Apparently I just suck at this...

[M1Combat]

So I can't seem to make enough money to get the assault mechs.  Most of the time I'm just getting to my beloved Warhammer with maybe 15 minutes to go.


Lately I've been taking a C3 mech and staying behind cover with a few pot shots at whoever presents themselves in the early game.  I'll do that until I have say 40-60K, then I sell the mech.  I tend to be able to afford a Bushwacker at that point.  Can't remember which one I generally get.  I think it's the one with an AC10?

Anyhow...  I can generally make money with that mech but not as fast as I'd like so I generally end up making it to the rank that gives me 75K when I die.  I don't seem to be able to make enough money so I can sell the Bushy and grab something better.

When I play well (for my level...) I end up in a WH.  I buy the one with the AC10's because I use them fairly well and it's just plain cool.


So...  any tips on way to get to the next level so I can start using the assault mechs without getting money from the bank?

[Rally]

I guess the fastest way to get a good mech is to buy a laser+C3 owens at first. Then just use that until you earn enough for the mech you want. The C3 will give you some money but you'll have to kill a few enemies and do good damage to earn the rest. Obviously you have to be good to pull this off and even then it's hard because you are not allowed to die even once.

Also anything with an AC10 is pretty bad and is probably holding you back.

[AlfalphaCat]

Don't use AC10s.

Also some things rack up the cash better than others.  Try some different assets.  If I were you I would try using the RAC5 or LBX Bushwacker.  Both will get you some cash, but they are a bit more risky.  A bit less risky would be using Demolishers or even the RAC2 Partisan.  Also try taking on 'Mechs bigger than you, you get a bit more money for that, and if a teammate ends up killing someone you have damaged, you will also get some bonus money.

The main thing I see is that people try too hard to not die while doing little damage to the enemy, better to go in all balls to the wall sometimes.   

[Bloodycrow]

I say; stick with the C3 'mechs if you want to earn money. You may not be dishing out the damage that bigger stuff does, but the income will be constant and you're fast enough to get away from engages if you need to.

Also; shoot EVERYTHING. You don't have to be the one to destroy them; if someone else does, you'll get a chunk of money just for having shot them. Shoot every enemy you can at least once, and you'll see the money roll in.

[Armitage]

  It definately takes getting used to so don't get discouraged. The jump from meds to decent heavies is probably the hardest to make new players,  depending I will usually choose a highend medium over a lot of the entry level heavies.  I find the Bushy A is can make great cash if you can hold good aim.  The Uziel A can makes tons of money on most maps and because of the range advantage it usually doesnt take much damage.

Try different assests when you can, maybe you'll find something that plays into your style better.

[=KoS=Zeus]

The first thing I would suggest is for you to answer some self analysis questions about yourself in MWLL.

• Which weapons are you good with?
• How good is your piloting? i.e. How well do you maneuver (legs and torso) to spread damage or protect a weakened component? Do you know how to dodge enemy fire such as LRMs, Arrows, MRM volleys, or even LBX alpha strikes from Fafnir's/Madcat Mk2s?
• Do you know when to retreat and when to pursue?
• Do you know the mech variants well enough that, upon sighting an enemy mech, you immediately know what variant it is and the best component to aim for to kill it efficiently?

Answering those questions truthfully you will see if you are a mechwarrior who is better suited to getting in close and brawling, hanging back and sniping, which mech you should be using based on what you know about the current battlefield situation (based on toughness, maneuverability, and weapon load out), and how you can best contribute to the overall strategy for your team at that time.

In more general terms, however, if you are looking to gain money quickly and efficiently then I cannot suggest more strongly that you should stick together with your teammates. Focus fire on enemy mechs and bring them down quickly so you expose yourself and your lancemates to less enemy fire. As long as you have done damage to a foe, if another teammate kills it, you will get a proportional amount of money for the kill as well, so there is really no reason not to focus fire and kill stealing is pretty much a null concept.

While sticking together with your lancemates, watch what they do, learn from them, and most importantly, talk to them. Coordinate your strategies and you will overcome an enemy that is functioning as a mob with no combined strategy. Example: Your lancemate gets a Catapult B (2 MRM-40s), if you get an Uziel E or a Raven Prime, you can then provide him with NARCs which will make those 2 MRM-40s perform 2 or 3 times better.

The other basic tactic is to simply cycle through enemy mechs and find the most damaged ones and finish them off. This is also true for mechs that have critically damaged components like arms or weapon pods. If you see that, it is low hanging fruit that can make a world of difference not only for you in the ensuing combat, but for your entire team. You will also get a nice little cash reward for destroying those weapons and take less return fire as well.

As for your choice of mechs, I think a lot of your trouble is in the fact that you are choosing mechs that utilize the AC10 (or UAC10). Currently this weapon is considered to be under performing by a significant portion of the community. I would suggest, instead, that you use pretty much any Bushwacker other than the Prime variant at this time.

As for the Warhammer, I would recommend against using the one with the 2 AC10s. Try the C, it carries a pair of LB10xs (making it really good against aircraft) and an MRM-20 (which does pretty decent damage as well). The slower reload time of these weapons means that you will have plenty of time to practice your piloting skills and torso twisting to spread damage and protect damaged components from enemy fire while your weapons reload. With just a little time in a Warhammer C, potentially with some aircraft kills, you should have enough cash (roughly 40-50k) to sell the Warhammer and purchase one of the Awesome variants.

I hope this helps.

[=KoS= Eldragon]

There are two broad categories to earning cash: Don't get killed and deal damage to the enemy. The following suggestions fall into one these.


Situational Awareness. Stick close to teammates, don't go it alone. Pay attention to how many friends you have in the area and beat a hasty retreat if your allies are backing away.  Even if you have full armor, if you see 3 light mechs running in the opposite direction, they are probably doing so for a reason.

Don't get so fixated on a target you blunder into the enemy line. I see a lot of players do this. Sometimes on TSA mode I take a light mech and run past the enemy line just see how many mechs follow me right into the teeth of my teams firing line. You would be surprised how common it is for 3-5 mechs to come chasing after a raven and not pay any attention to where that raven is going.

Don't make yourself a target. Quite simply, don't stand out too much (and never stand still). A warhammer running radar active and standing alone at the top of the hill is going to draw fire from everyone nearby, while that same warhammer partially obscured by a rock and running passive won't get nearly as much notice.

Most importantly, ensure there is someone else on your team that is an easier target than you (then support that person). You want to minimize how much fire you take from the enemy. Its far better to pop off a few shots then duck behind cover than it is to let your armor take  the hits.

Have a way out. Once you engage a target, you can easily find yourself outgunned. When you turn a corner or crest a hill, know how you are going to get out of there if things get too hot. I see far too many players charge towards the enemy line, and find themselves taking fire from 3 sides because the enemy line reformed to engage the target.

Have a plan, and pick a mech that has the right tools for what you plan to do.  Rather than taking a Warhammer because you like them, decide what you are going to do, then buy a mech. A plan of "I'm going out there to shoot guys" is fine, but you'll be more successful if you know what your personal objective is. Such as "I am going to grid C5 and defend near that location. There isn't much cover there, so I'm taking ERPPCs"

Play to your mech's strengths. Taking AC20s on TSA_Sandblasted is going to get you into trouble, the map is wide open and you're going to be shot at from farther away than you can hit back. But taking LRMs or PPCs on a map that favors brawling like ThunderRift means you are not going to be able to do as much damage as you could have.

Try lots of different mechs until you find one you are good at, and every time you get killed, ask yourself what you did wrong.

[Kelmola]

Laser Owens just gets you killed, even if you go up in rank, although it is the choice that the "Brawler Mafia" always recommends. Preferring boats, missiles, and camping myself, here are some ideas:

Try ELRM Owens, don't sell it until you got enough cash for a 'Mech of your choice, mediums are just a waste of money until you go way up in skill. MRM Raven is also an option for maps with shorter ranges (I'm looking at you, Thunder Rift) ELRM Raven is not worth upgrading to (unless you got the cash at spawn), it has less powerful alpha and longer reload time, although with its MG's it's a reasonable BA hunter.

If someone is shooting NARC's - and even if they're not - you might consider a light cheap missile boat to earn those C-bills, too (well, the ELRM scouts are essentially that, but you get my point). While ATM Puma loses the C3, those ATM9's will even take down heavy 'Mechs if they are not careful (or packing dual LAMS) - took down a Whammy E alone (without NARC support) on open ground the other day. Also consider LRM Cougar is a cheap C3-less missile boat, better damage to C-bill ratio than LRM Vulture!

AC5/UAC2 (on wide open maps) Partisan is also a good starter vehicle. Was RAC2 Partisan also a starter tier vehicle? Give it a try, although the delay with the RAC's will take some time getting used to. You might want to upgrade to Huit Prime midway, though.

[TwinkleToes]

You're going to get walls of text from this community.  Basically, just keep at it. It's going to take a few hours before you get the hang of it.  Try and take the best assets over and over till you start doing well - Owens C (fast big alpha strike), Bushwacker D (lots of armor, lots of DPS), Thanatos D (lots of armor, lots of firepower) in that order.

[SquareSphere }12thVR{]

*looks at all the great posts for new folks*... uh I don't have much to add other than try the MRM Raven.  It has C3 for cash and decent weapons to take pot shots then run away.  Not great if everyone is starting on the initial "light" beginning phase, but it's pretty great once people start taking slower assets.

[=KoS= Tripod]

You're going to get walls of text from this community.  Basically, just keep at it. It's going to take a few hours before you get the hang of it.  Try and take the best assets over and over till you start doing well - Owens C (fast big alpha strike), Bushwacker D (lots of armor, lots of DPS), Thanatos D (lots of armor, lots of firepower) in that order.

lol, so true with the text walls

easiest way to simplify this is just grab assets that make money fast (the cheaper the better, as they get you a "difficulty" boost against more expensive assets so you make even more cash) and then just shoot everything and try not to die EVER

maybe upgrade to a similar cheap heavy hitter after that (puma with the heavy lasers comes highly reccomended) and use that to make cash a bit faster and be safer (good offense is also a good defence)

[xInVicTuSx]

Play like a pussy, try to hit anything that comes into range and run to repair if you go in the yellow.

This is how I see people play who make lots of money. :>

[MerfMerf]

Interesting. Not a single mention of capturing points. The main goal of one of this mods game modes.
Capturing points give you money. Quite a bit of it. So if you are in one of those light fast C3 units people recommend, then by all means keep an eye out for where the enemy is gathering all their troops.. and go somewhere else. Find a remote hostile base that is likely undefended. Scout it out (with your enhanced radar you should spot stuff easy enough and the C3 will transmit to any sufficiently close by and give you that bit of extra cash.) and go in for the capture if it is not defended (or so lightly defended you think you can take it). If you team up with someone else you can take on lightly defended bases as well as empty ones.

Another tip is to always get a few shots into anything. Even if you plan on running away because the fight looks unfavourable (and you should. If it looks like you can not win a fight, do not fight unless there is some specific gain to just delaying the enemy), hit them with some lasers or something before you run away. That way if you lead them into friendlies that kill them for you, you get a portion of the total value for the kill (in proportion to how much damage you dealt it). It is not much perhaps, but it is certainly more then the money you got from the hit alone. This is even more important with Aero. If you have weapons that can reach out and touch an Aero, do it. Even if your lasers just rake across it and deals a tiny bit of damage, chances are the pilot will ram its plane into something (be it ground, mountain, an enemy aero or whatever) and then you will get money.

Then of course there is always the money donations. Even limited to 5k per player and minute (or is it 2 minutes?) that is 45 potential K if you have 9 people on your team (not counting yourself). Now most might not give any (in combat, missed the message or whatever) but some will. Say you get 2 people donating. That is 10K at least.

Lastly, shoot turrets. If you are by a base you dare not assault yourself, but out-range their turrets. By all means shoot the turrets down and get some cash for that.

/Merf - The CBills must flow

[=KoS=Zeus]

Also, depending on how far into the beginning of the match you are and how many players there are on each team, an Owens Prime with its two LRM-15s can deliver a really hefty smack to some of the slower assets or assets that are distracted by your brawlers engaging them. Just remember that you have the speed to run away from almost anything if it tries to close, and to return to base often for ammunition and repairs until you get enough money for something bigger.

If LRM-15s work for you, the Bushwacker C is a logical upgrade on the Owens Prime. It also packs 2 LRM-15s but also carries a pair of ER Large Beam Lasers to supplement your missiles with a little bit of reach-out-and-touch-someone love. It lacks speed, but makes up for it with some hefty armor. Just make sure to sit back near some cover in case of return LRM or Arrow fire. Head back to base and you should have enough to sell and get another bigger mech.

If LRMs are still your thing, the Catapult Prime works and has jump jets to help avoid counter LRM and Arrow fire as well as quad medium lasers to defend itself. The Thanatos Prime is also a remarkably survivable machine due to speed, jump jets, armor, sensors, and a decent medium-long range suite of weapons. The C3 will help you build up cash, aid your teammates, and pretty much keep you completely aware of where the enemy is so you can avoid getting murdered. With 360 degree torso twist you can retreat from an advancing enemy (usually faster than they can advance) and pour MRMs and laser fire into them, all the while spreading damage to your back and sides. I can't tell you the number of times I have managed to return to base in a Thanatos Prime with hardly any armor left on it at all after getting into a series of running battles across the map and heading home with the enemy in hot pursuit. Your C3 helps your team identify targets near you and they will be pals and come run interference as you retreat (whether they realize it or not).

Once you get back to base with your Thanny and sell him off you should have enough for an Assault. Not sure what your play style is, but the Assaults come in all sorts of flavors and can quickly earn you enough C-bills to remain in Assaults until the end of the game, even if you die.

[Xesle]

Good advice so far, so I guess the only thing I have to add is my recommendation to avoid using LRMs and Lt Gauss/UAC2, because sitting 1000-1500 meters away plinking at an enemy does nothing to improve your skills as a pilot.