39 replies to this topic

[Yoho]

I ran into this on several maps, but most of all it happens on HPG Manifold and Frozen-something (a huge flat field of snow).

What should I do as a close-range (~250m) medium mech when all the heavies and assaults just stand in narrow places and exchange fire at 600-1000 meters until dead? If I just poke my nose out, I am instantly under focused fire, and I can't support my allies because my weapon just doesn't reach anyone. If I manage to get closer (which does not happen often, because it's a lot of open space exposed to precision fire), they abandon their targets for a moment to crush me together, and then return to their fire duels... Seems true for the most lights and mediums on those maps. Yes, I've seen very fast runners with a battery of micro lasers... but even I destroyed them one on one on my medium.

Any hints from a pro? Except playing a free walking AMS all the time?

[Aidan Crenshaw]

Disclaimer: Not a pro.

Patience is key. Eventually, the tides of battle will tighten to ranges you can engage in. Make sure you have as much of your armour left as possible when this happens. Poke-fests can be very boring, prime example being Frozen City Assault, but take your time, look at your teammates, there might be others unable to engage at longer distances. Team up with them and either coordinate a push when the snipe-war has raged a bit or prepare to repel the enemy push.

[Yoho]

Aidan Crenshaw, on 11 August 2020 - 09:16 PM, said:

Patience is key. Eventually, the tides of battle will tighten to ranges you can engage in.

Ah, yes This usually happens when it's 0-6 by kills

Edited by Yoho, 11 August 2020 - 10:31 PM.

[Biomechtric]

What Aidan said. Maybe pend some time in the testing grounds & have a closer look at the areas you are having trouble, there are ways to move, under cover on most maps.

[AnAnachronismAlive]

If ye sit in a pure short-range build while all em big boys are throwing stones across the river, ye can

• Play guard-dog for 'em big boys early on by nuking / chasing away these nasty lights n fast mediums trying to rear yer friends. Dont chase them too hard once they bail out though and stay close to yer buds until the (late-game) brawl starts.
  
• Play wolf (if you are on a light or fast medium that is) or even better wolf pack by teaming up with another fast skirmisher and try to rear singled out enemies (lurm-boats etc.) yourself or attack the enemy assaults while they are occupied hitting yer big boys across the map.

Window of opportunity (or patience as Mr. Crenshaw mentioned) is key here ... place strikes when they are cuddled up, peek n shoot into their backs just to hide again once they start turning (helps rest of your team since ye draw guns away) or run right through em, cause a turmoil, place an uav, bail out at once to find yourself a somewhat secure area to start your next strike of opportunity from.

And - as some folks already mentioned - most maps provide safe areas to approach enemy lines via covered paths. Learn and utilize advantageous pathing / positioning to bring your alpha into (optimal) range.

Edited by AnAnachronismAlive, 13 August 2020 - 05:20 AM.

[Yoho]

AnAnachronismAlive, on 13 August 2020 - 05:16 AM, said:

If ye sit in a pure short-range build while all em big boys are throwing stones across the river, ye can

• Play guard-dog for 'em big boys early on by nuking / chasing away these nasty lights n fast mediums trying to rear yer friends. Dont chase them too hard once they bail out though and stay close to yer buds until the (late-game) brawl starts.
  
• Play wolf (if you are on a light or fast medium that is) or even better wolf pack by teaming up with another fast skirmisher and try to rear singled out enemies (lurm-boats etc.) yourself or attack the enemy assaults while they are occupied hitting yer big boys across the map.

Window of opportunity (or patience as Mr. Crenshaw mentioned) is key here ... place strikes when they are cuddled up, peek n shoot into their backs just to hide again once they start turning (helps rest of your team since ye draw guns away) or run right through em, cause a turmoil, place an uav, bail out at once to find yourself a somewhat secure area to start your next strike of opportunity from.


And - as some folks already mentioned - most maps provide safe areas to approach enemy lines via covered paths. Learn and utilize advantageous pathing / positioning to bring your alpha into (optimal) range.

Thank you, too.

You see, currently the medium in question is quite slow. I do not have C-Bills to install better engine yet. And I do not have too many sensor options, so I can't out-scout lights and kill them on approach. Maybe my build is not too good... Still I managed couple of tweaks to be more useful, currently. I traded some ammo for the ER-Large as a secondary, so I spent combat time now poking from afar, too. Even though it does not deal much damage. And when we close in, not being all wiped out, I come with assaults to add my SRM battery to their firepower and finish off guys with no armor.

[AnAnachronismAlive]

Mebbe you can link your medium build via Smurfies or MechLab NavAlpha for more sophisticated feedback? You don't have to be a fast medium to scare em lights of your assaults.

[Yoho]

AnAnachronismAlive, on 13 August 2020 - 06:54 AM, said:

Mebbe you can link your medium build via Smurfies or MechLab NavAlpha for more sophisticated feedback? You don't have to be a fast medium to scare em lights of your assaults.

Well... I could start with it, it's just that I am trying to play a building game getting only general tips like 'what to do' and doing the rest on my own.

https://mech.nav-alp...#d3825929_CN9-A

I know that I lack speed by large here (but it is still many battles before I can equip something like 275 engine). And I tried a number of different secondaries from micro-lasers and MG to a single ER-Large trying to be more useful on the battlefield before I get close enough to unleash these 3xSRM6. I did not try SSRM yet, so maybe they will help me more when I encounter lighter targets?..

PS: I've seen Baradul's build on this, but I do not think that I should do exactly the same.

Edited by Yoho, 13 August 2020 - 09:40 AM.

[letir]

Yoho, on 13 August 2020 - 09:39 AM, said:

Well... I could start with it, it's just that I am trying to play a building game getting only general tips like 'what to do' and doing the rest on my own.

https://mech.nav-alp...#d3825929_CN9-A

I know that I lack speed by large here (but it is still many battles before I can equip something like 275 engine). And I tried a number of different secondaries from micro-lasers and MG to a single ER-Large trying to be more useful on the battlefield before I get close enough to unleash these 3xSRM6. I did not try SSRM yet, so maybe they will help me more when I encounter lighter targets?..

PS: I've seen Baradul's build on this, but I do not think that I should do exactly the same.

Secondaries won't help your close-range medium with speed of the freaking assault. Why do you even use STANDART engine?

And ER laser with SRMs. They are totally different weapons.

Edited by letir, 13 August 2020 - 11:08 AM.

[letir]

Here. This is how it supposed to look like:
https://mech.nav-alp...#c6b9cc4f_CN9-A

[Yoho]

letir, on 13 August 2020 - 11:08 AM, said:

Why do you even use STANDART engine?

Because it was there by default I spent nearly all C-Bills to fit the weapons, Artemis, double sinks and Ferro-light.
I was going to fit Light-275 from the very beginning, I am farming for it now, but several millions are not so easy to make.

letir, on 13 August 2020 - 11:08 AM, said:

And ER laser with SRMs. They are totally different weapons.

Here. This is how it supposed to look like:
https://mech.nav-alp...#c6b9cc4f_CN9-A

You know, I played with pulse-mediums quite some battles. But the 'speed of a freaking assault' does not let me close in or run away fast enough. That's why I switched them for ER-large. It lets me follow my assaults and poke enemy from behind their backs, until it is close enough to detach and go for SRM.

[edit]
When I wrote this post initially, I still was with p-meds. I tried ER-large only very recently.

Edited by Yoho, 13 August 2020 - 11:47 AM.

[letir]

Yoho, on 13 August 2020 - 11:41 AM, said:

You know, I played with pulse-mediums quite some battles. But the 'speed of a freaking assault' does not let me close in or run away fast enough. That's why I switched them for ER-large. It lets me follow my assaults and poke enemy from behind their backs, until it is close enough to detach and go for SRM.

You could probably use quirked AC10 to poke more effectivly:
https://mech.nav-alp...#5fb6f18c_CN9-A

Instead of trying to crawl into close combat, where you will be beaten in the bloody pulp by faster, tougher heavy 'Mechs.

[Yoho]

letir, on 13 August 2020 - 11:46 AM, said:

You could probably use quirked AC10 to poke more effectivly:
https://mech.nav-alp...#5fb6f18c_CN9-A

Instead of trying to crawl into close combat, where you will be beaten in the bloody pulp by faster, tougher heavy 'Mechs.

Thanks. That's another way, true. I could be a medium-range support until I get the top engine. I didn't even think of that, being focused on missiles.

GweNTLeR, on 13 August 2020 - 01:07 PM, said:

Well, from my experience, the only thing you can do in such situations is search for oppotunities. Sometimes the best choice is nascar, sometimes it is counter nascar, sometimes it is something else. There is no definitive answer, you just have to analyze the situation and ask yourself: where can I get the best results?
Nevertheless, close ranged mechs must be fast. Centurion is not such a mech. You might have better results with MRMs
Something like this CN9-A or CN9-A

Ah! I am trying MRM in testing grounds right now. Seems, I can fit in a volley of 70 (if I strip everything else). But will this be reliable enough?

Edited by Yoho, 13 August 2020 - 01:14 PM.

[Aidan Crenshaw]

Consider not taking the top engine, but rather a 250-rated light engine. These are very useful on many mediums so you can swap em if you're tight on CBills.

I run mine like this: https://mech.nav-alp...a97b6_CN9-ANCIX
Takes patience, of course.

[Yoho]

Aidan Crenshaw, on 13 August 2020 - 10:03 PM, said:

Consider not taking the top engine, but rather a 250-rated light engine. These are very useful on many mediums so you can swap em if you're tight on CBills.

I run mine like this: https://mech.nav-alp...a97b6_CN9-ANCIX
Takes patience, of course.

Why don't you use AMS? Is only one AMS too few to be meaningful?

And what would you say of this? Considering that I can't do anything about engine, yet.

https://mech.nav-alp...a3d2c_CN9-ANCIX

Edited by Yoho, 13 August 2020 - 11:15 PM.

[Aidan Crenshaw]

I'm not against AMS in general, if it fits, I will fit it. Never LAMS though, I don't want a heat source in my mechs that I have to micromanage. I often find something else more useful for my build than a single AMS, though.
Your Build has a few problems in my books:
1. the RAC makes it a staredown build, something the Cent is not particularly good at.
2. too much ammo, too little heat management

I consider the Missile hardpoints of the Cent-A his biggest perk, because they are high-mounted and tightly clustered. Of course, there are other chassis like the WVR-7K that are even better for missile play for a plethora of reasons. Still I like the Cent.

[letir]

Yoho, on 13 August 2020 - 11:01 PM, said:

Why don't you use AMS? Is only one AMS too few to be meaningful?

And what would you say of this? Considering that I can't do anything about engine, yet.

https://mech.nav-alp...a3d2c_CN9-ANCIX

A single RAC is not good, especially when you compliment it with useless clutter. RAC is staredown DPS weapon, which should amass all possible damage to kill target faster. 50t cannot properly wield several RACs, so it pretty meaningless.

Centurion is more suited for "shoot-twist" gameplay and have cooldown quirks, which wasted on RAC. AC10 is natural choice, AC20 is close second for some builds.

[Tarl Cabot]

How to fund your addiction...

• Have you finished the Academy?
  
• Current event using Trial mechs Clan/IS then 2nd event getting damage with specific weapons - https://mwomercs.com...event-and-sale/
  
• Also, if you played the last event Even if you didnt get the 250 there are still the loot bags to claim. . https://mwomercs.com...s?t=202007beach
  
  • The Loot Bags will disappear on Aug 31st 11:00:00 AM (PDT) / Aug 31st 6:00:00 PM (UTC)! Redeem your eligible matches on the event page before that deadline or they will be forfeit!
• Do NOT sale equipment, especially early on as you will only get 50% of Cbills back

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 14 August 2020 - 07:03 PM.

[General Solo]

Yoho, on 13 August 2020 - 11:01 PM, said:

Why don't you use AMS? Is only one AMS too few to be meaningful?

And what would you say of this? Considering that I can't do anything about engine, yet.

https://mech.nav-alp...a3d2c_CN9-ANCIX

Missile locks take time, say three seconds or there abouts or longer.
If you stick to cover, expose, shoot and return to cover in less than 3 seconds, you very rarely almost never get locked.
If you don't get locked you don't really need AMS.

If your team mates do silly things like stand in the open and get missile locked I don't think you AMS will save them.
Teaching them to use cover and poke/trade to avoid missile locks in the first place, you help them more in the long run.

AMS can be useful, but if you don't need it you can use the weight for other things like bigger engines, armor, heatsinks and weapons.

Edited by OZHomerOZ, 15 August 2020 - 12:34 AM.

[General Solo]

Heres a hand picked humble cherry example