88 replies to this topic

[S 0 L E N Y A]

These days with the more advanced players the Kodiak has all but completely replaced the Dire Whale.

The Dire used to be the top notch assault, but late last year the skill tree perks got nerfed, and the Dire suffered A LOT for it. Dire was never horribly quick or agile, but now it is just a glorified walking turret when compared to its former self.

[Koniving]

Horse Pryde, on 08 June 2016 - 05:19 AM, said:

I went with the S variant as it is more of a brawler for a Direwolf. I havent changed it from its original but it doesn't have any stock LRM's and I dont plan on adding any. I have only played a few times with it but had good success both times. I have tried to mix it up a lot and still use the trial mech's also. I also dropped $20 and got the Kodiak package. Still a lot left to learn but putting the time in.

How are you fairing?
Side note: You can change the title of the thread to something akin to Jack's "adventures of a new pilot" if you want something more on-going to give updates and gets advice with each update.

Edited by Koniving, 09 June 2016 - 05:39 AM.

[Horse Pryde]

Koniving, on 09 June 2016 - 05:07 AM, said:

How are you fairing?

Not afraid to admit i jumped the gun and got the DireWolf and have not done exceptionally well with it. I dont think my kill ratio has changed much (It cant get much worse) but I have noticed I'm far to easy of a target, i need to work on my hiding and twisting. I do like that it has some good long range weapons and is great in short range with the machine guns and Lasers. I just think for now I will use the Kodiak more and keep playing the lighter trial mechs. I will always go back to the DireWolf for a fun quick game though but in order to develop like id like to I probably should avoid it for now.

[Koniving]

Horse Pryde, on 09 June 2016 - 06:05 AM, said:

Not afraid to admit i jumped the gun and got the DireWolf and have not done exceptionally well with it. I dont think my kill ratio has changed much (It cant get much worse) but I have noticed I'm far to easy of a target, i need to work on my hiding and twisting. I do like that it has some good long range weapons and is great in short range with the machine guns and Lasers. I just think for now I will use the Kodiak more and keep playing the lighter trial mechs. I will always go back to the DireWolf for a fun quick game though but in order to develop like id like to I probably should avoid it for now.

Twisting for a Dire Wolf is about as mute a point as -- jumping out a window when the door is open and right next to it.

Instead, consider channeling a high amount of armor forward and if you are under attack, twist only about 25 degrees in either direction just to break enemy laser fire from specific parts of your body. Anything more and you open yourself up to even more abuse.

Orange is front side torsos. Blue is rear side torsos.
So a torso twist of 90 degrees... basically says "Kill me."

Instead, consider more DPS-oriented builds so you can be a little more like this...

The overall effect is terrifying. Though admittedly it doesn't cause the torrential screenshake that it used to.
Notice also that this is a lance formation of four players. One tank, one Heavy Hitter (quad AC/5), one DPS hitter (my mech, 2 AC/5 2 AC/2), and one LRM boat to pepper things.

Dire Wolves are not well suited as solo mechs and better suited as part of a group.
Take this Dire Wolf for example. Accompanying it directly is an Atlas providing it ECM cover.

The ECM provided by the Atlas helps keep enemies from being able to easily see the weakened spots caused by damage. The heavy punch of 4 Gauss Rifles, fired in chains of 2, ensure that enemies feel a punch so hard that they back off (in tabletop, this punch would knock any mech off of their feet!!)

Although the role is canonically meant for a King Crab, the Dire Wolf in MWO is best suited as an Area of Denial mech if it must work solo, finding a good solid position and keeping everyone away from it at the threat of serious firepower.
If in a group, it should be either the heavy hitter or DPS suppression aspect and accompanied by -- at minimum -- a 'Tank' mech.

[Koniving]

Also: Like the thread name.

[Horse Pryde]

I have not changed the mech from stock yet. I was planning on doing some research into that today and maybe reworking my setup tonight. I haven't purchased anything for weapons or upgrades yet so I will have to do some of that also. I might spend a lot of time in the academy or training tonight as I think i have more to learn there.
I also need to work on changing up my vision as you did in the video. I try to hard to zoom and place shots when i could just turn on the heat vision and see them better right away.
Its a work in progress but i have to say this is one of the first games I've played that I don't mind being bad at. So long as I'm improving that is.

[Koniving]

Vision modes are H (thermal) and N (night vision).
Advanced zoom (the picture in picture) requires a module; use GXP to get it (btw do NOT spend GXP on your mech's pilot trees; instead save them for "Pilot" trees rather than "Mech" trees. Pilot trees only accept GXP and its rate of acquisition is sloooow!)

Looking at the DWF-S since you've said it is stock... I do see why you're having problems with it. Definitely rework the build when you can, this one's got a minimum of 4 firing groups but really needs 5 groups to function effectively, some extremely high heat problems....
Great tabletop functionality and could function decent in older MW games (where you had to cycle different firing groups) but here, this is borderline unplayable. And I normally run 3-4 weapon groups on most of my mechs.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b#i=261&l=stock
Is the stock loadout.
First, reconfigure the armor.
Center rear needs about 21 minimum, the side rears are not that important because if someone gets behind you they want the center, so side rears could probably go down to 12 or 8 if you're daring. Channel the rest of the armor forward. Cockpit armor, though Dire Wolves do have big cockpits people don't really aim for them anymore so it could cut down if needed to help round out to the nearest half ton.

From there, click the "dwf-s" dropdowns to be able to change Omnipods -- something your Kodiak Battlemech does not have but your Direwolf Omnimech does -- and change out hardpoints as you see fit from the selection. Remember there is a Maximum of 18 hardpoints if you exceed this it won't be happy and neither will you.

Keep the following in mind when building.
Do not fire more than 6 lasers of any type at once. (over simplifying something more complex; there are some exceptions that some wise guy might explain but for the sake of keeping it simple, no more than 6 at a time so plan for this).

Certain autocannon combinations -- namely big ones -- will punish you with excess heat because they can, go for modest amounts of smaller ones or a mixture and bleed them together. As it happens the punishment focuses on the amount of specific autocannons but doesn't care about a mixture of autocannons -- unlike the punishment from lasers.
Furthermore: UACs jam if tap fired, but if held they work just like ACs. There are minor differences between them in MWO, but ACs are more expensive -- not because they are better, but because that's the prices of LBXs and Clan ACs and LBXs are just supposed to be LBXs...with swappable ammo that hasn't happened yet.

PPCs or in this case ER PPCs, are projectile weapons. Single shot per use, very nasty things and incredibly hot. Punishments come if more than two are fired at once.

The rest, well you'll figure it out. Btw this might not matter unless you turn off armlock (use shift to 'hold toggle' it back on when needed) you can use the left CTRL to manipulate the Arm aiming crosshair (o) which will help you aim at things faster than the body can keep up, even without left CTRL it will speed up your torso twisting to keep track of enemies running by you.

---
Most important is situational awareness and knowledge that enemies can be behind you without warning. Left CTRL (with or without armlock) will let you 'look around' through the windows in your cockpit allowing you to see further off to your sides without having to turn.

[Horse Pryde]

Thanks, I should have some free time tonight to dive in and get some practice in. I have watched a lot of tutorials and hope that I'm taking something from every one.
Watching some of these Youtube videos is crazy. 10 kills 1,200 damage. yet every opponent looks like it is their first game. walking right into the open just asking to be shot.

[Cy Mitchell]

You can use this link: http://metamechs.com...ides/dire-wolf/ to see some of the builds that players use on the Dire. You do not have to use them but it will give you an idea of what works well. Also when you put a build together take it to the Testing Grounds to see how it performs. You can find them on the Home page in the game. They are the maps with 8 Mechs located on them for you to shoot at. I usually use Terra Therma to make sure my Mech build is not going to be too hot to be effective. Watch your heat gauge, test your weapon ranges and how effective they are at various ranges, shoot the target Mechs while moving and twisting in between shoots to help with your targeting skills.

Good Luck.

Edited by Rampage, 09 June 2016 - 12:03 PM.

[Horse Pryde]

Had a great night of playing. Did about an hour of training and then headed to the battle field. Refitted my mech so that it is similar to what Koniving said to go with. I did scrape the SRM 6's for an LRM-10. Its not my primary weapon but i do like to use its indirect fire for Kill assists. I also changed out the AC20 for 2 AC5's and cut back on 2 MED lazers. Its a cleaner load out that now only has 4 weapon groups with the 4th being the machine guns. I had a lot more luck with it and even had a game where i got 800 damage and 3 kills, it was balanced out with a game where a light got behind me and alpha striked my back for an instant kill very early in the match. I also played around with several of the trial mechs from light to heavy and think overall I improved even if only slightly.
Ive noticed I am far better at peeking around hills/buildings than I am going over the top of them. I have had my best luck by far on the canyon map and the river city map.

[Koniving]

Canyon and river city offer a lot of cover which allows good stealthy advances. While it doesn't fit the Clan mentality, I have found great joy in using buildings to sneak up on enemies even in battletech (tabletop) and megamek (digital tabletop). In one case I burst through a building and came out the other side like the Kool-Aid man.
...sadly that didn't work out because while I did burst out in front of a battle master on purpose, I didn't count on a Shadowhawk jumping over us to kick my leg. Then the battle master kicked and lasers me and bam... all four actuators in the same leg were fried.

Of all the luck.

Anyway for brawling rigs continue to make good use of cover to sneak up on baddies and ruin their day.
When facing lights back up to a wall if they cant jump to protect your backside.

[SnagaDance]

With the big Assaults it's al about positioning, knowing the maps and feeling the flow of battle. So you can be at the right place at the right time. So as not to be caught with your pants down.

This can be hard for a new player because a lot of it is simply playing a lot of matches and paying attention. But it's something that will benefit you while playing any other (much faster) mech.

Good luck out there, hope to see you on the battlefield!

[Horse Pryde]

It was in the Canyon that he snuck up behind me and flanked our whole squad. Didnt see him till it was to late.

[Koniving]

If you have voice, you can make a support request. Check your grid square and make a distress call. Helps if you call out a specific ally.

Once had a match where a catapult cried out "Hey, uh, hunchback in G8, come here to h7 quick, there's a jenner on my ***.". The Hunch came over and got him, "thanks man, he almost had me and I've got too many missiles left to die now.". From that moment til the end of the match they moved and attacked together.

[Horse Pryde]

I do have a mic and have tried to be more active about using it. Depends on the game. I am not going to be the only one talking but if others are speaking i will chime in and talk.

[Digital_Angel]

Horse Pryde, on 10 June 2016 - 09:33 AM, said:

I do have a mic and have tried to be more active about using it. Depends on the game. I am not going to be the only one talking but if others are speaking i will chime in and talk.

The thing is, especially in Tier 4 and 5, others feel the same way a lot. Every a couple people saying hello on voice during the load screen can tend to get the group started talking to each other for a match.

[Spangle]

LadyDanams, on 10 June 2016 - 09:57 AM, said:

The thing is, especially in Tier 4 and 5, others feel the same way a lot. Every a couple people saying hello on voice during the load screen can tend to get the group started talking to each other for a match.

Have seen that

Every drop I always say 'Hi' during the load screen to "break the ice"

[Not A Real RAbbi]

LadyDanams, on 10 June 2016 - 09:57 AM, said:

The thing is, especially in Tier 4 and 5, others feel the same way a lot. Every a couple people saying hello on voice during the load screen can tend to get the group started talking to each other for a match.

Happens every time. Everyone has VOIP on, but no one talks until SOMEONE talks, and then EVERYONE talks.

Usually for the best. Usually...

[Gibson Ibanez]

Hey there Horse! You dropped into the thread that I started and I am glad to see you reach out on your own. I do not have much experience with the Dire Wolf other than the couple of times I played the trials. I HATED it then, but with this game you have to find and go with what YOU like.

I run lrms on a couple of my assaults, but I play them with the intention of wrecking face once I get my slow butt in position. As a rookie I can tell you . . . POSITION IS EVERYTHING with an assault, as was wisely mentioned earlier. You will get kicked around until you get practice at keeping an eye on the little map and watching the position of your teammates. They will shift alot in pickup games (PUGS) and leave you wondering why the world is crashing down on your lonely whale. Stay as close to the middle of the herd as you can, but stay back a little and do not try to lead the charge . . . yet. Follow the herd when they push. Follow the herd when they shift positions. Follow the herd in firing at targets. In pugs, if one of your faster teammates goes ronin all on his own, let him go. You are too slow to get away from whatever will be after him in a couple of seconds, and you will be alone. All of these things I have earned at the school of hard knocks. If I gave any bad advice, others will set it straight.

When in game pay attention to people making calls on voip. Learning to use it will help you. More than once I have had to use it to get help against lights. Someone has always come to help as long as I was not miles away because I did not stay near the herd. Also realize these guys have put in more time than both of us combined and are they here and willing to help you. They know what they are talking about and have helped me greatly. See you out there!

EDIT: If you want to Horse Pryde, send me a friend request. My screw-ups will make you feel better about youself.

Edited by Jack McKnight, 10 June 2016 - 05:39 PM.

[Horse Pryde]

Jack, friend request sent. I am doing better or so it seems. I will have a great game and then a terrible one. Still my kill to death ratio is improving and my damage per round is also improving. I keep blowing all my Cbills on changing my mech around but ive finally got a build i really like.