MechWarrior Online: Clans Are Coming Soon, PGI Swears
What is MechWarrior Online?
MechWarrior Online is an online, multiplayer-only FPS set in the BattleTech universe. The game is currently in 3049, 6 years prior to the events of MechWarrior 2, and about 5-6 months prior to the Clan Invasion.
Why should I play it?
Do you ever get tired of FPS game where you get shot in 3 seconds? Do you enjoy firefights that require strategy, positioning, and skill? Do you enjoy piloting gigantic 80's style robots that shoot lasers and missiles? Do you like tinkering with mech construction and weapon composition?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, this game may be for you.
Where do I get it?
Open Beta will be going live today at ~12PM MST, and you can sign up and download the free client here:
Currently, the game runs in an 8v8 capture point format, with each team having 8 mechs of equal class (Light, Medium, Heavy & Assault) on either side, trying to either destroy/disable each other, or capture their base.
In the near future, this will be expanded to 12v12 on larger maps with more game modes (Conquest mode will be revealed on Nov. 6th), and a large spanning Community Warfare with Planetary Capture, resource ownership, and House vs House grouping will be implemented.
Okay, I like robots, but how cool does it look?
Glad you asked.
A wonderful fan made trailer by Paingod
And a fun video made by yours truly
How awesome is this game?
It's so awesome I put together this somewhat informative post.
I've been in the closed beta for months and it is a lot of fun. MWO has a lot of potential. I am glad they took out collisions for the open beta launch because that is where a large number of issues come from.
I've been in the closed beta for months and it is a lot of fun. MWO has a lot of potential. I am glad they took out collisions for the open beta launch because that is where a large number of issues come from.
The only game I've played for more than a few hours since I got in Closed Beta was GW2, and in the last month I've even taped off that. I've wasted money on BL2, Mists, Dishonored, XCom & Sleeping Dogs and I haven't beat any of them because of the time I've put into MWO.
My problem with this is that it's going to be one of those things where if I don't spend a lot of time at it there's no point because I'll just end up getting good and rogered by the people who kick ass at it thanks to banking large hours.
I don't know if it's still a viable build - or if it ever really was - but I loved having a fast mech with nothing but machine guns and run in close and just rip the arms off the bigger mechs.
My problem with this is that it's going to be one of those things where if I don't spend a lot of time at it there's no point because I'll just end up getting good and rogered by the people who kick ass at it thanks to banking large hours.
Sort of?
As a F2P player you get 4 (not too good or heat efficient) trial mechs (one from each weight class) to start with. Yes, you will do fairly mediocre in a trial mech, but you also need that time to learn the weapons, support roles, map layout, etc.
Depending how well you do, you can purchase real mechs relatively quickly, but the initial investment probably clocks in from 5-10 hours depending on what kind of mech you want to buy.
Once you get a real mech however, the money rolls in faster and #### blows up far more spectacularly.
My advice is to check the forums (when they are back up) or join the public TS3 server and group up. Find a clan, find a group of friends. The game is far more fun in a group, and you'll earn CBills faster.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coys1882
I don't know if it's still a viable build - or if it ever really was - but I loved having a fast mech with nothing but machine guns and run in close and just rip the arms off the bigger mechs.
Machine guns are anti-infantry in the MechWarrior universe, and are currently terrible in MWO because there's no AI infantry/civilians implemented to stomp on/blow up/shoot apart yet.
If you want to be fast and awesome, build a Jenner-7F with 4 Medium Pulse Lasers or something similar.
Keyboard chart: (note the process of weapon grouping)
Because MWO is still in the very early stages of development there is quite a bit of content not yet included. In terms of play time, yes, you're going to have to grind out enough money to buy a mech. However, once you buy that mech you're pretty much good to go. You could own one mech and be just as good as anyone else that owns dozens of mechs and has put hundreds of hours into the game. I think what is good about the trial mechs is that it provides you a chance to play around in some different mechs/variants/weight classes to give you a better idea of what exactly you want to buy when you have earned enough money. I picked the Catapult as my Founder's mech but after playing with it decided that I'd rather have a Hunchback. I would have been disappointed if I had spent hours accumulating money to spend it on something I didn't like.
You use trial mechs to earn CBills to buy a proper mech once you've earned enough (costs vary from 2-11 mil depending on the Model/Variant).
Then, when you have a proper Mech, you can re-arm/swap weapons/add upgrades etc. to it, and you will earn XP from playing that gives you progressive pilot skills for both your character and your specific mech.
Seems like a fundamental game mechanic to not have working by the time you hit beta.
Definitely.
Most disappointing thing, but they had it in for months, and got it about 50% better than it was, buy there was still some collision issues.
Not to mention some premades exploited it by running 4 jenner/4 streakapult groups where the jenners would tackle guys, and the 4 streakapults would alpha strike without having to aim and kill them.
Better they get it sorted out internally than have some ridiculously broken game mechanic ruin it for new players.
Mechwarrior 2 was one of the best computer games I ever played. Unfortunately they seemed to dumb it down a bit after that to make it more accessible to all ages and ability levels of gamers.
Mechwarrior 2 was one of the best computer games I ever played. Unfortunately they seemed to dumb it down a bit after that to make it more accessible to all ages and ability levels of gamers.
Definitely be checking this out.
I always though MW3 was the best in the series because it had the coolest intro.
The problem with the whole collision thing is that because they hadn't (until recently) upgraded the engine they were holding off on that aspect of the game. You should never really see mechs tackling each other as the primary combat tactic and that is what it had become. I'd like to see mechs sustain significant damage when they smash into each other to encourage the act to be more of a move of desperation or a last ditch attempt.
Yes you can. There's an options menu in the mechlab that lets you change a large variety of settings, including turning off motion blur.
thank eff, where is the menu? I looked last night at 2 in the morning and couldn't find it. It's an ok game I thought, if I could tweak it to look like how I like games then it'd be way more fun. It'll be interesting if they can get 32 vs. 32 or more in persistent world capture point matches. As it is it needs a lot of work obviously, the old mechwarrior game on the xbox had better multiplayer, it's a zergfest right now.
Also, how do you use jump jets? I saw guys flying around, assuming you can only fly with a purchased mech, I'm just curious.
Also #2, do missiles do way more damage than lasers and is there 3rd person?
thank eff, where is the menu? I looked last night at 2 in the morning and couldn't find it. It's an ok game I thought, if I could tweak it to look like how I like games then it'd be way more fun. It'll be interesting if they can get 32 vs. 32 or more in persistent world capture point matches. As it is it needs a lot of work obviously, the old mechwarrior game on the xbox had better multiplayer, it's a zergfest right now.
Also, how do you use jump jets? I saw guys flying around, assuming you can only fly with a purchased mech, I'm just curious.
Also #2, do missiles do way more damage than lasers and is there 3rd person?
1. Lower right corner of the mechlab (also lets you change key configs)
2. There are plans for larger battles, but that will be coming with Community Warfare (they say it'll drop in December/January). This includes planetary capture and resources.
3. Jump jets exist only on certain variants of JJ-enabled mechs. These include Jenners, Ravens, and all Catapult variants excluding the K2. There are more Mechs in the pipe that have JJs, include a JJ enabled Assault mech.
4. No 3rd person, mainly to avoid the bull#### pop-tarting that happened in MW4 (could look over hills and see other mechs, then JJ up and hit them with PPC/Gauss before they could even target you).
5. Here's a damage/heat/cooldown chart, courtesy of forum-god Ohm:
Visit this thread for a lot of helpful hard data that Ohm has collected.
The big difference is weapons is as follows:
Ballistic = Single shot, pinpoint damage to a single point, amount of damage depends on what weapon
Missile = 1 SRM = 2.5 dmg, 1 LRM = 2 dmg, missiles have varying flight paths tend to spread. SRMs much be fired at close range or else a cluster of say, 24 missiles, only 4-6 will hit. LRMs are similar in that cover, AMS, and running out of their range could make a devastating volley useless. Even up close, an SRM/LRM volley might hit many parts of the mech, rather than say the pinpoint damage of a laser or ballistic.
Energy = hits exactly where you aim it, but has a longer fire time depending on the laser. Pulse lasers shoot faster and dump the damage quicker, but create more heat. PPCs act like ballistics.
thank eff, where is the menu? I looked last night at 2 in the morning and couldn't find it. It's an ok game I thought, if I could tweak it to look like how I like games then it'd be way more fun. It'll be interesting if they can get 32 vs. 32 or more in persistent world capture point matches. As it is it needs a lot of work obviously, the old mechwarrior game on the xbox had better multiplayer, it's a zergfest right now.
Also, how do you use jump jets? I saw guys flying around, assuming you can only fly with a purchased mech, I'm just curious.
Also #2, do missiles do way more damage than lasers?
You cannot change settings in a match. On the main screen at the bottom left there is a menu button. Hit that and go to options. You'll probably never see 32 vs 32 as it's only been planned for a 12 vs 12. Also, Mechwarrior and Mechassault are totally different games. You might as well be comparing Unreal Tournament with Rainbow Six. This is a sim.
Jump Jets are only available on certain mechs/variants. Currently there are only two mechs with JJ; the Jenner and Catapult. JJ come stock with those mechs so you'd have access to them if the mech/variant has them and is in the trial rotation. Press space to activate them.
MechWarrior Online: Clans Are Coming Soon, PGI Swears
