38 replies to this topic

[Diggorison]

Brief summary of what got me here. (get over it)
Thinking about MW2/MW3. Nostalgia hits. I recall there's MWO though I never played it as I'd heard mixed things and didn't feel like investing the time. After having recently checked it out, it fills the modern niche for mech gaming. I'll say it doesn't quite fill the hole but I'm giving it a real chance and I've had enough fun to warrant continuing the adventure.
__________________________________________________________________________

I've talked to the ingame community, watched videos, and read quite a bit. This didn't stop me from blundering into buying a Raven with my newb cash and spending way too much on its setup. I'm in a "hole" now where I'm still relying on the trial mechs to advance, which isn't too terrible but I'd like to try other mechs I can customize as I see fit that reflect my playstyle better...

Any general pointers for where I should kick off from here? I'm interested in light/heavy builds that rely on ballistics up close and/or energy harassment. Recon or brawl, I enjoy both...granted this isn't the place to ask for builds I imagine.

I checked here regarding Raven builds since I own the Raven-3L.
http://metamechs.com...r-guides/raven/


tl;dr General pointers for a newb passed the 25 battle mark who spent most of his cash?

Edited by Diggorison, 27 November 2016 - 11:27 PM.

[Reverend Herring]

My first owned mech was a Catapult K2. I would recomend it, since it's a relatively inexpencive Heavy, with good hardpoints.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

Stick with the group
Dont derp arround in the open out of cover
Learn to twist incoming damage
Kill first, cap last.

[Anunknownlurker]

Even though you state light/heavy, I think the Inner Sphere Crab medium is one of the "easiest" mechs to play. It's a very forgiving chassis and for these reasons is a good learning mech:

No ballistics so you don't have to worry about ammuntion or aiming
it's very tough with excellent hitboxes
It can be fast as it has a high engine cap
It can take an XL engine with relative safety (just in case you didn't know, IS XL engines kill you if you lose a side torso, Clan XL engines don't)
If you don't want to, or can't afford XL engines then, with a standard engine, the Crab is one of the "tankiest" mechs you'll find as most of them have 3 energy mounts in the centre torso, and can therefore zombie like a boss (a zombie mech is one that can continue fighting having lost both arms and both side torsos).

I run a brawler with a standard engine, jump jets and 5 medium pulse lasers, a ranged poker/sniper with 3 ER large lasers and 320XL engine, and my current favourite 2 large pulse lasers, 3 medium lasers, XL300 an 2 AMS - no more LRM5 worries as I also have both AMS modules OK, I realise it will take you some time to get the modules but it still works well without them. I can't remember the last game where I survived with any of the 3000 rounds of AMS left - that's a few hundred points of damage the enemy hasn't inflicted on my team.

I would agree with Reverend Herring, the K2 is fun to play but the only Catapult I enjoyed - I am not a great lover of missiles so most Catapults are a bit meh for me.

Regarding the Raven, I am not sure why you consider it a "blunder", my most played and overall favourite mech is the Raven 3L with ECM and 2 ER large lasers. It's not great for getting in close and personal but for overall sneaky sniping it's hard to beat. As you already have Ravens and of you don't mind spending a little cash then the Huginn (whilst not the beast it was when it first came out) is still a great fun little mech to run up behind assaults and annoy people with as the SRMs fire so quickly and 4 MGs rip unarmoured targets apart, plus it's available in the current sale at a 50% off.

Good luck out there!

Edited by Jimmy DiGriz, 28 November 2016 - 01:42 AM.

[Diggorison]

Thanks for all the tips guys!
I'm reworking my Raven but ultimately it's just not fast enough without too much sacrifice. That's my main issue with it right now.
_________________

I like to think I've got the basics down and just need to find a mech I like to stick with it. I've looked at the Crab, Centurion, Shadowcat, Timberwolf, Kodiak and Direwolf. Granted some of them are out of my reach right now due to pricing alone, but those are the ones I see out in the field that play in a manner that interests me.

Once you research 3 mechs you get an extra module for that line, right? I'd rather not research a mech where its other models simply aren't worth it no matter how you try and twist it.

[The Basilisk]

Diggorison, on 27 November 2016 - 11:21 PM, said:

Brief summary of what got me here. (get over it)
Thinking about MW2/MW3. Nostalgia hits. I recall there's MWO though I never played it as I'd heard mixed things and didn't feel like investing the time. After having recently checked it out, it fills the modern niche for mech gaming. I'll say it doesn't quite fill the hole but I'm giving it a real chance and I've had enough fun to warrant continuing the adventure.
__________________________________________________________________________

I've talked to the ingame community, watched videos, and read quite a bit. This didn't stop me from blundering into buying a Raven with my newb cash and spending way too much on its setup. I'm in a "hole" now where I'm still relying on the trial mechs to advance, which isn't too terrible but I'd like to try other mechs I can customize as I see fit that reflect my playstyle better...

Any general pointers for where I should kick off from here? I'm interested in light/heavy builds that rely on ballistics up close and/or energy harassment. Recon or brawl, I enjoy both...granted this isn't the place to ask for builds I imagine.

I checked here regarding Raven builds since I own the Raven-3L.
http://metamechs.com...r-guides/raven/


tl;dr General pointers for a newb passed the 25 battle mark who spent most of his cash?

First thing...make a new account.
Am I kidding...?
Nope.
-- Realy, make a new account and do your first 25 matches with some determination and from your curent point of learning.
Later on when beeing somewhat advanced in this game this won't be a real choice due to XP items and stuff you accumulated...it just does not pay out anymore. But as long as you are fresh and did a wrong mech choice...welp.

-- There is a button akademy on your left when beeing under Tab Home. USE IT. Free money and some tricks and athmosphere.

The easyest way to get into this game nowadays is through the heavy mech branche.
Mediums are still a possibility for newcomers but with the momentary suppreme raign of clan mechs and weapons in QP its not as much fun as it was.
If you still want do go with meds:
-- Hunchback for versatility (can do anything from ACs over SRMs to laser vomit)
-- Griffin for SRMs, laser and PPCs as well as an ECM option in one chassis and last but not least jumpjets
-- Shadowhawk with ACs, Lasers and SRMs and jumpjets

Or if you want to go Clan:
-- Stormcrow...but its too squishy these days in my oppinion.

There are some good heavy choices around.

I'm not piloting heavys too often these days due to the heavy queue beeing full most of the time ans so I would recommend asking others for heavy mech choices.

Be advised though that there are as many opinions as heads.
Safest bet would be to get some ppl to voice their opinion and then see what was mentioned most often.

From what I see I would say a Warhammer, Marodeur or Hellbringer would be your best choices.

Edited by The Basilisk, 28 November 2016 - 02:10 AM.

[Reverend Herring]

You need to unlock all Basic tier bonuses on three variants (ie. CPLT K2, C4 etc.) of the same chassis (ie. CPLT) to unlock Elite tier bonuses. Further, you need to have three elited variants of the same weight class (ie, medium, heavy etc.) to unlock the Master module slot.

Edited by Reverend Herring, 28 November 2016 - 02:21 AM.

[SnagaDance]

Don't forget to claim a Free Centurion + mechbay! (it still needs some works in terms of upgrades, Double HeatSinks and Endo for sure, maybe you want an XL engine but that's really expensive in terms of C-bills)

Centurion CN9-A [NCIX] Redemption Code: NCIXMECH

Simply log-in to the MechWarrior Online website with your account, head over to our Redemption Portal, punch in the code, hit Redeem, and the CN9-A [NCIX] 'Mech will be delivered to your account, along with a 'Mech Bay in which to house it!⁵

[Tarl Cabot]

Quote

Starts: Monday, November 28th at 10AM PST (6PM UTC, SAME DAY)
Ends: Thursday, December 1st at 10AM PST (6PM UTC, SAME DAY)

20% off the in-game purchase price for the following items:
'Mech Bays
Active Premium Time
Mastery Bundles

EDIT: 50% OFF MECHBAYS!

https://mwomercs.com...o-black-friday/

If you have been playing you have earned some MC. After Starts: Monday, November 28th at 10AM PST (6PM UTC, SAME DAY) purchase a mechbay or two for 150MC instead of the normal 300MC. This type of sale comes along twice/year. And if you are able, before the switch time purchase some MC for $6.95 so you can load up on mechbays after 10AM PST. But definitely get some mechbays now to avoid selling mechs in the near future.

Now, with that said, some game settings:

• Game's Mouse sensitivity - move it to the far left, between 0.1 to 0.2.
  
• Checkmark Color Blind Reticle - besides changing color (default) it adds additional lines, making it easier to see when you have registered a hit.
  
• Lock Arm-Select your default setting but to make it easier to switch it on/off during combat, change keyboard setting LEFT SHIFT from LOCK ARM to TOGGLE LOCK ARM.

Adding, do not sell mechs or equipment, especially engines. For IS and Clan Battlemechs (not OMNI mechs), early on you will find you are switching the same engine from one mech to another, until you can purchase another one, and the same with modules but that is okay. Once you have switched heatsinks, SHS is ABOUT the only piece of equipment you can consider selling. You will find things later on but it is easier to earn the C-bills than to get rid of equipment you may have to buy back.

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 28 November 2016 - 04:04 AM.

[Koniving]

Diggorison, on 27 November 2016 - 11:21 PM, said:

Brief summary of what got me here. (get over it)
Thinking about MW2/MW3. Nostalgia hits. I recall there's MWO though I never played it as I'd heard mixed things and didn't feel like investing the time. After having recently checked it out, it fills the modern niche for mech gaming. I'll say it doesn't quite fill the hole but I'm giving it a real chance and I've had enough fun to warrant continuing the adventure.
__________________________________________________________________________

Ravens are actually pretty good.

One idea is an XL 235 engine, two streak launchers, ECM plus BAP and never slow down. Though this is essentially a harassment design without a real ability to choose where you shoot.

----------

As for things to do...
Read this. Though the images are dated, the information is effectively the same. Especially look through the spoiler for your heavy/assault aspirations.

Take note of the Raven and its shape. The rear torsos are basically tiny panels while the fronts are huge. Channel 2 armor to the rear, rest forward. And remember don't run away, run around. Encircle your enemy and harass them.

Twist 25 degrees left and right when under fire head-on. It's all you need to spread the damage.

When shooting enemies, keep firing at the same spot until it breaks. In practice, it will look a bit like this: It has been time skipped in to where it is helpful, but the reference I'm speaking of starts at 5 minutes and 50 seconds. Please watch how I handle this 2 (them) versus 1 (me) situation. One enemy is built identically (trial build) and the other is superior to me (despite being 5 tons inferior), through remaining mostly calm and focusing my fire I turn a bad situation around on them.

Ravens can be quite effective brawlers, able to fight as well as many mediums even at slow speeds as demonstrated by this AC/20 Raven.


XL 180 engine, AC/20, 1 small laser, 3 tons of ammunition. Tanky as heck due to 2 rear rest front armor allocation. (Don't let them go for the legs; despite being fully armored it's a quick way to meet your end).

Edited by Koniving, 28 November 2016 - 04:22 AM.

[radiv]

Make new account. Buy Timberwolf

[Blind Baku]

My first mechs were all three non-hero ravens. My first mastered mechs were all 3 non-hero ravens. I don't use them as much these days, but they're good mechs for what they do, and the only one I sold was the 2x (didn't like it as it doesn't bring anything to the table, where the 4x and 3l have features to make them 'more awesome').

I bought all 3, and 1 XL245(I think) and the picked up a Radar derp asap.

Long story short, even post nerf, ERLL for days. You can LPL the 4x if you like, or go "Boom Raven". But the 4x with quirks gets the best range for ERLLs in the game (along with anything else with that quirk), but also brings cooldown and hardpoints that are insane when all rolled together. It is one of the best range pokes IMO and when you start getting creative with your sniper roosts you can do some good harassment.

The 3l is just as good with the hardpoints, just lacking the JJ's or quirks worth mentioning; the ECM helps you forget that they are missing. Also if you can work NARC, a NARC raven can do fairly well depending on the team.

As for the next step, it depends on you. I would always recommend master your mechs, those skill bonuses are huge, but if you wants something that is not a raven... Make sure you grab the free CN9, if it's available, and do you think you will achieve the Grid Iron reward for the event? If so, perhaps IS HBKs would do well, since you would be looking at having the hero, which will help grind C-Bills.

Edited by Blind Baku, 28 November 2016 - 07:30 AM.

[Tier5 Kerensky]

I agree my best earners are heavies, so they are good for starting. The game is strongly primed towards making damage. Most lights are really difficult with that.

My first mech was Locust in which I averaged 40 damage per game. The hardpoints were just not good enough on that variant and it's so small.. Wasted a lot of cbills on trying to get it work, including buying an XL engine. I'm not saying it's the best I could do but that's how well I did in it. Next I got Nova, in which I made 120 average. It was still really weak as I did not have much experience and Nova is a bit singular. But after Mad Dog I started to make cbills pretty well with average damage about 200 or more. Then I started to play more and learned about characterics of different classes and situations and all that.

Most assults are too difficult so they are definetly not better than heavies, as one might think.

[Nerokar]

Yea make a New Account for 25 games.It should help if you have not invested real money in your actual acc.
Then complete basic training Academy = 2000000 cbills.
Play trialmechs more...
if this mechs are still on trial:
try Jenner IIC as light
try hunchback IIC as medium
they should give you an Idea how good lights and mediums could be.

As for general hints:
Be patient, Do not rush away from your team.

Stay near high cover to be able to avoid LRM rain.

Forget the modules. 6 Mio for Radar Depr is alot... buy some nice mechs first (this is only my own opinion)

For the start: Before buying a mech, watch NEW videos of it, to get some idea how it goes
In some cases IS is not much cheaper then clan. It is only cheaper if you have a stock engine, good armor and heatsinks. If you have to buy this things extra to make your build work, the costs will skyrocket... My LCT costed 1,6mio with stock equip. My xl190 engine, doubleheatsiks and Endo/Ferro costed ~5 mio extra... this is not much behind ACH... plan for at least one working build, before buying a mech.

My opinion: for the starter mech, havies works best, and it should be not to slow with stock engine because in lower tiers only few will wait for you

Omnimechs have the advantage ob beeing realy flexible. You need at first only one variant and can optimize it for small money by changing its onmipods

I would say, there is nothing TBR can't make. Its one of the most versile mechs in MWO.

Pros:

• Can laservomit, dakka(kind of), brawl, lurm, snipe with gauss/ERPPC... every type of fight at a good degree
  
• You are fast, so you can stay by your team without praying to not be left behind
  
• You can learn asym builds on it
  
• You can tank some dmg
  
• You can get some Jump Jets with omnipod

Cons:

• You need 18-20 mio to build your first mech... if you dont like it... well your cbills are lost
  
• You are often a high prio target. So people WILL shoot you
  
• If you run Lurms enemies can sometimes shoot you while you think to be in cover because of high mounts
  
• Good SRM and LRM Builds WILL cost you ALOT
  
• Arm hardpoints are low. It is not possible to alpha without exposing your whole torso
  
• Some of your omnipods have BAD quirks, so you get a lot of penalties if you do not watch your quirks

EDIT: Something killed the formating...

Edited by Nerokar, 28 November 2016 - 07:58 AM.

[Rogue Jedi]

The new account sugestion is not a bad one, completing the tutorial and first 25 games will net you a minimum of 18 million, enough to buy and outfit almost any Mech.

With regards to recomendations for first Mech I would need more information to offer advice, try all the trials for at minimum 2 games each and take notes about what you like/dislike about each, then come back here with your notes, e.g. it you tell us you nees to move 80-110, your favorate weapons are the LBX10 and SRM4, you hate long range and prefer bird shaped Mechs that would massively narrow down the sutible chocices of Mech and we can sugest something we think YOU will like, not just "I think ???-???is a good Mech"

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 28 November 2016 - 12:04 PM.

[Koniving]

Just thought of the best pointer I can think of.

Wait until Fridays / sales to spend money. They happen almost every Friday. Get the most bang for your buck that way.

[TooDumbToQuit]

Watch Videos from these guys. Look for their "how to" videos as well as builds etc.


OldBob 10025

Snuggles Time

Kanajashi

BlackhawkSC

MoltenMetal

Lindybeige

TheB33F


M4J35T1C


Military History Visualized


Spike Brave on MechWarrior Online


And go through this area of the forums and read old threads and really listen to the people here.

With their help, I finally broke 1K damage (shameless self-plug)
















[/color]

Edited by LikeUntoGod, 28 November 2016 - 02:55 PM.

[Diggorison]

Lindybeige? What does he have to do with Mechwarrior?

I don't know about making a new account. Is it really that bad that I chose the Raven? I messed with it a bit more and got it to a decent spot where it's definitely useful. If the grinding doesn't decline beyond where I'm currently at (~100k/round) then I'm fine with it.
Would it be wrong of me not go straight to other Ravens and instead grab another mech in another class I like or is that madly inefficient?

[Tarl Cabot]

They mentioned new account cause now you have more experience, your Cadet bonus and normal payday would be higher. On the other hand, ravens are great. For QP (solo quick play queue) I actually prefer the short range setups. Work them and try to trials and your new Cent if you have entered the code.

https://mwomercs.com...-piranha-games/

Dont forget to purchase some mechbays, they are 150MC now
.
Starts: Monday, November 28th at 10AM PST (6PM UTC, SAME DAY)
Ends: Thursday, December 1st at 10AM PST (6PM UTC, SAME DAY)

And just a reminder

https://mwomercs.com...ost__p__5496022

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 28 November 2016 - 06:40 PM.

[SuperFunkTron]

You mentioned the energy harassment role so I have to throw out the suggestion of a Nova Prime. Since its release it has remained one of my favorite mechs and it is probably one of the best energy harassers as it has a 42 point attack with each arm (make sure not to fire both at once), but you have to keep an eye on your heat as a trade off. It also doesn't take abuse well, but if you make sure to avoid being the focus of enemy attack, you can really help nail mechs that your teammates are working on.