27 replies to this topic

[Remington1911]

I know you have a "new" topic, but trust me from a new person.....zoom right over my head.

Now I think that I play the game well, I have not been here that long, but I would say I am doing ok with the entire mech combat thing.

I want to do the faction play thing, I could care less about the mech bay, already have 30+ of them and several open. It sounds (from the little I can gather) like a mode that might interest me.

But.

I am not sure how it really works, am I married to a specific faction. If I choose clan am I stuck with that choice, if I choose a specific IS group am I stuck there.

I was told this mode is for box stock mechs, no modifications, is this accurate.

Are there "seasons" to this mode, and am I locked to a "group" for the duration of that season, how long is a season if it does exist.

I really want to try this mode, but a little put off by some of the comments I have seen.

[Hobbles v]

Stock builds are not a thing in faction play. If anything faction play encourages a lot of specialist builds over well rounded ones as you get to know the map in advance.

There are no seasons or anything like that right now. There are ceasefires in which the attacking or defending factions chamge and the game modes available change.

You can swap factions on a whim. It only takes a few seconds. People who stay on one side EG. Play only clan or only IS seriusly gimp themselves as they dont understand how the other side see things and plays. Play both sides, it makes you a better pilot.

Im on most nights ( Eastern time zone after 8pm) as are usually a few BCMC if you need a primer. Discord in my signature.

A lot of other teams are pretty welcoming too.

Edited by Hobbles v, 03 December 2021 - 09:33 AM.

[Ignatius Audene]

dont go faction without 2 sets of mechs for the side u want to fight for. 1 extreme range. erppc erlarge /and etc. 10%range quirk; full range skills)and one medium range (prob las vom)

Edited by Ignatius Audene, 03 December 2021 - 10:49 AM.

[Duke Falcon]

Hobbles v, on 03 December 2021 - 09:27 AM, said:

Stock builds are not a thing in faction play. If anything faction play encourages a lot of specialist builds over well rounded ones as you get to know the map in advance.

There are no seasons or anything like that right now. There are ceasefires in which the attacking or defending factions chamge and the game modes available change.

You can swap factions on a whim. It only takes a few seconds. People who stay on one side EG. Play only clan or only IS seriusly gimp themselves as they dont understand how the other side see things and plays. Play both sides, it makes you a better pilot.

Im on most nights ( Eastern time zone after 8pm) as are usually a few BCMC if you need a primer. Discord in my signature.

A lot of other teams are pretty welcoming too.

That is why I found amusing when there were IS vs IS engagements. Not need to change my clan loyalty just select a side, load a deck with IS mechs and hello world! But since a while such matches vanished. It may worth to revive them along the introduction of clan vs clan engagements. Newcomers could learn a lot from those...

[Hobbles v]

Is vs is super fun.

Clan v clan did happen before the great buckets reduction. But it was rare. I think ive only played clan v clan maybe a dozen times in 8 years or however long ago commmunity warefare started

[Remington1911]

Ignatius Audene, on 03 December 2021 - 09:48 AM, said:

dont go faction without 2 sets of mechs for the side u want to fight for. 1 extreme range. erppc erlarge /and etc. 10%range quirk; full range skills)and one medium range (prob las vom)

Forgive my stupid questions here. I actually started playing the table top back in high school in the 80's, I understand the lore, and started this years ago but world of tanks sucked me in.

So you say two sets of mechs, are you saying two IS mechs that are setup for long range of any tonnage? So could I take my jagermech with 2 erlrm and 2 rotary ac5's as well as a marauder II. Would I also need two scout types, two med's....and then meds, I have loads with er-ppc, or one build with 30 lrm tubes and 2 er med las.

I think I have a pretty rounded out stable, but it sounds like this is the most contested area of this game, and if so I like the sound of that....I generally fight up to the point where I have to run into people to do damage if all weapons get knocked out or run dry.

I am under the impression that you battle for control of systems on the "real" map, attack and defend, modes I think are lacking in the quick battle matches.

I might just give it a go tonight when one of the invites pops up in the bottom right corner. Over 30 mechs already I can field easy two well rounded lances, or companies.

[Kotis77]

Welcome!

We need new players!

I think its easier if you can go discord (online communication app) and join some unit that will give you FP starting education. FP isnt that hard or easy. You just got learn basics and your set for some PEWPEW

Or if dont wanna go discord watch some guys who streams FP at https://www.twitch.t...line/videos/all

Edited by Kotis77, 03 December 2021 - 06:10 PM.

[Khalcruth]

So the way that this mode works is that you fight with a drop deck - you pick 4 mechs to fight with, minimum 140 tons, maximum 265.

Generally you want to get as close to that maximum tonnage as possible. Unless the team you are playing with has a very specific strategy in mind, there's a notable disadvantage to playing with less than the maximum

When one mech dies, you get to respawn with your next mech. You get to choose the order on the fly. Generally, you want to start with your heaviest mech and work down to your lightest one. If you want to take a locust first and charge it into 12 clan assault mechs, well, that's your prerogative I guess, but few people with the locust in that engagement end up enjoying the result. Generally your team will perform better if you're taking 12 IS assaults to counter those 12 clan assaults.

You will know what the map and game mode will be before the game starts, and you will have 90 seconds to choose the 4 mechs you bring accordingly. Generally, if you pick 4 short range mechs for a map / game mode that favors long range engagements, you're likely to have a bad time of things. This is why people suggest you have a variety of mechs at your disposal before you start playing faction play - because you can bet the guys on the other team will be taking long range mechs on the long range map. You are unlikely to have a positive experience if you do not plan accordingly by having your own long range mechs. You can generally get by well enough to start if you have 4 long range mechs and 4 medium range mechs, and then gradually add options from there.

In game modes such as siege (unique to faction warfare), especially when you attack you want all 12 of your friendly mechs to go in the gates at one time. If you bleed 2 mechs in at a time into an enemy firing line of 12 mechs, all that you'll get is 12 dead friendly mechs and zero dead enemies. It's a sure way to get decisively defeated. Always try to go in 12 at a time. If you died first, yup, that means you sit at the drop zone a few minutes in your second mech waiting until the rest of your team has also lost their first mech. Next time don't be the first to die.

Conversely, there's rarely an advantage to be the last to die, either. If you're still on your first mech, and everyone else is on their last mech, what will end up happening is after they die, you'll be left all by yourself to kill the entire rest of the enemy team. Maybe you're that awesome, or the enemy are that terrible, but it's unlikely. That said, you don't necessarily need to throw away mechs just to be on the same one as the rest of your team. If you're still perfectly functional and doing significant damage to the enemy, there are situations where you should just keep on doing what you're doing. It's a judgement call.

What qualifies as "competent" in the game mode depends on the person you ask. But roughly, if you can consistently put up 1000+ damage and / or 4+ kills per game, you're probably an asset to your team rather than a detriment.

Most people get the maximum enjoyment from this game mode by finding a group of people they like to consistently play with. Generally, this is easiest if you use some sort of voice communication software to coordinate with them. It may take you some time to find people whose company you enjoy. Keep trying though. Most teams will be happy to at least play with you a few times and give you a chance to see if you get along with them. Often all you have to do is ask. Even if you're relatively terrible to start with, if you're trying to improve, and you're not a jerk, a lot of groups will be willing to work with you.

[Remington1911]

I just think I am doing ok, but 4kills and 1k damage, not even close. I generally run a mix in my games of all tonnages. I have an 7-800 game in the larger mechs, and games as low as sub 100 if I am a light and running around capping bases all game. People already are saying HAY REMINGTON, I am guessing this is a good thing. 4 assist kills yea usually but only 1 or 2 "solo" kills on a good game.

I think I might just jump in with two feet. You say finding a group of people, this is the one thing I LOVE about this game over tanks, there is team play, if you don't think there is go play WoT or WoWs for a year or so....hell 4 months and you will come back saying just why the hell are people doing that.

[Ignatius Audene]

He is talking about the fp results.

[Khalcruth]

Yes - I meant that, as a guidline, if you're averaging 250 damage per mech of your own, and getting at least as many kills as deaths, you're probably an asset to your team rather than a hindrance. But that's very situational, and by no means etched in stone.

[Hobbles v]

As for how much you should expect to contribute. The old 1k damage is not enough to be considered pulling your weight.

That was the bar many years ago when the Clan/IS drop tonnage was 240/250 respectively.
You Should go for an even or positive K/D and about 1250 damage overall at the low end to consider yourself pulling your weight. Its okay to go negative KD if you are getting a high number of KMDDs too.

Tonnage is valuable so use all of it. And you should expect more out your larger mechs.
For assaults aim to get at least 450 damage
Heavies 350
Mediums 300
Lights 250
I know that comes to more that 1250 total, but presuming you win, you likely dont need to meet your damage goal in the last mech.

[Ignatius Audene]

Best jump in a group / discord or watch a twitch stream from one of the fp streamers like yondu or eugene. In 10 minutes an one or 2 drops u can get the basics. For drop decks / mech build yondu build an good guide with basic infos about the fp maps. But dont expect to much at the start. Fp has no real mm. So u can end up with a bunch of pugs vs fp vets in full meta.

The dmg is rly only a small indication if u are developing in the right direction (no big deal of u dont reach it in your first drops). A lots depends on the opposition. If I trade vs good players my stalker etc usually only score about 600 dmg. The same vs no name is usually 800+

Edited by Ignatius Audene, 09 December 2021 - 10:44 AM.

[Hobbles v]

Hobbles v, on 09 December 2021 - 09:53 AM, said:

As for how much you should expect to contribute. The old 1k damage is not enough to be considered pulling your weight.

That was the bar many years ago when the Clan/IS drop tonnage was 240/250 respectively.
You Should go for an even or positive K/D and about 1250 damage overall at the low end to consider yourself pulling your weight. Its okay to go negative KD if you are getting a high number of KMDDs too.

Tonnage is valuable so use all of it. And you should expect more out your larger mechs.
For assaults aim to get at least 450 damage
Heavies 350
Mediums 300
Lights 250
I know that comes to more that 1250 total, but presuming you win, you likely dont need to meet your damage goal in the last mech.

Damage isnt everything, but it is a strong indicator of whether one is contributing.

So I actually did a little math. I took a look through my screenshot folder at recent games that went to 48 kills. 8 clan win and 8 IS wins. Kinda small sample size but it gave me some insights.

Clan should expect to need to do more damage to win. Makes sense, they can output more and its easier to spread clan fire.

Clan wins ranged from typically 18,000-21,000 damage to kill 48. I had one outlier at 17k (that was a G-NX stomp over pugs, Stomps tend to have lower overall damage than closer games.)

Even with the outlier game included that's an average damage of 1603 per clan pilot to win.

For Inner Sphere it took between 16,500 and 19,000 on average to win. That was an Average of 1454 damage per pilot.

If I take the low end damage games it was Roughly 1416 damage per Clan Pilot and 1375 damage Per IS pilot.

I'd say use these low numbers as a good starting goal, if you are doing lower than this and winning. That means someone else is picking up your slack.

Edited by Hobbles v, 09 December 2021 - 01:34 PM.

[Kotis77]

You guys are little harsh about new players. By your logic i wouldnt play FP. When i started i did ~1000dmg on FP sometimes less. And i played a lot of QP before trying out FP. And the state of QP atm (2021) you dont learn anything over there.

I bet you guys werent killers as well. So can we go easy with new players. Let them learn basics in peace. Dont faking blame them for losing. You vets should be able to carry 1 new player. Im happy if new player does 500-750dmg and wants to learn this gamemode.

[Aivazovsky]

300 dmg in FP is already a good PUG

[Hobbles v]

Kotis77, on 10 December 2021 - 04:31 AM, said:

You guys are little harsh about new players. By your logic i wouldnt play FP. When i started i did ~1000dmg on FP sometimes less. And i played a lot of QP before trying out FP. And the state of QP atm (2021) you dont learn anything over there.

I bet you guys werent killers as well. So can we go easy with new players. Let them learn basics in peace. Dont faking blame them for losing. You vets should be able to carry 1 new player. Im happy if new player does 500-750dmg and wants to learn this gamemode.

Setting the bar isnt being too harsh. To improve one usually needs goals. The damage numbers I gave out are if everyone does the same in the match. The fact is, its an impossible bar to reach for newbies a lot of the time. Not because they cant, but because theres only so much enemy armor to go around and the vets will scoop it up.

But just because they likely wont reach it doesnt mean they shouldnt be aiming for it.

[Kotis77]

Hobbles v, on 10 December 2021 - 06:07 AM, said:

To improve one usually needs goals.

But just because they likely wont reach it doesnt mean they shouldnt be aiming for it.

True dat

Edited by Kotis77, 10 December 2021 - 06:34 AM.

[Sjorpha]

I don't mind if solos/newbies on my team don't do a lot of damage, I'm more concerned if they don't listen to calls or push in alone and stuff like that.

[Natural Predator]

When i bothered to teach newbies, back in the age of dinosaurs, I always told them carrying your own weight was 4 kills 1500 damage. With all the armor quirks out there these days that may have changed slightly.