19 replies to this topic

[Agent005]

Super new player here, only have about 12 matches under belt as of now. While I love the concept of the game, the more I read about it, the more I get that feeling of "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing". And my impressions on the game are, so far, rather mixed. The fact that I'm stuck using trial mechs that I can't customize in any way, none of which I particularly like so far, until I finish my first 25 matches and have enough c-bills to afford something worth a damn is making it hard to motivate myself to play more. Then there's the fact that there's about a gazillion different factors I have to take into account when building my mech.

Then there's the actual gameplay. Matches seem to go one of two ways for me: Either my team gets mercilessly crushed (the most common occurrence), or the enemy team gets mercilessly crushed. I've had a couple close matches that were exciting, but those seem to be the exception as opposed to the rule. I don't like blow out victories nor do I like blow out losses; I'd much rather lose a close match than win a match with barely any effort.

This isn't a thread about me whining because I suck. I've accepted that fact. The problem is that while I adore the concept of the game - a tactical shooter with giant mechs - the early game grind is taking its toll on me. I know the best advice is to just get out there in-game - I could watch a thousand beginner's tips videos and read a thousand guides and it wouldn't improve my playing ability in the slightest - but do any of you guys have some advice on what I could do better, what I should practice, etc.? I really want to love this game, but I feel like an amateur football player going up against the Steelers, or whatever variation of that metaphor you want to use.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

12-0 stomps are not uncommon in solo-que (aka PUG) matches.

And frankly, because of the general mechanic of this game, not horribly rare even in group que.

What should you work on? Cant say without knowing what you already can or cannot do.
Im a firm believer in practice makes perfect, which really just means, keep playing.

Im going to jump on the game in an hour or so, and I dont think many of my team mates are going to be on, so if you want send me an invite and I would be happy to try to help.

[Cy Mitchell]

It gets better....and then it doesn't. I was just starting to feel like I had a clue. Had an awesome run of gong 9-1 the other night. Tonight I signed on with the intent of finishing the basic skill on the last of my three Novas. I was horrible. I think my teams record tonight was 6-15. I had a couple matches where I walked right into the enemy and died having done only about 100 or so damage. Even when I thought we had a great push and were watching our flank we got slaughtered. I had one game where I scored 500 damage and 2 kills. My team only had three kills total. Even in that game I made mistakes. I started with a short range build and we seemed to get all the open maps. So I went back to the mechlab and completely rebuilt it into a mid-range build with AMS and it got a little better but all and all; tough night. I finally gave up still needing 3000 EXP to unlock the last basic skill. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Just keep plugin away. It will come slowly. Make sure you do the tutorials in the academy for some extra c-bills and then enjoy your payout for those first 25 matches.

[DemonicDonut]

Read all you can about the game, my sig has a good link.

If you tell us what you like, we might be able to point you in a direction. Deciding the first mech you buy is important. Most common recommendation is a medium. Pick what you like and don't get too hung up on it, you can always buy more.

It's a fun game, but it can be frustrating. Especially if your mech's usefulness relies somewhat on the group.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

OP: That is probably the experience of the vast majority of players. It gets better.

WELCOME ABOARD, BY THE WAY!

Okay, so what to work on? Well, first thing's first. You've got to figure out just how much you have to learn about EVERYTHING, and that's probably A LOT. No offense. I knew the BattleTech/MechWarrior universe from the 1980's, when it was dice and cardboard cutouts (couldn't find/afford the nice stuff). Still got my junk crushed for a solid month before scoring kill #1.

With a dozen-ish matches under your belt, I'm gonna go ahead and say that I DOUBT you know yet what classes/roles really interest you, what strengths and weaknesses you'll have as a player, etc.

So, SERIOUSLY, the first best piece of advice is, KEEP PLAYING. Some things will start to become apparent, like (for example):

"That guy over there in that {type_of_mech] keeps pushing my junk in. I wanna be HIM."
"Okay, every time I run a mech with [type_of_weapon], I get higher damage than usual. I should try to ALWAYS use these!"
"Ah, so THAT'S how I can sneak up on the LRM boat and push HIS junk in. NICE!"

And so on.

DO THE ACADEMY TUTORIAL! And go play around in the Academy. Use the Shooting Gallery to get more comfortable with ballistic weapons and PPCs, so you can more confidently and consistently hit distant moving targets. Use the Onslaught feature to get used to prioritizing targets, picking out the weak spots and focusing them off quickly, etc. Keep playing through the Running Cored and Gauntlet features, and get used to protecting yourself and quickly identifying where that fire came from. Most of all, get around to the BattleZone, and apply what you've learned about survivability. OH, and be sure to check out the various mechs that you can 'borrow' there, too. Not really optimized builds, but more options that aren't generally available as trial mechs.

ALSO, as trial mechs go, the only GOOD ones are the ones that have a (C) after their model. Those are Champion mechs. The current crop of Champion mechs were all designed by MWO players. While they may not be the most meta-compliant builds out there, some of them are close and all are fairly good. The non-Champion trials, though? Junk. Great in old tabletop Battletech, maybe, but about as helpful as a dead skunk in MWO.

Again, WELCOME.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

Ok, I am going to do my 1 good deed of the year, so I can go back to trolling for the rest of the year...

First off, go into settings (in game) and uncheck the following things:

Throttle decay, front end glass, cockpit monitors, All chat, (and depending on if you have good arm weapons- Arm Lock).

Also, dont play in third person view- (unless for some reason you want to scout over a mountain as a light mech without exposing your mech to enemy fire... And even then, you probably still should play in first person view).

Bring your ingame sensitivity down low! I dont know why, but the game default is max... And thats way to high for most players. I personally play at 0.2, but of course you sill want to fine tune it... But start low, way low! (Light mech pilots might have it higher then other pilots).

For simplicity, lets change a few keybinds as well while we are at it. Scroll down to where you see:

Set Throttle + and change it to W (double click, then hit W when prompt)
Then:
Set Theottlw - and change it to S (double click, then hit S when prompt)

Ok now that were done with settings... Lets move on to actually playing the game!

Theres an in game tip that basically says the same thing I am about to say.
Think of your mech as a tank!
The top half of your body (from the waist up) is the turret! This is your field of view as well as where the bulk of your weapons (probably all of your weapons) are. This is basically the way you are facing. Movement of the mouse is what moves this upper section of your mech.

The bottom half of your body (from the waist down) is the chassis of the tank. This is the direction you will walk/run/reverse. The dirrection the large arrow is pointing is the facing of your legs. WASD is what controlls leg movement.

Both the top and bottom of your mech can move, and mastering this (while might take while) will make mwo a much more enjoyable experience.

Hitting the letter R will target enemies and display their armor levels on an enemy paper doll (which I believe is located at the top right of your screen. This is a very imporant aspect of this game, so always try and target enemies, especially since enemies that you target, your ally team mates can also target, even if they dont have vision of the target.

Lastly do not buy your first mech until you find what mech you will actually like playing. (Because you will need to eventually buy 3 different version of said chasis.

I would write more but I'm getting lazy... So Ill end my post here. Enjoy!

[Agent005]

Much appreciated for the kind words, folks. So it really just goes back to what I was thinking before: Just become more experienced. I feel like after the last match I played, I'm starting to "get it", so to speak. I avoided a lot of the common mistakes I was making in matches prior, and I was doing pretty good work on the enemies with my Timber Wolf. I find that I tend to enjoy the range game most (a bit unusual for me seeing as how I'm normally the type to get right in the enemy's face). I think I might give the Timber Wolf a rest for a while and try out the Shadow Cat, since it has a gauss rifle as opposed to the Timber Wolf's large pulse lasers.

I think when I wrote that initial post, I was more or less just frustrated looking at everything and seeing just how much I don't know what I'm doing. I'm certainly gonna keep at it. The amount of fun I have during those close matches is something that I haven't experienced from a game in a long time.

[MechWarrior4023212]

As long as you use the same mech that you are going to buy you are generating xp to spend on it and make it better.

25 matches is nothing, some do that in a day...

[Leone]

I actually like throttle decay.... I mean, I've got seperate buttons for setting speed percentages.

Anyways, for me, biggest thing that turned my gaming around for me? Hit 'b'. it is, by default your mini map. Awesome right!? you even get a little one on you hud, bottom center. Me, I've always been more've a rts person. So, think about it from a situational standpoint, and you'll often live longer an get more damage in.

Just don't get hung up on the whole trying to survive the match thing. Best case, half the players who drop in any one match die. More often, al more've em do. Accept it, and learn to make your death help the team cinch the win, and you'll be golden.

Also, in the mech lab, there's a little button on the bottom, just to the right of the LFG button. Should be flashing blue. Click it. It's the in game chat section. kinda hard to use and not great at all, but if I'm on, an don't miss you messages between drops (big if, don't wait for me,) then I'd be happy to help out.

~Leone.

[DirtyChewie]

Just to expand on the good advise already given, and in no particular order

1) Stay away from Faction Warfare for the moment, at the stage you're at, it will depress you and could drive you away from the game entirely. You might (and probably will) want to get to it at some stage but not yet.

2) Find out which playstyle suits you. I like all playstyles and have a good selection of mechs so I can change it up given my preference on any particular day but in general for me, long range suits me better due in large part to my PC being quite (very) old and I get terrible framerates when close in brawling. My average framerate is between 20 -30 fps but if there's a lot going on on screen I might be getting as low as 8-10 fps which is pretty much unplayable. This is with all settings set to low and a low resolution. If you like brawling or close in action or just like tearing it up in fast light mechs then make sure your framerate can keep up, consider adjusting your detail levels if need be. You can see your framerate in game by pressing F9

3) In game, a BIG part of improving your experience is patience and positioning. You will get a feel for when to push and when to retreat. You'll want to stick with your teammates as much as possible in general as they will provide covering fire, share armour and provide more targets for the enemy. It can be very tempting to race ahead in a faster mech to get into the action quicker but you'll get yourself isolated and targeted by multiple mechs. The result will be a frustrating game where it feels like everyone else is better or more powerful.

4) Spectate. When you die, don't leave the game, spectate your teammates, you'll learn how other plays and what loadouts/mechs they use.

[Tezzereth]

In playing trial mechs, focus on trying out all the various weapons MWO has to offer, and base you future purchase off of that.

And for each mech, don't focus on what they have equipped, focus how they move instead.

[Allouez]

I would also stress that it's a good idea to complete a few of the tutorials. If nothing else, finish the first few so you get your 5 million c-bills. It will take you maybe an hour or two tops and nets a pretty good chunk of money that could go towards your first mech. As far as buying mechs go, sounds like you've been sticking with more clan mechs. I don't have much experience with clan mechs so I can't give advice there on which ones are good for a newer player, but I would recommend that whatever chassis you go with, pick one you would like to get 3 variants from so you can level it past basic. The step change for mastered/elite mechs isn't as big as it used to be, but it does still make a difference.

[sLAyeRiNLovE3]

Hello and welcome to the game!
Glad to have newbies to prey on hehehe

Jokes aside, the above advice are great.
Mine would be to join ASAP a unit ie guild; alliance; whatever you call it in the other MMOs.

There are plenty on all timezones and more than less encline to accept brand new players.
They will not be able to feed you with cash but with knowledge and a friendly and emulating environment for most.
Playing together in group, with people assigned to help you over vocal communications is really a game changer.

Enjoy from now on!

[el piromaniaco]

Welcome!

My 2 cents (and some things already written)


Play the turorial. Really good to teach you the basics, let's you try out mechs ans weapons. Earns you some cbills.

Disable cockpitglass, yes, Throttle decay? Depends on your preferences.
Disable All chat? why? You can send taunting remarks to the enemy

Spectate when you die. Every time. Switch between the players you spectate on.

Keep playing.

Send me a friend request. If we happen to be online at the same time i invite you to a private match if you want to try out some things.

Get to know the maps by playing the testing grounds.

Stay away from CW for the beginning.

That's all for now, have fun.

Greetings

el piro

P.S.: Trial Mechs can't be customized and don't have all armor activated. So dying happens a lot faster. As soon as you have your own mech, fully equipped things will be easier.

Edited by el piromaniaco, 03 March 2016 - 03:52 AM.

[Varvar86]

I advise you to find friends you can play together with and negotiate live on TS. This will help you to improve your skill, find answers and most important – have fun and not being too frustrated about bad results. All games are just for fun.

[Doctor Dinosaur]

Another tip (unless you are in a light mech), always stick to the team. It has been said before, BUT: Even if you absolutely know that everyone is making a wrong move, even (and specially) then stick with them.
- If everyone dies, your only survival won't turn the tides against 10-12 enemies
- Supplying your armour and firepower could let your team survive the trap (you might die in the process though)

Another one: Dieing is not bad. You did well if you've done around 250+ damage on the battlefield, or enabled your team to do as much more damage (laser tagging, NARC etc.). More often than not a single person will not be able to carry the team (at least in the lower tier), and statistically your chance of surviving a match is only about 25% anyways.
But try to not die as the first one.

[Eaerie]

All great advice for starting out.
Big thing i can say is don't get in a hurry to buy your first mech. When the time comes to buy one, have an idea of an idea about what style of play you prefer and what weight class you like. Hop on the forums, look around ask for advice on your first mech, then do some research
There is a LOT of little details that go into piloting a mech that you will get the hang of as you play more, so while doing the trial work on the big stuff like movement, targeting with arm and torso weapons, twisting, learning the maps, locking targets and working the best you can with your team.

[jss78]

On top of the good advice above, I'd just point out that the Trial 'mechs are NOT bad. In fact, they are the Champion versions of those mechs, with great loadouts which are based on community feedback. So just in case that eases the frustration, I'd view the trials as an opportunity and not a punishment.

After your first 25 games (cadet bonus) plus with the c-bills from the Academy, you can buy just about any 'mech.

[JMuss]

I didn't see this show up in the comments yet, if it did I missed it. But use this website http://metamechs.com/ to take a look at current meta builds, not everyone will agree with playing with meta only mechs but it's always a good place to start since they'll typically be more user friendly then something you may build yourself. I finished my first 25 matches in a night or two, did terrible overall but I made sure to play every trial mech at least once to see how I liked them. I seemed to like the Hunchback trial the most, so I built my own and just hated it.

Finally discovered the metamechs website, and http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/ and I built a meta Quickdraw that has so far become my go to mech. Now after using meta mechs and figuring out what I like and don't like I'm far more comfortable building (and spending those C-Bills) on making my own mechs based on my play style.

Learn your playstyle, give the trial mechs a try, do some research, and have fun. The game gets better as you progress, it's just a matter of working through the cadet stage and earning that initial income. Once you build your own mechs it really starts to pick up.

[el piromaniaco]

I do agree that smurfys is a great place to build mechs without wasting money, but the metamechs are to be taken with a grain of salt.
Some of them are really effective, but most of them are not really suitable for beginners, imho, and nothing to master a mech (learn the way it has to be played, his weaknesses and its strong points, etc.)
In the end a mechs has to fit your personality, which evolves while riding your mech. The so called meta may have the highest dps for a specific chassis, but you may play ten times better with the right setup for you.