40 replies to this topic

[habu86]

TheSABER, on 04 March 2016 - 09:30 AM, said:

Omo, sir Im loving your choice of words. I'm actually very much looking forward to light mechs. Can you explain wtf is a tag and ecm?

Tag is a 1-ton laser designator. Speeds up missile locks and overcomes ECM.

ECM stands for Electronic Counter Measures (aka the "jesus box"). It makes your mech difficult-to-impossible to lock unless overcome by BAP, TAG, PPC hits, repeated hits from other types of weapons, or close range. It also helps slow down enemy missile locks and can be used to "suppress" enemy lrm and streak boats by moving closer than 90m to them.

[Alistair Winter]

TheSABER, on 04 March 2016 - 09:30 AM, said:

Omo, sir Im loving your choice of words. I'm actually very much looking forward to light mechs. Can you explain wtf is a tag and ecm?

Good luck with them, if you pick them. You may not get much respect if you run the Easy Mode light mechs (though to be fair, the average MWO player doesn't do very well even with those) but all the less powerful light mechs are a challenge. Particularly because other players in Arctic Cheetahs and Firestarters basically stroke their egos by hunting inferior light mechs.

TAG is a laser that permits friendly units to get faster target locks for guided missiles. As long as your TAG-laser is continuously hitting a target, it will be tagged and friendly mechs can get faster target locks. You get paid C-bills if guided missiles are hitting the guy you're tagging. You also get paid extra if the guy you're tagging hasn't detected you (TAG stealth) and if your teammates kills the guy with guided missiles while he's tagged (TAG kill)

ECM (aka magic Jesus box) makes your mech difficult to detect from long range, interferes with enemy mech radars at close range, prevents target locks,stops enemies from detecting allied mechs within 90 meters, and...generally just interferes with radars.

[stealthraccoon]

Laserboats have no soul!

I wholeheartedly recommend giving light mechs a whirl, you can learn some excellent skills when you are running for your life.

Locusts, Commandos, Spiders and Mist Lynx will show you how to exist with a (very) limited weapons payload. The Panthers, Jenners and Wolfhounds don't move as fast, but can pack a punch and generally take a few hits. The holiest of mechs, the Urbanmech, is only for the true of heart - or a complete masochist.

Hunchback will also give you a broad range of options and is a whole lot of fun, the 4G being the standard.
[smurfy]http://mwo.smurfy-ne...e52224e172f5d10[/smurfy]
Speed is for running away!

[Dawnstealer]

Hatchetman.

[TheSABER]

stealthraccoon, on 04 March 2016 - 09:41 AM, said:

Laserboats have no soul!

I wholeheartedly recommend giving light mechs a whirl, you can learn some excellent skills when you are running for your life.

Locusts, Commandos, Spiders and Mist Lynx will show you how to exist with a (very) limited weapons payload. The Panthers, Jenners and Wolfhounds don't move as fast, but can pack a punch and generally take a few hits. The holiest of mechs, the Urbanmech, is only for the true of heart - or a complete masochist.

Hunchback will also give you a broad range of options and is a whole lot of fun, the 4G being the standard.
[smurfy]http://mwo.smurfy-ne...e52224e172f5d10[/smurfy]
Speed is for running away!

I'm still quite confused about this Urbanmech. Forgive for not catching on, but is it a joke or legitimate mech? I haven't even seen a picture of it. Looking I up now.

[Lordred]

TheSABER, on 04 March 2016 - 09:48 AM, said:

I'm still quite confused about this Urbanmech. Forgive for not catching on, but is it a joke or legitimate mech? I haven't even seen a picture of it. Looking I up now.

The Urbanmech is both a joke, and a legitimate mech. It can only be had with real money though.

[Dawnstealer]

TheSABER, on 04 March 2016 - 09:48 AM, said:

I'm still quite confused about this Urbanmech. Forgive for not catching on, but is it a joke or legitimate mech? I haven't even seen a picture of it. Looking I up now.

It can be, but it's a very niche mech. In the right hands, it can be effective, but you have to pilot it right. That said? It's a fun mech with a unique 360-degree torso twist.

[Burke IV]

Tag also gives a 50% tracking bonus to your LRMs http://mwo.gamepedia..._Gear_%28TAG%29

I feel the op is not taking on board the importance of eliting your mechs. Stop thinking about how your next mech is going to be better, its not you willhave to elite that line too. You have teh cbils, get those BKs

[Malleus011]

Urbanmechs are beloved because for many years they were, hands down, the worst 'mech that you could probably design if you were trying. Russ didn't believe that we really wanted it in MWO because it was so bad in Battletech.

However, once we got them, they definitely have something to offer. 360 torso twist, high weapon mounts, and reasonable hard points ... not exactly what you'd call a 'good' mech (compared to a Hankyu or Jenner) but better than everyone expected.

To reiterate, you really should take three chassis to master. Getting Elite skills on three Black Knights doubles the Basic skill bonuses you've already unlocked. Worth doing.

[TheSABER]

Burke IV, on 04 March 2016 - 09:51 AM, said:

Tag also gives a 50% tracking bonus to your LRMs http://mwo.gamepedia..._Gear_%28TAG%29

I feel the op is not taking on board the importance of eliting your mechs. Stop thinking about how your next mech is going to be better, its not you willhave to elite that line too. You have teh cbils, get those BKs

Sir, yessir. Will do. I was actually planning to buy a another one or two. But I'm currently limited to only 4 mech bays you see. I haven't like this game enough to commit with cold hard cash yet. I want to try out different playstyles and mechs whilst I can to decide whether this game is something fun for me to immerse myself in. This why I started this thread. Also, how far is the max range of a tag if I can target a mech halfway across the mao, that seems to be OP.

[Archangel.84]

I'm gonna echo the light crowd - I'm not especially good in them but (especially after running fearsome Knights) they're thrilling as hell to run around with.

[Burke IV]

Tag is 750m. If you try to judge the game on un elited mechs you wont get a clear picture

[sycocys]

Lostdragon, on 04 March 2016 - 09:13 AM, said:

Get HBKs. They are very versatile, can snipe, brawl, and lurm.

The IIC-B is ridiculous fun.

[TITANIUMsmoothy]

Ebon Jaguar (65 tonner)

Can run pretty much run any build be it energy, ballistic, missile or mixed builds.

You only need one variant to try a wide variety of builds, can change hardpoints with omnipods from other Ebon Jaguars.

Top speed of 81 kph

[Malleus011]

TheSABER, on 04 March 2016 - 09:58 AM, said:

Sir, yessir. Will do. I was actually planning to buy a another one or two. But I'm currently limited to only 4 mech bays you see. I haven't like this game enough to commit with cold hard cash yet. I want to try out different playstyles and mechs whilst I can to decide whether this game is something fun for me to immerse myself in. This why I started this thread. Also, how far is the max range of a tag if I can target a mech halfway across the mao, that seems to be OP.

You can earn free Mechbays in 'Faction Play' (aka Community Warfare) though you'll have a much better time playing CW with an organized group. It's still in beta and isn't that great yet.

Also, there are occasional events with free Mechbays and goodies as well. They're also pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things.

Though, IMHO, the current 20$ early adopter Phoenix Hawk pack is probably the best deal they have running for cash right now.

[Felicitatem Parco]

I found you can achieve good diversity in the Mauler series of Mechs. It is a 90 Ton Assault Mech, so it will naturally be slower and less nimble than the Black Knight, but can carry copious firepower and armor.

The Maulers can be specialized to carry up to 4 missiles plus energy and ballistic backups, or up to 6 ballistics with energy and missile backups, or up to 6 energy with ballistic and missile backups. The possible combinations are vast, and it's a great platform for standardizing on heavy/copious ballistics. The are my favorites at the moment :-)

A similar story exists for JagerMechs, but they are 65 tons and can be fragile. They have very high-mounted guns and are fun to snipe with using any type of autocannon. A version also exists with many arm-mounted missiles which are great for both SRMs and LRMs. The Hero-version, the Firebrand, trades half the high-mounted gun barrels for energy slots, instead, providing more diversity. These Mechs often work best with fragile, but lightweight XL engines and loads of weapons to serve as "Glass Cannons."

Inner Sphere Hunchbacks are squat little fellows at 50 tons, and offer a good mix of energy, ballistic, and missile options.. But are a little lacking in the missile department. You'll find they do best with a big gun and many Lasers to back it. They have excellent torso-twisting ability and can swing their arms around so far that you can run in a straight line and still shoot someone who's directly behind you.

Edited by Prosperity Park, 04 March 2016 - 01:17 PM.

[4rcs1ne]

Lordred, on 04 March 2016 - 09:50 AM, said:

The Urbanmech is eboth a joke, and a legitimate mech. It can only be had with real money though.

Didn't they release it for c bills?

[Narcissistic Martyr]

Hunchies man.

Want Dakka? You got it.

LRMaggedon? Done and done.

SRM flanker? Sure.

Laser bulimia? Yup there's a hunch for that.

Matt2496, on 04 March 2016 - 01:24 PM, said:

Didn't they release it for c bills?

They did

[Brandarr Gunnarson]

TheSABER, on 04 March 2016 - 09:58 AM, said:

Sir, yessir. Will do. I was actually planning to buy a another one or two. But I'm currently limited to only 4 mech bays you see. I haven't like this game enough to commit with cold hard cash yet. I want to try out different playstyles and mechs whilst I can to decide whether this game is something fun for me to immerse myself in. This why I started this thread. Also, how far is the max range of a tag if I can target a mech halfway across the mao, that seems to be OP.

If you haven't committed to the game yet, you may want to stick to alternate variants of the same 'Mech.

Eliting them (as some others have suggested) will notably increase their performance and bring out their full potential.

On the other hand, since you have just 4 bays, you could spend 1 on another 'Mech and still have room to follow up with 2 of whichever you like better. (You have to unlock all Basic Skills on 3 variants to open Elite Skills on the 'Mech and unlock all Elite Skills on 3 variants to open Master Skills on the 'Mech.)

If you like the idea of and want to try King Crabs, go for it. They'll be slow and tanky.

[Vashramire]

It's hard to know what mechs to get even with recommendations till you pilot them. Luckily lights are cheap so no real loss if you don't like them. I love my Panthers, Wolfhounds, and Spiders as reliable mechs for being strong in most scenarios. Not that other lights are bad.

If you want variety then I would suggest Hunchbacks. No 2 play the same and you can do nearly any role with at least 1 of them. I don't find the shoulder tumor as big a detriment as some do. Play smart and you'll keep it the whole match. If you don't want to worry about hunches then get the HBK-4SP as a brawler. Symmetrical SRM/laser mech with good durability. As a plus you can run standard engines in a lot and zombie around with a head laser even if you do lose both torsos. Many have fallen to the mighty head laser of doom.

Enforcers are also good if you want similar loadouts to the Hunchback but with JJs and XL friendly.