BattleTech - Tactical Mech Combat Game from Hairbrained Schemes

[SniperHF]

Sorry, I left the site up: You get the passive bonus from training (you'll see it) but not the passive/active skill from that range. Example: I get the same melee and stability bonus but not guarded if I took another skill tree. Make sense?

The ones I'm talking about are some of the squares that literally don't list any bonuses. They are just stepping stones to the next one unless there is something going on under the hood. The third small tactics square is an example that doesn't list any bonuses.

 

[Bocephus86]

The ones I'm talking about are some of the squares that literally don't list any bonuses. They are just stepping stones to the next one unless there is something going on under the hood. The third small tactics square is an example that doesn't list any bonuses.

There is no bonus I've seen other than it gets you closer to a game bonus. I don't think theres a passive with it unless youre told but I also haven' taken apart the game files. I've not noticed it, if that helps at all. But better skills clearly turn missions: I have one i recently hired who Im dragging along and he clearly impacts my lance.

Edit: Even with the two skills I want in his role. But his competition is near max. (The double I"m trying to make)

 

[Bjorn Le]

People seem to think there's some sort of programing that gets him injured all the time He's gotten injured on me 3 times but hasn't died yet.

2/10 means:
You get to pick 2 items from the pile.
And you'll get 8 random items. Usually crappier stuff but not always.

I usually leave at least 1 priority salvage to help build mechs.

If anyone knows that would be great

He’s taken six injuries in mine, no death yet.

As for the skill points, I’m not sure about them all but guts has a passive effect. I suspect the piloting ones increase movement speed but I never noticed a difference for tactics. Guts affects your survival chance (10% more likely to survive a death blow per point).

 

[Warden of the North]

Mechwarrior 2 was a hell of a lot fun back in the day

"Trial by Fire" is ingrained in my memory

 

[NyQuil]

Mechwarrior 2 was a hell of a lot fun back in the day

"Trial by Fire" is ingrained in my memory

Great soundtrack too.

 

[Caeldan]

I'm still trying to plan out what my ideal lance setup should be...
Mobile mech fitted with support weapons - pilot with tactics/piloting
2x Medium range all around - pilot with guts/gunnery and guts/piloting
Missile boat - pilot with gunnery/tactics?

Or just go the 4x brawler route, keep everyone tight and charge in to melee everything.

 

[Bjorn Le]

I'm still trying to plan out what my ideal lance setup should be...
Mobile mech fitted with support weapons - pilot with tactics/piloting
2x Medium range all around - pilot with guts/gunnery and guts/piloting
Missile boat - pilot with gunnery/tactics?

Or just go the 4x brawler route, keep everyone tight and charge in to melee everything.

I’m finding brawlers are situationally useful but having too many is a recipe for injured MechWarriors and damaged ‘Mechs. Bulwark (which isn’t useful for brawlers until they close) is one of the best abilities in the game and LRMs are great for knocking enemies down.

 

[Bocephus86]

I'm still trying to plan out what my ideal lance setup should be...
Mobile mech fitted with support weapons - pilot with tactics/piloting
2x Medium range all around - pilot with guts/gunnery and guts/piloting
Missile boat - pilot with gunnery/tactics?

Or just go the 4x brawler route, keep everyone tight and charge in to melee everything.

I'm with Nullus on this. I have 10 mechs right now (nearly all mediums), 4 of which are pure brawler set up (I find that, and long range missile boats, the easiest class to setup); I've taken 2 on a few missions and if/when I run into enemy lances with longer range units (like the missile trucks or even good defensive turrets) i have issues. My brawlers have pretty good mobility but it usually takes me 1.5 turns to reach the enemy so i take 1 to 2 rounds of punishment before I can even start shooting with half my lance.

 

[Saskatoon]

Beware of the reinforcements bug. Some missions with reinforcements have them spawn in with the original force which can give you a pretty tough slog. Had it happen to me once yesterday but with some very conservative play managed to get out it without too much trouble.

 

[Caeldan]

I got a little too cocky in the first story mission, got half my company killed... So actually decided to do a restart on mission.
Dekker is still alive but got injured again on his second mission back. His spider is cursed I think so going to scrap it in favour of a locust or commando for now.

 

[YNWA14]

Loving this game so far. Trying to figure out how to best gear my main. I'm going the tactics route as I wanted to be a real leader type. Someone who could do precision strike calling and really disrupt the enemy with maneuverability and such. I was trying to optimize a Spider but I'm reading a lot of bad things about the light mechs. Any advice for what I want to accomplish?

Haven't lost anyone yet and I've only done a few contracts. Though Dekker is injured lol.

 

[Caeldan]

From what I've read, the game is an arms race, so bigger is almost always better especially with how stupidly strong missiles are (think this might have been an adaptation tweak that over balanced the weapon type), though keeping a quick medium around to deal with vehicles might be worthwhile.

Was actually surprised to see that there were no tonnage restrictions on missions, always considered that a core tenet of the tabletop game

 

[Bjorn Le]

Beware of the reinforcements bug. Some missions with reinforcements have them spawn in with the original force which can give you a pretty tough slog. Had it happen to me once yesterday but with some very conservative play managed to get out it without too much trouble.

That's a bug? I though it was just bad intel. Would make some missions a lot easier. And that's not necessarily a good thing. The last mission I did I took on nine mechs, all fully armoured, seven heavy, one light, one assault, and I didn't get a scratch (of course I had a really good position).

From what I've read, the game is an arms race, so bigger is almost always better especially with how stupidly strong missiles are (think this might have been an adaptation tweak that over balanced the weapon type), though keeping a quick medium around to deal with vehicles might be worthwhile.

Was actually surprised to see that there were no tonnage restrictions on missions, always considered that a core tenet of the tabletop game

The thing is, missiles don't actually do that much damage, especially if you're entrenched and guarded. The value is in stability hit.

There's no tonnage restriction because according to the game director, 1) it makes late game mission wayyy too hard 2) their QA found it wasn't fun to not be able to use your best 'Mechs. Though I agree it's a little strange. I think they may introduce it to the game eventually, but instead of it being a blanket thing, it's based on mission type. So a "battle" where the enemy knows your coming has no restriction, while an assassination mission that is a surprise has a much lower one.​

 

[SniperHF]

So this is just an interface vestige or something?

I figured it would eventually max you out but if it doesn't that's kinda lame.

If it made late game missions too hard, they could have just rebalanced the late game missions....

 

[Osprey]

Was actually surprised to see that there were no tonnage restrictions on missions, always considered that a core tenet of the tabletop game

Tonnage restriction is a feature in the MechCommander games, as well. I remember having to make tough decisions, like whether to take 3 heavy mechs into battle or 4 mechs consisting of 2 heavies, 1 medium and 1 light. I don't agree with the creator taking the feature out because it's not "fun." I (and, I imagine, many strategy gamers) do find it fun to have to make tough decisions that increase the challenge of missions. Where's the fun and the strategy in always taking your most powerful mechs into every battle?

I think that the real reason that they took it out is to dumb the game down a little, so that it's accessible to a wider audience than just strategy gamers who enjoy a challenge and spending much of their time customizing their mechs before battle. I suspect that they want casual gamers who don't enjoy that to be able to breeze through the strategy phases of the game and get right to the action. I understand catering to those types, but it doesn't need to be at the expense of others. They could've, for example, given us tonnage restrictions on a Hard or Hardcore mode. It's disappointing that they didn't, but it seems like the game and UI already support the feature, so maybe they'll eventually add it in a patch if enough fans ask for it.

 

[Bjorn Le]

So this is just an interface vestige or something?
View attachment 117909

I figured it would eventually max you out but if it doesn't that's kinda lame.

If it made late game missions too hard, they could have just rebalanced the late game missions....

It’s to show you how strong you are relative to the mission difficulty. If your tonnage is under what the mission skulls is, you will probably have a tough time, vice versa if you are higher.

 

[Saskatoon]

That's a bug? I though it was just bad intel. Would make some missions a lot easier. And that's not necessarily a good thing. The last mission I did I took on nine mechs, all fully armoured, seven heavy, one light, one assault, and I didn't get a scratch (of course I had a really good position).

​

It's the bug if you get the objective to destroy the reinforcements after you finish off the original opfor but you are already fighting the reinforcements (and in some cases even killed them already).

 

[Bjorn Le]

It's the bug if you get the objective to destroy the reinforcements after you finish off the original opfor but you are already fighting the reinforcements (and in some cases even killed them already).

That is a bug yes, but I believe it's not a bug for the reinforcements to appear very early (or even right away).

 

[Bocephus86]

Loving this game so far. Trying to figure out how to best gear my main. I'm going the tactics route as I wanted to be a real leader type. Someone who could do precision strike calling and really disrupt the enemy with maneuverability and such. I was trying to optimize a Spider but I'm reading a lot of bad things about the light mechs. Any advice for what I want to accomplish?

Haven't lost anyone yet and I've only done a few contracts. Though Dekker is injured lol.

I replaced my spider with my fastest medium/heavy as soon as I could. I came across a quickdraw (relatively) quickly; right when I was making the jump to 1+ skull missions full time, and I use that as my scout (even now). Can go near max armor, jump jets & then a smattering of SRMs & Medium Lasers for medium to close range contact. My best "scout" runs in that unit even though he's a heavy.

If you want an actual scout that goes earlier in the initiative phases, look for a firestarter or jenner; they are (apparently) the "best" light mechs - you can near max their armor/jump jets while still giving them some firepower to drop vehicles or weakened mechs, when needed. And they are fast (just not spider fast)

 

[Saskatoon]

That is a bug yes, but I believe it's not a bug for the reinforcements to appear very early (or even right away).

Yea for sure but the bug can be nasty

 

[YNWA14]

I replaced my spider with my fastest medium/heavy as soon as I could. I came across a quickdraw (relatively) quickly; right when I was making the jump to 1+ skull missions full time, and I use that as my scout (even now). Can go near max armor, jump jets & then a smattering of SRMs & Medium Lasers for medium to close range contact. My best "scout" runs in that unit even though he's a heavy.

If you want an actual scout that goes earlier in the initiative phases, look for a firestarter or jenner; they are (apparently) the "best" light mechs - you can near max their armor/jump jets while still giving them some firepower to drop vehicles or weakened mechs, when needed. And they are fast (just not spider fast)

Good to know, thanks for the tips!

I think my main plan is to get a light mech I'm comfortable with and max out my tactics and run a tactics/pilot combo for my main, using him to Sensor Lock while having 2 heavy rigs with long range weapons snipe from afar, and then a medium gunner that can shuttle between the two zones and protect my long range mechs from anyone trying to run up.

Then have a few back up mechs depending on the situational needs.

 

[Bocephus86]

I basically have three classes spread over my 9 Mechs: 3 long range support (Missile boats), 3 medium range guys (lasers and the like, some ACs or PPCs even though they are "long range"), 3 brawlers (SRMs/AC20s/Lasers). Simplifies my game haha; I bring 1 long range and then, depending on the mission description & a bit of guessing, the other 3 (with 2 of one type, obviously). IE, if its an escort or base defense, I do 2 medium rangers. Battle/assassin/assault: 2 brawlers.

One thing I want to note for everyone that I saw on one of the other forums: Apparently all sorts of screen load times (battle, game, even between some interfaces) are impacted by save files. If you can, clear out old save files from your steam folder path & turn off steam syncing saves. I haven't had a chance to try that yet but I've seen people say its cut down on over 50% of their load times.

 

[SniperHF]

One thing I want to note for everyone that I saw on one of the other forums: Apparently all sorts of screen load times (battle, game, even between some interfaces) are impacted by save files. If you can, clear out old save files from your steam folder path & turn off steam syncing saves. I haven't had a chance to try that yet but I've seen people say its cut down on over 50% of their load times.

I'm playing on the GOG version and don't seem to have the issues others are (well other than them being inherently long). Which would make sense since the gog version lacks cloud syncing.

I've been archiving my saves to another folder because it makes the load game and save game buttons take a million years. But that's a pretty common thing for games to have the save/load take longer the move saves are in the folder. I was just playing a crusty game from 2005 and it had the same issue, as did Divinity Original Sin 2.

I don't know that it actually impacts the raw load time though in terms of opening missions and what not, that would be pretty weird. Suppose it wouldn't be hard to test though. Load once with a bunch of saves in there, time it. Load without them in there, time it.

 

[Bocephus86]

I'm playing on the GOG version and don't seem to have the issues others are (well other than them being inherently long). Which would make sense since the gog version lacks cloud syncing.

I've been archiving my saves to another folder because it makes the load game and save game buttons take a million years. But that's a pretty common thing for games to have the save/load take longer the move saves are in the folder. I was just playing a crusty game from 2005 and it had the same issue, as did Divinity Original Sin 2.

I don't know that it actually impacts the raw load time though in terms of opening missions and what not, that would be pretty weird. Suppose it wouldn't be hard to test though. Load once with a bunch of saves in there, time it. Load without them in there, time it.

I'll run some tests tomorrow; Bs game tonight so I'm pre-occupied with that. I'll time load time normal, with cloud sync off & with some saves moved to a different file (That is the recommendation that others have been saying; even a subfolder in the main steam save folder is supposed to make a difference).

The other thing, for me at least, is that the load times are "long" but like 10 seconds at most (im spoiled haha)... I have it installed on an SSD & have a fairly strong rig as well. It seems that people with 8 gigs of ram and under are also experiencing more chugging then I am; I have been watching my components and notice that it does often hang out at 7.9 gigs of ram used.

As always, there seem to be multiple factors & i'll let people know if I personally experience any improvement with the save game testing steps above.

 

[SniperHF]

The other thing, for me at least, is that the load times are "long" but like 10 seconds at most (im spoiled haha)... I have it installed on an SSD & have a fairly strong rig as well. It seems that people with 8 gigs of ram and under are also experiencing more chugging then I am; I have been watching my components and notice that it does often hang out at 7.9 gigs of ram used.

One thing I think a lot of people get wrong is that 8GB is basically enough for games still, but in some games you can't have much else open. On top of that Windows 10 takes way more RAM at idle than 7.

I've got it on an SSD and with 16GB RAM. Though my SSD is a little crappier than the current ones. Load times for battles are about 30 seconds. Sometimes 45 if it's a story mission. Longer than I'd like but not quit playing it bad.
Some people complain of 2-3 minutes, which is way too long.

Apparently there's a way to cut down on all sorts of little delays during the game by modifying a few json files, so I'm trying that now.