61 replies to this topic

[Donatello Jones]

I just don't see how you guys do it.

So many light pilots racking up 600-1000 damage 3 or 4 kills in a match. I just have to tip my hat to you. I have tried the Locust. I like it buuuuut I do good to break 100. My best performing light mech is the FS9-A that I JUST bought and am trying to master which won't really matter after March 21st. My total KDR is 0.60 last time I checked. Haven't checked the leaderboards because I just can't take that kind of shot to the ego sack.

I put this in the new player help section hoping some of the better light specialists will share tips with newer or less talented (this guy) light jockeys. There may be another thread for this. If there is then go ahead and shut this one down after redirecting us to the better thread.

[TercieI]

Donatello Jones, on 09 March 2017 - 08:20 PM, said:

I just don't see how you guys do it.

So many light pilots racking up 600-1000 damage 3 or 4 kills in a match. I just have to tip my hat to you. I have tried the Locust. I like it buuuuut I do good to break 100. My best performing light mech is the FS9-A that I JUST bought and am trying to master which won't really matter after March 21st. My total KDR is 0.60 last time I checked. Haven't checked the leaderboards because I just can't take that kind of shot to the ego sack.

I put this in the new player help section hoping some of the better light specialists will share tips with newer or less talented (this guy) light jockeys. There may be another thread for this. If there is then go ahead and shut this one down after redirecting us to the better thread.

Practice. Patience. Precision. Map knowledge, mech knowledge. Paranoia. Practice.

Also practice.

Did I mention practice?

[SnagaDance]

Also: a good enough computer, a good enough connection and making sure your in-game settings are optimal (mouse sensitivity needs to be around 10-30% instead of 1!!! depends on mouse dpi, personal preference etc.).

[Poptimus Rhyme Wallace]

Panic the second you drop, that way the adrenaline induced from panicking will be under your control by the time you encounter the enemy, improving your reactions and cognitive reflex, these are important because oftentimes you will be in a situation giving you 3 or more different options and need to decide which to pick within 0.3 seconds.

Depending on your engagement style this advise may be unnecessary.

Edited by Poptimus Rhyme Wallace, 10 March 2017 - 12:13 AM.

[Old-dirty B]

Donatello Jones, on 09 March 2017 - 08:20 PM, said:

I put this in the new player help section hoping some of the better light specialists will share tips with newer or less talented (this guy) light jockeys.

Lets see, its unclear to me how you pilot light mechs and the locust in particular - so its kinda hard to give specific pointers what you do well and what not. But i can share some thoughts and ideas about how i pilot the locust.

The locust is imo a very offensive hunter, a hunter of opportunity and preferably "big game" but certainly not solely. In general you look for error and mistakes or try to provoke that on the enemy team and you act quickly to exploit these situations. You determine who, when and where you fight, and you should always go for the most unfair * fights.

Al tough the speed will make you a difficult target and often keep you alive for a while it is just a matter of time until you go down. You should use its speed and size to get into advantageous and out of disadvantageous positions and ranges relative to your team and the enemy team.You should always try to keep up your situational awareness, more then any other mech. When you get the attention of more then one mech its usually a good time to pull out. Ideally you want no attention at all, preferably you stay in the blindspot of the enemy team (usually behind enemy lines / in the back or on the flanks). Stealth plays a big role in this, keep your head down as much as possible, especially when you are repositioning or flanking.

A rookie error i see very often happening is that the speed is used to sprint right into the enemy and start circling the first they come across. Once more enemies show up its usually too late to get out of there in a decent shape and usually that locust pilot is the first to go down...

To rack up impressive damage numbers and kills you need to stay alive long enough to be able to get there, its foremost important not to get shot and when you do you spread it like a mad man and break contact. Use the impressive acceleration and deceleration to poke where the enemy is not looking or cannot react quick enough in order to get "free" damage.


Edit: * Unfair often means you don't shoot at anything that moves, especially not when you are behind enemy lines. You wait, you have patience, you observe and pick the right target and angle before you attack. Unfair also means you tend to fight other mechs that are the opposite of the locust, big, heavy and slow, attack their weak spots. Most fair fights are against lights, but that usually takes too much time and both will be severely damaged. You will see often that both light pilots try to break contact after the first attack. (a favourite tactic i try to use is to feint such a retreat, get into cover quickly and reacquire that same target to get on his tail while he tries to retreat as well. Then you have the unfair fight you were looking for as you are in his very weak back! )


I hope this helps you further on your path of the locust pilot...

B3R3ND

Edited by B3R3ND, 10 March 2017 - 01:17 AM.

[The Basilisk]

One of the most pivotal things to get gud at anything in MWO was buying a new computer.

I went up from 1280:720 at 25-40 fps to 1920:1080 at 100+ fps

Played at even larger resolutions on larger screens with similar fps and this goes even better.

Playing lights in MWO is mostly (as in any 08/15 kiddo shooter) good hand eye coordination, know your enemys, good reactions and the prerequisites (hardware) to use them.

[Jingseng]

Keep moving, don't fixate on a specific target, always lock and shoot for already damaged spots, and go as fast as you can. Also helps to keep turning around obstacles and not go in straight lines if you can help it

[Old-dirty B]

Jingseng, on 10 March 2017 - 01:33 AM, said:

Keep moving ...always lock ...

I dont agree

1. Keep moving, only really applies when you are in the open. When behind cover i often stop to check my seismic sensor and determine if there are opportunities to attack or signals to bail out. Also, "bouncing" back and forth on the same spot, or quickly dash forward, stop, go backwards or any sudden movement makes you a lot harder to hit then a target that is "just" moving.

2. Always lock, i strongly advice against this. My suggestion would be only to lock when committed or the enemy is under pressure, never lock otherwise - especially when operating behind enemy lines / looking for backstab and assassination possibilities. When you break contact, ever so slightly, the radar derp module will alarm your target that he has been locked. Good players will know that they have a stalker... Check this video:



Edit: Even the deployment of an UAV is a dead give away of your presence. Not only is the UAV detectable but sometimes its deployment can be seen indicating your location. Furthermore, perhaps you are not locking targets but via your team mates that lock onto the targets via the UAV your presence will be even more noticeable - at the very least the enemy know something was there that dropped the UAV.

Edited by B3R3ND, 10 March 2017 - 02:10 AM.

[Donatello Jones]

I don't have the best computer for this game and when things get chaotic it can start to chug from low fps quite a bit. Especially with water on the map.

I have been practicing in the training frounds to be able to be a better shot while moving. I've been working on not taking more than a couple of steps before juking when out in the open. Even pretending i'm being fired upon etc... I will just have to play more pugs, analyze and learn from my mistakes until I get consistent. I just hate to be a detriment to my team.

When I played before there was no tier system. I am somehow in tier 4 but it seems like there are some expert players with the lower tier guys. Just sayin'.

I thank you for the tips you've given.

Edited by Donatello Jones, 10 March 2017 - 04:52 AM.

[Jankmon]

I'm still relatively new to the game but after I got decent with my MAD-IIC I moved on to playing a Cheetah for a change of pace. Many of my kills are from coring out back armor. A *lot* of pilots reduce their back armor to increase their front. So in a quick light mech if you can get behind someone and have steady aim you can kill another mech quick. My Cheetah with 5 SPL has killed many a heavy or medium mech in two alpha strikes that were kept on target in rear CT.

It's also extra fun when you do that to a LRM'er who is just sitting back and not paying attention to what is going on around them. I have cored out a lot of back armor on Archers or Vultures that never even realized what was going on because they weren't paying attention.

[Jables McBarty]

Donatello Jones, on 09 March 2017 - 08:20 PM, said:

I just don't see how you guys do it.

So many light pilots racking up 600-1000 damage 3 or 4 kills in a match. I just have to tip my hat to you. I have tried the Locust. I like it buuuuut I do good to break 100. My best performing light mech is the FS9-A that I JUST bought and am trying to master which won't really matter after March 21st. My total KDR is 0.60 last time I checked. Haven't checked the leaderboards because I just can't take that kind of shot to the ego sack.

I put this in the new player help section hoping some of the better light specialists will share tips with newer or less talented (this guy) light jockeys. There may be another thread for this. If there is then go ahead and shut this one down after redirecting us to the better thread.

Just don't stop moving.

I thought I'd be a smartass yesterday while leveling a LCT-1E and stood while waiting for a Panther to fall into my trap, then got insta-legged by a LBK.

Total damage: 18

[Roughneck45]

This is also the best response to any lights OP threads.

Get in one and replicate the OP'ness. Not so simple now, is it?

[Rogue Jedi]

keep moving (until you learn when not to), also try to move unpredictably
try to always have something targeted, and aim for any weakspots, legs or rear torsos
keep fighting as long as possible, ^{when I get 400-850 damage in a light it is because I have been fighting most of the match and survive}
do not get into fair fights, if the fight is fair break off and find an advantage
be a coward, if the enemy know you are there break off and reposition
try to attack distracted enemies
hit and run, do not brawl
your mobility is your armor

unless you are specificly set up for anti light work and have backup do not fight other lights if you can avoid it, one will die and the other will usualy be seriously damaged at the end of a light dogfight

[Donatello Jones]

There has been alot of mention about avoiding a fair fight. I have been guilty of trying to duke it out with other lights. I have won a few but usually I end up getting in a fight with more than one. That seems like a perfect example of them avoiding a fair fight and me being the deep fried spud. I just need to play smarter then. I need to work on hit a d run and become more of an opportunist. Right?

Thanks.

Edited by Donatello Jones, 10 March 2017 - 09:01 AM.

[TercieI]

Donatello Jones, on 10 March 2017 - 09:01 AM, said:

There has been alot of mention about avoiding a fair fight. I have been guilty of trying to duke it out with other lights. I have won a few but usually I end up getting in a fight with more than one. That seems like a perfect example of them avoiding a fair fight and me being the deep fried spud. I just need to play smarter then. I need to work on hit a d run and become more of an opportunist. Right?

Thanks.

Yes.

As a rule, if you're dueling another light and it's not the end of the match, you have made a mistake. If you are reasonably closely matched, even if you win, you'll lose because you'll be fairly beat up. Now, I admit sometimes I can't resist the temptation and I pick off a lot of not-as-good enemy lights (they're easy to spot if you're a good light pilot), but it's not what you'd call recommended practice.

Edited by TercieI, 10 March 2017 - 09:30 AM.

[Leone]

Well, I covered movement and how to help the team here.

But actually doing decent damage yourself would be better to try to always avoid getting spotted. Move about the edge of the map. Take the untrammeled paths where you'll be least expected, where your speed gives you the best advantage. Come from behind, hit the long range builds as they're often worse in a knife fight. (Caveat; Don't mess with dual gauss builds. Just no.) Bug out if things are looking even remotely fair.

Heck, even I could do alot better if I'd turn an run when I should, but I often wanna claim a prize, even if I see the assault pilot turn the moment I fire, an know it'll be a challenge. My problem is I love a good challenge.

~Leone.

[mailin]

B3R3ND, on 10 March 2017 - 01:57 AM, said:

I dont agree



2. Always lock, i strongly advice against this. My suggestion would be only to lock when committed or the enemy is under pressure, never lock otherwise - especially when operating behind enemy lines / looking for backstab and assassination possibilities. When you break contact, ever so slightly, the radar derp module will alarm your target that he has been locked. Good players will know that they have a stalker... Check this video:



Edit: Even the deployment of an UAV is a dead give away of your presence. Not only is the UAV detectable but sometimes its deployment can be seen indicating your location. Furthermore, perhaps you are not locking targets but via your team mates that lock onto the targets via the UAV your presence will be even more noticeable - at the very least the enemy know something was there that dropped the UAV.

I cannot stress enough how WRONG this advice is. ALWAYS lock your target. ALWAYS. It does several things.

1) Lets your friendlies know the enemy loadout and which direction they are going.
2) Lets you know the enemy loadout.
3) Lets you know if the enemy has taken any damage and if so where.

ALWAYS lock your target. Noobs don't lock, good team players do.

If you're in a light and you lock a Stalker if he starts turning around to look all you have to do is simply run away. Keep an eye on him, and when he turns back lock him again. This will slowly pull him away from his buddies. Problem solved.

ALWAYS LOCK YOUR TARGET!!!!!

Edited by mailin, 11 March 2017 - 07:59 AM.

[Old-dirty B]

If you have analysed the video i linked, you would think differently and not give this counter-advice. "Always lock" would perhaps help a bit in lower level gameplay, but on higher level gameplay it will impact your performance (if your gameplay is about stealth and assasination).

My advice is not to "never lock", but only lock when you commit / move in for the attack or kill. Locking onto the target as soon as you are able will most likely give away your presence and ruin the assasination oppurtunity. The same also applies to firing your weapons, only do this when you are in the best possible position (mostly knife distance). Another advice, try to sync your movement with your target - especially the last 250m - to mimimise the chance to get detected via seismic sensor.

Edited by B3R3ND, 11 March 2017 - 01:55 PM.

[mailin]

B3R3ND, on 11 March 2017 - 01:33 PM, said:

My advice is not to "never lock", but only lock when you commit / move in for the attack or kill. Locking onto the target as soon as you are able will most likely give away your presence and ruin the assasination oppurtunity.

WRONG. ALWAYS LOCK. ALWAYS. If you're too concerned about being seen then you are in a bad position. You need to find out what weapons your enemy has and you cannot do this without locking.

Not locking is something that I see a lot from new players and players who think they don't need to lock. The simple fact is that you do need to lock. The amount of intelligence that you can gather and share with your team mates completely outweighs any other consideration.

I stress again, ALWAYS lock your current target.

[Donatello Jones]

I've been in the habit of locking whatever mech I had my eyes on to see his loadout and damaged areas. I've never noticed how to tell when i've been targeted except when I hear... "WARNING Incoming missiles!"

I have sooo much to learn.