11 replies to this topic

[Anthrax87]

Hello
Been playing MWO for about 8 days now. I really like the game and am eager to progress.
I read a guide in the new player help which was like 40 pages long (like a presentation with videos and stuff) and that's helped me a lot.

I bought my first bundle, Firestarter. Not because i necessarily like light mechs, just because the game keeps telling me to pick them to get a match first. Anyways, I've completed basic on 3 variants now (messed up and used some GXP on a mech skill )

My questions surround career pathing in this game. I don't want to just play PUG. I'd like to contribute to a group

1> What should my next Mech purchase be to help with groups etc. I prefer direct fire weapons and so far have used almost exclusively lasers. I'm not a fan of short range, because in PUG i kinda just have to sit around doing not much till the very end, so the lowest I'll go is Medium Lasers.

2> I was told to join every faction and get to Level 2. Is this still the best strategy?


3> Essentially, in follow-up to question 1, what's the META in terms of light / mediums / heavies for both IS and Clan in Community Warfare?

4> Should I master all 3 Firestarters? or Just elite 3 and master 1? If master just 1, which do you guys feel is the strongest?

5> When I start the game - It talks about competitions with rewards such as mechs etc. How do I play those competitions? Is that just PUG play or do I have to go somewhere else?

[Leone]

2> It gets you more mechbays, so you can get three of multipule mechs, so you can have a decent drop load out in CW, so you can get more mechbays, so you can get more mechs... etc.

3> Forget the meta for now, just brings mechs you feel comfortable with an can pilot well.

4> I prefer the FS9-A with eight small pulse myself. I would at least elite all 'o 'em. After that, well, do you plan on keepin' 'em?

1> Do you plan on sticking with Inner Sphere mechs, plan on playing CW much, what did you think of the various trials? I could go into great detail about what info helps me help you make a decision. Right now I just know

Anthrax87, on 07 February 2016 - 02:31 AM, said:

I prefer direct fire weapons and so far have used almost exclusively lasers. I'm not a fan of short range

But have you tried the Shadowcat with gauss? Liked gauss? Like the ACs on the King Crab? Are you more pokey or more sustained fire? Ppcs? Try the Lrms, let us know what you think. I cannot work with the information provided.

I got Shadowhawks as my first mech, an they can run a little bit of everything. Lotta folk suggest you don't, but who knows, you might not hate them with a fiery passion... See, I'd really love to offer a better suggestion. Try the trials, explore the plethora of options available, gimme a rough speed requirement an lemme know if a lack of jump jets is a deal breaker, an then we can hash out some good potentiates.

5> Pgi sometimes runs events. Right now it's just x2 exp all weekend. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, you can win free mechs.

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 07 February 2016 - 03:36 AM.

[Moarginplz]

Firestarters are a good light mech for CW, or just killing things in the public queue. They're just good in general. If you're putting together a CW drop deck, then you'll probably want to look at a heavy or assault mech for your next purchase. Jaegermechs, Thunderbolts, Battlemasters, Stalkers; you're not short on options if you've already got your light mechs sorted out.

I'd check out MetaMechs' tier lists for something that sounds fun to you. You don't HAVE to go Tier 1, I have plenty of fun in Tier 2 and 3 mechs on a regular basis. Actually, I have a lot of fun in some Tier 5 mechs, but they wouldn't be what I'd buy for my 2nd chassis when I was trying to build a CW drop deck.

[Anthrax87]

Leone, on 07 February 2016 - 03:31 AM, said:

2> It gets you more mechbays, so you can get three of multipule mechs, so you can have a decent drop load out in CW, so you can get more mechbays, so you can get more mechs... etc.

3> Forget the meta for now, just brings mechs you feel comfortable with an can pilot well.

4> I prefer the FS9-A with eight small pulse myself. I would at least elite all 'o 'em. After that, well, do you plan on keepin' 'em?

1> Do you plan on sticking with Inner Sphere mechs, plan on playing CW much, what did you think of the various trials? I could go into great detail about what info helps me help you make a decision. Right now I just know But have you tried the Shadowcat with gauss? Liked gauss? Like the ACs on the King Crab? Are you more pokey or more sustained fire? Ppcs? Try the Lrms, let us know what you think. I cannot work with the information provided.

I got Shadowhawks as my first mech, an they can run a little bit of everything. Lotta folk suggest you don't, but who knows, you might not hate them with a fiery passion... See, I'd really love to offer a better suggestion. Try the trials, explore the plethora of options available, gimme a rough speed requirement an lemme know if a lack of jump jets is a deal breaker, an then we can hash out some good potentiates.

5> Pgi sometimes runs events. Right now it's just x2 exp all weekend. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, you can win free mechs.

~Leone.

I haven't played CW yet because I heard you needed 4 mechs and all should be mastered before even attempting it, but that is definitely what I'd like to play.

FOR CW, do you need 1 mech of each weight category? Or just 4 mechs?

I think I'll try all the trial mechs (instead of just the lights)

[Anthrax87]

Moarginplz, on 07 February 2016 - 03:54 AM, said:

Firestarters are a good light mech for CW, or just killing things in the public queue. They're just good in general. If you're putting together a CW drop deck, then you'll probably want to look at a heavy or assault mech for your next purchase. Jaegermechs, Thunderbolts, Battlemasters, Stalkers; you're not short on options if you've already got your light mechs sorted out.

I'd check out MetaMechs' tier lists for something that sounds fun to you. You don't HAVE to go Tier 1, I have plenty of fun in Tier 2 and 3 mechs on a regular basis. Actually, I have a lot of fun in some Tier 5 mechs, but they wouldn't be what I'd buy for my 2nd chassis when I was trying to build a CW drop deck.

Thanks, will take a look at metamechs tier lists. For clarity, is this metamechs site stating that Tier 1 Mechs are technically "the best in their class" etc....

Also , forgive my ignorance here, by why would I "probably want a heavy/assault?" Why not medium?

Edited by Anthrax87, 07 February 2016 - 04:12 AM.

[Arnie76]

Anthrax87, on 07 February 2016 - 04:06 AM, said:

I haven't played CW yet because I heard you needed 4 mechs and all should be mastered before even attempting it, but that is definitely what I'd like to play.

FOR CW, do you need 1 mech of each weight category? Or just 4 mechs?

I think I'll try all the trial mechs (instead of just the lights)

For CW, your drop deck needs to contain 4 mechs which have a total weight inside the allowed window.
I don't know the minimum limit, but iirc it's set so that you can't bring 4 light mechs.
The maximum limit will change from time to time. As per this it's at 260 tonnes currently.
Since a lot of CW battles have attrition phases at longer ranges people tend to try and get (close) to the max weight limit with their drop deck. That's probably why Moarginplz said that you should go for a heavy/assault next, assuming you will bring at least one Firestarter (most people bring 1 light only afaik).
My recommendation would be to maybe not worry about CW and only playing Tier1 mechs too much for now: Try all the trials, find mechs YOU enjoy playing
While at the same time keeping some of the recommendations in mind, if you don't want to "waste" money by trying mechs that are considered "bad"
The exception is if you don't want to spend money on buying mechbays. In that case you'll have to think about CW sooner than later. But since you bought the FS bundle you should still have the 4 original empty mechbays at your disposal...

[IraqiWalker]

Anthrax87, on 07 February 2016 - 02:31 AM, said:

Hello
Been playing MWO for about 8 days now. I really like the game and am eager to progress.
I read a guide in the new player help which was like 40 pages long (like a presentation with videos and stuff) and that's helped me a lot.

I bought my first bundle, Firestarter. Not because i necessarily like light mechs, just because the game keeps telling me to pick them to get a match first. Anyways, I've completed basic on 3 variants now (messed up and used some GXP on a mech skill )

In the future, I would recommend purchasing mechs that you actually enjoy. The difference in wait time is not worth the grief of suffering through a chassis you don't like.

Anthrax87, on 07 February 2016 - 02:31 AM, said:

My questions surround career pathing in this game. I don't want to just play PUG. I'd like to contribute to a group

The forums are loaded with groups who would love to have more players. Either post in the Hiring Hall, and wait for someone to contact you about recruitment, or just hit the forums of a particular faction you're interested in joining, and talk to the group pilots there (I also recommend visiting their Teamspeak server as well, and playing a few drops with them, to see if these are the people you want to have fun with).

Anthrax87, on 07 February 2016 - 02:31 AM, said:

1> What should my next Mech purchase be to help with groups etc. I prefer direct fire weapons and so far have used almost exclusively lasers. I'm not a fan of short range, because in PUG i kinda just have to sit around doing not much till the very end, so the lowest I'll go is Medium Lasers.

Literally any mech. What aids in group play is performing well in a chassis, and being able to coordinate, and work with the other members of the group.

If you want ballistics, I would recommend mediums, and up. Other than the Urbanmech, and 2 clan lights, you will not find many non-laser mechs, and even fewer ballistic builds.

Anthrax87, on 07 February 2016 - 02:31 AM, said:

2> I was told to join every faction and get to Level 2. Is this still the best strategy?

That's the best strategy to getting free mechbays. At level 2, the loyalty reward is a free mechbay. The rewards are the same for each faction. Bear in mind, when you leave a faction, your loyalty does not decrease. So you can't reset it.

Although, at loyalty level 6, you get another free mechbay.

The issue here is that you will have to go through Faction Warfare (Loyalty points are only generated in Faction Warfare matches.

Anthrax87, on 07 February 2016 - 02:31 AM, said:

3> Essentially, in follow-up to question 1, what's the META in terms of light / mediums / heavies for both IS and Clan in Community Warfare?

I would have to write an essay on the topic. However, the short of it is Gauss Rifles, lasers of all classes, and ERPPCs on some mechs. Even SRMs can see some play in CW.

Just don't bother with more than one LRM mech, and those are barely useful on Defense missions.

Anthrax87, on 07 February 2016 - 02:31 AM, said:

4> Should I master all 3 Firestarters? or Just elite 3 and master 1? If master just 1, which do you guys feel is the strongest?

You should fully elite all 3. Which grants you the most bonuses. Mastery only gives you an additional module slot that can fit a weapon module, or a mech module. With how new you are, I don't think I'd recommend farming for modules just yet. The firestarters are all rather great. I would personally recommend running the FS9-A, K (using SPLs on both), or S (using MPLs).

Anthrax87, on 07 February 2016 - 02:31 AM, said:

5> When I start the game - It talks about competitions with rewards such as mechs etc. How do I play those competitions? Is that just PUG play or do I have to go somewhere else?

Usually it's PuG play. The competitions and challenges can be tracked either from their announcement page, or from your challenges page (go to "Profile->"Stats"->"Challenges")

Anthrax87, on 07 February 2016 - 04:12 AM, said:

Thanks, will take a look at metamechs tier lists. For clarity, is this metamechs site stating that Tier 1 Mechs are technically "the best in their class" etc....

Also , forgive my ignorance here, by why would I "probably want a heavy/assault?" Why not medium?

Tier 1 mechs are the best.

as for the medium thing:

I think it was just a general purpose statement (Moarginplz feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in my presumption). Heavies are considered the best mechs because they are in a sweet spot of firepower, armor, and mobility, so recommending them is a safe strategy.

However, mediums are also very solid, and can wreck. In fact, some tier 1 decks will have at least 1 medium mech in them.


The most critical thing for CW is coordination. The team that works together will win brutally.

[mailin]

To the OP, here are some more answers to some of your questions and some things for you to think about.

1) You can easily group up which may make grinding the XP on the Firestarters easier as well as letting someone answer your questions in real time. In order to do this however, you'll ideally need to be on TS, but can also use in-game voip. Comstar is a great TS server and there are a LOT of people on there who will be willing to help out new players. Additionally, it is a portal for a LOT of factions too, so you may meet some people there that you really enjoy running with who will welcome you into their faction.

2) CW is largely considered hard mode. I am not saying this to discourage you, but just so that you
are aware going in. In order to run in CW you will need 4 mechs either all IS or all clans. Because you have the Firestarters, I suggest continuing to get IS mechs if you have your heart set on CW. Also, you will want to run with a well coordinated group for CW because that is what you may be up against. You can drop in CW as a PUG, but pugs facing a dedicated drop group on comms is really, really ugly. (I remember dropping against 8-mans as a pug in the early days of closed beta.) So again, you will NEED to be on comms and preferrably TS for CW.

3) Running in PUG drops is a great way to prepare yourself for CW. Use the experience gained and knowledge about your mech's stregths and weaknesses.

4) CW Dropdeck. There are weight minimums and maximums for CW. Not only do you need to run either all IS mechs or all Clan mechs, but you also want to get as close to the maximum weight as you can without going over. This is because generally you do not want to handicap your team by going any less than all in. For this reason, the above poster mentioned needing assaults or heavies for your drop deck.

5) Challenges: PGI has been having a challenge every weekend, or nearly so. They have really been mixing in a HUGE variety of how to qualify and what you can win. Sometimes you need to opt in, sometimes you are automatically entered. Sometimes you need to click something in order to get the prizes, sometimes you get them automatically. To find out, check the forums under announcements and there is usually (always) a link to the current challenge.


Welcome to MWO, enjoy and see you on the battlefield.

Edited by mailin, 07 February 2016 - 10:20 AM.

[Moarginplz]

Anthrax87, on 07 February 2016 - 04:12 AM, said:

Thanks, will take a look at metamechs tier lists. For clarity, is this metamechs site stating that Tier 1 Mechs are technically "the best in their class" etc....

Also , forgive my ignorance here, by why would I "probably want a heavy/assault?" Why not medium?

The Tier 1 Mechs are what you would want to bring to a competitive match against good players, assuming the current meta-game, which changes over time, and is currently dominated by laser mechs using a peek and poke approach. For example, there are a couple of Quickdraws on the Tier 1 list, but when those mechs were first released weapon and chassis balancing was much different than it is now, and Quickdraws were just terrible.

I recommended heavies or assaults because the tonnage limit is pretty high right now (at 260 tons I can bring a pair of Atlases if I want to), so you want something with a lot durability and firepower. Mediums tend to trade one of those characteristics for mobility, relative to a heavy or assault mech.

Also, you don't have to do CW to contribute to a group, my unit spends a lot of time just dropping in the public group queue. I'd still probably go heavy or assault for your next mech in that case, just so that you can help the group maximize their available tonnage. It kind of sucks when the enemy team has an Atlas and two Direwolves, and your team's only assault is an LRM Battlemaster.

[Leone]

Anthrax87, on 07 February 2016 - 04:06 AM, said:

I haven't played CW yet because I heard you needed 4 mechs and all should be mastered before even attempting it, but that is definitely what I'd like to play.

FOR CW, do you need 1 mech of each weight category? Or just 4 mechs?

I think I'll try all the trial mechs (instead of just the lights)

My first CW match I had but one mech that was my own. I'll admit, I didn't do so hot, but it got me hooked. Not sure I'd've stuck around had I not tried it, but CW turned out to be the mode for me. I think the weight thing was answered already, but between 160 an 260 tonnes right now.

Here's what I suggest, Friend me ingame, there's a little three silhouette thingy at the bottom of the screen, just to the right of the LFG button. Whilest I may not be on much this week, take a one week Clan Ghost Bear contract. Worst comes to worst, we don't get to meet up, nothing happens, an you can go back to prepping for some IS CW. But, if we do happen to be on together, I'll drop with ya in a match or two. It'll be all clan mechs, so you'll be in all trials, but at least I can show you the ropes.

An honestly, I'd rather someone with four trials willing to learn an work with the team than some of the folk you may get grouped with.

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 07 February 2016 - 10:59 PM.

[IraqiWalker]

Moarginplz, on 07 February 2016 - 02:41 PM, said:

The Tier 1 Mechs are what you would want to bring to a competitive match against good players, assuming the current meta-game, which changes over time, and is currently dominated by laser mechs using a peek and poke approach. For example, there are a couple of Quickdraws on the Tier 1 list, but when those mechs were first released weapon and chassis balancing was much different than it is now, and Quickdraws were just terrible.

To illustrate what was going on when the quickdraw came out


I recommend watching the entire series, it's 10 episodes of 30-ish seconds long clips.

[Anthrax87]

IraqiWalker, on 08 February 2016 - 06:06 AM, said:

To illustrate what was going on when the quickdraw came out


I recommend watching the entire series, it's 10 episodes of 30-ish seconds long clips.

Watched the series. Very helpful, thanks

Leone, on 07 February 2016 - 10:58 PM, said:

My first CW match I had but one mech that was my own. I'll admit, I didn't do so hot, but it got me hooked. Not sure I'd've stuck around had I not tried it, but CW turned out to be the mode for me. I think the weight thing was answered already, but between 160 an 260 tonnes right now.

Here's what I suggest, Friend me ingame, there's a little three silhouette thingy at the bottom of the screen, just to the right of the LFG button. Whilest I may not be on much this week, take a one week Clan Ghost Bear contract. Worst comes to worst, we don't get to meet up, nothing happens, an you can go back to prepping for some IS CW. But, if we do happen to be on together, I'll drop with ya in a match or two. It'll be all clan mechs, so you'll be in all trials, but at least I can show you the ropes.

An honestly, I'd rather someone with four trials willing to learn an work with the team than some of the folk you may get grouped with.

~Leone.

I've added you ingame, I joined a unit called Golden Foxes (FOX) which co-incidently is with Ghost Bear right now (Merc unit). I played 5 CW games, real eye opener. Basically, I suck at attack, I'm not so bad at defence.

Moarginplz, on 07 February 2016 - 02:41 PM, said:

The Tier 1 Mechs are what you would want to bring to a competitive match against good players, assuming the current meta-game, which changes over time, and is currently dominated by laser mechs using a peek and poke approach. For example, there are a couple of Quickdraws on the Tier 1 list, but when those mechs were first released weapon and chassis balancing was much different than it is now, and Quickdraws were just terrible.

I recommended heavies or assaults because the tonnage limit is pretty high right now (at 260 tons I can bring a pair of Atlases if I want to), so you want something with a lot durability and firepower. Mediums tend to trade one of those characteristics for mobility, relative to a heavy or assault mech.

Also, you don't have to do CW to contribute to a group, my unit spends a lot of time just dropping in the public group queue. I'd still probably go heavy or assault for your next mech in that case, just so that you can help the group maximize their available tonnage. It kind of sucks when the enemy team has an Atlas and two Direwolves, and your team's only assault is an LRM Battlemaster.

Makes a lot of sense. I'm going to make a new post with next steps now that I've progressed so much (I feel) . Hopefully you guys will be just as helpful.

Finally - Thank you everyone for steering me in the right direction.