Gaming Galleries
| Beginners Guide |
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This
guide is for the vanilla game with no Mods or DLC's and intended to
offer playability advice for beginning players and veteran players alike. The following
information is from personal experience from over 700 hours of game
play. All three modes of the game have been experienced and explored. There are no spoilers to
the main Campaign
This in no way dictates
the only way to play
Below are three sections on how to dominate on the battlefield including;
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| Campaign
vs Career If this is your first time playing, definitely go with the Campaign first. This sets up what you start with when you do go for the Career mode. At the end of the Campaign, you automatically switch over to Career keeping everything you acquired during the campaign but without the travel limits. |
At the start of the Campaign, you will also get a brief tutorial that cannot be skipped. It is the lead up to important events and mayhem in the very near future. |
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| Character Background and Difficulty Settings |
Faction Map | |||||||||||||
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will be presented with screens to set the background history for your
Character. These include where your family came from and your
upbringing. Read through each of the Background screens and select a
path that best fits your play style. Very little here has an impact on
the game and the character customization is very basic. |
What
will have an impact is the game difficulty settings. The selected
options gives a final score multiplier. There is no way to review your
actual score until you complete the Campaign. Each option shows the
multiplier amount. It's alright to have a multiplier of just 0.5 when
just starting out. The final score really doesn't mean anything. |
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Merry Band of
Mercenaries The initial MechWarrior crew are misfits and oddly can't be customized. Always check the Hiring Hall for run of the mill pilots if you want to be able to customize your Merc Company. There is no special bonus or skill perks for 'special' MechWarriors. So if you want a custom crew, dismiss the initial ones and hire new pilots. Do it early as not to waste the XP on pilots you plan to dump. Special and Unique pilots are rare but can be found at various Hiring Halls. List of Pilot skill Perks. [need citation] |
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| Battle Lance |
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| Your
initial Lance will vary slightly depending on the Background and
Options selected, but will be similar. Several Light 'Mechs and a
couple Medium 'Mechs, including the one the character starts with. In
the Mech Bay tab, familiarize yourself with each 'Mechs weapons,
strengths and weaknesses. The Leopard dropship, your landing craft, has
6 available 'Mech bays initially. A general overview in the lower right, shows basic stats and load-out. The hexagon with a number indicates when the 'Mech can act during a combat round. The higher the number (5-1) the earlier the 'Mech acts. Also shown is the front and back armor (white) and internal structure (orange) which is the 'Mechs hit points as seen in the samples below. A row of symbols and numbers indicate Ballistic, Energy, Missiles, Support and Jump Jet slots a Battlemech has/allowed. The bar graphs are an indication of it's combat strength. A scrolling list shows where each weapon and component is located. |
Sample starting Lance
By
selecting a Battlemech and clicking the [Refit] button will show
detailed information about the weapons and components in each available
slot within the 'Mech, it's armor points and status.
This is where you can change or upgrade the 'Mech from the list of available parts in your inventory. The inventory groups are; Weapons, Ammo and Equipment which can be narrowed down to type in the selectors below the inventory tabs. Even the name can be changed. * I recommend moving all Ammo from the Torso and Arms to the Legs. |
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| Travel Moving between planetary systems is performed by ComStar Jumpships utilizing the lost technology (LosTech) of folding space. These Jumpships are located at specific points in deep space where this folding of space can happen¹. This requires ships wanting to jump to a different system to travel from the planet base or starbase to where the Jumpship is located. This can take many days using conventional propulsion. Dropships, such as the Leopard, that are docked to the Jumpship move great distances by folding space and arriving instantly in a different solar system many light years away. ComStar charges a set amount of 30,000 credits for each ship making the jump with them. ¹ These specific locations may just be arbitrary and only used because a successful jump was made at that point at some time in the past. ComStar simply doesn't know if other locations are also viable. The scientists that figured out the mechanics of folding space, were also targeted during the Secession Wars and the knowledge was lost. |
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| Missions and Reputation |
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 Try to pick missions with a balanced approach to each faction at the beginning. It's a good idea to not make enemies too early, particularly with the Pirate faction. Even if you are not pursuing a Pirate background, keeping them friendly can lead to having access to the Black Market where many rare weapons and equipment are exclusively available. Skull ratings will determine the 'Mechs you will be facing and how many. For up to two  , you will face a single lance and possibly one additional antagonist 'Mech. [need citation] |
Pick
missions that are in a favorable environment (the colder the better).
Take the highest amount of Salvage Rights as you can without affecting
the Reputation too much. With a decent Battle Lance,
you will acquire
more than enough salvage to make up the difference in C-Bills. Be sure
to read carefully the Mission Briefing information. They contain clues
about the enemy you will be facing and the on-ground conditions. Assigning 'Mechs and Mechwarriors; Assembling the right Battle Lance will depend on the mission. But typically you want at least one fast mech, two brawler types and an artillery 'Mech with Long Range Missiles. In early game play, a fast jumping mech will be the most help. This is particularly true where you have to retrieve something or someone from a base. But a heavy-hitter will usually be the right call to round out the lance. Assigning pilots to the same class 'Mech has an undisclosed bonus or penalty where a Mechwarrior can gain an Affility by becoming familiar with a particular 'Mech chassis and load-out. [need citation] Another mechanic not explained in the game is Pilot Fatigue. Each successive mission a Mechwarrior goes on reduces their combat skills until the pilot rests. The penalties or amount of rest time is not defined, but is likely based on the pilots Gut rating. Rotate out pilots whenever possible. Jumping to another system should reset fatigue stats. |
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| Combat Tactics | ||||||||||||||
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When starting a mission, look over the map to find alternate routes to
get to your destination. The most direct path the game presents to you
is not usually the best. Find locations with higher elevations (but not
too high) with plenty of available cover (trees or whirlwinds). Move
your strongest 'Mech to the lead with the lights flanking back a bit
to the left and right. Have an artillery piece (missile launchers) hang back and find
suitable cover in valleys and crevices away from where the combat will
happen. If Darius tells you that it looks like a trap or a 'good place for an ambush', go either to the far left or right side of the map. This way you are the one doing the ambushing instead of getting caught in a planned crossfire. The OpFor (opposing force) will have some of their 'Mechs on the opposite side of the map and will take them awhile to reach where the battle is actually happening, thus giving you time to pick off the most dangerous 'Mechs. Remember that the first round of combat you only have about 30% of your max Resolve, so don't move up too quickly. Jump into tree cover whenever you can covering the most distance possible to increase your Evasion and getting 40-60% damage reduction. Having a slight elevation advantage over the opponent gives you a little bonus to your hit percentage. Too high and your opponent can target your torso and arms more easily. The game mechanics don't really tell you if doing an alpha strike will over-heat your mech until you have already moved and targeted a 'Mech. If an attack shows you may overheat, disable weapons with the lowest hit chance and least damage first, just remember to turn them back on before the next round. If an OpFor 'Mech gets knocked down, don't fire on it. Let it get back up. Not for honor, but firing on it will usually hit the center torso and destroy the entire 'Mech despite targeting the head or legs. Thus less salvage recovered, and salvage is the mainstay of the game. If a leg was already taken out causing the fall, wait for the opponent to get back up, then target the other leg. You will still get 3 salvage from it. |
Don't
end a mission by getting to the evac zone. Finish off all the opposing
force and get an easy pickup by Sumire's dropship. 'Mechs
taken out by a clean head shot, meaning no missing arms or legs,
you can get the entire 'Mech when picking your salvage. Of course, the
higher the base tonnage, the higher the value when selling them at the
store. Be sure to scan the entire list of available salvage. There may be rare components that you need or will bring a high price. Selling off salvaged parts at a store with favorable conversion rates will net a better payout. If you're in a system that doesn't like you much, put them in storage until you get to somewhere more friendly. 'Mech parts, or even whole 'Mechs take no space and will not cost you anything while in storage for your monthly Financial Report fees. [need citation] POST MISSION; Upgrade your pilots skills (only up to level 4-See Advanced), then tend to damaged 'Mechs in the 'Mech bay. Send to storage any salvaged 'Mechs and visit the store if in a friendly sector. Sell whole 'Mechs whenever you can and dump the armaments and equipment you don't need. Keep just 1-2 of each type of weapon system, 3-5 of components and ammo in your inventory. Sell everything else. 
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NEXT: Advanced Strategies; Early and mid game Battle Lance configurations. Do this before advancing Mechwarrior skills beyond level 4!
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Inner Sphere - Federal (Federated Suns), Kuritan, Leaguer (Free Worlds League), Lyran
Periphery- Aurigan (Arano Restoration), Canopian (Magistracy of Canopus), Taurian (Taurian Concordat), Tortugan
| Combat Role
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| Sniper |
Brawler |
Scout | Artillery |
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