9 replies to this topic

[TomorrowKing]

It seems like no matter which mech I use or fight against, if its one on one I always lose. It seems like all of my shots do absolutely negligible damage were as theirs seemingly does a crap ton. I just did a rather short round in the Catapult, fired my missiles at a guy a good way away and they did 2% damage, he returned fire and no idea how much damage he did but it had to be a lot as a guy in a mech came up and with his medium lasers killed me in less then a minute. I just don't get it.

[MagicHamsta]

Your options:
1) Core the Center torso/Rear torso.
2) Destroy the cockpit.
3) Take out both legs.

Optional
4) Destroy either side torso on mechs running a XL engine.

If you were standing still, it be extremely easy to take out the cockpit of catapults at med laser range.
('-')

[Aileen Dover]

TomorrowKing, on 08 November 2012 - 09:05 PM, said:

I just did a rather short round in the Catapult, fired my missiles at a guy a good way away and they did 2% damage,

That my friend is properly the fact that if you shot him with lrms at close range they haven't armed yet and just bounce off the target.

If you are using Srms then it could be lag and the hits didn't register...unlucky in that case .

On second thought if he was a way away and you fired srms then the spread means that the damage would of been spread over most of the mech and hill behind him. That would also count for 2% worth of damage.

Edited by Aileen Dover, 08 November 2012 - 11:03 PM.

[VelvetElvis]

The little status indicator for your mech that shows your armor and components in yellow, orange, and red as you take damage is a lot more important in MWO than in some other games. It's more than your health bar; you can use it to target your enemy's weak points and protect your own.

The little outlines around each component that show up when you take damage and turn redder as you take more represent your armor. You'll notice that when your armor is destroyed, the component itself fills in with a color, as it's now taking damage directly. Too much damage, and the component is destroyed; if it's your center torso or head, you're done for.

This leads to some weird effects that may not be apparent at first if you're new to the game. For one thing, the % is just an overall indicator. I've survived some matches with one unarmored leg, an unarmored center torso, and a head...like 12% status. I've also died above 65% after having my head blown off of an otherwise healthy mech. If you see that you've lost armor on one of your components, try to turn that side away from the enemy you're fighting when he shoots. Damage that gets spread across your armor pretty evenly is much better than damage that all lands in one spot. On the opposite side of things, to do more damage to enemies and have a better chance of killing them, target them, look for components that don't have armor (especially CT or head,) and hit them there as much as possible.

Someone else mentioned the LRM / SRM thing. Long-range missiles require 180m to the target in order to arm; otherwise they do nothing. SRMs are tricky to hit with at first; they're really more "rockets" than short range missiles. If you have LRMs, try to stay out of the fight at first and bombard people who foolishly wander into the open. More than anything, just practice...it takes some getting used to.

[B0NES]

TomorrowKing, on 08 November 2012 - 09:05 PM, said:

It seems like no matter which mech I use or fight against, if its one on one I always lose. It seems like all of my shots do absolutely negligible damage were as theirs seemingly does a crap ton.

Im betting you are in a trial mech. Trial mechs will not stand up to someone who had purchased and optimized their chassis. One of the issues is the extremely poor heat efficiency of the trial mechs. They just cant put out the same ammount of sustained fire that customized mechs can. My addvice to you would be to find a group to play with using headset for voip over teamspeak or C3. This really isnt a one on one game and to try to play it that way can be downright frustrating at times. Try coordinating with a team and see how that goes. If for some reason you have a serious aversion to joining a clan/group try following someone around in game. when i pug i will pick a group of friendly mechs to follow and try to focus fire on thier targets. its not optimal but it works when i want a quick game.

TomorrowKing, on 08 November 2012 - 09:05 PM, said:

I just did a rather short round in the Catapult, fired my missiles at a guy a good way away and they did 2% damage, he returned fire and no idea how much damage he did but it had to be a lot as a guy in a mech came up and with his medium lasers killed me in less then a minute. I just don't get it.

Likely this has more to do with the recent nerf to LRM pathing and damage. It was needed but a little to drastic IMO.

Depending on the chassis he could have been firing four med lasers and if those shots were placed on the cockpit, yes, you would have gone down quick. Evasion is key especially with the catapault.

[Buckminster]

A couple things -

When firing missiles at people, you need to be aware of terrain. Sometimes, even though you just fired 30 missiles at someone, only a couple get there. Maybe it's a building, or a hill, or maybe they were running quickly. The long travel time for missiles means that at long ranges they get easier to avoid.

For lasers - it took me a long time to get used to them, and honestly I still prefer missiles or ballistic weapons. Lasers spread their damage out over the duration of the beam, so you need to keep your beam aimed at your target for the entire duration to do full damage. I've run into that against fast moving lights, where I can only ever manage to graze them as they move around, so even though I've hit them a dozen times, I've done minimal damage. And as the slower target, they usually don't have much problem keeping their lasers on me for the full shot, so I'll take a beating.

[Karl Streiger]

I make it slow.
Shot left side, shot right side and when there is enough time shoot the legs.
When there is no time i go for head or center torso when i see gauss or double AC 20 cats the first salvo is for the legs

[Elizander]

Do you have high latency or low frame rates? It might be the cause of your shots missing. You will need to shoot a little ahead of the mech if it is moving in a certain direction.

PPCs/LRMs both have minimum range. You can't deal any decent damage if the opponent is too close.

Each mech is made up of several 'sections'. If you spread your damage across the left, right, and center torso, it won't be effective. You need to pick a section that you want to destroy and focus all your damage on that area.

[slayerkdm]

what mech, what kind of weapons you using?

[Kraven Kor]

TomorrowKing, on 08 November 2012 - 09:05 PM, said:

It seems like no matter which mech I use or fight against, if its one on one I always lose. It seems like all of my shots do absolutely negligible damage were as theirs seemingly does a crap ton. I just did a rather short round in the Catapult, fired my missiles at a guy a good way away and they did 2% damage, he returned fire and no idea how much damage he did but it had to be a lot as a guy in a mech came up and with his medium lasers killed me in less then a minute. I just don't get it.

First things first: FYI, "kills" mean less in this game than most. We all love to get them, that's fine, but just keep in mind that being the "one man army" in this game is difficult if not impossible. I would focus largely on XP earned, and your Win / Loss ratio, over Kill / Death ratio. Just my opinion.

Keep in mind this is largely a "team based game." I don't mean that to say "join a team and stomp pugs."

What I mean is, that the mechs are built in such a way that you need focused fire from multiple mechs to quickly bring down a single enemy mech.

One on One fights are going to be a long slog if the two opponents are of similar weight class, damage output, and skill.

You can indeed win a one on one fight, though:

• Aim. Head shots are difficult, for most, but gratifying when you land them. Particularly with AC/20's :evil:. More useful is knowing where to shoot on a given chassis / variant. Atlas and Hunchbacks often have their big guns in RT, so take that out first if you can. Dragon? See which arm has the biggest gun (usually the right arm, some trick you and mount dual LL on left arm and MG's on right) - shoot that arm off. Cats? Shoot off the ears for missile boats, flank and take out side torso of K2's or other builds that move primary weapons away from typical spots.
  
• Cover. Use it. Basically, if they are looking at you and shooting you, you have likely done something wrong, if you really want to "get kills." Find mechs that are otherwise occupied, and shoot them in the back or the cockpit, or in their weakest section (see "Aim.") Drag their LRM's into obstacles, break their streak-cat's locks using cover, always be mobile, always be looking to hit them where they are least prepared. "In war, the object is to strike what is weak, and avoid what is strong." Or something like that. Hey, Sun-Tzu I am not
  
• Pick your fights. You don't brawl an Atlas in a Hunchback, unless you have help or he is just bad. You don't charge a streak-cat dead on. You don't circle strafe mechs with heavy weapons on arm mounts (unless they are bad.)
  
• Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee. Be mobile. Reposition often, change directions often, alter throttle to throw off aim prediction, torso twist to spread damage, and don't just spray and pray - pick your shots if you use a strong alpha, concentrate chained fire on one location if possible, etc.

Hope that helps some.