Battletech

[CSI PC]

Even with called shot and a pilot with called shot bonus your headshot chance isn't going to go above 5%. Not really worth it.

There are 2 good ways to try to take down a mech and be able to choose all 3 parts in one mission.

• Take out both legs. With called shot bonus from tactical you can get this above 60% on legs.
• Take out the pilot. Most mech pilots will have 3 health.
  • Knockdown does 1 health damage. Not hard with the right weapon loadouts.
  • Destroying a shoulder does 1 health damage.
  • Headshot crits do 1 health damage.

Depending on how damaged parts are and how damaged the pilot is (you'll have to keep track of this yourself as it isn't displayed in game) when you knock down a mech (automatic called shots on knocked down mechs) you may want to go for shoulders or legs.

Also, sometimes if a mission is rough you'll want to just try to kill them as fast as possible, called shots on damaged torso can take a mech out of the battle quickly. Or you might want to try to take out the part that has a very damaging weapon attached (AC20, for example).

All part of the fun. The story mission I just did (I think it was the 3rd or 4th one) was a doozy to try to get all bonus objectives (save at least 6 ammo crates and destroy all fleeing ammo transports before they evacuate). Mechs in that mission can dish out a lot of damage pretty quickly and there are LRM towers that when combined with other mechs can quickly destabilize your mechs making them fall down and become easy targets. Would have been much easier to ignore the bonus objectives, but I liked the challenge and boy was it a challenge.

Regards,
SB

Thanks SB.
Is the back of the mech still very fragile and an option to try and take it out quickly albeit I assume more destructive in terms of salvaging?

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Thanks SB.
Is the back of the mech still very fragile and an option to try and take it out quickly albeit I assume more destructive in terms of salvaging?

The back is significantly more vulnerable, but it's also in many cases a lot riskier to go for the back armor. Doing so exposes your back to the other enemies in that lance in most cases. But if you can get a good alpha strike into the back of an enemy, it can be devastating.

Regards,
SB

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Even with called shot and a pilot with called shot bonus your headshot chance isn't going to go above 5%. Not really worth it.

Correction. With enough investment into the Tactics line of skills you can eventually get Called Shot Mastery. With that I've gotten up to an 18% chance to hit the head. Going to test and see if it is worth it. So far, still doesn't seem worth it. 2x 35 LRM barrages didn't hit the head once.

Regards,
SB

 

[CSI PC]

Correction. With enough investment into the Tactics line of skills you can eventually get Called Shot Mastery. With that I've gotten up to an 18% chance to hit the head. Going to test and see if it is worth it. So far, still doesn't seem worth it. 2x 35 LRM barrages didn't hit the head once.

Regards,
SB

How about using SRM or closer range accurate laser wpns?
I thought LRM had a higher chance to miss without a certain line of skills and can you get those high with Called Shot Mastery?
Just going by what I thought so please take with a grain of salt.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

How about using SRM or closer range accurate laser wpns?
I thought LRM had a higher chance to miss without a certain line of skills and can you get those high with Called Shot Mastery?
Just going by what I thought so please take with a grain of salt.

The computer calculates all that information and provides it to you at the time of taking the shot. If you hover over your weapon, you'll see all the various modifiers (including height deviation, mech size, inherent weapon modifiers, etc.). Up until the situation with headshots, the percentages for called shots to body parts have roughly matched what I have observed. This is more easily seen with large missile salvos as each missile's hit chance is calculated individually. With other weapons you have to remember the results over a long string of fights as called shots require either Morale points, a downed mech, or the extremely rare case of a mech that has been temporarily shut down due to extreme overheating (I've been toying with the idea of trying a flamer build to force this condition on an opponent).

Regards,
SB

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Nooooooooooo...

I just had the most glorious take down ever. I knocked down a 70 ton Tactician. Me only remaining mech with actions for that round was a melee focused Dragon. Melee attacked (can't do called shots on melee) it and I got the ultra rare melee foot stomp to the head that instantly killed the pilot granting me salvage rights to a pristine full Tactician chassis.

Unfortunately I only had 2 player choice salvage slots. And I didn't get lucky with a random pick of the last Tactician part to finish it. AAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!

I love this game.

Regards,
SB

 

[Gelanin]

Nooooooooooo...

I just had the most glorious take down ever. I knocked down a 70 ton Tactician. Me only remaining mech with actions for that round was a melee focused Dragon. Melee attacked (can't do called shots on melee) it and I got the ultra rare melee foot stomp to the head that instantly killed the pilot granting me salvage rights to a pristine full Tactician chassis.

Unfortunately I only had 2 player choice salvage slots. And I didn't get lucky with a random pick of the last Tactician part to finish it. AAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!

I love this game.

Regards,
SB

I assume you mean you faced a Grasshopper or a Cataphract (those are the only two 70-tonn mechs in the game afaik), Tactician is the combination of skills the pilot of the enemy mech has

I've logged about 60-65h of gameplay in the last 6 days now, and getting fairly close to the end of the story missions (atleast i think i am getting close).

I can field a full assault lance if i want/need, but in some of the missions you really need something thats faster than assaults, and might even require you to sprint for a couple of turns, or you'll fail the mission or some secondary objectives atleast.


All in all, i've really enjoyed the game so far, and i'm sure it'll keep on entertaining me for plenty more hours.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I assume you mean you faced a Grasshopper or a Cataphract (those are the only two 70-tonn mechs in the game afaik), Tactician is the combination of skills the pilot of the enemy mech has

I've logged about 60-65h of gameplay in the last 6 days now, and getting fairly close to the end of the story missions (atleast i think i am getting close).

I can field a full assault lance if i want/need, but in some of the missions you really need something thats faster than assaults, and might even require you to sprint for a couple of turns, or you'll fail the mission or some secondary objectives atleast.


All in all, i've really enjoyed the game so far, and i'm sure it'll keep on entertaining me for plenty more hours.

Yup, what I meant to type was Grasshopper. Ooops.

I've only logged 45 hours so far, playing every other day, and I'm not even close to the end. I'm about to start the mission that gives you your first assault mech.

It's just too fun flying around being a mercenary and trying different mech builds and lance compositions.

Regards,
SB

 

[CSI PC]

Is this accurate to what mechs are in the game?
http://www.sarna.net/news/mechs-in-upcoming-battletech-game-from-harebrained-schemes/
Not found a detailed list, so wondering if anyone else has as the above link does not seem entirely complete.
Thanks

 

[Gelanin]

Here is a spreadsheet i've come across that seems to be very accurate about what things are in the game. Personally i mostly just use the "mechs" part of that sheet.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...75-D6fmYfNJ5u3OALSIe8ckOuo/htmlview?sle=true#

 

[CSI PC]

Thanks.
With each mission being somewhat random what spawns I guess it adds to the unpredictability of what mechs are faced to salvage; maybe makes it worth reloading a mission until some nice mechs to salvage but I guess some would find that not fair and twinking or something similar..

I did find from the forum the following list showing with game or future planned to go with that spreadsheet as reference; sadly seems Marauder and Warhammer is future release (DLC or new game *shrug*).
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/battlemech-compilation-thread.1075724/

 

[Gelanin]

Marauder and Warhammer are a part of "the unseen", so still in legal mumbo-jumbo until the case between Harmony gold and Piranha is settled (hopefully to our advantage)

 

[CSI PC]

Marauder and Warhammer are a part of "the unseen", so still in legal mumbo-jumbo until the case between Harmony gold and Piranha is settled (hopefully to our advantage)

Well they were part of the Harebrained project from Kickstarter and the case against them was thrown out; no mention that Harebrained changed anything for Harmony Gold either because those models are not actually owned by Harmony Gold but another Japanese company or they possibly were using different 3D model representations (reseen period maybe)
A link earlier showed those mechs were owned/license of Big West and it looks like Harmony Gold is broadening beyond their remit, but at a minimum they could redesign the 3D model which is what they may had done to be reseen.

The forum link post earlier also mentions planned for future such as Raven, which I thought was completely legal.

 

[Gelanin]

The case Harmony Gold had vs HBS was for the Atlas, Shadowhawk and Locust i belive, and not the unseen.

But yes, hopefully we'll start seeing those mechs soon

 

[CSI PC]

The case Harmony Gold had vs HBS was for the Atlas, Shadowhawk and Locust i belive, and not the unseen.

But yes, hopefully we'll start seeing those mechs soon

Then there would be no problem with Marauder and Warhammer because they have always been part of Harebrained Schemes project since kickstarter - they were always mentioned with the project before so would expect them to be in the court complaint.
But like I mentioned earlier the case also involved the original 12 unseen and Jordan Weisman as mentioned in post #56.

This prior litigation concluded when the parties agreed to a “Settlement Agreement and Mutual General Release” (the “Settlement Agreement”), which had an effective date of December 19, 1996, and to which Weisman was a signatory. In addition to agreeing to a monetary payment, Weisman and his co-defendants agreed that they would not “make any use, and will not authorize [their] licensees to make any use, of the visual design images of the twelve (12) Battlemechs listed below except as provided in this agreement.” These 12 “Battlemechs” include those detailed below in Paragraph 28, which presents side-by-side comparisons of Harebrained Schemes’ and Weisman’s current warrior robot designs and the corresponding Harmony Gold Robotech designs. Weisman also agreed to the entry of a permanent injunction and acknowledged that violating the use restriction would cause Harmony Gold “irreparable harm.” Further, Weisman agreed that he would not “contest, nor [would he] assist any other person or entity in contesting, Harmony Gold’s exclusive ownership worldwide, excluding Japan,” of the Robotech merchandising rights. This Settlement Agreement is confidential, and therefore has not been attached to this Complaint.

Press was only picking up on one part of the complaint, Paragraph 28 is the original 12 unseen mechs and part of complaint against Jordan-Harebrained Schemes and Piranha Games who they were meant to be licensing certain mechs from.

Unless Harmony Gold missed the kickstarter where those models are still mentioned by Harebrained Schemes *shrug*.

 

[CSI PC]

I noticed I never included the original court case complaint update, apologies.
https://www.scribd.com/document/366049332/Harmony-Gold-Motion-to-Amend-Complaint
This has the full 67 pages including the aspect around Jordan-Harebrained Schemes and also Piranha games, and separately the 3 models you mention.

Here is the aspect linking complaint between Jordan and Harebrained Schemes and ties into my earlier quote of Jordan and the 12 mechs:

Defendant Jordan Weisman (“Weisman”) is an individual who, on informationand belief, resides in Bellevue, Washington. On further information and belief, Weisman is theCEO and registered agent for Harebrained Schemes LLC, and is a governor of HarebrainedHoldings, Inc. Weisman is the moving, active and conscious force behind Harebrained Schemes;has directed and controlled the activities of Harebrained Schemes complained of herein; has participated in, assisted in and/or is responsible for the conduct alleged herein; and entered intothe Settlement Agreement with Harmony Gold at issue in the breach-of-contract claim set forthin this Complaint.

 

[CSI PC]

Marauder and Warhammer are a part of "the unseen", so still in legal mumbo-jumbo until the case between Harmony gold and Piranha is settled (hopefully to our advantage)

Just to add from the forum linked earlier showing in/planned/maybe; only the Marauder and Warhammer had future plan (and with kickstarter related bonus), the other notable Unseen were "may be"; Phoenix Hawk, Rifleman, Archer.
Interestingly Paragraph 28 is exactly those mechs including Marauder and Warhammer.
So it may had put Harebrained Scheme off just like you say and reducing them to DLC by which time they could be confident of the court case outcome, still interesting back in January 2018 only Marauder and Warhammer were future planned along with Raven, but does fit your point when looking at how Paragraph 28 exactly matches the planned/maybe mechs.
The other 3 mechs were later complaint paragraph.

 

[Gelanin]

After taking it abit easy for a couple of days i've now completed the last mission(s) in the campaign. Completing it also unlocks the rest of the map, so i can now travel anywhere on the map in the game.

All in all, i've very pleased with the game, and i'm eagerly looking forward to more DLC/Expansions and patches.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Yup just finished it as well. Best game of the year so far for me. Nothing else comes even close. But the other big one for the year is coming up soon. Pillars of Eternity 2. Might not pick that up right away though since I'm going to be busy for a bit and don't want to be tempted to play it.

Some thoughts on the game now that I've finished the story, but not finished playing the game.

Guts and Tactics are by far the most powerful skills with regards to combat.

Guts makes your pilot and mech far more survivable. Ridiculously so. It also reduces their chance of dying when incapacitated as well as reducing how much time it takes for them to recover from their injuries.

Tactics, once you get Called Shot Mastery, makes combat extremely simplistic. Especially if you also have high spirits (10 morale instead of 25 morale to activate called shot) on a pilot who has that ability. It basically allows for called shots that will instantly core a light, medium, and some heavy mechs in one shot with a heavy DPS mech. It allows for taking down all heavy and almost all assault mechs in 2 attacks by taking out both legs, which also grants a large amount of salvage possibilities. Master Tactician with +1 initiative is also relatively huge to abuse the ability to manipulate combat with reserve.

Piloting is the next most useful skill due to bonuses to sprint speed. Evasion is underwhelming once you start meeting the higher ton mechs (70 and above). Bulwark will prevent far more damage against them than evasion ever will.

Gunnery is the least useful skill as shot accuracy can be boosted later in the game by equipping weapons with +accuracy. Multishot is only really useful if you have weapons of various ranges on your mech, but tactics reduce the need for this by making long range weapons useable in short range. Breaching shot is only really useful on lighter tonnage mechs as firing multiple weapons will still do more damage against a bulwarked target than a single breeching shot in general. It can also be useful combined with multishot by doing 1 weapon attack per target, but spreading out damage isn't generally a good idea.

Basically for me, called shot mastery meant that on the last mission none of my mechs had their armor breached. Basically came out of it unscathed since I took out at least one mech every turn by just taking out their legs. 1 Mech takes out one leg with called shot dropping it to the ground. That allows another mech a free called shot to immediately take out the other leg.

Also, the best way to gain salvage to all parts of an assault mech? Just knock them down repeatedly. Choose weapons with high stability damage and low regular damage. PPC with +30 stab damage and LRMS with +stab damage are the best. You'll generally incapacitate the pilot before you do significant internal damage.

Basically I think skills need to be balanced a bit more to make them equally useful depending on the situation. Right now, Bulwark and Called Shot mastery are extremely OP. Otherwise fantastic game.

Regards,
SB

 

[Gelanin]

Personally if i were to try and "rate" the different skills (the 5/8 pts ones) i think it would be something like this:

Gunnery:
Multi-Shot: Very useful.
It allows me to fire my weapons at mostly the optimum range, at the cost of spreading damage out abit. But the most useful part of this skill for me, was the ability to alpha-strike a target, while still putting 1 weapon that gave stability damage on another target to make sure that target was knocked down. Also to reduce evasion on multiple enemy targets with 1 salvo.
Breaching shot: Situationally useful, overall, meh.
Only really works well if you have 2 powerful weapons, like AC20's, and very few other weapons, and 2 targets that both are "guarded" or in cover. Otherwise it's usually better to just fire your full compliment of weapons.

Piloting:
Evasive Movement: Useful
Evasion is always nice, but i felt it got weaker with time, due to heavier and slower mechs later in the game.
Ace Pilot: Meh
Not found much use for this with my playstyle, though i guess situational it could be useful.

Guts:
Bulwark: Very useful
Very nice skill that lets you get into position and then not worry about taking full damage if you dont move.
Juggernaut: Situationally useful, overall meh.
Situationally useful to mess with opponents initiative, but didnt use it much in my play so far.

Tactics:
Sensor lock: Useful
Nice to sensor lock opponent before it's visible, then using indirect LRM fire to case damage/stability. Does reduce your damage output though, so abit situational.
Master Tactician: Very useful.
Being earlier in the initiative is always good. More useful later in the game when you're fielding mostly heavy/assaults.


Ignoring those abilitys i would say Guts, Gunnery and Tactics are the most useful skills.
Guts for the +Health on pilots and the +Heat thresholds
Gunnery for the added accuracy, that lets you use weapons with +damage/+stability instead of +accuracy, thereby increasing your total damage output very nicely
Tactics for the -minimum range, indirect fire (for lrm usage) and for the called shot bonuses.

The piloting bonuses are also decent, but not as useful for all builds, though very good for melee/DFA builds.


I guess in many ways it boils down to playstyle what you prefer. Myself i mostly went with 1 "up close and person" melee'ish focused build(usually shadow hawk, dragon and later grasshopper), 1 LRM boat(Centurion, Jaegermech, Highlander), and 2 more balanced but damage-focused mechs (Blackjack, Thunderbolt, Orion, Stalker, Highlander, King Crab)