firepower to make to the end of a match. Your arm lasers (make sure to unlock your arms) are going to be your primary weapons, they will teach you how to properly utilize laser weapons without breaking the bank. The AC20 in your torso is meant to only be used in close range, and will punish those dumb enough (or not fast enough) to get out of your way, and will teach you how to lead your mark when firing AC weapons. And the LRM 15 in the chest gives you the ability to attack someone that you cant keep up (a serious problem piloting assault mechs), so if they are in range and you can get a lock, make it rain. Plus the ECM module on your atlas will make it damn hard for people to get locks on you. So you only need to use an AMS on all other atlas/KGC/etc assault mechs.

Once you have gotten a real understanding of what you are looking for in an assault mech (thanks to your atlas) you can then choose what you want. If you like ballistic weapons, get a KGC-000 and run either quad AC5/UAC5, or dual AC20 + a couple medium lasers. If you love missiles, get a KGC-000B (i think thats the right variant) that has 4 missile hardpoits. Stack 3 LRM15's, 2 ac5's and maybe a couple medium lasers, and about 9 tons of lrm ammo and you can make the enemy fight in the rain and still be a threat up close. Prefer lasers? get the Boars head hero atlas which has the most laser hardpoints atlas's in the game, AND comes with an XL400 engine (use at your own risk). As you get into lower tonnages, the skills you picked up in assault mechs will carry over and make you a more dangerous pilot, because you know just how to tickle enemy mechs in the right spots to make them fall over.

And if you want the low-down on all heavy/assault mechs, follow the link in my signature.

this isnt an exhaustive list of my mechs, but just specifically the atlas and the KGC.

Edited by Fobhopper, 11 January 2016 - 02:53 PM.

[Koniving]

Just got out of a match. Seems you aren't online, though I see why, there's a few hours separation.
Results of match for me:

3 ML, 1 LBX, 5 MGs. 3 Killing Blows, 3 kills most damage dealt, 4 kill assists. Seems this old dog still has it.

Anyway first and foremost.
Upgrade: Double Heatsinks.
Reallocate armor: More forward.
Simplify; 2 weapon groups until you learn it, never more than 4 groups.
Immediately unlock skill tree elements: Kinetic Burst (faster acceleration) and Hard Brake (faster stop). These are life savers even if severely overpowered in my eyes.

Since I've deduced you have a King Crab, that'll be the next thing I take to the field.
In the mean time, these may help you:
Atlas.
King Crab's stompy-stompy-stompy-stomp. (Reference is after the 6 MG, 2 Streak, 2 PPC KC trumps the Dire Wolf.)
Dire Cow (wolf).

Perhaps you can see stuff come out of those scenarios.

[Leone]

If you would like some suggestions on Assaulting thy Enemy, I made a bit of a walk-through on it, but honestly, best thing would be to drop on each map in a light and dash around trying to find where you'd wanna fight from in your mech.

~Leone.