18 replies to this topic

[SomeMoron]

Hi all,

I came back to MWO a few months ago and have been on the losing side more often than not the entire time. I figured that since the player base is shrinking the overall skill of the players is probably higher now than it was before and that might explain it. I bought a Huntsman Phaket in the hope this would do better than the Shadowcat I was mostly using but after 75 games I'm at a win/lose ration of 0.72 and right on the cusp of dropping to Tier V

I don't want to keep losing but this seems to be my lot, so if I'm now to be a tier V scrub, so be it, I'm only worried by the fact that I've seen a couple of mentions of getting banned if you drop a tier, which makes absolutely no sense to me at all.
Is this actually a thing? I know they're thinking about shaking up the whole tier system at some point - should I wait until then before playing again or was this just something that happened to a few people who deliberately went afk or suicided in order to drop tiers and pad stats?

Can anyone confirm I should be worried about dropping tiers?

Thanks!

[Bud Crue]

There is no in game penalty for being bad, or dropping Tier, unless you are TK-ing, or otherwise violating the rules to intentionally lose.

[SomeMoron]

Thanks Bud Crue, that makes me feel better, onwards and downwards!

[Ignatius Audene]

And don't forget the basics. Tune mouse sense down. Half your current value and when u think it is to slow, half it again.
Bind arm lock to a key, so can fight of lights etc. but put your burn in the same location better.
The biggest other problem are maybe mech build and positioning.
https://grimmechs.is...im.org/Database

[General Solo]

Do you know they add 4 man groups to solo queue!
That might explain your bad time of lately.
Its kinda like faction warfare for soloes at the moment, just no respawns or siege.

[Tarl Cabot]

The present Tier/PSR system was setup to try to separate newbies from the wolves majority of the times. And as OZHomerOZ has noted, solo and group queue have been combined, allowing a max 4-man w/weight limits to drop into queue. And PGI is also reviewing doing a Tier and PSR reset.

With that said, follow up with what Ignatius Audene has posted, both mouse and mech building/positioning. Shadowcat is definitely not for everyone and tends to be a niched mech. As for Huntsman, I love that mech. For me, I consider it the Clan's version of the Shadowhawk, and I have played them without switching out the pods which has worked for all but one of them. Drop the streaks for 4xSRM4s, cLPL and 2 erML if keeping the default pods to keep the quirk bonuses.

And with mech building. max armor with 4-9 or so back armor (weight class dependent) unless your intention is to almost always be doing a lot of running from the enemy and showing your backside instead of torso twisting to show side/arms. If shaving any armor then only a few points from arms/legs. You can get away from removing armor from legs as you go up in weight, just do not go to extreme. People will remember and they will be legging you most of the time...

A few other things. F9. What does your FPS run? A low FPS with a non-optimized system can also make playing.. difficult.. And if low FPS or other difficulties, post your system specs.

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 21 June 2020 - 06:17 AM.

[SomeMoron]

Thanks for all the tips guys!

My main problem does seem to be positioning - I'm almost always in the wrong place and when I try to flank I generally get lit up by the enemy team. I go into each map with the intention of sticking with an assault mech and trying to support with my AMS but more often than not find myself fighting multiple mechs because I'm out of cover and position.

My FPS seems ok, it's usually somewhere between 50 and 60 (although sometimes it gets into the 30s) but it doesn't feel too choppy. My mouse speed is currently on 0.18 with smooth on 0.3 and no acceleration. I can reduce further but feel like I would have trouble hitting close-up light mechs

I've been trying out a lot of different builds for the Huntsman and have ended up mostly using 6 MPL with AMS and a lot of heat sinks. This isn't taking advantage of quirks but seems to work a bit better for me than the other builds I've tried. To be fair, I've not tried the default build much so I should play a few games with that setup and see how I do. I like simple weapon groups, I don't want to be trying to manage more than 2 mouse buttons as I only have a basic mouse

I've been watching a lot of Baradul and feel like I understand the torso twist thing, it's just that for me, if i get shot I tend to lose an arm or torso almost immediately so this doesn't feel like it helps me much. I was going to get a Crab (just missed the sale!) as this seems more suited to receiving damage than the Huntsman but I think for now I should concentrate more on not standing on top of a hill in view of 5 enemy mechs

I had already moved some armor from the back to the front (I've left 6 on the back) so I think the armor is about right - I've left legs alone for now

My skill tree is a mess, I've only unlocked about 60 nodes so far but they're kind of unfocused since I have been using so many different builds (ATMs, Streaks, LRMs, SRMS and various laser builds) - If I can find a build I'm happy with I can tailor the skill tree better but for now I have no idea what build to use

I'll try Tarl Cabot's suggestion of the default build with Streaks swapped for SRMs next, then I'll have a read through the link Ignatius Audene provided and see if this helps me find a more suitable build - thanks Ignatius!

You've all been very helpful, I really appreciate it! Thanks again!

[Tarl Cabot]

Huntsman is a fast mech, and the faster the mech the better it is at avoidance, as long as it is not a straight line towards the enemy. Use speed to your advantage. And since it is a med, being first is not a good idea unless it is a quick peek then move. And if you are primarily cMPL right now, it is not meant for long range combat anyhow.

As for Skills, start small. It took several weeks to flesh out the skills on my alt account, and the skills used on the same mech are different than the skills on my main account.

I first hit up *Sensors - 11 pts on left side - for 3 radar dep and a seismic sensor. The ability to lose lock sooner is nice, as well as having at least one seismic sensor for that around the corner, coming near threats.
*Mobility 17 points, primarily aimed at Torso pitch, with whatever is in line. This provides the ability to pitch the torso-mounted weapons further up or down. Toggle torso lock allows freer movement for arms mounted weapons.

Firepower 43 points including UAC, Enhanced and laser duration with all the other items

These two I am reviewing with consideration on flipping some from Firepower
Operations 10 points left side coolrun/heat containment
Survival 10 points in right side Skeletal Density

[Ignatius Audene]

Turn smooth of!

[VonBruinwald]

SomeMoron, on 20 June 2020 - 03:29 PM, said:

I don't want to keep losing but this seems to be my lot, so if I'm now to be a tier V scrub, so be it, I'm only worried by the fact that I've seen a couple of mentions of getting banned if you drop a tier, which makes absolutely no sense to me at all.
Is this actually a thing?

Tier is a matchmaker function, the number is nothing to worry about unless you're a try-hard with an e-peen bigger than your actual.

The whole "ban tier 5" thing is a salty meme from try-hards who lose a few and are looking for someone else to blame. And just like any other salt, toss it.

[Vorpal Puppy]

Here are my thoughts for your consideration.

If you have the C-bills to get another mech, I would suggest you get a Cicada 3M. Run it with an XL300, Endo & light ferro, max armor everywhere on the torsos, CT, and legs. Strip the arms bare and drop the head armor a tick or two. Run it with an LPL and 3 ERML. You should have space to put the 2 additional heat sinks in the engine plus 2 more in the torsos.

The 3M has ECM which will help you be less noticed when you do get yourself out of position. It will also go over 120 kph to get you out of bad spots faster. Instead of trying to brawl, the LPL and ERML have optimum range around 400 m unskilled. It's fairly heat efficient - put the LPL and ERMLs in separate firing groups. Alpha until you get hot, then you can continue firing just the LPL and still slowly cool off if you are being ignored. Use your ECM & speed to poke the enemy from 400-500m.

By surviving longer, you will learn the maps and good positioning quicker.

[VonBruinwald]

Vorpal Puppy, on 21 June 2020 - 12:27 PM, said:

Here are my thoughts for your consideration.

If you have the C-bills to get another mech, I would suggest you get a Cicada 3M.

By surviving longer, you will learn the maps and good positioning quicker.

This is all true, although I would run an alternative load out.

+20% cooldown -30% jam... more dakka for me, more pain for you. +20% velocity for the lulz.

[YueFei]

Here's some advice about cornering technique: don't hug corners tightly as you go around them.

It has to do with a trick of perspective. You can also look up "slicing the pie tactic".

See this video for an explanation of how the perspective trick works:


This video is about CounterStrike, but the same principles apply to MWO, and in fact give an even stronger advantage in MWO than in CS, because MWO has much slower timings.

This will prevent you from cornering into 2 or more enemies simultaneously (and taking a bad 1v2 trade). This also helps even in a 1v1 trade, because if you're farther from the corner than the opponent is, you'll see them first, and this gives you the chance to hit them before they can see and shoot you. Even if you have too much momentum to completely stop and reverse before they can shoot back, it still gives you ample time to torso twist and shield against their return fire.

Related to this is the concept of "key-holing". That way, your field of fire is "narrow" instead of "wide", so there's less angles you can get shot from. If you hold this position (instead of just peeking it now and then), you will have a chance to see an enemy first as he begins peeking, letting you get off the first shot. This lets you stare down a lane (rather than being behind cover) with less risk of being shot at from unexpected angles.

Ramps: go up ramps diagonally, rather than straight up and back. This adds a lateral component to your movement, forcing enemies to lead you (with projectiles) or track you (with lasers). If you need to reverse back down the ramp, don't come to a dead stop to reverse back down the ramp until after you've torso-twisted into a shielding pose.

Remember that even in a bad position, you can still have good positioning. And, as the video demonstrates, the difference between good positioning and bad positioning can be very small. In MWO, it can be a matter of 20 or 30 meters being the difference between good positioning and bad positioning.

Edited by YueFei, 21 June 2020 - 10:53 PM.

[crazytimes]

Lights and fast mediums require a bit of skill and experience to play. Consider a heavy with a bit of armour and speed. Linebacker, thunderbolt, hellbringer, roughneck kind of thing. A bit more forgiving while you are learning positioning and bring enough firepower to make it worthwhile.

Baradul builds are more for fun than meta. Some are exceptionally bad ideas for novices.

[letir]

Clan mech in general demand more attention to the positioning, especially harassers like Shadow Cat. I would recommend tougher IS 'Mechs as starters - Bushwacker, Crab, Champion, Roughneck, Marauder - pretty good picks for attacking in the first line.

That said, you should learn positioning first and foremost. Splashing damage would be useless against several opponents. Learn to stay with the pack and pocking at appropriate moments.

[SomeMoron]

Thanks for all the advice!

Lots to consider there, I'll start out by disabling mouse smoothing and watching that perspective video


As for changing mech, I'm not totally against it but was hoping my mobility in the Huntsman would help me get out of bad spots rather than getting into them (which is what seems to happen) A lighter mech (like the Shadow Cat I was playing before) can be quite unforgiving when caught so I would probably get something heavier rather than lighter for my next mech (I do have an Adder and a Kodiak but I feel like playing the Kodiak requires a better than average player or those 100 Tons are wasted. The Adder is named "Shiny Coffin")

I'll mull over the various mechs suggested and see if anything stands out, I quite like the Huntsman though and don't want to blame my performance on the mech as I have also tried a Hunchback and a Nova and struggled with those too

Thanks again!

[CFC Conky]

My advice would be to just keep playing, you'll get better eventually. You're asking for advice, which is half the battle.

Good hunting,
CFC Conky

[Eidoloth]

Consider playing some light mechs or lighter mediums for a while. I find that they are more forgiving for personal positioning, team errors, and objective goals. Slow mechs often require you and your team to be in the right spot at the right time, and being slow if you aren't it's a lot harder to get there. Be in the wrong spot and the enemy will tear you apart instantly. Lights allow you to make corrections on the fly and if you get caught you can still disengage. Try playing above 75kph for medium and around 120+kph for lights.

Once you have a better understanding of how the herd mentality goes, you can better predict where you need to put your 60kph slowpoke when the fight starts.

If you want an easy button play a 6+ ac/2 mech or a 3+ lb10x and cheese everyone.

[thievingmagpi]

lots of little tips for sure, but the two most important things to focus on:

1) ABS.

Always

Be

Shooting.


If you aren't shooting, you aren't winning. It's pretty simple. The amount of people in this game who don't shoot the enemy is staggering.

2) don't take unnecessary damage.


When you're playing, just think "can I do these two things?" If the answer is no, find a different place on the map. There's no other big secret. If your heat bar is at 0, you're playing the game wrong. If you're taking more return fire than you're putting out, you're playing wrong.