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[Onimusha shin]

I did a general skill tree guide for players across spectrums here and thought I'd summarize it for new players too.

Here, I'll be describing what skills you MUST have, what skills suit what builds and what skills you MUST IGNORE.

Tier 1 - Must-have skills.
Tier 2 - Situational skills.
Sub-Tier 2 - Gateway skills that let you reach more useful skills.
Tier 3 - Avoid unless you have spare SPs
Tier 4 - Avoid completely unless you have bought all relevant higher tier skills.

General Skill Tree advice

• Does the 'Mech variant have structure/armor quirks? If yes and in sufficient (how much is sufficient?) amounts, spec into the relevant armor/structure skill nodes. Brawlers in general do want to increase their survivability. Go full like this if you want more HP to deal more damage.
  
• Most fighter builds can use this Firepower tree layout as a start.
  
• Do your Ops tree like this if you have a hot build (anything 1.5 heat management or less in MWO's MechLab UI).
  
• Invest 1 SP in Miscellaneous for the first Consumable Slot +1. More if you have hot build for better Coolshots or into strikes if you're a super cool build.
  
• Invest in Sensors if you see the 'Mech variant as more of a scout spotter. More details on Sensors skills covered in Tier 2 & 3.
  
• Balance SPs to Firepower tree, with explanations of which nodes help which weapon/build types in Tier 1 details below. But give priority to Heat Gen skills too.
  
• Avoid JJ and Mobility trees (FIREPOWER & SURVIVAL FTW BABY!)
  
• Meta explained here if you don't mind your hands being held.

Tier 1 Skills (MUST HAVES or can't avoid)

Spoiler

Survival --- Skeletal/Armor
Improves structure/armor hitpoints. In short, take Armor skills if below 80tons, Structure skills if otherwise. Defensive quirks change that, see GMan's math.

Firepower --- Cooldown/HeatGen
These 2 skills are almost always at parity as they come before/after each other. I emphasize HeatGen most as it improves your DPS in general. You should too, especially for hot builds (heat management 1.3 or less in MWO's MechLab).

Ops --- Cool Run + Heat Containment
Increases heatcap so you may fire more times before overheating, go for FOUR of them like this.

Misc --- Consumable Slot
Takes only 1 SP to gain the 1st. GET IT! The additional 3 slots come at a cost of 4 SPs each, not an absolute necessity for most builds.

Misc --- Enhanced Coolshot
Takes only 3 SPs to gain the 1st, 4 SPs if you go for the 2nd. Worth it for hot builds (heat management 1.3 or less in MWO's MechLab).

Misc --- Adv Salvos
Extra damage, what's not to like. Helps kill wounded & running mechs. Go for it as both nodes are an easy 3 SPs investment.

Firepower --- Velocity
Needed on ANY build that's not a pure laser vomit build. Reduces projectile travel time.

Firepower --- Range
Explanatory and first of many Firepower nodes. IS really needs this for laser heavy builds.

Tier 2 Skills (situational)

Spoiler

Firepower --- Laser Duration
MUST-have for laser-heavy builds. Unless your lowest burn duration is 0.75s or less with quirks.

Firepower --- High Explosive
Increases crit-damage for missiles. Best used for MRM/SRM boats. 4 SPs for the 1st node, another 5 SPs for the 2nd.

Firepower --- Missile Spread
Reduces missile spread. Good to have for MRM/SRM boats. 6 SPs for the 1st node, another 13 SPs for the 2nd.

Firepower --- Missile Rack
Good to have for missile boats. 8-9 SPs for the 1st node, another 7 SPs for the 2nd. Go for them if you're missile heavy.

Firepower --- Magazine Capacity
Good to have for autocannon boats. 9 SPs for the 1st node, another 8 SPs for the 2nd. Go for them if your main armament are autocannons.

Firepower --- LBX Spread
Must-have for LBX boats. 6 SPs for the 1st node, another 6 SPs for the 2nd. Go for them if your build is centred around LBX autocannons.

Misc --- Coolant Reserves/CD
Extra/faster coolshots, good to have for very hot builds (heat management 1.3 or less in MWO's MechLab). 5-6 SPs investment.

Misc --- E. Reserves/Spotting
Extra strikes, good to have for low weapon payload builds (think LCT-1V, SDR-5K, RVN-4X etc). 5 SPs investment.

Sub-Tier 2 Skills (don't take these if you can invest in the skills above)

Spoiler

Survival --- Reinforced Casing
Reduces crit hit chances and first of many Survival nodes. As a gateway node, it's a better choice than AMS.

Survival --- Shock Absorbance
Unavoidable and better a choice than AMS skill in Survival tree.

Mobility --- Increased Accel/Decel
Explanatory and first of many Mobility nodes. Useful mostly for light 'Mechs.

Mobility --- Torso Speed
Every good player will want this, to help their torso-twist shielding. This is actually more of a survival skill! I usually go left-side of Mobility tree for this and Speed Tweak below.

Mobility--- Speed Tweak
Free speed, free engine tonnage. 11 SPs for the first node, next 2 are an easy 3 SPs, remaining 2 need another 9 SPs. Easy 3 on left side is enough IMO.

Ops --- Quick Ignition
Explanatory and first of many Operations nodes. Unavoidable.

Ops --- Improved Gyros
Unavoidable and a better choice than Speed Retention in Ops tree. Good to reduce screenshake anyway.

Ops --- Hill Climb
Unavoidable and a better choice than Speed Retention in Ops tree.

T3 Skills (if you have extra SP)

Spoiler

Mobility --- Torso Yaw/Pitch
Only invest if most of your weapons are torso-mounted and you don't have good torso pitch movement (think BLR, NVA, WHM, GRH, GRF).

Mobility --- Anchor Turn
Only invest if you're a super slow assault (KDK-3, DWF, KGC).

JJs --- Lift Speed
Probably the only other worthwhile investment for 4 SPs given that it makes you harder to hit if you flutter (tap-release-tap-release) your jets. Go for it if you have the spare.

JJs --- Heat Shielding
Good to have if you're JJ heavy (think SMN, EXE, HGN, VTR, VPR) and running energy builds.

Sensors --- Target Info Gathering
Just grab those that are along your way to better T2 skill nodes (ECM, Seismic or Deprivation if you need them). Useful for spotter role scouts.

Sensors --- Sensor Range
Same as Tgt Info Gather above. Gateway node too so it's not bad to pick these up if you're getting the below Sensor skills.

Sensors --- Seismic Sensor
If you're short-range brawlers (SRMs, small lasers, (U/LB)AC20s), you can get this but 6 SPs for the 1st node, another 6 SPs for the 2nd, is pretty expensive.

[u]Sensors --- Enhanced ECM[/u]
[u]MUST-have[/u] for ECM carriers [u](if you're not going to be sticking to the team deathball)[/u]. 6 SPs for the 1st node, another 7 SPs for the 2nd. Helps prevent detection/locks at longer ranges so aids you in actually sneaking around.

[u]Sensors --- Radar Deprivation[/u]
It's not important to have this but if you have spare SPs, 5 SPs net you the 1st node, which gives you the audio beep warning when you're targeted and have shaken off target lock. Also useful for shaking off LRM locks faster but not essential.

[u]T4 Skills (practically useless)[/u]

Spoiler

[u]Firepower --- Gauss Charge[/u]
Redundant, you won't want your mind and finger holding down the charge for too long. Don't increase your mental load unnecessarily.

[u]Firepower --- UAC Jam Chance[/u]
Confirmed by Chris Lowrey through Phil (NGNG) that the UAC Jam Chance reduction skills affect the inherent UAC jam chances (15% for IS, 17% for Clans) as a percentage modifier, not as a subtractive/additive, i.e. -5% UAC Jam Chance means less than 1% actual Jam Chance reduction (14.25% for IS, 16.15% for Clans). Confirmation here and here. THIS MAY BE CHANGED TO REDUCING JAM DURATION!!!

[u]Survival --- AMS Overload[/u]
Unless running AMS, you usually ignore this. More importantly, learn to use hard cover as a proper counter. Failing that, learn map terrain to break Line of Sight (LOS) and thus LRM target locks.

[u]JJs --- Vectoring[/u]
JJ skills are more for increasing functionality of low-JJ builds on light/medium 'Mechs. On the heavier mechs, it feels like an opportunity cost to devote precious limited SPs to these nodes. It's up to you.

[u]JJs --- Vent Calibration[/u]
See above

[u]Ops --- Speed Retention[/u]
Fairly useless, avoid getting legged in the first place. =P You will find that whenever you get legged, you rarely get out of that situation alive and well enough to still contribute to the match.

[u]Sensors --- Adv Zoom[/u]
You really only need this for dedicated erLL/erPPC builds.

[u]Sensors --- Target Decay[/u]
Needed only for LRM/Streak boats.

[u]Sensors --- Target Retention[/u]
Idk why you'd take this, maybe as a scout spotting for the team?
Deathlike mentioned you could use this as a Streak boat so yeah, there's that.

[u]Misc --- UAV/NARC skills[/u]
Pure scouting purposes, a dangerous role to invest into at the moment.

[u]Misc --- Capture skills[/u]
Why would you take this even?!

[u]My Half-Assed Attempt at a Skill Tree guide previously, for reference (take note, I don't quite stand by it anymore but if you like balanced distributions, go for it)[/u]

Spoiler

EDIT: The pathings below were created as a balanced distribution among most of the trees for the different build types. Feel free to divest the Ops/Sensor/Misc SPs as you see fit.

I created various pathings catering to different build types as shown below.
The link to the pathings for the various builds is here.

I'll try to explain briefly and expand later when I have time to write up more.

Key notes:

• A lot of credit goes to Gman who runs metamechs.com who founded the basis for most of the budget/middling paths
  
• Priorities for Armor skills as those increase survivability. Switch to structure skills (skeletal density) if you're 85tons or heavier or if you have high structure quirks. Details explained here.
  
• Survival tree nodes are swappable between Armor Hardening and Skeletal Density. Most of my Armor nodes featured in the pathings below can be swapped out with Skeletal Density ones like this here.
  
• I try to prioritise [u]HeatGen over Cooldown[/u] and get as much CoolRun & HeatContain as possible because, except for bracket and pure dakka builds, you will often get heat capped in a firefight.

Generalist build


This pathing focuses on maximising dmg output by maxing weapon range and more powerful arty/airstrike consumables. Mostly general skills that apply to most weapon systems in a bracket build. Generic mobility quirks to improve survivability, which new players really should focus on, ie. torso-twist shielding.


LRM support
This pathing ignores [u]Survival tree[/u] (except for AMS overload) for better weapon, ops and sensory skills, needed to keep locks. But play well and be situationally aware. Hanging back without team's support is never advised and the shorter travel time (Velocity skills) for your LRMs will be beneficial to your contribution, as well as noticing if target ducked behind cover. Speed skills aren't necessary either unless you're playing LRMs in an assault, which means you're playing the game wrong with that kind of tonnage wasted.


Laser vomit
Still easily one of the easiest meta, I focus on lower laser burns (unless you're an SPL boat like ACH/VPR/FS9-A), better heat dissipation (more HeatGen than Cooldown and as much CoolRun and HeatContain as I can get). Sensor skills (TgtInfo) can help improve your awareness of what open components to burn down, but not a necessity.


SRM brawler
Armor/structure, missile spread, mobility & seismic, are key for this build type to succeed. You need to have fast torso twist and the ability to snap-shoot, twist-shield and repeat to increase your survivability. Recommended for twitchy players who came over from a FPS-style game.


Ballistics sniper/support
Paths apply to UAC, LBX, autocannon and even PPC-Gauss snipers. Max out your projectile velocity to reduce projectile travel times and thus improve accuracy. Shuffle HeatGen for LBX Spread skills or UAC Jam (not advisable at all unless stacking on existing jam reduction quirks) or advanced zoom, room enough for you to add on lasers to your actual build as HeatGen is slightly better than Cooldown.

I ignored Gauss Charge skills because I find them useless and redundant for general play, as you should spend less time micromanaging weapons but focus more on interpreting enemy movements in order to reposition yourself if needed.


EDIT: Added an alternate Structure skills path for mechs with plenty of structure quirks here

P.S. If you like this guide, please drop my posts a "like" here and here. I'd appreciate it.
Feel free to ask questions here about builds or how to play trial 'Mechs too.

Edited by Onimusha shin, 23 June 2017 - 04:05 AM.

[Onimusha shin]

Adding on a template of the Skill Maze for most players using fighter builds that stick with the team deathball, which maximises your survivability and DPS output.

• Boost your Survival tree by 26-33 SPs. The math here shows your post-(10+10 armor & structure skills) HP is equivalent to a 5ton heavier mech. If you have quirks of the same nature, they make you a virtual tank. More HP = more DPS if you do things right. Pic below courtesy of Tarogato.
  
• Balance your heat skills like so and so. They give you best bang for your SPs spent even if you waste 1 SP on a Velocity node for a laser build. Spreadsheet here for sciencing.
  
• Get your module slot and extra Coolshot like this.
  
• You'll have 10 or more SPs left depending on whether you skimped on Survival tree. Use them on Firepower first then Mobility.
  
• Mobility skills aren't necessary if you have learned how to position yourself appropriately. Spec some into accel/decel skills if you're not confident. Spreadsheet here for comparison across your class, courtesy of /u/20ae071195 Reddit thread here.
  
• Ignore Sensors, it's a waste of SPs if you stick to the team most of the time. 12SPs for Seismic Sensor is too much, similarly so for Enhanced ECM (13 SPs).
  
• Ignore JJ tree. It's just for flavouring.
  
• CAVEAT #1: You can spec into Mobility/Sensors if you aren't a fighter build (ECM RVN-3L w 2 erLL, LCT-1V/3V, SDR-5V w 1LPL/LL). Basically, anything that isn't going to stick to the team's deathball, won't need as much Survival tree buffs, but do buff relevant skills if you have the armor/structure quirks.
  
• CAVEAT #2: Cool builds like Gauss-only Jager or 2UAC5 ENF can use no Heat skills or less Cool Run skills respectively. Use some common sense to path the trees according to your build. ;-)
  
• General overview below

Edited by Onimusha shin, 23 June 2017 - 04:10 AM.