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@ Soladrin that is awesome. When I'm in a sniping mood, I will definitely give it a shot. The triple ER LL seems really nasty. I'm really enjoying the tri ML now.

@Lordo'Hats I am totally using that build. It is performing like a champion. I love the double shotgun/ double laser mix. I feel like a surgeon that also brought a mallet into the OR.

Regardless of configuration, I have never lost my limbs so consistently and lived through it before. I seem to end most matches with only 2 weapon systems up, though those vary wildly. High point of the night was going after a Heavy Metal with the team with one torso and both arms gone. I only had the 2 SRM 4 and 28 rockets. My last 4 snagged the kill.

It is everything the Hunchback wishes it could be when it grows up- ugly and sassy.

Why would you put heat sinks in the most vulnerable location instead of in the entirely empty side torso?

 The Dark Apostle wrote:
is this a good splatcat build? http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=13&l=089828527f1239c7426388687e10f2b8e8f10a8c

I've never been too keen on running a strictly missile boat simply because of the fights that last longer than your ammo does; you have no backup weapons. Also, Catapaults were never built to be scrappy SRM boats, their CT and arms are too easy to primary and because of the amount of SRM ammo required to really use this build you run the risk of an arm detonating and killing you in the opening exchanges.

If you truly want to run a missile boat try this: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=13&l=987346d2957a31c6952b0cfb7b6e4489bd0fcf54

It's LRM heavy (they're better than SRM's currently), has a decent top speed with an XL engine, great cooling, great damage, missile defense, and you keep the jump jets (another very important mobility aspect of Catapults). The XL is expensive though, so if you'd rather not pay that much (which is understandable), drop it in favor of a standard engine (255 was with 2 less tons of LRM ammo, up to you). Ideally this is what you should aim for with a missile boat, you're not built to stand front line fighting, but need to remain mobile in order to re-position to help the team.

Then again, other players might have better ideas.

P.S. I took a stab at it with SRMs and I still can't justify running a Catapult with them, sorry.

P.P.S. It's also worth noting that the LRM 15s coupled with 5s allow you to take advantage of all 20 tubes in each arm; launch a solid volley every time instead of a staggered one.

http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/145756-clans-a-la-carte-new-purchase-options/

wheres PGI and what have you done with them?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 The Dark Apostle wrote:
http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/145756-clans-a-la-carte-new-purchase-options/

wheres PGI and what have you done with them?

I correct myself, this is utter garbage! 55 for 3 variants, decreasing by 5 for each mech added, its an illusion of choice, the uller package gives 3 variants for 30!

Yep. On the one hand I'm happy they offer the ability to pick the mechs I want but that pricing is still complete garbage.

Would it really kill them to offer a four pack with buyers choice of 1 mech from each weight class? They didn't even bother to tie weight to price in their silly 'ala carte' so I guess we can point to that when calling their pricing method dumber than hell.

Oh come now, this is exactly what we were requesting. You can get a Timberwolf for 105 dollars less than you could yesterday.

Sure, buying the Uller this way would be incredibly stupid- but a fool and his money are easily parted, and if the Uller wasn't an option people would be angry about that. A clever buyer can work the system, or take a passing glance and see if the mech in the package form is cheaper than the a la carte option.

Or, you could maximize your value and get 6 assault variants for 100 bucks.

That's 25,000 MC on standard pricing.
The Boar's Head, an equivalent to the Clan Primes with the C-Bill boost, is 7500. So that's 15000 gone right there. 6 mechbays are 1800, bringing us to 16800.

That leaves us with buying 4 assaults at roughly "Buying a New Mech: ≈ 400MC / $1.84 per 1,000,000 C-Bill cost of 'Mech" according to http://mwo.gamepedia.com/C-Bill.

A Daishi is 29,350,000 C-bills, according to Sarna. So 11,740 MC per Daishi variant, giving us 23,440.

That puts us at 40,240 MC- nearly 200 dollars of MC purchase, and we haven't even touched the Masakari variants.

It may be less of a deal for the others, but this one is an excellent deal in line with their pricing.

That being said, I'm still very unlikely to buy it- I just can't see paying 55 bucks to unlock part of a game. Heck, I only bought 20 bucks of MC back when I first started to get some extra bays open. But if one were so inclined, it is a good value.

Thinking of testing a Thunderbolt loadout, thoughts?
TDR-5S

I've never been a fan of pulse myself. Med lasers are just so useful in so many situations and only weigh 1 ton. I'd consider an XL on a ranged TBolt though. Save the weight and get a pair of AC2 instead of the ERPPC would be more my style;

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=114&l=0d9fc5962ed953dd620fae20e4e27bba476f2af0

There's another ton there to play around with. A lot of the time, 150 rounds is all the AC2 I need but you might need more. on the other hand only 3 tons of LRM probably wouldn't be enough for me.

I actually really like that build 'Hats, probably going to be my second Thunderbolt!

Running a SE right now, two medium lasers, three large lasers, and two streak twos. AMS to round things out, stock engine and I can safely say the thing is a BEAST of a mech. You can't brawl in it with it's stock engine but as a backup for mediums or assaults, you'll do just fine. Bought mine last night, don't think I was under 500 damage a game.

 LordofHats wrote:
I've never been a fan of pulse myself. Med lasers are just so useful in so many situations and only weigh 1 ton. I'd consider an XL on a ranged TBolt though. Save the weight and get a pair of AC2 instead of the ERPPC would be more my style;

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=114&l=0d9fc5962ed953dd620fae20e4e27bba476f2af0

There's another ton there to play around with. A lot of the time, 150 rounds is all the AC2 I need but you might need more. on the other hand only 3 tons of LRM probably wouldn't be enough for me.

That is quite nice, but I was hesitant to put an XL on the Tbolt at first since I'm not sure how chunky its ST hitboxes are, are the similar to the Shadow Hawk with its game breakingly small ones?

TBolt sides aren't tiny but they're not huge. The Bolt has a very similar hitbox layout to the Victor and the Catphract. It's all about torso twisting to spread the damage evenly accross the mech.

I'm happy to see that they changed the clan package so that you can now pick individuals mechs to buy.

All those people who just wanted the timberwolf can now pay $55 instead of the $210.

I may bundle 2 or 3 clan mechs together, but it will be a tough choice.

As it sits now, I am going to hold off spending any money untill they actualy get UI 2.0 and CW in game.

Too much chance of them taking the money and never delivering the content.

I am also dissapointed by the lack of a Mad Dog.

that said Look me up in game starting late feb.

Gt: Lagfest

 Lagfest wrote:
As it sits now, I am going to hold off spending any money untill they actualy get UI 2.0 and CW in game.

Too much chance of them taking the money and never delivering the content.

I am also dissapointed by the lack of a Mad Dog.

that said Look me up in game starting late feb.

Gt: Lagfest

Wait for the midpledge 'Sabre pack' equivalent. I expect both the missing heavies.

Gitzbitah wrote:

 Lagfest wrote:
As it sits now, I am going to hold off spending any money untill they actualy get UI 2.0 and CW in game.

Too much chance of them taking the money and never delivering the content.

I am also dissapointed by the lack of a Mad Dog.

that said Look me up in game starting late feb.

Gt: Lagfest

Wait for the midpledge 'Sabre pack' equivalent. I expect both the missing heavies.

Good call. I hope you're right, I'm pretty bummed the Mad Dog isn't part of the current lineup.

Im intereted in what this "specialist and contraversial light mech" is going to be. Personally, im hopping for an Urbie-i do love my Urbies

But sadly, my little brother has once agin fethed up my internet speed. And then he and my mum complain that im a control freak for not letting him on my computer :/

It could also be an Ostscout, but given the public demand and the many threads on the forums, I am really, really hoping for an Urbie myself. Many of the cool variants like the MRM-based DCMS model or the EW version won't come out until late in the 3050s, but the models already in existence should make for some interesting options (R60L with AC/20 anyone?) ... I would expect most pilots to fail horribly, whilst some may manage to pull off extraordinary feats when making full use of the terrain and playing this 'Mech like a trap rather than an assaulter, Splatcat-style.

I just really, really hope they decide to modify their engine/heat sink policy before the Urbanmech arises- right now it would need about 10 extra tons of heat sinks to waddle around with.

Who am I kidding, I'd still pilot the little such and such, and cackle like a madman every time I got a kill.

 Lynata wrote:
It could also be an Ostscout, but given the public demand and the many threads on the forums, I am really, really hoping for an Urbie myself. Many of the cool variants like the MRM-based DCMS model or the EW version won't come out until late in the 3050s, but the models already in existence should make for some interesting options (R60L with AC/20 anyone?) ... I would expect most pilots to fail horribly, whilst some may manage to pull off extraordinary feats when making full use of the terrain and playing this 'Mech like a trap rather than an assaulter, Splatcat-style.

I doubt that they7 would give us an Ostscout, that mech is just horrible given how the game works. 1 ML is just not heavy enough arment for a 35 tonner, and given how small the maps are, with very limited attack options, dedicated scouts such as this have no actual place within the current meta. That, and I think that there would be a huge exodus if PGI unleashed that scrap-their already losing player confidence by the bucket load.

 Lagfest wrote:
As it sits now, I am going to hold off spending any money untill they actualy get UI 2.0 and CW in game.

Too much chance of them taking the money and never delivering the content.

I decided that around June of last year. I do/did like the base game but, imo, MWO is failing, and PGI is trying to get as much money as they can on the way out.

Hero hunchback seems intent on making abstaining from new purchases the easy choice- what a disappointing variant. I can't think of any reason to mount SRMs rather than a bigger gun.

But you can still mount the big gun. And the Grid Iron has 35% increased torso twist speed and can mount a large engine- a lot easier targeting with the hunch.

Also, circumstances - or fighting style. The AC/20 has its drawbacks, chief amongst them the comparatively low range and projectile velocity. Something the gauss does not suffer from, whilst having its own, different drawbacks.

On a hunch (hah!), I'd say the classic version is better at close range brawling, but Grid Iron could be superior when it comes to mid-range firefights.

A lot of players tend to optimise their machines for a single range bracket, but traditionally, most Battletech 'Mechs (at least above the Light class) mount weapons with different and partially overlapping ranges so that they can switch from one to another as they close in on the target.

People tend to mock the 2x5 LRM packs on my Centurion, but they have proven to be very reliable at "preparing" a target until I'm close enough for the Medium Pulse Lasers, or even just when pursuing a fleeing enemy, or supporting from afar (together with the ER-PPC). I'd see Grid Iron intended to work in much the same way, opening up with the gauss, and then when/if he gets closer triggering first the lasers and then the SRMs, ultimately ending up just pounding its target with all weapons for as much as the heat allows.

Hello! I'll (probably) be joining the mechwarrior online revolution ! And I was wondering if I could get a link or some help to starting it up (Controls, Mech design, that sorta thing) I've played Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries and LOVED it. SO hope to see you out there in the coming month or so! If anyone has a idea of what ot use for my callsign I'd be thankful!


Overlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka.

Check out MechSpechs.com. It's kinda the premier MWO community right now, I think. Tons of builds, a few fluff threads, feedback galore... And utilize Smurfy's Mechbuilder as well to experiment with mech construction before buying any variants- also, your first 50 matches have boosted C-bill gain, but you don't start with any mechs- use the 4 Trial mechs to get a feel for the different weight classes and save your C-bills until you've decided what to run.

Some helpful links:

Smurfy's Mechlab
MWO Heat Simulator (for planning/previewing weapon usage)
MechSpecs.com forum (now with correct address )
Camospecs.com (in case you want to apply canon regimental paint schemes)

I'd also recommend lurking on the official MWO forums as you should find some more discussions about various game features and little tricks there. MWO has lots of stuff that isn't exactly needed to know but nice to know, such as the button that opens the missile bay doors on the Catapult or Stalker, or that you can press Ctrl to look around in your cockpit (which also controls your arms independently from the slower-turning torso).

Found any faction yet, or are you staying merc? Either way, welcome to the fray.

Also, the difference between 1st and 3rd person views (the key to switch is F4- not Alt+f4, just f4, and you look like a doink running around with a little blinking camera floating behind you in 3rd person) and Arm Lock and Throttle Decay.

Anvildude wrote:not Alt+f4, just f4

Yeah, I hate when someone thinks it's funny to give that advice in a match ..

But, good input. Personally, I would recommend disabling 3PV, Arm Lock and Throttle Decay in the options. In my opinion, it wasn't a good addition to the game, and it's wrong that it was made the default setting. But, at least you can disable it.

Explanation:
Arm Lock makes it so that your arms are locked to your torso, meaning that you essentially only have one crosshair instead of two. It takes a bit of time to get used to both, but ultimately you end up being more effective in battle, for the arms do move considerably faster than the torso, meaning you will be able to bring your guns onto the target much faster (or at all) than if you'd restrict them to your torso movement.
Throttle Decay forces you to hold the throttle key, causing your 'Mech to lose speed until it stops unless you keep your finger on the button, similar to how you control soldiers or cars in other games. Getting used to manual velocity setting not only keeps a finger free, it also allows you to match speed with your teammates when moving in formation. Keep in mind that without Throttle Decay, you can always simply press "X" to set your speed to 0.

Okay... I'm gonna be coming back and reading all the stuff once I eventually get started. I'm still waiting on a quote for a new PC.
Thanks everyone! The one thing I'm finding difficult to understand right now, from the links you gave me, I find the mech building thing quite confusing. I'm very much attuned to mechwarrior 4 Mercs mech building, In which you mech had set speeds and not adding in a engine on top of weapons stuff. Also, I know everyone always targets the Atlas first and that makes Atlases useless, Is that true? More importantly is that true for all other assault mechs?

It's rather, being targetted first is the Atlas's use. It can mount more armour than anything else in the game, which also means its unarmoured 'health' is higher than anything else. It's incredibly slow, can mount an arsenal of weaponry, and can take a beating.

I'd suggest starting off with a Medium or Heavy, though- Lights require a good familiarity of piloting and weapons management, and Assaults need knowledge of the maps and routes as well as battlefield awareness and opportunity judging due to their slow speed. Mediums are pretty fast but can mount enough weapons and armour that they can take a hit or two, and Heavies can mount some really nice weapons and armour but are fast enough to skedaddle if need be.

Check Mechspecs, though, for better analysis of the uses of different Mechs.