30 replies to this topic

[krash27]

Greetings warriors,

Looking to dive into Faction Play, never tried it.
Looking for guidance on what to build for drop decks for scouting and invasion.

Also, am I better off joining a Clan/IS unit for FP?
If so, any active recommended units that will help a pilot out with whats going on in FP and the modes?

Willing to jump on a comms server for any guidance I probably need.

[Eisenhorne]

Before you get into FP, make sure you have 8 mechs ready to go. You'll need 4 for an extreme range deck, and 4 for a mid range deck. If you wanna do Inner Sphere, I recommend getting these mechs:

RGH-3A (3 Large Laser, 4 ER Medium Laser)
WHM-6R (2 Gauss, 4 ER Medium Laser)
WHM-6D (3 Large Laser, 4 ER Medium Laser)
DRG-5N (3 Ultra AC/2)

BLR-1G (5 ER Large Laser, TCOMP V)
BLR-1G (5 ER Large Laser, TCOMP V)
TDR-5SS (4 ER Large Laser, TCOMP V)
JVN-10P (6 SRM2)

This would be a good basis for inner sphere faction play, so you'd be useful in every situation. You can use other mechs for these roles obviously, but having a deck full of 70 KPH + fast heavy trading mechs and one with er laser mechs that can engage at 1KM+ is important, so you're never just sitting back doing nothing while your team fights at ranges beyond your SRM brawlers that some people like to bring.

[Leone]

I've some old suggestions about the game mode. Nothing too in depth on build ideas. Really you'll wanna just find four mechs that work for you for your first try and then expand from there once you've an idea of what you'll need more of.

~Leone.

[krash27]

Eisenhorne, on 19 July 2018 - 05:46 AM, said:

Before you get into FP, make sure you have 8 mechs ready to go. You'll need 4 for an extreme range deck, and 4 for a mid range deck. If you wanna do Inner Sphere, I recommend getting these mechs:

RGH-3A (3 Large Laser, 4 ER Medium Laser)
WHM-6R (2 Gauss, 4 ER Medium Laser)
WHM-6D (3 Large Laser, 4 ER Medium Laser)
DRG-5N (3 Ultra AC/2)

BLR-1G (5 ER Large Laser, TCOMP V)
BLR-1G (5 ER Large Laser, TCOMP V)
TDR-5SS (4 ER Large Laser, TCOMP V)
JVN-10P (6 SRM2)

This would be a good basis for inner sphere faction play, so you'd be useful in every situation. You can use other mechs for these roles obviously, but having a deck full of 70 KPH + fast heavy trading mechs and one with er laser mechs that can engage at 1KM+ is important, so you're never just sitting back doing nothing while your team fights at ranges beyond your SRM brawlers that some people like to bring.

Have not 100% decided which way I will go (Clan/IS) but what you are saying makes perfect sense.
Is it safe for me to assume that these decks would be more suited for Invasion drop decks? They seem a bit heavy for a scouting drop deck but what do I know of FP, never played before.

I can only assume that the same basic rules would apply if I were to choose clan, as in don't take all heavy machine guns and be useless to your team at mid to long ranges.

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

Greetings krash,

krash27, on 19 July 2018 - 05:36 AM, said:

Looking for guidance on what to build for drop decks for scouting and invasion.

That is a pretty deep question, there are a number of "get to go" decks for newer players (with limited mechs and mechbays) but ultimately it depends on what you have in your mechlab and what you want to play.
If you want a general direction, i would recommend you pick either clan or innersphere first and build a "one fits all" or "jack of all trades" deck to start with.
If you join a unit or company, i am sure a instructor will go through you deck option in detail since it can be a lengthy endeavour to build several decks and have multible options depending on map/gamemode/playstyle.

krash27, on 19 July 2018 - 05:36 AM, said:

Also, am I better off joining a Clan/IS unit for FP?
If so, any active recommended units that will help a pilot out with whats going on in FP and the modes?

Which side you join depends on your preferences. Either by the mechs and tech you like to play (or already aquired) or simply by simpathy. Neither is better or worse in the long term.
If you only want to play Inner sphere mechs, there is little merit in joining a clan only loyalist unit and vice versa. If you want to play both techs, a merc unit might be a better choice for you.

As far as for unit recommendations, there are a lot but not all might fit your needs.
The first adress imo is www.mercstar.net. Great mercenary unit with great instructors and learning material. They are veeery competent and newbie friendly (if you are willing to listen).
Although, if you wait a day here, i am sure many units will give you wink.

I personally would recommend you take a look into a couple of units and make your decision based on sympathy and a couple other factors (such as timezone etc.)

[Eisenhorne]

krash27, on 19 July 2018 - 05:53 AM, said:

Have not 100% decided which way I will go (Clan/IS) but what you are saying makes perfect sense.
Is it safe for me to assume that these decks would be more suited for Invasion drop decks? They seem a bit heavy for a scouting drop deck but what do I know of FP, never played before.

I can only assume that the same basic rules would apply if I were to choose clan, as in don't take all heavy machine guns and be useless to your team at mid to long ranges.

Yea, those are invasion decks, scouting you only take a single medium mech, and you can pretty much assume it will devolve into a short ranged brawl. You can do scouting with whatever you have and probably be fine, just don't take a 20 ton mech to scouting, you usually want a medium or decent combat light.

Same rules apply to clan mechs. I am an inner sphere player, but i've dabbled in clans, if I was going to do the same things with clan mechs I'd run my decks like:

Mad Cat II-B (2 Ultra AC/10, 2 Ultra AC/5)
Hellbringer (2 ER Large Laser, 5 ER Medium Laser)
Ebon Jaguar (2 Large Pulse, 6 ER Medium Laser)
Arctic Cheetah (Not sure, machine guns and medium lasers probably)

Supernova (6 ER Large Lasers, large TCOMP)
Hellbringer (4 ER Large Lasers)
Hellbringer (4 ER Large Lasers)
Arctic Cheetah (Not sure again, probably the same as above)

[krash27]

Toha Heavy Industries, on 19 July 2018 - 05:59 AM, said:

Greetings krash,



That is a pretty deep question, there are a number of "get to go" decks for newer players (with limited mechs and mechbays) but ultimately it depends on what you have in your mechlab and what you want to play.
If you want a general direction, i would recommend you pick either clan or innersphere first and build a "one fits all" or "jack of all trades" deck to start with.
If you join a unit or company, i am sure a instructor will go through you deck option in detail since it can be a lengthy endeavour to build several decks and have multible options depending on map/gamemode/playstyle.



Which side you join depends on your preferences. Either by the mechs and tech you like to play (or already aquired) or simply by simpathy. Neither is better or worse in the long term.
If you only want to play Inner sphere mechs, there is little merit in joining a clan only loyalist unit and vice versa. If you want to play both techs, a merc unit might be a better choice for you.

As far as for unit recommendations, there are a lot but not all might fit your needs.
The first adress imo is www.mercstar.net. Great mercenary unit with great instructors and learning material. They are veeery competent and newbie friendly (if you are willing to listen).
Although, if you wait a day here, i am sure many units will give you wink.

I personally would recommend you take a look into a couple of units and make your decision based on sympathy and a couple other factors (such as timezone etc.)

I suppose I should explain why I am trying FP.
Been playing MWO since closed beta, but have not been playing much the last few years. I have always stuck to QP and I have found that I am not enjoying it. I have found that it takes less and less games to anger me, yes I admit its not always my teams fault, I admit that I can go rogue and the next thing I know I am out of position due to chasing shiny objects.Tier 1 isn't the magical land where everyone plays as a team like I had hoped, and bad habits can be infectious.
So I am here to play in an atmosphere where folks play more like a team than individuals, I hope. Which hopefully helps with my own bad habits.

As far as mechs go they are not an issue, I probably own 75% if not more and can get pretty much anything I need.
I reread what I wrote and it does sound like I was asking which side is weighted to win so I can join it. Thinking about it, I don't mind being the underdog, I will end up choosing based on nostalgia/sympathy as you suggest with some weight going towards saddling with a unit with the willingness and expertise to guide me through FP.

Step 1: Figure out what the hell is going on in FP
Step 2: Speak with unit commanders about my compatibility with their play times and if my skill level is even on parr with what their minimum standards might be.

Eisenhorne, on 19 July 2018 - 05:59 AM, said:

Yea, those are invasion decks, scouting you only take a single medium mech, and you can pretty much assume it will devolve into a short ranged brawl. You can do scouting with whatever you have and probably be fine, just don't take a 20 ton mech to scouting, you usually want a medium or decent combat light.

Same rules apply to clan mechs. I am an inner sphere player, but i've dabbled in clans, if I was going to do the same things with clan mechs I'd run my decks like:

Mad Cat II-B (2 Ultra AC/10, 2 Ultra AC/5)
Hellbringer (2 ER Large Laser, 5 ER Medium Laser)
Ebon Jaguar (2 Large Pulse, 6 ER Medium Laser)
Arctic Cheetah (Not sure, machine guns and medium lasers probably)

Supernova (6 ER Large Lasers, large TCOMP)
Hellbringer (4 ER Large Lasers)
Hellbringer (4 ER Large Lasers)
Arctic Cheetah (Not sure again, probably the same as above)

Glad you responded about the scouting deck, here I was looking at super light and fast mechs, but I do see what would happen meeting up with say a streak crow.

Seems like you have been playing FP awhile, the builds posted seem decent across multiple ranges.
Do you, as an experienced FP player, build strictly long range mechs if you know you are dropping on a ranged map or are mechs capable of passing at multiple ranges the goto regardless?

[Eisenhorne]

krash27, on 19 July 2018 - 06:28 AM, said:

Seems like you have been playing FP awhile, the builds posted seem decent across multiple ranges.
Do you, as an experienced FP player, build strictly long range mechs if you know you are dropping on a ranged map or are mechs capable of passing at multiple ranges the goto regardless?

The builds I posted may be able to work at multiple ranges, but really they're only "optimal" when they can fire all weapons at a given target. The four clan mechs I posted, for example. the Mad Cat II may be able to hit out to like 1 KM with it's UAC5's, but it's really deadly at like 500 meters, which is pretty mid-ranged. This is where you can hit with most of your weapons and do the most damage. The Hellbringer with 2 ERLL + 5 ERML is similar. It can hit to like 900 meters with the ERLL's, but it's only REALLY deadly when it can alpha strike and fire everything at something 500 meters out.

Generally you want to build mechs that have an effective range where all there weapons can hit, and you consider that your optimal range, even if it's well below your theoretical maximum range. You want to bring all your weapons to bear on a target as often as possible, to do the maximum damage. You also want to make sure your weapon choices are somewhat synergistic, so you can fire them all at the same time at the same target. That's why Gauss + Lasers is so popular, lasers are hot, gauss rifles generate no heat, and you can shoot them all at the same time at a target to do a lot of damage.

Try to avoid the "bracket builds" that you see some players use. Bringing an LRM20, an SRM6, an AC5, and some lasers ensures you always have a weapon that can hit at any range, but you'll be far less dangerous than something where all the ranges line up and can blast something with a single big punch.

[krash27]

Leone, on 19 July 2018 - 05:53 AM, said:

I've some old suggestions about the game mode. Nothing too in depth on build ideas. Really you'll wanna just find four mechs that work for you for your first try and then expand from there once you've an idea of what you'll need more of.

~Leone.

Reading your posts and watching your videos.
Some very good pointers and reminders. If nothing else it highlights the bad habits picked up in QP.
I am actually quite pumped to give FP a shot, but taking a bit of time to figure out for the most part whats going on, what are the basics I need etc so I don't jump in, get my *** handed to me badly without learning a thing and turning me off the mode.

I am starting to lean quite heavily towards joining up with a unit for proper guidance.

[UnKnownPlayer]

Most units have their own TS server location or Discord and pretty much everyone has an open door system where they will let people join in FP drops.

My advice would be find a TS server which is busy in your timezone, join some unit drops and ask as many questions as you can about builds, decks, strats etc. then you will already have met a bunch of units and be able to pick one to approach.

Here is a list of voice servers.
https://www.reddit.c...coming_edition/

[Horseman]

Head Hunters Of Davion would be quite happy to have you.

Fire up TeamSpeak and start dropping with us on ts3.hhod.com:7345 . If what you see on TeamSpeak and in our mission statement looks like a unit you'd like to be part of, fill in an application form here to apply for unit membership.

If you want to learn more about us first or have any questions about the recruitment process, just ask me and I'll answer to the best of my ability.

krash27, on 19 July 2018 - 05:36 AM, said:

Looking to dive into Faction Play, never tried it.
Looking for guidance on what to build for drop decks for scouting and invasion.

INNER SPHERE FACTION PLAY DROPDECK LIST - Google Sheets
MWO Mechs Lists by denAirwalkerrr (updated 23.03.2018) - Google Sheets
Some units - HHOD included - have their own recommended build lists, usually with some overlap

krash27, on 19 July 2018 - 06:28 AM, said:

Step 2: Speak with unit commanders about my compatibility with their play times and if my skill level is even on parr with what their minimum standards might be.

We accept players of all skill and experience levels - there's a training program we put all new recruits through and we're also doing various training activities to keep our unit mates in shape (if they have the time and are interested in extra training, of course)

Edited by Horseman, 19 July 2018 - 09:37 AM.

[krash27]

Wow, thanks for the links and suggestions folks.
Going to read up and if I have any questions for any unit leaders in particular I will fire off some msgs and/or jump on the TS channels

Thanks again!

[TWIAFU]

krash27, on 19 July 2018 - 10:49 AM, said:

Wow, thanks for the links and suggestions folks.
Going to read up and if I have any questions for any unit leaders in particular I will fire off some msgs and/or jump on the TS channels

Thanks again!

If you plan to go Inner Sphere, I humbly suggest HHoD, Headhunters of Davion.

From personal experience, they have a top notch training program that can show you everything you need to know to start your journey in defense of the Inner Sphere from Clan incursion.

No matter your time zone, they have a place for you.

No matter your skill level, they have a training program for you.

They are very welcoming, accepting, and patient.

I started my career with them and cannot suggest enough how useful they are in training new players to become a better pilot.

Well worth your time and effort to give them a visit.

[krash27]

TWIAFU, on 19 July 2018 - 11:16 AM, said:

If you plan to go Inner Sphere, I humbly suggest HHoD, Headhunters of Davion.

From personal experience, they have a top notch training program that can show you everything you need to know to start your journey in defense of the Inner Sphere from Clan incursion.

No matter your time zone, they have a place for you.

No matter your skill level, they have a training program for you.

They are very welcoming, accepting, and patient.

I started my career with them and cannot suggest enough how useful they are in training new players to become a better pilot.

Well worth your time and effort to give them a visit.

Made my choice via nostalgia so I chose Clan, and not because I think they are OP.
At any rate I took some advice from above and seeked out MERCSTAR, unless my recollection is wrong I believe they are Clan organized.
Feel free to correct me if wrong though.

[Eisenhorne]

krash27, on 19 July 2018 - 12:02 PM, said:

Made my choice via nostalgia so I chose Clan, and not because I think they are OP.
At any rate I took some advice from above and seeked out MERCSTAR, unless my recollection is wrong I believe they are Clan organized.
Feel free to correct me if wrong though.

Clans?



I guess I'll see you on the battlefield then

[UnKnownPlayer]

Strana Mechty is the primary clan TS hub, im sure there are more clan unit with ts hubs though so make sure you dig around, if you come back to the light side, erm , i mean IS then there are plenty of options

[justcallme A S H]

Just link denairr's spreadsheet and my training thread

Job done.

[Jackal Noble]

If you want to have an easier time and one shot things play IS.

If you want a challenge play Clan.

pretty simple

[Eisenhorne]

Jackal Noble, on 21 July 2018 - 09:49 PM, said:

If you want to have an easier time and one shot things play IS.

If you want a challenge play Clan.

pretty simple

Also play clan if you wanna whine and complain

[Jackal Noble]

Eisenhorne, on 21 July 2018 - 10:48 PM, said:

Also play clan if you wanna whine and complain

boooooo