New Skill Tree Guide

[Nightmare1]

The New Skill Tree can seem complicated at first glance, but is actually very easy to navigate with a bit of careful looking. This guide is designed to help players who are confused by the Skill Tree, or are perhaps seeing it for the first time, to better know how to navigate the Skill Tree and understand the nodes and their effects.

This pair of videos is the stream from The Brethren Pirates' weekly Training Night. We went through the Skill Tree in great detail with multiple participants.

Please bear in mind that the views and opinions professed in the video are just that; views and opinions. They aren't necessarily representative of the meta or the most efficient skill paths. The skills I picked are ones I wanted for myself personally. The discussion regarding mechanics, UI interface, and resources should all be considered accurate though.

If anyone notices an error, please feel free to point it out constructively.

Many thanks in advance, and please enjoy the videos. I hope they help people understand the new tree and accept it. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc0Hk1ro7g4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhSrV1P_pyo&t=1s

One additional note! My broadcasting software glitched while I was streaming, so you may notice a few spots where the videos seems choppy. Please excuse those moments. :)

The missing audio basically says the following:

Take your 3 seconds of time before you lose target lock.

Target Decay adds 0.7 seconds to that time for each node you unlock.

Radar Derp removes a percentage of the seconds.

If my enemy has 3 nodes of Decay, he will have a total lock-on time of 5.1 seconds after he loses sight of me.

If I have 1 node of Radar Derp, then I will remove about 1 second (rounded) from his time.

If I have all 5 Radar Derp nodes, then I will remove 100 percent of his lock on time.

I believe that is how it works in the new Skill Tree now. Under the old Tree, Radar Derp was only worth 3 seconds of lock time, while Decay was worth 3.5 seconds. Hence, a Mech with Decay that targeted a Mech with Derp would have 0.5 seconds of lock-on time after losing sight.

If anyone knows better than this, feel free to speak up. We're all learning here.  :)

I created a shorter video that deals strictly with adding SP to your Mech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q07CY7X0g9o&t=2s

The two most critical resources you can have at your disposal to understand and utilize the New Skill Tree are the following two links:

Check out this thread on MWO's official forums for perhaps the best collection of Skill Tree guides you could find anywhere: https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/250647-skills-tree-contest-with-winners/

New video playlist here with all my Skill Tree Tutorial videos in it: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4cx6VC2LKK3p2T-mQlz-i-b5cTNq1OGj

Additional Resources:

Write-up on how the High Explosive Nodes work: http://steamcommunity.com/app/342200/discussions/0/1291816880494989640/#c1291816880498609691

[JC]

Basically the trees have main paths, you use these paths to get certain bonuses. Some extra nodes will exist and that is where you get to spend a few extra points.


Fire power tree, is simple, top is range/cooldown, Middle/bottom is heat/cooldown, add a few weapon speicifc nodes.

movement, Right side is speed/quickness, left turning/twist

survival, Left armor, right structure

sensors, Left gather info, right save info.. (add radar dep and sesmic as needed)

Operations, make your mech run cooler for less points invested than weapons tree, and a few other nice bonuses.

Jump jets, left burn/speed, right movement

consumbales, all self explainatory.


Play your mech, see how it performs, add points in the spot you think its lacking,, play a bit more, add a bit more points. I leveled 2 mechs under the system, by the time i finished them i basically had the thing figured out.


Hot mechs, operations and firepower

Need to move better? movement/JJ's

Want to be more tanky? Best with mechs with structure and armor bonuses alreaedy, then add this.

Sensors, LRM's, streaks, light hunters are the ones that benifit most, but brawlers and pin-point can also benifit from a few points.


That is basically it in a nutshell

*EDIT, here is a basic generic skill build that can help really any mech. A good all around generic build for those learning the game.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1117368568

[Nightmare1]

Yeah, pretty much. It looks like a lot at first, but it's actually pretty simple. by the time you finish your third or fourth Mech, it becomes second nature and remarkably easy to accomplish.

[Geawiel]

I actually kind of like the new trees. My mid range/close range EBJs seem to last longer and put out a bit more damage. Heat retention and cooldown seem to be around the same as with the previous system.

The 2 Centurians I have don't seem to have changed much. I may need to play with the trees more on those two,but I didn't play but a couple matches with each and I didn't exactly land on good maps for their builds either.

My assault and light also seem to fair better with the new system. The light lasts a bit longer and being able to improve on jump jets is a plus. The assault seemed to last a bit longer, but the best improvement went to weapon heat and cooldown. It was a hot build to begin with (on purpose), so that was a welcome change.

The only thing I really don't like about it is the need to take nodes that I don't want in order to get to the ones I want. I think I can see why they did that though. I'm guessing it prevents the cookie cutter meta and helps balance things out a bit for everyone else.

[Nightmare1]

@hip_cat: It's about the same for me, sans the EBJ. It's still on my list to buy, lol.

[Nightmare1]

Something I wrote up about High Explosive:

First off, information on how critical hits work: https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/81945-crits-and-you-a-brief-guide/

TL,DR: When the armor is gone from your Mech, then your internals/components/structure are all open to incoming damage. These can be "critted." The chance to crit is based on a dice roll. The dice is rolled three times whenever damage is dealt to your internals.

1st Roll @ 25%
2nd Roll @ 14%
3rd Roll @ 3%
No Crit @ 58%

I'll use the AC/10 as an example because it's an easy damage number with which to work.

If you score a single crit, then you deal 10 points of bonus damage to your enemy's internals. For doubles, it's 10-10, and for triples, it's 10-10-10. The reason why I wrote them that way instead of "20" and "30" is because it behaves like three separate rolls.

Now, translate this to SRMs. SRMs deal damage per missile. Each missile has the same crit chances as that single AC/10 round. We'll use the SRM4 as our benchmark. A single launcher deals 8.6 damage, max. That means that each missile deals 2.15 damage.

Let's say that you get a triple crit with a single missile. That's 2.15 damage dealt initially, and then 2.15-2.15-2.15 from the crit rolls. The grand total damage dealt is then 8.6 damage from a single missile, with 6.45 being to a single internal component and the base 2.15 being dealt to the structure. If it destroys the component, then the damage stops being dealt, regardless of how much is leftover (i.e. - it does not transfer to another component).

Now, I said that the base 2.15 is dealt to the structure and the 6.45 is dealt to the component (HS, weapon, ammo, ECM, BAP, etc.). However, a small percentage of that 6.45 (I'm not sure of the exact number) is dealt to the structure health on top of the base 2.15. The formula would look like this:

Damage dealt to structure from a single SRM = 2.15 + (Total crit damage x Percentage)

If all 4 SRMs landed in the same Paper Doll Component, then the total damage dealt would be 8.6 + a percentage of whatever crits were dealt.

Now, let's look at the High Explosive Skill.

High Explosive has two nodes, each worth 7.5% for a total of 15% possible. If you read the tool tip, it states that the skill increases the damage dealt from a critical hit. Let's turn that back on our previous example.

Remember, we had a single SRM score a triple hit. That means that the total crit was 6.45 damage in the form of 2.15-2.15-2.15. If you unlock both of the High Explosive Skills, then that applies a 15% modifier to your triple crit roll. The formula looks like this:

Crit Damage Dealt = [(2.15*0.15)+2.15] + [(2.15*0.15)+2.15] + [(2.15*0.15)+2.15]

...And you never thought you would use match after High School, right? :D

Anyways, the total damage that could be dealt for a triple dice roll, using the formula above, is 7.42, rounded. Note that it's the same as if you simply took the 6.45 and added 15% to it.

This means that, for a single SRM missile with a triple crit, you gain and extra 0.97 points of damage. A single crit would yield 2.47 points of crit damage for a bonus amount of 0.32.

That sounds underwhelming for a skill that costs so many nodes. However, keep in mind that it's real power is in stack.

I have a Timber Wolf with 4x SRM4s. Remember that the chance to roll a single crit is 25% every time. That's one in 4 missiles. If I have 4x SRM4s, then that means a single alpha strike has 16 missiles. If I use Artemis and am close to my target, then most of those missiles will strike the same component. If my enemy already has all three torsos expose, then I'm virtually guaranteed crits. Simply put, out of 16 SRMs, at 25% for a single crit, then that means I am likely going to score 4, single crit rolls. Then there are the second crit rolls to consider. Since second crits have a 14% chance of rolling successfully, I am likely to score at least one, possibly two double crits.

Let's assume I score four single crits and one double crit with a 15% modifier from High Explosives. That means I have the following:

2.15, 2.15, 2.15, 2.15-2.15

The last numbers represent the double crit roll. The High Explosive modifier would change them to be

2.47, 2.47, 2.47, 2.47-2.47

If I sum them to see what the total possible damage dealt would be, then it comes to 12.35.

Compare this to the un-modified crits, and see that the un-modified damage would be 10.75.

That's a difference of 1.6 damage points.

Now, since the crit chance is 25% for every missile, your rolls could be fickle. You may have bad RNG and not score any crits. You may have good RNG and score 8 or 10 crits. For LRMs, considering the massed amounts that can be fired, the stacking damage from the High Explosive Skill can grow very quickly.

So, all that to say, High Explosive is a nice skill to gain a mild damage bonus for your missiles. The more missiles, the greater it stacks and the more potent it becomes. Keep in mind that most components have between 3 and 5 health, with some having additional health. Also bear in mind that a small percentage of your crit damage is transferred to the internal structure health, so High Explosive also bolsters the damage you do against the enemy's remaining hit points, in addition to his individual components.

Whether or not the amount of skill nodes needed to unlock both High Explosive Skills are worth the investment is entirely up to you. I personally don't recommend it unless you have at least four launchers.

Also, as one final thought, keep in mind that Hardened Casing in the Survival Tree can reduce the chance for incoming crits. Just by spending a few points on the right side of the tree, it's pretty easy to pick up about an 8% reduction. You'll have to take that into account when planning on whether to purchase High Explosive or not, since HE does not increase the crit chance; it only increases the damage crits deal.

Hope this helps! :)

[Nightmare1]

Bump

[Nightmare1]

Bumping for players who are struggling with the new skill tree.

[Gubernaut]

I haven't watched the videos yet but what I can tell 91 SP is the max for each mech and the SP are locked to each mech, yet I'm able to purchase far more SP than 91, would that be a mistake to do not being able to use it on the mech or transfer it to another mech?

[Maj_Cyric]

Originally posted by Emton:

I haven't watched the videos yet but what I can tell 91 SP is the max for each mech and the SP are locked to each mech, yet I'm able to purchase far more SP than 91, would that be a mistake to do not being able to use it on the mech or transfer it to another mech?

When I skill out a mech for the first time i'll convert over the 91 HSP.. and also add an extra 10 GSP for the tweaks to the skills I know i'll be making from the 1st draft skill build once I play/test the build...

And yes you can have only 91 active skill nodes at one time.. but if change a node for another and then back again, that cost for it being already unlocked means it costs less..

[Nightmare1]

Originally posted by Emton:

I haven't watched the videos yet but what I can tell 91 SP is the max for each mech and the SP are locked to each mech, yet I'm able to purchase far more SP than 91, would that be a mistake to do not being able to use it on the mech or transfer it to another mech?

That would depend on your objectives and finances.

Using myself as an example, I have a lot of Mechs. I would rather use my HSP to buy the 91 nodes for my Mastered Mechs. If I want to buy additional nodes, then I use the HXP since I can't transfer it to other variants.

My recommendation is that you use the most restrictive resources first and save your least restrictive for last since those type (ex: GSP and GXP) can be applied to any Mech. The general resources are best used to level brand new Mechs that lack HSP and HXP.

The caveat, is whether or not you have the number of Mechs or funds to support that approach. If you are critically low on resources, it may be better to use the GSP, for example. Also, if you have a very large ratio of GSP:Mechs, then it may make more sense to use GSP.

[Gubernaut]

Ok I watched that guide and understand a little better, I see it makes sense to use HSP first which I can do easy cause most my mechs are mastered, then I guess I'll just hoard GSP for leveling up new mechs, and then use mech specific XP for adjusting the skill trees if needed, does that sound about right?

[Nightmare1]

Originally posted by Emton:

Ok I watched that guide and understand a little better, I see it makes sense to use HSP first which I can do easy cause most my mechs are mastered, then I guess I'll just hoard GSP for leveling up new mechs, and then use mech specific XP for adjusting the skill trees if needed, does that sound about right?

Yep, pretty much! It's better to use the chassis-specific XP and SP first since that is stuck to that chassis. You can use the GXP and GSP for newly purchased Mechs that don't have any XP or SP attributed to them yet. That makes the most effective use of your resources and provides the shortest amount of grind time.

[Gubernaut]

Hello could anyone explain what the skill Enhanced ECM does? It reads: Decreases the max range an ECM protected 'Mech can be targeted. ECM Target range reduction 22.5%

Well I'm just confused is this for mechs with ECM or does it mean my mech affects other mechs that have ECM? Not sure what this means any help would be greatfully apprecitaried.

[Nightmare1]

Originally posted by Emton:

Hello could anyone explain what the skill Enhanced ECM does? It reads: Decreases the max range an ECM protected 'Mech can be targeted. ECM Target range reduction 22.5%

Well I'm just confused is this for mechs with ECM or does it mean my mech affects other mechs that have ECM? Not sure what this means any help would be greatfully apprecitaried.

This info is outdate, but fairly accurate up to the introduction of the new skill tree: http://mwo.gamepedia.com/Electronic_Countermeasure_(ECM)

Prior to the new skill tree, ECM would reduce the range at which you could be targeted from 800 meters down to 200 meters for a 75% reduction. With the addition of the new skill tree, ECM was nerfed from a 75% decrease down to a 40% decrease. What this means, is that instead of being targeted at 800 meters (no ECM) or at 200 meters (old skill tree), now you will be targeted at 480 meters. You can unlock those two ECM skills to reduce the range by a total of 45% (22.5% apiece) which would put you back at the old, pre-skill-tree-change range of 200 meters.

Make sense? :)

[Gubernaut]

I suppose I understand now this skill only helps when I'm carrying ECM equipment