The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
Please vote in the Forum Structure Poll. Polling will close at 2PM EST on January 21, 2025.
[BATTLETECH/MechWarrior] Old thread, like the carcass of a cored-out Locust.
anyone got some good build suggestions for the Orion 0N1K, the Thunderbolt 5SE or Wolverine WVR-6R? Just got one of each of them and I'm still puzzling over ideal builds for some of the heavier mechs
I've been using a LRM boat Jagermech, a Trebuchet for my scout with mostly lasers and some SRMs, an AC20 Centurion and a Kintaro SRM brawler
I still haven't touched the loadouts on the starting mechs, and when I try to take out a sensor-locked vehicle with LRMs it feels faster to just waddle over there and stomp on it.
LRMs are just not very effective against vehicles. They aren't affected by stability damage, LRMs main benefit, and they spread damage over the whole target. Even massed LRMs alone generally won't kill the 60+ ton vehicles. I can fire over 100 missiles at an 80 tonner and take off maybe half it's armor. If lrms all you've got to hit it with, they're better than nothing, but try to use direct fire weapons, the bigger, the better, and preferrably to any side but the front. Melee does double damage to vehicles which is why it's so effective.
Counterpoint: I can hide my entire lance behind cover, Sensor Lock with one, and rain an LRM80 on any dangerous vehicles (with two mediums and a heavy, atm) without fear of reprisal.
60 ton vehicles pop pretty fast when subjected to upwards of 320 damage per turn. I'll let you know when I start running into the 80 tonners (where my missile count will likely be higher) about how that goes.
Honestly you generate morale so fast mid-late game, it's worth it to just do called shots with the LRMs and burn through a side section of the 80/100 ton tanks.
I've seen some reports of precision strike not working properly with vehicles, dunno if that's true.
Vehicles is pretty much the reason to have guns instead of just missileboats. Guns seem to have a much better chance of punching through a particular sideplate on vehicles.
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
I still haven't touched the loadouts on the starting mechs, and when I try to take out a sensor-locked vehicle with LRMs it feels faster to just waddle over there and stomp on it.
LRMs are just not very effective against vehicles. They aren't affected by stability damage, LRMs main benefit, and they spread damage over the whole target. Even massed LRMs alone generally won't kill the 60+ ton vehicles. I can fire over 100 missiles at an 80 tonner and take off maybe half it's armor. If lrms all you've got to hit it with, they're better than nothing, but try to use direct fire weapons, the bigger, the better, and preferrably to any side but the front. Melee does double damage to vehicles which is why it's so effective.
Counterpoint: I can hide my entire lance behind cover, Sensor Lock with one, and rain an LRM80 on any dangerous vehicles (with two mediums and a heavy, atm) without fear of reprisal.
60 ton vehicles pop pretty fast when subjected to upwards of 320 damage per turn. I'll let you know when I start running into the 80 tonners (where my missile count will likely be higher) about how that goes.
Honestly you generate morale so fast mid-late game, it's worth it to just do called shots with the LRMs and burn through a side section of the 80/100 ton tanks.
I've seen some reports of precision strike not working properly with vehicles, dunno if that's true.
I haven't noticed that at all, but I guess it could be a thing?
Guys I think I have found the single douchiest Kickstarter pilot
Was one of the backer rewards getting to have your shitty self-insert fanfiction included in the game?
edit: Apparently yes. I feel bad for whatever college aged kid submitted that and will look back later in life and snap their own neck cringing at the memory.
Guys I think I have found the single douchiest Kickstarter pilot
Was one of the backer rewards getting to have your shitty self-insert fanfiction included in the game?
edit: Apparently yes. I feel bad for whatever college aged kid submitted that and will look back later in life and snap their own neck cringing at the memory.
Actually, yes.
Somebody spent at least $2,000 dollars to get their space weeaboo canonized in the BT game.
Guys I think I have found the single douchiest Kickstarter pilot
Was one of the backer rewards getting to have your shitty self-insert fanfiction included in the game?
edit: Apparently yes. I feel bad for whatever college aged kid submitted that and will look back later in life and snap their own neck cringing at the memory.
Actually, yes.
Somebody spent at least $2,000 dollars to get their space weeaboo canonized in the BT game.
Guys I think I have found the single douchiest Kickstarter pilot
Was one of the backer rewards getting to have your shitty self-insert fanfiction included in the game?
edit: Apparently yes. I feel bad for whatever college aged kid submitted that and will look back later in life and snap their own neck cringing at the memory.
Actually, yes.
Somebody spent at least $2,000 dollars to get their space weeaboo canonized in the BT game.
This is almost as good as the Backer for J.U.L.I.A. Among The Stars who thought the best possible name for his Kickstarter character was Necrosis Thanatos.
+4
Tynnanseldom correct, never unsureRegistered Userregular
Any chance it's a joke?
(please let it be a joke)
0
3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
Nah, the name is trying too hard to be authentically Japanese sounding for it to be a joke. That person definitely posts about GLORIOUS NIPPON STEEL, FOLDED ONE THOUSAND TIMES completely unironically.
3cl1ps3 on
+1
Tynnanseldom correct, never unsureRegistered Userregular
Guys I think I have found the single douchiest Kickstarter pilot
Was one of the backer rewards getting to have your shitty self-insert fanfiction included in the game?
edit: Apparently yes. I feel bad for whatever college aged kid submitted that and will look back later in life and snap their own neck cringing at the memory.
Somewhere in the Paradox forum thread for locating Kickstarter pilots is that very individual. They did, in fact, bemoan their teen self for making it so very cringe-worthy.
The long delivery time has allowed that particular vengenace to be realised at release, as their later in life is...now.
Guys I think I have found the single douchiest Kickstarter pilot
Was one of the backer rewards getting to have your shitty self-insert fanfiction included in the game?
edit: Apparently yes. I feel bad for whatever college aged kid submitted that and will look back later in life and snap their own neck cringing at the memory.
Somewhere in the Paradox forum thread for locating Kickstarter pilots is that very individual. They did, in fact, bemoan their teen self for making it so very cringe-worthy.
The long delivery time has allowed that particular vengenace to be realised at release, as their later in life is...now.
Tynnanseldom correct, never unsureRegistered Userregular
edited May 2018
Hey folks, I found my voice and recorded myself where I talk through my decision-making process playing a 4.5-rated Hard Target mission, run with a 4-pip lance of Assault-Heavy-Heavy-Medium mechs.
Video description writeup:
There's a really wide range of game experiences being relayed on G&T and SE++, and I think a lot of that comes down to differences in decision-making during missions. How to read the map, where to travel, where to position your mechs, who to target, how to use knockdowns, how to manage heat, how to utilize facing to avoid losing structure and components, and so forth. There are a bunch of these little decisions to make during even a simple mission, and they can add up to very different experiences over the course of the game. It's the difference between having a week of mech bay repairs or a month of costly refits, or the difference between getting three pieces of assault salvage versus going home with scraps.
The game doesn't do a great job of educating new players about how to make these decisions, or even that they exist to be made, so I thought I would record myself going through a mission while I talk about the decisions I'm making as I make them. I could have dropped into this map with more tonnage, but I wanted to present a lance that didn't simply vaporize its targets each round. Likewise, my Argo has all the morale upgrades, so I chose to sparingly use morale abilities to mimic a more appropriate situation to the mid-game. I don't play perfectly here, and I talk about a few mistakes I make as they happen, but I hope folks find this useful and enjoyable!
It's a long video, but the first third has the most interesting stuff. The back half is more cleanup than battle and there's less to learn there.
anyone got some good build suggestions for the Orion 0N1K, the Thunderbolt 5SE or Wolverine WVR-6R? Just got one of each of them and I'm still puzzling over ideal builds for some of the heavier mechs
I've been using a LRM boat Jagermech, a Trebuchet for my scout with mostly lasers and some SRMs, an AC20 Centurion and a Kintaro SRM brawler
I reeeeeeally like the Thunderbolt in this game.
Whatever else you do, fit 4 jumpjets.
I'm running the 5SE with SRMs, PPC, and a pile of heatsinks. Don't remember if I bothered to fit support weapons/MLs.
anyone got some good build suggestions for the Orion 0N1K, the Thunderbolt 5SE or Wolverine WVR-6R? Just got one of each of them and I'm still puzzling over ideal builds for some of the heavier mechs
I've been using a LRM boat Jagermech, a Trebuchet for my scout with mostly lasers and some SRMs, an AC20 Centurion and a Kintaro SRM brawler
The Wolverine WVR-6R is kind of a bad mech. It can be a semi-decent LRM boat, but the Griffin 1N is better in every way in the same weight class and the missile Jager is just...better.
The Thunderbolt 5SE can be kitted out as a dedicated LRM boat (much like a catapult) or it can use SRMs and lasers, duking it out at mid-range.
The Orion is a pretty great mech, though my personal favorite is the ON1-V. It can be kitted out in many different ways. It can be a AC-20 boat, it can be a long range support mech with AC/5 (or PPC) and LRMs, it can be a midranging SRM/Laser boat. It's pretty much a 80-tonner fast assault mech in everything but armorpotential. You will not get something nastier than the ON1-K/V until you get a Highlander or Stalker.
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
So. A few short notes on various types of weapons in Battletech:
LRMs:
The LRM5, LRM15 and LRM20 are roughly equivalent. It might not seem so (due to weight differences etc), but it's basicly like this.
1. All LRMs take up 1 slot per 5 missiles.
2. LRM20s and LRM15s are heavier than LRM5s per missiles fired (LRM20 more so than LRM15), but that's because they have built in Heatsinks. Actually slightly better than normal heatsinks because it's better to not generate heat in the first place. Try it yourself by building a 60 missile salvo and then heatbalancing the various builds. Also, bigger launchers means fewer hardpoints used.
3. LRM10s suck. 1 LRM10 has 100% more missiles, generate 100% more heat but it weighs 150% more. Yeah. It sucks. Don't use it. Conclusion: Avoid LRM10s. Smaller mechs (where total heat is less of an issue) should generally use LRM5s, singly or in pairs, since it has the best damage/ton. Once you're generating 30+ heat with all your weapons in the long rangeband LRM15s and LRM20s are roughly equivalent, with LRM15s having an advantage in cold regions and LRM20s an advantage in hot regions.
SRMs
While all SRM launchers are equal in terms of weight they're not equivalent in heat. SRM2s generate 3 heat per missile, while SRM4s only generate 2 heat per missile. SRM6s are basically a mashed together SRM4 and SRM2. SRM6s do have the advantage that it's the maximum amount of missiles per hardpoint.
The loadout principle for SRMs should be:
1. Fill out your hardpoints with SRM4s
2. Add sufficient ammo (6-15 full salvos is generally ideal. Closer to 15 the more you rely on SRMs to deal your damage for you).
3. Do you still have heat/weight left for more missiles. Replace SRM4s with SRM6s until satisfied.
Support weapons:
So Small laser or MG? Well, basically it depends on what you're going to use them for, and how many. Small lasers generate more damage per ton, but fire only one shot and generate heat. MGs fire 5 shots, have a bonus to crit (so they're amazing critseekers) but require ammo. And this heat vs ammo thing is really important. 1 ton of ammo for a ½ ton weapon is WAY overkill, and you'll basicly need to use 4+ MGs to even hope to make a dent in your ammo supply. On the other hand Small lasers start to generate significant amounts of heat once you have 3 or 4 of them. At the same time you have to take the heat from the rest of your arsenal into account, because once you need heatsinks a small laser basicly needs two heatsinks to compensate for the heat generated. Not so efficient.
My rule of thumb:
1. If you have a single Support weapon hardpoint, always use Small lasers. It has the best damage per ton of any weapon and 5 heat is piddly.
2. At 2 hardpoints you have to ask yourself, am I running a very cool or a very hot mech? Am I even going to use my small lasers outside melee? The hotter your mech is the more it favors using MGs.
3. At 4+ hardpoints you should probably use MGs. The Firestarter for example will use its support hardpoints mainly for short ranged damage, and since it runs very hot with its huge array of energy weapons it should probably use MGs. A Grasshopper should probably also use MGs, since it will probably use 6 of them. A shadowhawk on the other hand should probably use Small Lasers.
ACs:
The useful ACs seem to be AC/20 and AC/5.
The AC/5 is like a slightly heavier but much cooler PPC, and an ideal weapon for long range sniping. Especially if you're going to mount two of them since 2xPPCs is like rolling in molten lava.
The AC/2 and AC/10 on the other hand seem to have very pathetic advantages over the AC/5 at a huge cost in damage/ton. Comparing the AC/2 and AC/5...The AC/5 is 33% more weight for almost 100% more damage? Sign me up, because 540 meters is plenty of range. The more ammo per ton isn't really significant between the AC/2 and AC/5.
The AC/20 is another huge leap in damage over the AC/10, this at a very small extra cost in terms of tonnage. Also, the intimidation factor of the AC/20 is significant
Guys I think I have found the single douchiest Kickstarter pilot
*snip*
Was one of the backer rewards getting to have your shitty self-insert fanfiction included in the game?
edit: Apparently yes. I feel bad for whatever college aged kid submitted that and will look back later in life and snap their own neck cringing at the memory.
Somewhere in the Paradox forum thread for locating Kickstarter pilots is that very individual. They did, in fact, bemoan their teen self for making it so very cringe-worthy. The long delivery time has allowed that particular vengeance to be realized at release, as their later in life is...now.
This sounds like something Jerry would write; are you Jerry in disguise?!?
Wondering if I should drop Medusa, he's got tactic's 9 but I grabbed the Piloting skill for extra evasion. It's just not paying off even close to bulwark here in the late game.
Wondering if I should drop Medusa, he's got tactic's 9 but I grabbed the Piloting skill for extra evasion. It's just not paying off even close to bulwark here in the late game.
Eh, I use Evasion much more than I use Bulwark. The number of rounds that I stood still and just fired weapons are ones I can count on my fingers. Positioning and movement means a LOT more to me than soaking damage, especially since you can't rotate your 'Mechs if you stand still (and if you want to rotate out a 'Mech while having another 'Mech become the new tank, you have to retreat with the rest of your 'Mechs, which isn't always the best tactical option).
Really, my entire frontline* of pilots is Master Tactician + one other skill, and their specialization really molds what I have them do during combat. Sure, the Evasion pip is only -5%, but it's -5% that you can use if you move all the time, as opposed to Bulwark, which only works if you stand still, and only from the front/side arcs.
I seem to play a much different game than the general consensus on the Internet, though, and I feel like I've had a really easy time of it.
* Note: I have 9 Pilots, and I did spread out their specializations just to have them available, except for Juggernaut, because Juggernaut is horrible.
Wondering if I should drop Medusa, he's got tactic's 9 but I grabbed the Piloting skill for extra evasion. It's just not paying off even close to bulwark here in the late game.
Eh, I use Evasion much more than I use Bulwark. The number of rounds that I stood still and just fired weapons are ones I can count on my fingers. Positioning and movement means a LOT more to me than soaking damage, especially since you can't rotate your 'Mechs if you stand still (and if you want to rotate out a 'Mech while having another 'Mech become the new tank, you have to retreat with the rest of your 'Mechs, which isn't always the best tactical option).
Really, my entire frontline* of pilots is Master Tactician + one other skill, and their specialization really molds what I have them do during combat. Sure, the Evasion pip is only -5%, but it's -5% that you can use if you move all the time, as opposed to Bulwark, which only works if you stand still, and only from the front/side arcs.
I seem to play a much different game than the general consensus on the Internet, though, and I feel like I've had a really easy time of it.
* Note: I have 9 Pilots, and I did spread out their specializations just to have them available, except for Juggernaut, because Juggernaut is horrible.
I have a mix of both. I have a Grasshopper with a +1 Hit Defense Gyro, and maxed evasion, jumping all over the place frustrating attackers. Then I usually have my Highlander Bulwarked raining death down. When I do move my Highlander, I usually jumpjet and Vigilance.
I had a Black Knight I was relying on Bulwark for, but I've since swapped it out for a Battlemaster, and I'm thinking focusing more on Evasion for it might work better. Especially since it has so much short range weaponry.
For my missile boat, I've gravitated towards Breach Shot and that's honestly all I care about. Sensor sweep is wasted because then it's not shooting. Evasion is blah because it rarely moves. Bulwark is equally blah because it's rarely exposed to fire. Oh well.
Posts
I've been using a LRM boat Jagermech, a Trebuchet for my scout with mostly lasers and some SRMs, an AC20 Centurion and a Kintaro SRM brawler
I've seen some reports of precision strike not working properly with vehicles, dunno if that's true.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
It's a struggle for some missions but having great time so far. I got lucky and got a Jagger which made things easier.
I haven't noticed that at all, but I guess it could be a thing?
Wait, you HIRED him?
Also, I see that you hired God.
You need someone to toss in the Spider. That death trap isn't going to pilot itself.
this was my thought process exactly
Was one of the backer rewards getting to have your shitty self-insert fanfiction included in the game?
edit: Apparently yes. I feel bad for whatever college aged kid submitted that and will look back later in life and snap their own neck cringing at the memory.
Actually, yes.
Somebody spent at least $2,000 dollars to get their space weeaboo canonized in the BT game.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/webeharebrained/battletech
This is almost as good as the Backer for J.U.L.I.A. Among The Stars who thought the best possible name for his Kickstarter character was Necrosis Thanatos.
(please let it be a joke)
Nah, the name is trying too hard to be authentically Japanese sounding for it to be a joke. That person definitely posts about GLORIOUS NIPPON STEEL, FOLDED ONE THOUSAND TIMES completely unironically.
edit for below:
:tell_me_more:
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
Somewhere in the Paradox forum thread for locating Kickstarter pilots is that very individual. They did, in fact, bemoan their teen self for making it so very cringe-worthy.
The long delivery time has allowed that particular vengenace to be realised at release, as their later in life is...now.
Goodreads
SF&F Reviews blog
This is the most beautiful circle of life.
PSN: Bizazedo
CFN: Bizazedo (I don't think I suck, add me).
Shivers is going places in the Butters' Bottom Bitches mercenary group.
And play it as a lance of the Oosik Irregulars.
So your assault scout goes ahead and dies while the mediums/heavies take out the rest of the enemy forces?
Steam: betsuni7
Video description writeup:
The game doesn't do a great job of educating new players about how to make these decisions, or even that they exist to be made, so I thought I would record myself going through a mission while I talk about the decisions I'm making as I make them. I could have dropped into this map with more tonnage, but I wanted to present a lance that didn't simply vaporize its targets each round. Likewise, my Argo has all the morale upgrades, so I chose to sparingly use morale abilities to mimic a more appropriate situation to the mid-game. I don't play perfectly here, and I talk about a few mistakes I make as they happen, but I hope folks find this useful and enjoyable!
It's a long video, but the first third has the most interesting stuff. The back half is more cleanup than battle and there's less to learn there.
@Aridhol
Why do you wound me so?
Hey, you were the one to follow my Cyclops into battle!
Steam: betsuni7
I reeeeeeally like the Thunderbolt in this game.
Whatever else you do, fit 4 jumpjets.
I'm running the 5SE with SRMs, PPC, and a pile of heatsinks. Don't remember if I bothered to fit support weapons/MLs.
The Wolverine WVR-6R is kind of a bad mech. It can be a semi-decent LRM boat, but the Griffin 1N is better in every way in the same weight class and the missile Jager is just...better.
The Thunderbolt 5SE can be kitted out as a dedicated LRM boat (much like a catapult) or it can use SRMs and lasers, duking it out at mid-range.
The Orion is a pretty great mech, though my personal favorite is the ON1-V. It can be kitted out in many different ways. It can be a AC-20 boat, it can be a long range support mech with AC/5 (or PPC) and LRMs, it can be a midranging SRM/Laser boat. It's pretty much a 80-tonner fast assault mech in everything but armorpotential. You will not get something nastier than the ON1-K/V until you get a Highlander or Stalker.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
A nice weapon analysis from the SE++ thread.
Ah but why not both.
At times I regret having but 4 Machine guns to shoot at mechs faces.
This sounds like something Jerry would write; are you Jerry in disguise?!?
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
Really, my entire frontline* of pilots is Master Tactician + one other skill, and their specialization really molds what I have them do during combat. Sure, the Evasion pip is only -5%, but it's -5% that you can use if you move all the time, as opposed to Bulwark, which only works if you stand still, and only from the front/side arcs.
I seem to play a much different game than the general consensus on the Internet, though, and I feel like I've had a really easy time of it.
* Note: I have 9 Pilots, and I did spread out their specializations just to have them available, except for Juggernaut, because Juggernaut is horrible.
I see the health insurance industry still sucks in a thousand years.
I have a mix of both. I have a Grasshopper with a +1 Hit Defense Gyro, and maxed evasion, jumping all over the place frustrating attackers. Then I usually have my Highlander Bulwarked raining death down. When I do move my Highlander, I usually jumpjet and Vigilance.
I had a Black Knight I was relying on Bulwark for, but I've since swapped it out for a Battlemaster, and I'm thinking focusing more on Evasion for it might work better. Especially since it has so much short range weaponry.
For my missile boat, I've gravitated towards Breach Shot and that's honestly all I care about. Sensor sweep is wasted because then it's not shooting. Evasion is blah because it rarely moves. Bulwark is equally blah because it's rarely exposed to fire. Oh well.