26 replies to this topic

[Dryderian]

First a "Hello" to all fellow mechwarriors, the board game brought me to this game and I joined on 30.05.2016.

So what I learned in Quick plays so far:

Rule 1: If there are team mates at your right or left or front or back, do not count at all on them keeping the enemy in their firing arcs suppressed or paying attention at all to their surroundings. If you do, you will likely die from shots in the back, side choose your pick.

Rule 2: Do not think you are in a team, covering flanks, rear will do nothing at all. You will announce a flanking move, try to suppress and likely die by being overwhelmed because no one cares.

Rule 3: If you are in a firing line of several mechs and the enemy is so bold to shoot back(you are still more mechs in that line), count on the line breaking and the others running. Basically with you staying and shooting, you provide cover for the others to back off and will die eventually because you end up alone.

Rule 4: If you think tactically and make a move with several other mechs(lights) to split the enemy force, prepare to die. Your team mates will, abandon you without announcing incoming enemy mechs or as soon as they face opposition, even if you ask, you will get no answer or intel. You will die.

Rule 5: If you are with several mechs and face a force which is smaller than the mechs around you and decide to push, you will die. Most likely your team mates will just stay in cover and do not move with you.

Rule 6: While dropping, complete silence in chat and voice communication is a bad omen. Communication is key to winning a game.

Rule 7: Just because a mech is lighter than you does not mean he will not kick your ***.

Rule 8: Locusts are annoying as hell, if engaged by one try to get to your group or change position to get some support - they are hard to hit and the possibility is high that another enemy mech will join.

Rule 9: If in a brawl with another mech, try to get for specific components which are weak, targeting helps a lot - trying to get a headshot might be the only way you can win a fight.

Rule 10: If you have a firing position with cover or advance with partial cover to a target while shooting it is very likely that your team mates will swarm that position, blocking each others firing line and running in yours (probably to get in range for their weapons) often providing cover for the target. In many cases your position will get heavy fire by enemy mechs after at a short time. Time to fall back or change your position.
(Moric reminded me of that).

Rule 11: When you are in a firing line and hold a position with several team mates against a pinned force, pay attention to the map. It is highly likely that 3/4 will run off to chase a locust or another light and you will be overrun by the enemy mechs.

Rule 12: You are in a fight with another mech having a good cover, good position or outmanouver him, you tanked a lot of damage, played quite well, you eat up his last barrage of hell to get in for the final shots. Be prepared that right in this moment one of your team mates will run right in front of you, blocking your firing line to score the kill, they like to do it especially, when the enemy just fired his shots which you tanked, so they won't get harmed..

Some sources which helped me a lot:

- Metamechs: http://metamechs.com/

- No Guts No Galaxy Forum - MWO Mech Builds: http://www.nogutsnog...forum/index.php

- Smurfy's MWO Reference: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/

- YouTubers : Critical Rocket, MoltenMetal, Josh Tolley, M4J35T1C, SideStrafe

But I will still try to play tactical and team focused, even if it means I die more often having not done much damage at all - there are the teams which react, when you announce a flanking move; there are teams who cover each others back and there are teams which hold a firing line and where support arrives to push forward.
There may be an occasional game, where the random team actually plays as a unit but is not rule, more the exception. PUG LIfe.

I might have to add that I played mainly as a Rifleman, which from my impression, relies heavily on team play as it is a mech that fits more a support role, which can do insane amounts of damage(overall around 400-600, peaks in the slightly over 1000 for me), but relies heavily on not being engaged directly by enemy mechs.You have no amazing peak alpha, but a high sustain over time.

All these rules were collected in several 100 Quick Plays(I think I am at 350+ now) and are not a rare situational occurrence, rather you see these situations happen very often.

Edited by Dryderian, 16 July 2016 - 01:52 AM.

[mailin]

Welcome to MWO!

Yep, very good rules here.

[Moric Kazimir]

I've got some!

If you're being torn apart by a wolf pack of lights, don't use your voice communications to call for assistance, it won't come.

I don't know if this is truly vets leveling up alternate accounts in my tier but I'm consistently told how to assault an enemy that to me has gotten me killed multiple times. While pecking and running has worked much more efficiently. These "vets" are usually sitting 900m away with lrm boats doing a lot of backseat driving.

My favorite recently, and why I've gone back to sniping in my dire over medium/heavy - Don't be surprised if you have an occasional teammate who will run up and stand behind you while you advance and then proceed to laugh at you when you die because you can't fall back quickly enough.


Your omen on voice comms hits the nail on the head, breaking the ice with idle chit chat has always seemed to spur some morale and motivation, much more so then just complete silence, random cursing and people calling each other bads at the end.

Edited by Moric Kazimir, 05 July 2016 - 03:44 PM.

[Sadistic Savior]

Dryderian, on 05 July 2016 - 01:59 PM, said:

So what I learned in Quick plays so far:

Rule 1: If there are team mates at your right or left or front or back, do not count at all on them keeping the enemy in their firing arcs suppressed or paying attention at all to their surroundings. If you do, you will likely die from shots in the back, side choose your pick.

Correct.

It's not malicious...but a lot of people in Quick Play are new (or experienced players who are just not very good at strategy). A PUG is not a guild or Clan...it's just a bunch of random players thrown together. PUGs are mostly about soloing. It is team detahmatch. Faction Play is where you see the real teamwork.

Quote

Rule 2: Do not think you are in a team, covering flanks, rear will do nothing at all. You will announce a flanking move, try to suppress and likely die by being overwhelmed because no one cares.

Partially correct.

People behind you will engage enemies merely out of self preservation most of the time. If you're smart, you'll help them, to eliminate the 2nd front quickly. You have no control over what they do, but you DO have control over what you do.

Barking orders in PUGs is like herding cats. You might get lucky, but don't expect people to listen to you. There are countless armchair napoleans in this game, and people are used to ignoring them.

I will follow orders if I think they make sense, and are simple ("Everyone target the Timber wolf in D3").

Quote

Rule 3: If you are in firing line of several mechs and the enemy is so bold to shoot back(you are still more mechs in that line), count on the line breaking and the others running. Basically with you staying and shooting, you provide cover for the others to back off and will die eventually because you end up alone.

It's team deathmatch. They could just as easily blame you for making a stand when you can't win...it goes both ways.

Keep in mind that all the gripes you have apply to the other team as well. All PUG teams are like this.

Quote

Rule 4: If you think tactically and make a move with several other mechs(lights) to split the enemy force, prepare to die. Your team mates will, abandon you without announcing incoming enemy mechs or as soon as they face opposition, even if you ask, you will get no answer or intel. You will die.

Which is why you should not be relying on intel. Rely on your own instruments and what you can see. Team Intel should only be supplementing that.

Quote

Rule 5: If you are with several mechs and face a force which is smaller than the mechs around you and decide to push, you will die. Most likely your team mates will just stay in cover and do not move with you.

...because they are smart. That is what you should be doing as well.

Quote

Rule 6: While dropping, complete silence in chat and voice communication is a bad omen. Communication is key to winning a game.

It's not key to winning at all IMO...I have won lots of games where there is no direct communication.

As an example, if I am playing missile support, I pick and choose what I target, in a way that I think helps my teammates. They don't need to ask for my support...I just do it. My missiles will distract the enemy even if they do not directly cause damage...which means they are less likely to hit my teammates, and my teammates are more likely to hit them.

Communication definitely improves this greatly (most of the time...see my armchair napoleon comment above). But it's not an absolute requirement when you have a competent team.

Quote

Rule 7: Just because a mech is lighter than you does not mean he will not kick your ***.

Light mech pilots that are competent are the most dangerous adversaries in any PUG (for a variety of reasons, that I won't go into here). That is why I always target and kill them first if I can.

Quote

Rule 8: Locusts are annoying as hell, if engaged by one try to get to your group or change position to get some support - they are hard to hit and the possibility is high that another enemy mech will join.

Spiders are the best tank in this game. But yeah, locusts are up there.

Both are vulnerable to missile fire. Their speed and small size is their main defense...missiles nullify both advantages.

Quote

There may be an occasional game, where the random team actually plays as a unit but is not rule, more the exception. PUG LIfe.

Yeah, those teams are called Premades. They are all friends that drop together and coordinate with each other. Yes, they can be devastating. But you are rarely going to see that happen organically between random players in a PUG.

Quote

I might have to add that I played mainly as a Rifleman, which from my impression, relies heavily on team play as it is a mech that fits more a support role, which can do insane amounts of damage(overall around 400-600, peaks in the slightly over 1000 for me), but relies heavily on not being engaged directly by enemy mechs.You have no amazing peak alpha, but a high sustain over time.

Some chassis lend themselves more to team play than others, but any mech can be soloed efficiently if you know what you're doing. Some of the best damage I have ever gotten was in an all-LRM Archer variant. It was not fun to play (IMO), but it was effective. That mech is a good example of a mech that really should have team support.

Edited by Sadistic Savior, 05 July 2016 - 05:32 PM.

[Gibson Ibanez]

Some points are good, some are kinda pessimistic. I have only played in a couple of group matches and the rest have been PUGS. If someone gets on comms and sounds like they know what they are doing, I will usually go with them because at least you know where one of your teammates will be. I use comms and will usually reply "copy that" etc... over them and have been pleasantly surprised how many will go with a couple of mechs that are working together as confirmed over comms.

I personally do not call out orders. I do not feel I have enough experience for that. I will point out threats and flanking maneuvers against us. I have also had my assaults saved by calling for help on comms in pugs against light packs quite a few times but ONLY when I have stayed near the herd. You go off on your own in pugs and you will die alone.

Edit: It is surprising how many "Napoleons" (like the name) in pugs are drunk on comms. When they start slurring and yelling orders over comms it is sooooo annoying.

Edited by Jack McKnight, 05 July 2016 - 08:29 PM.

[Besh]

Am lvling Atlasses/Atlai (XD) lately, and have more than once been addressed over Comms like "Comeon Atlas, go at them, charge them, engage and fight them !" . Just to find myself left mostly alone when having found a good angle from where to push into the enemy Ball, having most of my Team stand behind in Cover and watch how I get shredded by focus fire of 5, 6 enemies ( instead of pushing WITH me and using the Attention I draw on my Mech to, well, shoot all those Mechs that are focussing me ) .

The best so far was one Guy 2 days ago on Crimson Straight, where we were pinned et the exit of the Tunnel, and he yells at me as described above...and I do push, take out 2 Mechs, die in a blaze of Glory . Someone else says over comms "should have pushed with the Atlas"...and the very SAME guy asking me to Charge responds " We are too small for that ." Needless to say, I was a bit annoyed XD .

So far, I absolutely fail to understand how people can NOT recognize the HUGE weapon something like an Atlas is, and how it can be extremely rewarding IF they would simply support a Weapon like that IF it decides to push an enemy position .

Most of the Games where my Team decides it is better to hide in Cover and simply shooting nothing while me, and sometimes 2, 3 other Mechs, charge, I watch them die a miserable, lonely Death shortly after . But at least that is not half as annoying as those "KD specialists" who simply wait back until most of their Team is wiped, then cherrypick the Targets having taken the most damage, taking those out easily to bolster their K/D or #of kills, loosing the Match nevertheless....

Edited by Besh, 05 July 2016 - 11:04 PM.

[TheFourthAlly]

Besh, on 05 July 2016 - 10:55 PM, said:

Am lvling Atlasses/Atlai (XD) lately, and have more than once been addressed over Comms like "Comeon Atlas, go at them, charge them, engage and fight them !" . Just to find myself left mostly alone when having found a good angle from where to push into the enemy Ball, having most of my Team stand behind in Cover and watch how I get shredded by focus fire of 5, 6 enemies ( instead of pushing WITH me and using the Attention I draw on my Mech to, well, shoot all those Mechs that are focussing me ) .

The best so far was one Guy 2 days ago on Crimson Straight, where we were pinned et the exit of the Tunnel, and he yells at me as described above...and I do push, take out 2 Mechs, die in a blaze of Glory . Someone else says over comms "should have pushed with the Atlas"...and the very SAME guy asking me to Charge responds " We are too small for that ." Needless to say, I was a bit annoyed XD .

So far, I absolutely fail to understand how people can NOT recognize the HUGE weapon something like an Atlas is, and how it can be extremely rewarding IF they would simply support a Weapon like that IF it decides to push an enemy position .

I certainly have noticed the use of you fat buggers on the field and thank you for taking the heat. I have been mastering my Hunchpack and in those I am not in a position to go toe to toe with the heavier crowd. Nothing like a big assault like an Atlas, Kodiak or King Crab to get all the enemy attention while I pour fire into whichever red is in range.

I have seen pushes against the remnant of an enemy team go completely pear shaped because too many of our team hung back while our last assault and me and maybe one other took the fight forward. A flanking light lance can throw off the enemy pretty good, but there's nothing like following the fatties in if you want to force a win.

Edited by TheFourthAlly, 05 July 2016 - 11:16 PM.

[Dryderian]

Besh, on 05 July 2016 - 10:55 PM, said:

Am lvling Atlasses/Atlai (XD) lately, and have more than once been addressed over Comms like "Comeon Atlas, go at them, charge them, engage and fight them !" . Just to find myself left mostly alone when having found a good angle from where to push into the enemy Ball, having most of my Team stand behind in Cover and watch how I get shredded by focus fire of 5, 6 enemies ( instead of pushing WITH me and using the Attention I draw on my Mech to, well, shoot all those Mechs that are focussing me ) .

The best so far was one Guy 2 days ago on Crimson Straight, where we were pinned et the exit of the Tunnel, and he yells at me as described above...and I do push, take out 2 Mechs, die in a blaze of Glory . Someone else says over comms "should have pushed with the Atlas"...and the very SAME guy asking me to Charge responds " We are too small for that ." Needless to say, I was a bit annoyed XD .

So far, I absolutely fail to understand how people can NOT recognize the HUGE weapon something like an Atlas is, and how it can be extremely rewarding IF they would simply support a Weapon like that IF it decides to push an enemy position

Actually in the Quick Play battles in which I did the near 1000 and 1000+ damage several times it was always the case that 2-3 assault brawlers Atlas mechs(I also remember a Kodiak) in both cases lead a charge accompanied by heavies on each of their sides, with mediums and lights in closer engagements and on the outer flanks. Sadly this does not happen very often. I think it was on HPG Manifold, Polar Highlands and Alpine Peaks maps.

Another iconic battle was a lone Atlas making a wide half circle around the buildings in the new Frozen City map, I accompanied him from the start and wondered what he was doing, later an Ebon Jaguar or Timberwolf joined, We did end up in the back of the enemy and it was quite awesome, we ripped basically through them - although we lost that game, since our main group took to much damage playing the sniper game.

As a heavy I am always happy when there is a brawler which I can support.

Edited by Dryderian, 06 July 2016 - 12:18 PM.

[Syanis]

You definately forgot 12.

12. Why am I being shot in the back? No enemies are back there and only teammates.... ohh wait. Thanks fellow teammate for removing that cumbersome armor I didn't need anyways!

13. Some idiot will shoot you while *testing* their weapons right after a drop before you have made it more then 50 meters about 33% of the time.


Have to remember that quickplay is 1v1 and you just happen to have others around who aren't that interested in killing you but they still aren't likely allies. I learned to play light and just run after whatever other light runs off and sort of team up by following them unless they do some really stupid sh*t.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

Most important rule:

If you dont know your team mates personally, (or they havent proven themselves to you to be good enough to remember their name), just know that those said team mates are not actually people! They are A.I. Bots that have been injected onto your team to test out their new solo player campaign! Do not expect them to help you, infact treat them like a handicap, even of they say things in group chat, or over voip... They are using pre-made chat phrases to emulate real people! (They most likelly will shoot you in the back because their programing isnt perfected yet)

P.s. Everyone on the other team are tier 1 smurf accounts, and they are all out to get you! So play smart- and carry hard!

[Ace Selin]

I like you OP, feel free to friend me in game if you ever want to drop in group Q (if im online, which is less frequent to minimal of late)

[Horse Pryde]

My rule: You teammates will do what ever it takes to get a kill. They will break off a flank or a good attack to chase after 1 mech if it means they can hear their own war horns. Getting kills is the only thing that matters to them in PUG play. They will battle with another mech just to get a kill while watching their own base be captured.

[MOBAjobg]

Thanks for sharing the rules that I've made full use of. As a result, I'm doing much better now and looking forward to play games in Tier 1 soon.

[Gibson Ibanez]

Dryderian, I mainly run assaults and I loooove pushing into the enemy when others will go and stick with me. Send me a friend request, if you want to.

Some of those matches sound like matches I have played on those same maps. I doubt I was the assault pilot you mentioned, but I have had great games where others have stuck with me in Frozen City and we ripped through their flank.

@Besh, I feel your pain bro.

Edited by Jack McKnight, 09 July 2016 - 05:09 AM.

[Rogue Jedi]

My favorate memory of team mate stupidity removing our chances of victort to chase a kill was I had defeated an Atlas 1v1 in a Spider, all it had left was the CT, 1 leg and the head, no weapons.

I saw that the rest of the team were in trouble so I ran to assist rather that spending 5-10 seconds finishing off the Atlas, when I got to the main group there were 6 enemies against 5 of us, then I noticed 2 Mechs break off to finish off the Atlas. With my spider and the 4 heavier Mechs we has a chance, but the enemy seeing 2 Mechs break off pushed in and the 2 remaining allies went down, I managed to disengage and swung around, legging 2 enemies so it was "only" 4 fresh heavy and assuatl Mechs against 2 heavies and a Light for the last stand, however the other 2 allies went down quickly then the enemy broke off to defend the 2 legged Mechs, it was skirmish mode so no other objectives I could use to buy us a victory. I died with about 400 damage and 2 assists in a SDR-5V, the pilot who got the kill on the Atlas, and probably cost us the game, had 2 kills but less than 200 damage in a Thunderbolt, and then went on to complain that the rest of the team were useless because no-one else had more than 1 kill.

What I learned from that is that if you cripple a Mech away from the main fight in a solo match kill it, do not break off to reinforce the team because half of the team may break off to claim the "free" kill, of course this does not apply if you trust the team but trusting a Pick Up Group is, unfortunately, a bad idea.

The simplest fix for those sort of issues is to offer nothing for a kill and no kill acknowledgement unless you do more than 50%of the damage, and to stop tracking kills and kill:death ratio as stats, possibly track kill most damage instead and have the warhorn sound when you get kill most damage.

[NeoTroy56]

Hi there I just started playing a couple of days ago and wanted to roll as brawler using the Griffin 3m and 2n. My best rule for a new player starting to brawl is to roll with some of the lrms/L lasers trial mechs to learn some of the camping and sniping locations ppl tend to be around as well as get familiar with the shape and size of different mechs. This way when you start brawling you have an idea of some general areas where snipers and lrms like to be.

[Muddflap]

The Zero-th Rule:. It is a GAME. If you are not having fun take a few deep breaths and find your calm.

The Zero-th Rule:. It is a GAME. If you are not having fun take a few deep breaths and find your calm.

[Gibson Ibanez]

NeoTroy56, on 09 July 2016 - 06:56 PM, said:

Hi there I just started playing a couple of days ago and wanted to roll as brawler using the Griffin 3m and 2n. My best rule for a new player starting to brawl is to roll with some of the lrms/L lasers trial mechs to learn some of the camping and sniping locations ppl tend to be around as well as get familiar with the shape and size of different mechs. This way when you start brawling you have an idea of some general areas where snipers and lrms like to be.

Welcome to MWO! Be ready to adapt on the fly because the areas enemies are shooting from in one match will probably change in the next match on the same map. Learn to roll with the punches etc...

Or in the case of mechs, twist with the punches?

Edited by Jack McKnight, 12 July 2016 - 06:04 PM.

[Tier5 Kerensky]

I've started to play with LRM boat, I have 2x20 LRM 1x15 LRM on Mad Dog, as I've not before had so much LRMs, it's amazing how people don't spot the enemy to provide targets for. Never realized before how so many just happily stand behind hills or buildings and do nothing unless the enemy walks in front of them, in which case they run.

The lance can stay together most of the time, they got that part right, but I mainly have to spot for myself, which takes more time to get a lock plus exposes mainly me to enemy fire, which gradually wears me down so that occasional light or medium mech can come and kill me, or when the enemy heavies advance and I have little armor left.

Occasionally you can soften up the enemy real nice with LRMs, but it's really difficult.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

Teer5, on 13 July 2016 - 12:38 AM, said:

I've started to play with LRM boat, I have 2x20 LRM 1x15 LRM on Mad Dog, as I've not before had so much LRMs, it's amazing how people don't spot the enemy to provide targets for. Never realized before how so many just happily stand behind hills or buildings and do nothing unless the enemy walks in front of them, in which case they run.

The lance can stay together most of the time, they got that part right, but I mainly have to spot for myself, which takes more time to get a lock plus exposes mainly me to enemy fire, which gradually wears me down so that occasional light or medium mech can come and kill me, or when the enemy heavies advance and I have little armor left.

Occasionally you can soften up the enemy real nice with LRMs, but it's really difficult.

Let me start of by saying I personally "do not spot" or "Hold Targets" for friendly LRMs. I do target enemies, and I wont hesitate to put an enemy in my target window. But i do that at my own peril, for my own targeting. What that means is, i play defensively unless a call is made to do otherwise. So, I will use cover and try to trade with my opponents as needed.

I will not just expose myself haphazardly so that friendly LRM boats can hide behind the team and use me as a bullet sponge. I expect friendly LRM mechs to share their armor value with the rest of the team.

Now dont get me wrong, I will share my target locks with the team, and I understand LRMs are a weapon system that some people prefer. I dont intentionally drop my targets so LRM mechs cant shoot enemies. I just wont stand out in the open and just paint a bullseye on my mech.

A lot of LRM pilots (not all, but many) think they are more important than the rest of the team, and literally sacrifice their team mates so that they can lob missles safely from behind cover. An LRM pilot should go get his own locks if he has nothing targetable. Its good that you go out there and get your own locks as needed. But to say your amazed that people wont go get you locks is ridiculous.

I guess what I am trying to say is; being exposed for long periods of time can be pretty dangerous in this game; so if your team mates have no locks for you, you shouldnt fault them. Everyone has to share the risk, you shouldnt treat your team mates as expendable pieces of metal placed on the battlefield solely to go out and get locks for you and then die under the overwhelming weight of incomming enemy fire.

Edited by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky, 13 July 2016 - 01:37 AM.