Battletech - Urban Warcrimes: So quoth the RVN-3L, Arrow IV.

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sean10mm: Jun 29, 2005; It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, MAD-2R World

juggalo baby coffin posted:

i fit the cyclops Z out with medium lasers and SRMs like i did before, but it just keeps getting torn apart because it seems under-armoured compared to other assaults. it's a worse brawler than my zeus, a worse lrm boat than my highlander, i guess it could replace my marauder as a laser drill but then it runs into being at the front of the pack again.

Its stock armor is very poor but it can carry as much as any other 90t assault mech.

That said the battle computer effect is the only thing that makes it good, without that it's mediocre.

# ? May 13, 2021 11:42

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 16:54

juggalo baby coffin: Dec 2, 2007; How would the dog wear goggles and even more than that, who makes the goggles?

Zephro posted:

A lot of your mechs seem outfitted with quite basic gear. By the time you have a decent roster of assault and heavies you should have ++ versions of various weapons too. That might be part of the problem, since the bonuses really add up (especially stuff like +damage on LRMs/SRMs).

Do all your pilots have Tactics 9? If so, and if your morale generation is good, one thing to try might be leaning hard on called shots to core enemy mechs as often as possible. The Annihilator is by far your best mech for this so make sure it has a Tactics 9 pilot and make sure it's using called shots every turn unless there's a really good reason why it isn't. You could try to convert other mechs to a similar role, in which case the general rule is autocannons > lasers > missiles, because you want a reasonable amount of damage in one location, not a lot of damage spread all over the enemy's armour.

Other minor stuff: as others have said you've got too much rear armour in general. Killing stuff quick is the best way to protect your mechs

The Annihilator carries too many heat sinks. I would ditch a couple, and some of the rear armour, and maybe even a ton of ammo, and try to find room for a large laser of a pair of mediums. Still this is the best mech in your lance by miles and it should have a Tactics 9 pilot and be using called shots every single turn if possible.
The Marauder: I'm not all that sold on stock PPCs, but does the single ER PPC add much? Seems like it just generates extra heat in return for a bit more range, but none of your other weapons are usable at long range. Plinking with a single weapon is rarely going to be better than spending the turn moving in so you can attack with everything next turn. Maybe replace it, which might let you cut a heatsink or two as well. Also, I would think about ditching the jump jets for more guns.
The Zeus is just a kind of bad chassis because it's at the lower end of its weight class, meaning there isn't much room to put guns on it.

all my + and ++ weapons so far have been crit bonus or accuracy bonus, i've been extremely unlucky with +damage stuff. i did have a decent set of +damage LRM15s, but i lost those when my Stalker was blown completely to pieces (i think it had the head and one leg left because it got so hosed).

my A-team pilots all have tactics 9, and the guy driving the annihilator has bulwark, coolant vent, and the first skill in the piloting tree (i wanted him to use melee mechs initially).

i had the ER PPC on the marauder just because the pilot has breaching shot, so they could snipe at distant enemy mechs who are in heavy cover. every single npc seems to run bulwark in BEX so cover is a big problem for me.

ive changed them up now though, this is what my core roster looks like now:

Annihilator:

Highlander:

Marauder:

Atlas (replacing zeus, also I haven't field tested this build yet):

the annihilator has not changed much, i tried running it with a brace of 4 MLs, but i found the extra heat buildup just inhibited my ability to fire off the UACs every turn. with the rest of my roster improving the annihilator might not have to carry missions as much, but for a long time the other mechs have basically just milled around and softened targets for the annihilator to core. if the other mechs start to carry more weight i can probably move the annihilator to a more balanced loadout.

i want to work the cyclops in somewhere for that sweet, sweet initiative, but i don't know who is weakest in the roster right now. most likely the marauder, but i like having a more mobile flanker in the group.

edit: i have been flying around a lot to try and pick up better weapons and mechs, and i'm one piece each away from the king crab and marauder II (the 100t version of the marauder)

juggalo baby coffin fucked around with this message at 12:37 on May 13, 2021

# ? May 13, 2021 12:22

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

Those look a lot better, at least to me. Though if the Annie pilot has coolant vent then you definitely don't need that many heatsinks, surely?

Also since you've set the Atlas up to be a close range brawler you might as well go full tank with it. Give it the +def gyro instead of the Annihilator (which can attack from long range anyway so shouldn't get shot as much). Also take a bit of armour off the legs and use it to max the torso - the legs don't tend to get hit nearly as often. Or in fact, since you'll have to lose an ML to fit the gyro, spend that ton on more armour.

edit: also re lasers on the Annihilator: if you can find the +10 damage mediums they'll give boost your headshotting chances and only cost a single ton.

Zephro fucked around with this message at 13:03 on May 13, 2021

# ? May 13, 2021 12:56

Gwaihir: Dec 8, 2009; Hair Elf

The Zeus he has is one with an XL engine, it's fine, if a little hard point limited.

There's no durability differences between units though, even one of the same weight has the same armor (potentially)

# ? May 13, 2021 13:30

junidog: Feb 17, 2004

RBA Starblade posted:

Yeah I was checking new systems each time

My company is almost bankrupt lol

e: Not sure why SRM2s show up still then but I see that LBXs are blacklisted in the BT_EXTENDED_CE/Weapons folder so maybe that's related, prob not though because UACs aren't, something else must just be overwriting the market info though

Sorry for the runaround - my advice was for the ~December release, and it looks like they've changed how they do the black market.

Which kinds of SRM2s are you seeing? If you deleted the SRM2 line from itemCollection_shopItems_blackmarket that should keep the SRM2+++ from spawning, but looks like now there's also a file called itemCollection_shopItems_blackmarketSpread that pulls from the main black market itemcollection but also a itemCollection_Weapons_common file that has SRM2+ and a itemCollection_Weapons_uncommon one that has SRM2++. So if you're seeing SRM2+ or ++ but not +++ then your edit probably is working, the BM is just pulling info from more sources than I thought.

Easy test would be to edit the blackmarketSpread file to remove the common/uncommon lines (and the starleague ones while you're at it), then change the blackmarket collection to only have one item, and see if the next time you get just that one item.

# ? May 13, 2021 14:01

RBA Starblade: Apr 28, 2008; Going Home.

Games Idiot Court Jester

junidog posted:

Sorry for the runaround - my advice was for the ~December release, and it looks like they've changed how they do the black market.

Which kinds of SRM2s are you seeing? If you deleted the SRM2 line from itemCollection_shopItems_blackmarket that should keep the SRM2+++ from spawning, but looks like now there's also a file called itemCollection_shopItems_blackmarketSpread that pulls from the main black market itemcollection but also a itemCollection_Weapons_common file that has SRM2+ and a itemCollection_Weapons_uncommon one that has SRM2++. So if you're seeing SRM2+ or ++ but not +++ then your edit probably is working, the BM is just pulling info from more sources than I thought.

Easy test would be to edit the blackmarketSpread file to remove the common/uncommon lines (and the starleague ones while you're at it), then change the blackmarket collection to only have one item, and see if the next time you get just that one item.

Ah that's exactly what I'm seeing! I'll try editing that and adding the weapons I want to that for good measure and seeing if that works.

# ? May 13, 2021 14:05

A Strange Aeon: Mar 26, 2010; You are now a slimy little toad; The Great Twist

If a mech is down to 4 structure health in the head and my mech does a called shot with an LRM 15 and there's an 18% chance to hit the head, shouldn't it be the case that there are 15 missiles each with an 18% chance to deliver the 4 damage to the head?

Or what am I missing about how called shot works?

# ? May 13, 2021 14:10

RBA Starblade: Apr 28, 2008; Going Home.

Games Idiot Court Jester

A Strange Aeon posted:

If a mech is down to 4 structure health in the head and my mech does a called shot with an LRM 15 and there's an 18% chance to hit the head, shouldn't it be the case that there are 15 missiles each with an 18% chance to deliver the 4 damage to the head?

Or what am I missing about how called shot works?

Lrms are scripted to only have one missile hit the head per rack iirc

# ? May 13, 2021 14:12

A Strange Aeon: Mar 26, 2010; You are now a slimy little toad; The Great Twist

RBA Starblade posted:

Lrms are scripted to only have one missile hit the head per rack iirc

Huh, but then I should have been okay, since I only needed one of those 15 to hit the head. Unless I got horribly unlucky.

# ? May 13, 2021 14:18

Shumagorath: Jun 6, 2001

Who has the best secret store in vanilla? Canopus has some nice lasers but this is looking like a mistake.

# ? May 13, 2021 14:24

brosef: Jan 19, 2009

A Strange Aeon posted:

Huh, but then I should have been okay, since I only needed one of those 15 to hit the head. Unless I got horribly unlucky.

That's only about 95%, so not that unlucky.
Also I know BEX has some skills that make LRMs cluster, not sure if Vanilla has something hidden to that effect.

# ? May 13, 2021 14:36

juggalo baby coffin: Dec 2, 2007; How would the dog wear goggles and even more than that, who makes the goggles?

im kind of worried i broke something in bex by loading the game wrong at some point or something, because i still have yet to see a snub ppc or any lb-x that isn't a 10, any uac that isn't a 5, or a COIL. tags and narcs are showing up fine, as well as artemis missiles and streak missiles.

is there somewhere that sells good autocannons?

# ? May 13, 2021 14:41

RBA Starblade: Apr 28, 2008; Going Home.

Games Idiot Court Jester

Yep, the Blackmarketspread was the issue; it also was set to pull 90% of the time from common, but BlackMarket, which has a 1%, has similar AC5s and standard weapons, so it just never got a chance for anything else to appear.

I also upped the SLDF stuff so now some fun stuff is showing up! Later I'll tweak it so the SLDF mechs are in there again but whatever with the new ones around anyway

# ? May 13, 2021 14:49

Organ Fiend: May 21, 2007; custom title

juggalo baby coffin posted:

Annihilator:

This config is fine, but you could get more out of this mech since its pilot has coolant flush. You can safely drop a ton of AC5 ammo. I'd drop another heat sink after that and add two ML++s (start in the arms for more accuracy). The target heat efficiency should be something like 3-5 bars for a pilot with coolant flush, IMO. Pilot has tactics 9 so your good to go with drilling targets through their CT from the front.

juggalo baby coffin posted:

Highlander:

Does this run cold/cool down when not firing the ERLL? If so, looks fine. If not consider dropping the ERLL for more LRMs or a LL+++. You might also consider a +stb PPC or the ERPPC on the marauder, just as long as its cooling down when not firing the LL/ERPPC.

juggalo baby coffin posted:

Marauder:

Looks great. I'm assuming it has an evasive/coolant flush pilot, right?

juggalo baby coffin posted:

Atlas (replacing zeus, also I haven't field tested this build yet):

This is a decent build, but it is overlapping the highlander in its role (i.e. as a shotgun). If you are unhappy with your lance's performance, consider converting this or the Highlander into an AC20/ML/SRM brawler. With the MAD jumping around and back/side shooting, an assault AC20 brawler as a tank will complement it nicely. You could even put some melee mods on it for those guys in bulwark/cover. For an AS7-D, AC20+++,4xML++,2xSRM6+++ works great and doesn't even need a coolant flush pilot to work. The best AC20 brawler AS7 is the AS7-S. It has engine DHS sinks and 4 missile slots, allowing for AC20+++,4xML,4xSRM6+++ (once again, it doesn't need a coolant flush pilot).

If you like the AS7 as a shotgun but are unhappy with the HGN, AC20,2xML,2xSRM6,JJs works great. Its no gladiator, but it works just fine for IS drops and lower-star clan drops. If you still have a UAC20 around, its a great candidate for a breaching shot/UAC20 build.

juggalo baby coffin posted:

the annihilator has not changed much, i tried running it with a brace of 4 MLs, but i found the extra heat buildup just inhibited my ability to fire off the UACs every turn. with the rest of my roster improving the annihilator might not have to carry missions as much, but for a long time the other mechs have basically just milled around and softened targets for the annihilator to core. if the other mechs start to carry more weight i can probably move the annihilator to a more balanced loadout.

An AC20 brawler on the AS7 or HGN would pull some weight too. Also, that MAD should be scoring kills with back precision strikes.

One thing I noticed is that you don't have any comms systems on any of your mechs. Comms systems are one of the most (if not the most) important pieces of equipment because they give you more precision strikes (which is how you take on 5 skull drops witout taking internal damage). You also don't have ++ gyros in all of your mechs. These are also Really Important for passive defence. +3 hit def. gyros go in jumpers and evasive/coolant flush pilot mechs. +30% stability gyros go in everything else. Comms System++ and hit def/stability gyro++ drops all the time in 4+ skull IS drops. Prioritize them until you have all of your A team mechs loaded with them, and have a few in storage for repairs.

juggalo baby coffin posted:

i want to work the cyclops in somewhere for that sweet, sweet initiative, but i don't know who is weakest in the roster right now. most likely the marauder, but i like having a more mobile flanker in the group.

If the MAD can consistently score back kills then its either the AS7 or HGN, whichever you feel is a worse shotgun. Alternately, you don't necessarily need a CP10-Z if you have the right pilots. The ANH as is could take a bulwark/MT pilot. LRM mechs like the HGN could take a multi-target/MT pilot. The LRM boat I take against the clans is a multi-target/MT pilot because they don't get shot at. Who need bulwark if you're not being shot at? MAD can take a evasive/coolant flush pilot and still be at initiative 2. The AS7 can also take a bulwark/MT pilot. I used an AC20 brawler AS7-S with a bulwark/MT pilot all the way to the end game.

# ? May 13, 2021 15:01

Organ Fiend: May 21, 2007; custom title

Shumagorath posted:

Who has the best secret store in vanilla? Canopus has some nice lasers but this is looking like a mistake.

The davion faction shop has an unlimited supply of ++ UACs.

Also Annihilators exist.

You know what you must do.

# ? May 13, 2021 15:02

Shumagorath: Jun 6, 2001

Nice, it looks like I can also pick up House Arano on the way there from the opposite corner.

# ? May 13, 2021 15:17

Organ Fiend: May 21, 2007; custom title

I just finished a campaign in BEX. I got the Kerensky rating (cheated a bit: added the BL-6-KNT, KTO, and CDA-3C to the black market just to 100% chasis since they're all as rare as an ANH in BEX). By the end I was regularly clearing 5 skull clan drops (even those horrible ones where you have two stars on your rear end from the start) with three different lances. Damage ranged from minor structural damage to one or two mechs getting badly hosed up but not killed (i.e. loosing a torso and/or leg, multiple crits, etc) depending on the map/mission.

There's always alot of talk about configs, so I thought I'd post these so you can see what an end-game 5 skull clan drop loadout looks like. Also, even though these mechs are all clanned up, they're all evolutions of IS mechs and configs, with the same roles as their predecessors. Translations go something like this:
DAI = AS7, STK, or any IS slow assault
MAD = ON1 or GHR
GLA = HGN or other jumping assault
ERPPCs = LL+++ or PPC++
GRs = IS GRs, AC10++s, larger clusters of AC5++s
ERMLs = LL+++
UAC20s = AC20+++

Lance 1:

This is my "No CP-10-Z" lance, which makes it the most fragile since I have to rely on heavy mechs for fast jumpers/flankers. Even with the massive evasion they can build up, they don't do well when two stars are firing on them. That said, once those Madcats get in there, they really start tearing things appart. The MAD-S was a super rare, and extremely fortuitous drop: the Omega Grashopper. Its the only variant of the MAD that jumps and the best 5-jumper in the game. It easily kills things from the back. The MAD-C is a real fighter too. Its base 3 initiative and speed lets it dance around up close to get side/back shots easily. The DAI does DAI things: dealing massive damage and occasionally taking the head of exposed targets, even at maximum range. The STK is probably my longest serving mech. It shotguns crit mechs or knocks mechs into instability.

Lance 2:

I've posted this one before. The ANH drills holes in things while the CP-10-Z and GLA-PRIME do what the MADs in lance 1 do. The GLA's MASC gives it the same mobility as the MADs, but with more armor. Back kills are reliable, but not as reliable as with a MAD-S/GHR because of the scatter on the UAC20. The CP-10-Z is the most vulnerable here. Its not as fast as the MADs and it can't jump. One mistake with this one in a two star mission and it will get primed and die immediately. However, once its in there, it kills things. The DAI-B is my shotgun. It works, but I'm not super impressed. A stock DAI-B would probably do better.

Lance 3:

There's that AC20 brawler AS7-S I keep talking about, now all clanned-up. It has a massive alpha that can punch directly through the CT of assault mechs. I've talked about the GLA-D before, and it will 100% kill anything with a back precision strike. It can melee hard with all of those SPLs, and has significant firepower/mobility to fight even without precision strikes. The DAI is just me trying to find a config that isn't "all possible GRs and PPCs". This mech used to be a laser/SRM stalker with ECM. I lost the ECM and it has hurt this lance. The CP-10-Z is set for range, and looks a bit weak. However, its really good at finishing off crit mechs from any range. Its better than average speed means it can get into position easily.

Quick kills are the rule of the game for fighting the clans. You'll see that all of these lances have fast mechs to get back shots, an assault damage engine that can punish exposed mechs, and shotguns/FS for doing stability damage and finishing off crippled targets. I also hope you'll see that there is still a degree of variety in configs/mechs within the limitations of "survive two stars of clan mechs." The same types of mechs/configs, but downgraded to IS +++ tech can also handle the full array of IS 5-skull drops.

EDIT: Fixed some screens

Organ Fiend fucked around with this message at 16:36 on May 13, 2021

# ? May 13, 2021 15:51

RBA Starblade: Apr 28, 2008; Going Home.

Games Idiot Court Jester

God drat it BEX stop spawning me eight rounds from whatever I'm defending with the enemy lance one round from it

e: The lance I'm supposed to guard is enclosed by 12 mechs and I'm on the opposite edge of the map stop doing that already

RBA Starblade fucked around with this message at 16:56 on May 13, 2021

# ? May 13, 2021 16:48

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

RBA Starblade posted:

Lrms are scripted to only have one missile hit the head per rack iirc

LRMs are scripted so that only the first missile can hit the head.

# ? May 13, 2021 17:38

Crazy Joe Wilson: Jul 4, 2007; Justifiably Mad!

RBA Starblade posted:

God drat it BEX stop spawning me eight rounds from whatever I'm defending with the enemy lance one round from it

e: The lance I'm supposed to guard is enclosed by 12 mechs and I'm on the opposite edge of the map stop doing that already

The other day BEX spawned me literally on one side of a huge map with a mountain in the middle, and 3 enemy lances all next to each other on the other side. I quickly re-started because OOF.

2nd time I tried BEX dropped my 6 mechs (Got the bigger drop module installed) right above the enemy primary lance (2 longbows, rifleman, warhammer) up on a huge cliff. I destroyed the primary lance with ease and then the other two lances came at me and were picked apart.

# ? May 13, 2021 17:49

A Strange Aeon: Mar 26, 2010; You are now a slimy little toad; The Great Twist

PoptartsNinja posted:

LRMs are scripted so that only the first missile can hit the head.

Ah, so I basically only had one 18% chance and the other 14 missiles had 0 chance.

I ended up getting a headshot later with some medium lasers and bagged an Annihilator, which looks badass. Those Clash of Titans missions have been very good to me, even though this time I ended up in between the factions and they never shot at each other at all.

I should probably just do campaign missions, but it's so much fun grinding and shopping for upgrades! I think I'm on Defend Smithon.

# ? May 13, 2021 17:54

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

A Strange Aeon posted:

Ah, so I basically only had one 18% chance and the other 14 missiles had 0 chance.

Exactly.

I believe every cluster weapon is supposed to work the same way, but it's broken for LB-X autocannons because every shot is the first shot.

PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 18:51 on May 13, 2021

# ? May 13, 2021 18:21

fennesz: Dec 29, 2008

I'm late to the discussion, but I got an absolutely disgusting amount of kills in my Marauder with two UAC/2+++ and a UAC/10+++. Occasionally I would be left with a single head HP if they were in slightly too much cover and then covered for that by adding a TAG+++ to my Grasshopper. Absolutely and totally broken loadouts.

Couple that with my Annihilator with two Gauss ++ and a UAC/10+++ I could core any 'mech of my choosing if my Annihilator had an alpha strike available and the enemy 'mech was facing me.

I'd post screens but I'm worried that save file is borked now that I've installed BEX.

# ? May 13, 2021 18:49

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

A Strange Aeon posted:

I ended up getting a headshot later with some medium lasers and bagged an Annihilator, which looks badass.

The RPG illustrations make it look a lot like Godzilla, which I assume is deliberate. Anyway it's one of the best mechs in the entire game, especially in vanilla. The +20% ballistic damage is stupendously OP.

# ? May 13, 2021 19:03

vyelkin: Jan 2, 2011

PoptartsNinja posted:

Exactly.

I believe every cluster weapon is supposed to work the same way, but it's broken for LB-X autocannons because every shot is the first shot.

I didn't know that about LBXs, but that makes perfect sense for why my accidental ANH build of three UAC5s and two LBX2s is such a good headcapper, 18% for six 54-damage UAC5 shots and 18% for 24 7-damage LBX2 shots is pretty close to guaranteed 61+ damage.

# ? May 13, 2021 19:04

sean10mm: Jun 29, 2005; It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, MAD-2R World

Zephro posted:

The RPG illustrations make it look a lot like Godzilla, which I assume is deliberate. Anyway it's one of the best mechs in the entire game, especially in vanilla. The +20% ballistic damage is stupendously OP.

Yeah, it's Mechagodzilla: The Mech

# ? May 13, 2021 19:05

Ygolonac

Nov 26, 2007

pre:

*************
CLUTCH  NIXON
*************

The Hero We Need

Man, I wish RT would cough up a Clash of the Titans mission. :smith:

Closest I've come was the one time I got a "kill the heavy mech" turning out to be a Stone Rhino 100-tonner with a Warhammer buddy.

And on like turn three, Clan assholes dropped to try and steal my kill. IIRC, that's where I got my Nova Cat and Ebon Jaguar parts from.

Better luck trying a simple fight. Jungle, big map, large mountain, couple stars of light/meds and vehicles.

Oh poo poo, where did all those missiles come from? Mad Dog. Which I needed only one more part for, so focus Inferno mortars there.

Wait, more missiles? Yeah, I know there's a Mad Dog... over.. there.

Second MD, this one a Heroic variant.

All done, I grabbed one pair of MD parts as my pick. (Passing up the three Clan mortar/8s I wanted, as well as the guided mortar ammo.) And got the two surviving parts of the other MD as allocation. :getin:

No mortars or ammo, of course. However, I think I can build two different Mad Dogs now.

Next job was badlands, "repossess" the vehicles with extreme plasma. One lance of vehicles. One star of mostly-light/medium mechs, plus a Heroic Wolverine variant.

And one full star of Elementals, that were deployed just downhill, over a couple cliffs, from my DZ. They didn't do well with the Inferno mines. Less so when the Discrow Inferno laserboat waddled up, and were even more unhappy with my dual-Snub PPC Warhammer.

Only one pick because Gotta Get Paid, but I thought the Thunderbolt Large Pulse Laser was neat - chewed the poo poo out of my Screamer even with eight evasion pips, which had me do a roasty little long-distance jump to keep from being murdered. Could have gone farther, if I wanted to overheat and shut down for sure. (And the Vulch can jump even farther - may throw some more sinks on that to test, depending on what swapping the ERLL for the Thunderbolt Pulse does.)

I *really* need to go through the mechbay storage and assemble stuff, mostly to strip and scrap for cash. I can get some good money for certain vehicles that I don't want to keep.

The Hunt For Flamer Ammo continues...

Ygolonac fucked around with this message at 19:11 on May 13, 2021

# ? May 13, 2021 19:09

A Strange Aeon: Mar 26, 2010; You are now a slimy little toad; The Great Twist

Zephro posted:

The RPG illustrations make it look a lot like Godzilla, which I assume is deliberate. Anyway it's one of the best mechs in the entire game, especially in vanilla. The +20% ballistic damage is stupendously OP.

I'm assuming I should lean into the ballistic angle then, maybe find a TTS for ballistics, too. I think stock it has 4 AC / 10s, will that be decent enough? I might have some + versions kicking around. Yang says it's so slow as to be almost stationary, I guess I could tinker with that too to make it more mobile.

# ? May 13, 2021 19:12

Organ Fiend: May 21, 2007; custom title

fennesz posted:

Welp, BEX fatigue is kicking in big time. I just cannot complete a mech chassis heavier than 35t. I'm a year in, I've been to like 20 worlds, checked many black markets...nada

On the one hand, staying in early game is kind of neat. On the other, I'm 350 loving days in and my best mech is a Panther

I think your expectations about what you should get early on and when you should get it are off.

The expectation for a "good" start would be one or two solid mediums (Something 50-55 tons) from your first planet. I might just reboot your campaign. Here are some suggestions:
-Wait a single day at game start to get the Heavy Metal crate (which will contain a 40-45 tonner) and to start the BEX timeline.
-Do not randomize starting mechs so you get the VND, SDR, JR7, PNT, and COM
-Do not spend time or large amounts of money refitting your starters.
-Improve your starting mechs with cheap, 0-day improvements: Remove JJs and SRMs on the COM, SDR and JR7 for armor. Remove the SL and HS on the VND for armor. Remove a HS or two on the PNT for armor.
-Always take maximum salvage
-Always take mech parts (even if there are no mechs you need): they generate more money in the long term
-Always take the generous salvage and 3 parts per mech options for your career (offset with mech destruction, hard encounters, pilot lethality and rare elite pilots, etc.)
-Always take the hard encounters setting for the career. You'll see mediums earlier and its a difficulty offset for the generous salvage/3 parts
-When hiring pilots look for pilots with the Merchant tag. This will reduce all prices in stores by a few percent. It really adds up over time and with multiple pilots
-In BEX a clean leg kill (i.e. both legs. no torsos destroyed) will always get you 3 parts. Even with the most basic starting pilots, a side arc precision strike has a good chance of hitting the leg. Use unfocused fire/melee/backshots on all of the fodder and save your resolve for leg shots when a medium shows up.
-In BEX a clean CT kill (i.e. only CT, no sides/legs) gets you two parts. Keep an eye on the store. It usually has a single part (or two) for one of the common mediums. E.g. if you see a GRF-1N part in the store and you encounter a GRF-1N, you can kill it with a CT kill, get two parts, and then finish it with the part in the store.
-Make sure you get bulwark on all pilots after getting all base stats to 4 (bulwark = less damage = less time and money on repairs)

Always feel free to post mechs/pilots for advice.

# ? May 13, 2021 19:19

RBA Starblade: Apr 28, 2008; Going Home.

Games Idiot Court Jester

Yeah I'm regretting taking 5 salvage this time around lol, though I have an assault and some heavies so it's going fine

I assume editing that constant in the mod save file will break something?

# ? May 13, 2021 19:22

Organ Fiend: May 21, 2007; custom title

Zephro posted:

The RPG illustrations make it look a lot like Godzilla, which I assume is deliberate. Anyway it's one of the best mechs in the entire game, especially in vanilla. The +20% ballistic damage is stupendously OP.

It is absolutely the best mech in vanilla.

A Strange Aeon posted:

I'm assuming I should lean into the ballistic angle then, maybe find a TTS for ballistics, too. I think stock it has 4 AC / 10s, will that be decent enough? I might have some + versions kicking around. Yang says it's so slow as to be almost stationary, I guess I could tinker with that too to make it more mobile.

In vanilla, 4x bone-stock AC10 is a solid starter config. It runs cool, all of the AC10s are head choppers now, and it has a nearly 300 point alpha. It just gets better and better once you start replacing those AC10s with +dmg AC10s, GRs, or UACs.

# ? May 13, 2021 19:23

Organ Fiend: May 21, 2007; custom title

RBA Starblade posted:

Yeah I'm regretting taking 5 salvage this time around lol, though I have an assault and some heavies so it's going fine

I assume editing that constant in the mod save file will break something?

I'm don't know how, or if its possible to change the "parts for salvage" setting on an existing career.

# ? May 13, 2021 19:30

vyelkin: Jan 2, 2011

A Strange Aeon posted:

I'm assuming I should lean into the ballistic angle then, maybe find a TTS for ballistics, too. I think stock it has 4 AC / 10s, will that be decent enough? I might have some + versions kicking around. Yang says it's so slow as to be almost stationary, I guess I could tinker with that too to make it more mobile.

Personally I prefer longer-range weapons than AC10s for Annihilators, just because they're so goddamn slow and I want them to be able to shoot all their guns every turn, even if the enemy have just barely entered other mechs' sight range well ahead of them. Any UAC or LBX 5 or 2 will be a great weapon for an Annihilator and will run cool enough and not need so many tons of ammo that you'll end up with enough extra tonnage for whatever else you want--TTS, a few spare lasers, jump jets, shitloads of armour, depending on how you want to complement your main arsenal of long range autocannons.

# ? May 13, 2021 19:33

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

A Strange Aeon posted:

I'm assuming I should lean into the ballistic angle then, maybe find a TTS for ballistics, too. I think stock it has 4 AC / 10s, will that be decent enough? I might have some + versions kicking around. Yang says it's so slow as to be almost stationary, I guess I could tinker with that too to make it more mobile.

The 4 stock AC-10s are great to start with. The damage boost means they hit for 72 damage each, which is enough to destroy a head in one shot. So if you have a pilot with Tactics 9 in it you have a pretty good chance of decapitating any enemy mech in a single volley. They have reasonable range, too, which mitigates the mech's slowness a bit. It only gets better as you upgrade it. Some people stick with variations of AC/10s and UAC/10s. You probably won't be able to fill all five ballistic hardpoints that way, so some people like sticking five AC/5s or UAC/5s on instead, which also gives it longer range. Or you can mix-and-match variant of 10s and 5s. It's hard to go wrong as long as you cram as much ballistic firepower onto it as you can, basically.

# ? May 13, 2021 19:45

Bubbacub: Apr 17, 2001

RBA Starblade posted:

Yeah I'm regretting taking 5 salvage this time around lol, though I have an assault and some heavies so it's going fine

I assume editing that constant in the mod save file will break something?

I have zero regrets using the save editor to gift my company a free Battlemaster and a big pile of c-bills. Having done the career grind a couple times, I just want to skip to the Pokemon mech collection part.

# ? May 13, 2021 19:50

juggalo baby coffin: Dec 2, 2007; How would the dog wear goggles and even more than that, who makes the goggles?

Organ Fiend posted:

One thing I noticed is that you don't have any comms systems on any of your mechs. Comms systems are one of the most (if not the most) important pieces of equipment because they give you more precision strikes (which is how you take on 5 skull drops witout taking internal damage). You also don't have ++ gyros in all of your mechs. These are also Really Important for passive defence. +3 hit def. gyros go in jumpers and evasive/coolant flush pilot mechs. +30% stability gyros go in everything else. Comms System++ and hit def/stability gyro++ drops all the time in 4+ skull IS drops. Prioritize them until you have all of your A team mechs loaded with them, and have a few in storage for repairs.

i've not prioritised getting any comms systems or gyros yet, since im usually focused on picking mech parts as my fixed pieces. i should start picking big-ticket systems though because they seem incredibly rare in shops.

with regard to the atlas and highlander i have having similar roles, i thought about that, but i don't have a good AC/20. i've got a ++ that does 120 damage, and i also have a ++ gauss rifle that does 95 total damage. i would really like to try a good melee setup because i want to eventually get a berserker from fighting steiner.

# ? May 13, 2021 20:08

Shumagorath: Jun 6, 2001

PoptartsNinja posted:

Exactly.

I believe every cluster weapon is supposed to work the same way, but it's broken for LB-X autocannons because every shot is the first shot.

That sounds like it's working as intended...?

What about the LRM clustering mod on the Archer S? I ended up filling mine with SRMs but still haven't had a chance to test it out because a Stalker full of LRMs is hard to top for slapping mechs off their feet.

# ? May 13, 2021 20:42

A Strange Aeon: Mar 26, 2010; You are now a slimy little toad; The Great Twist

I use my Stalker as an LRM boat too, originally with 4 LRM 15s, but I switched two out for LRM 10 + or ++ that do more stability damage. I don't think I've found a single LRM 15 with any + whatsoever or I'd use those instead. Is there a planet where those would be more commonly found? Same with M Lasers, for that matter, I've found exactly one M Laser + so far.

And is the idea to use the missile barrage early in the round and try to knock the mech down so your other mechs get easy shots?

# ? May 13, 2021 20:50

Organ Fiend: May 21, 2007; custom title

juggalo baby coffin posted:

i've not prioritised getting any comms systems or gyros yet, since im usually focused on picking mech parts as my fixed pieces. i should start picking big-ticket systems though because they seem incredibly rare in shops.

with regard to the atlas and highlander i have having similar roles, i thought about that, but i don't have a good AC/20. i've got a ++ that does 120 damage, and i also have a ++ gauss rifle that does 95 total damage. i would really like to try a good melee setup because i want to eventually get a berserker from fighting steiner.

The chassis you posted, plus the CP-10-Z and ZEU-9S2 are all great mechs. Time to focus more on equipment than chassis. And yeah, the good comms systems/gyros are very rare in system shops, but it seems like their chance to drop in salvage is way up in BEX.

RE the AS7 and Highlander: the AC20 with 120 damage is a good AC20. That's what I was running on my AS7 brawler until I got a UAC20 and the equipment to run it. The AC20 version shreds IS heavies and assaults just fine. It will also work well in the jumping HGN AC20 build I posted.

That said, a 95 damage GR is something special. I don't think I've seen one of those myself. A decent AS7-D build for a coolant flush pilot is GR,2xPPC++,2xML++,SRM10++. With that GR, its a 400 point alpha, which is solid. You also have decent range and short range fighting capabilities. It also fits on an AS7-S if you ever get one of those (but if you do, totally do the AC20 SRM24 build first). If you have any clan ERPPCs this would be a great place to put them. I ran this config for a while until I started getting Dire Wolves.

# ? May 13, 2021 20:56

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 16:54

Stravag: Jun 7, 2009

A Strange Aeon posted:

I use my Stalker as an LRM boat too, originally with 4 LRM 15s, but I switched two out for LRM 10 + or ++ that do more stability damage. I don't think I've found a single LRM 15 with any + whatsoever or I'd use those instead. Is there a planet where those would be more commonly found? Same with M Lasers, for that matter, I've found exactly one M Laser + so far.

And is the idea to use the missile barrage early in the round and try to knock the mech down so your other mechs get easy shots?

It used to be before they nerfed stability damage. Now lrm 70 stalkers are just for putting longrange firepower on things and getting the stab to a point where something else can knock them down, you get the stab to the critical point and split fire to know down several mechs at once. I in general just started ignoring stab and just using +damage and ignoring stab on any mech that wasn't running 2 guass, 2 ac20s, or srm24s or better

# ? May 13, 2021 21:05

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Battletech - Urban Warcrimes: So quoth the RVN-3L, Arrow IV.

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