20 replies to this topic

[Avenger01]

Any tips for an amateur Black Knight (BL-7-KNT) pilot? I constantly die in my 12 hours of playtime, and am wondering what I could fix.

Edited by Avenger01, 12 July 2018 - 08:24 AM.

[Eisenhorne]

What's your build like? Use https://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab to mock it up and share it, the vast majority of new player mistakes are made in mech build.

[Avenger01]

Hm.
Having a bit of trouble with the site, will post later.
On the other hand, I got the Marauder (MAD-3R) in my case. Tips using the Marauder and the Black Knight?

[Cloves]

Marauder wants to stare at incoming damage with a slight nose wiggle. The black knight wants to roll it’s body in and out of cover due to it’t low mounted weapons and humanoid torso, always be twisting.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

Avenger01, on 12 July 2018 - 10:18 AM, said:

Hm.
Having a bit of trouble with the site, will post later.
On the other hand, I got the Marauder (MAD-3R) in my case. Tips using the Marauder and the Black Knight?

Heres a Video for a triple RAC/2 MAD-3R

https://mwo.smurfy-n...bcbc487e0957f02




I ended up making another video just for you~!

heres a Laser Vomit BL-7-KNT Black Knight

https://mwo.smurfy-n...95b3282514523a4

Edited by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky, 12 July 2018 - 11:49 PM.

[Leone]

They're Heavies, not Assaults, but I offer advice herein that may be relevant.

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 12 July 2018 - 10:59 AM.

[Tarl Cabot]

• Mouse control is important. In game settings, Mouse Sensitivity approx 0.1 to 0.3.
  
• Change default Arm Lock to blank and make the Hot key to use Toggle Arm lock. This controls whether or not arms are locked to torso or allowed more freedom.
  
• FPS (F9) and general game settings. Due to a heavily modified Cryengine 3, using high settings w/AA Post AA will not provide the same performance as other games.

• Armor - Front load armor and never remove armor from torsos. You can start with 8pts (or less) on the rear sections then rest up front. Do not skimp on leg armor either, if at all possible.
  
• Also change singles to double heat sinks.
  
• Initially ignore the Endo/Ferro settings. They provide some weight savings but takes up 14 slots while costing Cbills to change each time. After earning more cbills and gain experience/knowledge with the mechlab then utilize said components, using Endo before Ferro.

Make sure to complete your Academy trip.

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 12 July 2018 - 12:19 PM.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

Tarl Cabot, on 12 July 2018 - 12:19 PM, said:

[list]
[*]Mouse control is important. In game settings, Mouse Sensitivity approx 0.1 to 0.3.
/snip

Everyone has different mouse settings but, this is great great advice, so I would like to highlight it!
(I still wonder why the default ingame sensitivity is set all the way to the right... most new players simply cannot reliably track a target with such a high setting... especially when they try to advzoom)

[Spheroid]

If you can't get smurfy to work instead copy your loadout and post the text into a forum message via the export function in mechlab.

Edited by Spheroid, 12 July 2018 - 01:49 PM.

[Aidan Crenshaw]

You can also use mechDB

[JC Daxion]

Load up 2 PPC's and 5 ML's with double heat sink upgrade and endo then stuff in as many extra heatsinks as you can.

You could also drop the PPC's all together and just go with 3 LL's and 4 ML's, it will be a bit easier to use while you learn the game. Lasers are a much simpler weapon if you are having issues with hitting mechs

Edited by JC Daxion, 16 July 2018 - 02:15 PM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Constant dying is less about the mech and more about the pilot skill. A part of that is just experience to be honest. General tips include:
- Don't be in front leading the charge or get focus fired on by the enemy.
- Stay with your teammates. Constantly check where they are going on the minimap. If you start to get left behind, you will get killed. Situational awareness is absolutely vital in this game. Not just allies but enemies, arty strikes and uavs.
- Learn the maps but this just takes time. Most are predictable as to where your team will go and where the enemy will go once you've played them a while.
- In a heavy especially, buddy up with a couple of assaults and support them. Fire at their targets, or watch their backs.
- Definitely check out the mechlab if you haven't. Stock loadouts are generally terrible. There are so many options for what you can run. Test your builds out in the Testing Grounds before a live match. Get a feel for your heat management and the feel and function of weapons. Adjust as necessary. If you need to drop weapons to make it cooler, do it. It does no good to fill every hardpoint if you can't effectively use it. If you like PPCs and can hit with them, do it. Lasers would be the easiest as you can adjust your aim throughout the duration of the laser and deal partial damage. I would add that you should aim for a cooling efficiency number in the mechlab of 1.3 or 1.4. Anything lower will probably be too hot for you until you get more experience and trigger discipline. In fact, 1.3 or 1.4 will be too hot without trigger discipline.

Edited by TheCaptainJZ, 17 July 2018 - 04:40 AM.

[TheFourthAlly]

Patience. I still suck at that, but being the first target the reds get a look at is very bad for your lifespan. Both early and midgame, the enemy can still dish out a lot of firepower and you'll very easily make a wrong move here and there that exposes you far too much.

Watch where you go, watch where your team goes. While getting a bit of an understanding of maps and game modes, stick with the main group, especially the assaults. Keep room to move for yourself and your team. Blocking someone, especially from behind, means you get that poor bugger killed in most situations.

Wandering off on your own means more often than not, you suddenly discover half the enemy team, which then tends to just get you killed with nothing to show for it.

Mind that heat. Shooting means heating up, overheating means standing still while your mech cools and the reds taking free pot shots. Especially since you're most likely already in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Mediums over heavies to learn the ropes imo. You benefit from a bit more speed to gtfo when you position badly (which happens a lot inevitably) and just enough armour and firepower to feel you can a least do something and survive a few shots coming your way, due to being in the wrong spot again.

Heavies are ok, but get shot at a lot more (reds like to aim at those and the assaults), which doesn't help if you stuff up your positioning, which you will (did I mention that?).

Lights and assaults require a bit more game-sense so I'd generally advise to leave those alone for now. If you enjoy going very fast and die very quick after getting shot, it's fine to pick up a light. Assaults are slow, priority targets and are relied on to do lots of damage, which can be hard work if you're new to this stuff.

Weapons with a bit of range is nicer in the beginning too imo, you can take potshots from a bit further out and you don't feel useless early game. Short range weapons means you need to close, which you then end up doing too early or from a completely wrong angle and you end up dead too soon. Not much fun in that.

Remember what the effective range of your weapons is too. Too often you see newbies fire from too far out, hitting nothing, doing no damage and not understanding why.

Use R. Target enemies. It shows you weak spots and lets your team mates know where they are. Untargeted reds on your minimap are often not seen by your teammates. If they don't know it's there, forget about getting help.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Unrelated, but important to know. The enemy team is always the red team. You are always the blue team. And...that means, to the enemy team, they are blue and you are red. So keep that in mind.

[TheFourthAlly]

Good point, my bad at not clarifying that.

[Daggett]

Can you record/stream a video when you are playing? This way we could identify your biggest problems and provide solutions which may be more effective than just listing lots of general hints.

[mailin]

The two most important bits and which I want to re-emphasize are:

)1 Press 'R' -- Each target has a letter designation which you can't see until you press R. Some players, myself included, will sometimes call out a target using those letters. Also, R lets you see where the enemy is beat up (ideally you want to hit the red locations), their weapons, and can let you friendlies know that there is an enemy there. Always press R for your current target. This cannot be stressed enough.

2) Stay with your team or at the very least your lance. As a new player you absolutely do not want to be the first one facing an enemy. Let the more experienced players take that role. Your job is to stay close to your team and fire on what everybody else is firing on. It's okay to back up a bit if you get a heat warning, but then get right back into the fight. Patience is one of the hardest things to learn at this stage, so practice it.

Good luck and hope to see you on the battlefield.

[Torage]

How fast are you running these Mechs? If ding too soon is your main issue then my tip is to consider that speed and maneuverability are just as, if not more so key to survival than armor and structure. You may want to try something a little faster, at least just while you get a better handle on positioning in the Game. Once you are better at recognizing a bad maneuver BEFORE you make it, then go back to the heavier Mechs.

Additionally, what do you typically die to? Are you getting picked off by lights, Drowned in LRMs, or just blasted with guns/ppcs/lasers?

[Napoleon_Blownapart]

TheCaptainJZ, on 22 July 2018 - 06:49 PM, said:

Unrelated, but important to know. The enemy team is always the red team. You are always the blue team. And...that means, to the enemy team, they are blue and you are red. So keep that in mind.

you might think this is stupid advice LOL I got my brother to play 1 match years ago, i asked what happened? he said i don't know, i died , i dropped shot at mechs and died... i asked who did you shoot at? he said my team was green so i shot at the blue guys...

[TheCaptainJZ]

Gorantir, on 13 August 2018 - 09:14 AM, said:

you might think this is stupid advice LOL I got my brother to play 1 match years ago, i asked what happened? he said i don't know, i died , i dropped shot at mechs and died... i asked who did you shoot at? he said my team was green so i shot at the blue guys...

Also, your lance is teal (green) and the rest of your team is blue Not necessarily intuitive in all cases.