28 replies to this topic

[Noey Bunny]

I've been trying to use the current (2x)-Experience weekend to work on skills on some of my neglected mechs; Most of which have been mediums. However, every time I've been dropping with them I just can't manage to stay alive on any but the heaviest of them - which I've already maxed out.

but mechs like my cicada, or viper are the absolute, most discouraging things to try to play. it's like I have a giant target on my CT, and even with heavily front-loaded armor, I'm geting nearly one shot straight through the CT just for being seen, (last game was against 2 mechs and I died instantly).

I don't necessarily have these problems with my lights, and I try to play as a skirmisher, I'm a PSR2 pilot (about half way through) - if that even matters; and i'm generally pretty decent on any other weight class. but on mediums it feels like I'm being horribly punished simply for existing. looking at the size of my cicada, I realize it's a massive target by comparison to my lights, but has less armor than many of them (46 front loaded on my cicada-3M CT vs 54 on my Urban mech, or 43 on ach, 35 even on my MLX). Am I just getting nuked because i'm a bigger target now?

I'm not really sure, I don't want to come across as complaining! At this point I'm simply baffled at how horrible I am with these mechs and I can't seem to break into any kind of stride of effective gameplay with them.

((For Reference, I've been trying lots of builds, lately I'm trying the cicada 3m with 4xERSL 1x UAC/5, ECM and a light 250 engine))

I honestly don't know if i'll go back to trying it again, I'm pretty well at my wits end, however I'd still like to know what other peoples experiences are like and what kind of tips or feedback on the situation could be provided.

[MM Overlord]

viper and cda aren't medium mechs

edit...dat build on the 3M..... omg, really?
put 2LL+2erML, ECM and max XL possible, man

edit 2: if you want to drive medium, then take good medium!!
assasssin, hunchie2C, huntsman, bushwacker....

Edited by MM Overlord, 28 May 2018 - 03:59 AM.

[Old dirty B]

Play these lightweight mediums like a light, fast striking hit n run playstyle.

[Noey Bunny]

MM Overlord, on 28 May 2018 - 03:54 AM, said:

viper and cda aren't medium mechs

edit...dat build on the 3M..... omg, really?
put 2LL+2erML, ECM and max XL possible, man

edit 2: if you want to drive medium, then take good medium!!
assasssin, hunchie2C, huntsman, bushwacker....

I've already maxed out the BSW and huntsman, and I enjoy them a good deal, as well as my stormcrow, and probably one of my top 3 mechs in the game is my shadow cat. I was just surprised to find the cicada and the viper to be practically unplayable by me.

Old dirty B, on 28 May 2018 - 04:06 AM, said:

Play these lightweight mediums like a light, fast striking hit n run playstyle.

yeah, I do play as much like a light as possible, very low face time. I don't have anywhere near the same problems playing like this on my light mechs, however I get punished doubly so it feels when I play like this on my light medium mechs. I'd like to think that I'm not that awful, but I won't disregard the possibility that I'm failing. I was hoping to find that these two mechs might specifically have some achilles heel that I need to respect.

Maybe the cicada only likes to turn left, right turns cause it to explode instantly!

Edited by NaniCat, 28 May 2018 - 04:19 AM.

[lazorbeamz]

Mediums are some of the worst mechs. But you can play clan hunchback with laser vomit or double ultra 10. Or huntsman/assassing with SRM/ATM. BSW is an option too but you need a proper build.

[Appogee]

Mediums are way fun!

Play them like Lights... Flank, strike from behind, and be prepared to run away and attack from another angle if the enemy turns to focus on you.

Or:

Hang with the biggest group of Heavies and Assaults. Don't be the first Mech the enemy sees. When the Heavies and Assaults finally engage, coordinate your fire with whatever they are shooting at. The enemy will generally focus on the biggest Mechs in front of them.

Edited by Appogee, 28 May 2018 - 04:40 AM.

[Noey Bunny]

MM Overlord, on 28 May 2018 - 03:54 AM, said:

viper and cda aren't medium mechs

edit...dat build on the 3M..... omg, really?
put 2LL+2erML, ECM and max XL possible, man

edit 2: if you want to drive medium, then take good medium!!
assasssin, hunchie2C, huntsman, bushwacker....

Tried your build for a match, figured why not; did surprisingly well for a completely unskilled cicada.



Hopefully it's not a fluke, I'll try it for a few more games to see if I can continue having success.

Thanks for the suggestion!

though; I'm still uber squishy, I played the whole match with my CT cored out after an annihilator decided to 'poke' me from across the map.

Edited by NaniCat, 28 May 2018 - 04:48 AM.

[El Bandito]

There was a time when the CIcada-2B was once considered respectable MPL brawler. The time has passed.

[Spare Parts Bin]

When you are in a light medium never be the only target the enemy sees. Unless you want short games.

[MM Overlord]

NaniCat, on 28 May 2018 - 04:46 AM, said:

Tried your build for a match, figured why not; did surprisingly well for a completely unskilled cicada.



Hopefully it's not a fluke, I'll try it for a few more games to see if I can continue having success.

Thanks for the suggestion!

though; I'm still uber squishy, I played the whole match with my CT cored out after an annihilator decided to 'poke' me from across the map.

Believe it or not, ECM is the magical thing that make you invisible, thanks to the pityful playerbase state.

Stay at range, snipe, and rotate so to be always at the back of your team in the brawling festival: none will notice you .

edit: to avoid to be cored, just wait the fight begins. Don't be the first to push and shoot. You are very fragile

Edited by MM Overlord, 28 May 2018 - 06:45 AM.

[MM Overlord]

El Bandito, on 28 May 2018 - 04:49 AM, said:

There was a time when the CIcada-2B was once considered respectable MPL brawler. The time has passed.

yea time passed...but we can adapt, right?

[Cloves]

Have you had great success with the clan lights that go 81? They are in the same boat. You are probably making positioning mistakes like being the only visible target or at least the first visible target. In many lights, you can get away with this by being fast enough and hard enough to hit to evacuate once under fire. The heavier mediums can take raking fire or a mid level alpha and survive. The problem with the light mediums is that they are huge and slow for their armor+structure. The cicadas that I see do well are very evasive, never staying in one place, often on the far edge of the map it seems. I have the ECM one, I put ER larges on it and tried to play it like the equivalent Raven. Did not work for me. I am old enough to need to stop my mech to make a long distance ERLarge shot hit at all, even then, a moving target will easily spread the burn. It seems the minute I am not a fleeing headless chicken, that mech pops.

[Alkabides]

Vipers are nasty little guys. I highly recommend them. You need to constantly move, use cover and dont get focused. It’s about as maneuverable as you’ll get in this game and once you get decent with it... it’ll lead to other sicknesses like the assasin. ...

[Besh]

Depending on the Chassis, there are different play Styles required to be successfull . If you find you get singled out and focussed too quickly, I would think to kindof stick with Heavie(s)/Assault(S), kindof firesupporting them may be a way . One of the things I'd try is jump OpFor Heavy/Assaults that are engaged, try and find the moment(s) where their weaps cycle/cool down, hit them and fade .

There are def. Medium 'Mechs who make excellent harassers, backstabbers etc., but if it does not work for you...

Edited by Besh, 28 May 2018 - 08:09 AM.

[El Bandito]

MM Overlord, on 28 May 2018 - 06:46 AM, said:

yea time passed...but we can adapt, right?

I embraced the Crab-27B instead.

[LowSubmarino]

If you play mediums then - apart from very few exceptions - you never wanne really trade with face time weapons. Anything with high initial alphas is lethal. You never wanne stare directly at big mechs.

Investing into survival isnt effective in mechs with subpar hitboxes. Cicada is easy to hit. You never wanne get hit in the first place.

I play an arctic wolf double ppc sniper with nothing in survival whatsoever. Its super squishy. So I never even try to trade.

Playing lasers (anything with a longer burn time than IS medium lasers) is kinda dangerous anyway. All face time weapons are dangerous when playing squishy mechs. Any double pp or worse double gauss hits and you are cored supe quickly. Just never silhouette. Always flank. Never starke at enemies. Always expect enemies to remember where you just shot from. Taking a second shot from that position is already very risky. Either change positions immediately or take a super quick glimpse before leaving cover.

I like using ppcs are medium pulse lasers on mediums. Anything with no face time. That way you can trade very well. Land your full alphas with minimal exposure.

I see cicadas or shadwohawks or vipers or shadowcats staring at team red. They die super quickly like that. Or they peek multiple times from the same position which increases your risk by 1000 %. Avoid engaging the frontline at most expected positions at the most expected time. Eg peeking center of HPG or Mining in squishy mechs right when team reds faster heavies will prolly reach that position.

Be there first and land one or two alphas, slipping away or attack from an angle.

If im running mediums I either avoid getting hit at all by using mechs with good hardpoints and no face time weapons or I use their speed to catch team reds end of nascar or badly positioned mechs. Avoid the front line. Train yourself to not use the full burn of your lasers if you play lasers. Its never worth it to land a full alpha when risking to get shot by nasty stuff such as big laser vomit or gauss or any of that.

Cicadas are easy to hit.

Quite fast though which is always very valuable in mwo. And can dish out quite a bit of dmg.

Vipers with clan er mls are even risker to play. They are even squishier and once again, the face time nature of lasers is its biggest flaw. You never wanne face any mech directly unless there is no other choice e.g. when you cant disengage. Viper is great when it comes to getting to advantageous positions though. Cicada not so much. I prefer mediums with JJs anyway. All my mechs have JJs. JJs are op.

Mechs that cannot jump just feel too gimped.

[Christof Romulus]

Appogee, on 28 May 2018 - 04:40 AM, said:

Mediums are way fun!

Play them like Lights... Flank, strike from behind, and be prepared to run away and attack from another angle if the enemy turns to focus on you.

Or:

Hang with the biggest group of Heavies and Assaults. Don't be the first Mech the enemy sees. When the Heavies and Assaults finally engage, coordinate your fire with whatever they are shooting at. The enemy will generally focus on the biggest Mechs in front of them.

This

When I play a 50 ton or less medium that travels LESS than 81kph I find an assault brawler on my team and walk behind them (with a good bit of distance so they can withdraw). Once the fight starts I swing around them and fire on whatever they're shooting at, using them as mobile cover. Often times I receive no fire what so ever.

Faster than 81kph with few hardpoints and I bring long range weapons and hopefully ECM.

[MM Overlord]

El Bandito, on 28 May 2018 - 08:34 AM, said:

I embraced the Crab-27B instead.

That's a really fun 6mpl medium

[MM Overlord]

LowSubmarino, on 28 May 2018 - 08:40 AM, said:

I play an arctic wolf double ppc sniper with nothing in survival whatsoever. Its super squishy. So I never even try to trade.

fun fact: my most effective medium is the artic wolf, "special edition" brawler

k/d ratio = 5

[Spheroid]

That's a junk build. You say you are getting one shotted through the CT. Whats' the point of a LFE? Answer: nothing. Low end LFEs are garbage anyway, you barely save any weight. At 15.5 tons you could be using a 300XL with much better results.

A singe UAC-5 is in no way threatening. Either switch to a RAC-5 or run ER laser spam and rack up a large match score with damage assists.