42 replies to this topic

[Void Angel]

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.

Dan Baxter, on 12 February 2016 - 07:36 PM, said:

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 "pilot skills" through spending GXP.

This is in the same Skills area where you buy pilot skills (buy the two heat efficiencies, then save up for Anchor Turn.) These skills make a huge difference in the performance of your 'mech - buying them is a definite must in order to get the most out of your chassis.

On that note, it might be better to pick up a Medium for your first 'mech, though by no means can you not choose a Light to start. Mediums simply have more options in terms of loadout, and are a bit more forgiving of mistakes due to their greater durability; it's up to you.

However, you need to look at your system's performance, as well - if your machine is chugging whenever you get into close combat, you'll need to fix that before you play the game. Otherwise, the game will simply frustrate you.

[Rogue Jedi]

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.

skirmish is the simple ^{(note I did not say easy)} game mode, all you have to worry about is killing all the enemy, it is far more limited in ways you can play it than assault or conquest.

Is it not much more interesting to have to defend your base or loose, I often win assault by capping the enemy base, they then usualy send 2-4 Mechs to chase me off ^{(if they do not chase me off and would not cap all the way unless my team was way down on numbers)}, I then tell my team to push while entertaining the Mechs sent after me, and the enemy loose because they are outnumbered, something like that is not an option in skirmish.

Conquest is great, if your whole team focus on killing the enemy while 1-2 enemy lights spend the match capping, your team can still loose because they may not have time to stop the caps, especially on the bigger maps.

this game was originally promoted as a thinking man's shooter, skirmish means you have less to think about, therefore in my opinion is less interesting than the other modes.

[Douglas grizzly]

ok as far as a mech i have a griffin 3m i bought along with a hunchback with 8 med lasers that i modded and a jenner 7d? with 4 med lasers and 1 srm 4 that after mods the jenner ended up costing me 10 mill c biolls. glad i had saved up for that. now that jenner can zip along with the best of the lights and slug it out with the lights at the same time. i tried smurphy to save the design but i am not sure if i did it right or not. i guess i need a account with smurphy first.

[Douglas grizzly]

one burning question i have is concerning ams. does it need ammo and if so what kind bec i see no ammo listed as ams ammo

[PorkedPork]

Glhf

[SilentScreamer]

Douglas grizzly, on 13 February 2016 - 07:51 AM, said:

one burning question i have is concerning ams. does it need ammo and if so what kind bec i see no ammo listed as ams ammo

AMS does have a unique ammo type. In mechlab, the Ammo tab is next to the Weapon tab. So after you equip the AMS from the weapon tab you will have to switch to Ammo to drag and equip it.

[Void Angel]

Douglas grizzly, on 13 February 2016 - 07:17 AM, said:

ok as far as a mech i have a griffin 3m i bought along with a hunchback with 8 med lasers that i modded and a jenner 7d? with 4 med lasers and 1 srm 4 that after mods the jenner ended up costing me 10 mill c biolls. glad i had saved up for that. now that jenner can zip along with the best of the lights and slug it out with the lights at the same time. i tried smurphy to save the design but i am not sure if i did it right or not. i guess i need a account with smurphy first.

Smurfy uses a neat system where your 'mech is actually encoded into the url - or, to put it another way, every possible permutation is in the system and saved as a hexadecimal string. Thus, when you click on "Save & share loadout," you can simply bookmark the web page in your browser. The popup that displays when you hit the button just contains various formats for linking the information - or you can just copy and paste the URL, Thusly.

I'm still concerned that you reported lag when lots of stuff is happening on-screen, though. You really will need to address that issue if it's a problem.

[Douglas grizzly]

You mean like this? http://mwo.smurfy-ne...7d62709aedf768c

[Douglas grizzly]

when my damage done is around 40 or less , most of the time the other sides kills my team quickly and we might get one or two if lucky. The irritating part is having some lights come out of nowhere and start ripping you open. Had one game that witnin one minute had a mech charging me and firing and this in the canyon.

[Rogue Jedi]

Douglas grizzly, on 13 February 2016 - 12:00 PM, said:

You mean like this? http://mwo.smurfy-ne...7d62709aedf768c

I would advise against having both ML and MPL on the same arm, it would make more sence to go all ML or all MPL, if you do want a mix I would sugest MPL on 1 arm, ML on the otherso if you peek around a corner and fire you are firing with just the 1 weapon type.

here are a few alternative suggestions
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9d62f8f25aedecd
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b35750e672c2809
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...4a38a37fecfeadc
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...eea0b269590f485

the top 2 are the ones I would use, I am assuming you already have the XL275 but if you do not already have it an XL280 weighs the same but is faster.

[Void Angel]

Douglas grizzly, on 13 February 2016 - 12:00 PM, said:

You mean like this? http://mwo.smurfy-ne...7d62709aedf768c

Yup - though it's easier for people to read if you Highlight Some Text before you hit the link button. That link just now is what weapons I'd use on that 'mech, given the 275XL. I honestly don't use anything but a 300XL in my Jenners, but the 275 will serve, since you already bought the engine.

Even if you do decide to go with your current loadout (don't; but it's up to you) take Rogue Jedi's advice and put like weapons with like. You get better effects on target that way, and you can use your left/right hotkeys to shoot people around corners when the opposite guns will just hit a wall.

Edited by Void Angel, 14 February 2016 - 12:18 PM.

[Douglas grizzly]

i could not afford a bigger engine , the mods as is cost me nearly 8 mill c bills. Later on yes i will see if i can play around and put the 300 xl in.

[InspectorG]

Douglas grizzly, on 13 February 2016 - 07:51 AM, said:

one burning question i have is concerning ams. does it need ammo and if so what kind bec i see no ammo listed as ams ammo

You shouldnt need AMS in a light.

As you get to average-skill as a pilot, drop the AMS on all builds, it is fairly useless.

[Void Angel]

Actually, I recommend that you vaccinate your @#$% 'mechs, but not for a Light chassis, where weight is at too high a premium, mobility makes cover much more reachable, and you'll often be away from the group, so the herd immunity effect doesn't kick in.

[Rogue Jedi]

InspectorG, on 13 February 2016 - 03:22 PM, said:

You shouldnt need AMS in a light. As you get to average-skill as a pilot, drop the AMS on all builds, it is fairly useless.

just bear in mind if you do not take AMS and end up on Polar Highlands or Caustic valley, cannot find cover and get demolished by LRMs it is your fault for not taking AMS.

when Polar was first released I saw a lot of complaints that LRMs ruled on that map, if people had just fitted AMS and stuck together they would not have had a problem.

The only Light I take AMS on is the Kit Fox, and that is to protect slow Mechs which "forgot" to mount AMS, even on the LRM friendly maps any Light except a stock Urbanmech should have time to break the lock.

[Douglas grizzly]

thanks for the ideas. I think i am starting to become a better pilot as my base score is starting to creep up except for when i get ambushed by a light with radar dampening and or ecm. Saw one that had bot. reason i said that is he had the ecm icon along with a red triangle and even though i was still looking at him the triangle disappeared and it was tough go making him go away.

[IraqiWalker]

Douglas grizzly, on 13 February 2016 - 02:24 PM, said:

i could not afford a bigger engine , the mods as is cost me nearly 8 mill c bills. Later on yes i will see if i can play around and put the 300 xl in.

I know it's too late to say this, but as a new player mods should be at the very bottom of your priority list. Modules are very late game items. For future reference, focus on building up your mech's equipment, and when you have a spare 3-6 Mil, buy a module.

Radar Deprivation is one of the best modules in the game, and I know everyone who reads the next part will gasp, but I think it's not a good idea to let new players get it early, just like how I think it's a bad idea to let new players start with an ECM mech. It doesn't teach you how to use terrain properly, and situational awareness doesn't really get developed properly. Then you leave the ECM mech, or the Radar Dep mech, and suddenly you notice everyone can spot you more often, and hit you better, and you're dying faster, and you don't seem to know why.

Which is when you start training for MWO without the crutch, but this time against better skilled players. On the other hand, those things also make it a lot easier to start getting into the game, and learning what to do with less stress.

[Douglas grizzly]

i am leanrning which is why i am usually one ot the last ones to die now and i am doing more damage by learning how to sue ranges and also the zoom. as far as situational awareness i am doing ok bec if a guy has radar derp and ecm, you can literally look in a guys area but if they are behind a building or hill you wont spot them until they start shooting at you. believe me i would love radar derp but i dont know how to unlock them yet. I just got basic skills unlocked

[IraqiWalker]

Douglas grizzly, on 14 February 2016 - 11:18 AM, said:

i am leanrning which is why i am usually one ot the last ones to die now and i am doing more damage by learning how to sue ranges and also the zoom. as far as situational awareness i am doing ok bec if a guy has radar derp and ecm, you can literally look in a guys area but if they are behind a building or hill you wont spot them until they start shooting at you. believe me i would love radar derp but i dont know how to unlock them yet. I just got basic skills unlocked

You can unlock the module from the pilot skill tree. Go to Skills-> Pilot Skills-> Mech Skills. There you can find it. However, once you unlock it, you will be able to buy it for C-Bills (convoluted, I know), from the Mechlab for 6 Million, I think.

[Void Angel]

Douglas grizzly, on 14 February 2016 - 08:06 AM, said:

thanks for the ideas. I think i am starting to become a better pilot as my base score is starting to creep up except for when i get ambushed by a light with radar dampening and or ecm. Saw one that had bot. reason i said that is he had the ecm icon along with a red triangle and even though i was still looking at him the triangle disappeared and it was tough go making him go away.

ECM doesn't make you invisible to sensor locks (the red triangle;) what it does is drastically reduce the range at which your sensors can see him - it multiplies your sensor range by 25%. ECM also jams sensors (and target information sharing) within 90m of the carrier, which will cause fuzzing of your HUD (and that neat signal bars icon over your teammates.) Taken together, these two effects mean that you can see and lock an ECM-carrying 'mech from distances between 200m (800m base sensor range x .25) and 90m. If you have a Beagle Active Probe and/or a sensor range module equipped, the maximum distance changes (250m; 300m for both) and BAP will of course cancel the nearest ECM system within a certain range, depending on tech base.

In any case, the reason it was hard for you to get rid of that enemy light was because you're only going 127kph. Since even a Wolfhound or Mist Lynx will still come within ~14kph of that speed (before Speed Tweak,) you're not going to be outrunning anything that's faster than an Urbanmech. Of course, you're getting more guns and heat sinks than you'd normally have out of it (that reminds me, my recommended build from earlier is incorrect This Here is what I'd recommend,) so you're not totally sunk.

What I'd recommend you do is stay sorta-kinda close to your team's main body (or the biggest 'mechs, if they scatter out) and watch the flanks. Use long sight lines to scout for the enemy, and try to stay in motion or behind cover otherwise. Once combat is joined, your priorities will be to chase the enemy's lights away from harassing your big 'mechs, and add your firepower to whatever enemy is most damaged and least able to pay attention to you (by virtue of having an Atlas in his face, for example.)

Edited by Void Angel, 14 February 2016 - 12:26 PM.