93 replies to this topic

[Admiral-Dan]

TheTrueQuarian, on 08 September 2017 - 01:45 AM, said:

Im starting to regret picking clan as my faction because of the absurd prices for clan mechs. 6-8 million for a light mech is crazy, and thats not even counting the equipment and SP you need. Why are they all so expensive?

That’s one of the biggest reasons for the unbalance between Clans and IS. At first sight IS Mechs seems to be much cheaper than Clan Mechs, so many new players decide to go IS. This results in a very bad distribution of Newbs between Clans and IS.

[Appogee]

TheTrueQuarian, on 08 September 2017 - 02:09 AM, said:

Like the great Hotel Mario once said, "No".

[Escef]

MadRover, on 08 September 2017 - 04:40 AM, said:

I still have my Mad Dog but I rarely take it out for QP these days.

Mad Dog is the only clan mech I play with any regularity. To each their own.

MadRover, on 08 September 2017 - 04:40 AM, said:

I have to disagree with the BH2 being a "bad" Marauder. You're not going to build it for brawling because of the engine cap. The MAD-5D is the weakest Marauder but it can still do some work. #MADsareawesome

I tend to like some speed on my big mechs, so the BH2 isn't my cup of tea. I've found a lot of people run the 5D with a Catapult-esque loadout, which blows my mind (run mine with 4xMPL, 1xLPL, 2xSRM4, 4xJets, 355XL, and a bunch of double sinks; makes for a nice heavy strike unit).

[- World Eater -]

TheTrueQuarian, on 08 September 2017 - 02:02 AM, said:

Im earning less than 50k a match

How is that possible unless you're literally doing nothing the entire match?

[TheTrueQuarian]

ThoseWhoFearTomorrow, on 08 September 2017 - 06:53 AM, said:

How is that possible unless you're literally doing nothing the entire match?

I dont know... i think the game just hates me.

[Zacharias McLeod]

TheTrueQuarian, on 08 September 2017 - 01:45 AM, said:

Im starting to regret picking clan as my faction because of the absurd prices for clan mechs. 6-8 million for a light mech is crazy, and thats not even counting the equipment and SP you need. Why are they all so expensive?

Normal BT price for the Timber Wolf Prime 24.2 Mio C-Bills. http://www.sarna.net..._Wolf_(Mad_Cat)

PGI price for the Timber Wolf Prime 15.2 Mio C-Bills. http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/

So how could Clan Mechs be expensive if the are already nearly 30% cheaper as normal?

Edited by Zacharias McLeod, 08 September 2017 - 07:03 AM.

[TheTrueQuarian]

Zacharias McLeod, on 08 September 2017 - 07:01 AM, said:

Normal BT price for the Timber Wolf Prime 24.2 Mio C-Bills. http://www.sarna.net..._Wolf_(Mad_Cat)

PGI price for the Timber Wolf Prime 15.2 Mio C-Bills. http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/

So how could Clan Mechs be expensive if the are already nearly 30% cheaper as normal?

Your talking about a board game. Im talking about a f2p tactical fps game.

[Dogstar]

Lucian Nostra, on 08 September 2017 - 04:47 AM, said:

you don't need to buy an engine for every single mech you own.

HERESY! BURN THE UNBELIEVER!

TheTrueQuarian, on 08 September 2017 - 06:54 AM, said:

I dont know... i think the game just hates me.

OK back on track.

The Locust is a terrible mech to learn to play, I should know as I made the exact same mistake - it seems like a good idea as it's cheap and cheerful but it's actually really difficult to learn the survival skills required and stock Locusts seriously suck.

Two options:

If you want to spend actual cash monies (I'm talking dollars muchachos) then buy a top tier clan mech pack from the store. e.g. Kodiak, Night Gyr, Marauder IIC - do your research first though and try them out if possible

If you want to spend time then grind out some cash in the clan trial mechs - there's currently the Hunchback IIC, Nova, and Kodiak which are all pretty much idiot proof. You can even play FW with trial mechs if you're brave as there's enough for a drop deck. Once you have the money buy an actual mech for yourself from the top tier - metamechs.com will help you decide which one

Edited by Dogstar, 08 September 2017 - 07:19 AM.

[Daggett]

TheTrueQuarian, on 08 September 2017 - 06:20 AM, said:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f940dece4c05654
As of right now this is what i have.

I see. The problem is that you picked the one Locust that needs an XL engine the most because it only has 1 energy hardpoint which cries for a heavier weapon.

Most pilots run the 1V similar to this:
LCT-1V

But when you are stuck with the STD engine, you could do this:
LCT-1V

I replaced the heavy MGs with light ones, because they are too heavy. 4 LMGs have much more power than 2 HMGs and weight the same. I also upgraded your medium laser with a more powerful medium pulse laser.

[Khalcruth]

TheTrueQuarian, on 08 September 2017 - 06:54 AM, said:

I dont know... i think the game just hates me.

If you played in the faction play Beta (as your title suggests), you can't be that new...

In any case, probably the easiest way to earn more cbills is to do more damage / kill assists / KMDD's (kill most damage dealt) / kills. A locust is not going to serve you well in this regard. I would give one of the trial mechs a go, probably something in the heavy category. I bet your earnings will improve considerably. If you really insist on the locust, I'd swap the 2 heavy machine guns for 4 light machine guns. Their improved range really ought to help.

[Verilligo]

Okay, so that Locust is... probably one of the hardest to work with. You can start, though, by switching your twin HMGs to quad LMGs. It's not what that Locust does best, IMO, but the loadout I would go with (a single Large Pulse Laser) requires an XL180 or 190 to run right. In the absence of a lot of money, you can take the LMGs instead and do some work. Bring your arms up to 10 armor each, your head down to 2 armor, and grab an extra half ton of ammo for the LMGs.

For a Locust, you're going to be incredibly slow... but this will be viable -enough.- Refrain from poking unless you're poking WITH someone else. In fact, what you'll want to do is constantly be running with other people. Find the bulk of your force and stick with them. When they shoot someone, target that person and find out what portion of their mech took damage and fire your laser. If you find a mech that has had its armor stripped in any torso location, target that spot and let loose with your machine guns if you're within 500m. Your goal here is mostly to strip out the internals of a location, making that mech less able to kill your bigger friends. If you ever have someone turn their back to you, aim for the CT with the laser and strip the armor, then get to work with the LMGs. Don't ever stand still for very long, though, keep in motion as much as possible, even if it's just rocking back and forth so you have some initial acceleration in case you need to get out of dodge.

[Edit]: As a side note, the Trial Nova actually is a -reasonably- good mech. Its armor balance is wonky, but depending on your tier the triple AMS may help a lot if you're still learning how to avoid death by LRM.

Edited by Verilligo, 08 September 2017 - 07:26 AM.

[Jun Watarase]

Omnis with fixed engines only look cheaper because you dont have any choice but to use the engine that comes with it. Look at the timberwolf, you are paying more for a XL 375 that nobody in their right mind would use if given the choice.

[MadRover]

Dogstar, on 08 September 2017 - 07:10 AM, said:

The Locust is a terrible mech to learn to play, I should know as I made the exact same mistake - it seems like a good idea as it's cheap and cheerful but it's actually really difficult to learn the survival skills required and stock Locusts seriously suck.

Two options:

If you want to spend actual cash monies (I'm talking dollars muchachos) then buy a top tier clan mech pack from the store. e.g. Kodiak, Night Gyr, Marauder IIC - do your research first though and try them out if possible

If you want to spend time then grind out some cash in the clan trial mechs - there's currently the Hunchback IIC, Nova, and Kodiak which are all pretty much idiot proof. You can even play FW with trial mechs if you're brave as there's enough for a drop deck. Once you have the money buy an actual mech for yourself from the top tier - metamechs.com will help you decide which one

He doesn't even need to do that. He should go back to trial mechs (particularly the HBR if it's still there) and grind out enough space bucks for a MAD-3R which is one of the most forgiving mechs period in my opinion. He should build the old MAD-3R AC5 chainsaw and use it to grind out enough space bucks for another mech of his choice.

OP if you're wondering what the MAD-3R AC5 chainsaw build is, it's 4isMLs with 3AC5s and it is still one of the easiest builds and mechs to play. Make sure you have 5tons of ammo until you spec it for extended rounds which you can technically drop a ton of ammo for a tac comp. It is one of the cheapest builds in the game that's only going to run you at around 9m (normally I don't like the idea of selling mechs but in your case sell the Locust) and is fun. Keep in mind you are using ballistics so you will need to lead your shots and that everyone will be gunning for your right torso.

Also, before I forget, there is anYouTuber known as Snugglestime that has videos for what to buy as your first mech. I will highly recommend you watch them so you can get a better idea what to get.

Edited by MadRover, 08 September 2017 - 08:45 AM.

[Lances107]

OP and other new clan players please stop.
Yes a heavy cost us 15 mill, but you buy exact counter part on the IS side it costs what 9 to 10 mill, with one major difference. They need to spend a additional 5 mill to just to get the right engine they need for their mechs. This is not counting cost of frame changes,that are needed to make crit space, and this does count the additional 5 mill for a solid weapons pay load. Meanwhile we pay 15 mill, we get a solid engine, solid crit space, and most of the time a solid mech. Though it has gone a little tiny bit favoritism with the IS, when they made our engines no longer synced, and cut our speed/increase our heat when we lose a torso. So if your going to point out a unfair advantage the IS has, please be accurate. Prices is not one of them. Trust me engines are a ***** and a half when buying them for a battlemech.

[Mcgral18]

TheTrueQuarian, on 08 September 2017 - 07:07 AM, said:

Your talking about a board game. Im talking about a f2p tactical fps game.

And you know why the mech costs less?
That's because PGI adds up the cost of all the components, and charges exactly that (with some outliers)


Hence, Clam mechs are actually cheaper, if you're building from scratch, because you need to pay for the worthless STD engines and SHS you'll need to swap out



When you have a staple of Engines, not always the case...aside from the fact you'll have an easier time using Clams.

[Kanil]

Lucian Nostra, on 08 September 2017 - 04:47 AM, said:

But it's not like endo/FF or DHS or those XLs are free on clan mechs... the price is still there.

While buying a 'mech with the upgrades already does cost more than one without, it's still vastly cheaper than upgrading after the fact.

Buying 'mechs with upgrades uses the TT price for those upgrades. Adding an upgrade afterwards uses PGI's own numbers and they're much more expensive. DHS is the big one, it's virtually free if your 'mech starts with it, and 1.5m if it doesn't.

[JediPanther]

TheTrueQuarian, on 08 September 2017 - 06:54 AM, said:

I dont know... i think the game just hates me.

You have the worst locust out of all of them. Like others have said locust is a mech that takes a long time to get good with and requires a lot of concentration at all times. I have all the locusts and got the ace of spades with it. One thing is for sure, if you keep with any of the locusts you will learn the maps and map awareness far better than other pilots plus you won't be one of those people dependent on ecm to move about the map. You'll also be very hard to kill and get 2-3 kills per match in your 'good' games.

If you want to keep with the locusts switch to one of these and try the build:

1. http://LCT-1E Light fighter

2.http://LCT-3M medlas midrange

3. http://LCT-1M Anoyance

Also read up on this thread all about locust piloting and how to use it:

https://mwomercs.com...errated-locust/

For the skill tree focus first and formost on mobility because the locust is one of the fastest mechs in the game relying heavily on that speed advantage to make it so good. Second focus on the armor tree, more armor on the mech is always good. Third put the rest of points into either firepower for the range,cool down and heat gens or sensor to get radar locks out farther.

[TheTrueQuarian]

Thanks for all of the tips guys.

Khalcruth, on 08 September 2017 - 07:15 AM, said:

If you played in the faction play Beta (as your title suggests), you can't be that new...

I played the game for a really short while a while ago and just now decided to actually play it.

Edited by TheTrueQuarian, 08 September 2017 - 03:04 PM.

[JC Daxion]

TheTrueQuarian, on 08 September 2017 - 02:14 AM, said:

I blew it ages ago buying a hunchback I hated cause people told me it (along with 10 other mechs) was good.

Hunchback is a great mech.. 4G, 4SP, 4P are all great mechs. I've been rocking in my HBK-4g with ac20, +3ERSL+2LMG's as of late. They are pretty tanky and move well.


IS lights cost about 10-12m to set up.. Clan lights are far cheaper.


How about you list what mechs you have, and folks can help you make um usable. IS are hard mechs to get right.

Edited by JC Daxion, 08 September 2017 - 03:13 PM.

[sycocys]

Who recommended a 4G as a starter mech? The 4P and 4SP for sure would be great places to start, but trying to figure out the ac20 and 3ML as your first go isn't a good recommendation at all.