How to Spot a Psychopath

Must flush thoughts of Middle-Eastern misery out of my mind.

I know: Yet another post about imaginary Internet robots!

This right here is the MechWarrior Online wiki's Hardpoints Table. All the basic stats for all of the 'Mechs in the game so far.

Also: Don't walk your BattleMech off a cliff.

This is not as easy as it sounds, especially if you're in a fast 'Mech; it's normal for high-speed light 'Mechs to suffer a few points of leg damage just by running across largely level ground. Cut the throttle when you're running downhill, or you'll leap out into the air and fall. (If you've got jump jets, you can of course use them to cushion your fall.)

One of the ways to destroy a 'Mech is by shooting off both of its legs. Thus far the legs do not actually detach from the 'Mech as blown-off arms do, but the effect of losing a leg on your locomotion is about what you'd expect; even super-fast 'Mechs drop to a top speed under 20km/h. But, for whatever reason, people tend not to shoot legs very much. So you can economise on armour there, if you're not a speedy light 'Mech, in which case skimping on leg armour is very false economy.

Winning by capturing the enemy base (in an "Assault" game, which is the only game mode that exists as I write this) gets you more money and experience points than winning by killing all of your enemies. So if the enemy team is no longer a threat, and you're a feasible distance from the enemy base at whatever your 'Mech's top speed is, head over there and start "capping". In random pick-up games the rest of your team may or may not respond to a chat suggestion that they cap rather than kill, but it's worth a try.

Oh, and while capping, don't shoot the complicated widget in the middle of the base area. Some newbies appear to think you have to blow that thing up, in case it is in league with a gazebo.

(The complicated widget also has an array of what look rather like nodding-donkey pumps. That's right - this whole war could be for oil!)

Many mechs come from the factory with too little armour, especially the small ones. The trial Atlas-K (which, once again, I implore new players to not use) has 608 of its maximum possible 614 points of armour, but the trial Commando-1B has only 128 points, of a maximum possible 178. The factory loadouts for the Commando 1D and 3A include only 96 points of armour, making them susceptible to damage from well-thrown baseballs, wind-blown leaves, and woodpeckers. (Two models of Jenner come with less than 130 points of armour, too. Their maximum is 238.)

If you die by a means other than suicide ("suicide" here means "wandering out of bounds, or shooting lasers and aborting shutdown until you explode from overheating"), and then quit out of the match rather than spectate on the rest of it, you'll get all - or at least almost all - of the money and XP rewards you'd get if you spectated until the end. The money and XP won't be awarded until the end of the match, which is also when 'Mech you were driving "unlocks" - the "in match" feature was added to deal with serial suiciders. I think you won't get any Kill Assist money and XP for kills that happen after you quit the match, but everything else, you'll still get. So you don't have to watch those two bozos in trial Atlases get pecked to death by high-speed 30-ton ducks, when you've seen it a hundred times before.

I'm not sure if there's a time or damage limit of any sort on Kill Assists, either. A light 'Mech that runs through the enemy team Small-Lasering multiple targets for almost no damage may, for this reason, reap many kill assists if those enemies get killed later.

Weapons do not penetrate water well, or in some cases at all; Streak SRMs fired from one light 'Mech at another when you're both waist-deep in the water will probably just splash down ahead of the target. They'll still work if the target is tall enough to give them an upward trajectory, though.

And, finally, you can't convert "Mech XP" into "General XP" for a model of 'Mech you no longer own. If you want to convert XP, make sure to do so before you sell the last 'Mech you own of that type. (With any luck the developers will change this in a patch, since it costs a little real-world money to convert XP, so all this limit really does is make it harder for players to spend money.)

Herewith, a few more tips for players of MechWarrior Online who are by some cruel turn of fate even worse at it than I am.

For the complete newbie: Yes, there is teamdamage in this game. You are not Friendly Fireproof.

For this reason, shooting guns at the start of the round when you're surrounded by close-packed teammates will make those teammates nervous. Shooting weapons that require ammunition is particularly unsettling. (A certain amount of celebratory gunfire occasionally breaks out at the end of a round.)

Only once have I been one-shot-killed in the first second of the game by some doofus in an assault 'Mech who spawned right behind my humble Commando. I've been winged plenty of times, though, often when there's no enemy even in sight, let alone near me.

If you're just shooting to see whether your weapons are in chain-fire or normal mode, you don't have to; in chain fire, a little highlight box thing runs down through each weapon group in the bottom-right display. In normal-fire mode, there's no animation there.

Slightly less obviously, you should not only refrain from shooting your teammates, but also avoid forcing them to shoot you. Do not, if you can help it, run your 'Mech between a friend and the enemy he's shooting at.

And, conversely, be alert for friends running into your firing line, and if you've already got a laser or something firing, yank your crosshair up or down to try to miss them.

Chief among the teamdamage offenders in the early game are newbies driving the trial Atlas.

As I've said before: Do not do this. That 'Mech is not for you.

On the face of it, the trial Atlas (and other big trial 'Mechs with lots of weapon systems; they switch the trial 'Mechs around from time to time) seems like a great idea. Not only is the Atlas one of the archetypal BattleMechs and as big as 'Mechs get, but this particular model is well armed, heavily armoured, and of course free. In the hands of an experienced player, the stock AS7-K is a very dangerous opponent.

But it is sloooooow. Top speed 48.6 km/h.

I think that's the worst thing about it, for newbies. Mobility is immensely important when you're not sure what you're doing, and any 'Mech with a top speed under 50 km/h is likely to be difficult for an experienced player to use well in a lot of random pick-up games, let alone a newbie. The classic situation in which a fast 'Mech runs round and round a slower one shooting it in the back without even being shot back occurs frequently with trial Atlases.

(Real newbies will drive their slow trial 'Mech in a straight line shooting at someone way over there somewhere, and completely fail to notice that there's a scout 'Mech running at 25% throttle right behind them, shooting them in the back over and over and over without even having to steer.)

And to add insult to injury, the AS7-K's anaemic little engine actually isn't very little - it's of the lighter but larger "XL" type, which means it takes up space in the left and right torso. If any part of the engine receives a critical hit, the 'Mech explodes no matter how healthy the rest of it is. XL engines make it much easier for this to happen.

On the subject of engines, there are engines with different ratings, but the same weight.

There is very little reason to buy a 7-ton 160 engine when you could buy a 7-ton 170. Only if the higher-rated engine needs more heat sinks than you can cram into your 'Mech should you go with a lower-rated engine of the same weight. I was wrong about that, as per Itsacon's comment below. There is actually no reason besides price to get a lower-rated engine with the same tonnage.

And when you sell a 'Mech, you don't have to, and shouldn't, sell all the equipment in it (the optional "Item Value" checkbox). Only sell stuff you know you're never going to use, like spare engines if you've got a pile of one size, heat sinks if you've accumulated a zillion of them, and non-Streak SRMs and autocannons if, like me, your ping is lousy.

And finally, If you're overheating, slow down. The higher your throttle setting, the slower you cool off.

(Again with the MechWarrior Online. Get used to it, gentle reader; there will be more.)

If you want to play a "missile boat" in MechWarrior Online - which isn't very exciting, but is a solid way to contribute to your team and make money for yourself - you have the problem that missile boats are usually heavy or assault 'Mechs. So while you're learning, your half-baked missile 'Mech may cause MechWarrior Online's... less-than-perfect... matchmaker to add a fully perked and polished enemy heavy or assault 'Mech to the enemy team.

(This will also happen if you head out in the current trial Catapult, a 70-tonner with two LRM-15s and four medium lasers.)

The solution to this problem is The Light Missile Boat, which is mildly ridiculous but actually works pretty well, and will only be matched by another light 'Mech on the other team, with any luck. (Or by some newbie in the trial Atlas, which is often even better.)

One formula for a Light Missile Boat is:

One Raven RVN-2X, which has a missile hardpoint in its right torso and four energy hardpoints split between the left torso and right arm, and an Anti-Missile System slot in the left torso. (AMS is highly desirable for missile boats, which often find themselves copping a lot of counter-battery fire.)

Pull the engine out. Stick an LRM-15 or LRM-20 in the right torso, and an AMS and one or two tons of ammo in the left torso. Add lasers of your choice to the right arm and/or left torso. Sprinkle with LRM ammo to taste. Put heat sinks in the legs (I'm pretty sure MechWarrior Online does give you the correct cooling bonus if there are heat sinks in your legs and your legs are in water). Wind up the armour, putting plenty on the back, 'cos you're not going to be fast.

Now, add the biggest non-XL engine that still fits. Enjoy your new light 'Mech that's pretty much exactly half a Catapult.

My version of this 'Mech has an LRM 15, two Medium Pulse Lasers along with the AMS in the left torso, and a Standard Engine 140 for a not-too-horribly-bad 64.8 km/h top speed. I used to have an LRM-20, but the lighter missile rack allowed the heavier, more useful lasers. You can add even more stuff if you go for structure and armour upgrades and put in an XL engine, but this'll cost you a lot more for repairs.

(On a weight-per-missiles basis, by the way, the little LRM-5 is the best; it shoots five missiles and weighs two tons, 2.5 missiles per ton. The LRM-10 and LRM-20 both give you only two missiles per ton; if you can install two LRM-5s instead of one LRM-10, you probably should. The LRM-15 gives 2.142857143 missiles per ton.)

If you want to be tricky, you can save some weight by putting no armour at all on a Raven 2X's gunless left arm. It's probably a good idea to put all of your missile ammo in the right and centre torso, in that case.

If you go into battle with an un-armoured limb there's a very good chance it'll be blown off and then, with the standard auto-repair and auto-rearm settings, you'll have to pay to put a new un-armoured arm on your 'Mech, only to have it blown off again. If you turn off auto-repair, though, you can leave the arm as a stump, and make money faster.

(For this reason, less-honourable players who want to make money fast and don't much care about helping their team may go into battle in a "Zombie Wang", a Yen-Lo-Wang with a couple of medium lasers in the centre torso, no other armament, and no arms.)

As things stand, you also get a 75% ammunition reload for free at the end of every battle. You get this reload even if auto-rearm is turned off. So for economical missile-boating, just lay in more ammo than you really need when it's all full (for both LRMs and AMS). Now the free 75% reload will give you enough, and you can head back into battle without paying to re-arm.

In a continuation of MechWarrior Online's pleasing commitment to making different 'Mechs truly different, 'Mechs fire missiles in closely-spaced volleys according to the number of physical launch tubes present on that 'Mech. A Raven 2X has six tubes, so if you put an LRM-20 on it, it will fire four volleys (of six, six, six and two missiles, respectively) in quick succession. An LRM-15 will fire three volleys.

This isn't ideal - spacing out the missiles gives enemy Anti-Missile Systems more time to fire on them, and enemy pilots more time to duck behind cover - but it works well enough. Especially if you're missile-boating correctly, with more than one of you unloading on one target.

Apparently there's at least one 'Mech with a single missile launch tube, though I forget which one it is. Put an LRM-20 on that and it'll pee out the missiles as if it's got bladder stones.

UPDATE: Ah, here it is; it's the Raven 3L...

...whose single missile tube is meant to fire Narc Beacons, not explosives.