40 replies to this topic

[s1rGr1nG0]

A couple days ago I installed the client. This morning I played in my first 2 actual matches before having to head out to work. I didn't get any kills but did get some assists, (I was in a Dragon I bought with C-Bills), I survived the first match and died in the 2nd one.

Being new to the game I have a question or two for you guys.
Can we use "trial" mechs in actual games to get xp and c-bills? I've been kicking around the idea of buying one of the $20 or maybe $40 packs to get some additional mechs but there are so many to choose from with such a wide array of load outs it gets pretty confusing.

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times here already but if someone could point me in the direction of some n00b reading material I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

[Infinite Freedom]

Yes, you can use trial mechs to gain c-bills and GXP. If you buy the same chasis as the trial mech, any exp that you've earned on the trial will transfer to the standard one... I think.

Before you lay down the cash though, figure out your playstyle and what weapons you prefer.

Edited by Infinite Freedom, 23 March 2016 - 08:56 AM.

[Dingo Cerrera]

hey...welcome to the show.
You can use trial mechs to get c-bills and gxp and you can farm xp for each chassis you try as trial.
I'd further recommend not to spend real money as a starter. I'd rather wait and play a couple of days/weeks to get some experience and get to know about the different mechs. Then you know better where to spend your money on.

good luck and rock n roll

[Koniving]

s1rGr1nG0, on 23 March 2016 - 08:42 AM, said:

A couple days ago I installed the client. This morning I played in my first 2 actual matches before having to head out to work. I didn't get any kills but did get some assists, (I was in a Dragon I bought with C-Bills), I survived the first match and died in the 2nd one.

Having bought a Dragon with cbills, something tells me you began in the Academy. That's good.

Don't expect to get kills right away. This game isn't "easy" about getting kills. Myself I took 2 weeks before I got my first kill and back when I started in 2012, mechs could be used as battering rams.

Quote

Being new to the game I have a question or two for you guys.
Can we use "trial" mechs in actual games to get xp and c-bills? I've been kicking around the idea of buying one of the $20 or maybe $40 packs to get some additional mechs but there are so many to choose from with such a wide array of load outs it gets pretty confusing.

First:
Can you use trial mechs to get XP and cbills?
Yes. You can't 'use' the XP unless you own a mech of the same designation as the trial (the C bit doesn't matter, but if it is an AS7-D, then you need to own the AS7-D to be able to actually spend the XP on improving the mech).
The Cbills are yours to do whatever you want with.

Second:
I'll be honest. Until you have an idea of what you like, it is not possible to responsibly recommend what to spend your money on.

Return with an idea of what you like (in terms of speed, maneuverability, armor/tankiness, firepower, weaponry, and tactics / how you play), and then I can recommend something for you.

Quote

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times here already but if someone could point me in the direction of some n00b reading material I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

Truth be told the cbills/XP question does not get asked much.
"What to spend on" is pretty common though.

Also: Welcome to MWO.

[invernomuto]

For the reading material, I suggest Metamechs site, it's very useful:

http://metamechs.com/

My experience (I started to play on February 1st) I bought the Cataphract as my first mech then I decided to invest after 2 weeks some money on a Marauder standard pack (20$): for me it's a lot of value for the money, the mech is solid and you get 3 mechbay and three good variants in the pack.

Edited by invernomuto, 23 March 2016 - 09:12 AM.

[Podex]

I'm going to echo everyone else, find your playstyle first.

Don't do what I did and buy an AWS-8Q right off the bat, which is quite honestly the 2nd worst mech that fits how I play.

Welcome, glad you're here!

[p4r4g0n]

Do not buy anything right off the bat.

It is impossible for people to tell you what mechs are best because it depends on your playstyle which will evolve as well as you get more experienced with MWO. Use the trials to get an idea of what works best for you, watch other players once you are dead to see how they play to pick up tips, ideas, etc.

The only advice I would give a new pilot as far as mech choice is concerned is do not start with assault or light mechs as they are quite difficult to do well in for inexperienced pilots.

Once you have an idea about which mech suits your playstyle best, you will then need to learn how to customize your mech to optimize it.

Note that while IS mechs are cheaper to buy, you will spend a lot more to get it optimized which will bring it more or less to parity with Clan mechs cost wise.

[Morggo]

What everyone else said and my .2...

Drive each of the trial mechs at least 5-10 drops each. There's 4 chassis per weight class, 2 IS, 2 Clan if I recall. So yeah, it'll take part of your weekend. But that will give you a fair sampling across maps and teams in each mech to start to get a feel for your preferences and potential play style.

Side perk is, you'll rack up a pile of extra cbills in the process to add to your academy earnings.
THEN you can use your new experiences to pop back in here and we'll be able to offer up more pointed and tailored mech advice before you go purchase.

... as an aside, you may have an idea what you think you'll drive. Don't give in to that assumption until you try lots of chassis. Case in point... me.. I SWORE I would never drive a light. Thought those guys were stone crackpot nuts. Today, my best driving is as a light pilot.

(and you know what, I was right... stone barking mad us lights.... )

Wecome to MWO pilot!

[Void Angel]

s1rGr1nG0, on 23 March 2016 - 08:42 AM, said:

Being new to the game I have a question or two for you guys.
Can we use "trial" mechs in actual games to get xp and c-bills? I've been kicking around the idea of buying one of the $20 or maybe $40 packs to get some additional mechs but there are so many to choose from with such a wide array of load outs it gets pretty confusing.

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times here already but if someone could point me in the direction of some n00b reading material I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

Welcome! As a first read, I would recommend This 'Mechsellent Comic! This guy's work gives you a very solid tactical framework for learning the game, and is incredibly accessible - a must-read.

Then there's Smurfy's Awesome Mechlab, the best reference site I have ever encountered for a game. This is open in a tab of my browser at all times.

And finally, I have a couple of guides I wrote myself - these are the ones linked in my signature, if you care to peruse them. They're not general tactical guides, but rather mini-treatises on general teamwork and passivity, respectively. Others have found them useful - enough to translate one of them into French - and I think they'll serve you as well. =)

As for 'mechs, a few words of advice:

• You will need to have three of a single chassis and purchase all of the Basic level pilot skills for it (skills tab in the UI.) Once you have all the Basic skills, you'll be able to pick up the Elite level of skills. The same unlock process applies to Master skills (though you only have to have three fully-Elited 'mechs of that weight class, instead of the chassis.) Getting all of the Elite skills in your favorite variant is important, because doing this will double the Basic skill bonuses, making your 'mech much more effective.
  
• Speaking of 'mechs, you can do well in any chassis you take the time to master (not to be confused with pilot skills!) So, if you are liking the Dragon, keep with it. If you are feeling buyer's remorse, however, you lose nothing from ditching your account and starting a new one, until you spend real money (or you've earned more c-bills than the 'mech you regret buying was worth.)
  
• In a similar vein, don't sell 'mechs! It is nearly always worth it to keep all your variants - rarely have I sold a 'mech and not regretted it later. If you're short on 'mech bays, take a short-term contract with a Community Warfare faction and play that game mode until you are awarded a 'mech bay for your rank. Swap factions, rinse, repeat.
  
• Finally, as for 'metamechs, bear in mind that these are geared toward "top-tier" competitive team play, not beginner solo matches. Many of the hotter builds may be underpowered without the doubled Basics I mentioned earlier, and all builds will assume a high level of marksmanship, piloting skill, and teamwork. Take them as food for thought and then go play what you want - you'll need to learn all the weapons, anyway.

Keep studying the game, as you've set out to do, and above all, have fun!

PS: a microphone helps a lot, even if you don't talk much on it - being able to tell the team that there's six guys behind them is much faster than trying to type while you run. :]

[Koniving]

Void Angel, on 23 March 2016 - 12:26 PM, said:

• Finally, as for 'metamechs, bear in mind that these are geared toward "top-tier" competitive team play, not beginner solo matches. Many of the hotter builds may be underpowered without the doubled Basics I mentioned earlier, and all builds will assume a high level of marksmanship, piloting skill, and teamwork. Take them as food for thought and then go play what you want - you'll need to learn all the weapons, anyway.

Thank you.
Far, FAR too many of our mid-level and some of our high-level vets seem to forget about this fact when they are ever so eager to throw meta-build after meta-build at new players. Often with comments "This is the only way to play". Far from it. If anything, starting with meta builds will bring about really bad habits or just as easily prevent the learning of good habits.

Meta builds are built with the idea of teamwork -- often not found in early tiers of gameplay -- and the idea of being able to utilize a machine built for a specific purpose. Too often people tend to forget the simple things:

• Would a mech without elite skill tree unlocks be able to handle the heat and manueverability required to effectively use the design?
  
• Would a pilot with only some of the basic knowledge of the game be able to slip into an enemy formation and get within 270 meters or less of an enemy twice his size to be able to use the BoomJager of instant kills to its full potential, or be able to land 2 balls onto a single tiny dot on the screen to get that instant kill?
  
• For that matter, would a new player be financially capable of building one given the required parts so early on?

Too often these simple considerations are forgotten.
Thank you, Void Angel, for being someone who hasn't lost sight of our goal here.

[Rhavin]

Yeah, meta mechs is over rated. Wish I had never been told to go there and build this. however if you ignore build advice Gmans overviews on there give you an idea of how fragile a mech may or may not be.

Also if throwing 20 bucks at the game is still on your mind, the maurader pack is not a bad deal for a new player. They take damage well, but you still have a weapon heavy side to twist and protect while fighting. Included weapons on the three you get allow you to make one or two good builds with almost no other cbill investment. But you won't have to do any expensive engine buying either. But if your not sure you want to dedicate your time to the mech I would hold off, play all the trial mechs and come back here

[Void Angel]

I love my Marauders - they're excellent 'mechs, but the package isn't going anywhere any time soon.

Seriously, though: it's like the King Crab and the Stalker had a kid. and he got all their better traits.

[Koniving]

To get the most survival out of Battlemechs like the Marauder remember twist 20 to 25 degrees to spread damage. Not the full 90 that should be done with humanoid builds.

------------

I'm going to wait for the op to catch up and answer how hehe or she plans to play before recommending any mechs.

[Rhavin]

Aye maurader is the new hunchback in my opinion. Especially if a new player wants to spend 20 bucks or so. With 3 mauraders and the academy bonuses you can make some solid builds and by the time they are mastered there should be plenty of cbills to grab 3 more mechs. The two 300 xl engines come in handy when fitting other chassis out as well saving quite a bit of cbills.

[el piromaniaco]

Quick answer:

Forget meta mechs.
Forget the Dragon.
Get the marauder.

Keep playing, have fun, in the end you'll get all the mechs, believe me.

[Spetulhu]

Agreed on testing the trial mechs first. You'll get some idea about what weight class/speed/guns you like and also collect some C-bills towards a new mech that way. Luckily your first 25 matches (and the Academy scenarios) will reward you extra C-bills toward that first mech.

And do keep in mind that a new mech without skills unlocked will seem sluggish and weak compared to one fully upgraded, even if the boosts for the skills were nerfed some time ago. Same for the components on it - double heat sinks, XL engine for speed and a load of new guns costs money that you'll need to collect by playing. Just seeing someone doing well with a mech doesn't mean you'll get the same out of it immediately.

[s1rGr1nG0]

WOW! Thanks for all the input guys.
To be honest I didn't know that I could actually get c-bills and xp with the trial mechs until I came here. I still have my Dragon and I do like it. I've spent a fair amount of matches playing light mechs to get a feel for them. I do like the speed but I need to remember that stopping to take aim at the big boys is not such a good idea.


As someone mentioned I am racking up a nice little pile of cash and I'm working on the basic tier of skills for my Dragon.
I'll keep trying the various trial mechs but to be honest it's going to be a hard choice to settle on a class. So far everything I've played has been fun. I do like the scouting role of the lights but I would imagine strolling around in an assault would be pretty bad a$$ too.

I'll save my real world $$ for the time being and keep rocking the trials.

I'll go back through some of the links that have been so graciously provided by you guys.

Any sites or links on info for class specific roles during a match?

Also, on a side note, I've been playing ALL kinds of games for MANY years and I think this is probably the friendliest, and most willing to actually help, community I've ever been involved with.

Thanks guys!

[Dan Nashe]

Two addons:
1. I am fairly certain. you only need basics on 3 variants of a chassis to unlock through master on any of them. I thought I maybe misread a post suggesting you need all elite skills on 3 variants to master.

2. I echo that purchasing all elite skills (thus doubling the effect of basic skills) is important.

3. Towards that ends I highly recommend buying mastery packs when you spend money, or at least consider it. I find them very difficult to find in the store, I always have to go through gift shop. But they're pretty good deals. 50 percent discount and most of the pack is useful. (30 days premium time one hero and 2 other variants, and 4 mechbays. No useless cosmetic stuff).

4. I do recommend Metamucil as others said. It is not the only way to build, but at least it helps you know it's you losing matches, and not your mech or build. After losing a lot in a t1 mech, I find I can enjoy T4 mechs much more because I have a realistic understanding of how much impact, if any, the choice has. In a random drop very little as long as you use endo steel intelligently and don't use ferro without it.

5. I am in the try but don't buy unless you're sure camp on lights and assaults. The biggest thing is assaults and lights really suffer from not having skills purchased. Plus assaults are expensive mastery packs, and lights are expensive to customize because you always need xls. But still lights are fun to play and so are assaults, just hard. Heavies are the easiest but... longest queue times. Not that the queue stops me from playing 80 percent heavies, so it's not a big deal.

6. I can't count to two.

Edited by Dan Nashe, 24 March 2016 - 09:02 AM.

[Dingo Cerrera]

According to your 1st point: You actually need to do unlock the BASIC skills on 3 types of a chassis AND the ELITE skills of those 3 types to be able to unlock the MASTER. Once (1) for an weight category (light, medium, heavy, assault). As soon as you have a MASTER-unlocked (i think you dont need to fully gain it, but im not sure) for a chassis in a weight category you only need the BASIC skills for the next Mechtypes (3 times again) to level them straight up.

forgive me for this awkward wording...

[Void Angel]

s1rGr1nG0, on 24 March 2016 - 08:16 AM, said:

Any sites or links on info for class specific roles during a match?

Hm, not that I know offhand. The "roles" that most people will play into are: Scout, harasser, sniper, brawler, LRM Boat, and fire support. These are, in order: finding the enemy, shooting the enemy while moving around a log, shooting the enemy while staying mostly still, shooting the enemy at close range, shooting the enemy with LRMs, and shooting the enemy with long-range lasers and/or autocannons.

However, your actual role is going to be determined by three interrelated factors: weapons, durability, and speed. For example, a 'mech with high durability, short-range weapons, and slow speed is a brawler. Also, some 'mechs can do double duty, particularly Lights. Additionally, falling into several roles at once does always mean you must always attempt to perform them all - more on this later. So:

Spoiler

• If you are very fast, you are a scout.
  
• If you are very slow, you must pick when to engage.
  
• If you have long-range weapons, you are a sniper
  
• If you have short-range weapons, you are a brawler
  
• If you have mid-range weapons, you are a fire support or skirmisher (depending on speed and what weapons)
  
• If you are using rapid-fire, long-range weapons, you want to avoid being shot at as much as you can while still shooting others.
  
• If you have LRMs, you are a boat - trust me, it works better to focus on primarily that one weapon system with only light weapons for backup (this is "boating.")
  
• If you have weapons for all ranges, you are a liability.
  
• If you are a Light, you don't ever want to stand and fight if you can help it.
  
• If you are a Medium, Heavy, or Assault, you want to use your armor as a resource when appropriate

All of those considerations go into determining what your role is on the battlefield. It's not always a cut-and-dried thing - but it's not as complicated as it may seem looking at my list. Basically, you look at your 'mech, and ask yourself what you want to do with it; then - and this is important - you ask yourself if that 'mech can do what you want to do; and finally, you build the 'mech as best you can to perform that task... and then you go out and do it. That's your role.


Now, you should always be willing to perform another applicable role if needed: I've lost track of how many times the only scout on the team refused to get out from underfoot and scout ("I'm covering you with ECM") - that usually didn't end well. But at the end of the day, you came to the field with certain capabilities built into your 'mech - use all of them, but focus on what you came here to do.

Edited by Void Angel, 24 March 2016 - 11:11 AM.