19 replies to this topic

[Spheroid]

FW is not for the casual or new player.

Playing well requires a large stable of fully leveled mechs built to the conditions of specific maps. Its hard to do with less than a dozen mechs.

[Eisenhorne]

Some good threads/resources on this: Ash's training thread:
https://mwomercs.com...-play-training/

Magic Pain Glove's IS Drop Deck Discussion:
https://mwomercs.com...stguide-by-mpg/

DenAirwalkerr's mech tier list:
https://docs.google....t#gid=868162679

As for my two cents... Spheroid is right, you need a large stable of decent mechs to get the best results, but you can probably make it work with 7-8 mechs, not a full dozen.

You need a "sniper" deck for extreme range maps, these are mechs with 4-5 ER Lasers and Targeting computers. They *must* be mechs with the 10% Energy Range quirk, so they can compete with clan mechs.

You need a "trader" deck, for general play. Things like Gauss rifles, Large Lasers, Er Medium Lasers, AC10's, AC5's, etc. This is what you bring to most maps. It's not always going to be ideal, but it should always be decent enough to get by.

See DenAirwalkerr's list for specific build links, but as a shopping list, I'd suggest:

ER Laser Deck: 2 Battlemaster BLR-1G, 5 ERLL build, 1 Thunderbolt Top Dog (It's a hero, you can sub in a TDR-5SS instead, it's gonna have slightly different hardpoints though), 1 30 ton light mech of choice.

Trading Deck: 1 Victor VTR-9A1 (UAC5 / UAC10 build), 1 Warhammer WHM-6D, 1 Warhammer WHM-6R, 1 light mech of choice. Can be same light mech as ER Laser deck, both will probably end up being short ranged.

[TheCaptainJZ]

All that said, if you want to play FW, by all means, have fun, but it's a bit serious over there and you pretty much need optimized mechs for it.

[Horseman]

Don't entertain the idea of playing solo in FP unless you set your expectations really low.

Either join a unit or find a group on one of the public/semi-pubic TS hubs: https://www.reddit.c...coming_edition/

Also, 25 matches in you're nowhere near ready. Get to a point where you're consistently getting above 300 damage in QP and you might stand a chance in FP. Trust me on that one. I had about a year of experience with the game and a bunch more mechs when I first tried FP and got my *** kicked more often than not.

Edited by Horseman, 01 August 2018 - 06:21 AM.

[Eisenhorne]

Frastuono, on 01 August 2018 - 08:08 AM, said:

I know I am newbie and probably I'll need full skilled mechs to join FW and, ofc, I will need to be confident with every kind of weapons. Also, I will need to know enemy's mechs too, I suppose.
However with Dragon I generally do over 400 damages, while with LRM Archer (if not a Solaris map), I generally go over 700 damages.
In the end, I am not intentioned to rush a Faction war soon, but I wonder if there is a team (with Archer and Dragon I own yet) that will allow me to properly start this game mode...

Which dragon do you have? Which Archer exactly do you have? You can -probably- build them out to be decent enough, and I can probably point you in the direction of a few other mechs to compliment them that would work, and if you wanna try faction play that's fine, but please, PLEASE, if you try it out, and fail to do around 1,000 damage total between all four mechs, do more quick play to skill up / get more experience.

The only thing that really matters in Faction Play is damage output per player generally, the more damage your team does, the faster the enemy dies. Obviously there are some caveats, doing damage with LRM's is less efficient (takes more damage to kill) than lasers, but in the end, if you do enough damage your team will win. The normal "threshold" numbers I've seen are 1000 damage total being considered a minimum to where you're not a detriment to your team. If you're doing that, then you're contributing to your team winning, and that's great! More experienced players can pull 1500-2500 damage per game on average, but that's kinda required to make up for the players who are doing 200-300 damage total over four mechs. They are the players that really need to do more quick play, work on their mechs, and improve skills before dropping in faction warfare.

So yea, if you build a deck of four mechs, feel free to try it out, but if you're averaging well under 1,000 damage per faction game, then it's a pretty clear sign you need to do some combination of working on mech builds, getting more mechs better for the situation, practicing more with those mechs, skilling them in quick play, or just working on fundamentals in quick play. If you're able to pull 1k damage reliably with your deck, then you'll be welcome in pretty much any drop regardless of how new you are.

[Tarl Cabot]

Frastuono, on 01 August 2018 - 08:08 AM, said:

I know I am newbie and probably I'll need full skilled mechs to join FW and, ofc, I will need to be confident with every kind of weapons. Also, I will need to know enemy's mechs too, I suppose.
However with Dragon I generally do over 400 damages, while with LRM Archer (if not a Solaris map), I generally go over 700 damages.
In the end, I am not intentioned to rush a Faction war soon, but I wonder if there is a team (with Archer and Dragon I own yet) that will allow me to properly start this game mode...

The thing on the damage or MS, is that in the lower tiers you will be facing more players who have not kitted out their Sensor in the Skill Tree, equipping AMS or are fully aware of how to avoid incoming LRMS.

FP is somewhere in between Solo and Group queue but with respawns. Playing an pure LRM boat in FP, especially IS LRM boat is usually advised again unless you are dropping as an actual team who is setup to take advantage of that. Now MRM or such is a different pony.

[Ssamout]

Also keep in mind that qp and fw play differently.

In qp you end up a lot of times with a team that just fiddles its thumbs and you lay back and lrm away or really got to carry to win. Game pace is perhaps a bit slower.

In fw, especially in a siege match, the attacking team really has to be aggressive to win, and if your team is pushing you gotta move with them (same in qp, but more pronounced), BUT if you die (and you will) early, you gotta wait for a regroup ie wait for you team to die also, and push again when every one has fresh mechs. Never reinforce .. .. unless in a total stomp.

So what I'm kinda saying, dont bring everything what you learned in qp to fw, and vice versa. Even though shooting, twisting, heat management and such are the same.

[Eisenhorne]

Frastuono, on 03 August 2018 - 01:32 AM, said:

Archer is 2R with 2x LRM15+artemis and 4x er meds
Dragon is 5N with Ultra AC/10, MRM10 and 2x er meds + AMS
Both have standard engine, double heat sinks and maxed armor.

Alright, here's how I would play this personally -

The ARC-2R - LRM's are too situational. On some maps, like Grim Portico, they are effectively useless. Your goal here is to always have something that can do decent damage, so we're making this one into a brawler, because it has pretty good armor quirks. It will run a bit hot, but 3 ASRM6 + 6 MPL is a pretty heavy hitting loadout. Make sure to take double coolshots in the skill tree, and max out armor in the skill tree.

The DRG-5N - This is the best dragon, so you got the good one. The UAC Jam chance quirk it has makes it a great choice for boating UAC2's. Optimally, you stay back at like 700 meters or so and just pump rounds into slow moving assault mechs. It can chainsaw through armor a lot quicker than you'd expect. Having all the weapons in an arm is a problem, so be careful you don't lose it, but its definitely a good 60 to mech.

Leaves us with 135 tons left. You don't really have anything for Extreme range, so we'll need to cover that. I'd suggest the Battlemaster BLR-1G or the Stalker STK-3FB. They both have the same firepower, cooling, and tonnage, but the Battlemaster is faster and longer ranged, while the Stalker has ECM and is a bit more durable. Both are good choices IMO. The stalker is better on maps like Grim Plexus where the engagement range is like 900-1000 meters max, and the battlemaster is better at maps like Alpine Peaks where the engagement range can be as far as 1400 meters.

So now we're at 50 tons.... We have 2 long-ish range mechs, so lets add another brawler. The Crab CRB-27 would be my pick here. Pretty fast, runs cool, hits decently hard, and has AMS to help fight off streaks and ATM's that are common in FP.

In any given map, you'll have at least 1 mech that's good for the situation. You're going to have to use that mech well, because depending on the map, your other mechs might not be super useful. For example, if you get to Polar Highlands, your battlemaster or stalker will rip things up, your dragon might do OK, but your crab and your archer are going to be much less useful. You should never find yourself in a situation where ALL of your mechs are useless though, and in most maps you'll be able to do something with everything. This isn't an optimal deck for everything, but if you really wanna get into FP fast, I'd try it. Just remember if you're constantly doing like 500 damage total, go back to quick play for a while to get more experience, and more mechs.

[Eisenhorne]

Frastuono, on 03 August 2018 - 08:58 AM, said:

Really thx Eisenhorne, your hints are really useful !!
But I have a question on Archer: not better put on MRM instead of SRM?
Thx a lot (to all of you, ofc )

You could definitely do MRM's instead of SRM's, however you'd need to cut out the medium pulses, and maybe do 2 MRM30's with 4 medium pulse lasers (or 2 MRM40's and 4 regular mediums). You're trading close range pinpoint firepower for a bit more range, that's more spread out. I like The MRM's are great at spraying damage everywhere, the SRM's are better at scoring the killshot because you can direct them more where you want them to go. It's hard to target specific components with MRMs. It's just as viable, just more of a preference thing I think.

Edited by Eisenhorne, 03 August 2018 - 09:10 AM.

[Horseman]

If you're going to MRM boat on that Archer, a pair of 30s is going to run quite hot (and so is a pair of 40s). Another thing, MRMs take 0.5s to stream out the entire salvo, keeping your missile bay doors open that much longer (remember, while they're open you don't have the damage reduction)

[Horseman]

Eisenhorne, on 03 August 2018 - 06:10 AM, said:

The DRG-5N - This is the best dragon, so you got the good one. The UAC Jam chance quirk it has makes it a great choice for boating UAC2's. Optimally, you stay back at like 700 meters or so and just pump rounds into slow moving assault mechs. It can chainsaw through armor a lot quicker than you'd expect. Having all the weapons in an arm is a problem, so be careful you don't lose it, but its definitely a good 60 to mech.

Another option on that mech is to run UAC10 + 2xLarge Laser . It has some pretty hefty energy quirks, including one of the highest laser duration quirks in the game (IIRC only a pair of light mechs have better ones).

Edited by Horseman, 03 August 2018 - 09:29 AM.

[TooDumbToQuit]

I did a lot of Sieges (the first and hardest FW match) with trial mechs.

So you want to try racing. You do not need 15 cars to start.

FW is harder than QuickPlay and almost no one will help you. However, asking does help.

Most of the matches now are simply a 4 mech version of the Quick PLay games.

[Xaat Xuun]

LikeUntoGod, on 05 August 2018 - 03:04 PM, said:

Most of the matches now are simply a 4 mech version of the Quick PLay games.

only in PUG drops
-------------

group Faction play, and Group Quick Play, have totally different movements.
as already mentioned, Faction Play is more aggressive

be prepared to be called names and told to go back to Quick play, specially if you solo drop, into a 8-10 man group.
ignore it, and keep trying,
but
attempt to connect with a unit that regularly do group Faction play, and willing to train new (or returning players) is the best thing one can do.

they can advise you on which mechs are better suited for their play tactics/Style, and works best for the whole team.

[Phoenix 72]

Xaat Xuun, on 11 August 2018 - 06:47 AM, said:

be prepared to be called names and told to go back to Quick play, specially if you solo drop, into a 8-10 man group.

Ah, so the people complaining about the lack of participants in faction play seem to finally have found the solution for it?

[Xaat Xuun]

Darakor Stormwind, on 11 August 2018 - 08:17 AM, said:

Ah, so the people complaining about the lack of participants in faction play seem to finally have found the solution for it?

yeah

[Horseman]

Darakor Stormwind, on 11 August 2018 - 08:17 AM, said:

Ah, so the people complaining about the lack of participants in faction play seem to finally have found the solution for it?

Suffice to say, certain types of participants end up being worse than no participants in their place.