34 replies to this topic

[FRAGTAST1C]

By that, I mean, on a regular basis of QP, do you do anything else other than the basics like override shutdown, targeting, speaking on comms, etc.,?

The reason why I'm asking is I think I'm ready to tackle more than just target, fire and kill. I think I can take the next step and do more like scout more efficiently, utilize stealth armour when needed intelligently, disable enemies by overheating, etc.,

I also need some help in picking out a mech that can do this and play well. I was looking at this PARALYZER and it fits the criteria. Any suggestions for improving upon that or do you have something completely different in mind for me?

[Darian DelFord]

I play a light usually, a light pilot is very involved, even to the point of being 5 steps ahead of the enemy, and more importantly your own teammates.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Yeah, I feel that, too. I've maxed out the Javelin 11F. Decent mech but it felt underwhelming at times, not 'cause it was easy to kill, but the overall style got stale.

[Prototelis]

Every match;

Hold W key before being released from drop ship, Over ride as soon as I hit the ground, dim the cockpit lights to set the mood.

I'm usually pretty focused on making good trades and the what not, but I've been trying to skill things and get gud at other playstyles the last couple of months.

When I'm light meching I swing back and forth around the periphery of the fight while cycling targets to get a sense of where, when, and what to engage. I'll lend a hand to someone struggling as long as they aren't hideously out of position, or I feel like I'm not going to end up dead or disabled in the process.

Sometimes (most of the time) I'm not thinking more than 10-15 seconds ahead because I find the most rewarding play is the stupidly aggressive kind.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

There is one thing that everyone can do to improve both their own and their team's success rate beyond nearly any other action: target the thing you are fighting, note its letter designation and damage readout, and call out that target in voice comms with whichever area is best to shoot at. This works best if you say something like "Marauder Charlie right torso, Marauder Charlie right torso, he's got dual rac5s and his shoulder is exposed." If everyone is contributing in this fashion while also paying attention to target calls from other pilots, then the enemy will get torn apart with extreme dispatch.

[JediPanther]

Depends on what mech and build I'm using. If I'm in any of my lights,and i usually am, I'm very aware to the point of people spectating start claiming I'm hacking some how. I keep an eye on the mini map checking it every few seconds to keep aware of shifts in battle. I use uavs, target data, narc when I have them, and spam the com wheel with enemy found or use the older method of bingo scouting in team chat. i'll try and get and hold locks on 'priority' targets such as dual hgrs,ssrm/mrm boats, or go light fighting hunting down enemy alphas.

When I'm for a more relaxed game I'll switch to my lrm support cats. I've written enough about how complex lrms can be to use as fire support over the years I should data mine it into an e-book. When I'm lrm-ing it up I usually rotate locks looking for three primary targets. 1. Enemy ecm fast movers. The less ecm the enemy has the better chance of winning with dota. 2. Assaults with dgrs/dac20s/muti-acs. 3.Any target engaged with a team mate. Older players don't care about kill steals bs in a heavy brawl. They just see the added lrm damage as a way of finishing an enemy and getting that much closer to winning the match.

If you really want to help a qp team to victory the most important thing is to communicate. What your team does with the info is up to how they play. smart players will fight as a team much as possible to win. I've watched a lot of ww2 documentaries and communication and action or lack of it was the key factor to a lot of battles being won or lost.

[Daggett]

Your paralizer build looks like you want it to do all you mentioned at once. This does not work well, you need specialized builds.
For example your build is too slow to scout, and too hot for flamers as well as stealth.

Build a mech for each role, except scouting. All mechs going 140+ do this automatically when you use R and comms, there is not much useful to add to be better at scouting. ECM of cause helps to remain hidden but won't make any mech a dedicated scout, because once the rough position of the enemy is known, it's all about killing them faster than they kill your team. So always focus your build on killing, there are better games for scouting roles.

If you want to go stealth, build something heat-efficient because being stealthed takes away 1.5 of your heat-dissipation. Take low-heat weapons with short duration like small (pulse) lasers, SRM2, gauss, LBX and/or all the DHS you can get.
If you need to deactive stealth after every two shots to cool down, you probably don't profit from stealth at all.
Medium lasers work well too if you compensate stealth with 6+ extra DHS. But flamers are detrimental, because of their heat and them giving your position away.

Like with stealth you use heat-efficient weapons and all the DHS you can fit for a flamer build too. It does not make sense to overheat an enemy while you are too hot to use your own guns. For example my favorite flamer build is the PIR-1. MGs produce no heat, so you can flame for 15+ seconds while dealing damage nonstop.

Levi Porphyrogenitus, on 26 December 2018 - 10:08 AM, said:

"Marauder Charlie right torso, Marauder Charlie right torso, he's got dual rac5s and his shoulder is exposed."

Too long. "Marauder Charlie, right torso" is all the info your team needs. The more you talk, the more you distract your own team. Try to keep commands meaningful, short and clear.

Edited by Daggett, 26 December 2018 - 11:20 AM.

[RickySpanish]

I don't usually override shut down. I know, I'm terrible. Most often though shutting down doesn't happen in front of someone, since I watch my heat closely. I'd rather prevent the structural damage.

I do call out targets on the command wheel though, especially if I'd like to see which way someone is going to run in when they duck behind cover. Actually I can't believe that is even in the game, it's totally broken lol.

[Jman5]

My advice is try not to be too cutesy with your tactics and focus on fundamentals (doing more damage, living longer, and sticking with the team). Target calling and communication is great, but if you're over-focused on flamers and stealth armor, you may not be helping the team as much as you would if you were just pounding them with more firepower.

RickySpanish, on 26 December 2018 - 11:44 AM, said:

I don't usually override shut down. I know, I'm terrible. Most often though shutting down doesn't happen in front of someone, since I watch my heat closely. I'd rather prevent the structural damage.

I don't either. I think I'd get a little more out of my performance if I started using it more toward the end of a match when the game is a lock or I'm about to die. However, I don't agree with the guys who always turn it on at the start. The only players I ever see using it well are the tip-top players. So many others just burn their mech away for no good reason. Losing 3% may not sound that bad, but if you're a Madcat MK II, you just double-gaussed yourself in the CT. /slow clap

Edited by Jman5, 26 December 2018 - 04:53 PM.

[Koniving]

FRAGTAST1C, on 26 December 2018 - 09:28 AM, said:

By that, I mean, on a regular basis of QP, do you do anything else other than the basics like override shutdown, targeting, speaking on comms, etc.,?

Depends on what I'm doing and the situation, typically no. Aside from an apparent ace or two on the other team or a semi-cohesive front with a flanking maneuver of more than two mechs, there isn't much else to do.

This said when I occasionally turn my pilot's head to look out the side windows to keep aware of my surroundings even when I'm laying DPS suppression fire down range, as the fire support units are the best targets for any flanking maneuver. Since I've taken to boldly labeling what my mech is, enemies can see this from quite far away and as such I'm likely a popular candidate for such attacks (I like to purposely goad enemies as I enjoy getting chances to spar/brawl in an active field and this suckers people into getting close. Sometimes in small overwhelming groups but that's part of the fun).

Beyond this, I also enjoy using a skill I picked up in 2012 of using both crosshairs. While efficient kills dictate keeping them together to push all your firepower forward, I find that I have many opportunities to use this skill.
For example:

Engaged against a heavy or assault and a light is pestering you at medium to close range, can keep the + crosshair on the heavy or assault and use the o crosshair to engage and ward off the light. With sufficient rear armor I can briefly ignore even your average Piranha while I deal with a greater threat, and then kill the fish after the fact. Ideally if you do this you'll want to land those leg shots, this'll help keep it from being able to get behind you easily.

Engaging enemies at mid to long range on two fronts, while either holding position or retreating backwards. Here you can fire shots at what is either two enemies or a narrow firing line (+) and a wide firing lane (o) to keep enemies back or to deliver damage while trying to get some distance. Once one of their armors begin to cave, of course, bring all firepower to bare until that one is destroyed and quickly strike the other one as that player will now rush you.

Of course these are things I do to make the game a bit more enjoyable.

[GeminiWolf]

FRAGTAST1C, on 26 December 2018 - 09:28 AM, said:

By that, I mean, on a regular basis of QP, do you do anything else other than the basics like override shutdown, targeting, speaking on comms, etc.,?

The reason why I'm asking is I think I'm ready to tackle more than just target, fire and kill. I think I can take the next step and do more like scout more efficiently, utilize stealth armour when needed intelligently, disable enemies by overheating, etc.,

I also need some help in picking out a mech that can do this and play well. I was looking at this PARALYZER and it fits the criteria. Any suggestions for improving upon that or do you have something completely different in mind for me?

There are two go-to mechs for me, when i want to do things like you want to try out... Its my ECM Commando and my ECM Raven... My Commando is SRM4's with 2 UAV and 2 ART... my Raven is 2 LL and fast.

[El Bandito]

FRAGTAST1C, on 26 December 2018 - 09:28 AM, said:

By that, I mean, on a regular basis of QP, do you do anything else other than the basics like override shutdown, targeting, speaking on comms, etc.,?

Always be mindful of proper positioning. Very important when you play Assaults, since that determines your biggest asset, the ability to do massive damage per match.

[NimoStar]

Im involved with the game mechanics but I am not involved at all with the battletech world... the game could be a generic mech shooter as far as I am concerned. And I don't mean that in a good way.

Also, we need a more agrarian map (as in, farms and stuff), it is something mechcommander I and II did well for ambience. Most of IS worlds are just farms as far as I remember...

[VonBruinwald]

Being able to toggle LAMS/ECM Modes/Stealth Armour and weapon groups is a handy skillset.

A sneaky way to get you started:

• Bind one of your spare mouse keys to "Toggle Weapon Group".
  
• Start of the match (ideally while you're still in the dropship) highlight the appropriate LAMS/ECM/Stealth system using your cursor keys
  
• You can now toggle the selected system without having to think about the right key mid-match

A lot of people like to leave LAMS/ECM in their default mode but being able to switch them easily (especially when your hot with LAMS) makes them much more valuable.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Jman5, on 26 December 2018 - 12:06 PM, said:

However, I don't agree with the guys who always turn it on at the start. The only players I ever see using it well are the tip-top players. So many others just burn their mech away for no good reason.

I don't override at the start or at the end. I override only when I need to. For e.g., when I'm up against an Annihilator and I need to keep discharging alpha strike after alpha strike with my MRM 60 and AC20, then I override immediately. After the said enemy is down, I switch off the override and try to cool down a bit while shooting conservatively.

Also, when you're scouting in a stealth mech, it is necessary, I think, to not wade into the enemy or be too quick in trying to flank them. It's better to call out the enemy paths, do hit-n-run and then at mid-to-late game, go in for the kills and help your teammates more directly.

[Vellron2005]

FRAGTAST1C, on 26 December 2018 - 09:28 AM, said:

By that, I mean, on a regular basis of QP, do you do anything else other than the basics like override shutdown, targeting, speaking on comms, etc.,?

The reason why I'm asking is I think I'm ready to tackle more than just target, fire and kill. I think I can take the next step and do more like scout more efficiently, utilize stealth armour when needed intelligently, disable enemies by overheating, etc.,

I also need some help in picking out a mech that can do this and play well. I was looking at this PARALYZER and it fits the criteria. Any suggestions for improving upon that or do you have something completely different in mind for me?

My level of involvement is greatly dependent on the people I play with..

When I play solo, I swing from "super-star" to "started playing yesterday rookie mistakes" and back again, depending on a number of factors..

But then I play with "the crew", I tend to focus much better, and often find myswelf in "super star mode"..

By "Super star mode" I mean doing the following:

1) Communicating actively with the team
2) Organizing strategy, or following the drop commander
3) Looking out for any and all NARC-ed targets, making sure I follow called targets and bring them down
4) Call out / shoot down UAVs.
5) Suppress enemy movement
6) Anticipate enemy movement and called targets
7) Calling out targets for NARC-ing
8) Popping own UAVs and helping defend others from lights
9) If in a light - scouting, NARC-ing, and keeping the enemy harrased
10) Hammering the enemy and making them soft for brawlers
11) Not going for the personal glory of the kill, instead switching targets to suppress and strip armor
12) Staying with the team during pushes and nascaring
13) Firing at multiple targets at the same time
14) Finding the best lines to make use of friendly NARCs
15) Making sure that if in a hopeless situation, I overheat, and deny the enemy a kill.
16) Making sure that if I'm out of LRM ammo, I use the rest of my mech to tank damage and be a shield during a push.

[Tier5 Kerensky]

Not really a lot. After 17k matches Im quite on autopilot.

Occasinally I will have these moments, when I realize with how little bit extra, I could have played a particular situation much better. But I don't think I'm learning. Im roughlty playing the same way over and over. Of course, that's perfectly fine by me. Whenever I want something new, I usually take new mech and new distinctly different loadout for it.

[Malachy Karrde]

I don't use the voice comms. Cant stand interacting with teenagers who think they are Kai Allard in the flesh. That said, I usually use heavy to assault mechs and you have to be on top of your game to be successful. You have one chance usually to take out that noob in the light that thinks hes the sh*t for sneaking around at 140kph, when your team nascars off and leaves all the big boys who carry the match without support.

Edited by Malachy Karrde, 27 December 2018 - 01:20 PM.

[Nightbird]

Everyone is thinking... the question is, are you thinking more than your opponent? If yes, you'll have a W/L ratio >1, if no, then W/L <1.

[Ilfi]

The less you think about the game in Quick Play, the better. There's too many reasons to have an aneurysm when you start to inspect what people are saying and doing. Mute VOIP, keep it simple and leave the game once you're dead.