MWO Tutorial - Scouting Game Mode

[@murmuratingmemories]

Two more things that will increase your chances of winning the fight: When you find the enemy team, especially if you got separated from the group, pop a UAV and regroup immediately. Call targets. The team which talks will almost always beat the team which remains silent. VoiP is op, use it b4 nerf.

[@pariahdevalis]

Even against a 4 man, the team that communicates and coordinates MAY win. The team that refuses to work as a team? Guaranteed to loose.

[@dreamyrhodes]

Also focus fire not only on the opponent but on components (mostly legs). Every single match in the video the enemy was quite bad. If they focussed on one target and one component at all times, they have a much greater chance.

[@charlesskrobis5132]

There is 1 tactic for attack that I didn't see here, but it's a little dirty. Cause if you want the most intel, to take out the torsos on the last enemy mech, then leg them, and leave them to grab to the 10 intel limit, then swing around to get the kill for more points while grabbing more intel to get the most out of it. Also, if you use Thermo Vision, it actually has a large glowing square above the intel that lets you see it from great distances, even across the map. The last bit of advice is that the intel clusters in areas on most maps. So terra Therma has all the intel focused around the middle to edges of the middle, so people need not waste time checking the outer most regions on such a map. Forest Colony has it focused around the water front, with a group in that main tree line most fights happen at, and the rest scattered. Grim Plexus is a bit favored, because the intel spawns in large clusters in the low valley areas, and often if the attacker does not rush the defense, the defense can grab 8 intel or so within a minute or 2. The last map is Polar highlands, and that map is huge, with intel everywhere. The trick there is that there's usually a few behind where the buildings are most times, but past that it's scattered far and wide, so most of it is using Thermo to try to see it from across the map. The only other thing I can think of is that of the consumables, don't bring air strikes or artillery, because this is a lighter more mobile game type, so they'll miss more often than if you bring a cool shot to stick it out through the brawl. With that, there's not too much more to scouting. Good luck out there.

[@Kanajashi]

Yeah we actually use that disarming and leaving tactic. You can see us doing it to the crab in the 5:00 mark.

[@michaelheld7601]

Thaaaank yooouu! Since the introduction of this game mode i have been waiting for a video like this. All the important information concluded in a 6 minute video. A "must watch" if you are new to the scouting mode or even slightly familiar with it!

[@Kanajashi]

Glad that you liked it!

[@Airwave2k2]

Many are not new, and burned many time in scouting, but know nearly nothing about how to win.

[@pariahdevalis]

Without any sort of rudimentary tiering system, even if PSR is horrifically flawed, you also face a lot more potato grade pilots that do downright questionable things. Like flee into the open, away from allied ECM in hard cover, when getting LRM'd by another potato grade player. In the wilds of PUG scouting mode, my face gets sore from how often my palm strikes it..... Unfortunately, this means the game experience for both the potatoes and the more experienced players suffer. One is getting annihilated due to their incompetence combined with the inability to hide behind a team. The other is being forced to try and carry for 1/4 or more of the team being pants on head, which, while it isn't impossible, against an organized or semi-competent enemy, is extremely difficult. Flipside of it is that it rewards individually good pilots. Assuming they do not get marked for instant annihilation, good pilots can have a disproportionate amount of pull in a small scale fight like this. Bad pilots, unfortunately, have the same sort of pull, though.

[@michaelheld7601]

True. I know what u mean. Especially because i used to burn a lot in scouting ;). Preaching my heart out on the battlefield about stuff like "Lrms + ER Large= no no!" didn't work. People don't listen simply because every second opinion they get to hear is wrong. And who wants to get schooled by a teammate during his free time? In the future i will simply refer to this video. Makes my Pug life much more comfortable. ;)

[@bledolice]

Thanx for another great tutorial Kana. Thanx to You, Pariah, Blackhawk (to name the favorite few:), my playing experience has improved dramatically. Thanx for all your effort in creating these videos and sharing your experiences with the rest of us (goes out to all my "tutors")!!!

[@pariahdevalis]

bledolice always glad to be of service!

[@vaevictusasmadi84]

Streak Crows (5SSRM6 +TAG) work fine in scouting mode. The SCR can outrun most IS medium mechs and w/ the range module, you've got 126m over IS medium lasers and SRMs.

[@tuckerodonnell9269]

vaevictusasmadi84 I can tell you a shadow hawk d2 with streak 2s , and a tag in the 3rd energy slot is lethal when used in a very mobile lance Hell that's the command mech for that kind of thing

[@JoshMD2009]

SHD-2H with LB-10X (or AC 10) + 3 SRM 4's (+ 2 MG's or 1 flamer optional) is a streak crow killer. With less ammo needed in Scouting Mode, you can bump the Engine to an XL 325 or even XL 340 and have at least 1 JJ, making you only 2 kph slower but much more mobile than the SCR. Plus, massed SSRMs can be quite hot, and your LB-10x (with +37% rate of fire from quirks, skills and modules) can out DPS streak crows. Aim for the big ball at the hip joint.

[@vaevictusasmadi84]

I didn't claim it was an unbeatable god, I said it "works fine." I realize it counters some mechs and is countered by others. That's called balance. Btw, SSRMs are only hot if you alpha all 5 constantly. You should open w 3 to avoid ghost heat and then you can chain fire until the target's crippled or dead.

[@JoshMD2009]

I guess we were also pointing out one counter to the streak crow. And what we pointed out also has some issues, like a really good Oxide pilot can actually put the SHD down quickly, whereas the same Oxide would fall prey to the streak crow in about 2-3 alphas. This is all in the spirit of discussion, no ill feelings, man. Cheers and see you on the battlefield. :)

[@vaevictusasmadi84]

No offense taken. Cheers to you as well.

[@GlennSimpkins]

Yep, that covers it!

[@ESCfromNome]

And for the love of all that is holy to the clans, typically do not bring an SHC. Bring an ACH instead, capable of the same maneuvers, but has a better loadout and survivability.

[@Kanajashi]

I disagree. The shadowcat with 3xASRM6 and 2xSPL is amazing.

[@ARWINGx1]

Unless it's normally too hard, is it possible to "stealth" Scouting mode? By which I mean that the attacker & his/her team can avoid being seen by the enemies while going for the data points?

[@Kanajashi]

Yeah you can stealth the mission. Everyone needs to be in fast mechs with ECM and all split up right at the start. Avoid contact and try to run into the dropzone right at the end of the timer.

[@The6thMessenger]

I'm a bastard for always going for the legs xD

[@commanderlemming7450]

Going for legs is dishonorable? Also a side note: while clan streaks can sometimes have purpose with taking out small targets, don't do IS streaks. Just don't.

[@pariahdevalis]

Less "dishonorable," more "cheap." But extremely effective. Moreso for IS mechs than Clan mechs, actually. IS tech gives far easier access to PPFLD. From AC10/20, to shorter burn lasers, to Vanilla SRMs that cluster about as tight as Clan SRM with Artemis (and with an additional 0.15 damage per missile, too!). However, it is best to assume the fight will be a leg-off, rather than wait and see, only to have you or yours legged immediately and be down one pilot from the get go. Better to be proactive than reactive. Also, scouting for intel? You mean "search and destroy the defenders." :3

[@starbomber]

whenever I played scouting mode I found that my griffon would explode after 2-3 alpha strikes to a side torso, what kind of armor load out do you recommend?

[@Kanajashi]

As much armor in the front as you are comfortable with. Also it's just a bad situation with the lack of energy draw and the massive damage clan mediums can put out. For example my Huntsman build has an alpha of 72 damage with no heat penalty: mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=462&l=fc201f71522d2eb46abcbcaac7fb17a2683d4a1d Currently that 72 damage takes me to 42% heat. With any of the energy draw systems it instead goes to 85% or more. Would really help slow down the brawl.

[@catacumbacatacumba9706]

Only play this game mode with IS if it is your guilty pleasure man XD

[@Titamiva]

Streaks are effective against XL engine IS medium 'Mechs as well, and those are plenty. You just need to avoid pure streak builds, add some lasers. IS on the other should avoid them entirely. SSRM 2s just don't cut it.

[@pariahdevalis]

They work. They don't, however, work well compared to the alternative. DPS on CSRM2/4/6 is lower than the DPS of A-CSRM2/4/6, at more weight (for the 6), with reliance on locks, and with no way to focus all the missiles where you want them. The APPLICATION of damage is always far more important than the raw AMOUNT of damage. For example, if you can kill a mech with one shot to the back with ASRM6, it might take 3-4 salvos to get the same result with Streak versions, meaning you put yourself at higher risk, for longer, and generated more heat. There is no positive here. More typical example is, enemy mech has a leg or torso about to blow, and you unload several streak salvos, none of which destroy the part in question whilst a single launcher of typical SRM would have easily cleaved off.

[@Titamiva]

I did not say they're better. I did protest the advice of avoiding them.

[@pariahdevalis]

Titamiva If you know they are inferior to another option that you can just as easily socket in, why would you go with the categorically worse option? With only 4 people per team, dead weight is a serious, serious concern. Maximize your chance of victory. Ditch streaks.

[@Titamiva]

Don't give me that meta elitism. You never know what composition the enemy team will have and if you or your team amtes can't hit with their SRM the DPS advantage won't save them. Often enough the enemy team has quirky lights which are hard to hit regardless of the weapon. If everyone is equipped too similar you are overly specialised.

[@pariahdevalis]

Titamiva Meta elitism? This is practical reality. If your teammates cannot hit a 50 ton object, or a light mech at close range, that is a user error, and a pretty damned serious one at that. Insisting to use a weapon that you yourself admitted is worse, by the numbers, up and down the book outside of range, tells more about your (or any pilot who insists on it knowing the numbers) process of "it's too hard to aim. Waa." In which case, why would you even be looking at a tutorial? I thought the idea was to get better. Not loiter in a holding pattern of suck.

[@stephanvandermerwe1468]

Why don't we have this game mode now? It would be quicker for faction play.

[@pariahdevalis]

You still didn't assign this a "Tutorial" tag, Kana. :P Not showing up in the Tutorial listings on your front page, and will get lost as more and more recent uploads push it aside.

[@noahz]

smoke diving is not fun...pgi needs to fix.

[@pariahdevalis]

Agreed. The tactic works, but I hate it. It is cheap, and unsatisfying. That there is no minimum pick up period in the box is part of the problem.