17 replies to this topic

[Slothasaurus]

Newer player to the game. Started out getting smashed. Played some more got a little better. Picked up my first mech so I could customize it. Played some more, learned some more. Really liking the game now.

Looked over the mech packs and mechs. There are a ton. Almost overwhelming amount of choices. Are there mech packs that veterans would recommend for newer players? Not partial to any particular play style at this point other than I probably want to stay away from light mechs. Don't think I am experienced enough yet to be able to utilize one effectively in a match.

[BTGbullseye]

Annihilators are top of the meta right now. Mad Cat Mk II is the best available to the Clans. I have the most fun personally in my Fafnirs, which are basically the IS version of the Mad Cat Mk II. (dual Heavy Gauss is very fun)

Really, you'll get a ton of answers from virtually anybody with an opinion, and they'll all be different. Maybe if you tell us more about your preferences, and what you're looking for, maybe a little bit about how you like to play, then we can better direct you to something you'll enjoy.

[Eisenhorne]

As a newer player, if you're looking to get into the Inner Sphere mechs, I would suggest buying the Warhammer mech pack. The WHM-6R can do 2 large ballistics + 4 medium lasers with decent speed, and is probably the best Inner Sphere heavy mech. The WHM-6D is a very respectable laser mech, and can do 3 LL + 4-6 ML builds quite well. The WHM-7S is probably the weakest of them, but I like it with 2 MRM 40's.

If you want to get into clan mechs, I'd suggest buying either the Ebon Jaguar hero or the Hellbringer hero. Clan mechs are omni mechs, meaning you can swap out hardpoints, so unless you're looking to do faction play drops immediately there's not much point having more than one clan mech for each chassis. Either of these hero mechs can be fitted in very good configurations that are fast and deadly, and will get you a c-bill bonus (all hero mechs get more money per match) so you can buy more mechs and equipment faster.

edit - Good call staying away from light mechs, lights and assaults can be extremely powerful but are the hardest classes of mech to pilot well. Lights are not forgiving of mistakes because they have no armor, and assaults aren't forgiving either because you aren't fast enough to escape a bad situation. Heavies and Mediums are the best to learn in. PGI is actually giving out a free Nova omnimech, which you can do a lot of decent builds with. I'd probably try something like this https://mwo.smurfy-n...3def08c4754867d but keep in mind I have no idea if that's good or not, it just looks fun.

Edited by Eisenhorne, 24 May 2018 - 12:58 PM.

[Callsigntal0n]

For inner sphere get the bushwhackers they have decent tonnage to play with and are very forgiving for newer players for the clans you cant gi wrong with an ebon jag or a hellbringer. Highly customizable and nice tonnage and podspace for weaponry. Other than that I mostly buy mechs that I think look cool not necessarily based on meta or skill (my first light mech was a locust) if you enjoy the mech looks enough to say "I want to be seen in this mech" then get it. The most "meta" mech in the game is useless if you dont want to play it.

[Slothasaurus]

As far as preferences can't say I am really dedicated to a certain play style or weapon type yet. Although that being said I am having lot of fun moving up with the group and getting into those mid-close range encounters.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have to go look up those mechs and check them out.

[Sagedabluemage]

A lot of times what I say to someone when looking for a mech pack ask yourself this.
Do I want to be Close or Far ?
Do I want to take Lead or Hang back?
Do I want to keep moving faster or hold my ground?
Do I want to be Brawl or Snipe?
After answering those questions to yourself. You can pretty much get a feel for the type of chassis.

Example:

Lets say u want to Close so automatically u have: Medium, Heavy, Assault leaving light out of the equation.
Next part take u chose Hang back so now your: Medium, Heavy leaving Assault out of the equation.
Next you chosekeep moving: Medium leaving Heavy out of the equation
Next you chose to Snipe : So now your looking for a mech that can pinpoint shoot an move decently out of the box.

so your options could be anywhere from a
Blackjack
Cicada
Shadowhawk
etc.. etc...

But getting back to the topic at hand cuz I went all A.D.D. on that.

The packs that give you the most bang for your buck and im gonna suggest them also try and get them when they have sales.

Warhammer -- I completely agree on this one with Eisenhorne. its a really good pack for a heavy. The options are decent and you can mess around with a decent number of builds.
Huntsman- Tho not an IS chassis. The amount of customizing you can do out of the box and the things you can fit on these holy crap. Gonna say it now try a 8 medium pulse laser build with nothing but double heat sinks just set up 2 groups of 4 on chain fire and wreak havoc. You literally have the punch of a heavy to assault with the mobility to boot.
It is also really hard to **** up on that one unless you don't know how to pace yourself.

Marauder: really durable has decent options and pretty straight forward.

Thunderbolt(in game store): Decent firepower a lot of options amazingly tanky.

Solaris pack : is pretty decent if u want variety lets you try all chassis weight class. The options are decent all different play styles. Downside its only one of each but its a fraction in cost compared to other packs where you get 3 mechs of the same.

Line backer: kinda like a thunderbolt kinda like a stormcrow blend of speed and firepower downside some slot configs are limited

The clan packs 1 2 3 just go for the big ones. They have a seriously good value for the amount you will be spending on any of the other packs like for a few more dollars for the big ones u get all 4 chassis types. Plus you will get a lot of free in game stuff.
same for the Resistance packs as well.


I wanna say the Annihilator- but if you are not like me and hate walking into the enemy team i don't suggest it.

Also 1x the standard base 4LBX 10 build. Seriously u will win if they decide to face check you just front load that armor and watch them squirm when they realize u are not gonna stop shooting or overheat.

anywho thanks for reading hope it helps

[BTGbullseye]

Eisenhorne, on 24 May 2018 - 12:42 PM, said:

Clan mechs are omni mechs

Only about half are Omnis, the rest are Battlemechs. (no Omnipods to switch hardpoints with)

[Horseman]

I would recommend your first chassis to be a Medium... Bushwacker is an excellent option there. Warhammer and Marauder are pretty good in the heavy bracket, too, and the Roughneck could make a decent training chassis as well.

Edited by Horseman, 24 May 2018 - 09:18 PM.

[Obiwayne]

I bought the solaris hero pack and was pretty happy with it. It has okay mechs with okay hardpoints. Although none of them are the actual meta but you can do a variety of reliable builds on them. And they all give you a 30% cbills bonus which is a "nice-to-have" on so many different mechs.
If you really are looking for a mech which is worth your money to buy its mechpack, I'd suggest to go with one of the more meta mechs like the Hellbringer/Ebon Jaguar or the Warhammer. In the assault bracket its probably a MCII, and the MarauderII is also a very good and tanky assault mech with some versatility.
On the IS side theres not a great deal of choices available in the assault bracket. Never played the Sleipnir but people keep saying it is very good. I really do enjoy playing my Mauler 2P or the Solaris Kraken. The Annihilator is okay but your side torsos get shot down very easily in it. From my experience it is easier to keep a Mauler in battle because you can shield and spread damage with it very good. But Id stay away from any Banshee. Its a huge target and its performance doesnt make up for its crappy geometry. Maybe the laser vomit one.. but its a big maybe due to the mechs chassis.
As for mediums the Bushwacker is a fun and good brawler. The Huntsman is a good poptart/fire support mech and Id say you cant do a lot wrong in those.
On the other hand if you are looking for a more enjoyable experience I'd suggest buying a mech that you like for c-bills first and see if it fits your playstyle and preferences. For example I was pretty much - very - disappointed with the HunchbackII and am glad that I didnt spent actual money on it. People keep saying its a good mech and without any doubt you can do some pretty nasty builds on them but I found them to be extremly sluggish for a medium mech. I prefer the IS hunchback over it any time.

Edited by EdSt0nE, 27 May 2018 - 05:11 AM.

[Koniving]

Slothasaurus, on 24 May 2018 - 10:58 AM, said:

Newer player to the game. Started out getting smashed. Played some more got a little better. Picked up my first mech so I could customize it. Played some more, learned some more. Really liking the game now.

Looked over the mech packs and mechs. There are a ton. Almost overwhelming amount of choices. Are there mech packs that veterans would recommend for newer players? Not partial to any particular play style at this point other than I probably want to stay away from light mechs. Don't think I am experienced enough yet to be able to utilize one effectively in a match.

Well to get the most for your money I recommend heavies or assaults if you're getting your mech pack from the site. This is because almost everything is priced at 20 dollars.

If you're willing to go 10 dollars higher, there's the Solaris 7 pack.. While I'm pretty sure you'd never use them in Solaris, there is the fact that it has 7 hero mechs of many different weight classes. 2 light, 2 medium, 2 assault and 1 (Clan) heavy. (Rest are IS).

Beyond that if you happen to see one you like, what you might do is try one of the ones not included in the actual base pack with cbills... If you enjoy it, buy the pack. And if you don't, well that's money saved.

---------------------
If you're impartial to specific playstyles, what about specific trends? Speed? Firepower?

(Now this said, lights and not being close? They do their best when they are close...)

Anyway...
I'm the owner of nearly 290 mechs. And what I can say to you is this as someone that isn't partial to one playstyle or weapon set... The most important thing of any mech is do you like it? Do you like how it looks? Do you like its shape? Weapon placement? Do you think you can make it work?

Confidence does a lot in this game. When two big mechs start duking it out, the one that loses confidence is the one that dies. So after all the suggestions, after comparing what you might want from a few top choices that you have, pick the one that gives you that confidence.

https://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab This is a good resource; there's others out there too but this is the simplest one that I've become accustomed to. Pre-planning your build can go a long way to minimize spending. I honestly wish I did that more. I wouldn't be as space poor.
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Note: Beyond this point are suggestions for specific mechs...that are not available on the website, with the intention of them being acquired by cbills.
=====================
All this said, why not get an Orion? There's no shortcut in terms of the website store and please for the love of all that is holy do not buy it for MC (unless you find you enjoy it, then by all means get the Orion hero Protector)... But give one a try if you think you can manage 3 weapons groups. Let me know what you think. Here's one of mine. This one, specifically is the Protector, its effectively a 75 ton Atlas. Its one of the mechs that I enjoy using when I don't feel like hanging with the crowd, but still want to duke it up close and personal. This is older but of another Orion. The Orion K is the hottest of the Orions, but each Orion has its own specialty that's obvious on its face -- just look at the hardpoints. Energy-heavy, loves energy. Missile heavy, loves missiles. Balanced-nothing too heavy? Yep, balanced. So you know what you're getting from the get-go.

Its the sort of mech that anyone could enjoy if they're not partial to a specific playstyle... and its the sort of mech where its utility grows as you do. Decent torso hardpoints + arm hardpoints can be really good once you master the art of two crosshairs, further expanding on the mech's abilities.

Another often recommended one that you won't be able to get from the site is the Hunchback. Takes abuse like a heavy. Hits like a heavy. Moves... like a medium-heavy. Is tiny as hell and dirt cheap with many choices. Here's 3 different samples of the 7 or 8 unique variants. Energy-only Starts with building it. Combat at 4+ mins. Grid Iron hero with friendly Hunch in tow in group queue. Hunchback 4H energy with single ballistic. Starts with skill tree setup in fast forward. Goes into a comment on a situation to never fight in. Then a show of build and quirks after skill tree. And finally the perfect scenario for a Hunchback at 6:22.

[Phoenix 72]

Hello and welcome to the game. When I decided that I was willing to spend some money on getting mechs and not stay free to play, I went another route. I just bought MC with my money and spent that buying a single Mech. I used that to get comfortable and find out what I enjoy playing. And that's the route I keep using.

My Mech choices are fairly random, I have a decent stable of Lights and Mediums, with a few Heavy's and a lone Assault. But I only buy Mechs with RL money when I know for a fact that the gameplay they offer is something that I enjoy. You might want to make sure you know what you like to play before you spend money on those packs.

Other than that, I do enjoy playing some of the free Mechs. The Nova everybody got a couple days ago is quickly taking the place of my Kitfox as my favourite AMS build. I only did minimal changes to the original loadout and I like it. Also, Mediums in general are quite good for learning the game. At least it worked quite nicely for me.

[Slothasaurus]

Thanks for the above advice all.

I ended picking up the Solaris 7 pack to get a few different mechs to use. I took a medium, heavy, and assault and played each one until I felt comfortable with it to see which type I would lean to. Won some, lost some, killed some mechs, got killed a bunch. Hit tier 4. Really enjoyed playing a medium mech. The ability to move around the battlefield as needed, scout, shore up holes in the line, flank, eat up a light mech bugging an assault, nice blend of speed/durability/firepower. Really liking the game more and more. With that plus having decided for now the type of mech I would like to focus on I picked up the Bushwacker mech pack for the variants to skill up.

Once I hit tier 4 though I am getting loss after loss after loss. Is that typical when moving up a tier?
I would do ok as far as pilot skill. Some I would gain pilot skill level, few I would lose, but the vast majority I would just end up neutral. My take away from it is that I am not good enough to make a difference to sway the tide of the game for a win. With not gaining or losing pilot skill on a loss I am doing just average as far as contributing in a match.

[Horseman]

Slothasaurus, on 03 June 2018 - 12:40 PM, said:

Once I hit tier 4 though I am getting loss after loss after loss. Is that typical when moving up a tier?

When you're getting into T4 or T3, it is - the matchmaker will allow you into matches with higher tier players (T2 and T1 respectively).
Focus on conserving your armor - surviving longer will also allow you to contribute more.

Quote

My take away from it is that I am not good enough to make a difference to sway the tide of the game for a win. With not gaining or losing pilot skill on a loss I am doing just average as far as contributing in a match.

Do you have a headset? If no, get one. If you already do, then enable VOIP in the game and start using it to coordinate with the rest of your team. Teamwork wins matches in this game.

[Phoenix 72]

Slothasaurus, on 03 June 2018 - 12:40 PM, said:

Once I hit tier 4 though I am getting loss after loss after loss. Is that typical when moving up a tier?
I would do ok as far as pilot skill. Some I would gain pilot skill level, few I would lose, but the vast majority I would just end up neutral. My take away from it is that I am not good enough to make a difference to sway the tide of the game for a win. With not gaining or losing pilot skill on a loss I am doing just average as far as contributing in a match.

Yup, that is quite normal. It is not only that you get higher Tier opponents, the tactics people use are also quite different, as is the Mech loadout. You will need some time to get used to it. And then you just move along, until, eventually, you are going to end up in a Tier that you will not move out of. A lot of that depends on matches played, so the changes you see after a match will get smaller the longer you play.

[Elizander]

Slothasaurus, on 03 June 2018 - 12:40 PM, said:

Once I hit tier 4 though I am getting loss after loss after loss. Is that typical when moving up a tier?
I would do ok as far as pilot skill. Some I would gain pilot skill level, few I would lose, but the vast majority I would just end up neutral. My take away from it is that I am not good enough to make a difference to sway the tide of the game for a win. With not gaining or losing pilot skill on a loss I am doing just average as far as contributing in a match.

The way I see it, when you move up in tier, you take the place of a previous higher tier in your team that used to be there and he is replaced with a lower tier. So if you are tier 5, in a game of mixed tiers, we can say there are 3 tier 5s on each team and some tier 4s. Once you get to tier 4, you are now in that slot and someone else is in the tier 5 slot as the game expects you to perform a little better due to your experience.

Just try to vary your style and see what works. Sometimes you can get by with just supporting your team, but some days you might have to do more heavy lifting and deal more damage/kills yourself.

[Abaddun]

Hi, I'm glad you've found a mech pack that suits you, it's nice to see a fresh face on the game.

Whilst I can't comment on which mech pack gives you the most effective mech, I can comment on which pack gives you the most value for money if you like to mix in a bit of Fashion Warrior Online.

Generally you want to stick to either Resistance packs or invasion packs.

Avoid invasion pack 1 as it gives you almost nothing for the money you pay.

Invasion packs 2 and 3 can give you the option of getting 1 of 4 faction content. On top of getting a warhorn, standing item and hanging item, you get 3 faction colours(priced at 1000 mc each) that can be used on any mech you own, plus a camo you can use on any mech from that pack. Your premium mech does come with an invasion camo(priced at 1500 mc), but you wont get the colours of that camo, bear this in mind as it becomes important later.

Next with have the resistance packs. I would recommend avoiding resistance 1 as you get far less value for what you pay. Resistence 2 comes with the wolfhound as an initial buy in, which is a very strong IS light mech that players very much like a medium mech, only far faster.
You then get a choice of 6 faction packs, each has 3 faction colours(priced at 1000 mc each) 3 faction specific resistance colours (priced at 1000 mc each) and 3 universal resistance colours (you get the idea). So for $20 dollars you get 3 mechs + mech bays (900 mc) 1 of which is a pseudo hero (typically priced around 2000 mc) warhorn, banner and standing item ( roughly 1500 mc), a faction camo (1500 mc and 9000 mc worth of colours.

Whilst I don't own it (yet) I suspect the origins pack has a similar value to the resistance 2 pack, only with a clanner mech instead, so arguably better in terms of content.

[Horseman]

Quote

Whilst I don't own it (yet) I suspect the origins pack has a similar value to the resistance 2 pack, only with a clanner mech instead, so arguably better in terms of content.

You don't get universal colors there, only the 6 from the selected faction.

[Abaddun]

Horseman, on 15 July 2018 - 07:57 AM, said:

You don't get universal colors there, only the 6 from the selected faction.

Huh, that's quite bizzare. Well, thankyou for clarifying that for me.