21 replies to this topic

[Kiiyor]

HOW TO AVOID SOCIAL RIDICULE™. Hot tips for new players!

The learning curve in this game can best be described as... horrifyingly brutal, especially If you are brand, spanking new to it. Under many circumstances, a new player to an online game may receive some gentle advice, before being dropped into an only ever-so-slightly dangerous bunny land, where they can introduce themselves to the game by slaughtering pathetic yet surprisingly agressive bunnies, but not this game! The bunnies are packin' frickin' lasers! It's competitive multiplayer, and everyone you meet will likely be vying for the honor of stomping your mewling carcass into the dirt, over and over again. Including (with inadvertent trigger presses) the people on your own team.

So, here are some hot tips for the ultra noobs out there, to hopefully ease you into your first few games, and help prevent you from being remembered as a spastic.

1. Don't practice firing in your base!

If you feel the burning desire to let off a few rounds at the beginning of a match, make sure your loveable-but-HORRIFYINGLY-DANGEROUS Mr Cross hair is pointed away from your mechanized compatriots! There will be plenty of time to practice firing later AT THE ACTUAL ENEMY.

2. See point 1, but imagine it all in capital letters in your head. Or spoken with a booming biblical voice.

3. Set some weapon groups with right-ctrl and the arrow keys.

Group 1 = LMB, group 2 = RMB, the others you can trigger with number keys or other key binds. This will help prevent you from suffering the HORRIFYING SHAME of shutting down with your first few volleys, which will in turn expose you to SOCIAL RIDICULE™.

Once you have set these groups, you should totally practice to see how much heat each of your lovingly arranged bundles of death generates. But remember point 2, a lot.

Ah! Also, pressing backspace with a group highlighted will set it to chain fire. Pressing backspace again will allow you to fire the group in it's entirety.

4. If you are shooting at, or even CONTEMPLATING shooting at an enemy, press 'R' to 'target' the unfortunate focus of your mechanized fury.

Your teammates without line of sight to the poor ******* will then share in the GLORY of shared targeting! Your HUD will also show you the devastation you have wrought upon said enemy, and where you can shoot to best devastate them further! EVERYBODY WINS!

5. Your weapons have ranges listed next to them.

They do full damage at that range and below; the damage then diminishes (linearly... maybe) to ZERO damage at double that range. Or thereabouts. LRM's just explode at their max range. Embarrassing.

So, a small laser with a range of 90m does ZERO damage at ranges over 180m. Firing at targets outside this range will again expose you to the ignominy of SOCIAL RIDICULE™. It will also alert the enemy to your presence, who will likely cheerfully return your greeting with much more effective weaponry.

Also! PPC's have a minimum range of 90m, LRM's 180m, or thereabouts. Firing at targets with these weapons under these ranges? SOCIAL RIDICULE™. Oh, and Gauss rifles also have a minimum range of 12,000m. So don't use them, ever. The data to back up that last point is questionable.

6. Regarding your cross hairs.

These are cross and circle that represent your ability to visit death upon your foes. The circle represents where your arms are aiming. The cross, your torso. Your arms move faster and further than your torso! These guys are great. They even turn red when you score a hit on an enemy.

7. STICK TOGETHER

There is no font size large enough to convey the importance of this point.

Unless you're a scout, you need to realize that if you plod off on your own, you are usually whatever the mechanized equivalent of dead meat is. There is a very good chance the enemy team will smell n00b in the water, focus fire upon you, and if you have more than one mech shooting at you at any given time, you have what we in the business refer to as; a dilemma.

So! Cower a little. Hang at the rear. There's also an unknown armor type in the game you should be aware of. It gives ANY mech a hell of a lot more protection than normal. It's called 'another mech'. Hiding behind an Atlas is an awesome way to alleviate the burden of being shot at. The atlas will likely appreciate the move also; it allows you to cover his rear, as Atlases and indeed most assaults turn like a crippled whale that subsides on a diet consisting mostly of anvils.

8. Rejoice in your victories! Learn from your defeats!

WHEN YOU DIE, mentally acknowledge (grudgingly) that you were bested, and simultaneously plan how to avoid it in future. Then spectate people until you find someone with a tiny bit of skill, and learn from the doom they visit upon others. Or, for giggles, watch a spastic! You can learn from their stupendous mistakes, and they are nothing if not entertaining. Just keep your ridicule to yourself, or at least word it nicely. Unless they deserve it. Also, they may also be an actual spastic.

* A NOTE ON SPECTATING: Ping, that horrible temperamental *****, has a huge effect on what you see when you spectate someone, or when you... actually try to shoot someone. Your spectatee (not a real word) may think they are visiting horrifying laser torment on some poor little Jenner, when in actuality they are shooting an orphanage that the Jenner ran through once (around 2,000 k’s or so ago) and are turning poor innocent orphans into freshly disintegrated orphan aerosol. Mmmm, atrocity-fresh. So, have higher ping? Learn where you can aim off. This will improve as the netcode improves.

9. Realize that trial mechs are not a true reflection of the game experience.

Trial mechs are designed based on variants that exist in the fiction of the mechwarrior universe. I think their designers were often mentally challeneged. How awesome would it have been to read this in a battletech novel? “Phelan Kell misted up ever so slightly in one eye when he saw the changes the clan techs had made to his beloved mech, Grinner. One of the techs waved him over. “Eight medium lasers, and the heatsinks to use them!” he exclaimed, with obvious pride. Phelan roughly embraced him, choked with emotion. “Thank you” he whispered. He started to laugh, his triumph echoing around the mechbay; “I AM BECOME DESTROYER OF WORLDS!”

Well, the point is, if you potter around in your trial mech, and (after much death and frustration) decide you still like the game, work towards earning the cbills to buy yourself something you can call your own, that will run far better than a trial mech. You’ll enjoy it far more, and anything you buy will be yours, FOREVER. You don't have to spend a cent of real money, BUT... if you like the game, consider throwing some money at the devs, and BAM, new mech, without the grind. You don’t have to spend a fortune, either. Jenners and Cicadas are cheap, and friggin’ evil. Those expensive assault mechs rightly fear them. If you like the game, support it!

10. Know that you are, in fact, in a BETA.

So... if you find bugs or problems, or have feedback, please submit a report to the devs! Make suggestions in the forums! They live for our poorly worded bug reports and passionate (yet constructive, hopefully) attacks on game mechanics! Also, if you have questions, don't be afraid to ASK them on the forums. We have a (mostly) kick *** community here, who will help you. There are already a lot of examples of these questions posted, and only a few of the questions have attracted and bile and vitriol! That's a good ratio!

The game is still rough around the edges, but it has enormous potential. WE CAN MAKE IT BETTER.

11. Lastly, and above all, HAVE SOME BLOODY FUN.

If you are being stomped into dirt, you're probably facing coordinated teams, or any of the myriad of beta testers that have honed their skills to a moderately dangerous edge, both of which are gleefully wringing their hands at the thought of using your unfortunate corpses to build themselves statistical monuments in the UTTER BLOODBATH that will be the first few days of open beta. Dirt stompings are the very antithesis of fun.

It's not that we hate you, think of it as tough love! We want you to get better! Don't cry about it; learn, adapt! Use the crucible of brutal defeat to forge yourself into a robotic killing machine!

Which brings me to this grand fact: You will NEVER get any help, unless you ASK for it!

You can even do this in the game! Pressing 'Y' and asking for help will send said request to your team members. Note that pressing 'T' and asking for help will send the request to everyone. Therefore advising everyone that you are new.

So, If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and then DESTROY 'EM. You don’t have to go it alone! Look for Vent or TS information on the forums. Voice comms are awesome, but not an absolute requirement. You can just listen if you don’t want to talk. Start a friends list. Join a clan. There will be around eleventy-billion of those around soon. None of this is mandatory; you can play just fine on your own, just be aware that the learning curve for this wonderful game can be… brutal. Just don't leave. THE GAME NEEDS YOU.

There are thousands of people here who are happy to help you! Conversely; there will also be a large number of people who can best be described as faecal sponges. Don’t judge us all based on them. And read the forums!

Kaemon has some great stuff for new players:

http://mwomercs.com/...-pretty-please/

There is also a sticky with chat servers you can leap onto:

http://mwomercs.com/...e-chat-servers/

Aaaand the quick tips guide by Prosperity Park is AWESOME. You should all read it.

http://mwomercs.com/...or-new-players/

Ohm's quick reference sheets are also splendid works of art:

http://mwomercs.com/...s-excel-inside/

Also note that a lot (all) of the guides from the old beta forums haven't been transferred over yet. Keep your eyes peeled, there was some great stuff in there.

So, apologies for the rambling wall of text, and all the inappropriately placed caps and exclamation marks. And good hunting all. I think the best piece of advice comes from the master strategist, Sun Tsu, who said "Shooting an untargeted enemy? PRESS THE BLOODY R BUTTON YOU TOOL".

Edited by Kiiyor, 31 October 2012 - 04:14 PM.

[BladeSplint]

Excellent post. The only thing I would add is that staying with your team works wonders on your win and kill count. If you run off alone you will die. 1v2 is difficult and 1v3 is usually impossible, so stay grouped and work with your teammates. Talk to them and set a nav point with the command screen (press "b"). If you're a scout don't run headlong into the enemy, find their location and hold targets.

Edited by BladeSplint, 29 October 2012 - 05:35 PM.

[Elder Thorn]

Kiiyor, on 29 October 2012 - 05:29 PM, said:

HOW TO AVOID SOCIAL RIDICULE™. 10 hot tips for new players!

1. Don't practice firing in your base!

If you feel the burning desire to let off a few rounds at the beginning of a match, make sure your loveable-but-HORRIFYINGLY-DANGEROUS Mr Cross hair is pointed away from your mechanized compatriots! There will be plenty of time to practice firing later AT THE ACTUAL ENEMY.

i agree - but even if i am not a new player - i was setting up weapong groups, and shooting a few shoots to the ground in front of me, to see if the correct weapons form the hardpoint i want them are shooting, when suddenly some specially smart guy walkd directly in front of me, maybe he wanted to see what is going on with this mach, looking to the ground.

So another tip: dont walk directly in front of your teammates, that is even more important in combat.
If you are to close and walk in right in fornt of them, they won't even see you until its too late

[CHH Badkarma]

excellent advice all round. Cant stress enough the need to check fire in your drop zone. Since beta went open today, I lost track of how many people were getting tagged by friendly fire while on base or just out of it

[Kiiyor]

Elder Thorn, on 29 October 2012 - 05:37 PM, said:

So another tip: dont walk directly in front of your teammates, that is even more important in combat.
If you are to close and walk in right in fornt of them, they won't even see you until its too late

Good point. Actually, i've TK'ed once or twice because of this. I love the feeding frenzy around damaged mechs, where everyone ignores EVERYTHING while they try for the kill. I try to glance at my minimap every now and again to get an appreciation of where my allies are, but that all goes out the window when there's a kill to be had.

[Ravensol]

change 9. to it's just a demo (it might fool a few plp) also and this is very very big ASK questions we have a killer comunity here alot of people are more then willing to help.

[Saffy]

Here was me in my first match, 4s in: "Ooops, mouse 4 or 5 seems to have shot something into the back of the head of a guy in front of me."

And "Let's see if pushing 1 or 2 fires off group 1 or 2. Yep, it does. Sorry."

And I forgot the love of getting used to turning the turret when I meant to turn the mech itself.

[Kiiyor]

Saffy, on 29 October 2012 - 07:37 PM, said:

Here was me in my first match, 4s in: "Ooops, mouse 4 or 5 seems to have shot something into the back of the head of a guy in front of me."

And "Let's see if pushing 1 or 2 fires off group 1 or 2. Yep, it does. Sorry."

And I forgot the love of getting used to turning the turret when I meant to turn the mech itself.

HA! I've done that. How was your match? Brutal? There's a lot of hate floating around at the moment, interested in seeing what you think so far.

[Eldan Sontim]

Good advice for everybody..... Bump

[charov]

Ok mods, stick this thread.

[Smeghammer]

This thread is 100% win. Lots of good advice AND entertaining to read!

[627]

I disagree with 1 and 2 - at least for energy weapons. When you change or regroup them, its important to know if they fire correctly and what heat these new groups create.
As long as you only hit the ground and no fellow mechwarrior it's ok. But not knowing how often you can fire only leads to shutdown within a fight. And that is really embarrassing.

I would not test ballistics without an enemy, though. Ammo is too precious.

[Kiiyor]

627, on 30 October 2012 - 03:03 AM, said:

I disagree with 1 and 2 - at least for energy weapons. When you change or regroup them, its important to know if they fire correctly and what heat these new groups create.
As long as you only hit the ground and no fellow mechwarrior it's ok. But not knowing how often you can fire only leads to shutdown within a fight. And that is really embarrassing.

I would not test ballistics without an enemy, though. Ammo is too precious.

Agree about the ballistics bit - and I sort of advocate testing your groups in point 4. If anything, you should be test firing to see how much heat each group generates. The main point i'm trying to get across is that firing when everyone is milling about and Benny Hill...ing at the start of the match is daaaangerous.

[Crimson Dux]

627, on 30 October 2012 - 03:03 AM, said:

I disagree with 1 and 2 - at least for energy weapons. When you change or regroup them, its important to know if they fire correctly and what heat these new groups create.
As long as you only hit the ground and no fellow mechwarrior it's ok. But not knowing how often you can fire only leads to shutdown within a fight. And that is really embarrassing.

I would not test ballistics without an enemy, though. Ammo is too precious.

And please talk. Press "Y" and explain that you are checking your heat dissipation. You may avoid the SOCIAL RIDICULE™, and look like the responsible pilot that you are.
And since you know now that "Y" is team chat, use it. If someone ask something, answer (even to say you don't know), call targets, warn your team mates. Coordinate. Communicate. We drop as group, not as mute lemmings.

[Kiiyor]

Crimson Dux, on 30 October 2012 - 05:48 AM, said:

And please talk. Press "Y" and explain that you are checking your heat dissipation. You may avoid the SOCIAL RIDICULE™, and look like the responsible pilot that you are.
And since you know now that "Y" is team chat, use it. If someone ask something, answer (even to say you don't know), call targets, warn your team mates. Coordinate. Communicate. We drop as group, not as mute lemmings.

Excellent advice! Added. Somewhere in there anyway. I also added a point about sticking together. In large font.

Hmmm. This was initially designed as a brief introduction, but now it looks more like war and peace.

[Dr Jones]

Also a note on LRM targeting. If your target disappears just as you fire, your rockets will fly into the ground in front of you so check for teammates between you and the target. I've accidentally nailed a few teammates in the back.

[Kiiyor]

Dr Jones, on 12 November 2012 - 02:45 AM, said:

Also a note on LRM targeting. If your target disappears just as you fire, your rockets will fly into the ground in front of you so check for teammates between you and the target. I've accidentally nailed a few teammates in the back.

Ah, great point! Legitimate statistic; LRMs are responsible for billions of team damage per round.

Some common LRM faux pas:

1. The team sights an enemy. All team members with LRMs cackle with glee and fill the sky with missiles. Enemy target lock is lost. Any poor, friendly sap that was circle brawling with the enemy eats accidental kerblammo. Especially scouts at the beginning of the match.

2. A salvo of mysterious LRMs kills an enemy you are attacking. You wander over to give your adversary a jolly old teabagging, and unfortunately eat the remaining six thousand missiles that were launched by everyone else. I forget this and explode. ALL. THE. TIME.

3. You brawl with an enemy, and use tag on them. You then close to point blank distance so the enemy can see the rude gesticulations you are making at them in your cockpit, and eat around half of the missiles that your teammates intended for the enemy.

AH! You also reminded me of an awesome hot tip™ Dr Jones! If you lose target lock on an enemy you've launched LRMs at, the missiles will REQUIRE YOUR TARGET if you regain target lock before they reach the end of their flightpath! You can do all sorts of awesome stuff with this, if you use a little skill: like firing on an enemy behind a building, deliberately breaking your lock when the missiles are at the top of their flightpath, and reaquiring the lock AFTER THE MISSILES HAVE PASSED THE BUILDING. MISSILES IN THE BACK! KERBLAMMO! MUAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAA!

Ahem. Anyhoo, the point is that the break lock thing is nice. Missiles are useless if they hit nothing! If you wait patiently for a second or two after losing lock, you might get it back.

ALSO! People also forget that dumb firing can be a legitimate tactic; i've kept enemies from cresting ridges before by tossing the odd salvo over the lip of said ridge. Useful if someone is camping and doing the old 'peep and shoot' at you too.

[Velba]

Great post and thanks for the work, I may not of needed it, but you know more people do than don't!!

[Grey Black]

A note for the devs: I have a problem with my forum account right now. It isn't letting me like this post more than once. Please remedy this.

EDIT: said "devas" instead of "devs".

Edited by Grey Black, 12 November 2012 - 11:20 PM.

[HumanDuracell]

Great post. The last paragraph of point 5 in particular made me chuckle.
I even learnt something from it in the form of the key command for Chain/Group fire. (I knew it existed and had inquired in-game, but with no replies. I don't think it's even listed in the key map option)

Kiiyor, on 29 October 2012 - 06:31 PM, said:

Good point. Actually, i've TK'ed once or twice because of this. I love the feeding frenzy around damaged mechs, where everyone ignores EVERYTHING while they try for the kill. I try to glance at my minimap every now and again to get an appreciation of where my allies are, but that all goes out the window when there's a kill to be had.

Yes the situation can be likened to having a wounded animal swimming about in a highly populated piranha tank.. but without the table manners!

The amount of times I've been responsible for, and the victim of, friendly fire are too numerous to accurately recall. That being said, there's no reason why you can't quickly assess the risks before you fire.. its part of that whole.. Situational Awareness.. thing.

Another thing to note is that with regards to ammo using weapons; There is a slight delay from the time you press the trigger to the time it actually fires. This delay can be fatal for the poor team-mate who happens to be toe-to-toeing with your currently targeted 'spank-monkey' (this is from personal experience,)
Remember that if you manage to get at least one or two hits on the target you will get an 'assisted kill' when it goes down.
As a Raven pilot who tries to stand off and TAG enemy 'Mechs, this method along with spotting bonuses is how I make my money.