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[umiman]

I'm starting to run across some of the extra equipment, like the enhanced gryo that is valued at 1.2 million, takes no tonnage, 3 slots in the center torso and gives +2 to hit defense. I'm guessing these will start to get more common as I get to the higher difficulties, still breezing through 3 skull missions because the first enemy I run across will get killed. The hunchback with someone that has the gunnery specialized, pretty much lets them hit things through guard state for the full ac20 damage. Also the firestarter is finally showing its worth by keeping a thunderbolt shut down for the entire time the rest of my group was killing other things.

That gyro sounds amazing. The best I've seen is an actuator that gives +10 punching power. I also saw a leg actuator that gives +10 death from above damage, but that sounds kinda worthless.

I have a curse where every time I put a good part on a mech, that part will explode. So I'm kinda terrified of throwing my expensive gear on them now. Losing 3 rare AC20s is really nervewracking.

[Chosrau]

And...the game now wants me to go up to 3.5 skull difficulty missions....when I only have 2.5 stars worth of tonnage

The game only shows you contracts of your current systems and nearby contacts that cover travel expenses. You can still just fly to a lower skull system by yourself and there will most likely be contracts there.

[Sensei]

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but the game hasn't been easy at all for me. Bad luck can allow even small mechs to do huge amounts of damage, it feels like I'm always barely keeping enough mechs repaired and warriors out of medbay to field a full group. Maybe it's in part because I've mostly been fielding something close to default weapon loadouts, I can't afford to money or time to refit mechs with more specialized setups and experiment.

[umiman]

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but the game hasn't been easy at all for me. Bad luck can allow even small mechs to do huge amounts of damage, it feels like I'm always barely keeping enough mechs repaired and warriors out of medbay to field a full group. Maybe it's in part because I've mostly been fielding something close to default weapon loadouts, I can't afford to money or time to refit mechs with more specialized setups and experiment.

Default is good though. I use default on a lot of my mechs. Hell, there's quite a few mech loadouts like on the Wolverine or Gladiator where I can stare at it for an hour trying to figure out how to improve it only to decide it's perfect as it is. I didn't even change any of my starting mechs until like the 3rd campaign mission or something cause I was such a skinflint with money.

If you're having a hard time, maybe remove some weapons and up the armour. This will give you way more breathing room to learn the game. Later on when you get more comfortable with the systems you can work with terrain and flanking alongside other stuff to make it easier. Maxing out armour also helps your pocketbook, as armour damage is free but hull damage is expensive. Later on you can decide what balance works for you as you get used to it since it might be worthwhile to have less armour to get more dakka.

Customizing mechs doesn't really make them better as you're working within the same tonnage limit as everyone else. Customizing it just tailors it to what you want to do with it. Like how your engineer puts it, it's a matter of trade-offs. You can't make a mech perfect at everything. If you want it to do more damage you sacrifice armour or mobility. Same for if you want more survivability or movement.

I also highly recommend punching things. It's hilarious and also hilariously effective. Especially early on when you mostly fight lights and crappy vehicles.

[Man of Paper]

I will vouch for mechslaps being both fun and hilariously effective. Punching the head of a mech to smithereens is oh so satisfying. That's actually how I wound up getting my first firestarter.

[motorbitch]

most default loadouts are utter crap and designed to "fight at all ranges", and so they have no range at witch they are good.
sure, lets mix small lasers and lrm, that will make a balanced loadout.

[motorbitch]

i swear something is wrong with this game. every other hit on my dudes is a headshot.
ok, its somewhat less. but i that ammount of one shots i recieve when the ai shoots me with ac20 or my light mechs with ppc is surreal.
full evasion? no problem for the noscope faction.

[Draignean]

I'm loving this game so far, though I've frequently gone hilariously against its recommendations. The Centurion you get early in the game is supposed to be some kind of skirmisher, and the game tells you that its loadouts are most effective at short range. I took one look at its left shoulder socket with 3 missile hardpoints and immediately gave it 3 LRM15s and shorted it most of its armor. Hasn't been shot once, but damn does it have a lot of kills. It's pretty nice to just smash vehicles without them every getting even close to the offensive line, and she's wonderful for knocking mechs off balance.

My starting Blackjack has gone through... quite a number of arms. Which, in turn, has mean that it has chewed through a number of main guns. Currently, I'm liking the one-two AC/2+Large Laser combo.

[Mephansteras]

Ugh, this mission I'm on is broken. I'm supposed to kill this lady who stole a mech and is being evac'd with it by the Capellan forces. Which turns out to be a lance of light mechs with the heavy trying to escape. Ok, that's fine, I've got 3 mediums and a light, I can do that.

Except I can't, because the heavy sits right next to damned evac zone the entire fight and as soon as you do any decent damage to it it takes one move over and escapes. Does the game really expect me to get a magical headshot to actually win this fight? 2 rounds is not enough time to take out a heavy with a bunch of mediums and lights. Especially since it is in a forest and has the high ground.

I'd just take the loss and keep going, but I literally can't afford to do that.

I think the game expected me to spend way more time in between the first few story missions doing random fights. I feel very under powered for even the easiest missions the game is throwing at me at this point.

[Man of Paper]

Yeah my strategy so far has been taking lower-tier contracts until my contracts are at storyline difficulty for the most part, then taking a contract of equivalent challenge to see if I'm ready to try the main contract out. It's worked out pretty well so far. Even with priorities leaning towards salvage my financial situation is pretty solid, even after upgrading the armaments on my starting lance.

So far I've not been picky about my employers, but has anyone gotten far enough to benefit from positive relations?

[motorbitch]

try precise shots to the legs. the mech will fall when one leg gets destroyed, allowing you to target the other leg without spending morale on it.

[umiman]

most default loadouts are utter crap and designed to "fight at all ranges", and so they have no range at witch they are good.
sure, lets mix small lasers and lrm, that will make a balanced loadout.

That's literally the definition of a balanced loadout.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

I got the game, very much enjoying the strategy of it, but damn did reviewers get it right when they said it. is. SLOW. Man, I wish the animations were sped the fuck up. Heck even just clicking to move your mechs feels clunky and unresponsive. Ugh. Needs QoL update.

[Man of Paper]

My biggest annoyance has been the invisible box in the top left. Haven't checked options to see if I can make the objective box opaque, gonna do that tonight. Other than that there's that bit of fuckery when you detect an enemy that always seems to screw me up midclick. Petty annoyances at most in my personal opinion, but I'm not opposed to some polish. RNG is the only thing so far that's dampened my fun.

Anyone run into or hear about bugs?

[Mephansteras]

try precise shots to the legs. the mech will fall when one leg gets destroyed, allowing you to target the other leg without spending morale on it.

Yeah, I'd tried that both times. But wasn't able to take out the other leg before it limped to a magical escape. Finally succeeded, though, because the mech backed up away from the evac zone for once so I was able to take it out before it escaped. I would have liked to have taken both legs out, but everyone decided that "focus on the legs" meant "shoot for the center torso". So..rip Quickdraw. Pity, would have loved to have gotten two more pieces of that to put together a full mech.

Still, things are looking up. Just did a base attack mission where we brutalized a lance of medium mechs. Got enough parts to finish off a second Shadow Hawk and the Trebuchet I had in storage. So my situation is now vastly improved.