11 replies to this topic

[SQW]

This advice is so basic it makes 'go into cover when hit by LRM' look like a tactical master stroke but unfortunately, is necessary for the Tier 5s and some 4s.

If you poke out of cover by yourself and see 2 or more mechs facing/shooting you, do NOT engage in a long range pissing match. If you are smart enough to get back into cover, do NOT then walk back out the same way - the other side will not magically forget were your mech was 5sec ago.

Basically, this is a number's game and your 1 is the smallest number. 2 mechs will always beat you. 3+ will laugh at your insignificance.

It's infuriating to see a mech (on your own team) poking out of the same spot again and again to pop its pea shooters while taking the brunt of a hail of return fire from half of the other team. The damage your are doing is insignificant compare to the beating you are taking! Don't BE that mech.

So, please control your urge to do 'things' when the shooting starts. Often, as a beginner, just standing behind cover for a while doing nothing is better than trading your few inaccurate pot shots and getting killed; your fresh mech will be a lot more useful when the other side closes in. As you get better, you can adapt to the situation but for now, just don't get killed in the mostly embarrassing way please.

Your future team member thanks you.

p.s. I don't recall anyone mentioning how terrible MWO's training segment is at actually training new players in the latest Town Hall right?

[adamts01]

I'd rather see someone shooting when he shouldn't than hiding when he shouldn't. The best defense is a good offense. Be as aggressive as you can without getting yourself killed.

[Wild Pegasus]

adamts01, on 28 January 2016 - 11:58 PM, said:

I'd rather see someone shooting when he shouldn't than hiding when he shouldn't. The best defense is a good offense. Be as aggressive as you can without getting yourself killed.

I think his point was less about not being aggressive and more about "don't stay in the same place playing peekaboo if half their team has seen you and is waiting for you to peek out like a giant metal groundhog".

Edited by Sami Starvixen, 29 January 2016 - 12:08 AM.

[SQW]

Sami Starvixen, on 29 January 2016 - 12:07 AM, said:

I think his point was less about not being aggressive and more about "don't stay in the same place playing peekaboo if half their team has seen you and is waiting for you to peek out like a giant metal groundhog".

That's correct. The game is not newbie friendly and most get themselves (and the team) shot up within seconds on making contact and not learn a thing because shooting feels better than hiding (and keep hiding). What I advocate for them is to just get out of sight the second they are outnumbered, stay alive and take time to access the situation.

The 'OMG, I'm out of position, gonna take as many shot as I can before I explode' mentality' benefits no one. At the very least, I'd rather have him hiding now and provide a more pristine bullet magnet when the melee ensues later.

[adamts01]

Sami Starvixen, on 29 January 2016 - 12:07 AM, said:

I think his point was less about not being aggressive and more about "don't stay in the same place playing peekaboo if half their team has seen you and is waiting for you to peek out like a giant metal groundhog".

I get that, but I never want to encourage hiding. Instead, move to another location so you can continue shooting. As soon as one team starts to cower, it's gg close.

[Wild Pegasus]

adamts01, on 29 January 2016 - 12:34 AM, said:

I get that, but I never want to encourage hiding. Instead, move to another location so you can continue shooting. As soon as one team starts to cower, it's gg close.

I wouldn't really say staying behind cover for a little bit if you've been spotted is hiding, but you do have to know when it's safe to move again. I'm one of the first to tell newer players that standing still too long = death, but waiting a few moments for the enemy that saw you to switch their target locks or just look in another direction is not a bad idea unless they're actively moving towards you.

[SQW]

adamts01, on 29 January 2016 - 12:34 AM, said:

I get that, but I never want to encourage hiding. Instead, move to another location so you can continue shooting. As soon as one team starts to cower, it's gg close.

I started this thread for those who just started this game. Even in Tier 4, plenty of pilots will keep poking out from the same cover when faced with multiple enemies instead of changing position. Having to access the situation, deciding the pro/con of shifting location, where to move to, enemy location etc as well as shooting is far beyond the skills of entry level players.

I'm offering a simple, one size fits all 'rule' to those just starting out. The longer they survive in a match, the quicker they learn what you are proposing. I've seen too many beginners getting pommeled within seconds of making contact and this doesn't bod well for their team or their appreciation of the game.

[Tarogato]

This is the forums. And while there are still many potatoes that roam the forums, you are still mostly preaching to the choir here.

[PyckenZot]

The one-stop-shop for MWO advice:

https://steamcommuni...s/?id=573089143

[Wild Pegasus]

Tarogato, on 29 January 2016 - 04:13 AM, said:

This is the forums. And while there are still many potatoes that roam the forums, you are still mostly preaching to the choir here.

Probably. But still, better to just put it out there where at least a couple folks that need it might see it, rather than let it be buried on page four of someone's furious rant thread about how it's so unfair that they die first every match this game is so terrible why doesn't PGI give me godmode because everyone is picking on meeeeeeeeeee.

[Bud Crue]

To add to the OP's point. Directing advice to new players: Use the mini-map. Situational awareness is key. If you are going to "poke" do it when it makes sense. Do it when you can be an EFFECTIVE distraction (saw a Stormcrow doing this beautifully on Tourmaline last night. The main red force came in and most of us engaged as a group...so far so good...but that Stormcrow kept poking at us from the side and drove many of us (raises hand) to distraction allowing the main force to kill us. Effective poking because he knew where his team was and what they were doing).

Simple example: when the red doritos all turn because a bunch of blue doritos hit the reds from the side, that is a better time for you to break cover and engage; rather than when all the red doritos are pointing right at you.

Edited by Bud Crue, 29 January 2016 - 04:32 AM.

[SQW]

PyckenZot, on 29 January 2016 - 04:20 AM, said:

The one-stop-shop for MWO advice:

https://steamcommuni...s/?id=573089143

Oh yes, i've linked the original forum thread many times but even that's too advance for those who are just wading in the kiddie pool. Having said that, MWO should make reading that thread mandatory before purchasing the first mech and Captain Adam should make you alt-tab out of training to read it too.