Gameplay Tactics

This page contains a number of the common gameplay tactics found in MWLL.

Alpha Strike

An alpha strike is an attack where a 'Mech fires all its weapons simultaneously.

Alpha strikes are very effective because they tightly concentrate damage, leading to heavy damage to or destruction of some components. Some 'Mechs are designed to make use of alpha strikes. Notably, the Puma variant C is capable of crippling any light 'Mech with few well-placed Medium Laser alpha strikes, as is the 2 CGauss Vulture A, the Madcat MKII A or most Fafnir variants.

Any 'Mech can unleash the alpha strike, but it's not always an effective tactic. Firstly, the 'Mech should be wielding weapons with similar characteristics, for example only UACs, only Lasers, or only PPCs/Gauss (which behave similarly) -- these setups allow all weapons will hit the same or very close spot of the 'Mech, inflicting concentrated damage (though weapons can be grouped more freely when shooting slow targets at very close range). Secondly, some alpha strike configurations will cause severe overheating, which will damage one's own 'Mech and threaten a shut down or self-destruction. Examples of 'Mechs with hazardous alpha strikes include the Masakari Prime, Loki Prime and variants of the energy weapon-heavy Novacat, some of which can peg the core temperature gauge in a single alpha strike.

There isn't much defense against an alpha strike, other than attempting to make the enemy pilot miss the shot, or shielding vulnerable components by turning or using terrain. However, alpha strikes generate severe amounts of heat in a short time (especially when it's based on energy weapons), so it may help to raise his heat with PPC shots or (preferably) Flamers. Further, if the opportunity arises, destroying or heavily damaging the back armor of an alpha-striking mech will force the pilot to be more conservative with heat or risk self-killing, since incurring heat damage after the back armor is destroyed will instantly destroy the mech.

Anti Aircraft

Anti-Air, often abbreviated to AA, refers to assets that are able to effectively combat aerospace fighters or VTOLs. Good AA assets often bring a combination of high pitch-up limit for shooting at high altitude targets along with a loadout of weapons that can deliver damage effectively to aircraft.

One of the biggest challenges to driving air assets off the field is being able to hit them. Regardless of whether you are using a rapid-fire weapon such as UAC2s or a powerful, single-shot weapon like a Gauss Rifle, the trick is a matter of finding the correct distance by which to lead the target and also knowing how to compensate for the convergence as well as location of your guns. There is no easy way to learn this other than by practice and experience.

A good choice for performing early anti-air work is the Partisan A, as the LBX5s are very dangerous against aircraft without sacrificing a lot of damage potential against ground targets.

Another way to force bombers or VTOLs off your team is to bring an aerospace fighter yourself. Choose one of the Fighter variants equipped with strong anti-air weaponry, such as the Air UAC2, Air Thunderbolt or Air Lasers. Be careful when pursuing your targets though, as they will often do one of two things: either they will fly back to base to the safety of the base defenses, or they will fly over their team, who will attempt to destroy you.

Arming, Externaling, and Winging

By shooting and destroying a mech's arms or externals, some weapons can be permanently destroyed. This means that even if the mech is repaired, the destroyed component, and all the weapons it contained, will not be replaced. This is also true for weapons mounted on the wings of a VTOL or Aerospace.

This tactic is most useful when shooting at an enemy that is going to be able to escape or an enemy that has a particularly dangerous destructible weapon (like the Thanatos A's Heavy Gauss in its left arm). This tactic can be risky against some enemy mechs as it leaves their torso untouched, and no closer to being defeated. Against aircraft, this tactic is very effective since a destroyed wing when shot again, will transfer damage to the body of the aircraft.

Back Capping

The act of capturing enemy bases far from the front line in Terrain Control matches. Best done by dedicated back capping assets. Can cut off access to factories, deny repair and rearm, increase ticket bleed, and distract enemies.

Ballooning

Ballooning is an Aerospace tactic, where weapons are fired from straight above the enemy's maximum pitch to avoid return fire. Only long range Aerospace weapons work well with balooning. Medium and short range weapons don't work for this tactic since the Aerospace has to fly fairly low before pulling up, giving the enemy an opportunity to shoot back. Balooning doesn't work very well against dedicated AA assets since many of them can aim straight up into the air. When VTOLs engage in Balooning, neither the VTOL, nor their enemies will be able to shoot at each other, making VTOL balooning a purely defensive tactic.

Cheating

Using game exploits, or cheats, to gain unfair advantages that are otherwise unavailable to other players is frowned upon by the community and is grounds to be banned on nearly every server.

Circle Lock

Circle Lock, popularly known as the "Circle of Death" is a maneuver that occurs when two opposing Mechs try to get behind one another in order to fire outside of their torso radius and thus risk no return fire. It often occurs at 200-50m as both Mechs run full speed while turning in the same direction while they have their torsos turned to face each other. This results in the two orbiting each other and firing trying to accurately fire, and ultimately trying to get behind the other mech for a free shot. This happens at very fast speeds between Osirises and Harassers, and at very slow speeds even among Assault Mechs.

The advantages of this maneuver are twofold:

• First, it forces the enemy to focus his movement and attention toward you, leaving teammates free to pick and choose when and what to fire at while keeping the enemy from running away towards his teammates, for if he does, he exposes his back to you.
• Secondly, it creates a situation where one can fire close range weapons but still be moving to avoid enemy fire who have difficult to lead weapons. This applies chiefly to the opponent you are engaged in the Circle with, as sprinting in a tight orbit can make leading ballistics projectiles, tracking accurately with lasers, and leading/tracking Short range missiles, all much more difficult than if standing still.

However, it is worth noting here, that mechs with full torso rotation, such as Osiris or Thanatos have quite an advantage in such duels even against the most swiftly turning mechs such as the Argus or Thor. This is due to the fact that the angular speed of torso rotation is usually higher than the angular speed of an turning asset.

Circle Lock can also occur when aircraft dogfight.

Death Ball

A Death Ball is the best way to prepare for a team fight.

By grouping all, or nearly all, allies from one team together in one place, even at the consequence of losing overall map control, a team can substantially increase its ability to destroy its enemies.

Advantages:

• Team gains rank more quickly.
• Reduces ticket loss from lost assets.
• Good for team morale.
• Supporters can really support their team.
• Tanking becomes a viable tactic.
• Better AA coverage.

Disadvantages:

• Higher ticket bleed from lost bases.
• Reduced awareness and scouting.
• Easier target for enemy artillery and bombs.
• More at risk to be close to a Fusion Engine Explosion.

Ejecting

Ejecting, or leaving one's asset behind, is different depending on the asset and can be done for various reasons. In some game modes, such as Solaris Arena, ejecting is disabled. When ejecting is disabled, the player must first power down their asset. Only then will they be allowed to leave the asset. Some assets, such as Mech, VTOL, and Aerospace come equipped with an ejection seat. When the eject button is pressed twice within a few seconds the player will be rocket upwards some 150 meters. In the case of Mechs, the ejection seat and the mech's head armor are destroyed when the player ejects. If the player, or another player, gets back in the mech, the eject function will not work until the head armor has been repaired. In the case of VTOLs and Aerospace, the ejection seat will be permanently disabled. Repairing the asset will not restore ejection seat use. Aerospace and VTOL with disabled ejection seats must come to a complete stop in order to leave the asset.

Tactically, ejection is often a poor decision. Since the player, once ejected from their asset, is a Battle Armor, they will lose their team 2 tickets when they die. And their asset, even with no player driving it, will still lose their team tickets when destroyed. For example, if a player's Osiris is destroyed, while they are controlling it, their team will lose 2 tickets. If that same player decides to eject before the Osiris is destroyed and are then killed shortly after, their team will lose 4 tickets total. Dying in one's own asset, instead of ejecting, also means getting back to base to build a new asset sooner. Battle armor are slow, so running back to base in a Battle Armor can delay you by several minutes. Additionally, Battle Armor that have just ejected from their asset will only have 2 SRMs and 1 Machine Gun, which are not enough to cause much damage.

Good reasons to eject:

1. Your enemy is a few seconds of Claw Machine Gun fire away from being destroyed and your asset has no weapons left.

2. You are playing Terrain Control and you are certain that you can escape and there is a nearby post to capture.

3. You are in a part of the map where playing as a Battle Armor would be useful and there is a nearby APC, Hephaestus, Goblin or some other place to buy BA Weapons.

4. There are nearby enemy Battle Armor, since that's one of the few things that SRMs and a Machine Gun are good against.

5. You are playing a ticket-based game, like terrain control, and both teams are tied at zero tickets.

Flicking

Flicking is the act of firing LRMs, or any other missile weapon that require a lock, at an angle away from the target. First, lock on to a target, then quickly aim the reticle up and/or rotate the torso/turret to one side. As the missiles fire, they will gain more elevation than normal before cruising toward their target and can maximize indirect damage potential. This is done to make it easier to hit targets behind cover similarly to the way NARCs and TAGs allow for higher missile arcs. Unfortunately, for large missile salvos, like LRM20s, this can mean the first few missiles must be fired at a lower angle or else the player risks losing target lock before all of the salvo has been fired. Tanks with missiles mounted on the chassis instead of the turret, like the Huit, can gain this sort of firing arc by rotating their chassis 180 degrees away from the target. This gives these tanks the ability to make indirect fire without having to rely on NARC or TAG.

In very specific situations, changing the firing arc for missiles can help to overwhelm enemy LAMS on NARCed and TAGed targets. This works especially well when using tanks with missile launchers fixed to the chassis instead of the turret. First, group fire all missiles with the launchers pointed 180 degrees away from the enemy. These missiles will take much longer to hit and have a much steeper arc. Quickly, rotate in order to fire a second salvo straight at the enemy and fire it as soon as possible. Depending on projectile speed and weapon reload speed, the missiles will impact the enemy closer together than normal missile volleys. This creates an effect similar to the Multiple Round Simultaneous Impact technique that Long Toms are capable of.

Hiding and Taking Cover

Hiding and Taking Cover are two tactics that are often done at the same time.

• Hiding can be moving to a place that is out of the enemy's line of sight. For example, behind a hill or trees or in a lake.
• Taking cover can be moving to where enemy weapons cannot hit. For example, moving underneath terrain, like a building or a cliff, to avoid missiles.
• Hiding can be using obscuring terrain and/or camouflage to blend in.
• Hiding can be reducing one's radar signature using electronics or powering down.

These tactics are useful for Skirmishers so they can avoid enemy weapons fire while the skirmisher's high burst damage weapons recharge. Hiding, powering down, and abandoning an APC is an effective tactic to provide a backup spawn point or ammo supply. The Long Tom can also hide by using smoke launchers.

Hit-and-Run

Assets with higher speed, or, in the correct kind of terrain, assets with jump jets, can engage in Hit-and-Run tactics. When confronted with an enemy, many targets will move toward their allies or call for help. When pilots are operating solo, or with very little support, fighting a lone enemy (one that is separated from their team), can still be a risky move. By catching the target unawares or by out DPSing them, the pilot can destroy, disable, or at least harass the target before leaving. Even if the combat doesn't destroy the target, or even deal any lasting damage, it can cause the target to return to base for repair or rearm. Alternatively it can cause the target to leave an advantageous location for sniping or LRM Camping. Hit-and-run can also cause targets to return to their allies, ignoring important bases in terrain control. When back capping a fast asset can capture, or at least partially capture a base causing some enemies to leave the main group, getting out of position and weakening the enemies' death balling potential, even if the pilot never even comes into combat with the out of position enemy.

Legging

Legging is the deliberate targeting of one or both legs of a Mech, with the intent of crippling and toppling it. Severe damage to a leg will reduce a Mech to a painfully slow limp and limit its turning ability, while destroying a leg will cause the Mech to fall over. Leg armor is stronger than center torso armor but tends to be a larger target, making this a potentially faster way to disable a Mech than chewing through the torso armor; however, once legged, the Mech can fall in such a way that it can still fire upon enemies. It may also be more difficult to guarantee a hit on a rapidly moving Light Mech leg with certain weapons such as Gauss rifles that fires a fairly slowly reloading shot and provides no splash damage -- though a hit with such a weapon is extremely damaging to a Light Mech leg. Suddenly destroying the leg of a rapidly moving Mech can send it tumbling somewhat comically, and destroying the leg of a jumping mech will send it through a wild tumble to the ground.

The pilot of a legged Mech may attempt to continue firing on enemies within his range of view. However, being unable to move, the pilot is often left unable to defend himself, and must choose between waiting for death in the crippled unit (which can make more sense from a CBills or time perspective), or ejecting in order to return to base or to continue fighting as a Battle Armor. If the legged mech mounts jump jets, it's possible to (clumsily) reorient your mech to have a good field of view of the enemy, or twist your mech into a position where it's almost impossible for enemy mechs to fire upon your torso.

If a Mech pilot notices that the enemy is deliberately targeting legs, he can accelerate to make a shot on the legs more difficult. Terrain may also be used to shield legs, while still being able to fire upon the enemy -- in some situations, it may even be possible to fire on the enemy's legs without exposing your own legs to hostile fire.

Honor

Legging is often considered a cheap, dishonorable tactic, although its use tends to be forgiven when used in desperation or uncommonly. Chronically focusing primarily on enemies' legs, however, will draw ire and often result in other players going out of their way to leg you.

Points

Legging a Mech will not immediately reward as many points as a traditional center-torso kill, but in many cases the legged Mech can be destroyed for points more or less at leisure.

Hitboxes

A Mech that is legged and rolling around on the ground will often have hitboxes that are difficult to aim at, resulting is damage being spread around instead of focused. This effect is somewhat similar to being desynched.

LRM Camping

Puma and Catapult camp on Clearcut

LRM Camping, is a valid, but controversial tactic. It entails buying an asset with Long Range Missiles such as LRMs, ELRMs, ERATMs, or ArrowIVs, picking an easily defensible spot on the map with good sight lines to targets within target lock range (typically at the very edge of the missile laucher's maximum range), and firing on any enemy targets.

LRM campers enjoy the benefit of being able to wear down incoming enemies. By the time said enemies are in range to fire back, not only are they heavily damaged, but the LRM camper's teammates have usually moved to intercept and are ready to take out the enemy.

The more players there are on a team, the easier it is to LRM camp effectively. For example, in a 1v1 game, the player that takes LRMs is more likely to lose since LRMs are often ineffective at the short ranges typical of 1 v 1 games. Alternatively, in a 10 v 10 game, having 1 or 2 players play as an LRM camper can be a very effective way to deal significant damage to slower targets. The later in the game it is, the better the LRM camping strategy gets. Later game assets are often slower moving giving an LRM camper more shots before the enemy can get in range with their own weapons.

Note that LRM Campers aren't as effective at dealing damage to fast moving light and medium Mechs like Solitaires or Black Lanners, VTOLs, Aerospace, or targets at close-range.

LRM Camping is most effective when it's supported by other units utilizing NARCs or TAG lasers, as carried by many Light Mechs, Battle Armor, and VTOLs.

Benefits of NARCed and TAGed Targets for LRM Campers

• Improved Maximum Range – Weapons like LRMs, ELRMs, and ArrowIVs are capable of dealing damage well past their maximum lock on range. Targets that are NARCed or TAGed will still attract missiles so long as the missiles were fired with active radar and so long as the missiles travel within 1000m of that target.
• Ability to Take Cover While Firing – LRM campers can hide behind terrain so long as their target is NARCed or TAGed.

• Ability to Hit Targets That Are Hiding Behind Cover – Enemies not in line of site can still be hit with missiles if they are NARCed or TAGed. Additionally, so long as those targets are within 1000m, the LRM camper can fire their missiles away from the target causing the missiles to gain a higher arc and have a better chance of hitting a target behind cover, similar to flicking.

• Target Coordination – If there are multiple LRM campers working together, a NARC or TAG can mean massive damage against a single target.

Things That Counter LRM Campers

• Aerospace and VTOLs – Aerospace and VTOLs are merely forced to fly defensively when fired upon with most missiles and can easily fly behind enemy lines to attack LRM campers that would otherwise be safe.

• Fast and/or Sneaky Brawlers – Close range assets, like fast mechs with MASC or hovercraft and sneaky assets with passive radar or better yet, GECM, can often get in close to LRM campers, bypassing the rest of the team, forcing the LRM camper into a very disadvantageous brawl. Inner Sphere LRMs have a substantial minimum range at about 160m. Similarly ERATMs and ATMs have a minimum range of 140m. Clan LRMs have a minimum range of only 10m, but are suboptimal at short ranges.

• Cover Shooters – By coming out of cover briefly, shooting, and returning behind cover, enemies can deal damage to LRM campers without taking any damage themselves. The brief exposure either prevents a lock on from occurring at all or allows terrain to intercept incoming missiles. This is especially easy for Poptarters.

• Being Outranged – Weapons like Long Tom, Thumper, LtGauss, HAG, AC2, UAC2, and HVAC2 outrange many of the long rage missiles in the game. ELRMs also have a longer lock on range than other missiles. LRM campers are forced to abandon camping when outranged. The camper has to run, hide, or move into closer range to attack.

The Effectiveness of LRM Camping Based On Game Mode

• Terrain Control – LRM camping in most Terrain Control games is an ineffective strategy. Terrain Control typically requires players to remain mobile and capture bases. LRM camping is exactly the opposite of this and can cause a team to lose the game through loss of tickets. Occasionally LRM Camping is effective late in a game, in wider, more open maps like TC Tukayyid and in maps that have large capture zones like TC Lunacy.

• Solaris Arena – LRM camping in Solaris Arena is very ineffective as the battlefields are small. Additionally, with no allies to support the player, as soon as an enemy gets too close, the LRM weapons on the LRM camper's asset become partially or completely useless causing the player to be at a disadvantage.

• Team Solaris Arena – LRM camping is most effective in Team Solaris Arena games where holding territory isn't important. LRM camping can be a very effective strategy as it gives the player a lot of time to fire at the incoming enemy target before it can get in close and use its shorter range weapons. In Team Solaris Arena games were where points are the only way to win, LRM camping is very effective as it gives the player's team points without giving away points to the other team. In Team Solaris Arena games that use tickets, LRM camping is less effective as the threat of LRMs often make other players run away or hide. While they may take some damage, those players will typically survive, and their team won't lose any tickets.

Points of View on LRM Camping

LRM Camping is a somewhat controversial tactic within the MWLL community. Many players who prefer "brawling" (ie close range combat) see LRM Camping as a low-risk and low-skill method of enemy engagement. Other players point out that LRM attacks have long been a part of Battletech canon, and that viable counter-measures exist to thwart LRM Campers. Newer players tend to gravitate towards LRM 'Mechs and will often partake in LRM camping due it being a lower-risk and low-intensity method of fighting.

History of LRM Camping

As soon as the MWLL Beta became available to the public, LRM Camping with the support TAG Laser-equipped unit became a popular tactic. Not only was it a low risk way for new players to score damage, but an error in score calculation awarded TAG-gers a disproportionately high number of C-Bills.

With introduction of version 0.1.0, TAG-ing targets no longer awarded as many C-Bills, and the tactic became somewhat less popular.

In beta 0.2.0, maps were modified to introduce multiple terrain obstacles, so countering LRM camping become easier. Many units also gained AMS systems, which reduced somewhat the number of LRMs hitting them.

In beta 0.3, tweaks to weapon balance saw the damage dealt by LRMs reduced somewhat. LRM Camping is now a slow way to increase in rank, compared to other direct engagement strategies.

Poptarting

Poptarting, a play on the popular breakfast pastry Poptarts, is a tactic in which a Mech utilizes Jump Jets to rise up from behind cover, fire its weapons, and then sink back behind cover. The term for players who utilize Poptarting is "Poptarters". Cover can be any particular part of the battlefield, or even another Mech, as long as it blocks line-of-sight from the Poptarter to the target. This is also known as 'jump-sniping' and is a form of poking.

This tactic allows the Poptarter the smallest window of vulnerability, while at the same time letting him unload his full arsenal on the target.

History

Several changes in Jump Jets mechanics in release 0.3.0 have severely changed Poptarting as a popular tactic.

• Mech HUD shake on ascent - Reduced the amount of time the pilot has to locate and fire at a target to the descending arc of a jump
• Slower Jump Jet energy recharge - Increased delay before JJ energy starts to recharge. This reduces the frequency the pilot may poptart.
• Jump Jets produce more heat - Another balance change to reduce the effectiveness of Alpha strike poptarters.

Powering Down

To power down means to shut down a vehicle. This can be done by pressing the [p] key. This is useful to make repairs or to leave a 'Mech, VTOL or Aerospace Fighter without ejecting and destroying the cockpit. A powered down unit is undetectable, unless an enemy unit is fielding a Beagle or Bloodhound probe, which can detect shut-down units only at very close range.

There are few tactics that use powering down, due to the risk in exposing a shut down unit to potential enemy fire. Still, using a spotter under the cloak of an ECM suite, or an asset with active radar as bait, and a few powered down comrades to set up an ambush can cause a great amount of surprise and confusion, if executed properly. If done wrong, it will lead to several dead comrades, and a chuckle from the enemy team.

Powering down can also be used to manage heat. After firing many, high heat weapons, jump jets, or MASC, an asset can pull into cover, and power down. This will allow it to cool faster, but is risky since nearby enemies can use the opportunity to position themselves better. Additionally, when fighting against enemies with many Flamers, powering down may be the only way to prevent armor loss from overheating or even total asset destruction.

Note: Assets will autoshutdown on their own when staying above the red line on the heat gauge for too long.

Ramming and Zero-Throttling

By driving directly into enemies with a tank or Mech, a player can cause the enemy to slow or even stop completely. This makes both the player and the enemy easier targets. It works best when the player's allies in the area outnumber the enemies in the area. Heavier tanks and mechs will often find this tactic somewhat more difficult when attempting to ram lighter, faster assets.

When ramming a tank with another tank, typically the one initiating the ram will be forced underneath the other tank. The tank on top usually tips over and will have a difficult time returning fire while the tank underneath will usually be able to continue firing. This tactic, although legitimate and highly entertaining, is often considered to be rude if the player does not release the other tank from being tipped over.

When ramming a tank with a tall mech, if it doesn't flip the tank, it can sometimes deny the the tank the ability to shoot the mech's torso if the tank has a low maximum pitch.

When ramming an aircraft with another aircraft, typically both aircraft will be destroyed, although usually only one player dies. This is generally considered to be even ruder than ramming a tank. Check the rules of the server you are playing on, this tactic may be banned.

When ramming a mech or tank with an aircraft, typically the aircraft will be destroyed and the mech or tank will take a small amount of damage. This damage is often not worth the loss of the aircraft. Tanks may move a distance when rammed in this way. Players are advised to attempt to escape with their aircraft instead of ramming. If the aircraft has lost too many weapons to be viable in future attack runs, the player can land the plane and suicide to respawn with new money or sell the aircraft in order to upgrade, downgrade, or rebuy the same asset.

Pushing

To charge into short range close combat against stationary enemies. Typically lead by a brawling asset that is good at tanking. It is important to coordinate with allies to attack at the same time, otherwise the charge will very likely fail. In terrain control it is especially important to charge quickly with as many allies as possible. Otherwise enemies might be able to repair or respawn before the objective can be captured.

Scouting

Scouting is a kind of supporting that can be conducted in a few ways. One such way is with C3, by sharing enemy contacts with allies automatically. Alternatively, contacts can be shared with allies via text chat ex. "Contact D5" or "Two contacts E6." Voice over internet protocol such as TeamSpeak or Discord can also be utilized, but require prior organization to make sure all allied players are able to hear the information. While faster assets work best for scouting, heavier assets also work, especially those equipped with longer range radar suites like BAP and BHP or with maximized mobility though MASC.

Self-NARCing/TAGing

Not to be confused with accidentally shooting one's self with a NARC, self-NARCing and TAGing is the act of acquiring one's own targets with NARC or TAG. This can be a very effective way of ignoring lock on time for larger missile launchers like the ArrowIV or the LRM20. This can also improve one's ability to flick. LRMs and Arrows with substantial minimum ranges struggle to use standard NARCs for self-NARCing due to the standard NARC's 500m range. Many enemies will be able to close within the minimum range before a second volley of LRMs can be fired. For this reason, iNARC and cNARC are preferred for self-NARCing. One of the benefits of self-NARCing is getting within range, NARCing the target, then retreating at full speed while firing missiles the opposite direction. This gives a superior advantage when compared to usual flicking and gives the self-NARCing asset an opportunity to kite the enemy.

Self-TAGing functions somewhat differently in that the user generally needs to have line of sight with the target at the time of impact for the given missile system. This confers the advantage of being able to fire missiles without a lock of any kind. Simply fire in the correct direction, especially at a high angle, then use the TAG as the missiles get close for a surprise barrage from directly above. Unfortunately, self-TAGing only works marginally well for kiting.

Sniping

For the Asset role, see Asset Roles.
For the Artillery weapon, see Sniper Artillery Cannon.
For the Gameplay Tactic, see here:
To snipe is to shoot the enemy accurately, from a distance, usually 700m+. This does not include guided weapons like LRMs, ATMs, etc. The best weapons for doing this include ERPPC, Gauss, ERLL, Long Tom, HVAC, etc. The main advantage of sniping is that enemies have a difficult time returning fire if their weapons are shorter range. On the other hand, snipers often have a difficult time maintaining a high DPS, especially when not all of their weapons might be in range, because long range weapons typically deal less damage per second than short range weapons, and because enemies can get behind cover much more easily when they are at long range.

Spawn Camping

Spawn Camping usually occurs when one team has a significant disadvantage in amount of players or skill. Sometimes it's an effect of Team Stacking, or the surprise attack of a few units at an enemy base. In any case - it is defined by a prolonged attack of an enemy spawn base or the units within, often combined with destroying turrets, or sometimes even units entering enemy hangar and hunting Battle Armor in there. Bombing the enemy base can also considered Spawn Camping due to very high amount of damage given by this weapon and very low chances of defense against it, particularly if the base in question does not have base LAMS turrets.

Spawn Camping differs though from attacks to units which return back to base for repairs after an engagement - such moves are considered as acceptable by the community.

Camping can often be prevalent on smaller maps with open areas around a capturable base, such as on TC_Harvest. In this case, one team can get hemmed into one of the middle spawn-capable bases by the other and is forced to constantly pour more players/assets into the battle to keep the attackers at bay, who will snipe at anything they can see inside the base. While this is technically spawn camping, the contested base is a capture point and such as is more or less fair game.

Countering Spawn Camping

The simplest way is simply to ask enemy team for more space using public chat (default key: [Y] ).

Alternatively try to spawn in a different base if possible. Some maps without another base contain airfields, so spawning there is another possibility.

It is also possible to simply push back the attackers - for this it is required to pick best possible brawlers and exit the hangar in largest group available, focusing fire on a single target at a time.

Finally, on some servers, mostly these sponsored by Clans or Units, it's possible to ask for admin intervention or collect screenshots of players Spawn Camping and post them on forums of the Unit.

Staring

Unlike damage spreading, staring has the player look directly at the enemy and never break eye contact. Although this makes the player easy to destroy by allowing enemies free reign to shoot at whatever component they like, it does have some advantages. Weapons with long lock on times (like the LRM20), that have a long time before overheating (like the UAC2), or that can be constantly fired (like XPLs) will function better when staring, resulting in a higher DPS. Staring is a good tactic particularly when surrounded by allies that are taking most of the enemy fire away from the player.

Players can make their aim even more accurate, by bringing their asset to a complete stop by zero-throttling their enemy and themselves or by pressing [x] to drop their own throttle to zero. The downside, of course, is that the player becomes an even easier target.

Although mechs can only rotate their legs while staring, tanks can continue to twist their chassis to spread damage.

Suicide Run

Kamikaze, seek-and-destroy, whatever you want to call it, a suicide run is a particular kind of attack where the target is high-value, valuable enough that it is worth oneself being destroyed to eliminate them. This is common for heavily damaged heavy and assault Mechs that are returning to base for repair and rearm and especially true for artillery and larger aerospace like the Shiva, Xerxes, Rusalka, and Visigoth. Long Tom and assets with Arrow IV, on the right map with the right support, pose substantial threats where they are capable of decimating the opposing team. Suicide runs are frequently the only options to assets that are too slow and/or too poorly maneuverable to make a proper hit and run attack. For the best suicide runs brawlers, stealthy assets, speedy assets, and aircraft are most suitable.

Supporting

Some assets in MechWarrior: Living Legends have special equipment that don't just help the user, they also help other friendly players. These assets can come equipped with only one or two of these special systems, but others come with many of them, like the Raven G or the Loki Prime. Examples of support equipment includes LAMS, TAG, NARC, infantry bays, C3, AECM, PDS, and AutoFlamers. Bringing an asset with support equipment can be vital to victory. If the enemy has many LRMs, bring LAMS. If the enemy is NARCing targets, bring AECM. If friendly artillery need targeting help, bring C3. If there are many enemy BA, bring PDS or AutoFlamers.

Tank Hunting

One particular kind of asset is the 'Tank Hunter' which specializes in destroying non-mech assets thanks to damage multipliers for weapons like AC2, UAC2, AC5, BA Recoilless Rifle, LBX, Blazer, RAC, HMGs, and others.

Tanking

Not to be confused with tanks, tanking is a tactic where the player attempts to distract or draw enemy fire away from allies. Tanking can be done in two primary ways. The first way is to purchase an asset with a lot of armor and drive in close to enemies, potentially even shooting at multiple enemies to draw their attention. The player then relies on their heavy armor and damage spreading to soak up damage that would otherwise be directed at more poorly armored allies. The second way is to purchase a faster asset, preferably one that has MASC which it can pulse for extra evasion. Faster assets, in this way, can run through groups of enemies at high speed as a distraction then quickly circle around again or head for cover, relying on their speed to avoid damage instead of relying on their armor.

Threat Assessment

Threat assessment is the act of analyzing radar information as well as local battlefield awareness to: Avoid groups of enemies that would overpower the player and their allies, intercept lone enemies before they can regroup with their team, target enemies that are easier to destroy, focus players with reputations for dominance, eliminate the enemy with the highest damage to armor ratio, harass enemies that are using aircraft or enemies that are actively painting allies with NARC or TAG, shutdown or kill enemies providing AECM to their team, frighten away or disable enemies contesting an important base, and put a lower priority on highly armored targets that have few weapons.

Twisting and Damage Spreading

Skilled enemies will often aim at the same component of an asset repeatedly. Three shots to the center torso is far more effective than one shot to the left, one to the right, and one to the center. To avoid having a single component destroyed quickly, players are advised to twist their torso (in the case of mechs) or twist their chassis (in the case of tanks). Most weapons take time to recharge, reload, or cool down. While a player's weapons are unusable, they should rotate their asset to display the side with the most remaining armor toward the enemy (yes, when close to the end of their armor, this means this means players will sometimes have to turn their back on the enemy).

Twisting isn't always a viable tactic, some weapons require staring, like XPLs, RACs, and Heavy Lasers. In those cases, twisting means dealing less damage and should only be done if one's asset is tanking for allies or desperately needs to contest an objective. LRMs require a long lock on time and in some situations, lock on time can be so long, that it isn't worth torso twisting because of losing the missile lock.

For some assets, a single large weapon may be mounted in a single place, like the Hollander II or the Uller B. Enemies will often focus on these weapons and torso twisting becomes an essential tactic to stay alive and to preserve important weapons.

Aerospace fighters and especially VTOL have limited ability to spread their damage, but there are two primary ways to spread damage. To avoid further damage to a damaged wing, keep nearby enemies on the opposite side and keep the aircraft's body perpendicular and flat relative to the enemy so that the damaged wing cannot be seen from their perspective. To avoid further damage to the engine at the back of an aerospace fighter, point the nose of the aircraft towards the enemy, or turn relative to the enemy to show the body of the plane instead of the engine.

Underbuying

By purchasing an asset that costs less than one's current rank or C-Bills one can gain a few benefits.

• Higher speed. Most cheaper assets are faster than expensive assets and work better at backcapping.
• Better Electronics. Many Heavy and Assault assets lack quality electronics.
• Lower ticket loss when the asset is destroyed.
• Higher multipliers for earning points and rank.
• Giving the enemy a chance. Sportsmanlike conduct can make the game more fun.

Upgrading

Instead of piloting an asset until it is destroyed, one can return to a build bay and sell the asset. Sometimes the resulting C-Bill total (the pilot's C-Bill earnings from this life plus the income from the sale of the asset), is too low to even repurchase the original asset. Pilots should avoid this and generally only sell their existing asset when a more expensive asset may be afforded through the sale or in case the original asset has received too much unrepairable damage (i.e. destroyed wing, destroyed externals, destroyed arms). When one chooses to upgrade, it can be a good idea to ask other players for donations while on the way back to the build bay. Keep in mind that not all build bays can build all assets and it may not be possible to upgrade an Orion or a Novacat to anything else at many forward bases.

If one's goal is to eventually upgrade their asset, there are a number of strategies.

• Sell - After earning enough C-Bills from dealing damage, capturing objectives, or supporting the team, sell the asset and buy a new one.
• Underbuying - Spending less on a starter asset can help give one a head start on an upgrade.
• Delay Upgrade - The longer one delays upgrading their asset, the more they can take advantage of extra C-Bills from tier.
• Rank Up - After earning enough points and then dying, buy a new asset.
• Get a Donation - Ask for donations from teammates in order to buy a new asset.
• Avoid Killing Enemies with an Overheat - If an enemy dies to heat, no one will get credit for destroying them.
• Capture a Base Before Buying - On smaller maps at the beginning of the game, a BA can run and reach the first forward factory before their allies. Doing so grants the BA player extra C-Bills before their first purchase.

Uppercutting

The act of body slamming ASF with a (mostly iJJ equipped) mech. There is also a chance to instantly destroy the ASF if you managed to step on it instead of body slamming it. When its successful, 3 things may happen to enemy ASF.

1.) It will start spinning/stalling like crazy in the air

2.) It will tumble to the ground and crash-land there for your team to harvest the kill

3.) It will fall to the ground and explode on impact