38 replies to this topic

[pwnface]

Starbomber109, on 25 April 2016 - 06:40 PM, said:

Well that doesn't seem too bad though I donno how you fit all that onto a....

Oh....it has no armor.

Even if you could fit armor it's way too much heat for default 10 heatsinks.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Remains Intact, on 21 April 2016 - 10:45 AM, said:

While there are other possibilities they are usually niche builds that only work on a frame or two.

As a general rule, if you want to be successful do the following:

1. Ignore all weapons systems aside from lasers.

Um, NO. Lasers are good for a LOT of mechs, and especially for those that are QUIRKED for them. But they're not the be-all-end-all. Due to having a duration, they require FACE TIME to get their full damage out. That means exposing at least THAT PART of your mech to return fire, or wasting heat on a portion of the beam duration that isn't hitting your target.

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2. Equip up to 6 medium lasers and 2 large pulse lasers. Equip applicable range extension modules.

Meh, not so much. FIRST, LPLs outrange MLs. Second, MLs cool down faster. So, ML range and LPL cooldown tend to sync those weapons up fairly well. Use those.

As pointed out above, the general rule for setting up laser vomit is as many LPLs as won't break ghost heat, and then fill in with MLs and heat sinks to your taste. A simple 2 + 6 is not going to work so well.

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3. Corner/ridge peek from a flank, Alpha your opponent from 650m away, then cool down for a few seconds.

Corner/ridge peek, yeah that's solid advice. Minimize exposure. Hence the emphasis on narrow, high-mounted torso and arm weapons.

Alpha from 650 meters? Okay, with the CLAN version of this and on resting heat, I can see it. Like GMan129 recommends in his guides, and I solidly agree (proved it again tonight), if you're on low/resting heat then do ANY damage you can, even if it's only 1-2 points. SURE. But you're not getting much damage at that range with Clan weapons, and you're getting almost NOTHING AT ALL with IS ones. At least, cut it back to the LPLs only at that sort of range, and maybe the full alpha at 400m with Clan and 300m with IS (ML range module puts you at 297 meters optimal without quirks).

If you're built well and you have good peeking/humping position, you can usually get away with 2 blasts before you need to think about cooling down. If you're on the cusp of a kill, drop the coolshot and stick that third alpha in there.

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4. Profit.

I'm half-Ferengi (seriously, am I the ONLY one who sees the Ferengi in ST:TNG and :DS9 as the most anti-semitic thing to ever get syndicated television play since the 1950s?!). You'll get no argument from me.

[Exilyth]

It's quite easy actually:

0. Play the academy training and familiarize yourself with the mechs/maps using testing grounds
1. Stick together (at least with your lance)
2. Lock targets (unless they've got ecm)
3. Focus fire (whenever possible)
4. Don't chase the squirrel (unless it's the last enemy alive)
5. Watch your map (every other moment)
6. Watch your flanks (and lock that sneaky light)
7. Watch your back (and reverse into a wall when squirreled)
8. ???????
9. You no longer need any advice

Unfortunably, it seems like many people skip 0 and only ever get two or three points from 1-7.

[JigglyMoobs]

The secret to being good at mwo is the same as the secret to being good at anything: mindful practice.

IE:
Conscientiously utilizing strategies, tactics and skills as you understand them.
Putting this into practice in ever more challenging scenarios and against ever more challenging opponents until point of failure.
Summarizing causes of failure and fully realizing lessons learned.
Implementing changes to strategies, tactics, and skills to correct deficiencies.
Repeat, as often as possible given requirement for mindful implementation and conscientious learning, while always keeping in mind and accepting that no step above is perfect, no lesson is complete, no strategy invincible, no conclusion immune to reconsideration.

Edited by JigglyMoobs, 28 April 2016 - 01:49 AM.

[White Bear 84]

Equip all the machine guns!!!!

[Gasboy]

Better to be a tiger for one day than a sheep for a thousand years.

[Red Shrike]

Gasboy, on 28 April 2016 - 02:21 AM, said:

Better to be a tiger for one day than a sheep for a thousand years.

Quoting Benito Mussolini I see.

[Gasboy]

Red Shrike, on 28 April 2016 - 03:37 AM, said:

Quoting Benito Mussolini I see.

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Recorded as the view of Tipu Sahib c 1750–99, sultan of Mysore in India

A Tibetan saying actually. Nice to see someone jumping to the worst conclusions...

[SteelBruiser]

Wraith 1, on 24 April 2016 - 10:33 PM, said:

I followed your build advice. I guess I'm good now.

LOL...I can't wait to run this build...yer awesome until the enemy decides to fire that first return volley!

[Raso]

I think what this post really highlights is that there is a growing trend in too many online games to become obsessed with the "meta". Granted the concept of the meta has always existed in online gaming but as someone who's "been around" I can assure you that it is worse than it has ever been. People have surrendered creativity to the altar of the meta for quick wins. They see the game through horse blinders and loath possibility.

Never you mind the usefulness of auto-cannons and Gauss rifles. Never you mind the effectiveness of SRMs on various mechs. Just load up a Banshee or Thunderbolt with a butt load of lasers and actively avoid experiencing what the res of the game has to offer you.

Do stay clear of flamers and machine guns, though. Those are legit broken.

[Jables McBarty]

Sister RAbbi, on 25 April 2016 - 11:38 PM, said:

I'm half-Ferengi (seriously, am I the ONLY one who sees the Ferengi in ST:TNG and :DS9 as the most anti-semitic thing to ever get syndicated television play since the 1950s?!). You'll get no argument from me.

Lol nope.

As in, not the only one

[ALKALIN3]

Red Shrike, on 28 April 2016 - 03:37 AM, said:

Quoting Benito Mussolini I see.

Miss quoting Mussolini I see...

E' meglio vivere un giorno da leone che 100 anni da pecora" (it is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a lamb) ~ Benito Mussolini

Actual quote: "Better to live one day as a tiger than a thousand years as a sheep"

Recorded as the view of Tipu Sahib c 1750–99, sultan of Mysore in India

Edited by ALKALIN3, 17 May 2016 - 01:33 PM.

[Darkhorse13Golf]

I love lasers but I also like UAC/5's and SRM-4's. I'm far from the best player but from what I've seen, lasers save weight and do not rely on ammo while ballistics in particular are heavier but generate less heat and what you hit, you get all of the damage in on that point. I run an Atlas "S" with an AC/20, 4 SRM-6's and 4 ML and the SRM's have been absolutely devastating....even with the spread you're still talking a strike of 48 with the missiles alone. Add the AC/20 to the mix and we are talking some pretty nasty damage in just 2 salvos. A standard laser's spread can be a boon and a curse. You can be pretty sure to sweep around and at least SOME damage, while an AC shell sailing by does nothing. Handy for light mechs (though a pulse laser is even handier, lol). Basically I've seen plenty of builds and it all comes down to playstyle, meta be damned. For example, my brother, who's gamertag is Lestin and I both run Centurion AH's. We both love them. He is an in your face brawler and an excellent pilot and so runs an AC/20 with 2 SRM-4's. This matches his style and plays to the chassis quirks. For me however, even when I "brawl" I like keeping some distance and use terrain to my advantage as I am a better gunner then pilot. It works for me pretty decently and so I run a UAC/5 with 135 shells for some range with 3 SRM-4's with 400 missiles. This build has worked well for me. I guess this just a long winded way for me to say while meta counts, playstyle and tactical awareness counts more. I saw a guy shred it up in a Hunchback with 3 AC/2's and I was told that build wasn't viable when I had thought of it.....well, it sure as hell was for that guy,lol.

[4ries]

.

Edited by 4ries, 26 May 2016 - 02:51 PM.

[Clydewinder]

Starbomber109, on 25 April 2016 - 06:40 PM, said:

Well that doesn't seem too bad though I donno how you fit all that onto a....

Oh....it has no armor.

no armor, can still tank as more damage than an Orion

[SlightlyMobileTurret]

Gasboy, on 28 April 2016 - 01:45 PM, said:

A Tibetan saying actually. Nice to see someone jumping to the worst conclusions...

Wait, now India is in Tibet??

Tipu was the ruler of Mysore, firmly in South India (400 km from where I live, lol) and about 2000 km away from Tibet

He was very much known to be fond of Tigers (his flag had a tiger as well) and was himself known as 'the tiger of Mysore.

He had balls, showed the British where to shove their rifles, got his kids kidnapped, promised to be subservient when the kids were released, then once again showed his esteemed middle fingers to them. That's a concise history of what got him killed.

Of note , is that his kingdom was the first to use rockets with metal frames as a weapon, and the British copied those off his designs.

Progenitor of Lurms ??

Edited by Keshav Murali, 29 May 2016 - 07:36 PM.

[Nightshade24]

Remains Intact, on 21 April 2016 - 10:45 AM, said:

While there are other possibilities they are usually niche builds that only work on a frame or two.

As a general rule, if you want to be successful do the following:

1. Ignore all weapons systems aside from lasers.

2. Equip up to 6 medium lasers and 2 large pulse lasers. Equip applicable range extension modules.

3. Corner/ridge peek from a flank, Alpha your opponent from 650m away, then cool down for a few seconds.

4. Profit.

This is the general rule of being successful and being good in MechWarrior: Online

1. Ignore what everyone says what you can and can't do. Advice is only advice and it's your choice to follow it, ignore it, or do something different and that is your right: not you're 'wrong'. Because you will have passion, fun, and happiness with the following battles, and with that you want to return back for another match, and another one. You quickly adapt to YOUR playstyle for YOUR favourite mech. Not what someone told you to equip for the latest flavor of the month or the latest mech with broken quirks or tiny hitboxes. Because a mech you do not care about that will expire in a month and mosst likely sold as scrap for C-bills will not make you actively engaged in MW: O.

The more you have fun and play whta you want to play and play with your beloved mech that you grown attatched to. The more c-bills you will make, the more adept and experience you will grow. To the point that you end up being a vital component to your team of friends or regular team mates- even if you are running what some may call silly because you may prefer LBX autocannons over a gauss rifle or regular auto cannon for this mech or build, or preffer to use a mech that some may have originally regreted having it in their lance or company.

2. Profit. and have fun, because this is a video game. That's the goal of a video game. It's entertainment, Not something you are forced to grind or "get gud". The best cause of action in battle will not always be the most profitable one. I can't guarantee you will always make millions of C-bills per session. But tanking those shots to let your wounded team mate last longer or deciding to go out and scout or or capture that point. It's a team based game after all. Not a game of who can get the most C-bills by humping a rock a kilometre away with dual gauss and large pulse lasers.

[PeeWrinkle]

Hopefully most new pilots read past the start of this thread as the initial post contains a lot of bad advice.

I believe there are three areas that you have to manage to do well in MWO.

Area 1: Building your mech
All weapons aside from Flamer and MG's can be viable. It is also possible those two are as well, but the truth is I don't use them as they have a reputation for not being very good. Guass Rifles require a bit of practice at the beginning to become efficient with them. Streaks are usually easy for new pilots as long as you can get a lock, but can teach bad habits.
Basics Keys to Mech Building:
1. Heat, keep it manageable. A good rule is use smurphys and try to keep the heat efficiency close to 40%.
2. Use 1-3 different weapons. Usually 2 is the magic number.
3. Understand the different ranges of weapons. I usually keep all my weapons in the same range group, or at most have two different range groups. This also fits in nicely with keeping weapon groups under 3 (I only like to use 3 weapon groups because using a 4th button on my mouse is difficult). For example you can build a mech using 2PPC and 6 ML and your total heat efficiency may be at or below 30%. Knowing the range limitations you can figure on managing the PPC heat separately from your ML heat as you most likely will not use both weapons at the same time.
4. Avoid Ghost heat. Not saying you can't have a build that would generate Ghost heat if you alpha, but you should split those weapons into different weapon groups to avoid it.
5. High alphas are great, but if it is too hot drop some weapons in favor of heatsinks. Also make sure that you can group weapons so you can constantly (or close to constantly) chain fire when you can't alpha. Sustained fire is a beautiful thing.

Area 2: Group Tactics
Yes this is a team game and there is no room for Rambo's.
1. Stay together as much as possible and set up clear fire lines for your group.
2. When taking fire don't turn and run in these situation when you have that firing line set and are grouped well. Instead call shots and focus fire. Yes you may die, but usually in QP the other team will scatter or break contact allowing your team to make short work of them.
3. Target mechs for yourself and your teammates. It is amazing how often people never press that elusive R button.

Area 3: Pilot and Gunnery Skill
This is the hardest area as a lot of it requires you to just play and get to know the maps. Also accuracy is huge, and is something that can definitely improve over time if you keep working on it.
1. Understand when firing how to manage your heat. This also applies a lot to how you set up your weapons groups and whether you are chain firing (weapons or groups of weapons) or trying to alpha mostly. Know your heat!
2. Piloting is more than just moving your mech around. Key areas to focus on here would be using jump jets to turn and maneuver as well as spread and avoid damage. Torso twisting to reduce face time and still be able to get your shots in. Knowing the maps so you know where to go to use the terrain to your advantage and in some cases not box yourself in.

There is a lot more all these areas than what is listed here, but there are a ton of guides and info on all this in these forums. I just put this here in case someone is reading this looking for decent advice or a decent starting point on how to be a better player.