109 replies to this topic

[Chados]

I'm tweaking a Rifleman, the only mech I'm actively dropping nodes here and adding nodes there on. The rest get what looks to me to be an optimal nodeout for their role and done.

Dropped 9 nodes when I realized that I needed more heat management and decided not to spend GSP. I used the mech's personal HXP/MXP pool. I had 180,000 MXP on the mech at the patch so I have plenty.

9 SP cost over 400,000 Cbills.

It's gonna be a very long time before a stone noob can manage to make her first million. It was over a year in the old system before my balance broke a million and two years plus several events before it broke 100 million. The learning curve just leaned past vertical into negative territory. The difference between a skilled out 91 node mech and a brand spanking new one is tremendous. Noobs won't earn jack for a very long time in an unskilled mech. PGI, please figure out a way to give noobs at least one mastered mech at the end of the Academy.

Edited by Chados, 26 May 2017 - 04:00 AM.

[ShoX]

My first mech was a Vulture and mastering it would have cost me 2 more vultures. I think you could make a solid argument that mastering mechs before was more expensive unless it's a Locust or Commando.

[El Bandito]

Aye, now you don't have to buy three mechs to elite your favorite one--which means newbies will not feel too constrained about the default 4 mechbays they have. Better yet, you don't have to be forced to play a variant that you dislike just to elite the one you want. Finally, no more module switching!

This skill tree is much better choice.

Edited by El Bandito, 26 May 2017 - 04:15 AM.

[Athom83]

Skill systems aren't supposed to be overly "noob friendly". They are supposed to be a part of the game they learn, just like the rest of the game. And you seem to forget, new players get an influx of hundreds of thousands of C-Bills for their first 25 matches. Plenty to buy a mech or two and fully skill them. Before, they had to play long enough to earn enough GXP to unlock weapon modules and equipment modules (rad derp, seismic, etc) and then spend millions of C-Bills each to buy each of them. And even then they couldn't fully skill their mech until they had 3 of the same chassis, and another chassis of the same weightclass.

[Siegegun]

They should feel lucky, when I was new I had to master 3 mechs, did not have the extra cbill bonus at start, and had to use single heatsink terrible load out trial mechs. I endured all that to buy the first mech I could afford... a mighty Commando.

The new skill tree system is a great addition for new players.

[sycocys]

Pretty sure they said average noob income outside of cadet was 130k a match, so 9 points is like 4 matchs and 40 matches total to master amount of points c-bill wise.

[Kanil]

ShoX, on 26 May 2017 - 04:08 AM, said:

I think you could make a solid argument that mastering mechs before was more expensive unless it's a Locust or Commando.

... and even then, Locusts weren't really cheaper unless you were basicing the other two with friggin' single heatsinks...

Edited by Kanil, 26 May 2017 - 05:26 AM.

[Felbombling]

My first Mech was a Cataphract under the repair and rearm days. I bought a Commando and ran that [with much cheaper repair costs] to fund my first XL engine. Those were the days, huh? The new skill system is cheaper than the last, overall... both in time investment and C-Bill resources needed. New player experience should be waaaaaay better now, although a skill tree tutorial would have been a great idea for PGI to put in along with the skill tree update.

Mind you, it would be nice to get a fully Mastered Mech out of the gate, but you should have close to that with the 48k GXP injection upon completing your 25th match, not to mention the 25 million or so C-Bills that Cadet bonus grants you.

[cazidin]

If any New Players read this thread and need help assigning their skills;

https://mwomercs.com...or-new-players/

[Rodrigo Martinez]

The system can be ok if I can respec my 91 point for a price like 1-2kk instead of unlocking and reactivating of nodes. I still have to buy these SP so it's a c-bill sink as PGI wants+ price for reset.

[JC Daxion]

t.


IF you are leveling a mech, stick with simple, don't bother to respec around, Just play with the build for a while. But once you do a few mechs, you will follow similar patterns and it gets easier. Only a few mechs have i actually swapped anything at this early point.


PS i saved 200m by not having to buy 2 extra mechs over the last bunch of months since i knew the rule of 3 was gone. that is a ton of c-bills in my pocket

Edited by JC Daxion, 26 May 2017 - 08:47 AM.

[Scyther]

Well, for actually new players, they have 5 million CB right off the bat from completing the tutorial, and (iirc) 8 million from their Cadet bonus, first 25 matches.

That said, I've been messaged by a couple new players who spent their bonus C-bills on one or two mechs and upgrades (like DHS), and are now looking for the cheapest/most cost effective way to skill up their mechs. Because 8,000 Exp and 450,000 C-bills doesn't go very far in the new tree.

The Exp and C-Bill definitely slows them down a bit (compared to previous system). They'll be slower acquiring and skilling up new mechs. Whether this is a good or bad thing remains to be seen.

[Kotzi]

Buy a mech, play, use XP no Cbill, take those spare Cbill to customize the mech, that was before. Now, buy a mech, earn 100K, pay 45K for a skill point, wait a long time to get DHS, another Engine, Endo. You might have to buy 3 mechs before, but after getting master you could sell them and keep the additional equipment. Lets face it, this is intended to draw the money from those twitch i have to got it all now kids, young and old.

[MechaBattler]

I would say the XP gain is the bigger chore. If you can earn at least 45k c-bills from a match. You can pay for 1 point. But chances are good if you could only manage enough for that, your XP will be decidedly lower and you won't have enough to use those c-bills for a Skill point. Plus if you master a mech, you can just use that for building up C-bills, not the same with XP.

I agree with the idea of new players gaining a mech from the academy. They could let them choose between a Clan or IS mech, but not the mech itself. Then do a short tutorial on the skill tree. Upon completing the tutorial they get the mech and the skills they put in during the tutorial.

Kotzi, on 26 May 2017 - 08:52 AM, said:

Buy a mech, play, use XP no Cbill, take those spare Cbill to customize the mech, that was before. Now, buy a mech, earn 100K, pay 45K for a skill point, wait a long time to get DHS, another Engine, Endo. You might have to buy 3 mechs before, but after getting master you could sell them and keep the additional equipment. Lets face it, this is intended to draw the money from those twitch i have to got it all now kids, young and old.

Resale value of stuff is only half. That hardly seems like enough to mitigate the cost of buying 3 mechs and upgrading them.

[Davegt27]

I can basically get 1 SP per match sometime 2 SP in a match and I have plenty of C-bills

experimentation would have to go buy the way side for new players

the grind is different but still there

there are top players like Sean Lang that could get buy with few modules but that has ended
now there is no getting away from grinding for nodes

[Rusty Metal Skullgun]

MadBadger, on 26 May 2017 - 08:49 AM, said:

Well, for actually new players, they have 5 million CB right off the bat from completing the tutorial, and (iirc) 8 million from their Cadet bonus, first 25 matches.

That said, I've been messaged by a couple new players who spent their bonus C-bills on one or two mechs and upgrades (like DHS), and are now looking for the cheapest/most cost effective way to skill up their mechs. Because 8,000 Exp and 450,000 C-bills doesn't go very far in the new tree.

The Exp and C-Bill definitely slows them down a bit (compared to previous system). They'll be slower acquiring and skilling up new mechs. Whether this is a good or bad thing remains to be seen.

As a newer player, this is absolutely wrong. Pre skill tree you would essentially basic only buying chassis you were comfortable with and trying to see if it'd be worth it to you to master. If we're talking utilitarian, then mastery was pushed off almost indefinitely. Also newer players don't get mech bays like candy. The only way you mastered something as a newer player was a) spending real money or finding the chassis of your dreams through trial mechs and literally using up your mech bays practically to master that one chassis right off the bat and eschew the idea of having a mech for each weight class.

I now have multiple other chassis mastered which would have taken me far longer since I do not have their variants, nor any c-bills to buy them. Overall this allows us to buy and master quickly a diverse selection of mechs. If anything, this seems uncommonly good natured toward new players in a freemium game since I no longer have many reasons to double dip on mechs and save c-bills for many different mechs as opposed to the massive c-bill sink that was the Rule of 3 which probably would have forced me to spend money to achieve the kind of progression I wanted...

EDIT: One last piece of info too - on the mechs I don't have mastered yet (and probably wont any time soon) I simply bought enough SP to affix them with proper cooling, radar deprivation, seismic (as needed), and/or a bit of agility if it needed it. There's no reason to fully master a mech if you don't intend on playing it much, much like previously you didn't need to master a mech you played too occasionally enough to consider buying 2 more chassis and potentially modules.

Edited by Rusty Metal Skullgun, 26 May 2017 - 09:16 AM.

[Bigbacon]

i think the SP cost is stupid myself. If you spend the time to grind the XP you should get the SP. Let players keep their bills for getting more mechs and equipment.

[- World Eater -]

Academy + first 25 games can yield a decent sum of c-bills. Also, without the rule of three, the player can diversify their stable quicker.

[R Valentine]

Mechs without skills are actually worse for vets than new players. At least before we had the modules already, so your guns had their range and cool down already added. Now you have nothing. You gain 1 - 2 skill nodes per match played, which is garbage. That's 46 matches to master a mech, plus c-bills. I bought the 5P and did it the hard way, which took me over 8 and a half hours of non-stop play. Add in that the skill tree is a maze of deception and broken promises and you have a recipe for disaster for new players. No one wants to play 46 matches just to master 1 mech.

[Kanil]

Kiran Yagami, on 26 May 2017 - 09:42 AM, said:

No one wants to play 46 matches just to master 1 mech.

Surely playing 46 matches to master 1 'mech in the new system is preferrable to playing 55 matches in the old system (and if you're new and haven't mastered a 'mech in this weight class yet, you're looking at 82 matches...)