MWO - Beginner Tips

Playing Mechwarrior Online makes me feel guilty; its so damn good, that we should pay for the game (a la Guild Wars 2; buy the game, play free, buy fluff). Modern day graphics, same ol' Mechwarrior feel.

As promised, some helpful tips that I could have used when I started right away when playing Mechwarrior Online.

Learn your keys

- H for thermal sensors, N for nightvision, O for heatoveride. It sounds silly, but i've watched other players fighting in the dead of night without nightvision.

Speed is key

- especially for lighter mechs; the ability to joust, or zoom past heavier mechs without taking a hit is critical. Using speed to circle strafe the enemy is an effective strategy as well as circling around hills is very effective against slower, heavier mechs.

Stay close to ecm

- ecm aka electronic counter measures, gives the mech that is equipped with it evasive abilities; nearly undetectable on radar, harder to lock on with missles, gives an aura of ecm to nearby allies and can be switched ("turned off") to counter enemy ecm (to kinda level the playing field)

Weapon groups

- your mech will remember your loadouts and weapon groups, so figure out what works well together. Sometimes its better to have many weapon groups to not overheat, and to fire weapons more tactically.

Overheating

- Press O to override auto-shutdown of your mech when you overheat, making sure you're not still firing tho and using that time to circle strafe or evade fire. It is better to be moving and not shooting, rather than not shooting AND not moving.

Group play vs Lone wolf

- stick with your group members, unless you're a scout, and even then, never engage a group of enemies by yourself. Even the heaviest mech can be brought low by two experience light mech pilots.

Twist and Turn

- use your non-critical (empty weapons, non critical weapons [narc, tag], the front vs the backside) parts of your body to absorb enemy fire when evading. All you need to do is to twist for a second or two. Think of it like bringing up your shield; you deflect the blow and counter attack. For example, an enemy is shooting at your backside, by twisting all the way right/left, they then shoot your arm instead and altho they are weakening your arm armor, you preserve your backside. If you lose your arm, you lose weapons, but if you lose your back, your mech explodes.

Turn off throttle decay

- in the options screen, bottom left box; throttle decay works similar to a car, if you let off the gas pedal, your car will slowly decrease in speed. This is not good imho for mech combat, there are alot of things you have to concentrate on and worrying about maintaining a certain speed isn't one of them. TAKE OFF the checkmark.

Beware of buildings

- they are your friends, but can be your worst enemy if you bump into one by accident. That brief moment that you are struggling to stop bumping into the building, you are essentially motionless and a much easier target for your enemies

Play alot with Trial mechs before buying your mech
- as an ALT-o-holic this should maybe be the first tip you take; just because a heavier mech means more weapons and more armor, doesn't mean it'll suit your playstyle. I like more weapons and more armor, but it doesn't mean i'm still not one-shotted and i'm very exposed to very fast mechs who are adept at staying on my backside. Do you like to be speedy, balanced, have more weapons and health, or be a slow juggernaut? If you can't figure this out, you'll be wasting alot of time and money (mostly time tho) playing matches to make money and buying mechs.

Its a fantastic game, but its honestly not for everyone; the BIGGEST part of the learning curve is that unlike EVERY first person shooter, your torso moves independently of your torso (like a tank). If you can't master moving, you will rage quit. But its free to download, free to play, balanced and you can compete with those that spend real money.