How To Get Your Comeback

For The Win

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.

Loosing

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 it's 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 no thing.

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 loose 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 loosing the game and it's not fun:

• You can't buy but the cheapest of assets and all the others are masked, since more than five lives now.
• 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 dieing.
• 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 take anything and sneak around as the battle armor suit You get detected from afar and get killed in a swoop.
• You can't aim nor hit the flying by assets that not only annoy but deal quite much damage to You.
• 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 dealy or skill upgrade to try turn the tide of an battle:

• Check if the teams have matching player counts - if your team has less, call out for "teams?" in public game chat.

note: You must be alive for Your chat to be seen among the living players.

• Check if the opposing team has a high K/D ratio player on the top, call out for him: <nick> please switch teams for balance? - it works more often than expected. Usually one of your less experienced players will be required trade places to the winning team.
• ask for team re balance early if suspecting an unbalanced game - don't delay it 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 (CTDs) are commonplace in MW:LL - 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) - reporting can mean the difference of loosing 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 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.

Deathballs

If they "just stand there", and you can't do no thing against them because they're so many - it's a deathball 

The worst type of deathball is a deathball with well-funded assets. Deathballing refers to the tactic of moving the team as a massive group that overwhelms any smaller/less powerful groups they run into despite terrain advantage/disadvantage with sheer force. Defeating a deathball when you're outtonned is usually (but not always, we'll get to that later) a losing proposition, but that doesn't mean you're out of options! To beat it, first you must understand how the Deathball works:
- It's only as fast as it's slowest member, otherwise retreats to rearm will leave their slowest assets alone and vulnerable.
- Only teams with the highest levels of discipline will actively retreat to rearm all at once; most deathballs will have teammates trickling in and out of it to repair as they take damage. This can be exploited by putting a lot of damage on a single component to force someone out of the fight for way less effort that outright killing them, but this still isn't optimal in most cases as you're still likely to die despite forcing one to leave unless your teammates are able to capitalize on the advantage you've created.
- Deathballs, once initiated, require very little coordination to be reasonably effective against most teams, making them a common strategy for pub games.

Now, looking at the fact that the deathball's overall speed is a function of the assets they bring and their downtime per fight is limited by how close to the nearest rep bay they are, the easiest way to cause logistic issues for them is backcap a factory far from where the murderblob is roaming. Getting past the initial blockade can be scary, but once you're past the initial wave, chasing you down isn't practical in most cases for them unless that particular asset is retreating to that location anyway (which is uncommon). Once you get your team spawning at a rear cap away from your spawn area, you force them to split up to either stop you from taking more ground behind their lines or your team will be able to regroup at the new hangar. Either way, you've released pressure on the original point of the map they controlled. The way the other team reacts from here will depend on the map and players, but you've returned the game to a "neutral" state where neither team has overwhelming map control.

Forward Factory Spawning

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

The most easy solution to that is to point the spawn point to it during the re-spawn time.
Caution is to be taken not to point the spawn to a soon to be lost base, as if the timer runs out, it will reset for another run.
Newbies usually avoid forward spawning out of fear of being easily overrun by the opponents. This is plain 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.
If the timer turns gray -you're waiting to spawn in the wrong (lost to the enemy team) base!

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.

Back Capping

"omw cap as crazy"
game chat quote

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

/TODO/minimap

It has come to be known, that holding the froward 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.

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