27 replies to this topic

[Laraso]

I enjoy playing the Reaper occasionally, but for whatever reason when I do people are always telling me that I suck with it, and sometimes they even ask me to switch mechs because I "suck so bad I cost our team the game" and the like. I really don't feel that I suck that badly, but I'm told this frequently enough to make me believe otherwise.

I recorded a video of a few games I played showing how I play the Reaper. I know it's a long video but I edited out the parts that had nothing happening so it's just straight gameplay throughout the entire thing. I start off kind of iffy at the beginning of the video but I get a little better as it progresses as I got warmed up. I was hoping someone would be kind enough to take a quick look at the video and maybe give me a few tips on things I could do better_

Maybe then I could play this mech without people getting mad at me for sucking so hard...

[RozerMahbub_]

well played .....

[HubbaBubba9849]

Two things:

1. Learn the radar. Know where enemies are and keep your distance. You're not going to win in a close range encounter with a scout/raider.

2. Stay with teammates. You're a support sniper, not a front line fighter. You should be picking up scraps left by the rest of your team.

Also, know when to retreat. At 3:15, you likely could have survived if you retreated to your team. And again, at 5:50.

[MarkosloHA]

Only watched the first 2 minutes 10 minutes because I decided that sleep was overrated and It finally caught up to me.
I think people are only getting pissed at you because you "Kill secure" (Moarliekkillsteal amirite) meaning they don't like it when you interrupt the constant stroking of their e-peens.
You also have some bad decision making at times, that "Hide behind a barrier in a corridor and repair" thing looks like a bad habit to me, it obviously works but I personally think you shouldn't be doing that, but thats just me.
Honestly, your fine, but you don't really seem to be much of a team player, just going off from the first 10 minutes, which can end up pissing some people off.

[TwentyFirstPilot]

You boost way too often. You air dodge for no reason and you end up with empty fuel tanks when you have to run.

You choose some really bad times to rep (for example, when you have half the enemy team chasing you).

You do fire from medium range, but you seem to put yourself in close range encounters too, which you shouldn't with your current loadout.

You don't always stick with your friends. As a Reaper, that't not always bad. You should sometimes find a far off roost to rest on and fire from. However, giving away your position with a few shots can be a very, very bad idea. You're doing a bit of damage, but you're not getting a kill or an assist. You're just asking the enemy group to chase you down.

Don't scope while flying unless you absolutely have to. You make yourself a highly visible, radarless target.

You seem to miss shots a good bit, both scoped and unscoped. Try to work on that. You may want to tone down your ingame mouse sensitivity.

You try to defend yourself against Vulcan Berserkers in CQC. Don't. Just don't. You should have run, you are extremely fast and your fuel regenerates very quickly.


In summary: Work on your aim, your positioning skills, and don't boost everywhere.

[Barbie_in_a_Mech]

Overall I think you're doing alright.  Maybe the critics are mostly from playing siege where you just snipe (and miss your shots) instead of physically going onto the AA.  A lot of people do this and they are absolutely useless to the team.  Sometimes we even have two teammates who want to shoot at the AA from a distance and both of them still don't manage to deal significant damage.

What I dislike the most about how you play is that you unscope after most of your shots, especially in the first videos.  It's safer, but it makes it so much harder to keep a good aim on your target in situations where you don't need to be safe and can afford to focus on accuracy and damage dealt.
What I like to do, when I think I'm safe, is to remain scoped but keep moving in any direction as a precaution.  Nothing fancy, just basic movement, with a switch in direction every second or so.  It offers some protection against random bullets and also against alpha strikes.  The accuracy that I gain from that is worth it, until I am getting attacked, and even then sometimes I just keep doing it.

I agree with TwentyFirstPilot that scoping in the air can be a bad idea, but sometimes it can be good too.  3 examples:
1) At 5:50, if I see the health correctly, a double shot would have killed him.  Being an easy target for a while would not have been fatal to you. I would have scoped.
2) At 7:22, you are not at all in danger, and your target is fairly far away.  I would not try hitting him with your secondary weapon at that distance without the scope because it's so awfully inaccurate. You got very lucky with your shot.  If you had missed, like you "deserved" to, you would have needed to waste more time on him.
3) The target right after.  Just scope while walking forward. In RPG terms, shooting unscoped here is like dealing 40% less damage to gain 40% defense. It's silly when you're not at all in trouble and all that matters is damage efficiency. Shooting unscoped makes more sense when the target is so close that it's easier to aim unscoped.

During the fight of 7:40, you've done way too much jumping, especially for not using air dodges.  Just stay on the ground and dodge.  Use cover if you want.  Jumping like that not only makes you an easier target (especially without air dodge and from so far away) but also makes it more difficult for you to aim. You have burst weapons, so when he starts dodging like crazy, just be patient, let him make his next dodge, lock onto him and shoot.  He still lives_  Let him do his next dodge, maybe another dodge, aim, shoot.  He's dead.  You don't need to shoot every time your guns allow you to.

31:29
You just ended the repair animation and a target is right in front of you.  Shoot once if you want, but while your guns are getting ready for the next shot, look at the radar!
After the target died, you're no longer in combat.  Your eyes should automatically snap to the radar!  The radar is priority. What's in front of you is of no concern if it's not threatening you, until you have assessed the situation with your radar.
Your two weapons have a rather long cool down, so snapping onto the radar between shots should be part of your strengths as a reaper pilot, especially with the slug rifle, even in the middle of a fight.  It can inform you of enemies coming from the corridor behind you, and your ally coming in from your right.

32:02
There is a blatant problem with the way you shoot.  You should have hit him, but you yanked your mouse away just before clicking.
Either you need to calm down, or buy a better mouse that doesn't require so much strength to perform a click.  It's important because you miss a lot of your shots just by yanking away when you try to shoot.  It's the most obvious example but it happens many times during the video.


For most of the video, I thought you didn't have an air compressor.  But you do!  And you hardly use it when you should!
33:35.
You didn't have much chance to survive, but it should be a habit to just walk down the ledge, fall a little bit, and air dodge under the pltform to use it as cover.  It can buy you time and save your life sometimes or give you more favorable terrain.

34:10.
Omahgawd...  If I had been you, I would have stood still, taken my time to aim my shot, and would have calmly clicked as soon as I secured my shot. Then I would have walked out of the way, still serene.  I don't know if you made a hit or miss, and I don't even care.  You need to understand why this shot went so wrong.  Why you clicked before it was clear that it was going to hit, and why your crosshair went so far away after your shot. I don't know the answer, but I know it's important that you find it.

34:49.
You use your ability as a replacement for scope.  That's not how it's meant to be used.  Without scope, it's harder to aim at distant targets.  The ability helps against very distant targets because your guns are not always accurate enough, even while scoped.  It's also important for unscoped close-to-medium range fights.

37:50.
That was a good use of the ability.

[FirstRaven]

Mostly repost from another topic:

Reaper is my main. I have two reapers, one with a Hawkens (my main) and one with a Slug Rifle (secondary).
Learning other mecha will make you a better reaper pilot- you will learn their strengths and vulnerabilities.
Scout and Tech are the other mechs i usually pilot, selected based upon the Needs of the Team,
such as who's already equipped what,who/what we're fighting, etc.

It is RARE that more than one sniper is useful on most teams in most circumstances;
if you're sure that person is You, cover your teammates and don't get killed.
The best snipers most often have way more assists than kills in a team match.
Follow a good SS/Reaper around with a tech (Hawkens equipped) on the maps to learn the sweet/vulnerable spots.

General tactics with a Reaper/ sniping:
AIM FIRST.
Cover your teammates.
Know the map, where your team will be engaging, locations that provide good lines and cover,
and is out of radar range of mechs in the engagement zone.
Hit the enemy hard once or a few times then get to the next spot.
Be aware of your vulnerable spots.
Know your escape routes.
Frequently unscope and check your radar, ready to hit accuracy skill and CQC with a Hawkens unscoped.

For all A Class:
Air Compressor and Air 180 internals are vital for getting out of bad spots.
A Small Repair Kit, well placed behind cover, can get you out of an otherwise impossible situation,
take just a nip off of it, pop out of cover, fire, get back behind cover and take another nip.

Especially when you're new, don't get caught off on your own- keep your teammates close by.
Be ready to run, from cover to cover, to get to them.


Best Reaping maps:

Facility- absolute Best for reaping, can use Hawkens or Slug.

Bazaar- Good base side substantially better, do better myself Scouting from the congested base.
If you're Reaping from the lesser base location, use a Hawkens- you'll need the ability to CQC in the narrow passages isolating your base from the rest of the map. Slug can be used from better base side.

Last Eco- Takes quite a while to learn the lines- the real trick of which is knowing where you are vulnerable.

Bunker- a little wide open, which is as bad as it is good (Those pesky Predators and Assaults will come after you fast). Working the high points and cover is fun, though can be difficult.

Front Line- Good lines, open enough with plenty of places to hide, and escape.

Maps not as great for sniping:

Uptown- can be easy to get caught in the open or in a narrow corridor, but much better than Origin.

Origin- not as many lines as it seems, most of them obstructed, easy to get snuck up on/ ambushed unless you have a Scout/Tech/other teammate watching your back. Lots of dead ends, making escape difficult.

Edited by FirstRaven, June 29 2014 - 09:51 AM.

[IronClamp]

Better than me, that double shot with the slug and sabot is a clever move when tracking a target, and I've never given much consideration to  barricades other than they are an irritation.

You play really well, the constant misconception that the Reaper is a 'support vehicle' is truly a bad misconception: though it was designed and labeled that, it's an A-class, so its got the moves to kick ass all on it's own, which means that spending time twiddling your thumbs behind your team's front isn't doing the thing justice.

Also, don't fight another A-class, that's my big NO when it come to piloting a Reaper, when an A-class attacks you, that's when you need to retreat to the team, because any support A-class is easily out gunned by another A-class.

[Laraso]

Thanks for the responses everyone, I appreciate it. Barbie_in_a_Mech was the most specific, so I'll address a few points from his/her post specifically:

Barbie_in_a_Mech, on June 29 2014 - 09:31 AM, said:

32:02
There is a blatant problem with the way you shoot.  You should have hit him, but you yanked your mouse away just before clicking.
Either you need to calm down, or buy a better mouse that doesn't require so much strength to perform a click.  It's important because you miss a lot of your shots just by yanking away when you try to shoot.  It's the most obvious example but it happens many times during the video.

Yes this is a problem I have, I tend to get rather anxious in fights and my aiming gets pretty shaky when that happens. Honestly I feel the biggest thing holding me back is how easily excited I get in fights, usually it doesn't present too much of a problem in other games but I think it's exasperated in Hawken due to fixed turn rates and the extreme mobility of mechs. The fixed turn rates makes it hard for me to find a mouse sensitivity setting that feels natural, and the agility of the mechs makes my hand twitchy as I try to keep up with their movements.

Barbie_in_a_Mech, on June 29 2014 - 09:31 AM, said:

For most of the video, I thought you didn't have an air compressor.  But you do!  And you hardly use it when you should!

When would be a good time to use it, then_ I generally don't like to use it too often because it drains so much fuel with every use, I tend to prefer ground dodges instead and save the air compressor for mobility rather than dodging.

Barbie_in_a_Mech, on June 29 2014 - 09:31 AM, said:

34:10.
Omahgawd...  If I had been you, I would have stood still, taken my time to aim my shot, and would have calmly clicked as soon as I secured my shot. Then I would have walked out of the way, still serene.  I don't know if you made a hit or miss, and I don't even care.  You need to understand why this shot went so wrong.  Why you clicked before it was clear that it was going to hit, and why your crosshair went so far away after your shot. I don't know the answer, but I know it's important that you find it.

I understand what you're saying and I agree, but in this particular example I don't really see it... The enemy was right there in front of me, I took a moments pause to make sure I hit, then I fired and I did in fact hit him. Immediately during the moment I fired, there was an explosion in my face and the enemy mech airdodged away, which is why my crosshair moved away.

Edited by Laraso, June 29 2014 - 12:03 PM.

[coldform]

https://community.pl...vancement-woes/

[Frisbee_Player]

I will admit that I did not watch the video (my flash player is sorta broken, and I haven't reinstalled), I just read what other people commented, and I have a lot of experience with the reaper...

Anyways I'll give you some good general tips with the reaper...

Slug Reaper:

• Stay mid range with it, and try to pick off low health targets as they flee from your teammates
  
• stick near your team, and eliminate low health targets, don't try to whittle people down as much
  
• slug us all burst, it does not have a reliable DPS, and if you miss in cqc its hard to come back
  
• be very aware of your radar, and try to avoid hard scoping, if someone comes up behind you while you're scoped you are dead
  
• get rid of the air compressor, you are not a cqc mech with the slug, and the reaper is not a flight mech to begin with
  
• if you want to do cqc with the slug learn how to use the heat scout first, its like a baby step in right direction
  
• the reaper special ability is almost useless with the slug, so don't really worry about it
  
• always be mobile, the reaper is a mobile sniper, don't stay in the same place
  
• don't fly or boost very often, you need to save your fuel for when you need to run away from confrontational enemies

Hawkins RPR Reaper:

• You are now a skirmisher/ assassin, don't fight like a sniper
  
• stay more independent and free roaming
  
• flank, flank, flank, flank... flanking is what gets you the kills
  
• use your team as bait for traps (I know this sounds like bad teamwork, but it works well)
  
• be careful of overheating, the RPR has a high heat generation you only have one or two kills in you
  
• if you are missing too often, use your special ability, it makes the hawkins into a scalpel of death
  
• the KE-Sabot is an amazing cqc weapon, because it is hard to dodge, use it
  
• only snipe if you can get a kill, try not to scope at all
  
• NEVER scope will in cqc
  
• be very radar happy, always have one eye on it... the RPR has a good sustain, but you can't fight more than two at a time
  
• get the shield item, you can pop out a shield to get away or to provide yourself a bit of cover to play peek-a-boo with in cqc (this applies to slug reapers too)
  
• remember flanking is key
  
• don't fight like you are an assault mech, you are still squishy, pop in and out of large battles, and try to do 1v1 duels.. 2v1 is the maximum
  
• get the basic reconstructor, a little bit of constant health regen outside of battle is useful if you can't take time to heal
  
• don't boost or dodge more than you need to, you want to take the enemy by surprise, the reaper's walk speed is perfectly fine for getting around the map
  
• once again flank

Edited by Frisbee_Player, June 29 2014 - 03:12 PM.

[Barbie_in_a_Mech]

I was hoping you had your mouse to blame for the shakiness.  I'm lucky that I didn't feel the need to change the mouse settings in this game.  It seems that fixing this problem will be challenging.

I'm sorry about the Air compressor thing.  I watched the middle half of the video again and didn't see anything wrong there.  I remember at one time I thought "Here having air comp would have been very helpful", but it must have only happened once or twice.  I did give an example right after my comment, though.  When falling down, sometimes you can use it to hide under the platform you fell from.

In general, it can be good to fly for a bit and air dodge during combat.  Don't abuse it, don't be predictable.  Use it once, maybe twice in a fight.  It's just one more bit of complexity in your movement.

It gives more options for running away, allowing you to make better use of cover.  In Bunker when falling down from the "roof" inside the central building, air dodging midway can help by making your movement more complex and allow you to get somewhere sooner.



By the way I'd like to say that I have watched a good amount of random Hawken videos and I often wonder why people bother uploading their vids.  The way they play is so bad that it makes me mad, for example someone playing the G2 Raider on Bazaar, constantly shooting at people from far away with his flak cannon.  Useless.  A lot of players in Hawken are absolutely clueless.  Some are less bad, but still make wrong choices or have atrocious accuracy that makes me cringe.  Your video was rather fun to watch, especially if we ignore the first two games.

If you're interested, I remember that I found this video particularly awesome.  He played slug reaper like you, and I think he played very well.
http://www.twitch.tv..._eune/c/4495721

Edited by Barbie_in_a_Mech, June 29 2014 - 03:26 PM.

[Laraso]

Barbie_in_a_Mech, on June 29 2014 - 03:21 PM, said:

I was hoping you had your mouse to blame for the shakiness.  I'm lucky that I didn't feel the need to change the mouse settings in this game.  It seems that fixing this problem will be challenging.

Or perhaps not. After fiddling with my settings for a good fifteen-ish minutes, I finally managed to get a sensitivity setting that feels natural to me. It's eliminated most (not all) of my mouse shakiness, and I've noticed that I've started hitting a lot more of my shots!

The video you posted was great, and gave me a few ideas on how to improve. Here's a short five minute video of how I look now, if you're interested in what I look like with proper mouse sensitivity. Since it's short I was able to upload it in full quality, too. (I forgot to say it in the video but I got shot in the back by a sniper at around 3:22, I could have easily killed the Brawler otherwise)

[JeffMagnum]

Here's my best shot at the new video:

At 1:14 you can see what appears to be a lone enemy approaching, yet you ignored them completely to fight the rest of their team they were separated from. Enemies that separate from their team frequently are almost always easy targets unless you recognize the name and know they aren't, in which case it's usually better to stick with the pack unless you're really confident you're playing on that person's level. Play lots of DM if you want your 1v1 skills (and radar awareness) to get better.

At 1:37 you should've seen the enemy to your right and found somewhere else to repair/helped your teammate kill them.

At 1:43 you should've immediately noticed the enemies to your right. Watch your radar pretty much continuously unless you know there's no chance of someone coming along to kill you. There was enough time between when you stopped repairing and when the Raider first shot you to swivel around with a dodge and get a Slug+KE combo off. And regardless, you really should constantly check around you when you're repairing. You also decided (for a little bit) to try to avoid the Raider by running toward two of his allies--they didn't see you or at least they didn't shoot you, but they very well could have pushed and trapped you between them and the Raider for an easily kill.

At 1:57 I personally would've checked behind me once I saw an enemy coming. They didn't end up coming toward you, but again, they could have.

You stayed scoped in from 2:29 to 2:39 in an area where you could've easily been flanked. Scope out after you shoot your KE to check your surroundings and then scope in again after it reloads. At that range there was no reason to scope for Slug.

At 3:18 you couldn't really do much to anticipate that, but whenever a team has an SS or Reaper that is at least competent, it's usually good to try to stay out of the rest of the other team's LOS if you're just fighting one person who wandered off.

You should've scoped for the extra KE damage (though it's not nearly as much as with Sabot) at 3:46 instead of popping your ability. It was a pretty easy shot and you had a teammate right behind you.

At 4:08 you ignored the enemy boosting behind you in your general direction and scoped in again. That's a great way to get killed by an easy alpha strike.

You had no reason to hover and give away your position at 4:32. If you continuously show yourself on radar in a 1v1, you are going to lose the majority of the time against a decent player, especially when you're at both a DPS and armor disadvantage.


I guess take this with a grain of salt since I don't play Reaper very often and I'm not absolutely amazing with it, but tbh I still think I can play it at an above average level. Most of that advice holds for all of the other mechs anyway. The biggest issue I'm seeing is your lack of situational awareness, and that's exacerbated by you playing a mech that needs good SA more than a lot of the others do.

Oh, and this isn't really related to your gameplay in itself, but Barricade is a fuzzy bunny item compared to the alternatives. MK-III Repair Charge and MK-I Shield/Scanner (if you want to be a huge scumbag)/Scrambler/EMP is generally considered to be one of the best item loadouts in the current meta, and AC+Deflectors+Basic Extractor is a good internal combo for most A/B mechs. I'm just tryin' to give advice though; play how you want with what you want.

Edited by JeffMagnum, June 30 2014 - 11:19 PM.

[Barbie_in_a_Mech]

The accuracy difference is night and day.  

I'll just add that at 2:00 I would have jumped on the elevated terrain "wall" on the right, instead of following through the normal entrance.  I almost never follow my teammates the way you did there, because I think that two persons shooting from two different angles is more efficient because it should increase the odds that one of them can hit their shots.  If two teammates are side to side, they can both be shut off by the same cover and can both fail their shots because of a good dodge.  It means zero efficiency any time that both team members are unable to deal damage.

[mmm_yep]

Laraso, on June 29 2014 - 05:09 PM, said:

Here's a short five minute video of how I look now

Seems to me you spend a lot of time hopping in the air when you shoot. Kind of a waste of fuel and it didn't seem necessary most of the time. Otherwise, nicely done.

[IronClamp]

mmm_yep, on June 30 2014 - 06:10 AM, said:

you spend a lot of time hopping in the air when you shoot.

Yea, don't do that much, you're not as mobile in the air as you are on the ground, and the difference in mobility can get you killed. Fast.

[SoldierHobbes11]

I don't know if you've ever seen any of my videos, but at this point I'm not sure you'd learn a lot from watching them. My videos are for beginners, and you sir are no beginner. You're either as good as, if not better than, me in a slug reaper. I did see a few things that you may want to look at though.

1. Try to stay on the ground when you can, because flying and air dodges eat away at your precious fuel that let's you stay fast an mobile. Only resort to flying when you're trying to shoot over an obstacle or if you're forced to go airborne due to map verticality. Flying only makes your aim much more unstable, and at the flying speeds where your aim is stable, you're a sitting duck, so don't fly recklessly in the open.

2. Stay with your teammates whenever you can to provide supporting fire from mid-long range. If you do need to flank, refrain from boosting, flying or anything else that would trigger the enemy's radar. Also, be more patient with your shots at this point, becuase if you miss, not only did you do no damage, but you're exposed, alone and in a good position to die if they decide to chase you. Make sure to have an escape route back to your team ready for when your cover is blown and you're being pursued.

3. Your shield dueling skills would make OmegaNull proud. Just remember to be careful if you're up against a cqc mech with bust weapons. That can turn really ugly for you. If you see a pilot who's good at dueling in a shield, unless you have a death wish, it's better to just run. Reaper wasn't made to excel in those situations. Also, on the subject of shields, never repair right behind your blockade. Chances are, there might be a hole for someone to pop a TOW into and take you out. Drop the blockade and keep moving.

That being said, you're still a good pilot in general. Keep playing and you'll only get better. Also, keep up those shield dueling skills. They come in handy all the time.

[Skitzo1d]

From what I seen not bad. A few tips though.

1.) Do not live in the scope, this cuts your situational awareness down way to much.  You tried to stay in the scope too long at certain times. Scope in shoot scope out rinse and repeat.  This will also help you in tracking I seen you try to track several mechs in medium range in the scope. Very bad idea. You will lose the target in their dodges. Instead track then scope then shoot.  Living in the scope too long is my pet peeve when I see SS and reaper videos.

2.) Pay attention to your radar, 2nd pet peeve.  Too many times people arent focused on the mech in front of them and not looking at the other mechs closing in on them from behind.  If you pay attention to that you could escape (yes you will miss killing the mech in front of you) but you can escape repair and be back in action a lot faster than if you died.  Situational awareness with your radar may be the biggest thing I seen you doing wrong.  Sometimes its hard when caught up in the heat of the battle,  but go play a lot of deathmatch and this will teach you that your radar is your friend.

3.) Dont follow a heavy in a tunnel closed area in close combat unless 1.) you want a deathwish, or 2.) they are under 1/4 health and you can finish them with basically 1 salvo.  Exceptions to this rule is if its a rockateer then battle hump their leg like no other.

4.) Dont fly unless you have to, half the shots I seen you flying to get a shot on a target which is fine but the other half was flyign, just to fly_  No point in giving yourself up on radar if you dont have to.

I have been maining the reaper as of late, and been trying many different load outs.  Dont listen to the nay sayers on any specific load out is best for this or that.  You adopt your loadout to your playstyle, different things work for different people.  Specially the shield using nay sayers.  Why would you not want to have a shield in open combat in 1v1 with a sustained mech_  it is essentially the same thing as a piece of cover which everyone praises in this game as having.  So if they praise cover_ Well thast what your shields are.  But do be wary on who you use them against, as a good brawler, scout, raider adn such can use them better than a reaper. Again though are you going to beable to outrun a scout or raider once hes already up on you_ nope so the shield could buy you time till help gets there possibly.  Theres many things and situations that not an say all do all thing can accomedate towards.

One last tidbit, you do use the slug +sabot combo at the same time greatly which is a good habit, more burst damage the better.  Dont forget you can fire your slug in between lining up another sabot + slug combo though.  It just adds a little more dps to already the lowest dps mech in the game.

[IronClamp]

I've noticed the reload time on the slug is faster than Sabot, but my impatience with the non-automatic weapon makes me use RPR instead.