86 replies to this topic

[Kithmar]

Hey everyone. I've been wondering just how good or bad of a pilot I am in MechWarrior Online. I'm finding it hard to find a point to judge myself against.
I don't play terribly to often, maybe 2-3 times a week doing a 3-4 matches each session.
I tend to win more often than I lose, my KDR is near 1.00. The last two weeks I've been doing about 350-400 damage each match with the same 'Mech. A slightly altered Summoner Prime.

I don't care about the "meta" or what build is better, or what 'Mech is better. I don't care if LRM's are for noobs, or the LB-X 10 is bleh. My 'Mech builds aren't in question,
I'm just looking for some help in finding a direction to judge my personal improvement as a pilot.
So let me know, what stats or game play elements do you look at to judge yourself?

[Mechteric]

If you're having a good time, does it even matter?



Subjectively, you're fine.


Objectively, that is a mech build that won't hold up well as you climb in the experience ladder (that is to say, as you begin to play more experienced opponents over time). You don't need meta to do well, but there's something to be said about what weapon systems work well together, and which don't. Combining too many different weapons together in one build limits your ability to perform.

[Quinn Allard]

We've had a lot of discussion in our large Merc Unit about what it means to be a Team Player, and we widely agreed that 300+ damage is considered "pulling your weight". Over 500 consistently you are a good pilot. Over 700 consistently and you're an exceptional pilot. Over 1000 consistently you're an Elite Pilot. If you are consistently over 1400 then you're Godlike and in the top .5%. So generally speaking 300-350+ and you're aren't holding your team back. Now everyone every once and awhile has a crappy game. Just as long as you can consistently put up atleast 300-350 damage.

[MoonUnitBeta]

Did you die? Yes or No

Yes: Did you die Early (less than 3 minutes) Yes or No

Yes: Did you get a bunch of kills and deal more damage than 30% of the team? Yes or No

Yes: You're doing alright. Try to last longer in the fight. Increase your awareness of the enemy’s or your team’s position.

No: You're doing terrible. Try not to stand in the open. Keep moving with the group. Don’t stray. Always have an escape plan. Increase your awareness of the enemy’s position and try to avoid until you have team support.

No: Did you get a bunch of kills and deal more damage than 60% of the team? Yes or No

Yes: Doing fine.

No: Reassess how you're playing with your team. Check your mech's loadout. Carry weapons that you feel comfortable with, and don't carry too many different kinds. If you're afraid to die and find yourself hiding a lot, try overcoming that fear and learn how to fight bravely. Work on your aim. Make sure you understand how lock-on missiles work if you use LRM's, and their minimum damage range.

No: Did you get a bunch of kills and deal more damage than 50% of the team? Yes or No

Yes: K awesome.

No: Did you get a bunch of kills and deal more damage than 30% of the team? Yes or No

Yes: Ok, but not the best... Try working on your positioning and loadout. Be a little more aggressive.

No: Did you deal the least amount of damage? Yes or No

Yes: You're doing terrible. You didn't die, and you did the least damage. Check your mech's loadout. Carry weapons that you feel comfortable with, and don't carry too many different kinds. If you're afraid to die and find yourself hiding a lot, try overcoming that fear and learn how to fight bravely. Work on your aim. Make sure you understand how lock-on missiles work if you use LRM's, and their minimum damage range.

No: Well, atleast it's something i guess.

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 27 July 2016 - 07:50 PM.

[Stone Wall]

Quinn Allard, on 27 July 2016 - 12:50 PM, said:

We've had a lot of discussion in our large Merc Unit about what it means to be a Team Player, and we widely agreed that 300+ damage is considered "pulling your weight". Over 500 consistently you are a good pilot. Over 700 consistently and you're an exceptional pilot. Over 1000 consistently you're an Elite Pilot. If you are consistently over 1400 then you're Godlike and in the top .5%. So generally speaking 300-350+ and you're aren't holding your team back. Now everyone every once and awhile has a crappy game. Just as long as you can consistently put up atleast 300-350 damage.

that's good info to read

[S 0 L E N Y A]

Quinn Allard, on 27 July 2016 - 12:50 PM, said:

We've had a lot of discussion in our large Merc Unit about what it means to be a Team Player, and we widely agreed that 300+ damage is considered "pulling your weight". Over 500 consistently you are a good pilot. Over 700 consistently and you're an exceptional pilot. Over 1000 consistently you're an Elite Pilot. If you are consistently over 1400 then you're Godlike and in the top .5%. So generally speaking 300-350+ and you're aren't holding your team back. Now everyone every once and awhile has a crappy game. Just as long as you can consistently put up atleast 300-350 damage.

Fair rule of thumb, but who the hell is pulling 1400+ on the regular?
I can name quite a few pilots that are good for 1k consistently when they use top tier meta builds (and do not have the best opponents) but 1400 on a regular basis?

[Moldur]

I look at damage and I suppose the way I think of it internally is very well captured in Quin Allard's post. I'm not trying particularly to boost my numbers doing useless damage, I'll take the kill if I can get one, but generally speaking I judge my contribution per match based off damage, assists, and kills. High damage does not mean much if, say, you still lose a match 12-4. Getting high damage with a lot of assists or kills basically assures me that I contributed a lot.

[Mcgral18]

Are you consistently in the top quarter of the end screen?

If yes, no matter which robot you're bringing, you're doing rather well.

[OznerpaG]

meta is myth - comp teams have specific mechs that fill very specific roles within their team strategy, and there are mechs are 'meta' for those very specific roles. in PUGland there's no team strat, so no meta.....or PUGland meta = the mech you most enjoy playing to get what you consider decent results


W/L in PUGland is going to be about 50/50 overall unless you an elite 'match carrier'


for me, if i got top 3 damage on my team or 2+ kills in the match win or lose then i did great

Edited by OznerpaG, 27 July 2016 - 03:52 PM.

[Moldur]

OznerpaG, on 27 July 2016 - 03:51 PM, said:

meta is myth - comp teams have specific mechs that fill very specific roles within their team strategy, and there are mechs are 'meta' for those very specific roles. in PUGland there's no team strat, so no meta.....or PUGland meta = the mech you most enjoy playing to get what you consider decent results


W/L in PUGland is going to be about 50/50 overall unless you an elite match 'carrier'


for me, if i got top 3 damage or 2+ kills in the match win or lose then i did great

I would argue that pugland "meta" is builds that do well regardless of map or team composition, but the entire discussion is besides the point.

[Bilbo]

OznerpaG, on 27 July 2016 - 03:51 PM, said:

meta is myth - comp teams have specific mechs that fill very specific roles within their team strategy, and there are mechs are 'meta' for those very specific roles. in PUGland there's no team strat, so no meta.....or PUGland meta = the mech you most enjoy playing to get what you consider decent results


W/L in PUGland is going to be about 50/50 overall unless you an elite 'match carrier'


for me, if i got top 3 damage on my team or 2+ kills in the match win or lose then i did great

Pugland is match by match. Could I have done better if...? For me, I could always do better if I find my way to the "group". I generally find that boring so then I look at whether I engaged too soon or exposed myself before I should have. The numbers aren't really important to me except to see if over the long term if there is trend one way or another.

[Charlie Grant]

If the players I group with disband and scatter when I join then that is probably a bad sign. If my unit commander ejects me from the unit while I'm signed in, then that is also probably a bad sign.

[Nightmare1]

Q: How to tell if you're doing well?

A: You have a postive KDR > 1

That means you are at least doing the bare minimum, which is to kill one foe to balance out your own death.

[El Bandito]

Kithmar, on 27 July 2016 - 12:18 PM, said:

So let me know, what stats or game play elements do you look at to judge yourself?

As long as your WLR is above 1:1, you are doing your part.

Simple.

Nightmare1, on 27 July 2016 - 04:19 PM, said:

Q: How to tell if you're doing well?

A: You have a postive KDR > 1

That means you are at least doing the bare minimum, which is to kill one foe to balance out your own death.

That won't work. There are plenty of stay-behind cowards who have positive KDR but negative WLR. Helping the team to win is what is important.

Edited by El Bandito, 27 July 2016 - 07:52 PM.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

OznerpaG, on 27 July 2016 - 03:51 PM, said:

meta is myth - comp teams have specific mechs that fill very specific roles within their team strategy, and there are mechs are 'meta' for those very specific roles. in PUGland there's no team strat, so no meta.....or PUGland meta = the mech you most enjoy playing to get what you consider decent results


W/L in PUGland is going to be about 50/50 overall unless you an elite 'match carrier'


for me, if i got top 3 damage on my team or 2+ kills in the match win or lose then i did great

Denies meta, then describes meta, then clearly does not understand what meta is

[Lynx7725]

Looking at WLR is one metric, but sometimes you can end up desync-ed from the main group and contributed nothing to the win (had that happen to me recently).

Looking at damage is another, but doesn't really say anything about you being a team player or not.

Usually, I look at match score. If you are doing 200+ match score consistently, you're at least helping the team out in a semi-coherent manner. 300+ means a fairly good game.

Damage adds into match score, so it incorporates that factor. It's entirely possible for you to do well but still lose a game, at that point having a decent match score is still an indicator that you are contributing.

[KHETTI]

@Kithmar- Run mechs and builds you enjoy, always strive to discover new builds and playstyles on your own, try to be a little self critical and adjust your tactics based on what you learn from it.
And most of all, if you feel positive about your performance in a game regardless of the outcome, then you can safely assume you are headed in the right direction.

[WANTED]

Easy, your doing fine. Took me awhile to get even over 1.0 KDR and I still only stay above it at 1.14 or so and that's been playing for years. So yeah, your probably ten times better than me if that makes you feel better. I'm basically an eternal "pull your own weight" guy who rounds out a team well but don't count on me usually to be the top performer. That said, I'm mid tier 3 now and like others said if your having fun then don't worry bout your KDR and such as it will all happen regardless.

[Cavendish]

Question:

Is damage and kills really the only way to measure a good pilot?

What about if you scout, provide NARC and TAG for LRMs,counter enemy ECM and mark enemies so that your team can respond properly?

If you as a light stick to those two Dire Wolves to keep them safe from hit and runs and provice ECM cover while they brutalize the other team?

Neither of those two examples will net you huge damage and/or kill numbers, but I would argue that you are still "pulling your weight" in the team.

Edit: Yes, I like playing lights

Edited by Cavendish, 28 July 2016 - 12:18 AM.

[XX Sulla XX]

Kithmar, on 27 July 2016 - 12:18 PM, said:

Hey everyone. I've been wondering just how good or bad of a pilot I am in MechWarrior Online. I'm finding it hard to find a point to judge myself against.
I don't play terribly to often, maybe 2-3 times a week doing a 3-4 matches each session.
I tend to win more often than I lose, my KDR is near 1.00. The last two weeks I've been doing about 350-400 damage each match with the same 'Mech. A slightly altered Summoner Prime.

I don't care about the "meta" or what build is better, or what 'Mech is better. I don't care if LRM's are for noobs, or the LB-X 10 is bleh. My 'Mech builds aren't in question,
I'm just looking for some help in finding a direction to judge my personal improvement as a pilot.
So let me know, what stats or game play elements do you look at to judge yourself?

I think you need to say what your goals are. You seem to have a bit of a contradiction going. You talk about damage, KDR and winning. Then you say you do not care about the tools to do that. So which is it? Mech choice and loadout choice directly effects damage, KDR and wins. And if you are running bad builds on bad mechs its hard to compare your performance to other people. If you are running an all flamer light as an extreme example your optimal average damage, KDR and wins will be very different than some one running a good build on the the best light mechs.

Another thing you have to figure out is who do you want to compare your stats to. Are you shooting to be average or at the top or some place in between?

Edited by XX Sulla XX, 28 July 2016 - 12:47 AM.