21 replies to this topic

[lazza72]

I haven't played for 3 years, and back then there seemed to be about ten mechs (I may be old and confused). Now there are absolutely loads, love it, however how do you decide what mech to go for? Are they all different enough to make that choice? Is there a filter in the Mechlab (I can' find one)? Or is there a recommended Mech Choosing site?
Thanks.

[mailin]

Well, smurfy is still around to help you decide. What did you enjoy running 3 years ago? I remember when the Commando was pretty bada$$, but I wouldn't really recommend them now.

[Koniving]

Sorry this is short but at work.

First. WB.

Second. Tell us about how you used to play and any noteworthy skills or tricks you enjoyed doing. We can use this to help you decide on a smaller range of Mechs that fit the bill.

[Rogue Jedi]

as Koniving said, if you can give us more information we can recomend Mechs which should be good for you.
There are plenty of great Mechs, I recommend, as well as the information Koniving requested, trying the trial Mechs and keeping notes ^{(did you like the speed, handling, weapons, what did you dislike about each Mech)}, come back and post those notes and we will then be able to offer suggestions of Mechs which should work well for you.

[plodder]

Advice. Do not pick the absolute best mech unless you are not a good gamer. You may get the best mech, then forever be disappointed in your future purchases.

Pick a mech to your play style or lack thereof. Get used to it with its weaknesses and strengths. Almost any mech can be a destroyer in the hands of the competent. Some others are great only in the hands of the elite.

Also, pick mechs that go contrary to your play style also. It helps you improve.
I make better builds to compensate for my weaknesses. Better players build mechs to accentuate their strengths.
You do not know your strengths and weaknesses at this point most likely.
Do what you enjoy 1st, add the rest as you go. You will learn more in 10 min in teamspeak than hours reading forum posts.

Good luck, and have fun.

[lazza72]

Thanks for the responses guys. Currently in my inventory from 2013 are 2 Centurions, CN9 D and AH(L) (not sure what the L is and it doesn't show up in inventory, weird). 2 Cicadas, 3C and 3M. 3 Cataphracts, 1,2 and 4X, and an Atlas D-DC.

I've played a couple of games and I feel a more up close and personal approach is my style, but that may just be because I suck at long shots, so more practice required.

I'll check out smurfy and try the trial mechs.

A couple of final Qs, in the mech tree, do I have to level up all variants of a mech to unlock the next level or is I just variants I own. And is there an initial pilot skill I should aim for or is it just choose to suit play style.

[Rogue Jedi]

the (L) means it is a Loyalty reward, the CN9-AH(L) was given out in October 2014 to, if I remember correctly, anyone who had ever purchased MC.
also that Mech gets a 30% bonus to cbill earnings.

here is the way the skill tree works
to unlock Elite you must complete all the basic skills on 3 variants of the Chassis ^{(e.g. your 3 Cataphracts)} including the Mech you are working on, when you complete the elite skills the power of the basic skills on that variant are doubled.
to unlock Master you must complete all Elite skills on 3 variants from the weight class ^{(e.g. 3 Cataphracts or a Cataphract, Catapult and Timber Wolf)}.

The pilot skills are only used to unlock or upgrade modules, which then have to be purchased and equipped to a Mech to gain the bonus.

Most Modules are expensive, 2-6 million cbills each to purchase, the consumables are relatively cheep but after using them you have to repurchase, the cost can soon add up if you use 2 each match.

the most widely used modules are;
Radar Deprivation which helps you hide from LRMs by breaking a lock 3 seconds faster, a Mech will usually hold a lock for 3 seconds so RD will break the lock as soon as you break line of sight unless the enemy have the advanced target decay module ^{(it amazes me that many people consider LRMs to be worthless yet insist that Radar Deprivation is essential)}

Seismic Sensor, if your Mech is standing still you get contacts on your minimap from any enemy movement within range

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 03 May 2016 - 12:38 AM.

[plodder]

Turn down your sensitivity settings on your mouse for the longer snipe shots.

[plodder]

lazza72, on 02 May 2016 - 11:49 PM, said:

Thanks for the responses guys. Currently in my inventory from 2013 are 2 Centurions, CN9 D and AH(L) (not sure what the L is and it doesn't show up in inventory, weird). 2 Cicadas, 3C and 3M. 3 Cataphracts, 1,2 and 4X, and an Atlas D-DC.

I've played a couple of games and I feel a more up close and personal approach is my style, but that may just be because I suck at long shots, so more practice required.

I'll check out smurfy and try the trial mechs.

A couple of final Qs, in the mech tree, do I have to level up all variants of a mech to unlock the next level or is I just variants I own. And is there an initial pilot skill I should aim for or is it just choose to suit play style.

You have to level 3 different variants of the same chassis to basic before you can unlock the good stuff. Major hardship for the new, plus the modules as Jedi said. New path is a hard one, but satisfaction should be the endgame.

[Mighty Spike]

lazza72, on 02 May 2016 - 09:14 PM, said:

I haven't played for 3 years, and back then there seemed to be about ten mechs (I may be old and confused). Now there are absolutely loads, love it, however how do you decide what mech to go for? Are they all different enough to make that choice? Is there a filter in the Mechlab (I can' find one)? Or is there a recommended Mech Choosing site?
Thanks.

Log ingame left side Home click select mech,above the mech pics is a filter click both owned or trial emchs choose one, oh think you have to click first the resolution to 720x1080 i think htere is anew filter tab in lloadout menu ,whwn you point mouse to th emechs feet there is on left side of mech select the little box click on that in loadout screen and another pop up will show up and there you find the filter with expanded or columns expanded and column mode, column is the old, have somewhere a screenshot that shows the filters sry for my bad english , hope i could help

Edited by Mighty Spike, 03 May 2016 - 12:53 AM.

[Audacious Aubergine]

Stay with the Centurions, keep the two you have and then get a third one to get access to the elite level skills.
As for Cataphracts, they're not "meta" any more but they were my first mech so I still have a soft spot for them. It's not exactly easy to make them work but I've found that the -4X with 4 AC5s and a couple medium lasers can be very satisfying in an up close fistfight - but getting it there without getting blasted nine ways from Sunday can be tricky, especially with the stock engine it comes with

[Rhavin]

Welcome back, all of the chassis you own are serviceable.

The cataphractS you have are a good place to start. Most players gravitate to heavy mechs at first. While it's not the greatest heavy , there is plenty of firepower on its 70 ton frame. The Warhammer and Maurader mechs just do everything cataphracts can better because they have better hitboxes for the same builds. You still see cataphract OXP variant piloted because of its ECM, and the hero Ilya Muramets gets playtime as well. Still what you have is a solid choice.

The Atlas DDC is a great assault, the ecm coupled with enormous short range firepower is devestateing. A good pilot in this mech can really change the course of a match. Sure it's slow but once it arrives the enemy has to take you down. Look up spooky atlas on youtube and watch the B33F Rick roll other experienceed pilots in it. It's humorous but worth watching as it is a tactic that works.

Your cicadas are still viable, see them quite a bit. Speed of a light mech is possible with an xl engine. The 3Ms ecm package allows it to be effective in many situations. Cicadas are great at harassment tactics, and can use thier speed to quickly take advantage of an isolated assault mech by destroying it from behind.

Centurions, you either love them or hate them. I am not a personal fan of piloting them but I know people that just make them seem like little helmeted gods on any map that they drop on. The L version has one of the coolest looking paint schemes in the game and can really run ballistic SRM loadouts. Thing to remember is useing your shield arm as a shield. A centurion that attempts to stare at an opponent between shots quickly finds itself buried far from Rome. You generally see centurions played best when they stick with the groups assault mechs as most of thier loadouts have an AC 20 that will shred armor in chunks but have a long cooldown.

No one else covered it, but certain mechs, like the loyalty centurion you have, are handed out for purchasing various mech or MC packages or playing a certain amount of matches over a years time. These mechs have different skins or camos and can not be sold. The 2 others given out along with your centurion are a King Crab and an Atlas. The camos on the mechs are not depictions of angels as many people assume, but of the three Norns of Norse mythology.


Good luck man, welcome back.

[lazza72]

Thanks again. It's good to be back. And may I say, what a friendly and helpful forum.

[JC Daxion]

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/ click this.. has a list of every mech, hard points, and scroll down to the bottom for quirks.. quirks are the new boosts given to some mechs. Then click on the mech, and play around with builds.. yup tons of time can be wasted playing.


as for what is new.. so much, I'd suggest just playing 20-40 games in trials to get your feet wet, then come back and say what you where liking, and what you werent

[Elendil]

I'm in a similar boat to you, but I've been playing again for a couple weeks now.

I had a bunch of founder MC begging to be spent on Clan mechs and Black Knights and whatnot, but after the initial novelty of it I realized it was far more important to play my founder/loyalty mechs. Those 30% C-Bill bonuses are no joke.
Also if you're in one of the current 'meta' mechs you'll be target and burned down much faster.

I'd recommend maybe getting a couple new mechs if you have the cash, just for fun, but you should focus on that loyalty Centurion. Get another variant for it and level all 3 of them up, to get the elite skills.

If you want my recommendation for other mechs, go for lights and mediums.
Assaults are great and all, but they're huge, immobile targets just begging to get cored. I get far more damage and kills in my Jenner than anything else, survive the most often, and have the most fun.
In your case, I'd recommend a third Cicada (It's basically the same as a Jenner).

Aside from that, I will warn you that long range sniping is not the way to go. I don't know your preferred play style, but lasers are currently considered the best weapon (especially for Inner Sphere mechs, which have shorter laser durations than Clan mechs), followed closely by SRMs and Streak SRMs.
LRMs are good for doing damage in low tier matches too.

If you really want some brand-new mechs, and have the money, I'd recommend a Stormcrow, Crab, or Blackjack for mediums, or a Black Knight or Timberwolf for heavies (but basically everything is viable on one way or another, with the new 'quirks').
And anything that can get ECM (like your Atlas) is generally a good idea, especially in low-tier matches.

Oh, and the biggest lesson I learned is that the position of the weapons on the mech makes a huge difference. It's much better to get mechs with their direct-fire weapons up near their heads, and/or close in to the body. If your weapons are way down below your cockpit or out on long arms, you'll accidentally put a lot of shots into your own cover/nearby allies, and you'll have to stick way out of cover to fire them (and get shot because of that).

And my last tip is to focus on staying alive. Stick with allies, don't go off on your own. You all depend on each other to survive. (But if you all bunch up in the middle of the map you'll be surrounded and gunned down in crossfire)

[Koniving]

For now, focus on one more centurion to round them out. The A, with its 3 missile hardpoints, is a popular one. I also would like to suggest eyeing the AL, which has a high energy base for its weapons (which are all super light weight, meaning cheaper more survivable standard engines are of better use).

[Major Tomm]

For me I picked the Crab 27B and the basic Warhammer pack. Crabs is good. Warhammer has variants that do all the roles. Black Widow looks good for someday.

[Satan n stuff]

lazza72, on 02 May 2016 - 11:49 PM, said:

(not sure what the L is and it doesn't show up in inventory, weird)

That's because you can't sell it, only items you can sell show up in the inventory. You got a free mechbay to store it in though so it's not a problem.
Edit: I would imagine you like Centurions given that you have more than one of them, is the CN9-D a founders mech? Anyway if you like them you'll definitely want to play the AH, it's an amazing brawler and it does really well in the newly added scouting mode.

Edited by Satan n stuff, 06 May 2016 - 04:43 AM.

[Poundcake]

First off the forum was a good place to go, some of these guys have great advice.

I bought the Founders Atlas long ago, and like you, dropped off the map for about three years. I consider myself a casual player, a weekend warrior, with some bingeing now and then.

If you google Meta Mechs you'll see what theyre talking about when they use that term. Its really a good site if you just want a template for a good loadout and it covers many mechs. Much easier to just use a template, if it fits a plays style you enjoy.

As for what mech is best, its kind of like wine, the best wine is the one you like the best. Not what the other guy likes the best. That said there are def better performing mechs, and better performing loadouts. Loadout is key, you can have a "great" mech load it like crap ad never get results, so its not just about which mech but also which loadout.

Some of the most enjoyment I get out of this game is trying to figure out that puzzle or what mech+loadout. So I leave that to your enjoyment to figure out what works for you on your own ; ) Cheer and good luck.

[dragnier1]

lazza72, on 02 May 2016 - 11:49 PM, said:

Thanks for the responses guys. Currently in my inventory from 2013 are 2 Centurions, CN9 D and AH(L) (not sure what the L is and it doesn't show up in inventory, weird). 2 Cicadas, 3C and 3M. 3 Cataphracts, 1,2 and 4X, and an Atlas D-DC.

I've played a couple of games and I feel a more up close and personal approach is my style, but that may just be because I suck at long shots, so more practice required.

The Centurion AH will be really fun if you like up close and personal "brawl" style. I did mine with ac20, 3 srm4 and XLS engine for the speed and had fun with it. If you think XLS is too risky go STD engines with srm2s