36 replies to this topic

[MechWarrior Daddoo]

I finally set up my own account after playing on my friends account for a little over eight months. He loves to play assault mechs and owns a Kodiak. I hate how slow they are and how easily I die when everyone is focused on me. I like the mobility of a light mech but hate how quickly I die in them while missing half my shots. I really enjoy medium mechs. My favorite is the Nova trial mech and I bought the Prime variant for my first mech. Some people on Twitch recommended I get the Stormcrow next.

Is there some sort of guide on how to play medium class mechs? I have mainly been following the heavier mechs and firing all 6 lasers at whatever enemy they fire at. I have more kills than I should just from staying around them. When I get a little adventurous I die horribly.

[Exilyth]

There are slow mediums (like e.g. the Centurion) and fast mediums (like e.g. the Cicada).

Slow mediums play a bit like lighter heavys. Following one of your teams heavys or assaults and playing bodyguard/support for them is a solid tactic. When your teammate goes one way around a (smaller) terrain feature, you could try flanking around the other side to get at the enemies back. Other than that, you could use your slightly higher speed to scout around corners and over ridges for your teammate (especially assaults depend on knowing where the enemy is).

You could pick up AMS for protecting your team from enemy missiles.
You could try to go brawling, but the nova is a bit squishy, so I wouldn't recommend this with a six laser build.


Fast mediums can be played as lights or used as light hunters.
I won't go into that since you asked about the Nova, which leans more towards the slower playstyles.

I can not comment on the stormcrow since I haven't played that one yet,
but a popular build is the streakcrow (w/C-STREAK-SRM) used to hunt lights and mediums.

[MechWarrior Daddoo]

Thank you. Simple, sound advice that a newer player can digest. Perfect.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

Mediums are meant to be the bread-and-butter class of Battletech, and that does show through a bit in MWO despite heavies usually stealing the spotlight. If there's a role you want to perform, there is guaranteed to be at least one medium 'Mech variant which can do that for you. There are mediums which specialize in delivering huge alpha strikes; there are mediums which rival the quicker light 'Mechs for speed, and there are mediums which can soak damage as well as the tankier assaults. The catch is that you can never do all of those things at the same time. Usually, you've got to pick just one; some mediums (such as the Stormcrow you mentioned) can slot easily into multiple roles, but usually not all at the same time.

Smurfy is a fantastic resource, one which you'll see many links to on the forums (and for good reason). It includes a 'Mechlab which allows you to test-fit builds before committing resources to them in-game, loads of information on weapon and chassis stats, and map overviews. Also take some time to browse around the Medium 'Mech build subforum, to see what builds other players have succeeded (and failed) with on whichever chassis you're currently interested in.

Remember that there's no wrong answer. No single chassis or build will work best for everyone. If you find that what you're using isn't working out, don't let that discourage you- MWO offers an impressive variety of 'Mechs, and chances are very good that you'll soon find something else that's a better fit.

[MechWarrior Daddoo]

Thank you also.

[Zh0u]

The Bushwackers are a good start for medium mechs.

[B L O O D W I T C H]

MechWarrior Daddoo, on 05 February 2018 - 04:01 PM, said:

When I get a little adventurous I die horribly.

If you want to skirmish you'll need a lot situational awareness.
It's easier if you stick to faster medium such as ice ferrets or cicadas, the speed makes up for positioning errors.

[Leone]

I'd suggest perusing my Assault Guide for positioning suggestions. Assualts are all about positioning, but you can use the concepts in other weight classes as well.

~Leone.

[Koniving]

This guide is about a stock mech, but the tips are pretty sound for any sort of hit and run mech, whether medium, light or heavy.

While it is not my video, I am the Centurion leading the other two (or in some cases other three).
(Am also the dancing Cicada at the end.)

Hit the youtube button if the full screen doesn't work and you can full screen from there.

This hunchback series I did is targeted at a brand new player that was having trouble with the HBK 4H, but is a good set of tips for using slower mediums. Faster mediums tend to fall more under the hit and run rigs such as in the Trial by Fire video.

Spoiler

[MechWarrior Daddoo]

Thank you all. Bushwackers are insanely tough. If I were to buy an IS medium I think I would start there. Do you recommend a certain variant? I enjoyed reading the assault mech guide and shared it with my Kodiak loving buddy. I haven't heard his thoughts on it yet but i'm sure he will learn something from it the way I have. Thank you for the videos also. I have been in a few matches with Centurions and respect their firepower. One lady in a match with me was wrecking people right and left with srms and a massive autocannon. Is there a certain playstyle that works best with my Nova? I've been trying to pull off jump shots whie staying behind bigger mechs. I'm surprised how well that works. I got the idea from watching a Twitch streamer.

[Leone]

There's a thread by a bushwhacker afficianado Here. Check the smurfy links and take a look at what interests you. Personally, I think putting an XL in a bushwhacker's a waste, but to each their own.

As for Novas, They're awesome skirmishers. Me, I prefer brawling with 'em, but they're best as ambush predators.

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 06 February 2018 - 01:46 PM.

[Ruccus]

MechWarrior Daddoo, on 06 February 2018 - 01:12 PM, said:

Thank you all. Bushwackers are insanely tough. If I were to buy an IS medium I think I would start there. Do you recommend a certain variant? I enjoyed reading the assault mech guide and shared it with my Kodiak loving buddy. I haven't heard his thoughts on it yet but i'm sure he will learn something from it the way I have. Thank you for the videos also. I have been in a few matches with Centurions and respect their firepower. One lady in a match with me was wrecking people right and left with srms and a massive autocannon. Is there a certain playstyle that works best with my Nova? I've been trying to pull off jump shots whie staying behind bigger mechs. I'm surprised how well that works. I got the idea from watching a Twitch streamer.

Depending on what you're looking for you'd want different variants. If you're looking to try out every weapon in the game, I'd go with the BSW-P2. It (and the Bushwacker hero High Roller) can fit at least one of any Inner Sphere weapon while still having a viable build that can be taken into battle, including the 18 ton Heavy Gauss Rifle. The BSW-P2 can also fit things like dual AC10s, dual RAC5s, and AC20+4MLs. If you want to try out all the weapons before deciding what weapons you like the most, this would be a good mech for that.

If you want to concentrate on missiles, the BSW-P1 is a formidable SRM platform. Its drawback is that while it has 6 missile hardpoints, it's only got 1 energy and 1 ballistic hardpoint so you're limited in what type of loadout you can choose. The BSW-S2 is also a nice missile platform that adds a second energy hardpoint (though with both in the CT you're looking at 2 medium lasers at best) and it adds a second AMS hardpoint for missile defense.

For fans of a ballistic-centric loadout the BSW-X1 and BSW-X2 are great options. With the ballistic range bonus on the BSW-X1 I like triple AC5s or quad AC2s. You pretty much have to fit an XL engine you get that amount of firepower but the long range of the AC5 and AC2 allows you to stay out of brawling range while delivering your damage. The BSW-X2 is my big gun brawling mech. Dual RAC5s, dual AC10s, dual LB10Xes, with a pair of lasers in the CT to augment that damage. Both the BSW-X1 and BSW-X2 have enough missile hardpoints to form a decent missile based loadout with secondary firepower from energy and/or ballistics. And for a cheap, durable build dual AC5s (standard 275 engine, 4 tons of ammo, one or two medium lasers) is simple and effective.

[Metus regem]

MechWarrior Daddoo, on 06 February 2018 - 01:12 PM, said:

Thank you all. Bushwackers are insanely tough. If I were to buy an IS medium I think I would start there. Do you recommend a certain variant? I enjoyed reading the assault mech guide and shared it with my Kodiak loving buddy. I haven't heard his thoughts on it yet but i'm sure he will learn something from it the way I have. Thank you for the videos also. I have been in a few matches with Centurions and respect their firepower. One lady in a match with me was wrecking people right and left with srms and a massive autocannon. Is there a certain playstyle that works best with my Nova? I've been trying to pull off jump shots whie staying behind bigger mechs. I'm surprised how well that works. I got the idea from watching a Twitch streamer.

As someone that has taken like a duck to water with the Bushwacker family, I can tell you that they are solid, but they really respond well to a pilot that has good situational awareness, able to use unlocked arms well and are very adaptable.

Now with that being said, I never post huge numbers with my BSW-X2 build, but what it does boast is a 4.5 Win/Loss ratio after about a 100 drops.

To really make the most out of that UAC/10 arm, I have to go back to the skills I learned in a Dragon, twist as far to the right as possible, use my side windows and shoot behind me with the UAC/10.


Another thing to keep in mind about Bushwackers, is that they have a slightly wonky set of hit boxes, great from the front, small wiggles of the mouse will let you roll damage across your mech, but they do have a fatal flaw, the top of the box on the back does count as rear CT, so you can be cored out from the rear from the front if you are not careful. Another thing to keep in mind, is any missiles mounted in the ST's will expand your ST hit box, this can be a bit of a liability with an isXL engine.


Nova's can be rather solid, they are good close range killers, my personal Nova of choice is this:

NVA-PRIME

Get in close, use the flamers to over heat them, when they shut down, core them out with the HSL+HMG combo.

[GX9900 Gundam X]

I'm an avid medium player myself and own four phoenix hawks. I'd say though, if you want both durability and mobility, then a Dragon 1N 1C I MEANT 1C or Linebacker is for you.They're really fast for heavy mechs (they go faster than some lights) and they have the armor to back themselves up. If you do a fast build on a Dragon, you can't carry as much though. On a Linebacker you have the same issue but you cant downgrade your engine.

Edited by GX9900 Gundam X, 10 February 2018 - 09:49 PM.

[MechWarrior Daddoo]

Metus regem, on 07 February 2018 - 09:01 AM, said:

As someone that has taken like a duck to water with the Bushwacker family, I can tell you that they are solid, but they really respond well to a pilot that has good situational awareness, able to use unlocked arms well and are very adaptable.

Now with that being said, I never post huge numbers with my BSW-X2 build, but what it does boast is a 4.5 Win/Loss ratio after about a 100 drops.

To really make the most out of that UAC/10 arm, I have to go back to the skills I learned in a Dragon, twist as far to the right as possible, use my side windows and shoot behind me with the UAC/10.


Another thing to keep in mind about Bushwackers, is that they have a slightly wonky set of hit boxes, great from the front, small wiggles of the mouse will let you roll damage across your mech, but they do have a fatal flaw, the top of the box on the back does count as rear CT, so you can be cored out from the rear from the front if you are not careful. Another thing to keep in mind, is any missiles mounted in the ST's will expand your ST hit box, this can be a bit of a liability with an isXL engine.


Nova's can be rather solid, they are good close range killers, my personal Nova of choice is this:

NVA-PRIME

Get in close, use the flamers to over heat them, when they shut down, core them out with the HSL+HMG combo.

How are your weapon firing groups set up on your Nova? I really want to try that build. Do you play it conservatively until late game?

A big thanks everyone for the feedback!

Edited by MechWarrior Daddoo, 07 February 2018 - 04:36 PM.

[Metus regem]

MechWarrior Daddoo, on 07 February 2018 - 04:35 PM, said:

How are your weapon firing groups set up on your Nova? I really want to try that build. Do you play it conservatively until late game?

A big thanks everyone for the feedback!

Lasers are group one, flamers and HMG's are group 2.

I wait till my group has engaged, then I find someone that is slugging it out, drive up their heat till they keep fighting and shut down, then 6 HSL to the head.

[MechWarrior Daddoo]

Metus regem, on 08 February 2018 - 05:31 AM, said:

Lasers are group one, flamers and HMG's are group 2.

I wait till my group has engaged, then I find someone that is slugging it out, drive up their heat till they keep fighting and shut down, then 6 HSL to the head.

Sounds like a mean mech. Thanks for sharing it.

[Muriel Steiner]

I keep trying to come up with a broad statement about the role of medium 'mechs, but then I tend to think of some medium 'mech that breaks that statement. Generally speaking though, I consider medium 'mechs to be "support" 'mechs, mostly because they will either lack the speed or durability to withstand sustained enemy fire.

Even for the "fightier" medium 'mechs, (dubbed "brawlers") the proper place to be is usually behind and off to the side of the more aggressive heavy 'mechs. I tend to view these 'mechs as being an extension of the heavy and assault 'mechs around them. you generally want to focus fire with the larger 'mechs and even try to block off some enemy attacks, or maybe fire a warning shot at enemy 'mechs to make them keep their heads down and keep their guns out of the fight. This is usually how I play my Bushwhackers.. (and while I personally pilot a BSW-x2 I sometimes think the x1 might have been a little better for what I want to do.. but only sometimes.) Honestly, I have trouble with my Griffin 2n brawler.. maybe sometimes I try to be too sneaky and "in your face" with it, and I forget that I should be supporting other 'mechs.

Another significant playstyle for medium 'mechs is what I call "Fire Support" . Technically this means that you're supporting you team by doing damage to the things that other people are fighting, which is part of what brawlers do as well (because brawlers should focus fire when they can). to me, the major difference is that "fire support" 'mechs tend to be where enemy 'mechs just can't hit them. This means that, while a "brawler" will occasionally be forced to fight what's infront of them, a "fire support" 'mech will generally be shooting at things that other people are locked on to. "Snipers" and "LRM boats" would be included here, and while I don't really have any medium snipers (I see a lot of shadowcat sniper builds around though), My Shadowhawk 2d2 and Huntsman "Pahket" are both pretty successful missile boats. I started to prefer medium 'mech missile boats to the heavy and assaults when I realized that some medium 'mechs could boat just as many missiles as the heavies, while being faster (therefor getting into firing positions easier) and not depriving my team of the heavy armor that is much needed in the front lines. If you ever decide you want to boat LRM's, I would suggest using medium 'mechs to do so (and always keep a back-up medium laser or two)

Another medium 'mech role is what I call "escort". These are medium 'mechs who want to stay with other 'mechs to provide defense for those 'mechs. If you're escorting light 'mechs, you're the heavy hitter. While escorting heavy and assault 'mechs, you're the guy chasing away enemy lights. These 'mechs are usually very fast and/or can provide AMS/ECM cover for the team. I mostly use my Viper "Medusa" for this role.

Finally, there's a sort of "catch-all" term, "Line 'Mech" . To be honest, I'm still trying to figure out this category and how it applies to MWO, but it seems obvious to me that the category exists since most "laser boats" would rightly fit here. The idea is that "Line 'mechs" are meant to be the workhorse of a fighting force. Ideally they fight at any range (They don't suffer from the minimum range of most fire support 'mechs, and have longer ranges than brawlers). Line 'mechs usually can't withstand being the focus of enemy aggression as well as a brawler does, but they have enough armor to shrug through "incidental damage", giving them better survivability than most "fire support" and "escort" mediums have. I would want to include the Nova in this category.. it seems like it's heat problems means that it doesn't want to be in the center of fight.. instead it should fight for a little while, then move behind cover and cooldown before popping out to fight again.

[MechWarrior Daddoo]

Thank you everyone again for the advice/suggestions/insights. I was away for over a week so I missed most of the recent events. I finally finished the first 25 matches. I now own a Nova and Stormcrow Prime. I found out that you cannot panic on Tourmaline and fire 12 er small lasers. I did that with the Nova and somehow blew off both of my own arms. It kept saying "OVERRIDE SHUTDOWN!" I didn't know what to do. I watched my mechs damage indicator change colors while under cover and not taking fire. I spent the last half of the match following my team and sharing my 2 AMS until we lost.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

It sounds like you ran into a little thing we like to call "ghost heat"- a penalty that PGI applied to many weapons and groups of similar weapons to limit the size of alpha strikes. The limit for Clan ER small lasers is 6; when you fire more than that within 0.5 seconds of each other, you incur the penalty, which takes the form of a massive heat spike.

When you have override engaged, you will take overheat damage more rapidly than if you allow the 'Mech to shut down, and the damage will be applied to random components. If you find yourself overheating that badly, you can toggle override back off and your 'Mech will shut down immediately, which will reduce the amount of damage taken.

The ghost heat penalties for lasers are pretty harsh- you can find them listed here.

Edited by WrathOfDeadguy, 16 February 2018 - 12:37 PM.