Latest revision as of 01:04, 10 December 2019

Winning A Losing Fight

This is a long read - MW:LL is a challenging game to win - to begin with!

For a newcomer to MW:LL it can seem at time the game is not only demanding and punishing, but there is simply no way for a player to overcome the tide of the battle. This is not so by chance - this is the intended game design of MW:LL.
It is hard to win, and intentionally made so.
But, despair not! The lone fact you are reading this, means not only that you will have a better chance by improving upon your play style, But moreover you will get there sooner and easier now.
We MW:LL players really like any and all newcomers, and while sparing no slack at the fights, are pretty glad to bring them to speed (and skill) so they can be a more worthy challenge for even the best among us.

Losing

Note one difference of MW:LL versus all other games out there - most of the veterans that play it don't really mind winning is the most important aspect of the match. It sure is rewarding, or a comfort, but seasoned players aim at having most fun over winning at any cost.

Have the above in mind - MW:LL is a special game and that special rules do apply due to its stringent way of development. The crew who could actually put man/hours into the game to improve upon is of limited number. And those that are doing so do it at their own expenses and their own spare time. Willing volunteers are greatly appreciated, mere rants won't help much.

The other key difference compared to other games is that the scoreboard only shows K/D ratios on both teams, while the score is shown only on ones own team, making performance comparison further complicated and harder to rely on.
Due to this, some players have resorted to actually lack on score points and only go for K/D ratio or records. Usually, above 30 in favor of kills versus deaths is top tier, while a balanced score is a sure sign of an ascending newcomer soon to become a veteran.

From the above facts, one can see the win or lose situation in MW:LL is quite less stringent than in other games out there, so please be somewhat more relaxed while ascending to the stars ;-)

So, you happen to be on the team that seems to be losing the game and it's not fun:

• You only can buy the least expensive assets despite losing multiple lives.
• Every time you go out and find some one to fight against - as soon as you realize it you are already dead or in a dire state and dying.
• You actually broke off the fight, reached a repair point and can't afford to finish off the repairs (zero c-bills).
• Your asset is badly damaged and EJECT is all over the screen, however as soon as you eject you get killed in no time.
• Even if you don't buy an asset and sneak around as a Battlearmor suit you get detected from afar and get killed in a swoop.
• You can't aim nor hit the flying assets that harass and damage you significantly.
• You finally get a more powerful asset and try to duel a player in an obviously lighter one - but you get shred down just the same.

and the list goes on...
who could possibly like this game?
Yep, we all been there, you are in that same spot - yet don't despair! Read on:

Assessing the game

Never alone:
 The alone idea of making a difference by an solo conduct or effort is plain wrong in MW:LL. Even the most OP veterans rely on cooperation and team mates to thrive in MW:LL. And so should you.

Here a checklist what you can do without any delay or skill upgrade to try turn the tide of an battle: When is it justified to ask for "teams?" rebalance:

• The losing team is 200 or more tickets down.
• The losing team is down on player count by 2+ players.
• There are significantly more known names on one team than the other.
• There is a prominent player on the wining team and the ticket lead is more than 200. Consider asking that player politely to switch teams.
• Ask for team rebalance early if suspecting an unbalanced game - don't delay it too much as it will make a good map/level last longer.
• An ill-balanced match usually can't be saved in late game (30 minutes and on) by newcomers - just try have fun or come back after 15-30 minutes when the map is changed - no need to grief in vain.
• Disconnects or CTDs sometimes happen in MW:LL which temporarily skew the team balance - check the team counts often.
• Always report AFK and parked players to the opposing team as balance issues - don't park or leave AFK without setting your nick to note so.

When going AFK i set my nick to note so:
[`]
name AFK-hound
and leave if I intend to finish the match. I rename back as I return.

• Report occurrences on the battlefield - use team chat or voice chat (we recommend TS3 or MWLL's Discord) - reporting can mean the difference of losing or winning.
• Look further down about Deathballs, it is very important you understand deathballs.
• Look further below about Forward factory spawning a key tactic for terrain control
• Look further below for Back capping in Terrain control (a most common MW:LL game mode) back capping is the essence of the fight.

Thus far we listed all the efforts and procedures that can be applied now on without any skill or awareness upgrade by the newcomer.

Further advice for accessing the game would require some skill upgrading:

• Practice moving over various terrain - most of the game assets have constraints and issues when traversing certain terrain features - use the free testing servers to improve your piloting skills and to learn the assets. There might be veterans who are willing help you further.
• Practice toggling the radar on and off to access the battlefield situation while avoiding to be detected or too obvious - don't just run always passive!
• Practice breaking off the fight while still able to survive and repair - if your HTAL indicator is mostly red, you are too late already.
• Learn to keep track of your heat - outperforming assets are quite taxing on the heatsinks and coolant.
• Teach yourself to move at all times as a part of a group - wait it out and/or rush to join.
• Learn the many variants of the MW:LL assets - maybe there is no mechlab, but there are many surprisingly handy assets to be uncovered and used - some make quite a difference.
• Practice sharp shooting - there is really no substitute for hitting the same component over and over in a duel. This skill can be an invaluable tool to help turn the tide in a battle. Identifying and destroying arms or externals that mount a critical weapon on Mechs will often reduce its combat effectiveness by half permanently as it can't be repaired. The other Mechwarrior will have to chose between returning to base and selling the mech at a loss or stay on the battlefield as a less threatening asset. Even a light or medium mech can pick off a distracted assault's arm or external weapon mount and escape before getting killed while reaping the c-bill reward of damaging a much higher tiered mech.
• Practice sharp shooting again - repeatedly hitting the same side torso and destroying it will transfer subsequent damage to the mech's center torso at 1.6x to 2x rate for most mechs, obliterating it in record time. The majority of mechs use XL engines which are lighter than Standard engines but far more susceptible to critical damage.

Deathballs

If they "just stand there", and you can't do anything against them because they're so many - it's a deathball 

Deathballing is the most effective way to fight in this game - the most efficient form is a voice chat linked deathball. Opposing it directly when you're outweighed is usually a losing proposition, but that doesn't mean you're out of options! To beat it, first you must understand how the Deathball functions:

• It's only as fast as its slowest member.
  
• Its life is constrained by the wearing of its armor and ammunition.
  
• Single assets will break off to repair as soon as their damage reaches a certain threshold.
  
• Most likely early break off can be forced upon an asset if you manage to cripple its primary weapon.
  
• Try to tackle it by long range weapons, the majority of Deathballs rely on brawling and skirmishing assets - thus have close to medium range weapons the most.
  
• Deathballs, once initiated, are an outstandingly effective strategy for pub games, especially with AECM assets hiding the true number of units from radar.
  

Counters to Deathballs:

• Deathballs are, most of times, very bad at chasing, so outpacing and evading them is easier in lighter and faster assets.
  
• Sacrificing the time to take alternative routes to backcap or to go after heavily damaged mechs outside of the Deathball from non-traditional avenues is worth it to save team tickets.
  
• Back capping bases away from the deathball, especially remote factories is a good way to counter it.
  
• Sometimes, the deathball strays too far away from their forward factory allowing a quick friendly unit to cap it and immediately announce to the team that they should spawn there. If the deathball is a good 3+ minutes away, there might be a chance to mount an effective defense with tanks and brawling assets to hold the base. Be ready to bail out and keep capping if holding the base becomes obviously impossible.
  

In conclusion, Deathballs most effective counter play is using fast moving assets, aggressively capping across the map while continuously evaluating where to mount an effective counter-attack.

Forward Factory Spawning

The most frustrating situation in a TC match is to lose an forward factory for free to a back capper.

The most easy solution to that is to set your spawn point to it during the re-spawn time if it is safe to spawn from.
Make sure not to set your spawn point to a base that's about to be completely overrun by far superior forces. If the timer runs out, it will reset, turn grey and you will have to select another base to spawn from.
Newbies usually avoid forward spawning out of fear of being easily overrun by the opponents. This is often wrong: Always scout out the base while still dead, and only avoid it if it is already overrun by enemies - spawn in main - take a light (meaning fast asset) and try run and back cap the (usually) opposite side of the map - for free, c-bills gain and easy rank buff.
Remember, if the timer turns gray -you're waiting to spawn in the wrong (lost to the enemy team) base!

Back Capping

To capture back a base that belongs to the other team.

The best back capping assets are conveniently both the fastest and the most affordable ones.

There is no way you can successfully back cap and not gain rank for doing so. If you can't win duels, always resort to back capping for easier rank and asset upgrade. If one can avoid being opposed by an opponent from the other team, this is the sweetest and the easiest money in the whole game. Back capping three bases in a row guarantees at least a single rank buff any time (increase).
Even regardless of that, the sole process is of substantial value to the team in securing ticket count and game victory.

A newbie or a noob is recognized beyond any doubt in that he/she is refusing or missing opportunities to capture or back capture bases during a match.

Forward factories should be always prioritized for back capping, only the more valuable bases might have precedence over them, but not at any time or at any cost.

Winning

This game/mod has been around for quite a while. And while the overall spirit is quite the same, many if not most of the assets have changed over the course of time. Yet some things did never.

There is no real substitute for knowledge.

To illustrate this in a simple way, lets take a single map into consideration: TC_StoneRose:

|

It has come to be known, that holding the forward spawn in grid E5 makes winning a match much easier.

Tactical data like that, makes for an phenomenon that a team playing generally worse, is able to win a match despite being out skilled in man-to-man combat.

There is in depth information that can further a team closer to the victory besides sheer skill and will. This applies not only for maps, but for general match conduct as well.

We leave as an exercise for the reader to acquire more of such knowledge over the course of partaking in the 31st century battles in MW:LL.