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[ghos t in the shel l]

MWO: An in-depth guide for the complete newbie. Part 1 in an on-going series.

Welcome to MechWarrior®: Online, the future of online MechWarrior® battles, this guide will cover the basics of what you need to know.

Once you have your game installed, the first thing you should do is select menu and options, make sure your video settings, including resolution, and either Fullscreen or Window mode option, are at the right settings. It is recommended that you set it to Low settings and resolution the same as your desktop.

If you are using window mode, while in game it may be necessary to move the window, to do this press ESC and it should allow you. I recommend fullscreen option.

The in-game option for viewing your Frames Per Second (FPS) is F9. You should be getting at least 20.0 FPS, and anything above 30.0 FPS is excellent. If you are below you may want to adjust your video card settings, such as Nvidia Control Panel, or Ati Catalyst, put these 3D settings on Performance and Application Managed.

Before running MWO, be absolutely sure that all programs, including your web browser (IE, Firefox, Chrome) are closed. This includes programs like Steam, Windows Live, Utorrent (or similar programs) and that all active downloads are set to STOP or it is possible they can download in the background even when closed. You should restart your computer before playing and every couple hours. It is recommended you close and re-log your client every hour or so to avoid common bugs such as crashes, hud bugs, and group malfunctions.

To make sure all programs in the background are closed, right click on the start bar and click on Start Task Manager or press CTRL ALT DEL and select Start Task Manager if on Windows 7, close any programs in the Processes tab that could potentially slow you down, but not programs your Operating System requires such as svchost.exe DO NOT close these.

If you have any doubt whatsoever, DO NOT close the program and do a Google search of the program. As certain drivers may require some programs to be running such as Sound Cards.

Also, make sure that your Anti-Virus such as Norton, AVG, are disabled or set to Game Mode, this is very important as they can really slow your computer down when in MWO.

Now that you're ready to play MWO, select your Trial Mech to start earning C-Bills. You can press the "Launch" button in the top right corner to commence the action. The MechLab and PilotLab tabs at the top of the screen give you information on your 'Mech loadout and what Perks you have unlocked for it with XP - Experience.

In a Trial Mech you do not earn Experience, however you will earn C-Bills, which you can save up to buy a 'Mech of your choice. Trial mechs cannot be customized, however, a 'Mech that you buy can.

So start playing and getting the hang of piloting 'Mechs. Keep this thread bookmarked, as I will be posting a Follow-Up Guide for Mech Selections, What to Buy? Aswell as Effective Weapon Loadouts for Beginners. As always, feel free to PM (Private Message) me here on the forums with any questions and I will be sure to help you out.

Thanks MWO, and great shooting out there!

-RENZO

Edited by RENZOKUKEN, 26 November 2012 - 04:24 AM.

[ghos t in the shel l]

Part 2: The continuing guide: Basic Tactics for New Players.

While getting adjusted to piloting 'Mechs in MechWarrior®:Online, finding the play style that matches you is important. There are four distinct BattleMech types: Light, Medium, Heavy and Assault.

There are also three different weapon types: Missile, Ballistic and Energy. Some prefer to mix these weapon types, but you can also do what is called "boating" where you take all of one weapon type. Each 'Mech variant has its own weapon hardpoints, which is what weapons you are allowed to put on it, there are also other restrictions such as tonnage and slots, which you will learn when you experiment with the 'Mech lab once you buy a 'Mech.

The important factor when deciding play style is weapon range, some pilots like to use a mix of weapon ranges, but I recommend using weapons with similar ranges until you are comfortable with group firing.

To set up your weapon groups, select the weapon with the arrow keys (up, left, down, right) and then press RIGHT CTRL on the keyboard, this will either enable or disable it for that selected weapon group (1,2,3,4,5,6). I recommend having fewer than 3 groups to start out, and really you shouldnt need more than 2. Another firing option is you can press BACKSPACE on a selected weapon group, and it will switch it in to "Link Firing Mode" which will fire 1 weapon at a time in that group, this is useful for heat management and knocking your opponent (shaking their 'Mech). Try to avoid manually powering up or using the heat override functions, as they will cause you to suicide if your 'Mech gets too hot. Also, you will notice on your map (press 'B' to bring up the large map) that there is a border, do not go outside this border or it will say on the top of the screen in red letters OUT OF BOUNDS 10 9 8 7 6 5, etc. You will suicide if you stay outside of the border for more than 10 seconds so watch your position on the map. Press B to close the large map.

One of the most important advice I can give to a new player, is stick with your teammates, the more Friendly 'Mechs you have around you, the more safe you will be, and the stronger you will be together when you shoot target Enemy 'Mechs. You can press 'Q' to view information on your teammates 'Mechs, such as damage %, name, distance in meters and 'Mech variant. Try not to get too close to them, as you may accidentally bump in to them causing damage. Also, be very careful not to shoot friendly mechs, although if it happens on accident simply type in Sorry. Press T or Y to type on in game chat and press ENTER to send your message. If you launch in game and have no aiming reticle or what is called HUD (heads up display), try shutting down your mech by pressing 'P' wait a few seconds and press 'P' again to start up. This may fix the issue, if not you can still play without HUD, but be aware this is a bug and we are still in Beta version of course so there will be some minor bugs.

This concludes Part 2 of MWO For Dummies, a MechWarrior® Online Guide for the Complete New Pilot.