8 replies to this topic

[AureliusDean]

I'd really like to see a thread about what to do starting out in faction play. When you use the search feature on the forum to look up FP, it's all b*tching about how the mode is broken, but there is nothing regarding a) how to set up your drop deck the difference between scouting and invasion or c) what the rewards are for playing the mode.

I guess I know not to bring LRMS, and Streak Crows are the go to.... but yeesh! How does the "tug of war" work?

I want to play it, I've been a tt guy since forever, but I don't want to drop into a mode blind and have some drill sarge from frickin' Arkansa screaming at me.

I spend more time reading this forum trying to get a grip on how it works than doing live drops. Any advice or links would be appreciated.

Oh and happy 420.

[B0oN]

Aiiiiight, thanks for the intro with quoting nice buddies of mine, namely the lasses and lads of 420 (ChocolatelovesI <3)

Besides that silly intro point (which I´m sorry for^^)^:

1: Start out with getting 4 mechs (combined weight of about 230-260 tons, "safe" assumption of erring in my way^^ ... those 4 mechs:
Elite them, kit them fully out with modules ( if youve got them CBills to spare) .
Also, use mechs you are comfy with and swischn´dish out proper damage ( hardcoreista´s like me or EVIL or 228th or other crazy dudes might say :750dmg per mech or L2P and even harder challlenges^^) ... they gotta fit your (personal) playstyle, totherwise you wont fell comfy and wont dish out the horror ^^ .

2: Forums is a quite hard to get information from, but there is a quite big bunch of people that are murderously (yep, meant literally^^) helpful .

3:Tug of War (ToG en brevé^^ if you will) works like this :
You see the middle of the bar, aye ? That´s where it all starts .
The gamemodes are designated per segment of the bar, going from Skirmish to Siege gamemodes through the whole inventory of gamemodes MW:O has to offer .
Either one side or the other has to fill that bar fully to one side and thusly claim the planet .

4: Check out our community ....
Dean, you gotta hop in over to the where you´lll find all that sweet, sweet TS3 info´s for alll them sweet community-kept TS^^
Youll get compatriots for your House affiliation and gigatons of good info, all in one go .

[AureliusDean]

Thanks, Shortbus. On a scale of 1-10, how bad would it be if I'm a lame player to drop in FP? I'm in a merc unit with an old buddy, he's awesome, I stink, but I asked him to make sure we had a contract today.

[B0oN]

AureliusDean, on 21 April 2017 - 03:20 PM, said:

Thanks, Shortbus. On a scale of 1-10, how bad would it be if I'm a lame player to drop in FP? I'm in a merc unit with an old buddy, he's awesome, I stink, but I asked him to make sure we had a contract today.

Skip the scale of 1-10, dip yer feet into the shark-infested pool called FW, but be prepared for anything from getting pasted to dealing out pastings ^^.
Check out the maps you are going to play on and build a few different loadouts, so that you can switch and vary your dropdeck .
Longrange maps like AlpinePeaks/Polar Highlands : ERLL, ERPPC, Gauss, AC´s of the AC5/AC2 kind
Medium-to-closerange maps like CanyoneNetwork/VitricForge/SulphurousRift : Laservomits (5 LPL BLR^^), AC10/20´s, SRM´s (IS has some really good SRM/Dakka builds)

Remember : IS XL is a dangerous game to play, once your sidetorso pops the mech does as well, so be very much on the lookout (head on a swivel, no tunnelfocusing, unzoom when being in a brawl) and keep twisting that torso of yours to spread incoming damage as far and wide as all your armour allows you in order to keep you and your weapons alive and active for as long as is possibru.


Also, ask your buddies from the unit which mechs come good in FW and which builds are getting used the most .
That should give you a decent "technological baseline" to start off from, get accustomed to and finally customize for your needs after getting a feel for the mech and the build used .

Another thing : While many players still say LRM´s are hell´s own stank, I cannot fully agree with that . It´s just another weponsystem with a very specific usageprofile . Like any other weapon it has upsides and downsides to it .

Biggest detriments to LRMing per se are "Hanging-back-not-bringing-that-armour-upfront-while-LRMing", "Peek-a-Boo" and "Poptarting" playstyles, they will leave you lockless after .75secs of lock (peekaboo/poptarting) ... so, hardcore to make them work against good players .

The hanging back is just wrongly understood tactical sense : no need to hang back 800meters to lob those missiles ... stand 100 meters behind your brawlers and DIRECTLY vomit those LRMs into the enemy . The advantage in being directly with your whole team as a LRMer is : your armour will be used as well (and not only against some pesky light going for you^^) in the frontline as everyone elses and biggest benefit : shortest possible traveltime so that even with peekaboo´s and poptart´s it´s going to harass them .
Also dont forget to actively seek out your own locks, dont burden the team, enrich it .

I hope that helps a bit, have fun out there !

Edited by The Shortbus, 22 April 2017 - 10:30 PM.

[Leone]

So, bit 'o background, I love CW. I had to pop back inna Quickplay to finish out my first 25 matches to get full forum access, cuz I'd already decided to just drop CW all the time. I love brawling, and I have a hard time holding back an waiting for the team. So, take that under consideration.

So, first thing's first. Four mechs. When you lose one, you move onto your next. This means your drop zones are actual tactical positions you need to think about. Think table top, think tactically. Don't let the enemy get free rein into your drop zone. MWO is still a numbers game, more mechs against a few dropping in is bad for those few. Defend your drop zones. Also, progression tends to go, heafty and slow towards lighter mechs as the fight goes on.

Secondly, attack in waves. Stick with the team, fight the good fight, and regroup into a fresh wave of twelve mechs. If you win the wave, push forwards, get some damage in and get a fresh mech, Otherwise you get six fresh mechs and six damaged mechs against twelve fresh. The damaged mechs fold quickly, and then it's twelve damaged mechs against six damaged mechs, and then the other team wins the numbers game, your side trickles in and it spirals downhill towards !!Fun!!

Twelve fresh mechs against twelve damaged mechs is how you win.

So, the trick here, if you haven't noticed, is teamwork. I've a friend I play with sometimes, horrible shot. He knows direct fire's suppose't be better'n missiles, and he's trying to learn it, but... yeah. And yet, he's taken four lrm mechs into a match and gotten unit invites, because he plays with the team. He's always up front, complaining about people hiding behind the team and supporting his allies. Heck, I've got... let's see, I know it's around here somewhere...

Aha! Here it is. Got a vid with me pushing forwards, my team at my back, and some atrocious aim. Like, maybe half my shots missed? But check the mini map. It was a numbers game. They got spread out, and we overwhelmed em. Didn't matter if I couldn't hit that run, I had my team behind me.

I've also a Random Pug Game showcasing the whole attacking in waves thing.

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 22 April 2017 - 11:12 PM.

[Rogue Jedi]

Teamwork is the number one thing here, coordination is the most over powered thing in MWO, playing solo queue you are unlikely to have it but that is fine because the enemy are also unlikely to have it, in Faction Play the enemy are far more likely to have coordination so if you do not you will be in trouble, if you are dropping solo or in small groups make sure you speek up in VOIP, if you can get a few others to speak with you that will drasticly increase your chance of victory over a match where no-one speaks.

if you are in a group of 12 up against 2 groups of 6 that massivly increases your chancesas you should be far better coordinated.

dropdeck weight ranges do change occaisionaly, I would aim to have a deck for 160 minimum -240 maximum tons, as that is the lowest and most common weight range to date.

you can only use faction relevent Mechs, so as you are currently a Merc with House Merek that means at current you can only use Inner Sphere Mechs

if your unit has a group ready to go for FP and you do not have Mechs ready take trials, a new player in a trial Mech who is willing to work with the group is worth more than an "elite" player who insists on running off, doing his own thing, getting himself killed 4 times inside 10 minutes ^{(yes I have seen that happen with self professed elite players)}, then spending the next 20 minutes complaining about how rubbish the rest of the team.

all the advice so far has been about the main mode of Faction Play but there is also Scouting mode.

scouting is 4v4, Light and Medium Mechs only with no respawns, Clans are not allowed anything heavier than 50 tons but IS can use 55 tonners.

you run arround the map "gathering intel" there are 21 intel points, you gather the intel by standing within range for 3 seconds, when 11 have been captured the drop ship comes in to extract the attackers, the attackers win if they have at least 1 intel and at least 1 player extracts (is standing in the circle when the dropship is ready to leave) the defenders win if they prevent the attackers from extracting.

the winning teams gathered intel is added to a scoreboard, and is used to unlock support powers for the main Faction Play modes.

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 23 April 2017 - 03:17 AM.

[AureliusDean]

Thanks guys! I should have a little more time once my gardening is under control... sigh.

[Tarl Cabot]

AureliusDean, on 23 April 2017 - 10:17 AM, said:

Thanks guys! I should have a little more time once my gardening is under control... sigh.

We understand!!

[Karl the Plumber]

It's the same piece of advice you always get when it comes to faction warfare, but you have to get a unit that's willing to teach and you have to play the mode. There's nothing you can pick up in the forum that you won't learn in the first three or four drops. You can't learn how your team will play in the forum, or what the strengths of your group are, or what builds to bring. It really all depends on who you drop with.