Assistance Needed!

Hey guys! Just a new mechwarrior here asking for some help. I have been playing for about 3 weeks now and I really enjoy the game. I have always been a fan of Battletech and Mechwarrior in general ( played mech 3 and 4 constantly) and a few weeks ago I have decided to try out Mwo. And boy is it fun! And hard. And brutal. And...... anyways the point I'm trying to make is MWO has been pretty challenging to play and often when I die (often for stupid reasons) I get angry and frustrated and feel that I'll never get better. I have only been able to make it past 200 dmg 3 times and I often die with less then 200 or even 100 dmg done. My highest kill score is 2 kills. I sometimes think that I'm getting worse and that I will never be able to make it past 300 dmg.

I was wondering if you guys could tell me what I'm doing wrong and what I need to do right as well as any other helpful tips.
Also, I wanted to know if any of this happened to you when you started out and what your bad experiences are.

Thanks guys for reading this post. I hope I was not too much of a bother.

 

Getting good at MWO boils down to a few things:

1) Get a good build. Go through the forums here and find a good build for the mech you're trying to run.
2) Teamwork is OP. Join a unit, or drop on one of the community Team Speak servers.
3) Practice practice practice. It takes some stick time to get a feel for how to properly drive your mech, and to know what to do in given situations.

Those are the best places to start with.

 

While you are technically a walking tank, exposure to enemy fire is still how you die. Ergo, learn to use cover. The best way to win in this game is to arrange it so that you are in cover every moment that you're not moving with your teammates and focus-firing on an enemy.

I will never forget my first drop in my Founder's Catapult back in closed beta. We dropped in River City, and I literally died within 25 seconds of the match starting. I stepped out from some buildings so look for enemies and I got smashed with LRMs and direct fire. Didn't see any enemies, didn't fire a shot.

Builds can make or break your experience, definitely look for guides on your chassis or ask.

 

Don't go off on your own, unless you're an ECM Raven or Cicada, and even then, don't get separated from your team by too much. Stick with your team, preferably in a group that has an Atlas D-DC.

Know where there is cover, and how to get behind it quickly. Unfortunately, you started playing in the middle of a period where LRMs got a huge buff, which means that if you leave cover for too long, you will have LRMs rained down on you.

If you have purchased your first mech and are no longer running Trials, invest in Double Heatsinks. This is the best way to increase your pure damage scores as you will be able to keep firing your weapons much longer before having to cooldown.

As everyone else mentioned, go through the builds posted here for whatever mech you happen to own to get some ideas. Not every build works for everyone, but there are enough 4 and 5 star builds for each chassis that you'll find something that works for you eventually.

If you tell us what kind of playstyle you are interested in, and what mechs you own, we can give you ideas on what builds could match your playstyle.

 

Can definitely weigh in on finding the mech style that works for you. Some people, like myself, are only comfortable in light/medium mechs that can move at high speeds, like the Spider, Jenner, or Cicada. You may be more comfortable in a heavier chassis, like an Orion, Cataphract, or Atlas. The trick is in finding your comfort zone, and then modify your tactics and chassis to suit you. Are you a patient sniper? An ECM Raven or Cicada 3M might be a good choice, as they can harass with sniper shots and fade into cover at a moment's notice. Do you like packing the heaviest weapons and tearing things up with them? A Cataphract, Banshee, Atlas, or other heavy/assault mech will be a good choice. Do you prefer to stay behind the lines and act as support DPS? A LRM Boat Catapult or Stalker may make you a dangerous opponent.

Playing around with various trial mechs will help you find your preferred mode of combat...I know from experience, I love flying around the map in a Jenner or Cicada, but put me in anything over the weight of a Centurion and I'm lost for how to pilot it well. As every Mech has strengths and weaknesses, so too does every pilot.

Something to understand though, you are going to screw up. Don't feel bad, we all do it...if I hop in my JR7-F or CDA-3M, I can tell you there will be a disparity between my game results. Either I'm going to do 500+ damage with 3+ kills and a ton of assists, or I'm going to die ineffectually, lucky to hit 200 damage at all. Sometimes it's my own fault (got too greedy for a kill and strayed into enemies, etc), and sometimes it's out of my control (play a great game, get a kill solo, then realize it's now 1v11 and the rest of my team was massacred). Sometimes you may even be doomed from the start, like having a match with no one under 70 tons on the team where people get swarmed and dissected by light swarms, or a similar match where you simply can't capture the control points because your team is too slow to do so. With matchmaker being the way it is, that will still be a thing for a while to come.

Like any FPS title (or really, any game you play often), things will click after a time, and you'll start to see improvement. The only things I would mention is to use Smurphy's mechlab to look at each weapon to find out the Three Ranges of Weaponry: Peak effective range (how far it shoots before damage dropoff), maximum striking range (how far away an enemy can be before it will not hit), and minimum range (which currently only affects PPCs and LRMs, the range within which they do zero damage). The one thing that always strikes me when I see teammates in non-trial mechs is how many of them launch LRMs at a target 2000m away, or fire 8 medium lasers at a target 5-6 times further than their max range allows. By learning the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon, you will not only improve your own play (by hitting more often for more damage), but avoid the poor play of others by letting you adjust to tactics designed to work around their misuse (switching to LLas or ERLLas when your opponent is using only medium lasers, etc).

Another tip I'd give is to keep an eye on the upper right corner of your screen. When you have a locked target that is visible, the paper doll will appear...and just to its left will be a list of the weapons on your enemy mech. Got a Raven using a Gauss rifle, or Cicada using 2 ER PPCs? You can use that info to figure out they have XL engines, and will be slower than other builds. Opponent in a CN9 (centurion)? You know their beefiest armament is in their right arm, and the left arm is a shield with no weapons. Learning that sort of thing is easy once you get used to checking out the paperdoll display, but it's something that takes getting used to.

And finally, just remember the answer to the question "Where's the Spider/Jenner?" Behind you. Always behind...

 

The only question that is dumb is the question you never asked. So, feel free to ask.

Welcome to MechSpecs, we will help you any way we can. You have recieved some good general pointers but I'd like to ask some more specifics, what mechs have you got currently? Gameplay and tactics is a lot different based on chassi, loadout and personal preference.

General checklist (aka Bitchin Betty's Commandments):
[list type=decimal]
[*]Chassi strengths (Hardpoint placement, twist ability, etc)
[*]Know thy build (How fast, how mobile, what weapons, damage type, damage output, etc)
[*]Know thy enemy (chassi, hardpoint placement, mobility, weakness, strengths, etc)
[*]Know the map (travel routes, safe zones, covers, sniper spots, retreat paths, elevation, etc)
[*]Plan your movements and cover (Seriously. Plan advance, cover and exits)
[*]Engage where you want to (always evaluate based on situation if your position is good and stay on the move, the enemy knows where you are and he will move to gain advantage)
[*]Disengage if you are in a bad spot (push a bad spot and you will likely die, if not for luck and teammates)
[*]Situational awareness is King (knowing what's going on around you is essential, check map, look around with your Mark 1 sensors - eyeball the enemy)
[*]Stick together, win together (if they follow you, lead well - if you follow them, back them up as best you can)
[*]Don't chase the Squirrel (light mechs will lead you to their friends, he will seek shelter even if there was no ambush planned)
[/list]

 

Hi, first you need to give us some Info about how you play this game, what mechs you pilot and which weaponloadout (go to the site of smurfy and rebuild there your builds and post them here via smurfy-link like you can see in some threads here). Do you play aggressively/pushing or stay back behind your Mates or do you run solo around. Some Info would be useful. We can help you better if we know what exactly is the problem. It's like going to the doctor..

 

My suggestion is:
**** PLEASE PLAY IN FIRST PERSON MODE! ****
You can change it by pressing F4, or better yet, set it in the settings.
MechWarrior series is designed as a simulator, things are not the same if you don't go into the cockpit. If you are confused for now, you can armlock your mch, you can unbind it later.


1) Try your playstyles, see what you like.
2) get a weight class you like, I would suggest not getting Assault as it is more expensive for newbies and can be a toll to the team.
3) Tell us how you would like to play the game, and we will try gind a weight class and chassis for you. You should have saved up some cbills. *DO NOT BUY ANYTHING YET*

After we discuss here. You can get your plans ready, read up on the building specs, build and run it, and make tweaks as needed. For now run on the trials to get some idea of the game, and save up some cbills.

 

Hey everyone, Walters here. I'm just replying to the posts asking me my playstyle, mechs, and loadout.
Here it is:

Cataphrat 2x
Cicada 3C
Black jack 1 DC

The cicada is the only mech I have really changed. I removed its machine guns to create space for more armor. Now it just has the 1 ppc. Extremely fun build though! Anyways I like both mechs that are slow and powerful and mechs that are fast and light (though I don't use light mechs) The cataphract has been a great mech and so has the Blackjack even though its a little slow.

 

So, mediums and heavies. Preferably with a bit of speed, emphasis on ballistics (PPC's have bullet speed).

I bet you have gotten all your basic skills with the mech? A lot of your opponents will run around in fully Mastered mechs that are 10-25% more efficient in some ways over stock standard. Add in that they have customized it with double heatsinks, Endo steel skeleton etc and it's a big difference.

You will get some build tips shortly no doubt.

 

My personal Edit:

If you are willing to spend some money for more Mechbays, NOW is the right time, because there is a recent 30% Sale on Mechbays. You need them anyway to Master your Mechs (three Variants unlocked Elite lvl).

Second: I recommend you to fully focus on one Chassis to get it asap to Master lvl. Take the BJ or Cataphract depending on your preference. For the BJ you usually need the XL235 to have best Mobility, but as you already have found out yourself, XL Engines are expensive! Cataphracts can/should run with Standard Engines (even better for Brawling).

 

So you like mobility, and ballistic for the most part. I think Subject7 covers most of the important stuff.

You will notice that basically ALL builds requires DHS. That is basically the FIRST thing you do to a mech you buy, stick DHS on that thing. Yes it is expensive at 1.5 mil, but trust me you NEED it to be decent. Also, Endo-Steel is probably needed for many builds.

I suggest starting on Catapract also, they are good sturdy mech with good variants, and allows for a bit of different playstyle.
You only need THREE variant of a chassis. You already have 2X (1x is more similar to 2x), so choose 2 others, I suggest one of the following Three:
3D (can poptart, great meta for that 2xAC5/2xPPC/JJ see Subject7)
4X (Ballistic Specialists)
IM (WONDERFUL Hero Mech, if you want to use MC, wait for discounts on it)

I do not own 2X, but The Grim Hunter build suggested by Subject7 seems nice indeed.
-3D I would suggest a poptart as I said, for you to try some different gameplay. Also, to feel the fun of JJ.
-4X would be a choice of 4xAC5 or 2xAC2+2xAC5. I would not suggest 4x AC2 cause of both the Heat Managemnt issues and the upcoming nerf of AC2. Beware that this one is slower, and relies heavily on ballistic and ammo.
-IM would be the great 3x UAC5, amongst other builds.


The BJ probably suits you more but you would need better engines, you can get away with a more common XL225 I guess, but still this is expensive.
I do not have 1DC (I got BJ1 instead, for JJ), but Subject7's build seems nice indeed.

BJ-1X allows for bigger engine so you can use the better XL, like XL255 or XL280. I suggest getting 1X for this reason.

-1X, customized for XL280 that you can get from Catapract3D
6xMPLas, hit and run
http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=79&l=e2502c081517acf6d0a8a60e24f5b451ccb207ec
or this one, gives you a long range ERLLas (swap for LLas if you want)Yes, a mod of Subject7's build, but don't tell him.
http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=79&l=83881f3c6ca3dca5b4a5d11810ee3ff2cb8461b3

You have a choice of BJ1 or BJ3. Both are jumpy. BJ3 being pure energy and BJ1 builds have ballistics. Either way is fine. But I would say BJ1 is better.
-BJ-1 Refer to Sunject7's builds. Also note that even with BJ-1 you can do 2xPPC+2xMLas.



Yes, Cicada is not too powerful, The 3M is great, but the rest are going from normal to bad.
3C is not that of a good variant also, you are stuck with MC and only 1 Energy. For your 3C I suggest the combo of a ERPPC/PPC and AC2.
http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=39&l=47123624e65f14a0c8846a1627b8baccbc3273f0
or AC5 and ERLLas (I prefer this one more)
http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=39&l=167e0a7a583eee39f49171dc6a0df157a255e260
These are not great builds, but at least they are more functional. Remember to keep on moving. You may take out the AMS if you want, and get DHS/ammo/armor.
I too the liberty to make builds that are slower with thicker armor, as it is easier for new pilots to toy with.

If you would still want to do the Cicada I definitely suggest the 3M, that is a great variant with ECM and what not.
The 3rd Cicada would be a choice between 2A and 2B, they are relatively the same thing, and you use them just to grind through basic so you can elite your 3M (meaning, you can sell your 2A/B/3 after they have finished Basic level, just remember to STRIP EVERYHING before you sell, and NEVER sell your engines, ever)

 

If you go for Cataphracts (which I strongly recommend... I myself started not too long ago and made intensive testing with multiple accounts till I found out that Cataphracts are really worth it) you should definitely go for the 4X and also invest in a XL255 engine! I know it is expensive but it is one of those engines you will probably use in a couple of other mechs aswell...

Try this loadout
http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=44&l=24e6419f7c887b4b8360e4e16901f19cf6c9fa9a
It is really easy to play (especially for beginners) as you do not have to manage any heat and/or weapon grouping but is nevertheless very entertaining and rewarding... even as mediocre player you will easily do 500+ damage if you follow the simple rule of letting others do scouting/brawling and attacking distracted enemys from 15 million cbills out of your first 25 games
- evaluate and plan which "family" you want to buy... as mention, the Cataphract is awesome and you want to buy and level atleast 3 Cataphracts (so you can distribute elite skills to all of them) before investing in any other mech!
- Going 4X => 3D => 2X (or 1X) is a imho good "learning curve"... first is easy and simple "one weapon system dakka", second adds pinpoint sniping and jumpjets, third is brawling (which requires much more situational awareness)

 

Man alive Seven, that was a goldstar post. Credit to the community!

 

Damn that is one great post!
Oh, and welcome to the AC10 family. Always think AC10 is super fun to play with.

[quote author=highwind link=topic=6284.msg41174#msg41174 date=1397483129]
If you go for Cataphracts (which I strongly recommend... I myself started not too long ago and made intensive testing with multiple accounts till I found out that Cataphracts are really worth it) you should definitely go for the 4X and also invest in a XL255 engine! I know it is expensive but it is one of those engines you will probably use in a couple of other mechs aswell...
--SNAP--
You might also want to start a new account and do the following:
- use you free premium day to max out the "cadet bonus" in terms of c-bills... with some dedication and concentration it is very much possible to get >15 million cbills out of your first 25 games
- evaluate and plan which "family" you want to buy... as mention, the Cataphract is awesome and you want to buy and level atleast 3 Cataphracts (so you can distribute elite skills to all of them) before investing in any other mech!
- Going 4X => 3D => 2X (or 1X) is a imho good "learning curve"... first is easy and simple "one weapon system dakka", second adds pinpoint sniping and jumpjets, third is brawling (which requires much more situational awareness)
[/quote]

Welcome to mechspecs, somehow I think you are a vet that has been here for a while. There is no way in hell that you are a newbie.
I do think that MrWalters seems to be new enough to startover with a new account, provided that he has not spend any MC yet. Personally I would love to get some newbie bonus also. (Just joking I am not going to leave my 60+ mech in the garage)

IF you do decide to startover then grind though the first matches and start with the Catapract instead. DO NOT buy the cicada/BlackJack this time. I would say come talk to us when you finish the Catapract grinding... I think the perfect medium for you might be a shadowhawk (then again that is THE medium, right?).

Oh, you don't have to be stuck with one build, you can change builds from time to timw, which I strongly suggest. Learning about different builds is a good way to be a good builder, and a good player. Remember to use smurfy first everytime you want to change something, saves you lots of pain. Oh, don't worry if you are having a drastic score drop when you are trying out builds, You do not want to see how bad we play when we are trying out stuff that won't work. (like that 3x ERPPC Hunchback J)

 

For further general tips i recommend you to read SubjectSeven's Google Doc. It's pinned here on the Top of the General Discussion Thread.

Also we have a Game Guides and Tutorials Section, where you can find very helpful information.

You should look in the specific Chassis/Variant Threads where you find all the interesting Build Suggestions. You need to test builds which are attractive for you and which suites your playstyle. Only you can find this out. We can only give you Hints.

What helped me alot in the beginning was watching a lot of Gameplay Vidz on Youtube. Just use the Search option there and you'll find lots of good Game Captures of your chosen Chassis/Variant. Analyze how other people play and succeeded.

Pro Tip:
(If your Hardware allows) capture your own games e.g. with FRAPS and analyze them. Find out your own mistakes and try to improve your pilot skills by not doing the same mistakes in similar situations again. You can also unload them on Youtube and share them here in the User submitted Video Section, so we can help analyzing. I believe there will be many members here to give you very direct Hints in Gameplay by only looking how you play.

 

Here is a playlist of 'tip' videos from the best player the game ever had:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96FDD82B1D2272E1