31 replies to this topic

[Sagara Sousuke 011011001]

I thought I'd report back. My tailspin seems to have stabilized a bit so thats good. I'm still experimenting with some of the mid / long builds (like the WHR with ACs and PPCs to take advantage of the ppc quirks) I've also taken the advice of pairing the UAC10s with matching range lasers which has had a noticeable impact.

I dumped the SRMs on the bushwacker and bolstered armor. I am experimenting a bit with rockets though, which have an interesting game impact. For instance, was playing mine collective and noticed my team stalling on the ramps having lost the high ground. I'm now stuck low and some of the enemy team is swing around the low ground to box us in. I hold the corner against their lead assault mech and fire 4 salvos of UAC 10s each time hugging the corner for cover from his return fire. At this point, I think he assumes i'm just a lowly medium by myself so he pushes my corner and then i unload the rockets. One more UAC salvo and he's down. I think that allowed the team enough time and space to get out of the death trap.

I'm not sure how effective the rockets are long term but in QP, it seems to provide the added ability of opening up 1 machine for a quick death. I've also tried holding on to the rockets in to the mid game as well.

Edited by Sagara Sousuke 011011001, 12 March 2019 - 11:14 AM.

[Tesunie]

Sagara Sousuke 011011001, on 12 March 2019 - 11:13 AM, said:

I'm not sure how effective the rockets are long term but in QP, it seems to provide the added ability of opening up 1 machine for a quick death. I've also tried holding on to the rockets in to the mid game as well.

In QP, Rockets can work. Just don't go ALL rockets... That's a won shot wonder of... well... It's not very good.

[Tarl Cabot]

If I missed it, I apologize in advance. And though many may run eventually run with front loaded armor there are still those who do not, or are no as aware of it and think mech has paper thin armor.

Front Load armor and max it out. Back armor anywhere from 3-8 pts then max out all three front torso locations. Do not skimp on leg armor.. 50-60 pts (varies). Arms can be shaved if no weapons but if it has great shield potential (many humanoid mechs)....cockpit.. /shudders.. one point removed at most...

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 12 March 2019 - 07:19 PM.

[Gagis]

Tarl Cabot, on 12 March 2019 - 07:18 PM, said:

Do not skimp on leg armor... cockpit.. /shudders.. one point removed at most...

Its fairly rare for someone to try to kill a heavy or assault mech by targeting the legs, so it is often safe to shave quite a bit off of them, in order to invest in firepower you need all the time.

Same goes for cockpit. You get headshotted like once every 5 years. There is absolutely no need to waste tonnage for something that is so unlikely to help. If you die to it, thats fine, since you'll win more the times no one hits your head.

[Sagara Sousuke 011011001]

Tarl Cabot, on 12 March 2019 - 07:18 PM, said:

If I missed it, I apologize in advance. And though many may run eventually run with front loaded armor there are still those who do not, or are no as aware of it and think mech has paper thin armor.

Front Load armor and max it out. Back armor anywhere from 3-8 pts then max out all three front torso locations. Do not skimp on leg armor.. 50-60 pts (varies). Arms can be shaved if no weapons but if it has great shield potential (many humanoid mechs)....cockpit.. /shudders.. one point removed at most...

Gagis, on 12 March 2019 - 10:37 PM, said:

Its fairly rare for someone to try to kill a heavy or assault mech by targeting the legs, so it is often safe to shave quite a bit off of them, in order to invest in firepower you need all the time.

Same goes for cockpit. You get headshotted like once every 5 years. There is absolutely no need to waste tonnage for something that is so unlikely to help. If you die to it, thats fine, since you'll win more the times no one hits your head.

Are there any Draconis Combine Units willing to take on a newish player like me? (from Btech lore I most identify with House Kurita)

By the way, I now have 4000 MC and would like to get a hero mech that bests suits me. Originally I wanted the Ghillie but after playing the PHX-1b i realize that style of play has its limits. I'd prefer a 60 to 75 ton machine that works best with uac 5s or 10s.

Edited by Sagara Sousuke 011011001, 12 March 2019 - 11:06 PM.

[Gagis]

I am extremely fond of the Rifleman Legend-Killer. It's not that special on paper, but in practice it has just enough velocity, agility and firepower to be consistently applying damage where it is needed, resulting in some of my best matches.

The classic build runs LB10X's with (ER) Medium Lasers, but I have switched to LPPC's like so: https://mech.nav-alp...5c7b1174_RFL-LK

You might be able to squeeze in AC10's if you downgrade the engine to XL264 or UAC10's if you leave out the LPPC's. I prefer LB10 over both of them. I also have a matching Firebrand with 2x AC10 + 2x LPPC, but the Legend-Killer has much better agility and thus better performance.

Edited by Gagis, 13 March 2019 - 12:21 AM.

[Horseman]

Sagara Sousuke 011011001, on 12 March 2019 - 11:05 PM, said:

By the way, I now have 4000 MC and would like to get a hero mech that bests suits me. Originally I wanted the Ghillie but after playing the PHX-1b i realize that style of play has its limits. I'd prefer a 60 to 75 ton machine that works best with uac 5s or 10s.

Wait for a hero sale when you can snag them for 50% off. The Black Widow (hero Warhammer) is probably your best bet, but Sleipnir (Cyclops hero) can do quad ballistics and - as all Cyclops variants - has the handling of a 60-tonner.
If you're not dead set on it being an IS mech, the Sun Spider can do 2xUAC10 + ECM.

Edited by Horseman, 13 March 2019 - 02:28 AM.

[ImperialKnight]

Sagara Sousuke 011011001, on 12 March 2019 - 11:05 PM, said:

Are there any Draconis Combine Units willing to take on a newish player like me? (from Btech lore I most identify with House Kurita)

By the way, I now have 4000 MC and would like to get a hero mech that bests suits me. Originally I wanted the Ghillie but after playing the PHX-1b i realize that style of play has its limits. I'd prefer a 60 to 75 ton machine that works best with uac 5s or 10s.

I would say you're pretty much left the Warhammer hero, Black Widow, on the IS side if those are your requirements. You could run ballistics on other IS heavies, but they're all worse than the WHM. You could buy the WHM-6R to see whether you like the chassis' ballistics performance before throwing MCs on the Hero.

Sun Spider is a good bet on the Clan side, if a little low on the pod space. The ECM is a bonus, but it really limits your build options, as the LT pod has no weapon hard points.

And as mentioned, only buy Heroes on 50% sales

[Renzor the Red]

Andivari, on 05 March 2019 - 01:12 PM, said:

I know exactly how you feel...

When I moved up from tier 3 to tier 2 it very much felt like hitting a wall.... the addition of those tier 1 players were a noticeable difference. My match scores dropped drastically, my ktd tanked, and I did the same thing you did... tweaked my fits and got frustrated.

Ultimately I had rethink how I was playing.

• I stopped looking at my listed stats
  
• Stopped (still trying honestly) YOLOing in thinking I could manage.
  
• Did my best to never be alone.
  
• Used fits from some of the streamers, tweaking to taste.
  
• Used in game comms.

Granted, none of that is probably revolutionary and some might not be applicable to you, but I'm closing in on tier 1 now and my match scores are looking so much better than where they were previously.... and I'm having fun.

I saw a huge difference in difficulty when I went from Tier 4 to Tier 3. Now, I don't really feel it. I played 200 or so matches since then on the Lucky Charms event etc., and I've no doubt learned some stuff and gotten better, but here's some interesting stuff that affected me:

1. I learned that the matchmaking puts you with Tiers two levels on either side of you. So going up into Tier 3 opened me up to Tier 1 players, but I was also still with noobs. The games had a lot of variance. Since then, realizing that there won't be much difference in match-making as I move up, I stopped paying attention to the numbers, and they've been steadily getting better. My mindset changed, and if I hit a wall and my match scores goes down until I'm bumped back down or whatever (could happen, I guess), I won't much care.

2. I started using a mic, too. I think that's helped, being more coordinated, and helping to call out vulnerabilities to help my team win after I'm dead.

Now I'm halfway to Tier 3.

[Bloodwitch]

Tesunie, on 06 March 2019 - 07:47 AM, said:

Unless something changed, T1 is not suppose to drop with T4 or T5. T2 doesn't drop with T5s either (and vice versa). There is a separation of two tiers, which is why T3 can drop with anyone.

The current pairings are:
T1: T1, T2, T3.
T2: T1, T2, T3, T4, but if drops with T4, can't have T1 in match*.
T3: T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, But if drops with T1, can't have T4 or 5 in match. Same in reverse.*
T4: T2, T3, T4, T5, but if drops with T2, can't have T5 in match. *
T5: T3, T4, T5.

Thus is why T3 tends to actually be the hardest tier to get through, as you can't predict what skill level of players you are likely to be with. You might drop into an upper T1, T2 and T3 player match, or a lower T3, T4 and T5 player match. It's the wild card tier.

* I will make mention here that it is possible for T1 and T5 to drop together, but very "special" situations have to be achieved (waiting a long time for the match to form, with very low population. As in so low that it can't form a normal match otherwise).

So i've asked ingame with a tier 2 account
tier 2
1: 2-3 mix
2: 1-2 mix
3: 1-2 blue
4: 2-3 mix
5: 2-3 blue
6: 1-2 mix
7: 2 (no info)
8: 1-4 mix
9: 1-2 mix
10: 1-2 blue / red no info (blue 12:0)
11: 1-2 mix
12: 1-4 mix (red 12:11)
13: 1-2 mix
14: 1-2 mix (red 12:0)
15: 1-2 mix
16: 1-2 mix
17: 1-2 mix
18: 1-2 mix
19: 1-3 blue
20: 1-4 (4blue)

Small sample size but in 15% tier 1 and 4 played together.

[Tesunie]

Kunato Developments, on 07 April 2019 - 11:35 AM, said:

So i've asked ingame with a tier 2 account
tier 2
1: 2-3 mix
2: 1-2 mix
3: 1-2 blue
4: 2-3 mix
5: 2-3 blue
6: 1-2 mix
7: 2 (no info)
8: 1-4 mix
9: 1-2 mix
10: 1-2 blue / red no info (blue 12:0)
11: 1-2 mix
12: 1-4 mix (red 12:11)
13: 1-2 mix
14: 1-2 mix (red 12:0)
15: 1-2 mix
16: 1-2 mix
17: 1-2 mix
18: 1-2 mix
19: 1-3 blue
20: 1-4 (4blue)

Small sample size but in 15% tier 1 and 4 played together.

First, the notation on the quoted post:

Tesunie, on 06 March 2019 - 07:47 AM, said:

* I will make mention here that it is possible for T1 and T5 to drop together, but very "special" situations have to be achieved (waiting a long time for the match to form, with very low population. As in so low that it can't form a normal match otherwise).

With that re-mentioned, I congratulate you for doing some research and tests. Actually rather useful information. Some questions arise though with the data collection:
- What time of day was this data gathered? If it's off prime time with lower population, then it will have an impact.
- How long did you wait for each match to form? This isn't completely relevant though, because the opening of the tiers is based upon the "seed" player, and not necessarily you specifically. But, if those matches with T1 and T4 players in at the same match had a long wait time, it probably meant population was low enough that the seed player waited long enough to open those gates.
- How do we know someone wasn't fibbing when chatting their PSR rank to others? This has nothing to do with your specific data gathering, as I think it's great you did that work. It's more about the honest integrity of the data sources... (if you know what I mean.)

I will make note that it was mentioned at "one point" that PSR tiers were being paired with an additional option on each end (AKA: T1 and T4 could be paired) after a relatively short short seed waiting time. Last I heard, this change was quickly revised and it was reverted back to the original requisites.

I would love to mention again (so there is no false hurt feelings) that I love the fact you actually did the leg work. I'd love to see even more data entry like this from more players.

[Bloodwitch]

Tesunie, on 07 April 2019 - 02:13 PM, said:

- What time of day was this data gathered?

Over the course of 2 days (last days of the last lootbag event). Mainly late EU prime time.

Tesunie, on 07 April 2019 - 02:13 PM, said:

- How long did you wait for each match to form?

Fairly normal waiting times, nothing out of the ordinary

Tesunie, on 07 April 2019 - 02:13 PM, said:

- How do we know someone wasn't fibbing when chatting their PSR rank to others?

Some folks i did know (tier 1) as for the rest, i simply do not know other then what i was told.
I've asked nicely, explained what i want to know and why i want to know it. Most people answered in a similar fashion back.

I might add that lower tier players (3,4) are a lot more reserved when giving out their tier number, they do joke about tier more often (tier 0, 6, 69)

Tier 1,2 usually answeres right away.

Some folks appearently didn't know what tier they're in.