Gotcha. I should probably create a few builds of mechs I have and try them out in quick action.
I wish there was a way to "test a build" in a quick action drop right from the Career Mode Mech Lab. Kinda like using the Testing Ground in MWO.
Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries: Solaris Showdown
- Thread starter Drew J
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Gotcha. I should probably create a few builds of mechs I have and try them out in quick action.
I wish there was a way to "test a build" in a quick action drop right from the Career Mode Mech Lab. Kinda like using the Testing Ground in MWO.
I've honestly never used the Chem lasers... I don't even know if I have picked up a 'Mech with those standard in any of my playthroughs. I do, however, like the Rifles, and I tend to use them in the place of ACs when I want to fit more other stuff on a 'Mech (or fit more overall rounds in, like on the RFL-DNA). They are definitely slow-firing, and I tend to be more careful lining up my shots when using them.
Chem lasers are just low-heat lasers that require ammo, and have slightly shorter ranges (generally, and depending on mods.) Baradul tried them and was not impressed; not a lot of reason to use them over standard lasers. Other than maybe meme-builds for hot planet drops.
Makes sense.
I was actually on a short burst laser kick for a while, but I think they only help on certain builds.
E.g. I have found my AI companions do decent in Vulcan with 4 ML-SB and a machine gun. No jump jets and max armor plus extra heat sinks.
There will be better mechs when I am further into the career, but they do OK with those and they are just as fast with more armor than, say, a Javelin with 4 MLs...
Oh you're DEFINITELY not wrong. 2 large lasers and only 10 heat sinks? WTF? and only 20 shots for 2 guns?
IMO, they had art and the basic original box set rules, and "liberating" art assets left them in a bit of a quandary. Double heat sinks fix a lot, and sometimes I wonder if TR 2750 and then the Clan books weren't a way out of some horrible designs. I'm still waiting on a Crusader
That's another mech with WAY more firepower than it had heat for. Wasp with bolt ons, literally.I had both Gladiator and Defender Destroid models in 1/72 before Battletech released (there was no MAC 2, sadly), try to imagine my childish glee at running a Gladiator into a melee, SRMing the FUCK out of something, and then literally BEATING IT TO DEATH. Look at its HANDS.
I may occasionally suffer from excesses of fanboyish glee, ok?
Sue me, I'm running Destroid DEATH and I like it.*hits inhaler*
I have to say, the increased number of biomes, and the increased number of mission types makes the game feel a lot different (and better) with the DLC.
One day I'd really love a Battletech game that blends the sim and strategy world better and has some real persistence.
For example, something where you start off as a merc or even member of a regular military unit. Maybe you are part of a defense element on some back water planet so you are in a light/medium mech. You're the only mech on the base with maybe some fixed defenses and light armored vehicle for support. You have to fend off some pirate patrols. Then you find out those pirates are really mercs that are impersonating pirate/raiders as a precursor to an invasion by a House army.
So, you kind of rank up through the missions and get more control to do stuff like build onto your base. You have to do/take on missions like protecting resources being transported. Those resources are what give you salvage from past battles and resources to build out your base. Maybe you can have multiple bases.
Maybe you can grow your mech force and sprinkle them around at various bases, and when you take missions in that area of the planet you can only use those mechs.
You could have a "hell" mode or whatever that increases the realism so that salvage is the only way you can repair your mechs. Don't want to keep that 17th Locust? Fine, you can scrap the thing to peel off the couple tons of armor and that's what you can use/stockpile to repair your own. Maybe you need to scrap mechs to have materials to make new emplacements and stuff like that.
I want to feel like I just fended off a planetary invasion with my plucky little crew.
One day I'd really love a Battletech game that blends the sim and strategy world better and has some real persistence.
For example, something where you start off as a merc or even member of a regular military unit. Maybe you are part of a defense element on some back water planet so you are in a light/medium mech. You're the only mech on the base with maybe some fixed defenses and light armored vehicle for support. You have to fend off some pirate patrols. Then you find out those pirates are really mercs that are impersonating pirate/raiders as a precursor to an invasion by a House army.
So, you kind of rank up through the missions and get more control to do stuff like build onto your base. You have to do/take on missions like protecting resources being transported. Those resources are what give you salvage from past battles and resources to build out your base. Maybe you can have multiple bases.
Maybe you can grow your mech force and sprinkle them around at various bases, and when you take missions in that area of the planet you can only use those mechs.
You could have a "hell" mode or whatever that increases the realism so that salvage is the only way you can repair your mechs. Don't want to keep that 17th Locust? Fine, you can scrap the thing to peel off the couple tons of armor and that's what you can use/stockpile to repair your own. Maybe you need to scrap mechs to have materials to make new emplacements and stuff like that.
I want to feel like I just fended off a planetary invasion with my plucky little crew.
I mean, HBS Battletech is basically that, though likely not quite to your imagining of it.
And there are various modsets that make it so you basically get like 3, 4 Battletech games in one.
And there are various modsets that make it so you basically get like 3, 4 Battletech games in one.
The main campaign is on the same planet, but the missions are so spread out they don't really feel that different then when you are planet hopping through the inner sphere. Same with MW5's main campaign quest.
I'll have to take a look at some mods then, but are you talking mods for MW5 or for HBS Battletech?
I mean, both, but I was more specifically referencing HBS Battletech mods for making the game more or less like tabletop, more or less rogue-like, etc.
And the HBS BTech campaign takes you all over a small area of the periphery, in the most-Battletech story ever. Betrayal, double-betrayal, destroying Star League era caches because fuck that other guy right in his eyeball, the works.
I mean, both, but I was more specifically referencing HBS Battletech mods for making the game more or less like tabletop, more or less rogue-like, etc.
And the HBS BTech campaign takes you all over a small area of the periphery, in the most-Battletech story ever. Betrayal, double-betrayal, destroying Star League era caches because fuck that other guy right in his eyeball, the works.
Yeah, you're right. I beat HBS Battletech, but it was a while ago. You do go from planet to planet in that as well.
I remember liking the campaign, I just feel like it would be more immersive if it wasn't as spread out.
I will look at the HBS mods and see what's out there.
OK, so the Legend of the Kestrel Lancers DLC is actually pretty good. I like the story, the pacing, etc.
I think my merc company is a bit too well stocked for it so I am what I guess is about mid-way through and am pretty much crushing it.
I've been reading through some of the modding guides and I'm trying to decide if I have the time to try and make a mod...
I think my merc company is a bit too well stocked for it so I am what I guess is about mid-way through and am pretty much crushing it.
I've been reading through some of the modding guides and I'm trying to decide if I have the time to try and make a mod...
New MW game announced by PGI. However, it sounds like it will be very heavily based on MW5, possibly to the point where it could have been another DLC... They are currently in the process of putting out another DLC for the current MW5, so not sure when this is likely to surface.
I... had no idea there was a DLC 4 coming, much less this month! The new DLC sounds interesting, so I will probably buy it and try it. And as long as the new MW game isn't EGS exclusive, I'll probably buy it.
Thanks for the info on both!
Thanks for the info on both!
Calling it now: MechWarrior 5.5 6 will be set in 3050 and some marginally improved graphics and a bunch of new bugs.
It has been a little while since I looked at mods for MW5. If I remember correctly, most mods last updated prior to the latest DLC release will not work, even with vanilla. New DLC releases always seem to break mod compatibility, though I don't have any insight as to how or why. So, thanks to the DLC release yesterday, it'll probably take some time before many mods get updated to work with the latest update.
I think each DLC offers a lot. Career mode is my preferred way to play, which Heroes of the Inner Sphere helped facilitate. Legend of the Kestrel Lancers has a neat self-contained storyline, along with some new biomes that I thought were good additions. Call to Arms adds melee weapons and the Hatchetman and more biomes, which I guess isn't as much as the other two. The newest, Rise of Rasalhague, I have not yet purchased or played it (especially since it just released yesterday). But it sounds like it's also a good addition, between a new storyline, the Crusader 'Mech, and the Rival Mercenaries feature.
I think each DLC offers a lot. Career mode is my preferred way to play, which Heroes of the Inner Sphere helped facilitate. Legend of the Kestrel Lancers has a neat self-contained storyline, along with some new biomes that I thought were good additions. Call to Arms adds melee weapons and the Hatchetman and more biomes, which I guess isn't as much as the other two. The newest, Rise of Rasalhague, I have not yet purchased or played it (especially since it just released yesterday). But it sounds like it's also a good addition, between a new storyline, the Crusader 'Mech, and the Rival Mercenaries feature.
I don't know why but i loved the OG Crusader.. It's a beast if played well. But it is hard to and I admit to not being more then competent..
Really got me to understand Bracket builds.. Also due to the lack of infantry too many undervalue the MG.. Though 200 rounds given the AE rules is insane.. (For anything short of a Piranha. ) Edit: perspective only from TT.
Really got me to understand Bracket builds.. Also due to the lack of infantry too many undervalue the MG.. Though 200 rounds given the AE rules is insane.. (For anything short of a Piranha. ) Edit: perspective only from TT.
Went ahead and bought the package with Heroes of the Inner Sphere and Legend of Kestral Lancers. I'm back babayyy
I'd been sitting on this one awhile but finally started playing it. I'd done a few HBS BT campaigns so I had at least some ingrained habits that needed breaking. The big one is needing time and money to repair armor. The early game is so much more sluggish by starting you solo.
I suppose I could opt for a bit of game breaking by traveling to a high-ranked infiltration mission for some early game high c-bill payments. These tonnage restrictions seem kinda arbitrary, but then HBS BT did get kinda dumb without them. "Here's a three skull mission, but sure...drop full-assault. The enemy probably has a whole company for reinforcement anyway."
I suppose I could opt for a bit of game breaking by traveling to a high-ranked infiltration mission for some early game high c-bill payments. These tonnage restrictions seem kinda arbitrary, but then HBS BT did get kinda dumb without them. "Here's a three skull mission, but sure...drop full-assault. The enemy probably has a whole company for reinforcement anyway."
Against OG mechs it was very, very effective. Fast-ish with lots of front-loaded damage.
I also avoid facility defense missions for that reason. The dipshit AI just has no situational awareness of what’s in weapons effect range
I find the straight garrison missions tolerable, but the warzone/battlefield defense missions with "infinite spawn" can get fucked when the dropship is 2km from the defense area both for mission start and extraction.
But yeah, the AI-driven Warhammer is wasting heat popping PPCs off at close range targets. The Awesome, I get. When you have 3 PPCs and 1 SL...you make do.
I CHARGE MY RIFLEMAN INTO MELEE!!!
… That’s probably the later Succession Wars in a nutshell really. So period accurate AI?
… That’s probably the later Succession Wars in a nutshell really. So period accurate AI?
True enough, though my Rifleman's kept its arms more than the Warhammer or Crusader...
That is something that bugged me about MW5. The equipment and pilot pictures were really, really, REALLY advanced for being late 3rd Succession War. Like 3015, pilots were wearing their underwear and wired up bike helmets. Now they do make a big deal about gauss in the main campaign, but you still had a lot of assaults and high end heavies stomping around in game. I guess that a part of “giving people what they want” in a video game, but it contrasted with what I knew of Battletech in that era.
Eh, the core books had that as well, though. The same book that had that famous picture of the Mechwarrior "in their underwear with a wired-up bike helmet" - also had pictures of mechwarriors in something like a Krang-suit solid-metal power-armor type get-up.
The politics and military history aspect of Battletech is very, very well-written and detailed - and completely contradictory.
This is what happens when the books get passed around between authors and artists like the town bike.
In the last week or so, I completed the Kestral and Rasalhague DLCs as part of my campaign. Kestrel was great. You can get by starting with two lances between 200-300 tons. Each segment of the campaign is at an industrial world so you get plenty of repair time between missions and the mech markets are flush with appropriate tonnage mechs in ready-to-fight condition with stock, maybe T1 weaponry. The settings are kind of fun. One mission involves a cough rogue mercenary element cough that attacks an HPG station. Another involves fighting through the first Cataphract mech plant on Tikonov. They're fun local changes.
Rasalhague was...far more challenging. The starting tonnage in the preamble missions should be a warning, but you basically start at 350ish tons and go up from there. The limit maxes at 400 at or before the third planet. This campaign is a lot more punishing. You basically need to start the main campaign (Rasalhague, Gunzburg, Radastat?) rolling in with at least two full lances of assaults and then a lance of 70+ heavies or better. Come with at least eight or more pilots, too. You can't buy/repair/hire at the first planet and even when you get to planets 2 or 3 the time between missions means a mech losing anything more than armor is out for the rest of the Rasalhague campaign. Some missions feature three-way fights which is works okay-ish in MW5 but needed a little more cook time, IMHO. Proof of the DLC logistics challenge: you'll earn an AS7-D and a STK-3F during planet 2 that have no legs. You cannot repair them in time to use in the same DLC you earn them as reward.
I came out of Kestrel rocking a significant tonnage upgrade of great mechs and gear but I came out of Rasalhague...lacking. I went into that campaign already owning: AWS-8Q, AWS-8R, BLR-1G, STK-4N, BNC-3S?, CP-10-Q, and an AS7-D. I did get a CP-10-Z in good shape and the STK-3F for repairs, but I think I sold the damaged AS7-D reward. I am not really a fan of the vanilla hardpoints in MW5. I know YAML's a thing but I'm trying to finish one game unmodded. I'd never played a videogame that size-locked the hardpoints, so it's really annoying that most mechs really can't do much besides stock. I can't really convert either Cyclops to the massive SRM-zilla monster I had in HBS BT.
I'm back out trying to work on the main campaign again which is super annoying after Rasalhague since I was trying to get to the "west" edge of the Marik/Steiner border and Rasalhague drags you up to the coreward north twice. Ah well.
Rasalhague was...far more challenging. The starting tonnage in the preamble missions should be a warning, but you basically start at 350ish tons and go up from there. The limit maxes at 400 at or before the third planet. This campaign is a lot more punishing. You basically need to start the main campaign (Rasalhague, Gunzburg, Radastat?) rolling in with at least two full lances of assaults and then a lance of 70+ heavies or better. Come with at least eight or more pilots, too. You can't buy/repair/hire at the first planet and even when you get to planets 2 or 3 the time between missions means a mech losing anything more than armor is out for the rest of the Rasalhague campaign. Some missions feature three-way fights which is works okay-ish in MW5 but needed a little more cook time, IMHO. Proof of the DLC logistics challenge: you'll earn an AS7-D and a STK-3F during planet 2 that have no legs. You cannot repair them in time to use in the same DLC you earn them as reward.
I came out of Kestrel rocking a significant tonnage upgrade of great mechs and gear but I came out of Rasalhague...lacking. I went into that campaign already owning: AWS-8Q, AWS-8R, BLR-1G, STK-4N, BNC-3S?, CP-10-Q, and an AS7-D. I did get a CP-10-Z in good shape and the STK-3F for repairs, but I think I sold the damaged AS7-D reward. I am not really a fan of the vanilla hardpoints in MW5. I know YAML's a thing but I'm trying to finish one game unmodded. I'd never played a videogame that size-locked the hardpoints, so it's really annoying that most mechs really can't do much besides stock. I can't really convert either Cyclops to the massive SRM-zilla monster I had in HBS BT.
I'm back out trying to work on the main campaign again which is super annoying after Rasalhague since I was trying to get to the "west" edge of the Marik/Steiner border and Rasalhague drags you up to the coreward north twice. Ah well.
The way everyone is complaining about the difficulty of Rasalhague, you would think they would telegraph the lance requirements better up front. It sounds like you need far more resources and pilots than at any other point in the vanilla compaign to even have a hope.
Yeah, and it's so new that the only guides are video and one reddit "tips" thread.
I am running YAML for my first playthrough of Rasalhague. I just got to what I assume is the "main" portion of the Rasalhague DLC (haven't started the mission yet) and I don't have anything near what CPX has. I have the starting assault 'Mechs, but the other assaults I've collected (which amounts to maybe two Battlemasters and a Cyclops) are in storage because I can't find the engine cores anywhere!
Popular opinion suggests that you are fucked then. Let us know how that turns out.
I had a save for 18 days before the contract expired, so I tried a couple systems and got a 315 core for one of the Battlemasters. It's not ideal, but it hopefully should mean I can use it on one of these missions (assuming repairs are complete by then).
First mission went alright; I dropped an Awesome, a Victor, a Zeus, and a Warhammer. I only lost my Warhammer's right arm, and that was because a lance dropped right on top of us after the Dropship took and the AC/20 Hunchie focused on it. I sold the second Battlemaster and some other 'Mechs I'd collected and bought a pristine Battlemaster from the market. I did salvage a Stalker from the mission, but that won't be fixed in time.
I'm planning on doing at least the next mission today, so we'll see how it goes!
EDIT: Also, I found I don't have a Cyclops, my only assaults are the Awesome, Victor, Zeus, and two Battlemasters.
First mission went alright; I dropped an Awesome, a Victor, a Zeus, and a Warhammer. I only lost my Warhammer's right arm, and that was because a lance dropped right on top of us after the Dropship took and the AC/20 Hunchie focused on it. I sold the second Battlemaster and some other 'Mechs I'd collected and bought a pristine Battlemaster from the market. I did salvage a Stalker from the mission, but that won't be fixed in time.
I'm planning on doing at least the next mission today, so we'll see how it goes!
EDIT: Also, I found I don't have a Cyclops, my only assaults are the Awesome, Victor, Zeus, and two Battlemasters.
Oh, interesting. Looks like some mod changed it, because I was able to repair 'Mechs between Rasalhague and Predlitz, and I had 11 days of repair time after the first Predlitz mission.
First Predlitz mission (Beachhead) went about as well as it could have. I brought both Battlemasters, the Awesome, and the Zeus; no loss in weapons/limbs, though one of the Battlemaster units lost all of its RA armor. I was able to fit most of the armor repairs for each Battlemaster into the 11 days, and everything else is ready to go. I did use the 11 days to prep some 'Mechs for sale (pulling engine cores and Tier 2+ weapons) and I bought an Atlas. They really are throwing tons of units into the fray.
I can say that I am likely lacking the 'Mechs I otherwise would at this point because of YAML's changes to the finance side. I did figure out a few days ago that 'Mechs can be dropped into cold storage without getting stripped, so I can save money by keeping only the 'Mechs that are being repaired active and chucking the fully repaired ones into cold storage with the rest when the month is going to roll over.
Fahad probably hates me by now... "Move this Grasshopper to cold storage!" "Sir, you just took it out of cold storage." "I'm not using it right now, put it back!" jump to new system "Fahad, get that Grasshopper out of cold storage!"
First Predlitz mission (Beachhead) went about as well as it could have. I brought both Battlemasters, the Awesome, and the Zeus; no loss in weapons/limbs, though one of the Battlemaster units lost all of its RA armor. I was able to fit most of the armor repairs for each Battlemaster into the 11 days, and everything else is ready to go. I did use the 11 days to prep some 'Mechs for sale (pulling engine cores and Tier 2+ weapons) and I bought an Atlas. They really are throwing tons of units into the fray.
I can say that I am likely lacking the 'Mechs I otherwise would at this point because of YAML's changes to the finance side. I did figure out a few days ago that 'Mechs can be dropped into cold storage without getting stripped, so I can save money by keeping only the 'Mechs that are being repaired active and chucking the fully repaired ones into cold storage with the rest when the month is going to roll over.
Fahad probably hates me by now... "Move this Grasshopper to cold storage!" "Sir, you just took it out of cold storage." "I'm not using it right now, put it back!" jump to new system "Fahad, get that Grasshopper out of cold storage!"
Yeah, that's some pretty big changes. The second to last planet, Gunzburg, is an industrial zone and the last is an equipped conflict zone, but the repair times are almost non-existent so don't take something in a mission with any intent to use it for the next missions on that planet.