13 replies to this topic

[TitanIV]

I'm not really that good at TDM, Can you help_
What should i do_
How do i get more kills and how do i get better_

[Hijinks_The_Turtle]

Stick with your teammates and try to find a mech that you are good with.  Also, practice on dodging and using items effectively to aid your teammates.  Once you do that, more specific tips will come once you find the right mech for yourself.


EDIT: Also practice on your aiming!

Edited by Hijinks_The_Turtle, April 09 2014 - 04:01 PM.

[[HWK]ZamboniChaos]

Hi TitanIV!

Teamwork is the most vital aspect to TDM (obviously) and community member LoC_TR has put together an awesome guide regarding teamwork. Check it out!

[GreenEggsAndSamZ]

That's a raider in your sig, not a brawler!

[reVelske]

Imagine everyone else as your meatshields if you just started off.

They are all your sacrificial lambs.

Edited by reVelske, April 09 2014 - 11:10 PM.

[LeeHarveyOz]

Stick with your team, engage who they engage.
Learn what distance suits your mech and loadout and try to stick to it.
Walk, don't boost, if you can't see the enemy.
Carry an EMP and a shield.
Dance.

[McBonY]

reVelske, on April 09 2014 - 10:22 PM, said:

Imagine everyone else as your meatshields if you just started off.

They are all your sacrificial lambs.

Just don't overdo it with those sacrifices, you want teammates to die less frequently than enemies do ;]

[renynzea]

Dunno how helpful this will be.  Sort of an unedited guide I have been working on.  Anywho, here it is in case any of it helps:

Stay close to your team, but not too close.  You want to be able to assist them if they are getting attacked, or to call for help if you are getting attacked, but you don’t want to stumble over each other or block another player’s line of sight.

Flank the enemy if you can.  Catch them in a crossfire.  It may distract them, or it may prevent them from taking cover.

Walk -- not boost -- once you are in the kill zone.  Only boost to run away, or to pursue, or catch up to your team (though it may be safer to walk depending on where the enemy is).  When you boost (i.e. jump, dodge, sprint), you give away your position on radar.  Walking allows you to  flank the enemy and surprise them.

Never trust your radar.  It could be jammed, or a player could be walking.  Always keep an eye out for enemy mechs.  If you see a blip on the radar, and it disappears, assume someone is trying to sneak up and flank you.  You can use this to your advantage to surprise and flank them instead.

Use a good mech for the game mode and/or map.  For example, if the enemy has a lot of scouts and zerkers and you are using a rocketeer and keep finding yourself falling prey to scouts, switch to a mech you can kill scouts with.  If your team is falling prey to sharpshooters and reapers, switch to a sharpshooter or reaper and counter suppress their snipers.

Be careful when giving chase.  Most players are going to run back to their team, and if you chase them, you will end up facing several targets.  There is a high probability you will get killed without finishing off your target, giving the enemy a point instead.

Use bait.  Have someone boost or shoot a weapon to lure enemies in, while you and/or several other players stay off the radar.  When the enemy swoops in, flank them and take them out.

Be careful when hovering.  A hovering target is an easy target.  You are almost guaranteed to get hit by hellfire missiles, a sabot sniper round, or both.

Use cover.  Do not stand out in the open and trade blows.  If you are in the open, dodge.  Mobility is the greatest weapon in this game.  A damaged light mech can kill an undamaged heavy mech if they outplay the heavy.

Be careful when using turret mode.  I would almost say never use it, but there are times where it can work.  However, if you use turret mode, make sure they can only come at you from the front.  Your team must be there to support you (or the enemy must be really, really stupid).  Otherwise, just play a heavy mech like a light or medium mech… only slower, and with more hit points.

Learn to read the flow of battle.  The front line will shift.  You will need to shift with it.  It doesn’t matter if you are a ranged mech (e.g. sharpshooter or rocketeer) or a close quarters scrapper.  You need to try and make sure you are near your team, and don’t find yourself behind enemy lines once the other team respawns.

Denying a point is just as important as scoring a point.  If a teammate is under fire, assist him.  Saving your teammate can prevent the enemy from scoring a point, and earn your team a point that you may otherwise not have earned.  Likewise, if you are critically damaged repair if you can.  You are no use to your team if you give the enemy a point.  (Just time your repairs so not everyone is repairing at once; that gives the enemy an easy chance to rush.)

Always attempt to engage the enemy with superior numbers.  Never fight one on one.  There is no such thing as a fair fight.  Stick with two or three other mechs at all times.  If you are forced to fight one on one, run if at all possible.  If not possible, use everything to your advantage to win.

If you are absolutely, unequivocally going to die, deal as much damage as possible before you go.  Fire that secondary.  Use that item.  Throw in the kitchen sink.  You may not kill an enemy, but you may soften them up for your allies who hopefully will not make your sacrifice go to waist.

Speaking of sacrifice, it sometimes pays to be get yourself killed.  For example, if the game has become one giant turtle (looking at you Uptown), and your team cannot seem to breach the turtle it may be worth sneaking around to the side and engaging the enemy.  Pull some of them out of position.  Soften the enemy encampment so your team can push through.  If you can get away, so much the better.  But sometimes, someone has to get the ball rolling.  Whether or not your team takes advantage of it… that is another question.

Know the terrain.  Love the terrain.  Use it to your advantage.  Never, ever approach the enemy in the open if you can help it.  If you do, always be aware of where your cover is, and try to keep as much cover between you and the enemy as possible.  This is especially true if you are using a close range mech, like the G2.

Use the high ground to your advantage, but beware of the high ground.  If you can see everyone else, they can see you too.

Learn to anticipate what your enemy is going to do.  This is perhaps the single most important thing in TDM.  Knowing which way they are going to go around that pillar.  Where they are going to snipe from.  When and how they are going to run away.  This can more or less be summed up as knowing the map.

Play on other peoples’... well, stupidity.  Everyone gets stupid.  Everyone.  We rush when we should regroup.  We separate when we should stay together.  If you can sucker the other team into being stupid, you can use that to your advantage.  This is especially true if the enemy has more points.  Overconfidence is destructive in this game.  People feel assured of victory when the game isn’t over until it ends.  I’ve seen games down 20 points that turned at the end.  It is unusual, but it can happen.

And... that is pretty much all I have at this point.  tl;dr I know.

[BoompigXD]

renynzea, on April 10 2014 - 10:55 AM, said:

Never trust your radar.  It could be jammed, or a player could be walking.  Always keep an eye out for enemy mechs.  If you see a blip on the radar, and it disappears, assume someone is trying to sneak up and flank you.  You can use this to your advantage to surprise and flank them instead.

[craftydus]

I would recommend staying as far away from your teamates as possible at all times, they are poison.
One the one hand they are committed to betray your position and broadcast it as loudly as they humanly can.
On the other they are determined to die as quickly and directly as can be managed.
To add insult to injury, the amount of players who practice the art of blocking your secondary so that you eat the full blast of it, in an effort to vulture the last single digit percentage of a "savior kill" bonus is immeasurable.

At least until you feel the fund of confidence that you can rely upon with having done so, avoid the oblivious in combat to start out.
However, do your best to contribute to the team's bottom line w/ out allowing cannon fodder cost you the indignity of attempts to rescue them from their ultimate goal; the respawn menu.

After a vague duration of doing your best alone, then perhaps join in the meta game of mitigating your teamates deathwishes with your hard won abilities, and stay together.

[LeeHarveyOz]

McBonY, on April 10 2014 - 12:21 AM, said:

reVelske, on April 09 2014 - 10:22 PM, said:

Imagine everyone else as your meatshields if you just started off.

They are all your sacrificial lambs.

Just don't overdo it with those sacrifices, you want teammates to die less frequently than enemies do ;]

Well.... most of the time =P

[Amidatelion]

LeeHarveyOz, on April 14 2014 - 01:19 PM, said:

McBonY, on April 10 2014 - 12:21 AM, said:

reVelske, on April 09 2014 - 10:22 PM, said:

Imagine everyone else as your meatshields if you just started off.

They are all your sacrificial lambs.

Just don't overdo it with those sacrifices, you want teammates to die less frequently than enemies do ;]

Well.... most of the time =P

Hey, when I play Vanguard I am a willing sacrificial lamb. The amount of times I just crash into the middle of a fight that isn't going well for a teammate and start to soak damage...

I just wish more people would take the hint and re-engage. I'll usually pick up the kill, but guys, I am there to HELP you.

This also goes for when I hit turret mode and charge into the teeth of the enemy. I mean come ON, people, you SEE all the fire that suddenly goes my way like I'm some kind of fuzzy bunny munitions magnet. Follow up behind me and break through!

[DieMudrFckr]

renynzea, on April 10 2014 - 10:55 AM, said:

And... that is pretty much all I have at this point.  tl;dr I know.

Thanks for doing the effort, much appreciated by us noobs

[reVelske]

Amidatelion, on April 16 2014 - 01:42 PM, said:

This also goes for when I hit turret mode and charge into the teeth of the enemy. I mean come ON, people, you SEE all the fire that suddenly goes my way like I'm some kind of fuzzy bunny munitions magnet. Follow up behind me and break through!

That's how I feel with my Raider on Siege with a bad team, I'd usually Blitz in on enemy controlled AA and start disrupting the enemy team as much as it is possible, hoping that my corner-poking team would wake up and do something... 1 out of 10 times it works, rest feed to the inevitable 5-19 K/D ratio.