30 replies to this topic

[Leone]

Oh, I've some basic strategies from my assault guide. I go over some of the 'whys' about some of my decisions. Just ignore the big stompy mech part and figure out how a fast mover could benefit.

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 06 April 2016 - 10:55 AM.

[Arfwisg]

Hmm, I could use it to learn behaviors for heavier 'Mechs and make use of that against them so I know when, when not and where it's safe to make a move, maybe. Thank you.

Edited by Arfwisg, 10 April 2016 - 05:27 PM.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Arfwisg, on 07 April 2016 - 07:01 PM, said:

Hmm, I could use it to learn behaviors for heavier 'Mechs and use of that against them so I know when, when not and where it's safe to make a move, maybe. Thank you.

Leone's advice is SOLID. You'll be clubing seals like a pro in no time.

[Koniving]

I'm late to this party but I do appreciate the sense of humor. Welcome aboard and let's be honest if we didn't enjoy answering these we wouldn't be here. It's like our Facebook so to speak.

I'll have to read to see if I can actually add to this thread. But for now, like real life, you can turn better when going less than full speed. Numpad can set cruise control at different speeds, so can turning off the throttle decay button. Hit X for a full stop. You can inverse cruise control with... Backspace? I think, may have to look it up.

[FuhNuGi]

If you tinker with your shadowcat, you can adapt it to many roles... learn your masc usage and how to use the ecm to support not only your ninja skills but your team as well... cover the heavy and assault units with ecm range for example and you can be a real asset. You can sneak out and mark targets, take a few shots and bug out with a little better survivability than a light mech.
In my SHC for a good 5 game streak last night, 1game I had 4 kills with 3 of the matches being over 500, including an 895... teamwork and luck helped make those numbers for me, but if you play your SHC in it's designed role and not run it like an Atlas to the front line, you will be pleased with the overall... yes, there may be other and better mechs, but SHC works fine.

[Arfwisg]

Okay, I'm back with a few more questions. I figured instead of a whole new thread, I'd use this one since the title I picked covers pretty much everything I could probably ask, eheheheh...

So, I've been playing a bit with my Shadow Cat and I'm starting to get acquainted with "how it likes to fight." I'm averaging almost 400 damage per game right now and am sitting happy on a 1.66 W/L ratio and 1.79 K/D ratio so I think the Shadow Cat was a good choice and have no regrets buying it. Several of the games I had were really fun, I'd find a random teammate, something would just click and we'd go 2 vs the world and pull out very close wins. I've also managed to get the 3-kill and 5-kill achievements. Anyway, that's enough attention-seeking (Thanks for the advice, everybody, by the way. It helped a ton). I'll get to the parts you're here for.

I've researched all of the basic skills for the SHC-PRIME and have been considering buying the SHC-P as my next chassis because it has a focus on ballistic weapons, those being a gauss rifle and machine guns. However, I've read on the hints section that the gauss rifle is more likely to take a critical hit than other weapons AND it explodes when destroyed, which I assume would do noticeable damage to your 'Mech. If this is a large factor, does that mean the gauss rifle is specifically for sniping? Then, of course, I assume the machine guns are only for self-defence unlike how they're used on my SHC-PRIME?

I currently have nearly 11,000,000 C-Bills so I'd only have a small amount left after buying my next Shadow Cat chassis. Now, I know that at my current average C-Bills per match it would only take about 80 matches to earn 10,000,000 C-Bills back, but should I try to make sure I always have a minimum amount of C-Bills in my bank or doesn't it matter and I can go ahead and spend them all?

Lastly, it seems that Faction Play is the fun-thing-to-be-doing for most people on this game, so I wanted to ask: When should I and how can I get involved in it? It seems pretty competitive so at what level of player (i.e. me) experience can I go in with my 'Mech of choice and know I'm not a hindrance to the team?

[Rogue Jedi]

I often spend everything and let it rebuild, if I am just dropping and having fun rather than focusing on earnings Cbills seem to come much faster than if I focus on earnings.
I would recomend making sure you have at least a million left over to cover any refitting you need

I would not recommend Gauss and Machine Guns, Gauss with its charge up time is better for mid to long range work and while the Gauss Rifle itself can explode if crit, and has lower health than most other weapons, ammo or equipment however its ammo cannot, and a Gauss Rifle explosion does a lot less damage than loosing a ton of ammo.
MGs do full damage at 0-120m, no damage past 240m.

the stock Shadow Cat P does not have enough ammo for ether the MGs or the Gauss,
For the Gauss you probably will want a minimum of 3 tons of ammo so if you want any other weapons you will probably need to remove some armour for tonnage.
I usualy use 1/2 a ton of ammo per machine gun and do use it all if I live to the end of the match.

If you want to use the Gauss I would recommend a Gauss in one arm and 2 ER Small or Medium lasers in the other side you will need to change Omnipods (with the Prime LT and the LA from -A or -B to fit that loadout.
edit: looks like a capital b on its own turns into sunglasses, fixed, I hope /edit

if you want to use the 6 MGs ^{(not for everyone but should at least try it)} I would recommend pulse lasers and Machine Guns, the advantage of MGs is that they do massive critical damage to unarmoured components, which will usually rapidly destroy a Mechs structure, the SHC can mount 6 MGs with 2 Large Pulse lasers, that loadout runs hot but is enough to destroy most Mechs inside 5 seconds if you can keep hitting their rear CT from close range, and if you do start overheating 6 MGs is still 4.8 DPS against armor, what I would recomend is to stay in cover poking occaisionaly until there are open componants at which time you close in and remove that componant, or hunting down lone slow heavy or assualt Mechs.

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 18 April 2016 - 01:15 AM.

[Ibrandul Mike]

First things first congratulation for your successes

What you have there is a clan omni mech. So you can buy whatever variant you want (you of course shouldn´t buy a variant you already have ). The rest can be exchanged. You could for example exchange the left arms of your prime and the new one to have an energy slot more there. Or you could get an shc-b left torso to use ECM with it. It is totally up to you! For saving money it wouldn´t be the worst idea to exchange parts, if the ballistics arent so good for you after all

As for the gauss: Yes, the weapon can explode. For other ballistics it is the ammunition that explodes. So not such a big problem, especially if you think of the C.A.S.E. in clan mechs. The gauss is a very good long range weapon. 1 Heat, 15 Damage ... but the firing is something you need to getting used to. Then there is the cooldown, which is kinda long. But hey, that´s what backup weapons are for

The machine guns are a short range mech killer. You probably know that. There is no infantery, so I don´t rate them as self-defence. They are used mostly the same way on all mechs. If there is no armor, they are great for crits. If there is ... the strip it away in really really small chunks.

You could use UACs instead of machine guns and gauss, for example. Or you could exchange an arm and get an energy weapon as backup.

As for your money: For refitting purposes it might be an idea to keep some money ... but to be honest ... you have everything you need after buying the new mech to just exchange parts, if you run low. Perhaps kepp around 80k for your consumables. But even that you have easily after one game.

Edit: What Rogue Jedi said!

As for Faction Play ...
Wait for the patch After the changes there, you could need less mechs or so ... who knows. At the moment you should have a few mechs of your own, fully outfittet. So that you don´t have too many trials in your dropdeck (4 mechs, 160 to 260 tons of tonnage between all of them). As for the skill level ... depends ... if you are comfortable with your targeting and other skills, you should be ready. If you are a teamplayer ... even better. Solo runs are seldom effective in FP.
But all those things ... might change at the 19.04.2016. So wait for the patch for FP

Edited by Ibrandul Mike, 18 April 2016 - 12:11 AM.

[Morggo]

As usual, most of the guys have beat me to all they advice and such and it sounds like you are already putting the advice to very good use, so congrats (and a late welcome too)

Only thing I'd say, don't believe I saw anyone else mention it... when/if you get into faction warefare be aware that you have a clan mech, and you cannot co-mingle clan and IS mechs on a drop deck.

Now, this is no problem just means you'll want to buy some more clan mechs to finish out a non-trial drop deck. That said, nothing prevents you from also buying and driving a set of IS mechs too. Faction of mechs in your deck also affect any contracts you may choose to take I believe.

Anyhow, keep up the solid work and see you on the field!
Morggo


(oh, and don't let sister rabbi fool you... does a solid job in that wolfhound )

[Joe Decker]

Commando one of the worst Mechs ? Not at all. One of the best light Mechs of the IS in my Opinion as he is so hard to kill, which makes you a constant Problem for an enemy Team. You can harass/distract a whole Team, spot for your Team and the COM-1B is maybe the best Mech for NARCing, the 1D can be a good Brawler, the 2D can do well as a Light Hunter - the Hero Mech "Death Knell" is a Killer.

In PUG Matches it is a Beast. 160 Damage is good for a Beginner, yet if you are becoming a really good light Pilot in short Range Engagements (150 to 50m fighting Distance) 300 to 600 Damage (and possibly more) is not too hard to get in a Commando like the 1D. And you stay alive long, which gives you much needed practice Time. You will learn a lot by using this Mech. Also, as I said the Commando works best on very short Range and his bad Reputation comes from People who do bad in short Range Engagement. But that does not mean the Mech is bad, just that these People cannot handle it. It is like that with most Mechs. If People tell you a Mech is bad - that does not have to be the objective Truth, just their Point of View as they struggle with the Chassis. I cannot play with Enforcers for Example - I prefer the Centurion as I can handle that Chassis better, but I know that the Enforcer is the stronger 50 tonner from an objective Viewpoint.

The only Thing I would not do with a Commando if not specifically equipped for it : fighting other light Mechs. Everything else you can do pretty well.

[Morggo]

^^ This....definitely agree with Joe regarding what makes a mech "good" .... your affinity for driving it.

I always smile at one of the signature lines one of our well known forum warriors uses.. "There are no bad mechs, just pilots not skilled in some mechs" or something along those lines (it's catchier but I can't recall it exactly atm).

Point being, for every positive post about one of your chassis choices, you'll read a negative one. For example, Zeus and Wolverines were my first mechs, and I did really well with them (until I made the shift to chicken walkers and "marauder/crab type" body styles). But, most of the time people love to slam them as bad mechs. Meh, everyone's mileage will vary.

I've watch a lancemate wrack out 600 - 800 damage games in a trial commando before. (I hate him. )