26 replies to this topic

[Ghostrider0067]

T3 is the middle ground, obviously. You'll still see things that make you wonder just what in the hell that pilot was thinking, so don't expect a sudden shift in play style or anything. That statement is applicable to every tier for that matter.

You will likely see a lot less lone wolf play and more focused team play even in the QP queue. What I find best is to use common sense in your movement and your firing. If something just feels out of place, it likely is and you're potentially walking into a kill box. Stick to another player and be his wingman as he/she will hopefully be yours in return. Expect the unexpected and don't fall back on predictable habits as you'll end up paying for it.

Oh, and you WILL still see LRM boats. Count on it.

[Prototelis]

Biggest difference?

Less dumb people yelling on the mic. More dumb people who will walk up RIGHT BEHIND you in the middle of a poke and get you killed...

[S 0 L E N Y A]

Sidefire, on 10 November 2016 - 04:41 PM, said:

Neg clanner. AMS is still decently useful in T3 because you'll still regularly see Tardlas LRM boats and LRM5 chainspam on a regular enough basis

cover and situational awareness still beat AMS.

To be fair, since the patch seems like everyone and their mom is out testing out the new (or old, depending on how you want to look at it) LRM stats, so AMS -for now anyways- can be somewhat useful.

[Avian Blackfrost]

I have a Mad Dog Prime with around 6xLRM5 on stand-by just so I can rain on somebody's parade when I feel like it. A targets lack of AMS is always a welcome sight.

Edited by Avian Blackfrost, 16 November 2016 - 09:57 PM.

[justcallme A S H]

Neput Z34, on 10 November 2016 - 03:31 PM, said:

The question is, do you wish to have fun? The closer you are to Tier 1 the less "interesting" and "fun" the fights become

Sadly Tier 3 will see a lot more Tier 2 and some Tier 1 players depending on match maker.
Basically don't expect protracted brawls, and a lot more "peek-a-boo" with occasional "surprise AC20+SRMs".

pro tip: If you can see the enemy, they can generally* see you too. Most people don't need a "lock" to shot your mech, so ECM is less useful in higher tiers.

T1 is brawls/hard pushes also... Depends on the map.


That said tier is largely irrelevant because the match maker has been proven time over, not to take it fully into account. As I am Oceanic, I regularly see T5s in with T1s, sometimes 3-4 matches in a row.

So depending on your play time and the population at that time, you might already be playing against T1/2 players in T3 anyhow, in fact I'd say it's almost a dead set certainty.

So what will actually change? Not a hell of a lot IMO.

I went from the start of T2 to max T1 bar in about 3-4 weeks when I stopped playing FP mainly, and I honestly saw no real discernible difference. People still run non-meta builds because all Tier really is, is a grind. You have plenty of super average players with LRM Kodiaks in T1 games in prime time US...


On an alt-account in US prime time in T5 I notice a difference to T3/2/1 play, usually just people with no map awareness... But then one decent match in T5 will put you insta into T4 anyway

Edited by justcallme A S H, 16 November 2016 - 10:19 PM.

[Void Angel]

Steel Raven, on 12 November 2016 - 07:09 PM, said:

For whatever reason, the fist few matches after reaching the next are the most unforgiving.

Colonel Clunge, on 14 November 2016 - 05:27 AM, said:

Funny - that is exactly how I have found it. First few games were total stomps in favour of the opposition. Games are definitely cagier. The team that makes the first mistake or has too many lone wolfs on board almost always loses. I've definitely been sticking with the pack a lot more than before. Communication was very lacking the first few games but then seems to have come back with a vengeance which is good.

It's because you're playing with a different mix of players, and their tactics and reactions are subtly different - you see the same thing with events and people playing at different hours than they normally log on. Especially with events, it can be frustrating to play unless you realize what changes are being made (e.g. hanging back and using sniper/lrm builds during an event) and adapt successfully.

You're also certain to have confirmation bias kick in once you've noticed that you're in a new tier, which can have the effect of changing your behaviors (or increasing your sensitivity to tough matches) without your realizing it.

[invernomuto]

Colonel Clunge, on 09 November 2016 - 05:54 AM, said:

After a long, long grind, I finally managed to get out of tier 4 and into tier 3. What I wondering was this?

(1) What differences in gameplay should I expect to notice?
and

(2) what tactics I should adopt in order to progress through this tier?

Any advice or insights will be massively appreciated.

Cheers

I made the jump into tier 3 recently:
1) I've noticed an overall increase in game difficulty, I got less score and less damage done. Return fire from enemy team is more accurate and you will die faster if you're bad at positioning and at trading fire. In general, you have to use more optimized builds for your mechs.
2) stay with your team and watch your position. First battles are tougher.

Edited by invernomuto, 17 November 2016 - 03:26 AM.