31 replies to this topic

[CatManuel]

Hi guys,
I'm a complete noob just starting out and I feel that the technician is easy enough to play and make a difference in the match. I really enjoy the mech and at first I was getting a lot of praise from my team for playing it. Lately though I have had a lot of hate from the enemy team for playing it.

comments like " they should remove the tech mech" and "they should nerf it" "great another tech ruins the game".

I personally don't feel it's anywhere OP, it has really low HP count and it dies instantly alone. What I have found is that if the players of the enemy team keep their fire on the mech I keep pumping, it's a sure win for my team and the enemy just does not know what they are doing.

Every now and then I see really good players and they instantly take me out before concentrating their fire on the mech I try to help and then it's a really close match or a lose for my team.

Just wanted your take on the machine, OP, UP, Good as it is, only for the noobs (like me)_ Mainly because of the bashing I have received lately ( even in the matches that my side have lost ).

[EliteShooter]

Yes, cuz people are jerks.

[nokari]

I don't get hate for using Tech. I get hate for using Scout. People assume it's an easy mode mech for winning everything, but in reality I'm only dominating people and getting the highest score because I've been playing for 2 years... Put me in a CR-T and I do just as well.

I don't think Tech is OP in general, but a GOOD Tech pilot with a GOOD Incinerator pilot can be if they work well together. I wouldn't say they're automatically OP, like some others do, because I've seen plenty of people try that combo and not work well together.

[WarlordZ]

I'm not going to tech-bash much here, but the pre-tech days were better.  We had to defend friendlies while they heal,we could flank the enemy to catch their wounded off-guard, the game just had more room for strategy.  Technicians destroyed that by shortening healing times, and "shoot/defend the tech" isn't nearly as satisfying.  Of course, it's not just the technician doing it now; even as the tech was nerfed, they added silly things like the armor fusor that bring way too much healing into the game.

Not only that, it was ridiculously overpowered when it released, combining the speed of a light mech with enough health regeneration to make it as tough as a heavy.  To make things worse, it took the developers ages to nerf it, and then only in small increments.  It took forever to bring the tech's strength down to where it is today.  Some people learned to hate the tech so much that no amount of changes can fix it now.

The current status of the technician_  Nerfed into a fairly balanced state, at least when there isn't an incinerator acting as a heatsink; that combo makes it somewhat overpowered.

Edited by WarlordZ, July 20 2014 - 02:48 PM.

[TwentyFirstPilot]

I tolerate techs. However, I would be happy if they were removed. It promotes poor piloting and in that creates death balls.

[CatManuel]

I hear you guys.
But please understand that new guys like me, there is no middle way at the moment. I take any other mech and I'm in the bottom 25% of the team, I take the tech and I'm in the top 25% of the team.

I would love to play other mechs too but every time I try, I get the feeling I'm just dead weight for the team.

Maybe there is something wrong with the balance at the moment.
Honestly, I have never had the incinerator in my team or, at least I have not done a combo play with one. It might be a bit too much if it really gives a bonus to the techmech.

The game feels 50% of the time rally good and 50% really bad since either my team or the enemy is snowballing. I think the reasons are in the mech balance ( slightly ), but the main reason is that the player base is made of seasoned veterans and noobs ( like me ).

I have a habit of checking after a game the profile of players and what I see is that there are people with 1000h+ or 40-80h of game play.

Also the complaint about people giving hard time to techmechs is a minority. I really feel that 90% of the people are really nice and supportive, maybe that is why I wanted to ask if it was just me or is it common for everyone.

[nokari]

You only get top scores because Techs get XP for healing, which you can do almost non-stop throughout the entire game. So it doesn't matter if you're following objectives or getting kills when your score is constantly going up just by holding your mouse button. Take that away and a Tech is only good for healing, in the hands of most people.

Edited by nokari, July 20 2014 - 04:28 PM.

[EM1O]

Once you feel well skilled in healing, you may avoid the "kill-the-tech-first" efforts of the enemy team or at least extend your life by developing your Vampire Tech helix and [insert fave primary here] as an agressor when you and your Fat Boy get drilled.
Then you'll REALLY start hearing the crying from the other side. Until the next match and some of them are on your team.
When I play Tech, I do it for fun. And if I happen to place well on the Carousel at the end, even better!
I mean, after all, smacking Bunker with SS or Rocky can get boring after awhile. Please all of your teammates by boosting their HP. I guarantee they may think you're out of your mind, but they'll generally appreciate the hell out of it!
If the flamers aren't playing for fun, it's their problem, not yours. Maybe they play lousy Techs, and secretly envy your skills.

[spo0n]

The biggest problem is that if one team has a tech and the other doesn't, the team with a tech wins.  Techs and incinerators are support mechs, and the team with more support wins.  Although the incin is super powerful even if it is alone (tech is not).

That being said, the tech being very weak alone forces the pilot to develop good habits, like sticking with your team, not wandering off alone, not chasing the enemy into a trap and so forth.  It also encourages other players to come to you, as free heals are very nice, so the increase in momentum is from better all around teamwork in addition to the healing factors.

If you took the CRT and could draw your teammates towards you in the same way, or found someone better and supported them with damage and tanking, similar effects (more XP) should occur.  And as nokari said, you get a lot of free easy XP for healing, possibly too much, so don't take placement in your team as how helpful you were necessarily.  Techs should always be in or near first place really, they change the flow of the game like that.

[EliteShooter]

nokari, on July 20 2014 - 02:38 PM, said:

I'm only dominating people and getting the highest score because I've been playing for 2 years... Put me in a CR-T and I do just as well.

Brag.com

[CatManuel]

I really appreciate the input of nokari since he's a senior member and really active player but, what else am I supposed to do_ keep losing for two years and getting stomped ( with my team in the process ) or, play what I can effectively_ I don't mind the personal score in the way am I in the top or not but, am I carrying my own weight in the match. If I do more harm to my team, what is the point of playing_ Again, the skill gap between players that are put in the same match comes to play here I think. In all honesty if i'm put in your team in a team death match and "our" team is losing because of me, do you really want to see me in a CR-T where I can do nothing or very little or in a techmed_ I know I'm going a bit far with this but I'm just trying to make a point. what the heck are noobs supposed to do in this game when constantly facing superior players.

EM10 gives in my opinion good points for carrying on as I am this far.

spo0n says the utlimate reason for the techmech hate in my opinion. Other team has one, the other does not, thus tilting the balance in a unfair manor.

Thank you all for the input, this really gives me a lot to think about, of the game in general and of my personal game play.

[nokari]

CatManuel, on July 20 2014 - 05:51 PM, said:

I really appreciate the input of nokari since he's a senior member and really active player but, what else am I supposed to do_ keep losing for two years and getting stomped ( with my team in the process ) or, play what I can effectively_ I don't mind the personal score in the way am I in the top or not but, am I carrying my own weight in the match. If I do more harm to my team, what is the point of playing_ Again, the skill gap between players that are put in the same match comes to play here I think. In all honesty if i'm put in your team in a team death match and "our" team is losing because of me, do you really want to see me in a CR-T where I can do nothing or very little or in a techmed_ I know I'm going a bit far with this but I'm just trying to make a point. what the heck are noobs supposed to do in this game when constantly facing superior players.

I wouldn't say don't play Tech, it's just got an unfair scoring advantage that no other mech gets. Besides that I think it's a good mech. It's very versatile at being used aggressively and as support. If you find it to be the best mech for you, more power to you. To each his own.

However I would still say that you're best off using more than one mech. I used to only play CR-T because I sucked at everything else, but forcing myself to play other mechs to level them up has made it easier for me to adapt to using just about any mech. You can only get that from practice. You can't improve without practice.

[Barbie_in_a_Mech]

Your good scores as a tech make the balancer believe that you can perform at that level all the time.  So, since the tech requires so little skill, there are good chances that you'll be a dead weight when you play anything else because the balancer overestimates your skill level.


I hate techs because enemy ones move too fast and friendly ones get in my way.  Most just heal their team's top scorer, making the strong stronger while the rest of the team are peasants, boosting the ego of those who don't need it.  Kill-the-tech is also repetitive and boring.

Competent but stupid techs play tech even when there are no viable teammates to heal : poor players who don't dodge and barely deal damage to the enemy team, or competent players who don't benefit so much from having a tech slave (A-classes, raider, predator...)
They are thus useless to the team by offering heals that don't change the outcome of any fights, and they think they did well because their score says so and blame the rest of the team for losing.

[6ixxer]

Sometimes the team doesn't work together until a tech arrives and encourages them to stay in range of eachother. I've mostly stopped playing my tech to focus on my other mechs, but when my team is being fuzzy bunny, sometimes they listen when the elite tech arrives shows that sticking together is the way to win. Then you swap off the tech and people stay together and continue to win. I've also played where the team was so kamikazee that there was no point staying tech so i'd put it back in the garage.

To summarise, its less about the tech than about the teamwork. Teamwork plus tech means bring your own tech or prepare to be stomped. Also... DON'T CRY THAT YOUR TEAM DOESN'T HAVE ONE. Roll one yourself and learn it. Haters gona hate.

[Amidatelion]

6ixxer, on July 20 2014 - 08:25 PM, said:

Sometimes the team doesn't work together until a tech arrives and encourages them to stay in range of eachother. I've mostly stopped playing my tech to focus on my other mechs, but when my team is being fuzzy bunny, sometimes they listen when the elite tech arrives shows that sticking together is the way to win. Then you swap off the tech and people stay together and continue to win. I've also played where the team was so kamikazee that there was no point staying tech so i'd put it back in the garage.

That... is actually a pretty good idea.

I have actively avoided playing tech because I get relegated to support roles in every goddamn game I play, and I absolutely refuse to do so in Hawken (...he says after getting MVP 3 times running on Siege with a Bruiser tonight). I avoided buying it like the plague and then one day I just clicked through, doo-dee-doo, going into a TDM, let's just go with the first mech in the line-up, doo-dee-doo, gonna get my DPS... on...

WHY THE FRIGGITY FRIG AM I IN A TECH_!

Turns out a code I redeemed gave me a technician. Haven't touched the damn thing since.

But to get back to the point, I don't hate them per se... but they are on my "kill it with fire" list along with Sharpshooters. Playing those is basically a death sentence from me and I will focus you into the floor. But hey, you earned it! You're either too effective or just easy kills.

[Infyrno]

CatManuel, on July 20 2014 - 03:55 PM, said:

I hear you guys.
But please understand that new guys like me, there is no middle way at the moment. I take any other mech and I'm in the bottom 25% of the team, I take the tech and I'm in the top 25% of the team.

I would love to play other mechs too but every time I try, I get the feeling I'm just dead weight for the team.

Maybe there is something wrong with the balance at the moment.
Honestly, I have never had the incinerator in my team or, at least I have not done a combo play with one. It might be a bit too much if it really gives a bonus to the techmech.

The game feels 50% of the time rally good and 50% really bad since either my team or the enemy is snowballing. I think the reasons are in the mech balance ( slightly ), but the main reason is that the player base is made of seasoned veterans and noobs ( like me ).

I have a habit of checking after a game the profile of players and what I see is that there are people with 1000h+ or 40-80h of game play.

Also the complaint about people giving hard time to techmechs is a minority. I really feel that 90% of the people are really nice and supportive, maybe that is why I wanted to ask if it was just me or is it common for everyone.

1000+ hours_  Wow.  Who plays that much.  Seriously XD

[Infyrno]

CatManuel, on July 20 2014 - 05:51 PM, said:

I really appreciate the input of nokari since he's a senior member and really active player but, what else am I supposed to do_ keep losing for two years and getting stomped ( with my team in the process ) or, play what I can effectively_ I don't mind the personal score in the way am I in the top or not but, am I carrying my own weight in the match. If I do more harm to my team, what is the point of playing_ Again, the skill gap between players that are put in the same match comes to play here I think. In all honesty if i'm put in your team in a team death match and "our" team is losing because of me, do you really want to see me in a CR-T where I can do nothing or very little or in a techmed_ I know I'm going a bit far with this but I'm just trying to make a point. what the heck are noobs supposed to do in this game when constantly facing superior players.

EM10 gives in my opinion good points for carrying on as I am this far.

spo0n says the utlimate reason for the techmech hate in my opinion. Other team has one, the other does not, thus tilting the balance in a unfair manor.

Thank you all for the input, this really gives me a lot to think about, of the game in general and of my personal game play.

2 things to say.  

1. 2 years of losing_ No.  You will improve.  When i started i was bad.  Really bad.  I had no hope in myself but somehow, i've improved, my k/d and damage ratio have gone up significantly and are now balanced   all it takes it time

2.  What spo0n said is true, but also, having a support mech means less firepower.  Support mechs focus only on their role, not offense more or less "sacrificing" a spot on the team to improve the other players

[Z3roCool007]

Ooh. I get hate with my tech. Lots.
Just shrug it off.
If they can't play properly, they deserve to lose.

[Meraple]

People hate me no matter what mech I use.
Things like ''Meraple hacker,'' get thrown towards me.
It's gotten boring after a while.

[SkyeBeats]

spo0n, on July 20 2014 - 04:47 PM, said:

The biggest problem is that if one team has a tech and the other doesn't, the team with a tech wins.  Techs and incinerators are support mechs, and the team with more support wins.  Although the incin is super powerful even if it is alone (tech is not).

spo0n brings up a really good point here. If two equally skilled teams come together and fight but one has a tech and the other doesn't, the one with the tech is probably more likely to win. In an ideal situation, both teams should have an equal chance of winning but with the tech around i'm afraid that just isn't the case. I'm not saying the tech is OP mech or the idea of heals on wheels is a bad idea, but the implementation was done rather poorly imo. There has been loads of discussion regarding the tech since it's release and one of the ideas that particularly stuck with me was changing the vampiric healing beam to something projectile based that so you'd actually have to aim instead of walking around holding RMB down endlessly. That being said, there is a sort of stigma associated with he tech being "EZ mode" and if you play it, you're bound to get some sort of hate from the opposing team.