29 replies to this topic

[Renzor the Red]

So I've been playing since sometime in December, and I have 300-something matches under my belt. I've become what I consider a moderately good player, reliably getting match scores over 250ish and sometimes over 500. I've broken 1000 damage once (without LRM's) and get close to it sometimes. Yet, My progress bar on the Tier advancement seems to always be around the 3/5 mark. Does it just take a really long freaking time to advance to Tier 4?

I'm not too concerned with the Tiers. I'll play whatever. But I'm just curious.

Maybe you don't start advancing until you're regularly buying and using consumables?

(Edit: I just saw on the leaderboards that my average match score for Season 30 is 252 currently.)

Edited by renzor51, 27 January 2019 - 02:19 AM.

[JC Daxion]

If your stuck in t5, then really you need to get better. I am not saying this as a knock on you at all, just more of a mater of fact. Playing well is really the only way. People in T1 would get 4-6 kills per match and always be top scorers unless there is another smurf around,

Seriously, enjoy where you are, one of the reasons why you are not moving i'm sure are your bad matches you are just playing with people better than you, you already are playing with T4 and T3 people, and most likely a T2 on occasion.

You are right about the consumables, it would add to your damage and help you get into T4 faster, but i don't think that would help you enjoy the game more. Just keep having fun man, you will get there!

[justcallme A S H]

Tiers are just a EXP bar. They are not representative of skill in any way.

The most important part is winning and damage/kills/KMDD/Solo Kills (all contribute highly to match score).

250 is your average this season over only 160 odd matches. It will take many 100s yet. If you manage to get to a 300 match score average it will start moving noticeably more.

[Horseman]

Get a Mad Cat MkII B, arm it with 2xUAC10+2xLB10X or 2xUAC10+2xUAC5. You'll crush the enemy with your firepower and earn a fuckton of progress bar advancement.

[Phoenix 72]

Some random information: As long as you produce an average match score of over 170, you will eventually end up in Tier1. 220ish is the average, so 250+ is quite nice for a beginner.

If you had started out with your 250ish average, you would already be in T4. As it is, your lower performance in the first month dragged you down. the more matches you have, the harder it is to get visible jumps.The longer it takes to raise the exp bar.

Yes, consumables help a lot. If you can afford them, use them.

However, enjoy your time in T5. I recently started a new character again in T5 and have to say I enjoyed the games in T5 and T4 a lot more than the matches on this character. There was no Nascar (if you do not know what that means, count yourself lucky), more consistent gameplay and fewer missile boats.

[Maddermax]

I should also just say that you might hear of some people getting into T4 in just a few dozen matches. This is mainly because your first few matches (I think it’s your first 20 or so, but I can’t remember) are massively weighted, to make sure good players aren’t sitting around farming lower tiers. So if you kind of sucked in your first few matches, but then improved to a good average score, you’ll still be a ways behind someone who played well right out of the gate.

That said, tier means very little, and some of the most fun you can have is in the mid tier games, when people are still learning and trying unusual tactics. So don’t think it reflects badly on you and try and rush through only playing meta assaults, explore the different types of mechs and have some fun, and level up at your own pace.

Edited by Maddermax, 26 January 2019 - 03:38 AM.

[R E X I OS]

I started playing in December now im tier 1 full bar.
But let me tell you I enjoyed playing tier 4,3 a lot more players were there and QP found matches in a few seconds.

[bilagaana]

I've been playing since May 2018, so claim no expertise. However, it's my impression from several thousand matches and from reading many forum posts (read that as "complaints") on the subject that the PSR (Tier) ranking system, though well-intentioned, is irretrievably broken. It clearly rewards quantity of play over quality, of which yours truly is admittedly a prime example.

The performance of the team to which you are assigned is obviously a major determinant of success in a given match. Assuming a random distribution over time (note, however, there are those who make the case that the matchmaker is anything but random) chances are you'll end up on about as many winning as losing teams.Team wins count for more than losses--you will observe that the bar advances to a greater degree for a win but decreases only slightly for multiple losses. So, quantity can eclipse quality.

There is also the fact that, as stated above, higher-tier players habitually create alternate accounts so as to be able to play in lower tiers. That being the case, no amount of statistical jiggering could result in a pilot ranking system that is accurate and equitable and capable of producing the ideal of stratified matches based on common skill levels.

As several respondents have noted, enjoy the gameplay in the so-called lower tiers. You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

[loopala]

Tier 5 for life. although i am in tier 4 at the time i a posting this, i maybe back into tier 5 soon.
I have been playing since 2013 and have about 7000 games since the big reset. almost 10k total. i am still in tier 4/5. makes a few people scratch their head bit here i am. many reasons for it. sometimes just plain old bad luck keeps you down. don't worry about it. if your having fun, nobody cares what tier your in.

[Renzor the Red]

Yeah, I've gotta say that for the first few weeks I was regularly getting my a$$ handed to me for stupid stuff like trying to brawl with my Cheetah, being too aggressive, not using cover, being too much of a lone wolf, etc.

Sometimes I still die quickly when the other team gets a route and totally crushes my side 12 to 1, but I'm mostly around to the end, and at times I see I have the highest match score of my team. I just thought it was weird that I seem to be stuck in Tier 5. Looks like I'm making up for the poor performance in the beginning.

[Maddermax]

renzor51, on 26 January 2019 - 10:29 PM, said:

Yeah, I've gotta say that for the first few weeks I was regularly getting my a$$ handed to me for stupid stuff like trying to brawl with my Cheetah, being too aggressive, not using cover, being too much of a lone wolf, etc.

Sometimes I still die quickly when the other team gets a route and totally crushes my side 12 to 1, but I'm mostly around to the end, and at times I see I have the highest match score of my team. I just thought it was weird that I seem to be stuck in Tier 5. Looks like I'm making up for the poor performance in the beginning.

That's about the sum of it - my friend and I had a fairly long hike through T5 ourselves, because when he introduced me to the game, we kept going into group matches for most of our first matches, not understanding that it meant we were up against T1 pilots in organized groups, often made of high level players. Once we understood that, we'd missed the window - however, the extra time up through the ranks is good, and gives you time to really get your solo game together before you get into the higher tiers.

Sounds like you're on the right track now, and improving rapidly. Learn how to drop call and some basic map strategies at low tiers, and you'll have a lot of fun, and remember: teamwork is OP, so stick together and you'll win. Good luck!

Edited by Maddermax, 26 January 2019 - 11:47 PM.

[Koniving]

A simple thing that a lot of new players tend to have an issue with when completely unfamiliar with the Mechwarrior/Battletech franchise. Where you shoot matters. You can shoot an enemy 50 ways to Sunday, but akin to the Resident Evil 2 remake, if you're not consistent, you're not gonna break any limbs or effectively make any real kills.

Target the enemy, look at their 'doll', and aim for the spots that are yellow and red whenever possible. There's some simple exceptions to that generalization that you'll learn as you go, but for the most part that's often the easiest way to improve.

[Tarl Cabot]

With experience under your belt, create alt account (need a different email address) and see how well you are able to move up with the cadet bonus. Just understand that moving up in tiers also means facing others with similar or more experience, both good and bad.

[Koniving]

As well as better players. PGI keeps changing whether you have the chance to face enemies up to 2, 3 or 4 tiers up, so be aware.

[Jman5]

Just keep doing your best and try to improve. 250+ average matchscore is the magic number that will keep your trajectory going forward so try to keep that up. 400+ matchscore wins will accelerate it further. Remember that PSR is win-biased so the more wins you get the quicker it will be.

It is an awful grind though, so my advice is to try not to focus on it too much and just enjoy your time. There is nothing really great about being higher tiers anyway. All it says is you have played the requisite number of games and performed on average at a certain level. You could easily get to tier 1 eventually with a matchscore lower than what you're doing now.

Edited by Jman5, 27 January 2019 - 09:04 AM.

[Renzor the Red]

As far as W/L, war is hell, man. There are so many games where things just turn bad early on and a team gets decimated. I think a single player's skill can make a difference to a degree, but the outcome will largely be determined by team cooperation, and you never know what you're gonna get there, lol. It seems easier to control my K/D ratio than my W/L ratio.

[PhoenixFire55]

renzor51, on 27 January 2019 - 05:53 PM, said:

As far as W/L, war is hell, man. There are so many games where things just turn bad early on and a team gets decimated. I think a single player's skill can make a difference to a degree, but the outcome will largely be determined by team cooperation, and you never know what you're gonna get there, lol. It seems easier to control my K/D ratio than my W/L ratio.

W/L is the only thing that matters tho. And best players in this game are capable of swinging W/L to 2.0 and higher in their favor in solo quickplay. Think on that. One player on a twelve-man team impacts the game enough to increase the chances of winning twofold. It is possible and that is what you should strife for. How many mechs you kill, how many times you die, how much damage you do, that is all irrelevant. The only thing that matters is winning. And if statistically over a large number of matches your W/L is climbing, then you are on the right track.

[Laser Kiwi]

When i first played i didn't know what i was doing and had an average match score of about 92 over 440 games in one month.

That doomed me to 3000 games in tier 5.

Now after 9000 or so matches my tier 1 bar is full. It accelerated when I average over 250 per match most months, that's an average. But it took so long because i was so terrible at first that the PSR digs a nice hole.

It takes a lot of time and grind to get there.

I started a smurfy account to see what happens when you sort of know what to do and how fast you can accelerate, i was in tier 4 after 5 matches and tier 3 on the second day, so the thing about early match weighting is definitely true.

[Laser Kiwi]

deleted

Edited by Laser Kiwi, 28 January 2019 - 03:49 AM.

[ImperialKnight]

are you spreading damage all over your mech before dying, or always getting CT cored? whenever you fire, are you able to answer the question "the weakest part of this mech is ___" in your mind before firing? are you able to place the damage onto where you want it to go on the enemy mech? are you able to recognise a stick mech, and leave it alone and engage other targets? are you able to identify sword and board builds, and resist the urge to pull the trigger when they present their shield to you? do you have high kill-to-damage ratio (something in the region of 1 kill per 100-200dmg)?

^what I consider Tier 1 play on a personal skill level, not even getting to map reading and positioning