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Post by Danny Linguini on Jun 25, 2017 19:19:24 GMT -5
So here's the latest thing that's a major cause of frustration to me. A couple of weeks ago I got my 4th bot slot. It took me awhile, but I finally got three decent bots that can fairly consistently do a good bit of damage if I'm careful and don't run up against another player/bot that's way over my head. But three decent bots won't cut it.
It's that 4th slot -- and I remember this happening when I got the third slot as well -- that's causing me grief trying to fill with something nearly as effective as the other three, but filling out roles that the others are lacking (mainly a little more speed or range). Now at this point, my three good bots and weapons are all 6/7, so I know whatever new setup I try needs to be leveled up at least a little to fairly assess how I will like it and how it will work. That's all experimentation that takes a lot of time (and silver, and sometimes that rare and valuable gold) that frequently ends in failure and could have been spent upgrading my good gear to be even better. But I don't know if a setup will or won't work until I've spent (wasted) a good bit of time on it. It's doubly frustrating when the failure involves spent gold, because it takes so damn long to acquire.
Then I go back to the parts bin to dig out an older setup, and I look at my hangar and see hardware that isn't a whole lot more upgraded than it was a week or even two weeks ago. And I'm still left scratching my head trying to figure out what to do with that 4th slot, because everything I've tried so far with the resources I have hasn't worked. I know what I want to do eventually, but until I have the Au or WP for that, I have to try to get by with my mostly silver gear. I don't want to dump a lot of time and silver on a temporary setup or on a duplicate of something I already have. But I'm tired of wasting so much time on stuff that doesn't work at the expense of upgrading the stuff that does, only having to start all over when I don't like the latest setup.
Meanwhile I keep getting pounded and losing a lot, which isn't much fun, in addition to all the other things people rant about, plus my own penchant for frequently playing like a total leper. There have been a few bright spots (I've somehow managed to complete all the daily tasks), but mostly it's been a pretty rough week on the battlefield.
/end_whine
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Post by Firebeard on Jun 25, 2017 19:35:12 GMT -5
If you have a quality Mecha in your forward Hangar, why not just double-down on it? ..
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Post by Danny Linguini on Jun 25, 2017 20:13:58 GMT -5
If you have a quality Mecha in your forward Hangar, why not just double-down on it? .. Cos they're all heavy, slow, and short/mid-range. I don't really want a fourth big slow land barge (although that's exactly what I have at the moment -- 2 Griffs and 2 Leos). I have a low level ECU Cossack for when I need beacon caps for gold, but I don't really want to upgrade it since it's a very part-time bot. Nothing else in my price range at the moment fills that need for speed. I did also have molots for a Griffin gunship, but that was mostly ineffective. Or I just don't know what I'm doing. My most recent failed experiment is a Gekko and Trebuchet temporarily on a Leo, with the intent of getting one more if each on a Natty. Leveled Gekko to 7 and Treb to 5, and my damage and wins/losses took a nosedive. So they're on the shelf until I can get one more of each and level them all up to at least 8. But again, there's currently about three days of wasted upgrades in them that should have gone into one if the Griffs. But I digress. However -- if I could decide on which of the Griffs I like more, RDB or Plasma, I could see the value of doubling up one of those as those weapons could always be used on another bot later. But then I want different weapons later too (particularly Orkans), and I don't want a bigger stockpile of unused upgraded weapons, at least not until I've been playing long enough to have nothing better to do with my gold, silver and time. The dilemma: level up a duplicate setup while the other bots stagnate at their current levels, or write off the fourth slot for now and concentrate on upgrading the three 'good' bots. Decisions, decisions. Too many choices, and they all take a lot of time. |
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Post by Firebeard on Jun 25, 2017 20:25:32 GMT -5
If you have a quality Mecha in your forward Hangar, why not just double-down on it? .. Cos they're all heavy, slow, and short/mid-range. I don't really want a fourth big slow land barge (although that's exactly what I have at the moment -- 2 Griffs and 2 Leos). I have a low level ECU Cossack for when I need beacon caps for gold, but I don't really want to upgrade it since it's a very part-time bot. Nothing else in my price range at the moment fills that need for speed. I did also have molots for a Griffin gunship, but that was mostly ineffective. Or I just don't know what I'm doing. My most recent failed experiment is a Gekko and Trebuchet temporarily on a Leo, with the intent of getting one more if each on a Natty. Leveled Gekko to 7 and Treb to 5, and my damage and wins/losses took a nosedive. So they're on the shelf until I can get one more of each and level them all up to at least 8. But again, there's currently about three days of wasted upgrades in them that should have gone into one if the Griffs. But I digress. However -- if I could decide on which of the Griffs I like more, RDB or Plasma, I could see the value of doubling up one of those as those weapons could always be used on another bot later. But then I want different weapons later too (particularly Orkans), and I don't want a bigger stockpile of unused upgraded weapons, at least not until I've been playing long enough to have nothing better to do with my gold, silver and time. The dilemma: level up a duplicate setup while the other bots stagnate at their current levels, or write off the fourth slot for now and concentrate on upgrading the three 'good' bots. Decisions, decisions. Too many choices, and they all take a lot of time. OK, I see what you're saying. I guess you need to evaluate what it is, exactly, you need this new Mecha to do; Range, Damage, Mobility - combination - and then prioritize. Choose from the List of Priorities and hopefully not need to make too many compromises. .. and they say, "Get a 5th Slot" LOL |
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Post by acdcfan on Jun 25, 2017 21:41:16 GMT -5
I have 5 slots and this is what I run
Leo lvl 9 with 3 magnums lvl 11 and thunder lvl 9
Gareth lvl 10 with pinata lvl 10 and orcan lvl 9
Galahad lvl 9 with magums lvl 11 and taran lvl 10
Griffin lvl 9 with pins lvl 11 adn tulumabs lvl 10
Griffin lvl 9 with magnums lvl 11, 1 taran at lvl 11 and second one at lvl 10..And still upgrading all of them. Next one is all bots to lvl 10 , then thunder to lvl 10
And I may expend that one to a couple of lancelots and fury if dash bots are not price accordingly
Oh and what everyone else said " Get the 5th slot"
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Post by drake1588 on Jun 25, 2017 22:01:16 GMT -5
When all else fails, put a stock level 6 rdb Griff with level 5 weapons on it there. Its not perfect, but it's the most effective thing you can do on the cheap. Worst case, you can use it as a time filler when it isn't advantageous to drop one of your main three bots. When a good opportunity presents itself, either suicide beacon cap or just eject out and run one of your other bots.
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thes1darstard
Destrier
Posts: 66
Karma: 48
Pilot name: Darstard
Platform: iOS
League: Expert
Server Region: North America
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Post by thes1darstard on Jun 25, 2017 22:22:00 GMT -5
I think the stock Griffin is a great suggestion. It's silver and does what it should very well. You can't level up everything at the same time, so try not to think of your other bots sitting idle while you work on #4. Once #4 is up to where you want it, prioritize what you want to do next. I like having everything at the same level, so I slowly pushed up all my gear to L9, and it worked well for me. I'm slowing moving items up to L10 now. My advice is to also go a little broad with your functional bots. You have 4 hangers, you should have 5-6 bots that you can drop in in different combinations based on what you need to do in the game and to clear daily tasks. It will also mean you will be ready with a leveled bot when you finally nab your 5th slot.  |
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Post by StoneTempIePilot on Jun 25, 2017 22:30:53 GMT -5
They say Thomas Edison found 10,000 ways to make a light bulb and was only successful in 10,001st try. So I guess spending resources come with the territory.
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Post by Danny Linguini on Jun 26, 2017 11:52:42 GMT -5
Here's today's strategy -- ECU Cossack. One of my tasks was to cap 18 beacons, so I dropped the Cos in there to start every game. There were a few that I got rekt before reaching the first beacon, especially those where one or two other players open up with runners of their own; but most games I was able to grab 2 or 3 before ejecting myself. A couple of games in Shenzhen and Yamantau I even got the red's beacons almost totally unnoticed. Funny as hell when I'm looking at a red bot intently focused on targets in the opposite direction while I'm capping his beacon just a few meters away. I've done surprisingly well evading enemy fire most of the time, though admittedly I've still gotten myself into bad situations, usually because of focusing on a red beacon and ignoring advancing red bots.
So ... what's this mean? Today I'm giving the Cos a little love and leveling it and the ECU up just a tad. As someone noted above, better to have a diverse pool to pick from, so when I'm not making any headway in the shoot-em-ups, I'll have that little guy to change things up for now.
And all this has me thinking -- maybe a Gareth wouldn't be such a bad choice for that next bot. Faster than the Cos, better protected and better armed. If I can get it through my thick skull that it's not an assault bot and run it like I do the Cossack, taking shots for support but generally avoiding shoot-outs, I think it could be an effective option among my other lumbering barges. Gonna be awhile before I have the Au for it and the WP to properly arm it, so I've got plenty of time to change my mind 8 or 900 times between now and then.
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Post by Danny Linguini on Jun 28, 2017 12:07:05 GMT -5
Well duh, the answer was staring me in the face.
Oh, Cossack is back on the shelf for now, except when I need beacon caps for gold -- he's still pretty good for that if I'm careful.
In another thread I noted how versatile my RDB Griffin is, and if I hadn't already spent so much time upgrading other weapon setups, I'd have four of them in my hangar. Well, I have a spare Griffin, I have two spare l6 pins and a bunch of l5 tulus. So RDB Griff #2 has been created. Pretty weak at the moment, but still modestly effective. As soon as Griff #1 is all upgraded to 8/8, I'll get to work on getting #2 up there.
So two RDB Griffs, a plasma Griff, and a Thunder/Pinata Leo are what I'm sticking with for my regular hangar until they're all decently leveled up, and then I'll decide what to compliment them with.
Stay tuned for my next major strategic shift, which should come any day now.
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Post by ⓣⓡⓘⓒⓚⓨ48 on Jun 28, 2017 12:20:57 GMT -5
Good choice... and I am refraining from saying 4 words right now about that Leo...  As far as your 2nd RDB... maybe go ahead and spend the little Ag to get both Tulus to 6... but you should be OK with coming back to it after getting your main hangar up to where you want it if you choose to do that. My Silver account is no longer in Silver... it's in Gold... with mostly level 6 weapons and some 5s. You can still do wonders with 5s and 6s. I have had several 600k matches with it. I now have the RDB up to 7, but all the rest of the hangar is 6 with a couple of 7s and 5s spread around. Personally, with the dash and the ww bots, I say you will need at least 4 Tulus anyway, so why not just level everything up at once like what thes1darstard was saying above? I do that. I try to level up one weapon from each bot to the next level, normally, the only reason the RDB ended up completely leveled first was that I had the Pins on a Leo before. Either way, again, a good choice. Many hangars are running 2x RDBs now. Good luck! IMO, YMMV. |
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Post by drake1588 on Jun 28, 2017 12:33:35 GMT -5
And all this has me thinking -- maybe a Gareth wouldn't be such a bad choice for that next bot. Faster than the Cos, better protected and better armed. If I can get it through my thick skull that it's not an assault bot and run it like I do the Cossack, taking shots for support but generally avoiding shoot-outs, I think it could be an effective option among my other lumbering barges. Gonna be awhile before I have the Au for it and the WP to properly arm it, so I've got plenty of time to change my mind 8 or 900 times between now and then. Please don't do this. I know it's an alluring prospect, but as a beacon capper, Gary is atrocious right now. In order to cap meaningful beacons, you're tied down to the radius of the beacon, making you an easy target for RDB griffs. I speak with experience here - prior to the rocket patch, Gary was my absolute favorite bot and I'd even gotten my 2nd one on the level up pathway. Now they sit in the garage collecting dust. If you need a speedy beacon capper, Rog is the one to pick. He's got all the good points of a Cossack and most of the good points of a Griff. Jump is much better than a shield in this plasma light meta. |
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Post by Danny Linguini on Jun 28, 2017 13:09:35 GMT -5
Good choice... and I am refraining from saying 4 words right now about that Leo... As far as your 2nd RDB... maybe go ahead and spend the little Ag to get both Tulus to 6... but you should be OK with coming back to it after getting your main hangar up to where you want it if you choose to do that. My Silver account is no longer in Silver... it's in Gold... with mostly level 6 weapons and some 5s. You can still do wonders with 5s and 6s. I have had several 600k matches with it. I now have the RDB up to 7, but all the rest of the hangar is 6 with a couple of 7s and 5s spread around. Personally, with the dash and the ww bots, I say you will need at least 4 Tulus anyway, so why not just level everything up at once like what thes1darstard was saying above? I do that. I try to level up one weapon from each bot to the next level, normally, the only reason the RDB ended up completely leveled first was that I had the Pins on a Leo before. Either way, again, a good choice. Many hangars are running 2x RDBs now. Good luck! IMO, YMMV. Oh, don't hold back -- what's your issue with the Leo? Lol. He's been a pretty sturdy fighter for me. |
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Post by ⓣⓡⓘⓒⓚⓨ48 on Jun 28, 2017 13:29:41 GMT -5
Oh... just... "I told you so." |
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Post by psyflex on Jun 29, 2017 6:16:03 GMT -5
Hey Danny, i have a similar problem with my 5th slot. I change it almost after every match, because the mech i needed in the last match wasn't in my hanger. So if i put a mech with weaponrange 600+m there, i would have needed a fast mech, because the team ignored beacons again. If i run a fast(er) mech, i would have needed a mech with 600+m weapons, because i can not touch the reds at all and not reach a beacon either. Of course, everytime i change the 5th mech, it is the wrong one again... lol The other day i was sooo frustrated, i just played a Zenit/Noricum Natasha for a few matches, which helped against the frustration, but i caught a lot of angry friendly fire and of course we lost all the matches  I still have hope, this problem will dissapear, when my mechs and weapons are max level too, in about 200 years |
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Post by Danny Linguini on Jun 29, 2017 12:31:40 GMT -5
Hey Danny, i have a similar problem with my 5th slot. I change it almost after every match, because the mech i needed in the last match wasn't in my hanger. So if i put a mech with weaponrange 600+m there, i would have needed a fast mech, because the team ignored beacons again. If i run a fast(er) mech, i would have needed a mech with 600+m weapons, because i can not touch the reds at all and not reach a beacon either. Of course, everytime i change the 5th mech, it is the wrong one again... lol The other day i was sooo frustrated, i just played a Zenit/Noricum Natasha for a few matches, which helped against the frustration, but i caught a lot of angry friendly fire and of course we lost all the matches I still have hope, this problem will dissapear, when my mechs and weapons are max level too, in about 200 years Man, I feel your pain. I've lost count of the times I've trotted out the absolute wrong bot for the situation, whether it's the spawning spot on the map or half the rest of the team dropping the same class of bot/weapons. In another thread discussing the value of the 5th slot, somebody pointed out using a strategy of planning to use just four bots, with 1, 2 and 3 being your regular go-to bots, and the 4th and 5th slots being just for different situational bots (beacon cappers, knife-fighters, snipers, etc) to pull out depending on the map and how the battle is going. I think mentally when we have that extra slot we tend to play a little reckless with the first bot or two or three, knowing that there's more in the garage if we need it. Change that mindset as if you only have four to work with, and you probably won't be running through all five bots every battle. |
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Post by psyflex on Jun 30, 2017 6:07:50 GMT -5
Man, I feel your pain. I've lost count of the times I've trotted out the absolute wrong bot for the situation, whether it's the spawning spot on the map or half the rest of the team dropping the same class of bot/weapons. In another thread discussing the value of the 5th slot, somebody pointed out using a strategy of planning to use just four bots, with 1, 2 and 3 being your regular go-to bots, and the 4th and 5th slots being just for different situational bots (beacon cappers, knife-fighters, snipers, etc) to pull out depending on the map and how the battle is going. I think mentally when we have that extra slot we tend to play a little reckless with the first bot or two or three, knowing that there's more in the garage if we need it. Change that mindset as if you only have four to work with, and you probably won't be running through all five bots every battle. Yeah, i wish we coud have a hangar for the big maps and one for the small maps or even better, a custom hanagar for each map It is very rare that i use all 5 of my mechs in battle. Sometimes i only play my RDB in a match, having most kills, beacons and damage (about twice or three times the amount as the player who placed second in the rankings), but we still lose the match. And often it happens, when i drop my 3rd or 4th mech, my team already meched out, so it doesn't make sense to spawn my remaining mechs to get slaughtered by 6 reds, already waiting at the blue spawn point. So currently i am totally out of ideas what to do, if my team mates are all too weak. Since about a week i am losing most of the matches. Either my team mechs out very fast or reds get all 5 beacons and keep us in our spawn area. I didn't think it can be that bad in Gold 2. |
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