37 replies to this topic

[Amatsukaze]

Thanks for all the replies guys! I am gleaning a great deal from your wisdom.

I really need to use my targeting computer more to target weak spots on the mech. TBH the only time I use it is when scouting for our lrmboats. Once the battle is joined & the enemy mechs bunch up & tend to dash in choosing which mech to attack largely based on their relative position to each other & facing looking to get in a few shots before running for cover.

I also need to target the legs more. I had been targeting the pelvis on all mechs knowing that was the CT but also if they turned I would still clip the legs.

LikeUntoGod, on 01 February 2017 - 05:21 AM, said:

But if you shoot out two legs at 24 damage each, you only did 48 damage for that kill. So better and smarter shooting will lead to less damage.

I hadn't thought about numbers of it but that makes great sense. I appreciate the tip!!

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Ah, the wonders of light piloting!

The previous mech's performance, 200-300-ish damage and maybe 1 kill, was actually not bad at all for the mech you were piloting. With the ACH, you should see improvement there. Now comes the fun part: USE your mech's strengths against those targets that are weakest against them!

One of my first ACH kills was a Dire Wolf. 100 tons, very bad attitude, hit points for DAYS. New Forest Colony map, came down to him and me. Jump jets (I leapfrogged him right before the kill shot) and full throttle (DWF gives up like 80 or so kph to ACH). More often than not, the ACH will win that matchup despite giving up 70 tons and about a zillion points of alpha strike damage to the DWF. Why? Because its advantages are great enough in that matchup, that they can FAR outweigh the disadvantages.

BUT, only up-close. Running 6x ERSL or SPL means having to be inside of 200m to get best use out of your weapons. Being only 30t means having little spare weight for extra DHS. Toting ECM means having some help approaching unnoticed, but also having a giveaway when you get TOO close (usually too late for a stray assault mech by then). Say you run up against a DakkaWhale who spots you crosssing the open like 600-700 meters off. You MAY just be completely borked. You can't win the engagement at that range, anyway. So the question...

"How DO I leverage my mech's advantages to gain the upper hand and help my team defeat the enemy, without allowing my disadvantages to be exploited by that enemy?"

Figure THAT out, and you'll be all aces & eights.

[Koniving]

That would be key, targeting weak spots.

This video demonstrates exactly that. I was slower than molasses so when I did show up, I hit weak spots systematically on several mechs, only starting the video after two near-instant kills and managing to get several more. Pay attention to the paper doll on the upper right (enemy health) and where I shoot in game.

For this video and its detail, you should probably click the "youtube" button on the bottom right to open it in a new window.

Also I tend to run in small groups on the weekend evenings. You're welcome to join in.

[Koniving]

Since it sounds like you're mainly using lights... This video by the other voice on my video (Lordred or ZZLordred on youtube) will help you immensely. First kill is a freebie, but watch the ones after.

[Void Angel]

Not A Real RAbbi, on 01 February 2017 - 09:41 AM, said:

Figure THAT out, and you'll be all aces & eights.

... He'll be dead?

[Old-dirty B]

@op,

Perhaps my advice is not the most appealing as you already have set course and opted for a few clan lights but here it goes anyway. I suggest to start in the middle with a medium mech like a hunchback, hunchback iic, stormcrow, shadowcat or shadowhawk (perhaps a cicada or viper if you must be more mobile) which all are rather ballanced as they offer firepower, mobilty and durabilty. Stick to the team and learn to read the battlefield, the flow of mech combat, how these mechs perform and the opponents you face. As you gain experience and improve your skill you can work towards the outer edges of the weight spectrum which features more specialised and less balanced mechs wich in the end are harder to pilot and have a steeper learning curve. I think in the end you progress faster, learn more and be a better pilot across the board.

Good luck, B3R3ND

Edited by B3R3ND, 01 February 2017 - 01:58 PM.

[Amatsukaze]

B3R3ND, on 01 February 2017 - 01:58 PM, said:

@op,

Perhaps my advice is not the most appealing as you already have set course and opted for a few clan lights but here it goes anyway. I suggest to start in the middle with a medium mech...

Thanks for the suggestion & I see the merit in it. One thing I didn't mention in the OP is while I am brand new to MMO I am not new to the Battletech universe. I have read most of the books so I am familiar with the lore but more importantly I have played all the successor games to this one. I was a junkie on MW & MW2 as well as AOL's Solaris. I spent allot of money there!! LOL

That was allot of years ago & I am out of practice but I do "know" the various mechs & can ID most of them on site. Sure they probably perform somewhat differently in MWO then in other games but I see that as nits. While I have not had allot of drops in MWO in the grand scheme of things I have died enough to know what mechs to be wary of & have learned that by watching how they are piloted I can pick out a noob (anyone newer then you is ALWAYS noob in case you are wondering ) as opposed to someone who is at least piloting their mech like they know what they are doing. Not saying I got all the answers, I wouldn't be asking questions here if I did. Just saying I am not a complete babe in the woods.

Topic shift..

WTH is it with some of these teams?? I made a few drops last night & it did not go as well as the night before. I seemed to be in one sucky team after another. Now I fully realize I was a sucky link in the sucky chain of said teams but I just don't get the dynamics or what ppl are thinking when they drop. It seems to me that it is self evident that you need to stick together to have a chance at survival & yet immediately after drop its like POOF as everyone heads to the 4 corners of the map.
I'm not one to rant on the radio as some will. I will say something twice. Once as its obvious everyone is scattering "we need to tighten up guys" then a little later as we are really strung out "guys if we don't tighten up we are going to get picked off one by one". If no one listens I give up & in short order I am sure none of you are surprised to hear we all do get picked off.

So what is it in these ppls heads that forces them to lumber off on their own. Its not just new guys doing it. I see titled players doing it as well who should know better.

[Roughneck45]

Amatsukaze, on 02 February 2017 - 05:02 AM, said:

So what is it in these ppls heads that forces them to lumber off on their own. Its not just new guys doing it. I see titled players doing it as well who should know better.

Normally its people chasing the first lock that pops up.

Skill levels are all over the place in this game. There isn't much you can do about someone wandering into the open to get lurmed to death, or a light mech who runs full speed towards the enemy at the start of the match, or an assault mech that has a couple LRM tubes and wants to use ALL his ammo before he moves into range with his other weapons, or....

You get the point.

Personally, I try to be vocal and clear on coms. Call out targets and grid locations. Try to get the deathball to flank from one grid to another.

[Rogue Jedi]

If concerned about your damage numbers concider this, a headshot can kill any Mech, all Mechs have 15 structure on the head and can have upto 18 armor, meaning you can kill any 1 Mech with 33 damage, if you were a good enough shot you could kill the whole enemy team with 396 or less damage.

If you look at damage numbers for the winning team at the end of the match you will probably notice they average out at 200-400 per kill, so if you a light Mech are averaging 200-300 damage in a light Mech (with much less firepower than the heavier Mechs) you are more than carrying your tonnage, especially if you are also getting kills.

If you are middle of the line for damage you are doing great.

Unless an LRM boat or a really bad shot for someone to get 1,000 damage several others need to get 100 or less. As a veteran of this game playing since mid 2012 I have broken 1,000 damage precisely once outside of Faction play, my Mech was fully functional ar match end but had lost all its armor, I thaught it was an average game until I saw the damage numbers, but that is often the case, I will think I have done great and find it is a below average performance or think that was a poor game and end up with a great score

The best games I have participated in have everyone on the winning team (and most on the loosing team) get less than 500 and no-one less than 200, when that happens you know the teams have worked well together and everyone has done his/her share of the work

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 05 February 2017 - 01:27 AM.

[Metus regem]

Nightshade24, on 01 February 2017 - 05:23 AM, said:

TBH, I find virtually all mechs in MW: O combat effective including the Locust and also including MG spamming Locust 1V's...
The difference is they are better suited for different scenarios and situations... To some out there they would consider the Locust a superior mech to any other light in game and to some it's smaller profile, superior heat management and speed, etc. Make up for any disadvantage that comes with having no jumpjets or the lowest armour available in game.

All that would be true, if the deciding factor in MWO was not kills. The combat power and force multiplication that a Locust 1V brings is vastly inferior to that of a Arctic Cheetah, there is no denying that fact. Nor do I say that all mechs should be equil, what there should be is game play to reward mechs that are better at scouting and objective hunting rather than strait up mech on mech combat.

And yes I know that there are non combat objectives in Conquest and Assault, but they reward poorly compared to the combat options for those matches.

[Koniving]

Amatsukaze, on 02 February 2017 - 05:02 AM, said:

Topic shift..

WTH is it with some of these teams?? I made a few drops last night & it did not go as well as the night before. I seemed to be in one sucky team after another. Now I fully realize I was a sucky link in the sucky chain of said teams but I just don't get the dynamics or what ppl are thinking when they drop. It seems to me that it is self evident that you need to stick together to have a chance at survival & yet immediately after drop its like POOF as everyone heads to the 4 corners of the map.
I'm not one to rant on the radio as some will. I will say something twice. Once as its obvious everyone is scattering "we need to tighten up guys" then a little later as we are really strung out "guys if we don't tighten up we are going to get picked off one by one". If no one listens I give up & in short order I am sure none of you are surprised to hear we all do get picked off.

So what is it in these ppls heads that forces them to lumber off on their own. Its not just new guys doing it. I see titled players doing it as well who should know better.

Reasons like this.

I personally run off on my own a lot because it assures that I will be in advantageous positions with surprise and opportunity on my side. Mind you I am very skilled with what will be 5 years of experience this summer.

For some it is best to stay with the pack. For others it is suicide.


Colors altered for fun. You will notice I do not stick with the pack.

[Void Angel]

Amatsukaze, on 02 February 2017 - 05:02 AM, said:

So what is it in these ppls heads that forces them to lumber off on their own. Its not just new guys doing it. I see titled players doing it as well who should know better.

Welcome to the Hillbilly Moonshiner school of MechWarrior combat. What's happening is a combination of things, but a few main factors are likely: long-range builds with a favorite hiding rock; damage aversion; short-range builds with impatience; and tunnel-vision. Many long-range players will try to work the flanks of an engagement, since this means that the enemy team may not shoot at them so much when the main body of the team is closer and more noticeable - they tend to have a favorite spot on most maps, and often display an extreme aversion to taking damage. Then there's the close-range guys who assume that being a brawler means that you have to bull rush the enemy at some point - they get impatient with the pace of the match, or just plain bored, and try to exploit an opening that's not quite big enough for them to fit through. Then there's the guys who get so focused on what's in front of them that they're not paying attention to the enemy's disposition, their own team's target calling and warnings, or pretty much anything else but shooting guns at the enemy.

Essentially, folks act like a couple clans of Tennessee mountain boys have gotten into a feud. Things are out of hand, but nobody wants to get shot over it yet - so they head out to their favorite drinking spots and exchange desultory gunfire while sipping white lightning. Eventually one side or the other will get lucky enough - or imbibe enough liquid courage - to feel that they have the advantage, and start to move in on the enemy team and close out the match.

Once you get enough experience, it's not totally required that you stick closely together physically - instead, imagine a sort of moving area called "the battle" that you move with while supporting your team's efforts. As long as you're not camping on a hilltop somewhere hoping the enemy will wander a few 'mechs across your gunsights, you're probably doing all right.

By the way, have you checked out the neat Tactics 101 comics? They give a good overview of common tactical situations and the typical failing and winning responses to them.

[General Solo]

Yeah the Comics101 is great
https://mwomercs.com...ics-101-comics/
Hitbox locations of mechs may also be of interest to you
https://mwomercs.com...x-localization/
Enjoi

[Leone]

Void Angel, on 02 February 2017 - 12:07 PM, said:

Then there's the close-range guys who assume that being a brawler means that you have to bull rush the enemy at some point - they get impatient with the pace of the match, or just plain bored, and try to exploit an opening that's not quite big enough for them to fit through.

*Ahem* Some of us try to make little mech shaped openings for others to fit through and exploit. Also I play mostly CW, so if you see me in quickplay, chances are I'm screwing around or testing a build or trying to grind quickly through an event to get back to the game.

Some of us like to see how well we can do whilst outnumbered.

(P.S. Totally the impatience thing.)

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 02 February 2017 - 05:17 PM.

[Void Angel]

Heheheh; Atlas pilot, right there with you - this is one of my collection of Teamspeak avatars:

[Kali Rinpoche]

Don't worry so much about kills in the beginning. All a kill means is that you got the last shot on a mech before it died. Once you start getting Most Damage Done and Solo kills you know that you're progressing. Lower your mouse DPI if you haven't already to allow you to keep laser hits on target for more time.

[Amatsukaze]

I loved the comics! Totally made me laugh reading them because much of what they show I have seen already & even been the red team myself more times then I care to admit.

Hitboxes is good stuff too. Generally speaking unless I am going for a component I shoot for the pelvis on all mechs. I really want to start shooting for the cockpit though. Tough target I know & at range I cant pick them out so these illustrations are invaluable. Now If I can only remember all of them... LOL

[Koniving]

Cockpit shots are not really worth while as a light, though, unless the enemy keeps their armor really low.

The typical cockpit has a total of 33 hitpoints (15 structure, 18 armor).
For example, a Locust's center torso has 28 points (16 armor to the front, 12 structure).

Then, there's the ones where it's super worth while to headshot... except that's against mechs that can usually deliver over 100 points of damage within seconds. And to make that head shot with anything other than Gauss rifles, PPCs or ACs you have to be perfectly stationary... Yeah.

Go for them if you have the element of surprise or the enemy is afk. Otherwise... don't. Not as a light, unless you're carrying an AC/20 or LB-20x on your shoulder.

Edited by Koniving, 04 February 2017 - 11:19 AM.