13 replies to this topic

[Kyrinthic]

So.. Back in the beta and when the game first came out, I enjoyed playing it. But other things came up, and I sort of fell out of it before I really got very deep into it.

Didnt really have the kind of money to lay out on founders mechs, but I did buy a few MC and grab the Heavy Metal when it was on sale. I spent my cadet money (I'm not entirely sure it was the same back then, I dont recall getting as much as people suggest you get these days) on a Catapult K2, and I got a centurian for free sometime between then and now, which I havent even take out of the garage yet.

So basically, I have either become a terrible player instead of a mediocre player in the interm, which is certainly possible, or my mechs have become woefully out of date, and I dont really know how to fix that easily.

I have all the basic tier skills capped on both mechs (not the cent though), but as I only have one mech of each type, I dont have any expert skills unlocked. Clearly the first thing I need to do is get a mech where I can have 3 varients available to play with, so I can get better skills.

I have done the new academy stuff and gotten around 5m cbills, and played a bit the last day or two, and am up to about 11-12m cbills right now. I may spend cash to get one of the mastery packs or one of the $20 3 varient mech bundles, but I cant be sure on that yet.

I think therefore, that my best course of action is to either buy two more catapults or 2 more highlanders, in order to increase my skill with them. Are these still viable enough mechs to work with, or should I cut my losses and start looking at newer, stronger mechs that fit the current game rather than the game a couple years ago?

I see there is now a Highlander IIC varient that uses clan tech which sounds exciting, but I am assuming the varients for that wont qualify me for experting with my existing highlander? If it does, that seems like the clear choice of a next purchase.

[Nerdboard]

Hi Kyrinthic,

just as you assumed getting 3 mechs of a kind is probably one of the best choices. Now lets get into you options.

First you could buy more of what you have. However, the Highlander is not a very strong mech. But it is possible to make it work. The question here is whether you want to start with a rather difficult mech and take the long road or if you want a strong mech to get into the game again.

If you do at any point decide for the Highlander, you should definitely get the 732B variant. It runs very well with Gauss + 3 Large Laser (or 3 Large Pulse Laser). The Highlander IIC is a different mech, as you suspected it will not help you master your Heavy Metal.

Second you have the Catapult. Personally I would say its not a bad mech but not a strong one either. The variant you have (K2) is probably the strongest. Try running it with 2 U-AC/5 + 4 Medium Laser. Just like with the Highlander I am very hesitant to recommend this mech to you as a beginner (or re-emerging pilot) as you might find you dont like it in the current game at all.


Now here is what I recommend to you: Take all the trial mechs for a ride. The arctic-cheetah, stormcrow, timberwolf and thunderbolt trial mechs are all good mechs from my point of view. Compare them to your Highlander and Catapult. Do you feel that they make up for the difficulties you encounter or is it the same regardless of the mech? If you do far better with the trial mechs then clearly your problem lies more with the mechs you own than with your ability to shoot people.

Once we have figured that out I am sure me and other people here on the forums will be able to recommend a few mechs for you to acquire.

tl;dr: Dont buy anything before you have tested the trial mechs. Give feedback on how you feel about them.

[shadowcat67]

I am not an expert, as I have only played MWO for 3 months (Have played table top and pc prev). I have 24 mechs at this point. 3 of them from a master pack, the rest from free to play.
I would say get 3 of one mech and work up the skills. Completing elite skills on 3 double the basic %.
It also depends on what you like to play, light, medium, etc. So do the mechs you have match your play style. I myself am a light/medium pilot. I don't like to go slow.
The catapult takes some effort to figure out best how to use to lrms. So that may not be the best one to start.
Also, take a look at metamechs.com to give you some ideas on loadouts. It may help you optimize your mechs.
Lastly, are you on comms with you team mates, that makes a big difference, if you have a plan and call out targets.
Good Luck. Hope to see you on the battlefield.

[Kyrinthic]

the 2UAC/4 med lasers is the build I have on the K2 (its the one I was using from before), It doesnt feel bad, per say, it just feels like everyone else is doing more damage these days, and I'm doing about the same.

The highlander does feel kind of rough, which is sad, because I hate to abandon it, 30% cbills is kind of nice.

I took the Dire wolf out for a spin a few times, and its fun, I like the weapon layout, but its a bit slower than I prefer. I enjoy more mobile assaults, or heavys in general. Part of what I like about the HM is the jump jets give me some neet options and mobility on a mech that big. I dont recall having done that great with lights in the past, they feel too fragile, but the stormcrow seems like it could be nice.

I have spectated some impressive things on people with the thunderbolt, I'll give that, and some of the others a try over the weekend and see where it takes me. I have no doubt that I will eventually come back to the mechs I have and try to get triple varients, but it may be best to let them gather dust for now.

[sycocys]

If you want to get your skill level up the two best option in my opinion -

Commandos - skip the 2D (low engine cap) + get 1 xl240 engine for them all
Hunchbacks - I recommend - 4SP, 4G, 4P - 3 engines - 235, 250, xl275 (xl is optional, but recommended for learning).

From these 2 variants you will learn everything you need to know about positioning, twisting, kiting, the 3 weapon types, arm vs torso mounted weapons (and armlock on/off), when to push and since they aren't high power you WILL learn to focus fire and take out crit components very early on.

And especially with the Commandos - once you are good with them (3-400ish damage and a kill average) you will really start to see your skill in all mechs improve vastly.

[Rhavin]

You mentioned buying MC or buying a Classic bundle, the marauder and warhammer are both pretty strong mechs. They can effectively run very meta builds. I can't speak for the rifleman, but I have jagermechs already so it's not on my purchase list. Aricher come oUT tomorrowas well, it is alot of speculation at this point as to how it wiLL perform. MC has the deals sale right now, but frankly I am not very impressed by the rewards, you get one mech, sure it's a clan mech but it's not nearly the deal that the first one was (it had innersphere mastery bundles)

Personally if i had 20 bucks and 5 million cbills I would buy a maurader or warhammer pack. Probably the warhammers. Useing the cbills properly I can make some solid mechs with some help from the forums. I would lvl them up in thier skill tree to elite and master my favorite one. By saving my cbills I would then buy 2 more Centurions and repeat. Haveing 2 heavys and 2 centurions would allow me to play CW and take the tour for Mechbays without useing a trial mech. After earning 2 more mechbays I would have the money to buy 2 more catapults or highlanders plus change. Or to just move on and pick up light mechs or whatever else caught my eye.

If you need help come back here. Always someone around to help and plenty of people to group with.

[Nerdboard]

Good to see that we most probably already figured out part 1 of the problem.

As for mech recommendations I can tell you the mechs I use often and like:

Griffin
Enforcer
Thunderbolt
Hellbringer
Grasshopper

As mentioned by someone else above the Warhammer and Marauder seem to be performing well at the moment. For builds you can take a look at metamechs but be careful as not all the builds are really optimized for quick play. But its a good start to get some inspiration.

Sycocys also made a good point with his recommendations but I suspect with the Commando at least you'll have a harder time than with your present mechs.

[Rogue Jedi]

I second the suggestion to try out all, or at least most of, the trial Mechs, preferably at least 2 games in each.

when trying the trial Mechs keep notes on what you liked or disliked about them, after you have tried them all if you want advice come back here with your notes and tell us what you liked and disliked about each.

e.g. if you are crazy you could come back saying the Dire Wolf was too fast, the Spider was too heavily armed, a stock engine urby felt about right in terms of speed and agility, and you realy like the Flamer, but hate all lasers, ACs and Missiles.

all Battlemechs can change engine and in a lot of cases can be faster and more agile than the trial Mech, the Clan trial Mechs are at current all Omnimechs ^{(the IIC Mechs and Kodiak are the only announced Clan Battlemechs at the time of this post)} Omnis have fixed engines but have the option to change "omnipods" allowing you to take or buy the arms, side torsos, legs and/or head from 1 variant of e.g. Timber Wolf and put them on another, you can completely change the hardpoints ^{(except CT hardpoints)} in exchange for having a locked engine and some locked equipment

Rhavin, on 11 March 2016 - 07:32 PM, said:

Aricher come oUT tomorrowas well,

the Archer comes out next patch which is on Tuesday, not tomorrow but otherwise that was good information

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 12 March 2016 - 07:52 AM.

[Kyrinthic]

I had some fun last night, I had a number of really good games in the thunderbolt.
I feel like less of a target in that mech for some reason, as long as I wasnt in front, people usually targeted larger mechs.
It had solid maneuverability, about as much speed as my catapult, but with jump jets.
I was impressed with the damage the pulse lasers stacked up. It feels wierd that 3 lpls would feel more damaging than the 2uac5s and 4 mls on the catapult, but it really did. I'm sure the solid perks were a good part of that.

I've taken the dire wolf out a few times as well, for its size, it doesnt feel slow, but you know, its not fast by any means either. I really do like the weapon configuration, though it feels like the gauss timing is different than it used to be, because I overheld it a few times at first. It does some solid damage and takes hits like a champ though.

I plan to play with a few more today and see where that goes, but the thunderbolt really felt good, even if it looks bland, and it seems pretty affordable. Are there other variants (other than the SE that the trial is) that are equally solid?

I will have to look at the marauder builds as well, I love the look of the mech at the very least, might be worth the money on that alone if it is a capable mech

[patoman]

One thing to think about is if you want to go all clan or inner sphere, you can do both but gear for one can't be used for the other, and CW you can olny use all one faction.

Something that wreaked by cbills going back in was upgrading engines on mechs to fill up space, avoid ever buying engines other than the ones that give the best bonus on built in heatsinks 300, 100, and anything that is in the 25 50 or 70 inbetween

Highlander IRC (and the others) are clan mechs that are not Omni, very old star leuge stuff that they use.

Only get the 3 versions of three mechs that are realy good for you, catapult comes to mind, because say you want ppc, lrm or laser they got a verison for each.

Edited by patoman, 12 March 2016 - 05:11 PM.

[Leone]

So, I'll be straight with ya. I don't really care for the Thunderbolt.

So when I tell you, that this thing is a fun mech to pilot, it should give an idea of the versatility of the chassis. Not my favourite mech, not by far, but it can be made fun. (By the way, that's the S variant there.)

Personally, I'd suggest the marauder, but it'll prolly be another month or two till it's out for cbills.

~Leone

Edited by Leone, 12 March 2016 - 06:57 PM.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Kyrinthic, on 12 March 2016 - 02:10 PM, said:

I had some fun last night, I had a number of really good games in the thunderbolt.
I feel like less of a target in that mech for some reason, as long as I wasnt in front, people usually targeted larger mechs.
It had solid maneuverability, about as much speed as my catapult, but with jump jets.
I was impressed with the damage the pulse lasers stacked up. It feels wierd that 3 lpls would feel more damaging than the 2uac5s and 4 mls on the catapult, but it really did. I'm sure the solid perks were a good part of that.

I've taken the dire wolf out a few times as well, for its size, it doesnt feel slow, but you know, its not fast by any means either. I really do like the weapon configuration, though it feels like the gauss timing is different than it used to be, because I overheld it a few times at first. It does some solid damage and takes hits like a champ though.

I plan to play with a few more today and see where that goes, but the thunderbolt really felt good, even if it looks bland, and it seems pretty affordable. Are there other variants (other than the SE that the trial is) that are equally solid?

I will have to look at the marauder builds as well, I love the look of the mech at the very least, might be worth the money on that alone if it is a capable mech

THUNDERBOLTS? Nice...

Okay, so the TDR is a solid chassis overall. I'd recommend getting two more (I know you're playing the trial -9SE, but you may as well abuse the trial for XP, even if you can't unlock the skills, and use the CBills to work up to a DIFFERENT one, and so on). Here's their relative specialties...

TDR-5S is a LARGE LASER boat. I run mine in CW with 4x LL.
TDR-5SS is a MEDIUM PULSE LASER boat. I don't bother with it, but a BUNCH of MPLs works just fine on it.
TDR-9S is a ERPPC boat. I also don't mess with it, but if I were more inclined to an ERPPC boat I would definitely use that one.
TDR-9SE is a LPL boat. You probably already know that. 3x in the LT, which puts them right under the cockpit.
Top Dog is ... well, it's special. Lacking any real quirks other than a generic 10% energy range buff, but has a BUNCH of cool structure buffs. Carries 9 E hard points, too, and 8 of those are torso points. Use your imagination. Simply changing to DHS is a huge buff to that mech, BTW.

None of them is particularly good for missile or ballistic weapons, but the current meta is laser vomit so you'll be just fine. And they DO have a variety of hard points for M and B weapons, so if you wanted to get all I-experimented-in-my-college-days with the TDRs, we won't judge you.

Yeah, the Thuds are a solid heavy mech.

Now, having said THAT, let's revisit that Catapult problem you've got there. CBill-bought won't get you the BEST Catapult (IMO, and dependent on the current meta), which is the JESTER hero mech. Take the CPLT-C1, replace its missile arms with the K2's energy arms, keep 2/4 JJs, and add DUAL AMS, and you have the Jester! It's got a ridiculously high engine cap, too. Running one with 5x LL and a fast engine is perfectly doable, and 2/5 LLs are in those HIGH E hard points you'll recognize from the K2. And did I mention a FAST CPLT WITH JJs AND DIRECT-FIRE E WEAPONS!?!?!?!?!? It's one of the few truly GOOD hero mechs. Also, the Catapults are due for a bit of shrinkage (the forthcoming rescale, which may also affect the mechs' quirks). Same speed and loadout, but smaller and therefore (ostensibly) harder to hit. SO, I'd consider the MASTERY BUNDLE for the CPLT chassis, since you've already got some investment in the K2. And since that'll give you TWO K2s, you can either keep both and have a CW drop deck (260 tons is the CURRENT upper limit), or sell one of the K2s (I'd recommend keeping the A1(C) for farming space bucks) and put the cash toward finishing out your TDR collection. Come out the other side with six 65-ton IS heavies, and some solid ones at that.

That said, I'm not particularly fond of the K2. No JJs, the torso mounts for the B weapons are kinda low, and the Jester just honestly outperforms it at everything BUT dakka. It was fearsome back in the day. Today, not so much. And honestly, it's best quirked for what it was intended to do--twin PPC sniping. I'm keeping mine for now, awaiting the rescale to see if that helps it any, but I'm not holding my breath, and I AM getting itchy for Warhawks.

Also consider the Hunchback, if you please. That's a VERY diverse chassis, having variants that focus on ballistic (-4G and -4H, and even the Gridiron hero), LRM (-4J), SRM/brawling (-4SP), and MOAR LAZORZ (-4P). They're cheap, they CAN be relatively mobile (though lacking JJs holds them back), and they'll be sure to teach you all about damage-spreading and good trading. Someone above (sycosys, maybe?) suggested as much, and I'm seconding that. It's just a great first mech, and can be really fun long after you've outgrown it.

Welcome back, by the way!

Also, Highlanders (IS or Clan) are pretty weak at the moment, though there are some oddballs that do well in them. Heavy Metal was a decent mech at some point long ago, but the meta moved on and left her behind. Probably not worth pulling her out of mothballs for a while, until you're happy enough with your mech collection that you can afford a trip down memory lane, or until the meta evolves again and brings her back into relevance.

[Eaerie]

If you have a little money to spend i recommend a marauder pack. They are good solid mechs and for $20 you get 3 of them.

[Kyrinthic]

Ok, I spent a fair few hours playing this over the weekend, and just wanted to go over what I felt about things.

I played very little on lights, most of my time was with a raven, because ECM seems very valuable. Overall, it was very survivable, and able to get into engagments from very enjoyable angles, and often getting several shots on enemys before they knew what was hitting them and reacted. But, it took forever to take out an enemy, unless they were already well damaged by allies, and while I had several battles that felt good (multiple kill assists, at least 1 personal kill, with solo or most damage, 300+ damage numbers), the scoreboard often felt low, and I rarely got credit in the pot-o-gold promo for the matches.

It just felt like you had to work a lot harder with the light to be as good as a larger mech, both in scoring and overall team benefit. I may try the cheetah a bit before I close the book on lights though, as I have heard good things.

Next, with the mediums, I tried the hunchback based on multiple comments here and elsewhere. And while I get that there is value to learning to torso twist, I am not great at it yet, and the hunch is such a huge target, and when it goes, you may as well power off. It feels like a terrible mech, with no real upside, and a laundry list of downsides. The best I can say for it is 'if you learn to be good on this thing, you can be good on anything', but I'd rather find something more fun to become good on.

The other medium I put a fair number of matches into was the stormcrow. It does a nice job of being maneuverable and hitting hard, but does require close range. It basically does everything the hunchback does, only better. As a primarily close range mech, I had a few issues, as the first 3 times I took it out, it was on the arctic LRM map, and there is very little I could do, but future games in better maps were quite enjoyable. It still felt like a poor inbetween for light and heavy though.

Overall, I dont think I really like medium mechs much. The speed is not enough to simply book it when things get rough like the raven, but the armor doesnt hold up to heavy fire. With careful play, you can definately use speed to help your defenses, but unlike a light, you really have to have your routes planned out if you want that speed to save you damage. I will probably leave mediums off my list for now.

Next up, heavy mechs, which is also where I spent a fair part of my time. Starting with the thunderbolt. It contiuned to perform well, but I did find myself under fire with it more than my first few matches, and it can feel somewhat fragile, though I rarely lost my guns quickly, unlike the hunchback with a similar layout. I could definately see myself using this moving forward, but again, its not nearly as cool looking as other mechs.

Next I also spent a lot of time on the timberwolf, this thing is a beast. It plays a lot like the thunderbolt, but feels like it hits a little harder and moves a little faster. I may consider this as a long term mech, but its varients are all quite pricey, so thats a downside. Another solid heavy mech to play though anyhow.

Last up the Ebon Jaguar and the catapult (A1 I think) were the other available heavy trials. I went with the EJ over the catapult because it was a fair bit faster and had better weapons outside of the LRMs, not to mention more LRMs. My first game I could not ever get a decent lock, and wound up getting jumped, I barely did any damage (like 15 points, it was embarassing). The next game I had a good run of it, using up all my missle ammo, with half to 2/3rds of it impacting mountains or locations of mechs with lost locks, but hey, learning curve, right? Its direct fire weapons are more formidable than I realized as well, which was nice. But overall, while I felt like I landed a lot of hits and really made a difference on the map, the end of game numbers showed me not hitting for nearly as much as I was expecting, Not sure how I get as mauled by LRMs as I do, clearly I am doing something wrong, but it wasnt unfun anyhow. Probably not going to push into LRM mechs for a while though.

Overall Heavy Mechs are probably my favorite to play. They are maneuverable enough to make useful tactical choices and change strategy, but big enough to pack a meaningful punch if you do get into favorable matchups.

Lastly I spent the second most timeframe in Assault mechs.

I played a lot of the king crab actually, its a surprisingly fun mech. I really like the feel of balistic weapons, the chunk chunk and explosion of an AC is far more satisfying than the little pointer that a laser looks like, and this mech delivered on that soundly. That said, it handles like a garbage truck, so you really need to have a plan going in, and on maps that I was less familiar with, it really showed (lets not talk about that actic lrm map, k), but on maps like the moonbase that I like and know somewhat, it was a lot of fun to play, and it looks pretty sharp too.

Next I played a good bit of the dire wolf, as a clan mech, it clearly packs more into the package than the IS mechs, with a pair of gause weapons and a giant stack of lasers. This mech is all about the firepower and durability. It somehow managed to be even slower than the crab I think. But if you get the drop on someone and unload all of your weapons, they are not going to have a good day. It too suffers from low mobility and poor defenses against LRMs though, and gause weapons are a little tricky when under fire, since you need to know the timing when you cant really hear it.

Overall, Assault mechs are a lot of fun to play, the lack of maneuverability means they tend to die quicker than heavy mechs for me, but when well supported, stomping over enemys with overwhelming firepower is a ton of fun.

========================================================================================

So, there is the breakdown of what I played, and I think I have a good idea what I am doing now, but still need a lot more practice, especially on certain aspects, torso twisting, and landing the longer duration lasers while in movement are two areas I feel notably weak on for example. Once the pot of gold promo comes in, I should be near or over 20m to play with.

I think I am going to play safe and buy two more catapults, as long as I transfer equipment, the cost should be fairly low, and I can get my K2 up to mastery. This process should net me enough money to afford a different mech, and I can continue to refine what I like, the patch this week is adding some new trial mechs to try as well.

I have to hold off on buying a pack for the moment, though I am looking at the kodiak as a very real option in the future, it looks pretty awesome, and the specs are nice too, with a lot of mobility for its size, and no lack of firepower to pay for it, got to love clan tech.

Edited by Kyrinthic, 14 March 2016 - 09:33 AM.