42 replies to this topic

[Douglas grizzly]

While the game is immensely fun to play there are some very severe frustrations. first off is somehow a light mech can sneak up on me and the first i know they are there is they are shooting at me even if i have bap. second is i am consistently on the losing side so it is very frustrating to lose almost every match. its even worse when someone spots you from so far away they are not on radar and they take you out. These are the only things that really prevent me from buying anymore mechs is bec i am almost always on the losing side. oh yeah jenner is fun but when you get into a firefight the lag hits and thats doom for a jenner pilot.

[mailin]

A couple of things for you.

1) Listen. If you are at a dead stop and have headphones you should be able to hear approaching footsteps. If you hear that, DO NOT try to determine which way they are coming from because they are behind you.

2) BAP has nothing to do with detecting mechs behind you. The only thing that will help with that is Seismic Sensor, and in order for that you work you must be at a dead stop. IF you have it, check your minimap every time you are stopped. The enemy will appear as a red glowin blob on the minimap.

3) There are ways to increase sensor range. Also, a moving mech is a LOT easier to spot than a stationary one.

4) If you're in a Jenner set one weapon group as lasers and set that group to chain fire. If you encounter an enemy light chain fire the lasers at his legs.

Good luck.

Edited by mailin, 11 February 2016 - 09:38 PM.

[SilentFenris]

Douglas grizzly, on 11 February 2016 - 07:25 PM, said:

While the game is immensely fun to play there are some very severe frustrations. first off is somehow a light mech can sneak up on me and the first i know they are there is they are shooting at me even if i have bap. second is i am consistently on the losing side so it is very frustrating to lose almost every match. its even worse when someone spots you from so far away they are not on radar and they take you out. These are the only things that really prevent me from buying anymore mechs is bec i am almost always on the losing side. oh yeah jenner is fun but when you get into a firefight the lag hits and thats doom for a jenner pilot.

Two suggestions regarding lights sneaking up on you:
1) Consider buying the seismic module (it is expensive) recommended by Mailin. It gives you a 360 degree short range detection which helps the default forward facing cone of the standard radar. Be warned, sesmic only works when your mech is at a DEAD STOP, which is usually a bad thing to do in a Jenner. Better to always be moving.

2) Stay closer to your teamates, lights on the prowl are looking for lone victims and they will pick an easier target if you have allies nearby. The other team will usual shoot at bigger mechs near yours if you are in a light.

You mentioned you are using a Jenner. It has speed, but open terrain or standing still means death. If you go off on your own use terrain to shield you mech; if you can't get under cover in ~6 seconds, the LongRangeMissiles will be coming for you.

Regarding being on the loosing side, it happens. My question is are you usually one of the first two players on your team to be destroyed?

If so, and you are playing Quick Play alone, try sticking near the biggest mech on your team. This will usually keep both of you alive longer if that pilot knows what they are doing. The goal is that you stay alive longer. If the other team gets a quick 2-3 kills, it can result in a roll-match.

If you are dropping in Community Warfare/Faction Play you should research play strategies and try to find a coordinated team using Looking for Group in the Social menu.

Edited by GrayFenris, 11 February 2016 - 07:56 PM.

[Douglas grizzly]

yeah usually i am one of the first to die and then when multiple mechs target me. I have been running the trial mechs so i can get the feel of piloting and i am getting the hang of it. Yeah i usually do less than 200 each game and that is even when i fire alot at people and i could swear i have them in dead center Most of the time when i am killed the vast majority of my mech is gone. I do have 2 burning questions though. How to use a UAV and how to activate and use either a artilley strike or airstrike. Many of my opponents like to bunch up.

[SilentFenris]

Douglas grizzly, on 11 February 2016 - 07:53 PM, said:

yeah usually i am one of the first to die and then when multiple mechs target me. I have been running the trial mechs so i can get the feel of piloting and i am getting the hang of it. Yeah i usually do less than 200 each game and that is even when i fire alot at people and i could swear i have them in dead center Most of the time when i am killed the vast majority of my mech is gone. I do have 2 burning questions though. How to use a UAV and how to activate and use either a artilley strike or airstrike. Many of my opponents like to bunch up.

Both UAV and Artillery Strike (or Air Strike) are Consumables found in the Modules section of the Loadout part of the mechlab. I believe the default keys for consumables are HOME and INSERT. You will not be able to equip these on a trial mech, you must own a mech to use the Mechlab.

There are both C-Bill (in-game currency) and MC ( real money) versions. I would suggest no using either, as they are 40,000 c-bills per use and will really cut into your earnings per match. If your teamates have a lot of LRMs the UAV can earn you lots of additional XP, but neither is likely to return the c-bill cost to you.

Edited by GrayFenris, 11 February 2016 - 08:06 PM.

[Baelfire]

Coolshots, UAV and Airstrikes are one-shot-modules. You have to buy them in the Mech Lab for 40k C-Bills (or some MC) per piece everytime you used one, unless you activate the auto-refill button. There are two versions of each, one for MC and one for C-Bills. The C-Bill versoins are initially weaker than the MC versions, but can be upgraded with Global XP to be equal.

All three of them are used by pushing the corresponding hotkey. Coolshots remove a decent amount of heat, UAV's are deployed above you, right where you are when you use them and artillery/airstrikes are aimed with your crosshair like other weapons.

I hope that helps.

[Shura1986]

Hello in Setting>Keyboard> you can assign custom keys to UAV, Air strike, and Artillery strike.

And to purchase these comsumables go to Mechlab>Modules>Consumables

Are you dying first piloting light mechs? Take long paths to enemy to places behind them and wait a little to lrm rain to attack from behind.

[Douglas grizzly]

this last time i was in a heavy mech and i made roughly 130 xp and the one previous i made almost 4k using same mech. A pult both times. i have piloted a jenner and the hunchback with 8 med lasers(train) and both i liked but i seemed to get targeted rather quickly in both. if i get a mech with direct fire i get hammered by 3 and 4 mechs at once.

[IraqiWalker]

Douglas grizzly, on 11 February 2016 - 07:53 PM, said:

yeah usually i am one of the first to die and then when multiple mechs target me. I have been running the trial mechs so i can get the feel of piloting and i am getting the hang of it. Yeah i usually do less than 200 each game and that is even when i fire alot at people and i could swear i have them in dead center Most of the time when i am killed the vast majority of my mech is gone. I do have 2 burning questions though. How to use a UAV and how to activate and use either a artilley strike or airstrike. Many of my opponents like to bunch up.

When people mention firing accurately at people and dealing no damage at all (not partial damage, but 0 damage), it usually tends to be the fact that you're firing way past the range of your guns.

I recommend watching some gameplay footage on Youtube to see how other people do things, and use those as guidelines. The game starts off being rough, but once you start getting the hang of it, and develop good situational awareness, you will start to do much better, and even realize where, and why you didn't do so well in a match.

As for the UAV, and strikes:

These are consumable modules (I personally advance against heavy use of them, as a new player, since each will set you back 40,000 C-Bills). You equip them on your mech from the Mechbay, (so can't use them in a trial mech), and you can bind the hotkeys as shura demonstrated.

I look at them as a trade off, you spend C-Bills for more XP (UAV spotting bonuses when done right can be worth the 40K C-Bills.)

[Douglas grizzly]

The one thing i do not understand is why people choose assualt over skirmish. The main reason is most of the time my team ends up against expert level players and gets slaughtered. for today am tired of being cut to pieces by people who dont even belong in my skill bracket.

[xSleeZyx]

Douglas grizzly, on 12 February 2016 - 10:59 AM, said:

The one thing i do not understand is why people choose assualt over skirmish. The main reason is most of the time my team ends up against expert level players and gets slaughtered. for today am tired of being cut to pieces by people who dont even belong in my skill bracket.

The matchmaking is pretty random indeed, sometimes you win 5-6 games in a row, others you loose 10 in a row no matter how good you did. But the better you do, you will either stay passive or gain PSR to gain higher ranks.

From what i can tell what you've said, alot of it seems to be a positioning issue. If you consistently find yourself facing 3+ mechs headon, you've to back of more, and be patient.

This game is more about patience than anything and know when to push. Altho in pugs ppl rarely push when they've a golden opportunity to do so.

Also if you're only playing trail mechs you're doing yourself a disfavor imo. Because you can't change their loadout and armor allocation which is usualy quite bad on the trials.

And once you've basic'd or even elited that mech it's way easier to play that mech. And modules such as radar dep helps immensly.

I'm also rather new, but i've been reading alot and watched att kanjashis videos and some other guys vids aswell. It's helps alot due you're learning how they play and why they do x / y action.

Also as i recently posted on reddit, is that we usualy have selective memory. It's easy to remember the bad games, but when we win it's like "Oh yea awesome" But when we loose it's more like "Awh we never win, bad team etc"

How's ur statics? Mine is pretty much 50/50 so even tho it feels like i/we loose alot, we realy don't.

[Anunknownlurker]

@Douglas grizzly - stick with it. This game is surprisingly hard to get good at. People will bang on about the steep learning curve because it's real!

I've been playing for just over a year and, honestly, I don't think I really felt I knew what I was doing for at least 3 months...I'm not kidding...and I am still learning how to play specific mechs on certain maps, not sure I'll ever be really good at MWO but most of the time I feel I am finally contributing to my team's success or failure.....and then, you get "those" matches, we've all had them, you in your basic skill Cicada do more damage than your entire assault lance! No matter what PGI does, it can't balance stupid!

TL/DR - stick with it, watch some live streams on Twitch, catch videos on YouTube, you'll get there. If I can do it, anyone can!

Peace

[Douglas grizzly]

stats are crappy, most of my team are losses. i end up with a winning team about 20% of the time. will check later but am done for now.

[xSleeZyx]

Douglas grizzly, on 12 February 2016 - 11:22 AM, said:

stats are crappy, most of my team are losses. i end up with a winning team about 20% of the time. will check later but am done for now.

I meant stats from ur stats page, it'll reveal the "truth" so to speak.
It's usualy only a feeling that you're always loosing.
And as i assume you're still in tier 5, where all newbies hang around it's no wonder that the team doesn't function well.
Altho i had tons of great matches there, but some matches are just... ugh... noone has a clue.

But as poster above said, stick with it, you'll get better and as u progress u'll gain better team comps aswell.

Or you can join an unit and train and play with them. Which is what most players do.
I've not yet atm due irregular playtimes.

[Tanil Kane]

Douglas grizzly, on 11 February 2016 - 07:25 PM, said:

While the game is immensely fun to play there are some very severe frustrations. first off is somehow a light mech can sneak up on me and the first i know they are there is they are shooting at me even if i have bap. second is i am consistently on the losing side so it is very frustrating to lose almost every match. its even worse when someone spots you from so far away they are not on radar and they take you out. These are the only things that really prevent me from buying anymore mechs is bec i am almost always on the losing side. oh yeah jenner is fun but when you get into a firefight the lag hits and thats doom for a jenner pilot.

Give yourself time. There is a steep learning curve in the beginning.

I'd avoid playing a light in the beginning. They are not a forgiving if you make a mistake.

Load up a tanky medium or heavy and stick with your assault lance and support them. Move where they move, shoot their targets, etc. That will give you time to learn the flow of a battle, proper positioning, when to use cover, and when to push.

Edited by Tanil Kane, 12 February 2016 - 11:44 AM.

[Void Angel]

Er, you're probably not matched with expert level players as a beginner - it just seems that way, because the learning curve for this game is very steep. It's worth it, though, so keep doing what you're doing (reviewing your performance and asking questions to study the game.) As for matching, though, you're going to be Tier 5, so the most you can get matched with is Tier 3. Of course, I'm Tier 3 still (almost Tier 2,) so it probably has happened that you'e been on a team against and with more veteran players. And the way this game works out, one or two experienced players with good builds can turn the tide against an opposing team who are still getting used to it all.

So, the best bet is to become that experienced player, of course! Easier said than done, I know, but you may have noticed that there's a lot of people around to help you out. Speaking of which, I strongly recommend Tactics 101, a superb explanation of basic tactical situations in MWO. It's an easy read, and very useful. Also check out Smurfy's Awesome Mechlab and reference site - the best reference site I've ever seen in a game. And of course there's a multitude of guides and videos - I've linked the two I wrote into my signature (shameless plug!)

Personally, I will always choose Assault over Skirmish; the optimal tactics are identical, but the addition of a capture objective prevents that last guy from running off and shutting down somewhere to make us all waste ten minutes of our lives looking for him.

As SleeZix says, you should check your stats page to see how your win/loss is faring, because it's easier to remember bad things than good things (your brain wants you to stop hurting yourself more than it wants you to refine what seems to be working.) Click on the "profile" button on the upper right of this web page, and then click on "Stats" on the thin menu bar (should be just under the "Forums" button.) Also remember that Trial 'mechs are not, by definition, skilled out yet - so in order to really get the most out of your 'mech, you need to buy three of that chassis and buy at least all of the second-tier skills. It seems like a lot of experience, but it'll come fairly fast if you don't watch the pot boil, as it were. When farming exp, a well-placed UAV is your friend; Improved UAV, Improved Artillery Strike, Advanced Seismic Sensor, and Radar Deprivation should be your first GXP purchases - never spend gxp on 'mech skills until you have all the 'mech, weapon, and consumable modules that you want unlocked.

Finally, I'm a bit disturbed by something you said in your first post - "lag?" Why are you lagging? If you are experiencing client-side (that's your computer) lag in MWO, you need to fix that before you go any further. I've spectated people whose computers couldn't keep up with MWO before - it was like watching a drunken rhinoceros try to swat flies. You'll never have a satisfactory experience playing a PvP game unless your hardware can handle the load. Try lowering some settings, and/or post on the Hardware Forums for more expert help than mine.

Edited by Void Angel, 12 February 2016 - 12:19 PM.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

Douglas grizzly, on 12 February 2016 - 10:59 AM, said:

The one thing i do not understand is why people choose assualt over skirmish. The main reason is most of the time my team ends up against expert level players and gets slaughtered. for today am tired of being cut to pieces by people who dont even belong in my skill bracket.

Think about that statement.
You think a better team wouldnt handle you on a different game mode?
A good pilot is a good pilot.

[Douglas grizzly]

here are my stats the 26/127 iss my crappy kd

26 / 127 C-Bills 8,546,240 Experience Points 104,578 Wins / Losses 68 / 92 Kill / Death Ratio 0.20 Accumulative C-Bills Per Match 70,794.54 Avg. XP Per Match 653.61

[Douglas grizzly]

also just when do the modules get unlocked? reason beiing i am interested in adding ecm in a mech and am not sure if it needs a harpoint or not.

[Dan Baxter]

Douglas grizzly, on 12 February 2016 - 07:10 PM, said:

also just when do the modules get unlocked? reason beiing i am interested in adding ecm in a mech and am not sure if it needs a harpoint or not.

ECM is equipment, with its own hardpoint. Omnimechs (clan 'mechs with the exception of the IIC clan mechs) can only have ECM if one of the omnipods they have installed has the necessary hardpoint. You don't need to worry about unlocking modules to get ECM.

To unlock modules, you do so under "skills" -> "pilot tree" through spending GXP.

Edited by Dan Baxter, 13 February 2016 - 12:01 AM.