Playing With Friends, Groups, and Teams: Know Your Role

Know Your Role
I will not post a lot here about that since there are guides out there that cover this in better detail, but knowing your role and what your mech chassis is good at it is important so you do not die all the time like I do.

If you have found better role guides please give me links to them and I will post them here too:

Light Mechs
Light Mechs are the smallest mechs on the field (20 - 35 tons) and have the low targeting profile. They usually act primarily as scouts and as harassers of larger mechs, as well as a counter to opposing light mechs. A really important job for Scouts is spotting. Press the freaking "R" key to lock onto and target a mech so your LRM boats can rain their beautiful pitter-patttering down. Light Mechs have considerably less armor than all other mechs and can take a lot less damage that other mechs, so the gratuitous use of speed and cover is really important for your survival. One of their primary advantages is speed, not only land speed, but also in torso twist. Lighter mechs go faster and twist faster than heavier mechs. A talented light mech pilot can can out maneuver a larger mech to death. Remember you only have to go slightly faster than the mech you are attacking.

List of Light Mechs in Game:

Medium Mechs
Medium Mechs (40 - 55 tons) are the workhorse of a drop lance. They can fill almost any role: heavy scout, scout hunter, flanker, striker, support. Mediums can fit about anything in their mechs from AC20's and gauss rifles to small lasers and machine guns, and still have a a considerable amount of armor on a mobile platform. They can take more damage than a light, but have a larger targeting profile too. In general, they move slower than scouts, but faster than heavy and assault mechs which give them an advantage. They still need to keep in mind their surroundings so they can use the cover to their advantage to protect themselves from larger mechs or long range weapons (ie LRMs). A LRM barrage or 4 can really ruin their day and allow a light or other mech to finish you off if you are not careful. Work in tandem with another mech of any size or consider drafting after a larger brawler mech.

List of Medium Mechs in Game:

Heavy Mechs
Heavy Mechs (60 - 75 tons) bring a lot of armor and weapons to the field and pack a powerful punch in a slower chassis which, in some cases, may need the protection of the lighter mechs. They are slower in land speed and in torso twisting, so a talented light or medium mech can really ruin their day. They can bring a lot more weapons to bear than even the medium chassis and can take considerably more punishment. Larger, longer ranged and and heavier damaging weapons tend to find themselves on these mechs. Never find yourself isolated or you will get shredded.

List of Heavy Mechs in Game:

Assault Mechs
Assault Mechs (80 - 100 tons) are roving and heavily armored platforms of destruction raining down devastation on their enemies. Assault mechs are the pinnacle of destrutive capabilities of mechs. They have a massive a targeting profile and are the slowest of all of the mechs so they are much easier to hit. They have the most armor and can carry an incredible array of weapons to destroy their enemies and to support their fellow teammates. They may be slow, but once they get there, someone's day is not going to be the same. Because they are the slowest mechs they will most likely need some assistance from other lighter mechs' to protect them from other light mechs. Never find yourself isolated or you will get shredded. I am not kidding at all.

List of Assault Mechs in Game:

Lance Roles
In a lance there are 3 basic roles: recon, striker, support.

Recon/Skirmisher
Mechs who specialize in recon tend to be light and medium mechs. To really excel at this you will need speed (100kph+) and a heavy use of your targeting key "R", which will get you experience if you are the first to spot a target, and a continuous lock will allow your LRM to fire on them. Hit "R" for rain people. DO IT!!! As a recon pilot you will have 4 basic and very important functions:

Intel
You need to let your lance mates know what the mechs are and where they are. When you encounter 1 or more enemy mechs quickly press "R" and to cycle through all enemy mechs so that your team has an idea of how many contacts you have found. Call out what the mechs are and where they are located, and where they are headed, especially if you are using voice comms. Also let them know if they are protecting their base, camping at the ridge-line or if they have any other peculiar formation: LRMs in the back, etc...

Targeting
Your job is also to lock on to targets so that your LRM boats can rain their death down upon them. Press "R" for rain. Also, now with Narc (missile hardpoint) and TAG (energy hardpoint) you can help target designate and make LRMs for your team even more effective by the use of these tools.

Harrassment
You can also split the opposing forces by harrassing their mechs and pulling their attention to you instead of the rest of your team mates. This can also be accomplished by attempting to cap their base or move threaten other tactical objectives (base) or mechs. Attempt to harass LRM boats and sniping mechs (Gauss, AC2s, PPCs). This is really important, but be careful they usually have friends. If they come to assist their sniper/LRM boat then take a break and come back to let them know you care.

Counter Harassment
It is also your job to act scout hunter and to protect the heavier mechs from the evil predations of the more maneuverable lighter mechs. Also, if you see the warning saying that you base is being attacked, it is generally the job of the light and fast mechs to take care of this issue. Base protection is really important. Losing due to base cap really annoys me.

Striker/Brawler
Mechs engage in short range to medium devastation. High damage and high armor. Massive damage is the name of the game. For the lighter mechs in this role, speed is a very important factor to your survivability, and your ability to focus and target your strikes on weak parts of their armor, or or disable their more potent weapons. Heavier mechs just bring large damage focused onto one mech to disable it quickly especially after lighter mechs have focused fire on one section, and the LRM boats have worn down their armor. Also, now with Narc (missile hardpoint) and TAG (energy hardpoint) you can help target designate and make LRMs for your team even more effective by the use of these tools. It is almost easier for these mechs to do so since they are all up in the grill of the enemy mechs and will be able to maintain Line of Sight (LoS) to them longer.

Heavy Support (Direct and Indirect)
Heavy Support Mechs engage in long range support whether through either direct or indirect fire with such weapons as LRM's for indirect fire support and Gauss Rifles, PPC's, large lasers, and UAC's for long range direct fire support. This class tends to be dominated by heavy and assault mechs who have the tonnage to support a variety of such weapons. Direct fire support mechs can harass the LRM boats from a distance that may be assaulting your lance mates or they can help to take down the mechs to which your unit is focusing fire on. You will also most likely need the assistance of lighter mechs to keep other strikers and scouts from tearing you apart. It is your job to wear down the enemy so the rest of your team can tear them apart.