Need Advice: Mk2 vs. Mk4-5

I agree with all of the above. Sadly, income stream tanks when you do this so now I'm settling down to a situation where only maybe 6 out of 10 boats dramatically outclass me. I may need to sink a bit further for really efficient grinding. Yes, it is possible to beat much more powerful boats than your own. But it will cost... a lot.

Regarding your last point... OH YES! the first time the system pitched me up to 1200 returning back to 400-500 matched against comparable boats was... amusing. Yes, I learned a ton. I distinctly remember facing the same sorts of foes I had fought only a week ago and it was night and day. Many, many times I thought to myself, "You're kidding right? You're not really going to do that, are you? Well OK then..." It was all the same sorts of mistakes I'd been making so recently. But those mistakes get you killed in an eye blink at the higher infamy.

 

Yeah, I'm familiar with how an ELO system works and the associated 50/50 win rate. Not my first rodeo.

I do feel like I have to point out that while yes, these mk5 guys I'm going up against may sometimes get thrown in with higher infamy/higher skilled/better equipped matches I'm getting thrown into this every. single. match. I see a fellow mk2 probably once every ten games. My problem is that if I adapt to being the little fish and am at all successful my infamy stays elevated. In fact, I'm now almost at 1200 infamy. So if I play to win and manage to do it, my infamy rises where the problem only gets worse. In the meantime my dmg output is tanking and cutting off my income making upgrading/training that much harder and slowing my ability to catch up.

That's why in my original post I mentioned tanking - it seems like these so many of these guys simply *must* be keeping their infamy artificially low and the swelling the average gear/mk a ton at 600-1000 infamy. I really hate the idea of tanking, but don't see any other option to actually compete in games with my skill/gear.

 

Perhaps I'm missing something - this is what I'm currently running. That small shield would be a turbo if I had another.

 

You're experience exactly mirrors mine and your conclusion mirrors mine. So now my infamy is "managed" carefully.

Take heart though. I've found there's no need to throw the matches. Consider that people at 500 infamy are playing at a certain skill level. That is true whether that skill level is artificial or not. I was at about 1275 infamy and I needed to lose some. I didn't need to "tank" exactly. All I needed to do was mentally get into "grind mode". I don't really care if each match is a win or a loss. But I will play my best within the limits of a short tolerance for both time and idiocy of my team. Heck, I have turned in two pentakills while in the last two days while I was "tanking". But my generally poor attitude cannot carry the day at the top of my infamy curve. It's enough to slowly sink down... slowly. I think I'm down in the 900's now? I expect that attitude will get me down to maybe 700 or so gradually but I doubt it'd take me below that. In your case with a weaker boat it will. Once I am at 700 all I need to do is play at a 700 infamy skill level which I know I'm doing if I consistently place in slot 2-4. Then I'm not ruining anyone's game experience directly. I was a valuable contributing member to the team... just not as much as I might've.

I personally think the issue is in rewards not matchmaking. Fine, you're a better than average player and so you're punching way above your weight class. There's no issue there. Where the issue is in how you are rewarded. This game punishes you for doing that which pretty much robs a person of any incentive to want to go through that much stress.

 

Sounds like you're advocating into turning into this guy: "The M2 Shooter: Our low boat, worries me a lot. It's not that he's low boat exactly. I've played with awesome M1 and M2 captains. It's that you get a lot of cowboy behavior at those infamies. If he plays conservatively he can be a a real asset. Otherwise he's write off."

 

Imo you need to push up the ship level asap. Mk2 at 1000 infamy is just looking for trouble if you are getting 2 shot. Skill wise you are good but eventually you will need a bigger boat to survive. Also snap some good weapons on that boat. Upgrade weapons as much as possible. At a given time your weapons should only stop upgrading when your captain level doesn't permit it. Also save up on pearls as much as possible and use only to push captain training. Don't refresh shop or buy sugar/gold. Grind for the currency. Alternatively you can pay for pearls if you don't mind spending some hard cash.
Watch you tube videos for some ideas on strategies/weapon setups that many pro players have used. Or try working on some new ones. It's all trial and error for now so don't think about infamy fluctuations or bad team mates.
Keep going. Don't give up.

 

Yes if I consider the actual performance of that guy. He put in a 2k performance in that match.... it was credible enough particularly given an M2 boat in that battle. I put in similar performances -- credible for my level. I frequently outscore at least one of the M5's. I just don't do better than my mark would suggest so my infamy doesn't rise to exceptional levels. Do I like this as an answer? Heck no for a wide variety of reasons. The top two are:

1. It would be nice to be able to say I did everything I could to help my team win.
2. It strongly messes with my own learning curve. I'd learn a lot faster if I just played at the edge of my capabilities all the time.

_devill's answer up "push up your ship" is no answer because you also need to push up all your gear. In order to do that you need lots of gold, sugar, and parts. You won't get that fighting at the edge of your capability. If you have a better answer though I'd love to hear it. What I found for myself was that playing at the edge of my performance this happened:

• The number of wins, of course, was the same as it always must be... 50%... but matches take longer because I'm being much more careful and not dying so soon and, in fact, not starting the battle so soon and at such a pace. Heck, on Destruct 9, without my involvement, I routinely clock 90 seconds to first contact with the enemy. That sort of thing is counter-productive to grinding.
• For wins, I placed routinely in bottom 3. Sometimes even really stellar performances put me in the bottom. So star income was greatly reduced. Then again, I scored 2 pentakills in 2 days just recently so sometimes I can still make something happen. I'm still training my combat reflexes and aggression (if not my strategy and tactics) and when I'm "in the zone" it shows.
• The stress levels were high enough that I couldn't simply grind out an hour of matches. 3 or 4 at a time was the most I could manage without a little break.
• Because of the reduced income, my bank account quickly depleted to near zero buying rare parts from the store.
• That put a severe crimp on all further progression.

In other words, this is not a competitive shooter as it's currently designed. It's a classic casual game where reward is given by time/money invested in mundane activities -- grinding. That makes it a bit disingenuous for Rovio to make noises like we should treat it as a competitive game. If that's what they wanted, that's what they should've made.

When I get just a little bit more aggressive and a bit more "devil may care" my infamy drops about 200 points. When that happens, I routinely place in the top 3. Two stars for a win is the norm not the exception. Go just a bit below that and 3 star wins are not uncommon. Most importantly, the stress levels are greatly reduced. I don't care what idiot stuff my team did. I don't care if the match went well or not. I don't care if someone pressed the "start match" button and then went to make waffles or whatever they're doing. I just want to get in there, do my best (from an instinct, reaction, aggression standpoint) , and get the match done as quickly as possible to move on. What's missing is the strategy & tactics bit. I'll wait a moment to see if the team is pulling itself together. If not (which is almost always true) then I'll set out on my own mission. I'm not "adding strategy" to the team. They provide it or we don't have it.

Just so you know how subtle this can be. I'm pretty sure I can significantly impact the team work of my team simply by calling out "Follow <high shooter>" at the beginning of the match then going there myself. That generates wins... not 100% of course but it matters appreciably. When I am playing to win I do this every single match because it matters. If I choose to stay silent instead, am I "tanking"? I'm doing nothing different from my team mates. I'm just not doing something better. I'm content with that.... at least as content as I can be with the current rewards system.

When my gear pushes up to a level where I think I'm matching much more reasonably then I'll push up higher and see how that goes. I expect the same pattern to repeat indefinitely. Optimum rewards occur fighting somewhat below your actual capability. Periodically I will push up to test my capabilities but then revert to a more optimum grinding infamy.

 

Cowboy time it is then. Yippee Ki Yay, motherboater!!
Just please don't highlight me in a post if we meet in battle and I don't recognize you.

 

LOLOLolololol......

Do what I do. Give the team a few moments to see if they'll be organized. If so, then go ahead and play top shelf. In the end you'll need to win some anyway so why not throw your weight behind the people who really deserve it? Besides, that's the easiest time to generate a win anyway. I've also been known to pick up my gameplay substantially when the team impresses me for whatever reason. Like if I pull out on a solo mission and they actually string along behind in some rational order I'll change it from a solo mission to a team attack and I'll play more cautiously... slow down to the let the defender get ahead, change my attack route, etc. Sometimes I just think, "Man, these guys deserve my best so I'll give it to them." Sometimes that happens half way through the match.

Frequently though, with my new "tanking tactic" I don't need to do anything different to generate the win. If the team is on the ball what happens is they capitalize on my scouting and the confusion my aggression causes much like they would with a speeder if they were any good. Both of those Pentakills were largely the result of an awesome fixer and at least one other team member who was actually in position when it mattered. Poor teams are too far back to do anything with the opportunity. They're still spraying torpedoes from their spawn point while I've made it all the way over to the enemy and am engaging.

 

lol, remember me. My setup was something like this(all f2p speeder):
lvl 30 rare mine, lvl 30 epic swift torp, lvl 20 epic overboost, lvl 7 epic frost launcher(could've gotten to lvl 30, but too much effort), lvl 30 rare turbo and bandage.

 

Sorry friend. I did say to upgrade your weapons as much as you captain training allows it. Getting a bigger boat is pretty obvious. I say this cos you might be good with your weapons and strategy but if you are facing boats 2 mk above your own and you are 2 shot for them, well no matter how good you are there is no other way. That's why there are different levels for every boat so you know it's time to upgrade. Only upgrading your gear will help you get up to a certain point but keep in mind the higher you go the higher tier weapons/ships you will face. Are you suggesting that you can go all the way with a mk2?
Upgrading gear takes time and resources. For that you need to play more or spend money if you want to. You can grind for it and while doing that learn how to play better in different situations. For now time is what you have so use it. There is no short cut to getting more infamy. If there was then I would like to know that as well.

 

Exactly. And at least in my experience the fastest way to do that, by far, is to fight at an infamy appropriate to your mark. For a M2 in the current mess that is infamy that equates to something like 400 or so. At that infamy level you'll get a steady stream of gold, sugar, pearls, and raffle tickets. Unfortunately, that conflicts with "getting better". But that's just the way it is.

When I'm grinding I blow through matches at light speed. I either win or I lose. I do so at an infamy level that allows me to win the guild quests with alternate, under-powered weapons. Matches are fast. The rewards for wins are good. I have money to buy parts from the shop.

Upgrading the boat is a bad solution because if your weapons and skill are not already up to snuff all that'll do is make the challenge even worse. The match making system will then think you're a "M+" ... whatever that means. If the OP was a legitimate new M3 he's be fighting other M3's that are alt boats from higher level players and they'll be loaded with epic stuff. That's why the mark of the boat is more a hindrance than a help.

When there are M5's routinely found at <500 infamy you have to invent new strategies because the obvious one of "fight hard, win, get gear, advance" simply doesn't work. I tried it. It bankrupted me in a day and slowed my progression to a near halt.

 

...and of course I just hit 16 and upgraded to Mk3.

 

I wouldn't worry about it too much. But in the future consider your gear level before you upgrade. Take a look at the higher level players you see in your matches that are in your new mark and see what they have. Try not to be too far below that. For instance, getting that new blue slot doesn't help much if you don't have a reasonable shield ready to put in it.

It's kind of what I'm doing with my speeder right now. I'm upgrading all the stuff on it. But I won't swap over until the gear on it is R-25'ish and the boat is M4.