LocationPeeking over your shoulder while eating your cookies.
Posted 16 September 2017 - 11:10 AM
The Guide has been updated to reflect some of the recent changes to the game, as well as to improved the language and grammar. New videos have also been added to replace some of the older ones it previously contained.
DONALD KERENSKY TRUMP, on 08 September 2017 - 04:08 AM, said:
So i blasted all my starting money on crappy Criffin 1N that dies as soon as it enters same post code with enemy and few componets i bought by accident
should i make new account?
So i blasted all my starting money on crappy Criffin 1N that dies as soon as it enters same post code with enemy and few componets i bought by accident
should i make new account?
The Griffin is incredibly durable, and can take a lot of punishment for a 55 ton Mech but you have to twist damage to make it work, DO NOT put an XL engine in a Griffin, its greatest strengh is its deadside, that is to say with most Griffin varients, including the 1N all its firepower is on the right side, so fire then twist to offer the enemy your left, when the weapons are reloaded/recharged twist back, they will blow the arm off then you keep twisting left, you will loose the left torso then keep twisting left, do not start twisting right until your CT armor is mostly gone
why would you do that?
When the arm goes any damage that passes through what is left of that arm is reduced by 60%, when the torso goes damage is reduced by a further 60% provided the damage is passing both the arm and torso only 16% of the damage the enemy throw at you gets to the CT, effectivly making the CT 6 times tougher to destroy than it should be.
With that in mind I recomend you try a few more matches in the Griffin, in my experiance it is a great Mech, but if it is still not working for you with the advice I gave then yes, you may as well try a new account.
if you do try a new account, before purchasing a Mech I recomend you complete the tutorial (for 5 million cbills) and the first 25 (for match earnings + 12 million, by then you will have at minimum 18 million.
during the first 25 matches try most of the trial Mechs and keep notes about what you like or dislike about each Mech and weapon, if you fall in love with one of them great, buy that, if not then make a new topic in new player help, post your notes about what you liked/hated about each Mech and ask for advice on which Mechs are likely to suit your preferances, you will then get some sugestions on Mechs which should suit your playstyle,
providing the notes is realy useful, if you do not tell us what you want you will just get generic sugestions (probably Crab, Hunchback, Hunchback IIC, Huntsman, Stormcrow, Ebon Jaguar, Hellbringer, Warhammer, Marauder, Timber Wolf) if we know what you like/dislike we can offer sugestions based upon those which should be a lot more accurate for what you want.
So i blasted all my starting money on crappy Criffin 1N that dies as soon as it enters same post code with enemy and few componets i bought by accident
should i make new account?
Have you tweaked the Griffin 1N build in any way? In stock form it doesn't have enough armour (only 304 of a maximum 370) and the stock build generally over-armours the rear torsos making the front torsos weaker. This GRF-1N should be durable with its extra 64 points of armour and gives you a potent strike. If you're short on funds there's this GRF-1N which is similar but uses the stock 275 engine that came with the mech, though it is a bit light on ammo (so shield with the left side to keep that right arm and its lasers).
LocationPeeking over your shoulder while eating your cookies.
Posted 08 November 2017 - 01:12 PM
Tero93, on 07 November 2017 - 10:00 AM, said:
So i blasted all my starting money on crappy Criffin 1N that dies as soon as it enters same post code with enemy and few componets i bought by accident
should i make new account?
Tero, I apologize for my late response! I've been very busy at work and haven't kept up with my messages until today. It looks like Rogue Jedi and Ruccus have already answered your question. I would simply add, that the Griffin is a very good Medium Mech, and that it is difficult to offer advice without knowing more about your Mech's load-out and your own personal playstyle.
That being said, if you are unhappy with the Griffin chassis to the point where you cannot enjoy the game, then it would probably be best to create a new account because it will be a long, hard struggle to earn enough C-bills for a new Mech if you are using one you cannot stand. However, before you go that route, I think you should give the Mech another chance.
Use the links that the other two provided to access Smurfy's Mechlab. If you can, replicate your Mech there and post the link here. Or, post a screenshot of your Mech load-out instead from the game itself. That will help us understand what's happening and offer you a bit better advice.
Can someone please help me and paste explanation of whats the difference between clan, factions etc. I Was really looking for answers through fornum.
Knowledge of this is generally assumed.
Okay, so this will be split into TWO sections.
The first, is how it applies to MWO as a game.
The second, is how it applies to the source material, and by extension, MWO, other games of the past and the upcoming "Battletech" PC game by Harebrained Schemes, Mechwarrior 5 Mercs (the single player sandbox supposedly preceding "Mechwarrior 5", similar to Mechwarrior 2 Mercs and Mechwarrior 2, Mechwarrior 4 Mercs and Mechwarrior 4), and "Classic BattleTech" currently run by Catalyst Games and created by FASA (with 'the' original creator and cofounder being the owner of Harebrained Schemes).
Here we go.
MWO:
Spoiler
The Inner Sphere consists of Seven "Great Houses" and a not-so-neutral Neutral party (Comstar, played by PGI Employees; may be relevant in future events). These are thrown together in a big bucket to fight against the Clans in faction warfare.
The Great Houses include: Liao (Capellan Confederation), Davion (Complicated), Kurita (Draconis Combine), ??? (Do not know the dictator's name, do not believe this group has a monarch of any sort; Free Rasalhague Republic), Steiner (Complicated), Marik (Free Worlds League).
Why are Davion and Steiner complicated? In the current timline, the two factions are either Married into an alliance, or breaking up. The game has never combined the two and thus it is hard to say what they are supposed to be called. The fact that we are supposed to be in the Civil War period is also left somewhat baffling,because Steiner and Davion never seemed to get married and thus... their separation can't happen and thus no civil war... Yeah.... Not touching this.
Currently the Inner Sphere has access to Battlemechs and does not have access (YET) to Omnimechs. More on this later.
The Clans consist of a total of 12 factions in the current timeline, of whom 6 factions are playable.
The Clans are an invading force of the self-exiled Star League military from 300+ years prior. The short end of it is these "Clans" have warped into Klingons, basically. Next Gen / Deep Space Nine Klingons, not "Discovery" Klingons. Though you COULD compare the Smoke Jaguars and Jade Falcons to "Discovery" Klingons in their extreme views towards the Inner Sphere.
As far as the game goes, all Clan factions are basically the same.
The Clans have access to Battlemechs (though few of them) and Omnimechs.
A Battlemech in MWO can change everything except its hardpoints.
An Omnimech can change its hardpoints by swapping body parts called "Omnipods." It cannot change engines, structure, armor, or heatsink type.
The individual factions do not truly have an actual identity in terms of MWO beyond some lines of text, a separate "rank" and "reward" tree, and 'pay'. Note that the pay is based almost exclusively on the current player population within a faction. Too many players, too little pay. Too few players, SOOO much pay.
Beyond that there's really nothing there beyond win and loss conditions for each side per "season." There's MC earnings to be had if you have a group that can take over a planet, but that is fleeting because the more players you have the less you get, and you have to have a large enough amount of players to really take over a planet in your group's name.
So where it really matters is in the available technology and how it differs.
Tech Unique to IS:
Stealth armor (need ECM).
Beagle Active Probe (more on this later).
"Light Ferro" armor, 7 slots, inferior weight savings to standard.
Weapons unique to IS:
Rotary Autocannon (2 and 5, a giant minigun).
Medium Range Missiles (10, 20, 30, 40. Dumb, low spread rapid firing 'missiles').
Rocket Launcher (10, 15, 20. High damage, one-use weapon. Somewhat high spread and for some reason seems to have a minimum range for delivering damage, make sure your target is beyond 150 meters before using.)
Tech unique to the Clans:
Clan Active Probe (more on this later).
"Light TAG".
Light Active Probe. (Does the job of CAP, but only half the ranges for half the weight).
Weapons unique to the Clans:
"Advance Tactical Missile" (ATM, 3 6 9 and 12. In MWO this missile provides variable damage depending on range. The longer the range the weaker that damage is. At a close range beyond a minimum range of 150 meters, it does 3 damage per missile. At the longest range it does 1 damage per missile.)
"Micro" Lasers. A very weak class of lasers actually intended for use against infantry and lightly armored vehicles. Blend well with Heavy Machine Guns. High firing rate.
"Heavy" Lasers. An exceptionally powerful category of lasers with small, medium, and large classes. Each have very low firing rates compared to normal versions of each class.
I'm sure I am missing some.
"But Koniving, there's a lot of difference between their shared, tech, too." True, but weight/heat/duration differences are to be expected. The reason I singled out CAP versus BAP is they have a big difference in mechanics, too.
BAP is a device that requires no interaction from the player. It detects powered down mechs at a set range, enhances sensors by a set percentage, counters ECM at a set range and will automatically counter the closest ECM unit no matter what.
CAP: Does the same. EXCEPT... CAP does not automatically counter the closest ECM. It counters the ECM of the unit TARGETED by the user. This has mixed implications.
In a way this slightly raises the difficulty curve, as this means a closer ECM unit can jam you. However, this also means that you can selectively counter a different ECM unit than the one that is closest to you as long as it is within range.
This has some advanced tactical implications, such as what if the closest ECM unit is pretty health while one slightly farther away is pretty weak and being attacked by your allies... but then because of ECM the allies can't attack it anymore -- welp you counter HIM instead of the closer guy, and now your friends can hit him with indirect support as well as better see him due to targeting highlights.
Note: Since by default you pretty much target enemies on your own, many players never really notice CAP's idiosyncrasies.
Beyond this:
Clan lasers generally have more range at higher damage per shot, slower firing rates and more heat compared to IS versions. Clan Lasers also require more time on target to get this damage.
Clan ballistic weapons are DPS oriented and have burst fire which accumulate to rated damage. IS ballistic weapons are more about high damage per shot. Clan ballistic weapons have slightly longer effective ranges which help mitigate how easy it is to spread their damage.
IS SRMs pack more 'punch'. IS LRMs have a minimum range (180 meters) in which they do zero damage. Clan LRMs have exponentially reduced damage if they fall within that minimum range. (Somewhat more complicated but just take that as the simple version).
Clan weapons and equipment generally take fewer slots and weigh less. As such, Clan W&E will comparatively less health compared to IS equipment and weapons and be destroyed within the mech much easier.
For the source material side I will do a separate post.
Video by D.C. Bruins. Art and animation by the same. Voice by George Ledoux. Music by HellWreckage.
You can look up anything in EITHER Sarna.net OR "Mech Factory" app for Android.
Of the two, the latter is largely more accurate as Sarna paraphrases based on sources and Mech Factory copies word for word on "released" (free) sources from the PDF.
Paraphrasing things can lead to interpretation. Which BT encourages interpretation, but an interpretation of an interpretation of a fact meant for interpretation leads to something far from the truth.
You're welcome to ask me about specific things at my signature. If I know it I will answer it. If I don't I will find it. Prefer complicated lore questions there. For MWO things, ask in the new player thread and I'll probably find it and give an answer.
But the semi-short lore stuff of interesting note:
Spoiler
While MWO includes just mechs and leads us to believe that VIPs roam around in weaponless Atlases, there's a whole combined arms thing going on in which 'Mechs are the rarest (but for the most part the most intimidating) things on the field. Their size is nowhere near as exaggerated as MWO, as the Atlas is roughly the size of MWO's Hunchback, with the Centurion being taller than the source material's tallest mech by 0.3 meters.
(To note at the time of this writing: The Hunchback is 13.6 meters tall and the Centurion is 14.7 meters tall. The tallest mech until sometime into the "Dark Ages" is 14.4 meters tall. Catalyst Games also seems to be capping them at 16 meters, 1.8 meters shorter than MWO's Atlas is. Tallest mech in this time frame of lore is the Executioner.)
VIPs if they are traveling by land, tend to travel by vehicle. Only combat hardened VIPs travel by mech, and tend to have high kill counts which mean they know how to use their Battlemechs.
While the "IS" and "Clan" general tech is generally implied... IS and Clan factions actually hold somewhat exclusive access to tech. For example, "ECM" is exceptionally rare and the IS versions are mostly concentrated in Liao space and mechs. The highest access to double heatsinks and XL engines is actually held by Marik (and as such "Marik" mechs indicated by the "M" designation usually come stock with XL engines and double heatsinks). Endo Steel is very limited access and very limited in supply, as such, you'd never see it as much as you do in MWO, as such few mechs come with endo steel stock. Again mostly Marik in origin.
Ferro armor is much more widely available and you'll see plenty of it in stock mechs. As it is inferior to endo steel structure in weight savings, however, make the swap asap.
Even combat hardened royalty, commanders, etc. are typically not using endo steel. Too many issues with supply, too much expense, and the need for special accomodations to effect repairs makes it too much of an impediment. Not to mention the fact that mechs using endo-steel skeletons are almost universally larger than other variants of the same chassis not using endo-steel, since endo-steel skeletons are 'big boned'. (This is why the heights of Omnimechs using endo steel is considerably taller than those not using it.)
If interested in the lore of the Clans:
Look up: The Amaris Coup... this is the starting point of the Clans' story, the final disappointment that sends the Star League into self-exile. Exodus. The Second Exodus. Nicholas Kerensky. The (Clan) Remembrance. "Crusader Clan" "Warden Clan."
(Produced and performed by George Ledoux and Voices In My Head® Productions Artwork by B.B.Wolfe aka Laura Shaw)
[Note: B.B. Wolfe's voice can be heard when you try to eject in Faction Warfare. It is also the intercom voice on MW5: Mercs alerting stations to prepare for landing. George Ledoux is the voice of your Technician, he is also the Solaris VII voice of "Duncan Fisher" whom I suspect will make an appearance in MWO's upcoming Solaris VII game mode...]
Note: The IS will not receive this radio message for some time from now, on the way to conquering the Clan Smoke Jaguar homeworld, Huntress.
Below is a Warden Clan. "We must return, return and protect that which is unique upon the stars [Earth]."
Below is a Crusader Clan. "We will retake what is ours by might. We are Crusaders and will trample all whom stand before us."
Videos from Mechwarrior 2.
Wardens are invading to protect the Inner Sphere from itself, to restore order regardless of what the IS wants.
Crusaders are coming to take over and control everything, subjugating the Inner Sphere to its whims.
Because of this conflict of interest, the Clans regularly fight each other in their "way." Think Klingon honor battles and duels.
Whether one on one fights or fights of small units, the Clans fight regularly and under a strict set of rules.
The IS later learns to exploit this code of combat, pitting the fate of some planets on things like a game of Football in order to save resources and materials for later battles.
Regardless of the good or bad intentions, the IS wants nothing to do with the Clans. The exception, partly due to being conquered, is the Free Rasalhague Republic. These space vikings quickly join the ranks of Clan Ghost Bear (a Warden Clan) quite willingly sometime after being conquered.
The Smoke Jags have a lot of trouble dealing with the IS worlds they conquered. "Protests" are a pretty foreign concept, as are riots. Terrified of these "savage beasts," they bombarded a planet's numerous civilian populations. Clan Wolf in retaliation bid out orbital bombardment from any future options for taking planets. The other factions following suit, shaming the Smoke Jags.
But because of this combined enemy, we have an unintended Zero Requiem, as the Clans provide an enemy from which the IS must unite against, setting aside rivalries and hundreds of years of war or lose everything. Perhaps in defeating the Clans, the IS can finally know a methodical peace for the first time since the 2800s. (I say methodical, because "War" used to be a controlled, highly relegated 'activity' to settle disputes in which there was no civilian casualties, very restricted damage, and monarchs could sit and watch their armies fight while drinking tea together and gossiping about who is marrying whom.)
Jumpships:
Spoiler
These ships will likely never be seen in a Mechwarrior game as they never see actual combat. The only known visuals of these were in a glimpse in Mechwarrior 2, and in a cinematic in Mechwarrior Tactical Command. The latter shown below. It has a huge "Parachute" like solar array. These ships aren't made for "driving" conventionally. Or for normal movement. As implied by the Mechwarrior Origins video, they "rip holes in the fabric of space" by "harnessing the power of the stars." It lingers close to a star, and unlike Star Wars' Hyper Drive or Star Trek's Warp Drive, it more or less folds space (akin to Homeworld), and travel is "almost instant." However it can only jump one star system at a time and requires about a week to recharge, after which it pops to a new location.
A Jade Falcon jumpship appears at the end of this intro. The intro ends at 2:40+.
Mechs featured; Kurita Panther. Kurita Hatamoto Chi, Davion Enforcers, Davion-captured Liao Cataphracts.
The marriage/alliance mentioned in the video is the one that I referred to in the MWO section of this little tidbit.
Occupants feel very nauseous after a jump. An effect made worse with more attached dropships, as such a minimalist approach is often taken. Jumpships don't just ferry military forces, either, they will be actively traveling regardless of military campaigns as they regularly run water supplies to planets that do not have them. Exactly who owns the jumpships is debatable, as a jumpship will transport enemies on the same trip, they will rent out space at high premiums to mercenaries, carry diplomats, etc.
Its my personal opinion that Comstar likely runs the jumpships. Though it is implied that each faction has a limited number of jumpships.
This leads into the next section.
A tidbit of lore that really bugs me about MWO's Invasion Game Mode -- summary: it makes no sense.
Spoiler
On a separate note: MWO's "Invasion" game mode with the planetary cannon makes no sense in lore. One, the Cannon is shooting.... at something so slow that the cannon doesn't require any adjustment in accuracy. This implies it is shooting at a jumpship. NO ONE would shoot at a jumpship. They are too precious, too irreplaceable, no faction, under any circumstances, would fire on one. There is no greater taboo.
Stomping on a school filled with children is a far more acceptable activity, even if it isn't acceptable at all.
To put weight on this, this very act would be as condemning as pressing a button that instantly causes every school in the universe to self-destruct, every political entity to self-destruct, every power plant to self-destruct, every library to self-destruct, every thing that remotely resembles technology and anything that has to do with the knowledge to create it to self-destruct, all guns to self-destruct, and all vehicles to self-destruct, instantly pitting us into a dark age... with 30 minutes before the rest of the universe explodes. And somehow, everyone knows that you pressed the button that doomed them all. Doesn't matter if it was intention, an accident, you killed everyone...everywhere.. You doomed entire nations, entire planets, entire solar systems, by a single thoughtless act you have destroyed more than you could ever know. In destroying a jumpship you would have destroyed more than humanity on our real Earth has ever known to exist. You would have killed us all by doing this unspeakable act.
It is THAT bad. It is THAT forbidden. It is that unthinkable. It cannot be done under any circumstances. In the one case where a warship has accidentally done this, the entire crew was so distraught that they committed suicide in less than 12 hours, and even if they had not, every planet, in every system, of every faction, would try to kill them on the spot which includes their own, despite it having been an enemy jumpship. (Their intended target, whose evasion had allowed this to happen, also promptly self-destructed so that no one would ever know their self-preservation went above the good of their people, as without that jumpship, numerous worlds that need water shipments provided by the jumpship would have their entire populations likely die of thirst). There would be no death count...for no one would ever visit some of those systems again...ever. Many stricken off the history books, stricken off the maps, simply wiped away to never be known again.
Now, shooting at Dropships is perfectly acceptable. In fact it is what the planetary cannons are actually for.
Except it isn't shooting at dropships, they drop with no effort at all.
Planetary cannon use on dropships. Note the cannon has enough power to fire on and destroy one dropship before it needs to stop to cool. It is worth noting that dropship has an armor of 640 points of standard scale armor. In MWO that would actually be 1280 points. The ship was 3600 tons.
It was armed with standard scale versions of the following weapons:
2 ER PPCs.
2 Gauss Rifles.
4 LRM-20s.
3 ER Large Lasers
6 Medium Lasers.
And in Battletech, taking this thing down with numerous assault mechs (30+) and some artillery takes about 5 minutes, with a lot of casualties. Hence the reason for the planetary cannon. The cannon's damage as a Capital Class Gauss Rifle planetary cannon would be 150 damage per shot. (Probably 300 in MWO)
The Leopard dropship delivering you into Invasion's game mode would be supplied with 500 points of armor, (so 1,000 points in MWO) with 2 ER PPCs, 2 LRM-20s, 3 ER Large Lasers, 6 medium pulse lasers for point defense.
What we get is invincible, with 7 medium lasers if attacking and 5 large lasers if defending. Each with a restrictive firing arc.
But back to the cannon. If the cannon is supposed to be firing on, say, a warship, said warship would fire back and and pretty much destroy the cannon in one to three shots at most, thus defeating the entire purpose of you fighting in the Invasion game mode as the Warship could do it for you with far less cost and risk.
Meaning the game mode makes no damn sense.
(Also in lore, PPCs could destroy the gates or blow through the walls. That's why they are dubbed Siege Cannons and PPC boats are dubbed Siege Mechs as their primary purpose is to blast holes through such defenses. If the dropship dropped you this close to the field, it would destroy the gates for you on its way in or its way out.)
LocationPeeking over your shoulder while eating your cookies.
Posted 13 January 2018 - 08:03 AM
Koniving, on 13 January 2018 - 07:25 AM, said:
Knowledge of this is generally assumed.
You're right! I should have considered folks who might not have a background in MWO when writing the guide, but didn't. Thank you for the fantastic write-ups though! Would it be okay if I link to your two posts in the body of my guide so that other new players can find the info? I'll give you the credit, of course.
You're right! I should have considered folks who might not have a background in MWO when writing the guide, but didn't. Thank you for the fantastic write-ups though! Would it be okay if I link to your two posts in the body of my guide so that other new players can find the info? I'll give you the credit, of course.
Go right ahead. I'll plug in credits for the videos now.
Thank You very much !!! Kinvng You are a boss
I also dont get the drop system, and where i can see which Mech i can use for IS and which for Clan.
I have bought Timber Wolf very Long Time abp, cose he was a mad cat be version from MW4 which i was playing as a child.
He is a Clan if i remember correct.
the Clan mechs have a blue line under the Mech name.In the ingame store also in your mech hangar ( in the mech hangar you have a filter.
I made a screenshot and marked it where you can see it. The Shadow hawk has a grey line the Storm Crow a blue line.under its name. Hope it helps
Edited by Mighty Spike, 14 January 2018 - 06:40 AM.
LocationPeeking over your shoulder while eating your cookies.
Posted 14 January 2018 - 09:38 AM
Mighty Spike, on 14 January 2018 - 06:36 AM, said:
the Clan mechs have a blue line under the Mech name.In the ingame store also in your mech hangar ( in the mech hangar you have a filter.
I made a screenshot and marked it where you can see it. The Shadow hawk has a grey line the Storm Crow a blue line.under its name. Hope it helps
Wow, I've been playing this game for years and never noticed that blue line. Good attention to detail!
9
Koniving, on 11 August 2017 - 01:16 PM, said:
