15 replies to this topic

[Pr8Dator2]

I don't mean the stats but really master the use of a mech? For me, each time I thought my favorite Warhawk is fully optimised and there's nothing else I can do to make it better, i discover something I can change to improve it; higher internal STs that can be swapped etc. Each time i think that's nothing more i can do to improve its combat ability, I discover that linking 3 ERPPCs together rather than using 2 x 2 in a long range peek a boo situation works far better. And then when I thought I could do no better, I discover a new maneuver I can use to get better firing angles during combat when I thought I could do little in the way of movement and torso twist in a warhawk...

The point is, its been one whole month of concentrated playing on my warhawk, all statistically mastered, i am still far from "mastering" its use as I continuously, even today, discover new ways to fight better in it.

How about you guys?

How long does it take you guys to say, I have truly mastered the use of a mech?

[Moldur]

Probably around when you have an extra 100,000 xp past mastery (or less if you're completely off prem time, now that i think about it). That is, if you are playing consistently. I guess it's not 100% true. I probably have way more in the Timberwolf and Atlas, but I feel like something is always off. Cauldron born and HBK-IIC on the otherhand, I feel perfectly in tune with.

[Jman5]

I think it depends how different the mech is from what you're comfortable with. Like if you go from one PPC/Gauss heavy to another PPC/Gauss heavy it's not going to take too long. If you're picking up something you're not very experienced with like a different weight class or build it will take longer.

Anyway, I don't know about "mastering" a mech because I always feel like I have more to learn. However, when I decided I wanted to get good at Lights, it took me about a month for things to really click and settle. The next season my average matchscore improved pretty significantly so it wasn't just in my head.

I don't know if the time scale or number of games is all that important. For me I decided one day I should try playing it differently and then I went: "Oh, that went much better." It just happened to take me a month to figure out.

[Pr8Dator2]

Indeed, a month and about 100,000XP beyond master level seems to be what it takes for me too

[El Bandito]

That's pretty abstract concept and there is no clear answer to it. If you are talking about best builds only, then I can create one and learn to do well with it in a month or so, assuming I play 2 hours a day--which in turn will be affected by balance patches. Otherwise, there is always a way to improve one's affinity with a chassis.

[Bohxim]

*shrugs* to me, as long as it meets my 2 criteria I feel I've mastered it enough.
1) consistent decent damage even on losses (tho there's always going to be that occasional game you're just out of position a bit too long and die not doing past 300 dmg)
2) feel that you know the nuances that can push it's advantages and minimise the disadvantages, even when you're not piloting it, but facing another mech on the red side.

To this, I only feel this way to my mad2c and maulers at the moment

[Bud Crue]

Depends on the mech I suppose, but I confess I can think off the top of my head only a few of my 150 mechs whose performance criteriea has stayed the same long enough for me to feel that I have it "mastered" in the sense of the OP. I mean I have bewtween ~200K - 400K XP over mastery on all my Quickdraws and yet between the requirkenings, rescale, the two times they were directly nerfed last summer, the weapons changes, etc., I find that they feel different seemingly every time I play the damn things. So in that sense they are still not "mastered".

Not all my mechs are like that I suppose...I mean I don't feel that there is a whole lot left to learn in playing my Atlases. I know what they can do, and what they can do they have always done, and the quirk changes over the years has not really changed my use of them as far as I can tell. Even the great structure-izing of them really didn't affect my play of them, nor as far as I can tell the added armor of the RS, etc. So in that sense they were "mastered" after a few matches.

Meh. Like I said depends on the mech. To a sceondary extent what PGI does to the mech, at what frequency, and to what extent it mucks with it also has bearing.

[GrimRiver]

Agreed with 100,000xp past mastered.

By then you tend to find the sweet spot build that aligns with your play style for that mech.

[Sjorpha]

That question definitely starts losing relevance the more mechs you play.

The game isn't that complex and many mechs aren't that different once you've covered enough archetypes.

Also "truly master" implies the mech is being played optimally both in terms of build and play, which implies you are one of the players playing at the top tier level already. At that level I'd suspect it's a fairly quick process to identify a new mechs playstyle and best builds, and then some more time to fine tune gameplay (twist how many degrees for optimal shielding with this mechs right arm and so on.) and get used to it.

Sorry if that isn't romantic enough, but we simply don't have the kind of real uniqueness in our mechs that other many other games have with their characters.

[Humpday]

I'm not so sure its mech specific, I gather its an overall experience type thing.
I only say this because I recently rotated back to the mechs first used when i first started and sucked at...

And now I'm doing well in all of them, last season(10) i think I ended with ~2k/d in all classes. Once you learn how to play in general, your mechs stats naturally climb as you stop doing dumb stuff.

Well to clarify..."mostly" stop doing dumb stuff...I'll definitely still potato from time to time, but its far less frequent.

Edited by Humpday, 01 May 2017 - 06:52 AM.

[process]

Certain mechs are easier to pick up than others, due to advantageous builds, hitboxes, hardpoint locations, etc., but I would say mastering doesn't happen until at least all of its efficiencies are unlocked. I don't really know the mech until then.

[Escef]

When I consistently get 400+ damage and a kill, even in losing matches. Some mechs are easier than others. My ASN-21 with 2xML and 4xSRM4 is just about there, despite not even being fully elited yet, probably because it plays so similarly to the Griffin 2N. Modestly fast mechs with a lot of short range firepower I generally do well in. Brawler Griffins, most of my Assassins, CN9-AH and YLW, most of my Shadowhawks... Heavies with big XL engines, Zeus and BattleMaster with big XL engines...

Yeah, it's easier when the mech matches my preferred playstyle. Snipers... are not really my thing, and I don't feel I've even mastered sniping in general yet, nevermind on a specific chassis.

[Coolant]

hard to put a number on it, say in months, but eventually you do get to the point of maximizing a mech for your playstyle. You literally try every conceivable combination.

[Pr8Dator2]

Coolant, on 01 May 2017 - 08:41 AM, said:

hard to put a number on it, say in months, but eventually you do get to the point of maximizing a mech for your playstyle. You literally try every conceivable combination.

I guess that's when "Pet Mech" happens...

[Bishop Steiner]

Jman5, on 30 April 2017 - 11:16 PM, said:

I think it depends how different the mech is from what you're comfortable with. Like if you go from one PPC/Gauss heavy to another PPC/Gauss heavy it's not going to take too long. If you're picking up something you're not very experienced with like a different weight class or build it will take longer.

Anyway, I don't know about "mastering" a mech because I always feel like I have more to learn. However, when I decided I wanted to get good at Lights, it took me about a month for things to really click and settle. The next season my average matchscore improved pretty significantly so it wasn't just in my head.

I don't know if the time scale or number of games is all that important. For me I decided one day I should try playing it differently and then I went: "Oh, that went much better." It just happened to take me a month to figure out.

Gotta agree with this. I feel I can say I've "mastered" my specific build on the HBK-4G Hunchback after several thousand matches.... as in, I am pretty sure I have explored all of it's limits, and everything is basically muscle memory now....not as in, "I'm the best HBK pilot evah" type of mastery.

Other than that? I don't think I've "mastered" any other mech, TBH. Maybe the CN9-D? and YLW.

But I'd also say that if one is always switching up robots, or builds.... I dunno if one ever truly "masters" it?

Even my 4G is going to take a bunch more matches to fully explore the changes new tech will bring..... LFE for higher speed, but also losing the ability to "stick" will bring changes to how it plays.

[Koniving]

One to three matches.

"Every mech is the same for the most part."

<.<

Oh you mean on the skill tree. To be honest I haven't bothered with it much for over a year, why should I?
Use the mech, kill some stuff, use the next mech. So many mechpacks to choose from!