20 replies to this topic

[Hugh Chardon]

I know this is mostly beaten to death in the forums, but I am admittedly too lazy to look up all the beatings...

I'm a newbie to the game. I've done the first 25 missions without spending anything, so I'm sitting on 20m c-bills, and I'm wondering how I should spend them on my own actual mechs (given that I'm not ready to drop actual cash into the game yet).

I'd like some advice about which mechs I should buy with my resources (again assuming that I'm a F2P player). I'm still not remotely familiar with the meta-game-play or even any game-play past "quick-play". I'll list some of my newbie observations and preferences, and, hopefully, someone more learned in this game can help me decide what actually matches my tastes.

The 3 mechs I've played the most thus far are Stormcrow, Hunchback, and Arctic Cheetah.

Here's my initial impressions of these mechs so far:

Stormcrow: Of the mechs I've played, I like this one the most, but the prices are obscene. I'm vaguely aware that I need to buy 3 of each type. I can almost afford 2 of these, but farming the c-bills for the 3rd seems huge to me at this point since I'm so crappy a pilot, I tend to make only 30k-60k a match. I really love its mobility, and I love that the default build is a laser-boat, but I have no idea if it's realistic to think that'll I'll grind enough c-bills in short order to "open" up the bonuses (which I'm still not actually sure "how they work"/"what they do").

Hunchback: I've been using this one a lot due to the recommendations that I've seen, but so far I don't like it that much. I like the fact the default is a laser-boat, but I hate the actual layout on the mech. It actually has too many lasers, and they're all in a location that's easily knocked out. I've had several matches where all I'm left with is the single laser in the head. It's also painfully slow to me. I've not gotten the hang of piloting and aiming yet. I know that I'll improve over time, but still, the mech is so agonizingly slow! A plus is the fact that it's cheap as hell and would allow me to have enough money to buy 3 more of another inner sphere mech (about which I have another newbie question later on).

Arctic Cheetah: I straight up love driving this mech! It's fast. The jumpjets get me over obstacles, I can circle many enemy mechs faster than they can turn their torsos, yet I'm not good enough with aiming to do much with the default load-out of 5 er-small lasers. I mostly run around and try to target with this guy and hope some LRM boat hits my target before I die. It's pricey too, but I can afford 3 just barely. Would I be too crippled financially if I start off buffing this one?

I've tried a few other mechs, but I tend to ineffectually die in them since I'm not yet used to missile targeting and ammo conservation (and appropriate weapon group switching). The few observations I have for the heavies and assaults I've.tried using is that they're slow and by the time I notice someone pummeling me, it's too late to turn around and do anything about it.




A meta-issue with all of this is the fact that I don't really know how the upgrade system works. I know that skills are unlocked for each mech and then for each mech type, but then there's this "module" thing which I don't quite understand. I've gathered that modules can be earned by "eliting" 3 mechs in a ton-age class, but I still don't understand fundamentally how the "modules" operate. Am I supposed to earn 1 module per ton-age class for a maximum of 4 modules (if so, am I best off just eliting 4 classes of inner sphere mechs to start off with?)? Am I able to equip all the modules I earn across all classes, or is it class specific?

So given this giant pile of text, what do people think I should spend my resources on? (Also, I've not started the whole faction play part, so I have absolutely no clue what I'm supposed to aim for in that particular area either.)

Another question....are there guilds/clans or something to join so I can chat with a more local "community" to get gaming tips? There's nothing obvious that I see in the main page which seems strangely lacking for this sort of game.

Edited by Hugh Chardon, 23 February 2016 - 01:41 AM.

[Takashi Uchida]

Hello and welcome to MWO. I can give you some quick pointers based on what you've provided here,

There are three sort of "Types" of mechs in MWO. Inner sphere battlemechs, clan omnimechs, and clan battlemechs.

Inner Sphere battlemechs: The stock mech usually does not come with upgrades. You'll have to pay for them. You can freely change the engine and upgrades. The Hunchbacks are Inner Sphere battlemechs.

Clan Omnimechs: Stock mech comes with fixed upgrades and engines that are not alterable. However, you can freely swap out body parts (omnipods) between the same chassis type (like an Stormcrow-A left arm for a Stormcrow-B left arm). The Stormcrow and Artic Cheetah are Clan Omnimechs.

Clan battlemechs: These are a relatively new addition to the game itself. Only some are currently available for cbills and they are usually up there with clan omnimechs in price. This is because they tend to come with upgrades and an expensive Clan XL engine. Like the inner sphere battlemechs, you can freely change out the engine and upgrades, but you cannot switch around the individual body parts (arms, legs, etc).

The reason why clan mechs as a whole seem more expensive than inner sphere mechs is because they come with upgrades and an expensive engine already. Inner sphere mechs can seem deceptively cheap, especially if you plan on using an XL engine. The Hunchbacks can be pretty cheap because most of them do the best with a standard engine. This is because the maximum engine size you can put in them is fairly low, most of them are geared toward close to mid ranged combat, and their side torso tends to be hittable (if your side torso is destroyed and you have a inner sphere XL engine, you die). The exception is the Hunchback-4J which is well suited to missile support.

The Stormcrow and Arctic Cheetah are both great choices, though they can encourage bad habits because of how well they perform, especially the Cheetah, where you have speed, ECM (radar jamming), jump jets, and good hitboxes. But if you wish to play the very best in mediums, you will be hard pressed to find something substantially better than the Stormcrow. The Hunchbacks are very good too, but are harsh teachers. If you dedicate the time to it though, you'll learn how to protect your vulnerable components and use your entire side as a shield. These kinds of techniques can be adapted to most mechs.

Please take a look at this excellent general guide to the game. It's not fully up to date but the concepts are still applicable.

https://docs.google....d.g263f6502b_00

It's worth at least skimming the entire thing. But for your specific issues:

13: Hunchback builds
14: Cheetah and Stormcrow builds
25-26, 30: Mech upgrades
31-33: Skill system, XP
34-35: Modules
46: How to "roll damage," very important in general but especially for asymetrical builds like the Hunchback
48: Community info

[Kurbeks]

Also have you finished training grounds you can make few M CB's there. I think 5M

I would go for Crow first buy 2, while you are leveling them up, you will have money for 3rd. If no buy that ACH.


And welcome to MWO


Also don't worry abotu modules at first you need GXP to unlock them which you won't have enough at beggining, and they are quite costly. Only later use them to upgrade you best mechs. radar derp is probably first one you wanna unlock at 15000 GXP

Edited by Kurbeks, 23 February 2016 - 12:57 AM.

[Prof RJ Gumby]

If you like Cheetahs and stormcrows, just go get them.
3-of-each-type rule is based on the skill tree levels unlock requirements. The skill tree works as follows:
BASICS:
-skills improve overall mech performance, but currently, except heat capacity/dissipation, they do not help that much
-you gather xp for every match you play (amount depend on performance)
-you gather xp for the mech chassis you use in a match,(so if you play stormcrow A, you get xp for stormcrow A, not for stormcrow B or any other chassis
-you gather xp even if you don't own the mech (the xp you gather in a trial mech will be accessible to spend if you buy the mech one day)
-addititional letters in brackets does not count as marking of different chassis (that trial hunchback 4P(C) [champion variant] uses the same skill tree and xp pool as the regular hunchback 4P

SKILL TREE LEVELS:
-there are 3 levels of skills: basic, elite, master
-basic skills are always unlocked if you have 'that mech"
-to unlock elite skills, you need to buy all basic skills in 3 chassis of the same mech (i.e. SCR-A, SCR-B, SCR-C)
-to unlock master, you need to buy all elite skills in 3 chassis OF THE SAME WEIGHT CLASS. There are only 4 weight classes: light (20-35tons), medium (40-55tons), heavy (60-75tons), assault (75-100tons). So, i.e. it may be SCR-A, SCR-B, SCR-C, but master can be also unlocked with one stormcrow, one hunchback and 1 nova, or any other such combination)

MODULES
That's completely different story. IMHO you shouldn't focus on modules right now, as most of them are rather endgame content. Just get ready to get seismic sensor and radar deprivation one day in the future.

They work like that:
-they can be unlocked with G(eneral)XP only (chassis skills can be unlocked with both XP and GXP, but don't use the latter for mech skills, it's not worth it)
-you use that gxp to unlock access to a module via the skil tree->pilot skills
-some modules can be also upgraded with gxp, via the same procedure
-this allows you to buy that module in mechlab (3-6 million c-bills, be warned!)
-once bought, the module can be put into the mech to provide its bonuses. Apart from CW (where there are matches you use up to 4 mechs in one battle), you only need 1 module of a given type, because you can just move them to the mech you want to play now at any time.

--------------
If you like stormcors and cheetahs, just go buy them. Start with cheetahs, they like 50% cheaper. Plus, it's not like they will be useless until you got 3 of them. Elited is better than not elited, but it's not night-and-day difference.

---
Don't bother with CW right now. At least not until you run out of mechbays.

[Rogue Jedi]

Hugh Chardon, on 22 February 2016 - 11:13 PM, said:

I know this is mostly beaten to death in the forums, but I am admittedly too lazy to look up all the beatings...

I'm a newbie to the game. I've done the first 25 missions without spending anything, so I'm sitting on 20m c-bills, and I'm wondering how I should spend them on my own actual mechs (given that I'm not ready to drop actual cash into the game yet).

I'd like some advice about which mechs I should buy with my resources (again assuming that I'm a F2P player). I'm still not remotely familiar with the meta-game-play or even any game-play past "quick-play". I'll list some of my newbie observations and preferences, and, hopefully, someone more learned in this game can help me decide what actually matches my tastes.

The 3 mechs I've played the most thus far are Stormcrow, Hunchback, and Arctic Cheetah.

Here's my initial impressions of these mechs so far:

Stormcrow: Of the mechs I've played, I like this one the most, but the prices are obscene. I'm vaguely aware that I need to buy 3 of each type. I can almost afford 2 of these, but farming the c-bills for the 3rd seems huge to me at this point since I'm so crappy a pilot, I tend to make only 30k-60k a match. I really love its mobility, and I love that the default build is a laser-boat, but I have no idea if it's realistic to think that'll I'll grind enough c-bills in short order to "open" up the bonuses (which I'm still not actually sure "how they work"/"what they do").

Hunchback: I've been using this one a lot due to the recommendations that I've seen, but so far I don't like it that much. I like the fact the default is a laser-boat, but I hate the actual layout on the mech. It actually has too many lasers, and they're all in a location that's easily knocked out. I've had several matches where all I'm left with the single laser in the head. It's also painfully slow to me. I've not gotten the hang of piloting and aiming yet. I know that I'll improve over time, but still, the mech seems painfully slow to me. A plus is the fact that it's cheap as hell and would allow me to have enough money to buy 3 more of another inner sphere mech (about which I have another newbie question later on).

Arctic Cheetah: I straight up love driving this mech! It's fast. The jumpjets get me over obstacles, I can circle many enemy mechs faster than they can turn their torsos, yet I'm not good enough with aiming to do much with the default load-out of 5 er-small lasers. I mostly run around and try to target with this guy and hope some LRM boat hits my target before I die. It's pricey too, but I can afford 3 just barely. Would I be too crippled financially if I start off buffing this one?

I've tried a few other mechs, but I tend to ineffectually die in them since I'm not yet used to missle targeting and ammo conservation (and appropriate weapon group switching). The few observations I have for the heavies and assaults I've.tried using is that they're slow and by the time I notice someone pummeling me, it's too late to turn around and do anything about it.




A meta-issue with all of this is the fact that I don't really know how the upgrade system works. I know that skills are unlocked for each mech and then for each mech type, but then there's this "module" thing which I don't quite understand. I've gathered that modules can be earned by "eliting" 3 mechs in a ton-age class, but I still don't understand fundamentally how the "modules" operate. Am I supposed to earn 1 module per ton-age class for a maximum of 4 modules (if so, am I best off just eliting 4 classes of inner sphere mechs to start off with?)? Am I able to equip all the modules I earn across all classes, or is it class specific?

So given this giant pile of text, what do people think I should spend my resources on? (Also, I've not started the whole faction play part, so I have absolutely no clue what I'm supposed to aim for in that particular area either.)

Another question....are there guilds/clans or something to join so I can chat with a more local "community" to get gaming tips? There's nothing obvious that I see in the main page which seems strangely lacking for this sort of game.

if you like Lights the ACH may not look it but it is realy pretty cheep for a combat ready Light Mech, its closest Inner Sphere competitors would be Spider or Firestarter which after purchasing and upgrading will cost at least 9.5 million compared to 7 million each for the ACH, if you learn on Lights you will learn positioning and caution ^{(including knowing to rarely stop moving)} to avoid getting killed with a single hit, a definite risk in a Light Mech.
similar Mechs worth looking at include the Spider and Firestarter

there are reasons the Hunchback is commonly recommended, mostly because it is cheep. each variant has a different focus meaning you get a lot of play styles in a single chassis and you will quickly learn to defend the hunch, once you can do that you know the secret to making any Mech a lot more durable.
If you are finding 89kph too slow that means you can only play Lights and the faster mediums, 89 is faster than the top speed of all but 2 heavies ^{(Dragon and Quickdraw can do Stormcrow speeds if you are willing to compromise on firepower)} and all assault Mechs.

the Stormcrow is one of the best Mechs in the game, it is fast, agile, has excellent hitboxes for spreading damage, can pack a lot of firepower, and can mount a wide variety of different load-outs on any variant thanks to Omnipods, however if you learn on it you will be slow to learn many important skills as you can get away with a lot in a Stormcrow which you cannot in many other Mechs, I recommend not getting Such a great Mech as your first, because after the Stormcrow most other Mechs will feel underwhelming.
also look at the Enforcer, Crab, Wolverine, Griffin, Shadow Hawk, Shadow Cat, and Cicada

use the following link to design your Mechs then save and share here to get advice
http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab

the decision is yours but considering what you said I recommend the Arctic Cheetah, Spider or Firestarter.

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 23 February 2016 - 01:22 AM.

[Kurbeks]

Griffin definately not as first mech. Too expensive and too short range. Blackjack is still great with two of it's variants.

[JC Daxion]

you played 25 missions, and have 20m?


Play another 75 missions, in the other trials. When you first drop in a mech you have no clue how mechs plays till you learn um and that takes time. Often your first drops in a mech, you can think this mech sucks i hate it! Then you learn to play it over 50-100 missions and all of a sudden it's your favorite.

I can say for a fact that many mechs i did not like the first 25-50 matches A bunch have become some of my favorites. Others never grew on me, but then again, maybe i never gave them enough time. Or more likely i just have to many and not enough time to play um all, so i just play the ones i really like more often than not. (most are not consider best mechs, but they do have their fans. Cicada 3M, AC5+ML, Wolverine 7K SRM6+ML, Cent AH SRM4+AC-20, Stalker 3F SRM4+10's+Energy,, commando 2D SRM2, Raven 3L SRM4+ML, HBK 4SP SRM4+5ML, the hit and run brawler built like a brick <bleep>house,, ect


New players should drop 5-10 matches in every trial before buying their first mechs.. That is my advice, and i will stick to it. thats 40-80 drops min, before even thinking about buying a mech..

another thing, go into training grounds, Play against the non moving targets, learn to maneuver, group fire, maintain DPS, ext.. twist away then back and hit a target you are circling.. Learn the game mechanics when not being shot at.. Take a few nights.. spend 5-10 hours practicing.. then go back to launching matches.

You will now understand the maps, understand heat, understand weapons, weapon systems, how different mechs move.. ect.. you will be worlds better, and can make a much better decision.

Edited by JC Daxion, 23 February 2016 - 04:06 AM.

[The Basilisk]

Welcome to MWO.

-->Mechs:

The mechs you liked and played most so far are the mechs that are the most forgiving.

What you don't like about the hunchback is the thing you have to learn and deal with in this game to be any good for your team.
Avoid....pinpoint....concentrated....damage ! _{Or somebody will hit you where it hurts most.}

The Stormcrow is a quite well loved mech mech because it is versatile and forgiving.
The ACH is just....while it has been redone and nerfed already it has still ... issues with its hitboxes, its geometry and the fact its topspeed is close to what the game engine can do makes its hitdetection questionable at best.
So what shall I say....its still easy mode delux for the light class.
If you want to learn something drive Jenner or Firestarter.

There is a distinctive difference between beginner friendly and forgiving.
The Stormcrow will teach you about loadouts and configuring your mech for different roles because it can do so many different things sufficiently well.

The Hunchback will teach you more about piloting, avoiding concentrated damage, the difference in usage between distributed smal and mainguns and how IS mechs and weapon classes function. ( Laser, AC, missile, Hunchback )

The ACH is forgiving...for a light....you won't learn much with this thingy, especially not how to drive other lights.

-->Modules: Long story short, dont bother about them until you have lots of C-bills and don't know how to spend them. This is stuff for getting the optimum out of your mech build.
There are 3 main categorys of modules:
-Mechmodules for altering or improving the performance of your mech.
Top 2 modules are Seismic Sensors and Radardeprivation.
-Weaponmodules increase the range and cooldown of the respective weapons or items.
-Consumeables are thingis you !deplete! on use so you consume money for usage.
Not easy to use but correctly applyed they can turn a game.
You unlock and level up your possible modules in the pilot tree department under your skills tab.

-->Mech Skills and Pilot Skills: Mech skills concern your spezific chassis. Pilot skills concern your available mech, weapon and consumable modules.
Every mech has at least one mech module slot from the start, two weapon module slots and at least one unlockable mech/weapon module slot.
The unlockable module is unlocked by leveling the mech up to master level.

-->Mech mastery level: Your mech has three mastery levels.
Basic, accessible from the start for every mech you can own.
Elite only accessible when you have the basic level completed for 3 different chassis of one mech type.
Master module slot only accessible when you have elite completed on three chassis of the respective weight class. ( Light, Medium, Heavy, Assault )

-->Community: I strongly recommend doing some research on the games background before joining a Mech unit. Community, teamplay and joining a unit /= quick and easy way to learn how to get gud.
Search BATTLETECH.
There is no general recruitment subforum because it would be pointless before you selected a way you want to play, a faction or at least IS or Clan.
There are local forums should you not be from an english speaking country.
They are listed on the bottom of the homepage forums tab.

-->Meta: Its a kind of philosophy discussion.
My opinion is get the hang of the games basics, they do not change, meta does, so first get into the game ( some hundred matches ) then start to bother about what you can do to get the optimum from the current meta.
Basics: how to avoid or take on damage, how to use the different weapon categorys ( lazor does dmg over time so keep them steady on target but dont have to much facetime, ballistic frontload dmg --> need to leed cause of projectile travel time but less face time, Lurms and why you should not use them too much as new player and how you are hurting your team when you use them indirectly from afar, etc.)
And...yea so much more.

So far...have fun

Edited by The Basilisk, 23 February 2016 - 03:23 AM.

[Rhavin]

Just a little note after all of the useful advice found above. It sounds to me like you might have your mouse sensitivity set too high. Lower it in the options menu and try that arctic cheetah out in the testing grounds. Might make a vast difference in your aiming.

Also remember that it's often best to wait on your larger and/or more experianced teammates to engage before revealing yourself when you are piloting a light or medium mech. Adding your damage to thiers while they are getting shot at is a win for you. Don't fall too deeply into the trap that you are a scout. Sure it's handy to scout, but in a game with a 15 min time limit and win conditions the other team is looking for you as well.

[Rogue Jedi]

Rhavin, on 23 February 2016 - 05:03 AM, said:

Also remember that it's often best to wait on your larger and/or more experianced teammates to engage before revealing yourself when you are piloting a light or medium mech. Adding your damage to thiers while they are getting shot at is a win for you. Don't fall too deeply into the trap that you are a scout. Sure it's handy to scout, but in a game with a 15 min time limit and win conditions the other team is looking for you as well.

Light and Medium Mechs work best ether supporting the big guys or flanking, that is coming up beside/behind the enemy while your big guys are attacking from the front, if you have to choose between shooting at 2-4 Light/Medium Mechs or 8-10 heavy/assault Mechs what would you shoot at?
.
as for Light specific advice;
while scouting can give your team a huge advantage it does not give much in the way of rewards for the scout, and is high risk because if the enemy see you there is a chance they can kill you or seriously damage you in the first few minutes, perhaps with you doing no damage.
things like getting the enemy to chase you, or to turn around and face you a few seconds before you know most of your team will engage them can win the match for your team but you get almost nothing for it beyond the satisfaction of knowing you were instrumental in the win.

if you want to make money in a Light the easy ways to do it are stay with the team until the battle starts then hit and run doing as much damage as possible, or forming a "Wolf Pack" of 3+ fast Mechs and go hunting any lone enemies.

[Kyynele]

Hugh Chardon, on 22 February 2016 - 11:13 PM, said:

Arctic Cheetah: I straight up love driving this mech! It's fast. The jumpjets get me over obstacles, I can circle many enemy mechs faster than they can turn their torsos, yet I'm not good enough with aiming to do much with the default load-out of 5 er-small lasers. I mostly run around and try to target with this guy and hope some LRM boat hits my target before I die. It's pricey too, but I can afford 3 just barely. Would I be too crippled financially if I start off buffing this one?

ACH is a good mech, but you absolutely need your first mech to be one you can deal lots of damage in, because that's where the money comes from. If you can't confidently deal a lot of damage in it, I wouldn't buy it as a first mech. Also, there's only a handful of good builds for the ACH, so it doesn't offer much of variety, which you'd likely value as a new player with a limited access to mechs.

I'd get the Stormcrow first, it's a relatively easy mech to play, is very versatile with it's different omnipod configurations, and can pack so much punch you shouldn't have to leave matches empty handed even if you die early. Should be one of the easier ways to keep the money coming in.

[IraqiWalker]

Hugh Chardon, on 22 February 2016 - 11:13 PM, said:

I know this is mostly beaten to death in the forums, but I am admittedly too lazy to look up all the beatings...

I'm a newbie to the game. I've done the first 25 missions without spending anything, so I'm sitting on 20m c-bills, and I'm wondering how I should spend them on my own actual mechs (given that I'm not ready to drop actual cash into the game yet).

I'd like some advice about which mechs I should buy with my resources (again assuming that I'm a F2P player). I'm still not remotely familiar with the meta-game-play or even any game-play past "quick-play". I'll list some of my newbie observations and preferences, and, hopefully, someone more learned in this game can help me decide what actually matches my tastes.

The 3 mechs I've played the most thus far are Stormcrow, Hunchback, and Arctic Cheetah.

Here's my initial impressions of these mechs so far:

Stormcrow: Of the mechs I've played, I like this one the most, but the prices are obscene. I'm vaguely aware that I need to buy 3 of each type. I can almost afford 2 of these, but farming the c-bills for the 3rd seems huge to me at this point since I'm so crappy a pilot, I tend to make only 30k-60k a match. I really love its mobility, and I love that the default build is a laser-boat, but I have no idea if it's realistic to think that'll I'll grind enough c-bills in short order to "open" up the bonuses (which I'm still not actually sure "how they work"/"what they do").

Hunchback: I've been using this one a lot due to the recommendations that I've seen, but so far I don't like it that much. I like the fact the default is a laser-boat, but I hate the actual layout on the mech. It actually has too many lasers, and they're all in a location that's easily knocked out. I've had several matches where all I'm left with is the single laser in the head. It's also painfully slow to me. I've not gotten the hang of piloting and aiming yet. I know that I'll improve over time, but still, the mech is so agonizingly slow! A plus is the fact that it's cheap as hell and would allow me to have enough money to buy 3 more of another inner sphere mech (about which I have another newbie question later on).

Arctic Cheetah: I straight up love driving this mech! It's fast. The jumpjets get me over obstacles, I can circle many enemy mechs faster than they can turn their torsos, yet I'm not good enough with aiming to do much with the default load-out of 5 er-small lasers. I mostly run around and try to target with this guy and hope some LRM boat hits my target before I die. It's pricey too, but I can afford 3 just barely. Would I be too crippled financially if I start off buffing this one?

I've tried a few other mechs, but I tend to ineffectually die in them since I'm not yet used to missile targeting and ammo conservation (and appropriate weapon group switching). The few observations I have for the heavies and assaults I've.tried using is that they're slow and by the time I notice someone pummeling me, it's too late to turn around and do anything about it.




A meta-issue with all of this is the fact that I don't really know how the upgrade system works. I know that skills are unlocked for each mech and then for each mech type, but then there's this "module" thing which I don't quite understand. I've gathered that modules can be earned by "eliting" 3 mechs in a ton-age class, but I still don't understand fundamentally how the "modules" operate. Am I supposed to earn 1 module per ton-age class for a maximum of 4 modules (if so, am I best off just eliting 4 classes of inner sphere mechs to start off with?)? Am I able to equip all the modules I earn across all classes, or is it class specific?

So given this giant pile of text, what do people think I should spend my resources on? (Also, I've not started the whole faction play part, so I have absolutely no clue what I'm supposed to aim for in that particular area either.)

Another question....are there guilds/clans or something to join so I can chat with a more local "community" to get gaming tips? There's nothing obvious that I see in the main page which seems strangely lacking for this sort of game.

I would recommend the Hunchback, and Stormcrow without blinking. Both of those mechs are very very solid performers.

The skill system is easy to explain:

three variants of a chassis (so HBK-4SP, HBK-4J, HBK-4G, for example) need full basics in order for you to have access to the elite tier of skills. Then you need three mechs in that weight class to have full elites. It's any three mechs, so basically, you can just take the three mechs you already did full basics with them, and get them to full elites, to access the Master tier skill.

NOTICE: the Champion version of a variant does not count as a different one. Champions will have the designation [C]. All trial mechs are champion mechs, basically they are builds designed by the community, to help new players integrate into the game. So if you have a RVN-3L [C], and a RVN-3L, for the purposes of XP, and skills, they will be counted as the same mech, and their earned XP, is pooled into the RVN-3L pool.

I'll also leave you these two links:

1- mwo.smurfy-net.de use this website to theorycraft builds for your mechs. It will be your best friend.

2- This mech building guide to help you understand how to build/upgrade your mechs in the mechbay. Bear in mind, that if you pick an omni mech (All clan mechs other than the IIC mechs, and the upcoming Kodiak), you cannot change the Structure or armor type, or even replace the engine. However, you can swap around their limbs, and torso sections to mix and match the hardpoints however you like.

So:

Battlemechs can't change their hardpoints, but they can change their internals.
while Omnimechs can't change their internals, but can change their hardpoints.

The others have answered your other questions well enough, XD.


If you have other questions, feel free to ask them, and Welcome to MWO.

Edited by IraqiWalker, 23 February 2016 - 06:19 AM.

[JC Daxion]

Rogue Jedi, on 23 February 2016 - 05:18 AM, said:

.
as for Light specific advice;
while scouting can give your team a huge advantage it does not give much in the way of rewards for the scout, and is high risk because if the enemy see you there is a chance they can kill you or seriously damage you in the first few minutes, perhaps with you doing no damage.

That, and in pugs, them actually listening to any scouting info is 50/50 at best.. Try, but don't get to caught up in it.. You can have 5 mechs 200m away, and say it, and the team will run in the other direction.

Scouting really is a huge help though, and when teams work together it can really be a tide turner. all that said, lights, mediums and fast heavies can all fill that roll on most maps. Polar and terra are really the only maps that lights really shine as far as scouting goes, the other maps are small enough and have good lines of site that any fast mech, 90-100KPH can fill the roll for the most part.

this is purely about pugs..

[Ollorin]

Well, if you've been using the Hunchback with the stock loadout, then yeah I'd agree it's painfully slow.

The good news is that if you swap out the 200 engine with a 255 or 275 it actually gets around pretty nicely. With a 255 engine and the speed tweak skill my HBK-4p does 88.8 kph. With a 275 engine (max size allowed for this mech) it'll do 95.7kph. On top of that, Hunchies are just all round good mechs. Personally, I have my HBK-4P packed with two large lasers and five medium pulse lasers, giving me only 2 weapon groups to worry about.

Alternatively, the Blackjack is also a nice mech as well. And if you like a mech that's made for lasers, has high mounts, and can really move, then take a look at the BJ-1X. I have mine fitted out with and XL 275 engine and it does 99 kph without speed tweak. And this thing can take up to a 295 engine. Of course that XL engine is going to set you back quite a bit but with a little planning you can simply share that engine between mechs down the road. The Blackjack can't tank as well as the Hunchback but due to the weapon mount locations and it's speed, you can poke out, shoot, and drop back behind cover to mitigate any incoming damage.

Centurions are a good option as well. They are actually pretty tanky, have large shield arms to help block incoming damage, and if you run a STD engine you can run around "zombie mode" (no arms or side torsos) with a pair of medium lasers mounted in the center torso. They also can mount up to a 275 engine giving you a speed of 95.7kph with speed tweak.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

The Stormcrow is well worth the price. It is one of the most versatile mechs in the game.
Also consider in the long run you only need to keep one of em as you can just swap omnipods and there no unique CTs.

Hunchie is also very versatile, but requires you to own several chasis to keep your options optimized. The off set being the cheaper price point.

[Leone]

Hugh Chardon, on 22 February 2016 - 11:13 PM, said:

So given this giant pile of text, what do people think I should spend my resources on? (Also, I've not started the whole faction play part, so I have absolutely no clue what I'm supposed to aim for in that particular area either.)

From the sounds of it, you should get the Stormcrows or the Cheetahs. Personally, whilest I love lights, I think they're a bit harsh to learn on as a new pilot, and would steer you towards the stormcrows to start, with Cheetahs as a second. If you choose to do so, I would leave the trial variant for your third purchase, since you can still get xp on it before you purchase it, so as to make grinding easier.

As for Faction play, or community warfare as it has been called, that's where I spend most of my time. I find it more fun an rewarding, but be warned, there is no matchmaker there. However, there are easy to get free mechbays just for participating. Rank two in each loyalty tree. I'd suggest signing up with Clan Ghost bear for a week an friending me in game. If I see you whilest I'm on (Which hasn't been too often, of late,) We can get together an I'll show you the ropes.

Hugh Chardon, on 22 February 2016 - 11:13 PM, said:

Another question....are there guilds/clans or something to join so I can chat with a more local "community" to get gaming tips? There's nothing obvious that I see in the main page which seems strangely lacking for this sort of game.

There are units, Player created groups who'll show up on your friends section (The little button bottom of thescreen, just to the right of the LFG button.) Makes it easier to group up for Group queue or CW (Community Warfare,) I suggest actually hopping around factions in CW until you meet a group you like, but if you prefer there are usually folks recruiting over in the CW section of the forums.

~Leone.

[Wildstreak]

Modules come in three types all of which have to be bought for C-Bills and are expensive.

Mech Modules usually add or enhance abilities. Can be pricey from 2 - 6 million CB. Good ones include:
Seismic Sensor 6 mil
Radar Deprivation 6 mil
Target Info Gathering 4 mil
Sensor Range 2 mil
Some others are situational such as Advanced Zoom 2 mil only good if you have really long range weapons.
These can be swapped out on any Mech so initially you can use only 1 and add/remove it to whatever Mech you are currently using.

Weapon Modules either add Range or shorten Cooldown times for Weapons except the AMS (fires faster) and NARC (lasts longer). These are only good for certain weapons/equipment. Starting out I would only recommend getting those for weapons you use on several Mechs.
These can be swapped out on any Mech so initially you can use only 1 and add/remove it to whatever Mech you are currently using.

Consumables give temporary benefits depending on type but once used, you must pay a CB cost to get a new one. You do not have to use them every match but the more you use them the more you spend to replace them. A good rules I found here is this:
If you can make 40K CB on your worst matches, then you can use 1 Consumable.
If you can make 80K CB on your worst matches, then you can use 2 Consumables.
Your average earnings per match need to be higher than that because you want to make a profit if you use any consumable.
Exception to this is the Cool Shot 6 that only costs 10K.
Certain ones will give benefits to XP and CB in matches especially a well placed UAV. Other good ones are well placed Strikes, Arty does a circle around placement, Air does a line starting from placement, and Cool Shots if you run somewhat hot.

You cannot have 2 copies of the same Module on any Mech.

About your Mech choices, I would say the following are good Mechs for you.

Ice Ferrets are faster and can be done with up to 5 lasers.
Novas are usually lasers but difficult to play depending on weapons used.
Stormcrow though you need to pay the cost.
Some Cicadas have speed and mainly lasers.
Blackjacks can be done as speed and Lasers.
Crabs can speed and laser plus take damage well if using STD engines.
Most Hunchbacks can be done as pure lasers, having several weapons in the Right Torso is a weakness that can be dealt with by taking some damage on the left side.

Light Mechs like the Cheetah are difficult due to play at high speed with weakest armor. Similar ones would include Firestarter (same but no ECM), Wolfhound (same but no ECM or jump jets), Adder (slower, no ECM or jump jets but can do all lasers). Kit Fox is slower but also possible and can be modified for jump jets and ECM.

You can also search through guides here for build ideas and see the cost of buying and modifying Mechs before buying in game. Bookmarking sites with some build ideas like this can help too, choose Guides then IS or Clan then Mech, not all Mechs are there but enough.

[P]

Get the Crows
its versatile and fast and have high Alphas. sadly crows cant fly while the freaking whale can :/
Most recommend getting the crows for the initial grinds

[Not A Real RAbbi]

I second the recommendation to keep playing trial mechs for a while, and save those CBills.

Find a mech that, while you don't necessarily do great in it, you have FUN in it. Play the CRAP out of that one (like a whole Saturday, dawn to dusk, just drop after drop after drop, in that ONE mech), and if you can still stand to even look at it after that, then THAT is the one.

Buy three of that mech.

Damn what everyone says is a GOOD mech, or meta-compliant mech, or best-first-purchase mech.

Or, if you simply MUST run out and burn a pile of CBills, then buy three different Hunchbacks (I'd recommend, if you can swing the cash, to buy the Mastery Pack). Get the HBK-4J, the HBK-4P (which you've already played), and the HBK-4H or -4G. You COULD switch out the -4J or -4P for the -4SP, too, but I'd really recommend taking the -4J (best LRM-10 mech in the game, in the opinion of most). Then burn an even BIGGER pile of CBills on upgrades (Double Heat Sinks, better engines, maybe EndoSteel internal structure, different weapons, more armor, blah blah blah) to make them JUST the way you want them.

And keep a ruler handy as you go forward to the next chassis. Why? Because whenever the dust on those Hunchies gets over 1mm thick, you're gonna want to brush them off and go for a spin.

They're so good, I may end up re-buying the whole collection because REASONS!

[JC Daxion]

Boogie138, on 23 February 2016 - 06:00 PM, said:

The Stormcrow is well worth the price. It is one of the most versatile mechs in the game.
Also consider in the long run you only need to keep one of em as you can just swap omnipods and there no unique CTs.

Hunchie is also very versatile, but requires you to own several chasis to keep your options optimized. The off set being the cheaper price point.

Pretty much the reason to recommend the HBK as your first mech. For your starter 20m, You can buy,

The 4H (i recommend it over the 4G for the simple fact you can run more lasers with an ac-10 set up, but also try the 4G ac-20+3ML build, it also has some a versatile ac5/UAC5 builds. You don't get the mega quirks of the 4G, but the 4G is a one trick pony, and light on ammo, both make it not a good starter mech for those reasons.

the 4SP, the dual missile version. Many will say get the 4J, it's better, But the 4SP is the only hunchless HBK, and has some good structure quirks, letting you spread damage well, and the thing tanks like a champ. You can also try XL engine builds in it, and run the same dual LRM10 build as the 4J. Again more flexiblity, and a bit tankier, makes it a better choice.

Lastly, the 4P, its the energy boat. I personally found other mechs that i run as energy boats, but i will one day go back to the 4P and give it another shot, as the last time i played it i was so much worse than i am now. But i have played many mechs that run similar amounts of ML's, or pulse, or Small pulse, PPC's ect.. The 4P you can run tons of combos, and have um work well.


Upgrade all your HBKs to double heat sinks, and endo steel, then buy an STD250.. for me it's another great starter engine. Can use it in all the builds, and has good enough speed to twist well, and flank and such. The reast of your money will goto buying some weapons to try out all these builds.


By the time you get to master on all 3 you will have a much better understanding of how the unlocks work, how much they help, and hopefully be well on your way to loving the game! 100 matches in trials, and perhaps another 250+ to master all 3.. you will have a very firm grasp on what you like and don't and most likely will have 30-40 or even 50m banked by this point to try your hand at a next step in mastery, maybe lights, or heavies or even assaults..


I add this for the main fact that IS mediums are really a great way to get going and try everything for cheep. Even the stormcrow while a great mech, it also has it's down sides as you can play lazy, not twist and use its above average medium speed and hit boxes to cover up bad play. then you switch to something else and get destroyed. Learn to play on a mech that makes you learn is a far better way to learn. (this coming from the guy that learned to play on a dragon with an XL before quirks.. just ask anyone how hard that was. My next step was HBK's and it put me on the right path.

HBK's are just a great way to learn with starter money, and not feel like you have to keep grinding more money just to master.. you also will beable to save your first bits of grinding money to buy a Seismic and radar dep, and Info targeting gathering or a hill climb module.. and really understand what a loaded out mech plays like.