3 replies to this topic

[DaMuchi]

Disclaimer:

This guide is a quick run down on the fundamentals of MWO. This is not a strict code and there are of course exceptions. For newer players, keep to this and you'll do good.

Heat Management

• know how much heat each weapon group on your mech will generate.
  
• Check your heat after firing.
  
• NEVER overheat.
  
• Fire your most heat efficient weapons (taking into account the range of the target) at all times unless,
  
  • You are sure that firing lesser efficient weapons will kill your target.
    
  • You anticipate dying soon. If you are dying soon, try to reach as close to 100% as possible before dying.
• Know when to override.
  
  • This is an important skill to have when overriding but remember, if you are overriding, you didn't manage your heat correctly.
    
  • When you overheat by 20%, you begin to take damage in the CT, overriding amplifies this damage significantly and damage is incurred in both STs and the CT.
    
  • Override when you will take more damage from enemy fire than the amount you will take from the extra damage from overriding.
    
    • Know how many weapons are pointed at you
      
    • Estimate how much heat you have gone over 120%
      
    • Is there cover or allies to quickly dash behind if you override
• Do not rush to spend your heat, as long as your most heat efficient weapon group can overheat you by the end of the fight, stick to it.
  
  • Don't fire your large lasers at close range if you have more appropriate weapons, just keep using the better group.

Armour Management

Armour is a resource. You use it to trade blows and you pay armour for being caught out by the enemy.

• Torso twist and spread that damage across your mech when you're caught out in the open
  
• Use the terrain as cover.
  
  • Elevation and buildings are your best friends.
• If you are heavily damaged,
  
  • fall back to the 2nd line and let your allies take the hits.
    
  • Poke more cautiously

Gunmanship

Remember, if a mech died by, for example, having both legs destroyed, all damage done to every other part is wasted damage, except for damage that actually destroyed a body part. So if a mech had its CT cored but both legs destroyed, all that damage dealt to CT is essentially wasted damage.

• Press R at what you intend to shoot at.
  
• Look for and shoot at weak parts
  
  • Shoot at cored parts
    
  • Shoot at heavily damaged armour (Red outline)
• If no obvious weak points are observed, shoot the CT
  
  • Usually not the best way to kill a mech but it is a universal practice for all mechwarriors so focus fire a slightly bad part is better than split fire at different components.
• Take your time to aim, don't rush to shoot.

Modes of Engagement

The following are a various forms fighting can take place.

Peeking/Poking

This form is when both teams are roughly stationary staying in the same locale with clearly defined control of territories. There is not much movement done. Usually occurs at long range (600m>).

• Know your mech's acceleration and deceleration
  
  • Don't peek if your mech is bad at these attributes
    
  • Yes, don't poke with an assault. Most trades won't be in your favour.
• Know where your weapons are located and how they are group.
  
  • If you group your weapons by range and not location, some of your weapons may hit the cover you are hiding behind. This is a wastage of heat and maybe ammo.
• While peeking, observe how many enemies you can see and how many of them are shooting weapons at your team.
  
  • If there are many weapons firing towards your general direction, you can peek one more time, then either relocate or don't peek for the next 20 to 30 seconds.
    
  • If you do peek you may take more damage than you are dealing and it just isn't worth peeking at this point.
• Torso twist 90 degrees from your target when you are done firing. This will,
  
  • Distribute any incoming damage to your arms and ST rather than your CT.
    
  • slims your upper body profile allowing you to get back into cover quicker

Firefights

This mode when both teams are close to each other and are in cover. Cover is used to move about the battlefield and flanking occurs but cover is never abandoned. Usually occurs at medium to close range (200m - 500m).

• Poke. Use above pointers.
  
• Study terrain and enemy locations and possible cover
  
• Keep an eye on your minimap and how the enemies are moving.
  
  • Are they advancing?
    
  • Are they flanking? etc.
• Look for opportunities to control cover.
  
  • Is it possible to safely flank and chase an enemy out of cover?
    
  • Is there a safe path to make a bound?
• Don't lose trades
  
  • If there are more guns pointing in your direction than you have, stay in cover, don't get impatient
• While in cover, observe what and when weapons are shot by the enemy.
  
  • Pop out and fire immediately after they shoot and get back into cover.
• Control areas if possible
  
  • If you peek out and see that there is currently no targets in a place likely to have targets, wait for a target to come by and shoot. Get back into cover.
• Relocate when flanked by a more powerful mech or when the flanker has cover.

Brawling

Close range engagement when there is no cover to take. Usually happens at close to very close range (<200m).

• Size your opponent up
  
  • Get targeting info
    
  • If he is more geared up for close range engagements than you, don't initiate the brawl
    
  • If he has more armour than you, don't initiate the brawl
• Heat management is incredibly important!
  
  • Don't fire your PPCs or large lasers if you have more heat efficient weapons!!!
    
  • Generally follow the above pointers for heat management.
• Torso Twist
  
  • Twist your torso when you are taking fire
    
  • This diverts damage to your sides, not your centre and makes lasers spread their damage across several components.
• Aim
  
  • If the target has his torso twisted, aim for his butt of crotch or don't fire at all
    
  • Fire while he starts to face you.
    
  • Look away when you are done firing.

Charging

This only works with a coordinated team. This is when a team abandons cover to rush up and close the distance between the enemy and themselves. Happens very often in faction play, especially in Siege game mode.

• Don't stop moving
  
  • Even if you have a target to shoot at
    
  • Even if you are about to die
    
  • Even if you are a lurm boat
    
  • Even if you have no legs
    
  • Just keep your finger on the W key
• Don't stray away from the destination decided upon before the charge
  
• Shoot while moving but don't stop moving
  
• Don't stop the moment you get in cover, move further into cover and let your team get into cover as quickly as possible

Teamwork

• Shoot at who your team is shooting at if possible
  
• Help out team mates whom are caught out but don't give your life up if he is a lost cause. ie, severely outnumbered.
  
• Stay close to your assaults.
  
  • Assaults are not the gods or leaders of the team it's just that they can't follow you, so you follow them
    
  • If you are an assault and have no idea what you are doing, then follow another assault.

Conclusion

MechWarrior Online is not a game like other FPS games where it is about who has the fastest reaction and who can get that head shot the fastest. MWO is a game where you need to keep your cool and make rational and informed decisions even when under enemy fire.

Keep your cool and keep these pointers in mind and you'll find yourself climbing the tiers very quickly.

And remember, dying is the worst thing you can do in a game, preserving your life is your top priority when you are close to death.

[Hunter Tseng]

Some very good pointers for new players there
But if I may add a few finer pointers on brawling :
- it is often useful to have a weapon group that chain fires, as it is not only useful when you are getting free trades but riding close to your heat threshold it is also useful during a brawl.
As an experience player usually will always protect their weak components during a brawl, and that sometimes mean they will twist away not looking at you, and they will use the damage taken an indication you have fired your weapon and then will turn towards you thinking your weapons are now on cooldown.
So if you tickle them with you chain fire group, but be prepared for your main weapon group to fire once they start turning towards you

- Another trick to note when brawling is try to bluff the enemy that you are about to turn facing them to fire your main weapons, but twist at the last moment as they try to get the first shot... twist away their fire and try to place a more effective fire in return, in a brawl its not so much as who pulls the trigger faster, but who made their shots counts

[Insanity09]

Communicate. I don't mean random chatter. I mean relevant match information, like telling your team where you see a concentration of the enemy, how many mechs (approx.), where they are going, what weight classes, etc.. If you see them shifting position, tell the world. Too many times I personally have made the mistake of thinking that my team had to be aware of what I saw as obvious.

I would also dearly love people to be aware that being overcautious causes losses.
Check this thread...https://mwomercs.com...s-not-a-tactic/

Another good idea is communicating. I know it is tough to speak up when your intel has been ignored time after time, but sometimes it can be a decisive factor in the match.

Basically, if your team is not mobile and making a concerted effort towards part of the enemy, the enemy is almost certainly doing it to you. In most cases, the team with the initiative and momentum carries the fight.

Did I mention that communicating was a good idea? Calling targets and particularly letting folks know where some targets are vulnerable (open CT, etc.) can be very helpful.

Other things to be aware of:
Know how much armor your mech has in each location. If you are trading at a distance, and your outgoing damage is not matching (or exceeding, preferably) your incoming... STOP TRADING.

Don't charge ahead blindly. This goes for individuals as well as the entire team. You need to know what you are walking into or you might just crest a hill or turn a corner... into a vastly superior force. Ouch.

[Old dirty B]

As a dedicated locust pilot i try to avoid or minimise taking damage as much as possible, but i do like to mix in a good fight so i need to pay extra attention how i do that.

With that in mind i want to point at positioning and exposing, something i see so many doing "thoughtless". In order to put out a bit more damage, get a kill and so on many just run out of cover and then take massive damage because the rest of the enemy team is suddenly able to shoot at you. The thing is, especially with a locust which has paper thin armor, is that you need to position yourself and expose your self in such a way that you are able to shoot at your target while the rest and preferably also your target is not able to shoot back / damage you.

Consider the following very short clip, where i'm engaging a damaged Zeus. The Zeus was half stripped and only had its short range SRM weaponry, the distance was perfect to engage with my LPL without worrying about return damage. Notice how i make use of the rocks in front of me to only expose myself to the damaged Zeus and NOT to the Hellbringer that tried to interfere with my engagement. This positioning and exposing movement allowed me to deal damage without getting damaged in return.

Edited by Old dirty B, 07 July 2017 - 04:34 AM.