37 replies to this topic

[Sean Lang]

[martian]

Sean Lang, on 28 January 2021 - 09:50 PM, said:

Top 4 Mechs For New Players Coming Into The Game

The right section for fan videos is here:Fan Art

[Antares102]

martian, on 28 January 2021 - 09:55 PM, said:

The right section for fan videos is here:Fan Art

You know animal farm?
All members/posts of this forum are treated equal, some are treated more equal than others.

[Ekson Valdez]

Topic moved to NEW PLAYER HELP and pinned.

[AncientRaig]

Not even giving the Centurion an honorable mention? I know she's an older girl, not as fancy as the latest and greatest in Clan technology, but there's still no better mech to learn how to shield and spread damage in and it can still kick comfortably above its own weight and its very forgiving to the damage new players take while learning the game.

[PocketYoda]

Disagree Some what.

imo
Light
Firestarter/Panther/Incubus/Arctic Cheetah

Slow Lights (somewhat good for newer players learning lights)
Urbanmech (with 81-97kph engine) Adder/Kitfox

Medium
Enforcer/Crab/Vapor Eagle/Stormcrow

Heavy
Marauder/Roughneck/Hellbringer/Linebacker

Assault
Battlemaster/Cyclops/Mad Cat IIC/Warhawk

XL on Inner Sphere is a death trap for new players. Tier 1 players only care about meta and are out of touch with new players.

Light and Standard engines are the best for many outside of Lights. Always check your builds before switching to double heatsinks, on some mechs single heats sinks can be better than doubles.

Edit updated my views..

Edited by Samial, 23 March 2021 - 07:28 PM.

[NiceDad]

Hi

I'm a new player just started playing MWO in mid Jan 2021 with less than 200 games. I believe those mechs recommended in the video are very good mechs. But my advise based on my personal experience is don't choose an Assault mech or Light mech for your initial games until you have a better idea about the game play.

My initial thought of choosing an Assault mech will be good for begineer as it is with more armour and also more weapons thus should be more forgiving. But I'm wrong as most of the time I will die first as enemy teams will always prioritise to kill the Assault mechs over others. When I don't even know that I should stay with the pack, or lead the push when the time comes, often I find myself watching the rest of the game as a spectator.

I also felt that recommending new players to play a Light mech is also a no-no. Light mech is very agile but they are also light in armor & weapons. From my experience, Light mechs can be the match winning factor especially when there's only 1~2 Medium/Assault mechs left during the end game. Due to the big size of the Medium & Assault mech, they will have hard time trying to hit the ninja-Light mech and I have seen quite a few games that they get shredded away by the dancing Light mechs. Thus asking a new player to play light mech is like asking them to give more penalty to the team. As Light mechs are also without much armor, as long as they position wrongly, they will be become spectators most of the time. Light mechs are more than scout mechs to watch the fight from afar, they are assassin, they are ninja, they are terror to Heavy & Assault mechs.

Now I'm playing with more Mediums & Heavies as 2nd liners support roles. I will tag with the Assault mechs and support them when they start the push. As the enemies will focus fire on the Assault mechs, our role will be focus fire on the targeted enemies (someone has to call out which enemy to focus fire at) so that we can kill the enemies before our Assault mechs falls. Adopting this play style has helped me to be more consistent in dealing damage average from 200+ to 400+ every game.

Choosing the right built for the mech is also very important as a new player, I can't handle with too many weapon groups. Thus I tend to split them into 2 weapon groups atmost. I try to group them with similiar range such as 1 group for mid ~ long range, another for short ~ mid range.

Don't forget to keep practising the torso twisting method as it helps to keep me alive longer. When I did not do the torso twisting, enemies can focus fire on my weakest parts and they will start to fall off very soon. With the torso twisting, now my armour is more evenly sharing the damages among the arms and torso.

Try to improve your games by watching some of the youtubers videos as they not only discribe the different builds for different mechs, but they also keep reminding us how to play well. Those info I share above mostly are learnt from the videos.

I'm glad that someone started this topic so that new players like us will have more guides and hopefully it will help us to have a more enjoyable time in playing MWO and not keep been chewed up by more experience players and spend most of the time in the game as spectator.


Have Fun
Stay Safe

Edited by NiceDad, 05 February 2021 - 08:40 PM.

[Alexander of Macedon]

So, in order:
1. WLF-2 MLas build. It runs hot if you're using it right, it's an IS light 'mech with the skill requirements that imposes. Absolutely a good 'mech for an experienced, skilled player, but it's two of the major factors that get inexperienced players killed.

2. VGL-3 triple cERPPC poptart build. Holy **** is this new player unfriendly. It runs hot as hell. It has ghost heat. It's all about poptarting, which is absolutely not something to expect new players to instantly grasp (and has small pitfalls like the accuracy debuff from active JJs). It's PPFLD, and let's be real, the majority of MWO players are not spring chickens with twitchy FPS aiming chops.

3. VGL-3 ATM poptart. Same issues as before except you're introducing the additional problem of ATM damage range bands being incredibly obscure if you don't know where to find the chart in the 'mechlab interface.

4. VL-5T MPLas build. This is the closest to newbie-friendly so far, if only because IS MPLas are so goddamn efficient that it's almost impossible to do badly with them. Still is recommending IS XL builds to new players which is kinda eeeh.

5. MCII-B dakka build. This is the first one that's rock solid. It's survivable, it's easy to use, it does obscene amounts of damage at virtually all ranges. Absolutely would recommend to new players. The sole problem is how much it costs to get one kitted out and ready to play.



While I appreciate the logic of going for builds that are as close as possible to one-click weapons groups with relatively good agility, I strongly disagree with broad-spectrum recommendations of 'mechs or builds which are a ) fragile, b ) run hot, c ) require knowledge of non-obvious mechanics like ghost heat, range bands, and poptarting. Those can absolutely be appropriate and useful for some new players, but for general recommendations I would stick with 'mechs which are decently survivable (for their weight class) and have very clear playstyles that could be intuited by someone wholly unfamiliar with BattleTech.

This shows up time and again, where experienced and skilled players recommend top meta builds to new players without thinking about whether new players will understand all of the nuances of what makes those builds effective and how to leverage them for good games. Imagine recommending a PIR to a new player right after they launched -- they'd die horribly just about every match.

A good example would be something like an AC/2 RFL-IIC-2 or MPLas CRB-27. It's very clear what their role is, and they're not going to die instantly if the pilot makes a bad decision (most of the time).

Edited by Alexander of Macedon, 23 March 2021 - 03:55 PM.

[Wildstreak]

AncientRaig, on 30 January 2021 - 08:49 PM, said:

Not even giving the Centurion an honorable mention? I know she's an older girl, not as fancy as the latest and greatest in Clan technology, but there's still no better mech to learn how to shield and spread damage in and it can still kick comfortably above its own weight and its very forgiving to the damage new players take while learning the game.

I rebuilt mine in the past week, actually interesting and does OK though they play different than before.

[Gagis]

Centurion may be a good case example for twisting and shielding but as a mech it is really far behind the power curve, so I would not recommend new players to spend their scarce C-bills on one.

[Wildstreak]

Gagis, on 25 March 2021 - 12:47 AM, said:

Centurion may be a good case example for twisting and shielding but as a mech it is really far behind the power curve, so I would not recommend new players to spend their scarce C-bills on one.

Depends, I posted my rebuilt Centurions here.

[The Basilisk]

I am (almost) completely withAlexander of Mazedon here. But I would place even more emphasis on the following Points:

- Assaults and lights are to be avoided by New Players. Both weightclasses carry too much non obvious subtext with them that is all to often missed by even the more experieced players. (The MKII is not a good example for an Assault since it handles like a slower Heavy on dope only obviously overpowered Mech in game I think).
- Mechs with IS XL Reaktors should be avoided due to their vulnerability and New Player tendency for staring at enemys.
- Spezalist/EW Mechs should be avoided since their dependace the skillpoints for certain equipment. Like NARC ECM or LRMs/SSRMs.
- Autoaim Weapons should be avoided since they need an different (and when wrongly executed extremely toxic) playstyle then direct fire Weapons.

[CFC Conky]

Hello all,

If I were to pick my top four they would be (in no particular order):

1) Roughneck-3A. Decent tanky laser vomit.

2) Marauder-3R. Decent dakka+laser with my fav being 2xLB10-X and 4xML

3) Mad Cat MKII-B. Dakka, dakka, dakka.

4) Bushwacker-P2. Versatile medium mech with decent tankiness.

Except for perhaps the Mad Cat, these mechs can tank a fair amount of damage, which in my opinion is important until you get better at aiming, positioning, and heat management. These choices are based on my personal experience with the game and my own play style so the list is not that objective.

Your mileage may vary.

Good hunting,
CFC Conky

Edited by CFC Conky, 26 March 2021 - 10:00 AM.

[5olitude]

I'll offer my perspective here. I'm new to the game, been playing for about 5-6 weeks and just broke into Tier 3. So I'm just out of my ultra-newbie-phase. Here's what I would recommend based upon my recent experience:

1. It's been said before, but it bears repeating: Newbies should avoid assaults and lights. I would recommend Mediums most highly, followed by Heavy. Assaults get slaughtered because they are quite slow, huge targets, and often a high priority for the enemy. Not to mention that you need a keen sense of positioning and knowledge of the maps to know where you should be. Plus the experience to know when to bide your time and when to push. The reason to avoid Lights is more straightforward: one mistake equals death.

2. New players should prioritize durability. You're going to make some positioning mistakes. You need a mech that can survive those mistakes. Glass cannons are a no-no. Look for any mech with a Marauder body type: Crab, Bushwacker, Marauder. These should be your go-to mechs. Their geometry is superior in terms of spreading damage all over the mech and they don't require torso twisting muscle memory to do so (this is something you'll want to practice at some point, but not right away).

3. Play a mid-range build. PUG matches typically have a poking-phase at the beginning that can last for several minutes. If you brought short range weapons to the party you'll be twiddling your thumbs. This is not just boring. It means you aren't contributing to the team in the early game. It also means that you aren't earning any C-bills. Going for mid-range means you can be okay-ish no matter the map or the situation at hand.

My specific mech recommendations would be:

Mediums:
Crab 27 in a laser-vomit setup, 2x large laser and 3x ER mediums.
Bushwacker X1 with 3x RAC2.

If you want a heavy:
Marauder 3R with 2x LB10 and 4x Med lasers.
Marauder 9M with MRM60, 5x med laser, and ECM.

If you insist on trying a Light, go with an Urbanmech. The trash-can is surprisingly durable, likely because it is quite small relative to its tonnage and therefore has tiny hitboxes. I use the K9 with 5x med pulse, but there are plenty of good builds on F2P variants.

If you insist on trying an Assault, go with a Marauder IIC. I run a IIC-A with 3x UAC5 and 4x ER med; however the plain old IIC in a laser vomit configuration is probably a better pick for ease of use.

Hope that's helpful to someone.

[Vamboozle]

Not exactly a new player as I pretty much played nothing else 2013 - 2015 but have just come back after nearly 6 years away so I’m kinda learning it all again.

When I came back on I realised I had stable of (admittedly older) mechs ranging from Locust to Atlas set up in a variety of ways from one button laser spam, lrm boats to complicated 5 weapon group murder machines....

So what have I learned as a sort of new player:

- as pretty much everyone else has said lights and assaults are death traps. Lights not enough armour and too fast for a new player not to get into trouble. Assaults too much of a prime target and a new player will struggle against a small fast mech.

- keep the weapon groups simple. I’ve had most initial success with one or two groups - I’m now moving back up to 3 & 4 but initially I just couldnt manage it.

- consumables - don’t bother to start with. You’ll forget to use them.

- XL engines. Don’t use them. (I do but I remembered enough to keep twisting)

So what have I had the most initial success with?

- Enforcer 5P - Rotary AC2, ER LL, 3xMG. Tweaked to run at about 113 kph. Great as a long range sniper, fast enough to get behind the enemy, good for shoot & scoot and a good light mech killer.


Edit - I should also add I’m a leftie so had to go through all the remapping pain and the difficulties of right handed keyboard & mouse.

Edited by Vamboozle, 05 April 2021 - 01:17 AM.

[Sniper09121986]

Unpopular opinion - Huntsman. High shoulder hardpoints, pretty much any hardpoint configuration possible, balanced fixed configuration and because it is an omnimech, it is hard to build it wrong. Sure, there are mechs that can do different things better, but if we are talking about a totally new player, the less things to go wrong the better.

[Gagis]

Sniper09121986, on 05 April 2021 - 05:07 AM, said:

Unpopular opinion - Huntsman. High shoulder hardpoints, pretty much any hardpoint configuration possible, balanced fixed configuration and because it is an omnimech, it is hard to build it wrong. Sure, there are mechs that can do different things better, but if we are talking about a totally new player, the less things to go wrong the better.

Not unpopular at all. Huntsman is one of the most newbie friendly mechs since it is a friendly-sized omnimech with good hardpoints and several viable loadouts you can do with just swapping omnipods. The 2ERPPC, 3ATM9, 6ASRM6 and 2UAC10 are all seriously good and I suspect Laser Vomit and MPL will become viable after the patch of April 20th too. If Vapor Eagle wasn't available, you'd see Huntsmen frequently in competitive play too.

[jemmos]

Here is the viewpoint of a new player for you.

Currently, I'm running a Vapor eagle with two lrm 15's and quad med heavy lasers + AMS. I'd post it if I knew how.. I'm that new. ( 4 days ) I've tried a variety of mech's and equipment and these are my findings so far.

Mechs:
Lights are death. Avoid if possible. This goes both for playing them, or encountering them. If you have no idea what the map looks like or how to run and shoot ( preferably hitting ) Your just gonna get stuck on someone or something and stomped. That and they tend to be more solo.. I have little idea of what's going on.. so just no.

Mediums handle a bit better. less twitchy, and more like a fps control style compared to the twitchy flea, or the sluggish atlas. Additionally, no one complains if you stick with a group, finding one with ems is nice to avoid missile death. I know you can avoid them.. I've seen Baradul and theb33f do it 100s of times.. my best replication of this is hiding under a bridge.. and then getting swarmed by lights .. or 1 assault. or falling of a bridge and breaking a leg. I'm not 100% convinced my ams does anything useful.

Heavy's are are too expensive, and so are assaults so I didn't waste my time on them besides trial mechs

Weapons.
LASERS are fun! Hard to hit anything with em. Death by 1000 sweeping cuts! Aim for body parts? Dude. Im just trying not to hit the ground or my teammates.

PPC's just no. If you cant hit with lasers don't even bother with ppcs. so much heat!

LRMs. I actually do something useful with these. but have found drawbacks. people follow the stream of missiles back. you gota pay attention to if your even hitting anything lest you waste them all on the side of a building, or a ton of ams. also, I've learned not to spec full missiles. as you run out. and are usless. anything gets close. you are worse than useless, now you gota scream for someone to save you. (( they usually don't )) Also, you gota make sure not to stand still, and suddenly find yourself 1km + from anyone else.

ATMs pricy lrms that hit building a lot that you cant hold many of.

SRMs FUN! if you can last long enough to fire these guys off, they are a blast.

Ballistics. Dono yet, I need a mech for that. not sure what yet. likely another medium.

TLDR:
As a new player, I recommend a medium mech with 2 missiles and some energy hardpoints. I find I like clan stuff more, but IS stuff is supposedly more durable.

(( if anyone knows a good mech for ballistics and some missiles, let me know. Now, back to searching for a clan that will take and teach a newb.))

Day 5 update.
Screw Medium LRM's Heavy mechs with LB5x's are where it's at!

After trying a hunchback, and not liking it. I decided to gamble all my remaining c-bills on a Rifleman IIC-3 and 4x LB5x's + 2 heavy smalls (because why not) and a XL225 engine. 7 mill c-bills later and omg.. I feel like death incarnate.

My match score has more than doubled. After realizing I can put all my armour to the front of the mech. ((I've screwed anyway if there behind me )) I'm challenging Assult mechs, and they turn away! Rapid-fire from 4 lbx5's is terrifying. The enemy can't see, or aim and the damage adds up real quick. Quad fire does hecking damage. And the spread makes it so with even less than stellar aim, you hit more often than not. And the range. from o to almost 1000 effective range.

Edited by jemmos, 26 April 2021 - 10:08 AM.

[Leone]

So, always happy to help someone new. For ballistics, I'd actually suggest the Hunchback 4G. Medium, so you're kinda used to the playstyle, three ballistics slots, in a torso slot, so you can try a wide variety of builds on one mech. I've actually down-geared my engine to fit it with dual Rac 5s, but that's after getting used to playing assaults so the speed issue isn't a huge problem for me. (A standard 180 makes for a steady but vicious little medium.)

Downside, all your guns are in your hunch. Upside, all your guns are in your hunch at head height, so you learn to protect it. As a beginning mech it teaches torso twisting and positioning.

If'n you want ballistics and missiles on one mech, I'm thinkin' you'll hafta go heavy. At least. Maybe try the Ebon Jaguar-C, or the Roughneck C if'n you wanna stick to Inner Sphere tech?

~Leone.

Ps, check out my Light Tanking and Assaulting Thy Enemy threads for positioning and other considerations when you feel ready to give assaults and lights a try.

Edited by Leone, 25 April 2021 - 11:44 PM.

[Aidan Crenshaw]

jemmos, on 25 April 2021 - 07:13 PM, said:

LASERS are fun! Hard to hit anything with em. Death by 1000 sweeping cuts! Aim for body parts? Dude. Im just trying not to hit the ground or my teammates.

Welcome to MWO jemmos!
I particularly picked that part of your post to point at a crucial setting: Set your mouse sensivity to 0.1-0.2 (depending on your mouse's DPI). The default value is way too high!