To sum up everything that is being said here:
From “Pugs” point of view:
“We get spawn killed” – 4 main points arise here:
1) “Oh, no, we are fighting premades” – “Pugs” have already given up and are trying to preserve themselves or dc;
2) “We grouped up in the middle of a map and got rolled 12-0 or 12-1” – this is not the argument “Pugs” should be making against teams. This is purely due to your lack of skills (poor aiming, lack of torso twisting), understanding the game mechanics (like positioning, trading, map awareness, etc) and terrible builds (lurms, machine guns, “fun builds”). I pug alone (in Clans and IS) vs other pugs and premades and I happen to win 2/3 of games.
Here are 2 perfect examples from my personal experience (playing for Clans and for IS).
Clans:
I dropped with a very passive team (vs mostly pugs) on Crimson Straight and I saw a mech popping over the “broken back mountin”. I ran to engage it. The enemy team set up a firing line on the other side and my team was shouting at me to disengage and pull back fearing a push. I hold my ground and engaged an LRM awesome (that guy maxed out everything on that mech and I was getting lurmed even with ecm and partial radar derp). I was aiming for his side torso. The guy was not moving away to hide and didn’t torso twist. I was also surprised to find out he was running an XL engine. I killed him fairly quickly (I was still traiding alone vs an enemy team). Then I engaged a Thunderbolt and stripped its side torso and LPLs. The first guy I killed returned in another “Lurm” mech Archer. He went to the exactly same spot and what do you know, he was running another XL (face palm moment. After his 2
nd death he was hiding in the drop zone for the rest of the game). Only when I killed 3 mechs my team realised that they were late to a party. Conclusion: Fun (terrible and not optimised builds for FP), poor personal skills and terrible positioning lost pugs the game. NOT PREMADES.
IS:
I was fighting (pocking around a corner to avoid most of lurm damage) vs a lurm 40 timber with 4 ERMLs in a heavy. With 2 carefully placed shots Timber lost his side torso. The Timber pilot was shouting: “F*cking OP IS BS”. Once again, it was not the tech that was the decising factor but the lack of personal skills and poor builds. FUN BUILDS ARE ONLY FOR QP. IF YOU WANT TO WIN OR DON’T WANT TO BE SPAWN KILLED, THEY HAVE NO PLACE IN FP.
3) “Let’s play conservative and stay close to drop ships so that we can re-inforce more quickly”.
In my early days, I thought passivity was the best way to win (you stay back and try to put some damage at an enemy). However, I quicky realised that aggression is the best offense/defense tool you have (that is not to say running like crazy at the enemy). Being close to the front allows you to push if an opportunity presents itself or retreat back if need be. Being at the front allows you to share armor and extend fighting meaning your team mates have more time to shoot back. In a team game, you have to be a team player even as a pug.
4) “Tech is OP”
I play on both sides and yes Clan tech is a bit friendlier to new players (Clan XL, higher speed, better colling). However, there is very little difference once you fully skill the mechs. In fact IS has a slight edge over Clan tech in the hands of a skilled player. Just way too much armor to go through.
So what do we have if you want to be a more successful pug or a lord of pugs).
- By dropping into FP, you accept that you will be playing vs premades. 8 out of 10 times they will be running into optimised builds (either snipers or brawlers). Forget about “fun” builds (mostly lurms) and match their builds. High alpha builds with little face time towards the enemy (the longer you expose yourself to an enemy the more damage your are likely to take”. 50% of times the battle is lost in the mech bay.
- Try to be more aggressive. How much aggressive, well, it is up to you to learn (understanding comes with experience). Keep the enemy guissing. Are you going to trade or to push. They will think twice whether to push you or not.
- When you die, regroup in a place that is safe enough from all the fighting and close enough to pull back if necessary. With time, you will learn when to re-inforce and when to stay back. For instance, I can partially reinforce on some occasions. Do a few alphas and retreat safely.
- Make sure you have right mechs for right maps.If you bring lurms or brawlers on a sniping map there is nohing even to discuss here.
- I cannot emphasise this enough, even to veterans, learn to look at your mini map every 10 secs or so. If you are out of position you are probably dead.
- Identify stronger pug players and shadow them. Learn what they do and what mechs they bring. Shoot at the same targets as they do.
Finally, stop crying. You only cry because you don’t want to put effort into getting better. All your excuses are baseless. I was a pug and I went through the same things as you do. Don’t give me stupid excuses. Now I score between 3 and 4k damage in every game. Make shanges to your builds and strategies every game and see what works and what doesn’t. It can take 50, 100 or even 200 games. People that are good, played over 500 games, some even over several thousands.
IF YOU DON’T WANT TO FOLLOW ANY OF THESE STEPS, GO BACK TO QP OR LEAVE THIS GAME FOR GOOD. BUT FFS, STOP COMPLAINING AND BLAIME EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING OTHER THAN YOURSELF!!! How do you think good pilots got to where they are. There is a lot of complexity to this game.
Here is also a quick guide to damage level that you should strive for:
Relatevily new player:
300 per mech.
Average player:
400 to 500 dmg per mech.
My personal goal:
1000 per mech.
This post is not meant to troll or offend anyone. However, I see a lot of good solo players who score over 3000 damage and help to win matches. If they can do well solo and you can't then the problem is with you. Clear and simple. The only question you need to ask yourself is how to get better.
Edited by F A L L 3 N, 30 August 2017 - 05:29 AM.