Darena Bryant, on 10 January 2016 - 10:28 AM, said:
The problem with "defensive piloting" is my using missiles. I only have two medium lasers on my mech; swinging my torso from side to side ruins my target lock, which defeats the Artemis I have on my SRMs. ...should I just have normal SRMs? <CAN> I have normal SRMs, while keeping my LRMs Artemis? Or is this a case of needing to learn direct, non targeted missile fire? I admit to mostly just aiming and shooting my SRMs anyway, but doesn't the target lock help?
Again, thanks for the information and advice, it's been very helpful.
Welcome to MWO Darena Bryant. The fact you are asking questions and trying to learn puts you head and shoulder above a good deal of people here. I'd rather play with a noob who's learning than a vet refusing to play the match any way but his/her way.
You need to first determine which part of your armour is most vulnerable before twisting. If using a standard engine, you die from center torso destruction so present your sides if you can. The XL engine makes all three torso section equally vulnerable, so if your sides are in the red, then you are better off facing your opponent and hope he shoots at the larger center torso instead.
Another part of defensive piloting, try not to present the side which contains your biggest guns. A lot of mech are armed heavily on the right side so an anti-clock circle shields your best guns while you want to circle the other way if you put your biggest gun in the left torso/arm.
Okay, the SRM. SRMs (apart from the streak models) are not lock capable so your missile lock tone does nothing. Artemis system just makes the SRM shoot out in a tighter cluster so your damage is more concentrated. Feel free to torso twist in your catapult next time you get too close - fire those SRM as soon as you can line them up and don't worry about the lock tone.
LRMs. Newbies tend to fire LRM on anything with a lock tone which is great way to waste ammo. The target lock have to be sustain at the point of impact for it to track on target. If you fired your LRMs at an enemy signal at 800m and the signal disappears any time during the 10 sec travel time (mech hid behind a wall, lost line of sight etc), your LRM will just hit spot you lost lock at instead of keep tracking the enemy.
This is why some thread advocate moving up to 400-500m range if safe: your missiles have less flight time so more chance of a sustained lock; you might have visual yourself so your LRMs will definitely hit; you are lest likely to target an enemy hiding behind a tall building that blocks LRM because you can see the terrain better. Personally I hold off the LRMs until middle of the match where melee has occurred and the constant targeting from your team mates will guarantee you sustained lock.
Finally, Inner Sphere version of LRM has minimum distance of 190m so don't get TOO close.
Playing support is more than just sit back and spam LRMs at distant target locks and fortunately, it looks like you wouldn't catch this particular bad habit. =)
EDIT 2: I've noticed a lot of new pilots aim like playing FPS on a Xbox. Go to setting and turn mouse sensitivity to 0.50 and 0 for smoothing and acceleration. That's a good baseline and then just adjust to your liking. Too often I see pilots that literally can't hit the side of a barn while standing still.
Artemis IV FCS doesn't grant your SRMs any ability to lock-on. It SHOULD improve LRMs and SSRMs (and doesn't affect the weight/size of SSRM launchers, either!), however.
SO. Locking on to a target with LRMs can get screwed-up by wide-range torso twisting. Try something a little different. Just wiggle your nose at the enemy. JUST far enough that a center-mass shot spreads to the side torso. Wiggle them the 'dead' side, at least until it's stripped and getting orange-ish, and then go to the 'live' side. But ONLY far enough to pull the shot (and this only really works against lasers) onto the side torso. For that matter, between shots you should ANTICIPATE that, if you're still exposed to your enemy, that enemy is going to take the shot to get some kind of trade out of this. So go ahead and wiggle while cooling down, and time it to come back onto target just as the weapons are ready to fire again.
You have a radius, let's call it a CONE OF SHAME, in which the target can move in your field of view WITHOUT you losing the lock. (Also, the 360 target retention module can help with this if it's a recurring problem.) So try to manage that wiggle such that you force the laser onto the side torso without pulling the target out of the CONE OF SHAME. (Not that it's particularly shameful, just that I can't think of another 'cone' reference at the moment, and some DO find LURMING to be a shameful profession.)
The Mechwarrior Academy has that Battle Zone feature that makes for interesting opportunities to practice this, and the Running Cored exercise can help with it too. Believe it or not, the Academy isn't completely useless!
Darena Bryant, on 09 January 2016 - 09:14 PM, said:
Well, here's a question.
I'm pretty new to the game. I like long range engagements too. I use LRMs, and have tried out a mech armed with PPCs and found it to my liking. I tend to let the other mechs precede me while either firing missiles at targets that get revealed, or angling for shots with my weapons from as far back as possible.
Does this mark me as "timid"?
Hesitation due to inexperience is much different than merely being timid - and don't personalize either as a criticism. Good or bad tactics are skills that you have, not who you are; the distinction is an important one.
As for specific tactics, just hitting the forums and asking questions places you above most people, because you are studying the game to see how it works. MWO has a steep learning curve, but it's more rewarding to master because of that. In any case, I apologize for the lateness of my response - this was a drill weekend for me, so I've been away from home.
You've already gotten some pretty good advice - Ioopala's Catapult build gives you good mobility and is more forgiving of mistakes in positioning, but I would suggest An Alternative. That build keeps the speed, but doubles down on the LRMs for more sustained combat, with TAG (to increase tracking strength and cut through ECM) and a MPLaser for backup. The optimal engagement range for LRMs is about 300m - this is (if I recall correctly) the distance at which LRMs change from their high, arcing flight path to a flatter (though still arcing) trajectory. From this range, all most enemies can do is eat the missiles, which blind and shake them, while your own team take advantage of their inability to defend themselves by cutting them a new smile. With lasers. In general, you should position your LRM boat near your team's Assaults and let them help you punish anyone who tries to harass you - don't snipe or harass from extreme range.
If you get caught by a light, make sure to hit R, then backpedal and turn with them - once they run past your torso twist range, change the direction of your turning and twist to the other direction to re-acquire. So, if your attacker is circling to your left (counterclockwise,) you'd back up, turn left, and twist your torso left; if he got beyond your torso twist range, you keep backing up, turn to the right, and twist to the right until you can see him again. This minimizes the time he can spend smacking you in the back, and allows you to shoot him in the legs some more. Always shoot Light 'mechs in the legs. Regardless, if you get caught in the open, you're usually in trouble, particularly if it's more than one attacker - reconcile yourself to this reality and don't take it too hard. Just try to stay with the team, and close to the middle of the group so you can't be culled.
I've actually written another guide on how to more closely cooperate with teammates who aren't too communicative, entitled Follow the Fracking Atlas. The title is evocative, if nothing else, and I'm in the process of updating it. Perhaps it might help you as well. Finally, along with SQW, I strongly recommend Tactics 101, an extremely accessible and accurate resource - it's truly a superb guide with which I had nothing to do.
PS: the Academy is a great resource for learning the basic mechanics of the game, and the piloting skill challenges give you C-bills!
I'm really enjoying the tips here. kudos to the contributors!
Another thing I'm real happy about is the bunch of new players who've come in since STEAM launch. I've played this game non stop since it came out and I remember a time when it was just lonely Battletech players who just want a decent mech simulator that was faithful to the fun board game.
From where I'm looking, things are really lookin great. Mostly because the devs are putting a big focus on game balance and fun.
The mech you are in the mood to play can do well in a match if you know where to make its strong points come out and shine.
This is why I tend to toss the whole metamech builds out the window and just go with solid designs that work for me and I enjoy playing. But I digress...
To accomplish this, you need to know what your build is good at and then constantly find out where you will be most useful during the course of the fight.
I spend a lot of time looking at the mini and big map and not just following where most guys are bunching up. Communication is a huge help because more often than not, a bad plan executed well is better than no plan at all.
2. Get involved with each fight. Don't just "jump in, die, find another match"
I seem to get more out of this game when I'm not playing joining matches just because I got free premium time.
I sometimes save memorable games on Shadowplay and re-watch the fun matches. I even upload the occasional really awesome battles on Youtube because I got such a kick out of it.
Make new friends, try to join groups when your time allows it.
Nice tips. Now we just need people to follow them... I had to ditch my 2PPC/LRM40 Timby to get some Small pulsers for the annoying spider that shows up every now and then because the scouts won't cover my backside. Larges just aren't the same as the lightning cannons. Dohva Wolf will be missed...
Edited by Spartan X51, 11 January 2016 - 12:21 PM.
Heh. Well, the Light's job is more to find enemies. If they can eliminate the enemy's scouts, that's good, too, and once the general melee has started they should hunt down other lights and counter their harassment attempts, but that's not their primary role - so they're not really going to be around during the preliminary fighting where you might be out by yourself firing. Besides, why not just paste the spider with ERPPCs? They hate taking 10 damage in chunks even more than they hate pulse lasers, and you've got the heat capacity for it.
PS: do you have a microphone headset? Using VoIP to tell lights you need help with another light helps most of the time.
You make a good point, but nobody answers my calls when I start getting hit. Even when I'm with the other LRM mechs. It'd be really nice if the scouts would mark other scouts with narcs, or just counter their ems. Then I could blow them to small bits and the scouts could do their job uncontested. In the meantime I'll switch back to PPC and use the fear factor of getting hit in the face with lightning to scare off the little buggers like you suggested.
What is also disturbing is the lack of hitting R when fighting enemy, especially when brawling. It's like people don't want those backline lurmers to lob missiles and deal shared slice of pain xD
But is it better to be timid or foolishly bold? Sure, a dedicated LURMER may seem like a coward, but good lurmer do take their hits and if anything, attract attention of a wolfpack. When I'm piloting a mech capable of dealing with light dancing, I do try to go and help our backliners (or frontline assaults).
I think the current "timid" peekaboo meta reared its ugly head due lack of cooperation, atleast in these tiers I fight in where most people seem to gun for personal glory
Well, the hide-and-peek meta (which is getting shaken up a bit; I have hope) evolved from the ability of players to put large amounts of damage downrange. This began with the advent of the Highlander (the original one, not the IIC.) Suddenly, players who had been limited to the Cataphract for serious jump sniping tactics now had an Assault class jump sniper available - one with a bunch of the appropriate hardpoints all on one side of the 'mech, and an Assault's armor and durability. No longer was jump sniping balanced by the ability of brawlers and dakka to bring much larger 'mechs. From day one, the veterans of Mechwarrior 4's competitive scene re-implemented their old tactics and the Poptart Era was upon us. Even after the jump meta was curbed, players were still used to stand-off weapons, and the state of the game was such that they were inadvertently pushed toward long-range builds. Brawling was still doable, but it required more skill and cooperation to be successful - and if option B counters option A, but requires significantly more skill to implement, it's only better than option A if you're a machine. Then came the Clans, with extreme damage potential (and commensurate heat inefficiency) at long range, and you've got an environment that tends to punish solo players for being exposed. This is why you see players react so strongly to relatively minimal damage - the game has trained them to subconsciously view any damage as an immediately lethal threat.
On the subject of LRM locks, there are a few main reasons you don't see people getting locks for you. First, at lower tiers they're going to just get flustered, particularly if they're taking a lot of screen shake or brawling. Folks forget, is all. Another is that in order to maintain locks, they have to maintain line of sight - see above, re: massive damage. They might also be trying to keep track of a specific enemy - a heavily damaged 'mech who ducked out of sight to protect itself and will re-engage when it thinks you're distracted. In general, YOU should be getting most of your locks in many circumstances. Optimum LRM range is ~300m, where travel times are minimized and the enemy doesn't have time to react and hide. Of course, this requires some means of keeping him from running up and face-hugging you to death, so you'll typically engage from farther away and behind your front line.
You make a good point, but nobody answers my calls when I start getting hit. Even when I'm with the other LRM mechs. It'd be really nice if the scouts would mark other scouts with narcs, or just counter their ems. Then I could blow them to small bits and the scouts could do their job uncontested. In the meantime I'll switch back to PPC and use the fear factor of getting hit in the face with lightning to scare off the little buggers like you suggested.
Most light pilots wont be that worried about your PPC, they'll be darting around you at speed scraping you with SPLs or MLs or finding the red bits with sustained MG fire.
A competent light pilot who knows the maps can get through your front lines without being seen (ECM or not) on most maps - particularly on Tourmaline, Alpine, Mining Collectitve or Frozen City, on HPG its a bit more difficult, but still possible. They'll be working out your location by watching your missile flight, missiles like lasers are advertisements for your location so if you are not moving you will get jumped. If you are to far back from the pack they'll strip you to pieces before you can get back to the rest of your team, so keeping closer to the rest of your unit (not in the brawl - but close to the second line) is the best deterrent to being jumped by lights. A light mech pilot particularly (but any mech pilot in general) should never choose a fair fight.
So, on the titular topic, I just got out of a match on Terra Therma in my not very TT friendly Jenner IIC. Now, understand that this is a mid to long range skirmisher/harasser build, sporting an XL 295 and 2 ERPPCs. The team starts working up one ramp to fight the enemy, who aggressively seized the center caldera. So, I think to myself, "Ok, no big deal. I'll roll up the ramp and poke from the bridge one entrance clockwise," since my Jenny is really good at hull-down poking. I go up there and tangle with a Blackjack laserboat passing by that entrance on the way to the fight at the other ramp, easily dispatching him. I then peek into the caldera and tag an LRM-boating assault (I think a Highlander) only to find my reverse doesn't work! Oh no!
Spinning around rapidly, I jump right off the bridge entirely to escape return fire, damaging my legs some. I circled back around to discover that surprise, surprise, our entire idiotic assault lance (plus a couple heavies) was just standing there on the bridge, just eating LRMs for breakfast in the one place on the map they can reliably get hit with them from the caldera. I'm thinking, "Ok, they're gonna push in." Nope. Three of them stand there and get destroyed, and the other three go back down from the bridge. So then I think, "Ok, they're gonna do a firing line, let me pull the enemy toward us." I hop up to the bridge and tag an oncoming Atlas until my heat meter is full, and when I try to back up, oh look, the reverse doesn't work. Guess who? It's our side's Atlas standing behind me LITERALLY USING ME FOR COVER. Like I'm going to be able to meat-shield more than his legs any way, right?
Anyway, at that point the enemy team made a concerted push and I bailed off the bridge again. As my unfortunate and incompetent teammates died, they finally performed the minor service of holding the enemy's attention while I continued to wail on them with my dual PPCs. I wound up in a running battle with the remainder of the enemy team by myself, shoot, run, cool, lather, rinse, repeat. Took out a Stormcrow and an Arctic Cheetah, but one badly-damaged skirmisher does not much of a challenge make. I wound up dying to LRM fire from a nearly fresh Stalker.
The moral of the story? Follow the Fracking Atlas, don't let the Fracking Atlas follow you.
This is for all the times you've looked at your minimap and seen the entire team huddled together like a flock of frightened sheep while the enemy team advances as a unit and swarms you under. This is for every time you've died after heavy combat and popped in to spectate an undamaged brawler plinking away with his one long-range weapon. This is for all the times you've seen an isolated Victor running along your flank, and couldn't get anyone big enough to stop him to leave cover and try. This is for all of us, Mechwarriors - Timidity is not a tactic.
Now, I enjoy MWO - enough to write guides for it, in fact. But if I had to identify the number one problem I run into in the game, it wouldn't be a broken weapon system, an overpowered or underpowered 'Mech, or even matchmaker issues and hit registration. No, the biggest issue I see with MWO is more serious - the game trains cowardice.
The process by which it does this is simple, psychologically speaking. People learn by interpreting the feedback provided by their actions. If they get punished for doing something a certain way, they will tend to try other ways to do things, and deferred punishments and rewards are far less effective at modifying behaviors. The problem in MWO is that the rewards for certain good practices (such as taking damage in order to get close or set up a cross fire) are deferred, but the punishment - the visceral negative feedback of damage alarms, missile warnings, and incoming weapons fire - is immediate, particularly if you make an error. This leads us to the major problem affecting PuG gameplay:
Vicious Cycle. The combination of deferred rewards and immediate punishments, combined with the lack of communication typical to PuGs and the dominance of long-range weaponry, sets up a vicious cycle - what is called in biology a positive feedback loop. Players receive immediate punishment from exposing themselves to damage, even for good cause, and for making errors. The rewards for many actions, on the other hand, are not immediately given, and can be precluded entirely by the actions of your team - if they fail to support you, you can do the right thing for nothing. This encourages players to play more cautiously, letting other players take the risks; thus causing other players to learn that PuGs can't be trusted to watch their backs; which encourages them to play more cautiously, and so on; the process feeds on itself in a vicious cycle - a positive feedback loop.
Timidity as a Tactic: Thus we have the problems which plague so much of the PuG environment. Players will run to the rim of the caldera in Caustic Valley, then stop and refuse to move or expose themselves if anyone is shooting at them; they'll rush to the entrance to the "PuG Zapper" in Terra Therma, then cluster and back up if they take any fire; they'll camp whatever cover is available where they first take incoming, and refuse to move even when desperate warnings and cries for help are issued over coms - I know, I've been the poor sucker getting Julius Caesared on the flank. This is a major component of the current PuG metagame; players only feel like they should be shooting when effective return fire isn't possible for the enemy. When faced with enemy action, people's first response is no longer an immediate recourse to lethal weaponry - it's to hide and preserve their armor. They're not doing it because they're stupid, nasty, dirty little Puggles; they're doing it because the game trains them to be that way. Most PuG matches devolve into a waiting game where everyone scatters out to find their favorite hiding rock and start getting liquored up for the end of the match, when one side gets an advantage and finally starts to close.
Hope for the Battlefield: This doesn't mean that we're all doomed to camp-and-hide tactics unless you're playing in the group queue. Humans are the only species on the planet which relies on learned behaviors as its primary survival strategy - we can override the conditioning of our environment by making choices as rational agents. To this end, I have these suggestions:
Support Your Teammates. Always support the team, even when they're being stupid. Brawlers sometimes get bored, and snipers are often really, really scared of enemy fire. But if the four brawler/scouts on your team run in alone, it's bad - just like when the snipers refuse to leave their favorite spots in order to help repulse or commit to a push. Either of these options is bad, but leaving half the team unsupported is critical - and you can't control the rest of the team - just yourself. No matter how stupid you know they're being, support your teammates no matter what. Even a bad plan, executed now and with violence of action, is preferable to letting your teammates die in a pyre of foolishness and shame without at least getting something out of it. Give advice if there's time, but get to where you can participate in the action - you'll mitigate the damage if they're being stupid, and avoid sabotaging your team if they're not.
Keep Moving. You may be a long-range mech - in fact, it's likely these days - but staying put too long allows you to be outmaneuvered (see Appendix A) and leaves you vulnerable. Additionally, if you have any brawlers on your team, they can help you better if you move with them - and not moving often makes them unable to help you, because of enemy supporting fire.
Damage Is Like Water. You can drown in the river, but getting a little wet won't kill you. The game inadvertently conditions you to react to any damage as if it is an immediately lethal threat - remember that in reality, durability is just a resource, no different from your heat and ammo. It's important to use that resource wisely, but - particularly for Heavies and Assaults - it's there to be used. In fact, sometimes the best durability you can make use of is someone else's: if the enemy is shooting at your teammate, as a practical matter they cannot shoot at you at the same time. Thus, if you see a large volume of fire coming at your Friendly Neighborhood Atlas, often the best thing you can do is use that window to return fire at the enemy while they focus on killing your friend.
Share Armor. This is related to the previous two points, but is vital enough that it warrants its own bullet point. If your team is fighting the enemy team (even in a defensive position,) it is always better to expose more people to enemy fire. This is true even if the enemy is focusing their fire to kill your individual teammates as quickly as possible - in fact, it's especially true then. Your enemies simply cannot shoot effectively at two people at once; the human brain isn't set up that way, even if the 'mech could support the logistics. What this means is that the more of you the enemy has to shoot at, the better off you all are. Enemy fire will be spread amongst more targets (particularly in the solo matches that concern us,) and less effective overall. Sharearmor when it all hits the fan - you'll always be better for it.
Learn to Scout. These days, lights have it hard. With the fixes to hit registration and the increased prevalence of LRMs and long-range weapons, it's very hard to do the scouting part of your job - to the point that some players (I'm looking at you, Firestarter pilots) will actually refuse to leave the team until the main fight starts. This is a mistake. You don't have to be running around on the other side of the map - and shouldn't be, if you can't survive alone out there. I get that; but you can and should still be out on the flanks watching for the enemy and relaying information to your team; use long sight distances instead of proximity to the enemy to look for them. Ditto with ECM snipers who never bother to tell the team what they're seeing from their semi-invisible vantage points. That being said, scouting is everyone's job, to a certain extent - if you see something important, call it out if you can. It's important. Giving the team that information allows them to make better judgements about what to do, and will help to break the positive feedback loop of excessive caution.
Use Your Words. Get a microphone headset and use it. The cost is trivial compared to the price of a computer that can run the game, and voice communication is the most powerful tactical tool ever given to gamers. Don't chatter, and don't harangue your teammates - you only really need to call out short alert messages - like, "Three heavies in D3," or "Assault 'mechs behind us!"
The vicious cycle I've described here is actually a very common phenomenon that we're all aware of - it's a form of stage fright. Anxiety causes physical tension, which causes more anxiety, increasing physical tension, until the sufferer can't decide on any course of action and becomes tongue-tied and paralyzed. That's exactly the phenomenon we're seeing on the battlefield, just with tactics instead of public speaking - and like stage fright, all you have to do to break the cycle is move. Recognize that it's happening, and take specific action to break out of it, and eventually we'll see our fellow Mechwarriors start to get over it, too.
At the end of the day, you should be cautious up to a point - recklessness is the courage of a fool, after all. But you have to keep in mind that, just as you don't go to a knife fight without expecting to be cut, you can't go to a 'mech fight and not expect to be blasted apart and melted down into commemorative paperweights from time to time. The most important thing you can do is cooperate with your team, no matter what your build - maneuver for a flank shot with your sniper/missile build; being a "light killer" doesn't mean you can't scout so long as you stay close by the main body. If you can't focus fire from your position, you need to move, and if the big 'mech(s) are engaging, go in with them. Don't be stupid, but don't let fear (or tactical tunnel-vision) restrain you from helping the team. As one of the Fracking Atlas pilots, I do not mind dying a horrible death as long as the team backs me up - because teamwork, not fear, is the true key to survival.
Timidity is not a tactic.
Appendix I: The problem with camping
Spoiler
Recently, I've seen a lot of the sort of behavior that this guide encourages people to avoid. Upon reflection, aside from the points covered above, I suspect many players aren't understanding the tactical implications of staying in one spot for too long.
On the surface, it seems like a viable tactic: you set up your ambush, and wait for them to come to you. Wait for them to come just far enough into your trap, then smash their forward elements before they can react, gaining a decisive advantage. Sounds fun, and it's totally do-able... If you're a premade team with voice chat and experience playing with this tactic. Good on you, and well done, but this guide is dealing with the Pug/small group solo queue - by all means take what you can from it, but it is not for you.
Even with the advent of integrated VoIP, the general hesitancy of people in a pick-up match to immediately follow the orders of some random teammate makes camping a risky proposition. I'm not writing this to tell you not to set up ambushes - if you're feeling it with your team, by all means talk to each other and plan it out! But if you're not deliberately coordinating the ambush, I offer you these words of caution: camping is dangerous. It's not that the risk can't outweigh the reward, but understand that it is risky for a variety of reasons:
Camping cedes the initiative to the enemy. A commonly-cited principle of self-defense is that most fistfights are won by the first good punch. Similarly, the first side in a match to have a significant portion of their tonnage killed or crippled is at a major disadvantage. By staying in one place and waiting to see what the enemy does, you're allowing him that first swing. Sure, he might miss, or start too slow so you can counter-punch - but he gets to decide where and how to hit you, and you have to respond. The opportunity to make the first mistake is yours.
Camping muddles your forces' ability to react to enemy actions in a concerted manner. One of the ways a PUG communicates is by actions. When you are on the move, even without VoIP, you are all moving together, aside from the scouts (hopefully, but that's another thread.) This means that you're all going the same direction and seeing the same things. This means that people who aren't sure of the total situation can take their cue from those around them, and that in turn makes it easier for players to act in concert with one another. If you stop moving, your pilots' minds will wander; they'll start looking in different directions, moving around, getting impatient... They'll start making their own plans. So while the enemy who hits you from the flank is acting in concert, your teammates are at least momentarily unsure of what to do - and the enemy gets in that first good punch.
The side that takes effective action wins. This touches on both the previous points, but it bears repeating. Whether in politics, videogames, or the very serious arena of modern war; the side that acts effectively wins. The best generals throughout history (yes, even Sun Tzu) desired the initiative, and suffered when they lost it. And it is very difficult, for reasons including those above, to take effective action from a static, defensive position - take a moment when your next match starts, and keep track of how long it takes everyone to get moving.
To be clear: fine art of the ambush should not be lost to MWO - nor must you always be charging randomly around the battlefield just for the sake of "doing something." I'm not telling you to never stop moving, or advocating any sort of "lemming bull-rush tactics." But you must realize that the lack of team cohesion inherent in the solo queue environment makes stopping and standing in place hazardous - you should only do it if you have a specific plan, and have actually used your words to tell everyone what's going on.
NOTICE! This guide has undergone major revisions as of May 9th, 2014! The original post can be found here.
And finally, I simply must recommend these Wonderful Tactical Illustrations, in whose creation I had no hand, but which I greatly admire, both for their simplicity and for the quality of their advice. Thank you all for reading through my giant wall of text advice!
Edited 16AUG2016: added "Share Armor," and updated throughout to account for the availability of reliable VOIP.
It's really unfortunate that you took the time to write this wall of text which is utter nonsense.
I think about the men and women who put on a uniform every day and go out into harms way. Then I hear some ninny calling people cowards over a video game. As if rushing head long into those pixelated lasers is the pinacle of bravery.
The other part that is frustrating and annoying is how this attitude shows a complete lack of insight into the nuances and strategy of the game that is MWO. Now I am a brawler... I think most people who are relatively new to the game, get to becoming a brawler first. At the higher levels though, there are those players who make incredibly smart trades and use terrain and cover to not take damage while wearing down the enemy. Any idiot (such as myself), can rush head long into the enemy with weapons blazing and twisting and turning, striking down enemies while you are simultaneously blown to pieces. High level players do not do this. They trade well and push when it makes sense to push because it is advantageous to do so.
So the next time you want to call or suggest that folks playing MWO are cowards for not following your strategy do two things. First, look up what the words bravery and cowardess mean while considering how it is not applicable to a video game where you are not in harms way and have absolutely nothing to lose. Second, go watch some high level play from either the World Championships or A/B div. of MRBC.
In closing until you actually have a better understanding of this game, you should consider not wasting your time writing 'guides' due to them not coming from a credible or knowledgeable source.
Son, I'm a two-tour, outside-the-wire veteran - my philosophy of Mechwarrior combat is based on my training and experience. Now, before you even start - no, you have no way to verify that, and I'm not going to expose my real life identity to some judgemental internet pundit. I bring it up only because you invoked my brotherhood of arms in a despicable attempt to shame me.
Your insulting diatribe ignores an important fact - you don't have the knowledge or experience to contradict me. You've been playing this game for four months and change. Your rebuttal consists of a simplistic generalization of meta tactics and a consequently fallacious appeal to the authority of "higher level players." It is in part to aid people who ape the meta without understanding it that this guide was written, as well as new players who end up assuming that exposure to damage is a lethal emergency in all cases. In addition, you've failed to successfully read my post despite quoting it in its entirety - the examples include multiple build types, and nothing in it explicitly encourages or discourages any tactic. Instead, it addresses negative playing habits which the game inadvertently cultivates, explains how this cultivation occurs, and recommends ways to defeat this conditioning and operate as a member of your team - even if the team is just camping behind rocks trying to ape the meta players.
Hand-waving a thoughtful post away with jingoistic nonsense and personal abuse does not demonstrate your superior moral standing, extensive knowledge, and keen grasp of the "nuances and strategy" of the game. On the contrary, it definitively demonstrates your lack of expertise. Come back with more than twenty weeks of playing experience and see if your rigidly inflexible thinking has broadened out a bit.
Edited by Void Angel, 06 December 2016 - 12:04 PM.
Son, I'm a two-tour, outside-the-wire veteran - my philosophy of Mechwarrior combat is based on my training and experience. Now, before you even start - no, you have no way to verify that, and I'm not going to expose my real life identity to some judgemental internet pundit. I bring it up only because you invoked my brotherhood of arms in a despicable attempt to shame me.
You insulting diatribe ignores an important fact - you don't have the knowledge or experience to contradict me. You've been playing this game for four months and change. Your rebuttal consists of a simplistic generalization of meta tactics and a consequently fallacious appeal to the authority of "higher level players." It is in part to aid people who ape the meta without understanding it that this guide was written, as well as new players who end up assuming that exposure to damage is a lethal emergency in all cases. In addition, you've failed to successfully read my post despite quoting it in its entirety - the examples include multiple build types, and nothing in it explicitly encourages or discourages any tactic. Instead, it addresses negative playing habits which the game inadvertently cultivates, explains how this cultivation occurs, and recommends ways to defeat this conditioning and operate as a member of your team - even if the team is just camping behind rocks trying to ape the meta players.
Hand-waving a thoughtful post away with jingoistic nonsense and personal abuse does not demonstrate your superior moral standing, extensive knowledge, and keen grasp of the "nuances and strategy" of the game. On the contrary, it definitively demonstrates your lack of expertise. Come back with more than twenty weeks of playing experience and see if your rigidly inflexible thinking has broadened out a bit.
Listen child. I have nothing to fear so I sent you a message with my full name and location. Being that I am 6'6" and 360lbs, I am fairly confident and not much on cowardess.
What I said was based entirely on absolute nonsense you posted. I did not shame you, you said shameful and outright stupid things in relation to a video game. If you actually have had any service in the military, you should look inwards and evaluate calling people playing a video game cowards. Again it is strong evidence that you do not fully comprehend what the word brave even means. This is really based on how you applied it, not anything that I may have said or pointed out.
You're are also missing something...you do not have any way to determine how long I have been playing the game. You can make assumptions based on the limited information of when my profile was created. That however would be stupid. On top of this, anyone with some very basic understanding of the game could absolutely contradict what you are saying because despite your vast experience (your inference not my belief), you are not understanding the game in its entirety. It seems you are anti meta. Looking at EMP, SJR, MS, 228 and so on and so forth may be where some meta comes from. I do know that these teams often start trends along with mech releases and buffs. To immediately assume that when I mention high level play, I am going on about meta is again one of your misguided assumptions and further reinforces my point that you are not someone anyone new or otherwise should be paying any mind to.
Of course you can puff yourself up and continue to write garbage and call out cowardess on the imaginary pixelated battlefield while exhaulting the dubious and questionable knowlege from your self proclaimed service. I do not claim moral superiority. I call absolute bull**** on you using words like bravery or cowardess in context of a video game.
...Hand-waving a thoughtful post away with jingoistic nonsense and personal abuse does not demonstrate your superior moral standing, extensive knowledge, and keen grasp of the "nuances and strategy" of the game. On the contrary, it definitively demonstrates your lack of expertise. Come back with more than twenty weeks of playing experience and see if your rigidly inflexible thinking has broadened out a bit.
I get the whole "Don't pretend like internet lasers make you brave when people face real danger etc..." but the guide still stands as a solid piece of mech advice.
Timidity is death in any combat sim. Taking cover to reposition or get around an enemy for a better line of fire, or waiting to fire till you're right up in his rear armor, is not timidity... it's a tactical move. The guide isn't saying never take cover, it's saying don't stop moving.
Hiding in a choke point till the enemy can get around you, or take the high ground before your team can, is "wimpiness" or "fainthearted-ness" or some other synonym for lacking the "fortitude" or "mettle" to possibly loose your internet space robot.
TL;DR - OP is right.
Edited by Blind Baku, 06 December 2016 - 03:00 PM.
I get the whole "Don't pretend like internet lasers make you brave when people face real danger etc..." but the guide still stands as a solid piece of mech advice.
Timidity is death in any combat sim. Taking cover to reposition or get around an enemy for a better line of fire, or waiting to fire till you're right up in his rear armor, is not timidity... it's a tactical move. The guide isn't saying never take cover, it's saying don't stop moving.
Hiding in a choke point till the enemy can get around you, or take the high ground before your team can, is "wimpiness" or "fainthearted-ness" or some other synonym for lacking the "fortitude" or "mettle" to possibly loose your internet space robot.
TL;DR - OP is right.
No it is not. It might not be tactically sound. It may not be a smart move in the game. It may or can be a great number of things. What it is absolute and what is unassailable is that it is not nor can be described accurately as cowardess.
Merriam-Webster would somewhat disagree with you. Perhaps if you searched under the term 'COWARDICE' you might discover that 1) your spelling needs help, and 2) timidity can indeed often accurately be described as cowardice. The OP is indeed giving sound advice, and you are metaphorically choosing an anthill upon which to die. Mountains are better for that sort of thing. Or so I've heard.
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Darena Bryant, on 10 January 2016 - 10:28 AM, said:
The fact you are asking questions and trying to learn puts you head and shoulder above a good deal of people here. I'd rather play with a noob who's learning than a vet refusing to play the match any way but his/her way.
