23 replies to this topic

[Lord Lysander]

I currently own 13 mechbays, filled with 12 different mechs. Obviously none of them mastered. Since i've recently started to consider applying to Units for a better CW experience, i'd like to know how important it is, to have mastered all mechs in the dropdeck.

While mastering mechs sure provides nice bonuses, i thought trying out more mechs and finding the perfect fit for me would be more important. But do units consider the mechs an applicant owns and whether they are mastered or not?.



P.S. On another point, do stats like K/D, Score per Match etc. matter outside of really competitive units?

[Nik Reaper]

Well depends, any serious unit that wants a good win rate does care, but there are many who do it for pure fun value, they aren't competitive and don't care if they take 12 urbanmechs for 2 waves ... btw they don't win much.

Yes mastery is very needed, but the elite more so, the extra module slot is useful but nod defining, it's the +5% fire rate , 7.5% speed boost ( usually 1~3 tons of free engine ) and the 2x basic bonuses that are the meaningful part of mastering a mech.

Edited by Nik Reaper, 13 March 2016 - 06:07 AM.

[Wintersdark]

Elite matters, but mastery doesn't really. The extra module slot isn't that important.

Only very few units will really care about your stats, most will be fine with teaching you how to play anyways. There's a HUGE, HUGE range between serious units that want a good win rate and those who do it for pure fun value and don't care if you bring two waves of urbanmechs. The vast majority are more in the middle, who are going to want to see you bring a decent drop deck and at least work at improving and learning, but not expect you to have specific stats which are highly misleading based on what sort of game types you play anyways.

[Rogue Jedi]

Lord Lysander, on 13 March 2016 - 06:01 AM, said:

P.S. On another point, do stats like K/D, Score per Match etc. matter outside of really competitive units?

No, outside a few people whose life is defined by having perfect stats those do not matter.

I would much rather have someone willing to work with the team than someone who has great stats, for example some people hide the first half of the match to farm kills and damage in the late game, there are some people who do play like that to "protect" their stats despite the stats being invisible to other players, and that sort of play hurting the teams chances of winning.

most units do not care about your stats, in my experience most units are keen to help players improve, offering training if you want it.

if you are looking into units check out the CW forum
if you want to join a specific faction look in the relevant faction subforum, it you want to play all factions look in the Merc Corp forums.
I strongly advise looking at a few units before making a decision, at least check when they are online, the code of conduct and focus of the unit

I am part of a large international Merc Corp ^{(about 270 players total)}, with EU, NA and AUS battalions, we take 2 week contracts with a faction, alternating between IS and Clan, with votes up each month to decide on the next 2 contracts, if you are interested there is a link in my signature.

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 13 March 2016 - 10:23 AM.

[The Basilisk]

Since ELITING your mech causes all basic skills to count 2x you will notice the effect of driving an elited mech.
Mastering unlocks just an additional Mech/Weaponmodule slot.
It is noticable usefull but not nessesary and will come over time by itself when you just play that mech.
Getting those elite skills is the key that makes some mechs viable at all.
Mastery is just the crusty crunshy topping.

[Exard3k]

If you are a bad pilot, master skill won't make you any better. But the difference of elite is speed tweak, 5%cooldown and a noticeable amount of better heat management. Speed tweak alone is worth several tons.

In the end it's the same question whether endo-steel is worth the money or not. Its an advantage you pay cbills for (and playtime to get 3 variants with full basics).

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Lord Lysander, on 13 March 2016 - 06:01 AM, said:

I currently own 13 mechbays, filled with 12 different mechs. Obviously none of them mastered. Since i've recently started to consider applying to Units for a better CW experience, i'd like to know how important it is, to have mastered all mechs in the dropdeck.

While mastering mechs sure provides nice bonuses, i thought trying out more mechs and finding the perfect fit for me would be more important. But do units consider the mechs an applicant owns and whether they are mastered or not?.



P.S. On another point, do stats like K/D, Score per Match etc. matter outside of really competitive units?

For most units, no, it doesn't matter. That's because most units welcome casual players anyhow, so it's like 'whatever'.

As to MASTERing your mechs, the important part really is just completing the ELITE level skills. That nets you all those skills AND doubles the values of your BASIC skills. While a lot of those skills were recently nerfed, they still make a significant impact on what your mech can do. It's worth doing, as you're kinda gimping yourself by not doing it. At the very least, one should try to complete the BASIC skills (or, with trial mechs, the equivalent amount of XP earned) for any mech before deciding whether or not to continue grinding that chassis/variant.

But, is a unit really going to tell you to GO FIND YOURSELF (insert the four-letter F-word of your choice there) because you haven't MASTERed the few mechs you own? Most likely not. And for the few that would, they're probably working on recruiting only high-level competitive players at the time. Even some of THOSE units would like to bring on a new player and help him/her learn the game.

TL;DR- it's a good thing to work up the skills on your mechs, if you intend to keep them. But no, most units WILL NOT tell you to kick rocks just because you haven't done so yet.

[Nick Makiaveli]

Something I did early on was only keep one of each chassis, so for example I only have one Raven (3L) and one Jagermech (DD). Point being you might consider selling one or two of the mechs you have to free up bays to help elite the ones you really want.

Thanks to CW and events, I haven't sold a mech in a while, though a I've a couple in mind (not loving the Banshees for example so will keep the laser vomit one and one of the others if I need a bay down the road.) If you go this route, sell the cheaper mechs first. Would suck to buy them back, but with all the events giving away free money, down the road if you get nostalgic, Jenners are cheap compared to Atlases.

[DJ Mitchell]

First of all I support your decision to test out different mechs and identify those which you think"fit you the most" to maximize your fun ingame.

But you should also take into consideration, depending on the competitive level you´re aiming at, that usually at the top it´s not about which mech fits you the most, but what is the most effective and you have to adapt to that.

From my experience so far elite level is a necessity, otherwise you´ll be constantly fighting with a serious handicap.

Master Level is a far more free choice depending on the chassis and the role you intend to play with it on the battlefield.

Edited by DJ Mitchell, 16 March 2016 - 07:39 AM.

[Khereg]

Sister RAbbi, on 13 March 2016 - 02:38 PM, said:

As to MASTERing your mechs, the important part really is just completing the ELITE level skills. That nets you all those skills AND doubles the values of your BASIC skills.

Since unlocking the ability to elite a mech also unlocks the ability to master it, if you play it you'll unlock the bonus module slot eventually anyway.

But eliting it is definitely important to performance. As Rabbi said, they nerfed the benefits somewhat recently, but there's still a noticeable difference to playing an elited mech. In particular, speed tweak is still an essential skill to really run a mech to its potential.

Edited by Khereg, 16 March 2016 - 08:06 AM.

[Three Gophers in a Robe]

Khereg, on 16 March 2016 - 08:05 AM, said:

Since unlocking the ability to elite a mech also unlocks the ability to master it, if you play it you'll unlock the bonus module slot eventually anyway.

No, it doesn't. To elite a mech, you need three variants of that chassis with all the basic skills. To master a mech, you need three variants of that weight class with all the elite skills.

If a player just starting out wants to elite their first variant, then they'll have to buy two other variants and finish out the basic tiers on both of them, after which they can be sold. If, on the other hand, they want to master a variant, they'll have to finish out the elite tiers on the two secondaries before selling them, which is a pretty big difference in time investment.

Once you've got three elited variants in a weight class, then the distinction disappears for any further chassis you skill up. Starting out, though, there's a very big difference.

[Khereg]

Three Gophers in a Robe, on 21 March 2016 - 04:58 PM, said:

No, it doesn't. To elite a mech, you need three variants of that chassis with all the basic skills. To master a mech, you need three variants of that weight class with all the elite skills.

Nope, not true. Once you basic 3 chassis you can take any individual chassis all the way.

My Urbies bear witness:

http://imgur.com/a/AY5HK

Edited by Khereg, 21 March 2016 - 06:20 PM.

[PraetorGix]

7,5% more speed, 15% heat dissipation/heat treshold. That's all. Amazing that we need to do all that grinding for those lousy improvements.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

PraetorGix, on 21 March 2016 - 06:57 PM, said:

7,5% more speed, 15% heat dissipation/heat treshold. That's all. Amazing that we need to do all that grinding for those lousy improvements.

I dont know... After I unlock 2x basic... Man the mech transforms into a whole new animal... Literally makes the mech feel like a whole new juggernaut. When ever i evaluate a mech, i make sure to unlock 2x before making any rash judgements like selling it...

But anyway- let me say one last thing... Master module really is worth it. Equiping that extra module really goes a long way... (If you have a module to equip there...)

But if you dont have a second module to equip into the master slot, then dont bother mastering any mechs. I tell this to a lot of my friends when i introduce them to MWO. Most of them dont have the gxp or the cbills to afford both a radar derp and a seizmic... Or zoom... Or capture module... Or what ever... Just move on to another mech!

[Takashi Uchida]

I find that the extra module slots benefits specific builds and mechs more than others. For example:

Lights that get 2 mech mods + 1 extra, that's seismic, radar derp, and your choice of hill climb or fall damage. Extra survivability package!

Gauss/ERPPC snipers: usually will only get 1 mech mod + 1 extra. So you can get Advanced Zoom + something else (maybe seismic for detecting backstabbers or radar range). I've gotten better at using Gauss without advanced zoom but it's still nice to have sometimes

LRM boat: Target Decay + Seismic for detecting backstabbers

The extra slot doesn't seem to benefit slow moving brawlers as much. I like Seismic (I you can feel out how many baddies are around the corner when you push), then for the extra slot I might benefit from fast info gathering or hill climb or something. Or I'll just throw on targeting derp if it's a faster moving one

[Three Gophers in a Robe]

Khereg, on 21 March 2016 - 06:17 PM, said:

Nope, not true. Once you basic 3 chassis you can take any individual chassis all the way.

My Urbies bear witness:

http://imgur.com/a/AY5HK

Take a closer look at your own screenshots.

"Purchase all Elite Tier efficiencies for 3 variants of this weight class to unlock Master Tier efficiencies."

It's right there in black and white. Well, grey and goldenrod.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that, you being a T1 player with 676 posts, you may, just may, have elited two light variants other than your Urbies at some point.

As a relatively new player who Mastered his first mech only a few weeks ago, I can tell you that the tooltip is completely accurate. If you buy your very first mech, basic three variants and elite one, you *cannot* then master the elite one until you've either elited the other two or elited variants of two other mechs in the same weight class.

I mean... I found that out the hard way not three weeks ago. I had to buy back two variants I'd already sold and raise them from basic-complete to elited so I could master the one I actually wanted.

To reiterate: To elite, you need three variants of the same chassis to be basic-completed. To master, you need three variants of *any chassis in that weight class* elited. Your Urbies don't prove anything unless the Urbanmech is the first and only light mech you've skilled up.

Edited by Three Gophers in a Robe, 21 March 2016 - 08:59 PM.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

Depends on a lot of things, but assuming you want the most out of your mechs then in some cases the master mod slot can be huge.
Esp in mechs that only get 1 mech and 1 weapon slot to begin with (ie TimberWolf, StormCrow).

Of course all of that depends on whether you have the mech or weapon mods to begin with.

[Khereg]

Three Gophers in a Robe, on 21 March 2016 - 08:56 PM, said:

Take a closer look at your own screenshots.

"Purchase all Elite Tier efficiencies for 3 variants of this weight class to unlock Master Tier efficiencies."

It's right there in black and white. Well, grey and goldenrod.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that, you being a T1 player with 676 posts, you may, just may, have elited two light variants other than your Urbies at some point.

As a relatively new player who Mastered his first mech only a few weeks ago, I can tell you that the tooltip is completely accurate. If you buy your very first mech, basic three variants and elite one, you *cannot* then master the elite one until you've either elited the other two or elited variants of two other mechs in the same weight class.

I mean... I found that out the hard way not three weeks ago. I had to buy back two variants I'd already sold and raise them from basic-complete to elited so I could master the one I actually wanted.

To reiterate: To elite, you need three variants of the same chassis to be basic-completed. To master, you need three variants of *any chassis in that weight class* elited. Your Urbies don't prove anything unless the Urbanmech is the first and only light mech you've skilled up.

Ah, weight class.... Yes, I stand corrected. It's been a long time since I was in that boat. Carry on.

[Morggo]

My simple experience:

- ALWAYS Elite you mechs. This provides very real, very tangible benefits.
- AS SOON AS you have the GXP & cbills for modules Master your preferred mech(s) of choice/ones you actually play.

Trust me once you get addicted to running both Radar Dep and Seismic at the same time... you'll Master them all....

Edited by Morggo, 22 March 2016 - 07:58 AM.

[Three Gophers in a Robe]

Khereg, on 22 March 2016 - 05:56 AM, said:

Ah, weight class.... Yes, I stand corrected. It's been a long time since I was in that boat. Carry on.

And I, myself, shall only ever be in that boat once more, when and if I ever pick up a heavy mech.

It's a curiously newbie-unfriendly policy, and I'm baffled as to why it's structured the way it is. It seems as though the intent is to encourage newbies to try a variety of mechs, but since you already have to buy three variants of one chassis to get elite, it just forces you to grind away all the longer at similar-but-inferior versions of the mech you actually want.

It's a one-time, painful grind that applies exclusively to new players, who are the most vulnerable to attrition and the least able to easily afford to kit out mechs they have no desire to keep.