10 replies to this topic

[3wesleyc]

I have brought it up in the strategy section, but I would like to know what else I can do good in or what you think I'm good at, as a new player I can't tell yet, just playing the game, I know my one flaw is standing still too much, Check it out

[Darkspart3n]

I think it is good that you are able to act independently and you are not doing bad for a new player but I just want to point out a couple of things now that might affect you later on. First off is your build, the PB does have extra internal structure but you should try to max out your armor on every important part of your mech (especially on lights). So dropping the armor in your arms and switching to all small pulse can free up some tonnage to max out your torsos and your legs (don't be afraid to drop a couple off the head armor if you really need too). Secondly is stopping in front of mechs, during your fight with the adder you stayed mostly in front of his firing arc. When you are in such a fast mech use your speed and make them turn around while you shoot them (unless they have a whole team behind them of course), this is a skill you will need later on when you are faced with a heavy or assault that will destroy you if you stay in front of it. That is really all I have without being too nit picky so keep it up.

~Dark

[Xiphias]

Okay, a couple of suggestions for you.

First, max your armor, always. The only place you shouldn't be maxing armor on as a light is the head and arms if they have no weapons.

Second, as you mentioned don't stand still in a Locust. In particular at the beginning (~1:45) you are looking to the right while there are enemies on your left side. You were fortunate that they didn't detect you (due to your ECM), but better players will see you, and you will end up dead very quickly. Be aware of where the enemy is and never stay in their line of fire.

This brings me to the next point, use your independent torso twist. You were running around a lot looking directly at where you were going. As any mech, but particularly as a light, you should be looking around while you are running somewhere. It takes some practice, but be checking left and right while you are running to where you want to go. You can and should also use this to shoot at enemies.

Instead of running straight at an enemy while firing (a sure way to get killed) run past them with your torso turned at 90 degrees. Basically, run from cover - shoot while running - run back into cover. Ideally you should only be out of cover long enough to get off a single weapon burn. This limits returning fire. Once you have that down you can work on running a more serpentine path to make your movement less predictable and throw off fire.

Another thing that I saw is that you were pushing too far forward when you were poking (~2:28). When you looked over the edge you could see a lot of mechs. That means that they can see you too. What you want to do is just barely peek out far enough that you can see a single mech, take a shot, and then back up.

The best way to do this is actually to start reversing your throttle before you can see the enemy and to let your inertia carry you forward the last bit. This way you only peek for a moment before starting backwards towards cover. This also works when side poking and takes some practice to get the timing down. The Locust has fast acceleration so you don't have to start reversing throttle until right at the end.

Another general tip is to avoid turning your back to the enemy as much as you can. Run away, but keep your torso turned towards the enemy so that you take hits in your stronger front armor (obviously this depends on how much armor you have left).

As a light you should try to always be moving and to never be looking at the enemy head on. If possible, hit from the side and get to cover before being seen. If fighting a single enemy try to get behind them or in a position where their weapons are less effective.

Hopefully, some of that helps. If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to try and help answer them for you.

[Khereg]

Xiphias, on 02 February 2016 - 11:37 AM, said:

Okay, a couple of suggestions for you.

I'm just going to point out that Xiph is part of my unit and we play together a lot. He is one of the best light pilots we have in -MS- and you should pay very, very close attention to everything in this post.

I'll add a bit about positioning. You started well, scouting the enemy and showing your team where they were coming from. Once that is done and your team responds (which they did, albeit very passively), it's time to move on to the next phase of the fight - flanking and harassing.

For that, you moved up the middle with everyone else, which gives you teammates to help protect you, but also puts you directly in front of the enemy and in the spot where they are looking. Usually this is bad news for a light. They may pick juicier targets than you, but they may not. By being in the thick of it, you're guaranteeing you're going to be seen and eventually targeted. Your ecm is nice if your team is getting rained on, but I didn't notice that happening to a great degree.

A more advanced (but riskier) tactic is to flank the enemy and try to pick off an isolated mech. In this case, following the initial scout, with their main force at D3 you could have moved off to B3 and started looking back at C3 (where a lone mech was moving, as shown on your minimap at 2:36, BTW). With a locust, getting behind a big, slow, isolated mech is your dream position. Not sure you could have pulled it off here, but that would have been a good gambit and a great learning experience no matter how it turned out.

That isolated mech I mentioned showing on your minimap at 2:36? You saw it around the 3:00 mark (the EBJ) and started moving that way. You found the Adder before you got there. I suspect if you mad moved over to B3 earlier, you could have gotten behind the EBJ unseen and before your opponents put up their firing line and stretched across the map (and before the Adder came over). You survived the tussle with the Adder (thanks to some teammate help), but you looked reasonably good during the fight. Generally speaking, a light v light tussle, while exciting, results in both lights getting beat up pretty badly. Even if you win, you're basically spent before you can do much else. In this case, the Adder outweighed you by 15 tons and had a lot more armor and firepower than you while still being mobile enough to keep you from kiting him. You were lucky to live.

By this time, both teams were stretched across the map in opposing firing lines and you had no real chance to get into a flanking position. You did a good job finding a position up high and shooting down, but as Xiph said, you were standing still way too much. The whole time I was watching you snipe I kept thinking, "ok, he goes down here", because one alpha from anyone below and you were dead. I mean, zero time to react, just dead right there. The thunderbolt almost had you at 6:17, for instance. Fortunately, he was a bad shot.

Your teammates starting mopping up around this point and you swept in to "secure" the final kill, finishing with 287 dmg and 2 kills. A respectable showing for a locust, but you had luck on your side through a good chunk of that match.

It's good to see you asking for feedback. You're probably learning more in a very short time than most new players get in 6 months. I wish I had this kind of feedback when I was first starting out...

Edited by Khereg, 02 February 2016 - 01:03 PM.

[3wesleyc]

Thank you for the criticism and I will use this knowledge to further increase my skill as a light, I tried using Medium Mechs, but it's not my style I like to be agile and move around, I don't quite know all the maps and the all the mechanics of the game. With the knowledge you all have shared with me I hope I will become a respectable Light player, Thanks guys!

[Khereg]

You're doing great - just keep up the practice.

o7

Oh, and just to be clear...while on the learning curve, new light pilots get rekt. A lot. Don't let it get you down if it happens. In fact, I'd say it needs to happen to help you learn.

-Khereg

Edited by Khereg, 02 February 2016 - 01:57 PM.

[Xiphias]

3wesleyc, on 02 February 2016 - 01:22 PM, said:

Thank you for the criticism and I will use this knowledge to further increase my skill as a light, I tried using Medium Mechs, but it's not my style I like to be agile and move around, I don't quite know all the maps and the all the mechanics of the game. With the knowledge you all have shared with me I hope I will become a respectable Light player, Thanks guys!

As you gain more experience and knowledge of the maps your game play should improve. Asking for feedback is a great way to get better. I'd also recommend this guide by Krivvan. He's an excellent light pilot and plays for one of the top units in the game (SJR). He's also put a lot more time and detail into writing a guide for light mechs that I've been willing to. He's also got nice video clips demonstrating some important skills.

http://steamcommunit...s/?id=572806592

As a note, the Locust is more or less hard mode for lights. It's a good mech to learn with since it's rather unforgiving, but some of the other lights are definitely more forgiving.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

And now, for something different.

http://mwomercs.com/...-tactics-guide/

You're welcome.

[InspectorG]

3wesleyc, on 02 February 2016 - 01:22 PM, said:

Thank you for the criticism and I will use this knowledge to further increase my skill as a light, I tried using Medium Mechs, but it's not my style I like to be agile and move around, I don't quite know all the maps and the all the mechanics of the game. With the knowledge you all have shared with me I hope I will become a respectable Light player, Thanks guys!

Good advices so far.

Easiest way to sum up lights fighting: best be dirty and unfair.

If you walk into a fair fight, you did wrong. Your only strength is running away like a b*tch. Once you get good at using that to off-balance the enemy, you can create openings for teammates.

20 tons harassing 100 tons keeping it from wrecking teammates is good support. So is being the cookie for a chase. As is off-angle/off-timed pokes that make enemies worry about cover.

You arent the brawler on your team. You arent the sniper. You kick the enemy in the back of the knee when he is busy fighting your bigs. Or you go upside the back of his head with a brick. You dont stick around to watch. You jump in a 1 vs 1 to help out. That lone LRM boat hiding in the back is your treat. Gauss sniper Jager, shoot the leg closest to his team and see if he moves away from his team. If he does he is dinner.

Be ghetto. Aint room for pride in Puglandia when all you gots is 20 tons.

[Ih8tevictors]

oldest in use locust thread here

http://mwomercs.com/...errated-locust/

throttle decay is a not as good it used to be but still a great thing on the locust. on and off the throttle keeps you moving in erratic patterns. also great for those step out and back into cover moves. try it out

[Rhavin]

Find other light pilots and gang up on mechs with them sometimes. 2 or 3 lights can easily rip any isolated mech to shreds before they realize they went to far. And I have played many games in which 2 to 4 light pilots wrapped up the enemy's assault Lance in a few minutes and then went on to make multiple kills of other weight classes.

Avoid fights with streak boating mechs, and other lights. A steak boat will shred that locust and light vs light battles just end up drawn out. If you do get into a light battle try to bring it to your team, with a streak boat just run like hell and get away and put some thing between you and it. Pulse laser boats are also a little more dangerous than regular lasers, haveing to hold that beam on you for duration damage really takes alot of that power away from their weapons. Pulse lasers do more damage to lights than anything but streaks.

Your best targets are LRM boats hanging back, gauss snipers, and PPC snipers. Only the best guass boats and ppc boats will get you up close, most will run out of ammo or overheat constantly if they don't receive some help making those match ups a win/win for your team. IS Lrm boats are defenseless against you inside of 200, clan lrms do some damage but are still a great target.