MechWarrior: Online - Catch all

Soapyfrog wrote:

It's really dumb. I think it's down to them not doing basic math; maybe they meant the reward tiers to go from 1000 to 100,000 instead of a million.

Er whups, forgot a zero there. It's 20k MC for 11 million cbills and some misc rewards.

Who even uses that much GXP? I guess you could powerlevel mechs with it, but other than that 1 million GPX is probably more than you need to unlock every module.

Whoo! Had it downloaded before, but this past week redownloaded it through Steam and finally played many matches after (half) hours of training! I think I want to be a heavy, for Clan Ghost Bear. I was on tier 5 of course, but did okay. Of course no one talked, however, when someone did use voice, I couldn't hear them at all, no idea why, and despite many prompts that 'T' would let me speak to every player, it does not bring up a text prompt like 'Y' does.
Ended the night as a light, both clan mechs were nice, laid out with two playstyles, sniper and harasser. Harassing works great when you follow the golden rule of light mech harassment: attack from behind while running to cover.

Maybe it's because I'm used to playing videogames, but after watching vids and reading tutorials, the game is so much easier than the menus themselves. I look forward to figuring out how to buy a new battlemech.

It's so weird that they don't keep clan and IS mechs together in quick play.

Yeah, the UI for everything outside of drops is still pretty bad, and we've been through multiple iterations since alpha. You just have to learn it's quirks.

While you're earning your extra cadet bonus money, try to decide where you want to start on mech class, and focus on getting the first mech or two that you'll enjoy playing.

One of the most F2P pain-in-the-neck things they've done is the "three mechs in a chassis type to max the quirks" thing, so if you want to fully max a mech's capabilities, you might want to look into that with your available mech bays.

And IMO, other than big packs if you want to buy one of those, the only thing you really have to consider spending real money MC on are mech bays. Don't buy non-hero mechs for money that you can earn in game, and even if you have to get a hero mech, wait for the inevitable 35-50% off sales.

I haven't gotten to the point where I really see what makes mechs different from each other though.
I also don't want to have to put out my card info yet again, which is another reason I installed from steam.
I really really want that Kodiak though (you can pre-order it).

RolandofGilead wrote:

I haven't gotten to the point where I really see what makes mechs different from each other though.
I also don't want to have to put out my card info yet again, which is another reason I installed from steam.
I really really want that Kodiak though (you can pre-order it).

To pick a mech, determine what kind of weapons you like to play, and what kind of mobility you like to deal with. Do you want a tanky brawler to walk in and duke it out with other mechs, or do you like to flank and do tricky stuff to play a more tactical game. Do you like to sit at the back of your pack and rain death down in missiles?

Whatever game play style you like, find out what mechs excel at that and buy one.

I started with mediums. I like to brawl a bit, but also move around reasonably quickly. I like lasers and ballistics the best, so gravitate to mechs that allow me to use those most.

RolandofGilead wrote:

I haven't gotten to the point where I really see what makes mechs different from each other though.

It's ALL about the hardpoints. Even if two mechs both have 4 energy mounts one of them might move faster or the other might mount the lasers in the arms with better range of motion. Every mech is slightly different and those perceived as underperforming are given positive quirks to make them more competitive. You really just have to figure out what weapon/style of gameplay you enjoy and focus on mechs that are good at that.

MannishBoy wrote:

One of the most F2P pain-in-the-neck things they've done is the "three mechs in a chassis type to max the quirks" thing, so if you want to fully max a mech's capabilities, you might want to look into that with your available mech bays.

Yeah ,you only need to get the first level of quirks in order to get level 2 quirks on any mech. And whether or not you can get a module slot depends on how many mechs of that weight class you have maxed, not that specific mech.

So if you only like one specific variant you can blue two others and sell them immediately. But generally speaking you should at least get level 2 perks with all the mechs you buy just to make some of the money back. I only keep and module mechs I really like.

Not to be pedantic, but quirks are inbuilt bonuses of the mech which most inner sphere mechs and some clan mechs have, and pilot skills are the bonuses you get by spending XP to unlock.

Quirks are unaffected by pilot skill or number of variants owned/levelled. Pilot Skills on the other hand require that you complete the basic skills on 3 variants of chassis before being able to unlock the expert skills. Additionally completing the expert skills doubles the value of the basic skills for that variant, so it is definitely worth doing, but it does mean you will always be buying 3 variants of any chassis if you want that.

On top of all that, to really get the most out of your mech you will eventually need to buy modules; most mechs have 2 consumable module slots (for artillery/airstrikes, coolant, and uav), 2 weapon module slots (weapon specific range and cooldown modules), and a mech module (utility modules that usually affect sensors in some way) with a 2nd slot that can be unlocked when you master that variant. Modules are sadly quite expensive (3-6 million c-bills per), but at least that can be unmounted and swapped between mechs.

I've found I like all the playstyles, except maybe assault brawler. It's annoying that the arctic cheetah trial mech is also the hero mech, meaning you have to use MC for it. I already bought a mech bay so I didn't have enough, but I'd rather buy a bunch of mech bays anyway. Ah f*ck it I went ahead and looked and it's part of the light mech pack on Steam, problem 'solved'.

Well, the advantage of having the Steam mechs is you'll be able to participate in some of the "thanks" style events for people that have spent money and maybe earn some rewards.

There is no Arctic cheetah hero mech, they can all be purchased with c-bills. There is a "special" (S) variant Arctic cheetah that is identical to the normal variant but gets a 30% c-Bill bonus per match.

Feel free to send steam friend invites people, somehow only one person on my friends list also played mwo.

I still haven't moved my install to Steam.

Oh yeah, and in-game I'm "Roland DeTower".

Interesting change to the flamer, the one Adder variant I own has a fixed non-removable flamer. Probably still not effective enough.

The Jenner IIC is now available for c-bills. Looks interesting, anyone got some experience with it? I know it tends to be annoying to fight against when in the hands of a decent pilot.

Interesting to have hard flamer stats now.

• The following values have been adjusted for Flamers:
• Amount of Damage per second has been decreased from 0.7 to 0.1.
• Amount of Heat per second applied to an enemy 'Mech has been increased from 0 to 4.5.
• Duration of time before Heat starts to effect your own 'Mech (not the enemy) has been shortened from 6.25 to 4.75 seconds.
• Flamer visuals have been adjusted to minimize the blinding effect caused by their use.

It's very much a support tool now and not a weapon but far more effective at it's intended purpose than before. I'll have to give them a spin. 4.5 heat is a lot, that's like firing 4.5 medium lasers constantly. To put that into perspective 20 clan DHS in a mech with a 255xl has a cooling rating of 3.5 heat per second. So even a single flamer is capable of overheating all but the biggest of energy boats.

The Blackjack was nerfed as expected.

• Additional Structure CT +14 (down from +28).
• Additional Structure L/R Torso +11 (down from +22).
• Additional Structure L/R Arm +12 (down from +24).
• Additional Structure L/R Leg +11 (down from +22).

I had a look at the quirk chances for clan mechs. Most of them tweak the various omnipods but one consistent theme is that the quirks for CTs have been homogenized and it matters a bit less which one you use as a base chassis. Also whoever did the PDF for quirks did a poor job at scaling, I had to zoom in by 330% just to make the text readable.

Rolled through most of the event for this weekend, worked out okay. Was a nice way to get me out of my (heavy mech) comfort zone, and back into some neglected light and medium mechs. Just can't get the hang of the Cicada hero mech I have, so I ended up falling back to the Wolverine 7K. The Arctic Cheetah is a damn fun little mech. And the trial mechs are so very much improved since the last time I used a trial mech. Ended up using a trial King Crab for the assault mech portion of the event, which also counted for the champion portion. Quad UAC5s are fun.

Sooo many bad teams, though, so many lopsided games. We might look into setting up so GWJer private games, haven't done any research into the 1v1, 2v2 or 4v4 private maps.

LtWarhound wrote:

Interesting change to the flamer, the one Adder variant I own has a fixed non-removable flamer. Probably still not effective enough.

They changed that awhile back. You can swap that weapon slot now.

The Jenner IIC is now available for c-bills. Looks interesting, anyone got some experience with it? I know it tends to be annoying to fight against when in the hands of a decent pilot.

Complaint I've heard is "glass cannon", but it could be fun.

Just can't get the hang of the Cicada hero mech I have, so I ended up falling back to the Wolverine 7K.

Play the Cicadas like lights. They're obviously fast, and the guns are mounted high, so you can peak and poke. But on the downside, they've got long legs, so you have to protect them with cover as much as you can.

You can either run at the edge of the pack and support the bigger mechs, darting in and out to take free shots on whoever they're shooting, or you can flank and turn some mechs off the big pack before running away or isolating a mech.

It's probably one of my favorite risk/reward chassis.

Sooo many bad teams, though, so many lopsided games. We might look into setting up so GWJer private games, haven't done any research into the 1v1, 2v2 or 4v4 private maps.

I think you have to have a premium player to do it? I know there's a premium reward, but I'm not sure when mine expires. I'm up for it if we want to do it.

LtWarhound wrote:

Sooo many bad teams, though, so many lopsided games. We might look into setting up so GWJer private games, haven't done any research into the 1v1, 2v2 or 4v4 private maps.

They specifically removed premium from the requirements to start private games.

I think I might try to play nothing but group games in the future, even PUG groups. Because since the group queue is separated from everyone else you are insulated from the bleach drinking morons who are clearly playing babby's first trial assault mech and don't even know how to tie their own shoes.

"LtWarhound wrote:

The Jenner IIC is now available for c-bills. Looks interesting, anyone got some experience with it? I know it tends to be annoying to fight against when in the hands of a decent pilot.

I would say the 6 missile version is worth it (6 CSRM4 is quite devastating!), but in general it suffers from Jenner-itis (magnetic center torso) and fragile legs which makes the Arctic cheetah a better choice for energy boating.

My champion and hero qualified mechs aren't my best mechs for getting "kills most damage dealt" for the most part. I've got about 10 of those on the scoreboard, while having all the rest of the quick play challenges met.

I might have done better if I'd have used my award Atlas or King Crabs in the Assault class, but I wanted to level up my mediocre Zeus's to get them to where I can start unlocking speed tweak.

Well, apparently Piranha don't quite know what 'variant' means as it is inconsistent within the program, but they refunded me the cbills I used to purchase the arctic cheetah I bought.
I had one from steam's light assault pack and another one, so even though the store lists them having 5 variants, this is flat out incorrect when it comes to unlocking the basic efficiencies across three mechs to unlock the elite efficiencies.

I'm very glad, I was ready to quit in a huff.

So the (S) variant was basically a chassis variant of the other one?

The parenthetical stuff doesn't mean it's different than the base chassis designation. So a champion, or (C) variant of the Cicada CDA-2A is in the same unlock bucket as the base CDA-2A. A steam variant would be similar.

Yeah anything in parenthesis does not indicate a different variant, just a special version which grants bonus c-bills (S) or xp (C).

True, apparently, and now I know, but it also didn't indicate that I owned one when I in fact do own one.
That still doesn't explain why the store itself says there are five variants if two of the five on sale still have the same name.

RolandofGilead wrote:

True, apparently, and now I know, but it also didn't indicate that I owned one when I in fact do own one.
That still doesn't explain why the store itself says there are five variants if two of the five on sale still have the same name.

There's a regular, and a "C" version of the prime. Think of the "C" as the optioned out version that earns extra XP. Same chassis, just loaded up.

Similarly, with some of the mech packs, they include a special version with slightly different geometry to stand out along with custom paint schemes. They'll also earn more, but will level up just like a non special version of the same chassis.

Lots of stuff around this game are confusing if haven't seen all this complexity get added over the years, though. I'll give you that.

RolandofGilead wrote:

True, apparently, and now I know, but it also didn't indicate that I owned one when I in fact do own one.
That still doesn't explain why the store itself says there are five variants if two of the five on sale still have the same name.

Well that looks like it's down to interface; The version that is available only for MC is the (C) or champion version of the Prime variant, identical to the prime variant except it earns bonus XP each match. You can see that if you mouse over it but it looks like the full name "ARCTIC CHEETAH ACH-PRIME (C)" gets truncated by the little display box.

Oddly the best place to see definitively how many variants a chassis has is in the "Skills" tab.

PGI is not so great at UI.

RolandofGilead wrote:

... and despite many prompts that 'T' would let me speak to every player, it does not bring up a text prompt like 'Y' does.

Not sure if anyone covered this (i kinda skimmed through the posts) but by default "All chat" is turned off and you cannot send messages to "all" until you turn it on in your options.

Specifically: Settings -> Game -> Notification Settings -> Enable All Chat

PS: I sent a friend invite. I am very sporadic in this game of late but am up for grouping when you can catch me on.

Einbjorn wrote:

I am very sporadic in this game of late but am up for grouping when you can catch me on.

Same.

BTW, there's a sale going on where if you buy MC, you get free stuff on top of it. Even though I've horded a handful of mechbays during the last sale of those, I'm tempted to pick up a couple of the $7 MC packs that come with a mechbay before this is over.

Any reason to keep an XL 250 engine vs an XL 255?

Both use 12 slots and weigh 12.5 tons. Are there mechs that won't let you run a 255 XL or something?

EDIT: Answered my own question. Some Panther's only allow 250s. Boo.

Yeah, there are a few "dud" engines that are still required because some mechs have very specific limits. I kinda wish I had kept my raven's 210XL but it seemed so useless at the time.

Specifically, the COM-2D (the only Commando variant with ECM) maxes out at 210 engines and it's the only mech in the game that does. (other than the Adder but that's a clan mech). It's also the only Commando variant that I want to pilot and that isn't a premium. So I would have to rebuy that engine for 3.4 million and eeeeeh.