10 replies to this topic

[Matt85]

I just started playing MWO online and I'm still trying to figure out how things work. But I've been having a real problem with other teammates basically killing me because "I was doing it wrong".

I was playing a Cougar and doing a bit of peek-a-boo style fighting, where I hold an angle near the "red players" and pop out after they fire or when they aren't looking to hit them with an alpha strike (laser build I got from a youtube video), then retreat behind cover and wait for another opportunity.

In a few different games I was told to "be more useful" and then was basically killed by my own teammates. My teammates would wait for me to pop out and attack, then stand behind me so I could not retreat into cover!

This technique seemed to be working in terms of damage and kills... but is apparently not acceptable to the community. I would appreciate advice on how to better play this light mech!

Thank you
-Matt

Edited by Matt85, 18 April 2023 - 03:44 PM.

[PsionicMantis]

Seems like you just had bad teammates. There isnt anything wrong with that style of play, you'll see alot of that style in the higher tiers cause standing in the open is just bad. I guess all I can suggest is to try not get too close to teammates cause blocking cover can happen, not always malicious, but thats not to say they didnt do it intentionally since they wanted someone else to get shot at.

[Raffen Volt]

Sorry that happened to you. Peeking is a sniper technique usually used by heavier mechs with long range weapons, and is the most common tactic players build their mechs for. My advice would be to try and stick with other lights and see what they do. You can also look on YouTube for light mech tactics videos. Welcome to MechWarrior Online. This is a great game and has an overall friendly and enthusiastic community. Feel free to send me a friend request. See you in the battlefield.

[TheCaptainJZ]

OP, nothing wrong with how you're playing. The other teammates are just bitter. As for blocking you? Just relocate to another spot or sit behind him and use him as the cover. I'm guessing he wanted the same spot as you. It's honestly a good idea to move to different cover and poke to make it harder for the enemy to aim back at you. If you peek from the same spot, eventually they will get you but if you mix it up a bit, it will make it that much harder for them to predict where you'll pop out of next.

[epikt]

If your description is accurate, there is nothing wrong with you.
The only thing I can think of, is you blocking another player line of fire, and them being %&$£@# they shoot at you. Bitter... [it makes me think of something else that can annoy teammates, and they'd be kind of right, is blocking their retreat by standing right behind them. If they're taking fire, they'll want to walk backward, be wary of that.]
Anyway, there is NEVER a good reason to intentionally teamkill/teamdamage.

edit: ah, also, you're new to the game, it's normal you don't deal a lot of dmg, that your positioning is kind of bad, etc... teammates should be more comprehensive, especially in tiers 5-3.

But, TKs happen. Funny story, today I was TKed 2 drops in a row. But each time I was really cored sherry red, maybe my teammates only dealt few point of dmg. Try not being angry when that happens.
Once, I even killed TWO teammates in 2 shots... and iirc, I only dealt 6 team damage during the drop...

Raffen Volt, on 18 April 2023 - 09:03 PM, said:

My advice would be to try and stick with other lights and see what they do.

It's impossible in a Cougar with heavy walking speed.
The Cougar is an awkard first mech to be honest you don't pilot it like another other mech.

Edited by epikt, 19 April 2023 - 11:57 AM.

[Matt85]

Thanks all, glad to know I wasn't doing anything really stupid.

I was most certainly NOT blocking these people. I was the only mech within 100m of that spot. They actively came over to me and blocked me out of cover when I stepped out. This was intentional and they told me so in chat when I complained about their actions.

I have learned that the Cougar wasn't the best choice for a first mech. But I have also learned to use it with some degree of success. I'm too squishy to go on solo flanks and too slow to "hit and run" like other lights. My methods are basically the same as I said in my first post, hard hitting alpha attacks from cover when the red team isn't expecting them (without looking, I believe I have 5-6 ER medium laser and 2 heavy large lasers). I need to stay near my other teammates because if anyone focuses on me... I'm dead.

[VeeOt Dragon]

yeah i honestly suggest going for IS mechs for started mechs as they tend to have more survivability than Clan mechs. Mediums and faster heavies are also good to start with as they offer more armor and firepower with enough speed and maneuverability to see you through. lights are honestly tough mechs to pilot well (for me its more that going over about 100kph gives me a headache).

welcome to MWO and hope you find some better teammates.

(as for the folks griefing you i would say they are either high tier players who got put down with the T5's due to low population/gaming the group system or high tier players with alt accounts wanting to seal club.)

[Matt85]

VeeOt Dragon, on 19 April 2023 - 07:54 PM, said:

yeah i honestly suggest going for IS mechs for started mechs as they tend to have more survivability than Clan mechs. Mediums and faster heavies are also good to start with as they offer more armor and firepower with enough speed and maneuverability to see you through. lights are honestly tough mechs to pilot well (for me its more that going over about 100kph gives me a headache).

welcome to MWO and hope you find some better teammates.

(as for the folks griefing you i would say they are either high tier players who got put down with the T5's due to low population/gaming the group system or high tier players with alt accounts wanting to seal club.)

I've been playing the Warhammer IIc-3 lately and I wish I had started with this mech. This is much easier to play and more fun! It's only a little slower than the Cougar but can take a serious pounding before it falls. It allows for mistakes... a trait much needed for this noob.

[TheCaptainJZ]

I really loved the Cougar in past MW titles but can't get into it here. I don't even like the design of it here all that much.

[Horseman]

Sounds like typical T5 griefers I've ran into when I was starting my own MWO career years back. Screenshot and report every incident to moderation@mwomercs.com, don't take their BS to heart.
Maybe it won't get them banned immediately, but if it keeps repeating they will sooner or later experience consequences.

[Void Angel]

Matt85, on 18 April 2023 - 03:43 PM, said:

I just started playing MWO online and I'm still trying to figure out how things work. But I've been having a real problem with other teammates basically killing me because "I was doing it wrong".

I was playing a Cougar and doing a bit of peek-a-boo style fighting, where I hold an angle near the "red players" and pop out after they fire or when they aren't looking to hit them with an alpha strike (laser build I got from a youtube video), then retreat behind cover and wait for another opportunity.

In a few different games I was told to "be more useful" and then was basically killed by my own teammates. My teammates would wait for me to pop out and attack, then stand behind me so I could not retreat into cover!

This technique seemed to be working in terms of damage and kills... but is apparently not acceptable to the community. I would appreciate advice on how to better play this light mech!

Thank you
-Matt

First: That is exactly how you play a Cougar. It's essentially a fast Medium 'mech in a Light tonnage, and getting angles on the enemy team is what you do. This is evidenced by the fact that was fracking working. You can range farther out from your team and do it, but you are not fast enough to go over the hills and far away, because you'll get swarmed by enemy Lights and fast Mediums. You have described proper beginning play for standard Clan laser vomit. You were right, they were wrong. Remember this when you feel like giving the Cougar another spin.

Second: Whether you're new or not, nobody should be murdering you by shoving you into enemy fire just because they wanted your peeking spot for their 'mech, which is exactly what's happening here. They don't even have the gonads to kill you themselves! The cowardly little snots are trying to do it in a way that doesn't show up on PGI's radar - because they know that they are deliberately violating the ToS. Do what Horseman says and report them with screenshots and specific names - and then just wait for a few minutes before dropping again to desynch from their drop cycle. With any luck, you'll get into a match with real teammates while they're sabotaging their own team somewhere else.

Addendum! If they're the experienced, 1337 players they seem to think they are, what are they doing with you in Tier 5?! Do not pay the slightest attention to these scrubiotic, steering-wheel underhive, team-killing, noskill, griefing jackasses. AT BEST these are talentless scrubs making everyone's game worse - at worse they are "smurf" accounts, who couldn't cut it at higher levels, or want a "break" from fighting people who can fight back.