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Kharille

Sergeant
8 Badges
Apr 25, 2018
54
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  • Crusader Kings II
  • Magicka
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  • BATTLETECH - Backer
  • Shadowrun Returns
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Read about a method which I use a lot, sensor lock and shooting from way out of the enemy sight range. If I got the space and able to retreat from their fastest mech, and assuming that the terrain is flat enough to allow for that.

Read somewhere people think headshots are a bit overpowered. I suppose in my 2nd playthrough I just made everyone tactical specialists. That 1 initiative bonus helps me stay ahead of the computer, crippling key mechs before they can act, plus the called shot mastery. Nothing comes close to tactical skills in terms of taking charge of the battle field and avoiding damage.

One other thing which I use is jumping behind and shooting mechs in the back. Always a quick way to get a kill if you're close enough. And something I've never seen the computer do.

Are there other overkill strategies that you use? Haven't gotten into knocking mechs over with missiles, maybe thats something I'll try in future. Do you have any favoured strategies?
 
Kiting (Sensor Lock and retreating in front of an Enemy) and Jump Cavalry Tactics (Jump Jets and Rear Torso shots) can be very effective indeed.

HeadHunting can be effective too but it takes a Marauder to really shine. By the time you’ve got the Marauder you’ll likely have a MechWarrior with Called Shot Mastery, some advanced weapons and the building blocks of Morale Acquisition (for Precision Strike) to really get the most out of any HeadHunting Strategy.

When it comes to a Knockdown Strategy, the AI has improved and the Game has been developed to the point where this Strategy is not nearly as effective as it used to be. But on occasion you’ll still find instances (especially if the AI has tread on Rough Ground) where Knockdown Tactics can come in handy.

The AI is variously vulnerable to each of these tactics.

The only additional ones I might suggest are a Flamer/Inferno Strategy where you first entice the AI to build up some Heat and then punch on it with Heat-based Weapons. The other being a Brawler Strategy, that really only comes into play if you’ve been able to stock up on Weight-Free Mods and/or +++ Mods.


However you decide to move forward, good luck and good BATTLETECH gaming!
 
Maximize mobility (JJs) with good enough cooling to keep jumping -> firing and fire -> jump away (Ace Pilot) going on very often, longer than ML/AC20/SRM range and after that a moderate amount of firepower is enough to very easily solo five skull missions with a single mech. The Marauder is the best at it but you can do it too with mechs like the PHX-1B and the Griffin-2N (both are lostech so they have +30 extra cooling), and of course with good heavies and assaults.

LRM boat based setups are also very good. One example is four assaults, all of them Master Tactician, so they're in the same phase, and two of them LRM boats as main damage dealers, then one long range damage dealer as finisher/support/spotter and another direct damage mech who can be long or very high damge medium range as finisher/support/spotter/bodyguard. The bodyguard part meaning sometimes not firing even once and always at a jump distance of supporting your LRM boats. It is a very slow playstyle but very safe.
 
Maximize mobility (JJs) with good enough cooling to keep jumping -> firing and fire -> jump away (Ace Pilot) going on very often, longer than ML/AC20/SRM range and after that a moderate amount of firepower is enough to very easily solo five skull missions with a single mech. The Marauder is the best at it but you can do it too with mechs like the PHX-1B and the Griffin-2N (both are lostech so they have +30 extra cooling), and of course with good heavies and assaults.
I wouldn't advise this strategy in missions involving the word "Defend", though...
 
The most powerful strategy is using 'Reserve'.

Even with all Assaults you can gain initiative via a Cyclops or using Master Tactician and get double turns which are quite abusive of an AI that is not allowed to do the same. Try using a mod that allows the AI to reserve like 'Better AI' from Amechwarrior and prepare to be humbled.

Now if only there was an easy way to simply add ++ weapons to higher level mech warriors for the OPFOR you'd have something that'd be fairly challenging.
 
You can basically break the game by building Marauders as headshot specialists with lots of >30 damage weapons and/or >60 damage weapons. With the lance command module you can get builds that almost always headchop every volley.

Or Annihilators with lots of ultra autocannons, which basically erase everything.

Then take max salvage for your missions and watch the numbers go up in your bank account.
 
The most powerful strategy is using 'Reserve'.

Even with all Assaults you can gain initiative via a Cyclops or using Master Tactician and get double turns which are quite abusive of an AI that is not allowed to do the same. Try using a mod that allows the AI to reserve like 'Better AI' from Amechwarrior and prepare to be humbled.

Now if only there was an easy way to simply add ++ weapons to higher level mech warriors for the OPFOR you'd have something that'd be fairly challenging.

I remember an Assault Convoy mission where the AI defenders had a pair of Cyclops in their team so their Archers were pretending to be light mechs, and the assaults and vehicles were activating at the medium level. 12 mechs and vehicles all moving before me - that did not go well
 
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I remember an Assault Convoy mission where the AI defenders had a pair of Cyclops in their team so their Archers were pretending to be light mechs, and the assaults and vehicles were activating at the medium level. 12 mechs and vehicles all moving before me - that did not go well

Yikes. That's a bummer.
 
SLDF Black Knight with it's TARDIS legs and 8x ER ML++s and 4x ER Small++s.

It's not quite as strong at headcapping as dedicated Marauder builds, but it can put 540 damage on someone's CT, every round, forever. And headchop at 70+%, if you want to go that route.
 
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SLDF Black Knight with 8x ER ML++s and 4x ER Small++s.

It's not quite as strong at headcapping as dedicated Marauder builds, but it can put 540 damage on someone's CT, every round, forever. And headchop at 70+%, if you want to go that route.

I'm one part away from that mech. That's a good losdout to look at doing.
 
Once you get an Orion with 3 missile slots(H?, I know it's not the K) you can start running missile boats with 45 missiles, 60 on a Stalker. You'll put even Assaults in unsteady with each volley, then your other mechs complete the knockdown with PPCs, ACs, or SRMs. Follow it up with called shots, or for Max salvage just knock them down repeatedly.
 
Once you get an Orion with 3 missile slots(H?, I know it's not the K) you can start running missile boats with 45 missiles, 60 on a Stalker. You'll put even Assaults in unsteady with each volley, then your other mechs complete the knockdown with PPCs, ACs, or SRMs. Follow it up with called shots, or for Max salvage just knock them down repeatedly.

The non-Thumper Bull Shark, if you have HM, has 4 missile hardpoints at 95 tons and an absolutely staggering amount of free space, and so can mount 80 tubes and the heat management to fire them consistently. It's nuts.
 
There are some strategies that are absolutely, insanely strong, maybe overpowered.
But in the end, at least once you get into assault mech territory, it's actually unnecessary to use any sophisticated tactics at all. My "fallback" is still the good old facetank. All you need is bulwark and some (2 should be enough) assaults with max frontal armor. Add in some cover, brace or use morale for 60% damage reduction. By the time the enemy actually manages to "maybe deal some structure damage in the near future" with it's crappy stock loadouts, you just switch out the frontliner for another one. At least half of the enemy force should be dead at that time.

I personally prefer to just brace my frontliner and save the morale for precision shots on my other pilots, as I feel you actually deal with the enemy faster this way. But either way it works just fine, just be careful not to get knocked down.
 
With Assault Mechs...Quad A/C5s are fun :)
 
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The inferno strategy is absolutely overpowered and can generate mountains of salvage from headshots. I almost feel bad mentioning it since it's so insanely game breaking but since you asked, here is how it works:

You'll need the following:
1) Jagermech-A (or any mech with 4+ missile hardpoints) equipped with 4 or more Inferno++
2) 3 "laser boat" mechs equipped with a mix of MLas++ and UAC2++. Marauder is most notorious of these but you can make it work with lighter mechs like Rifleman, Hunchback, or Blackjack.

Here's the most basic way to play it:
1) Alpha the most dangerous enemy with your inferno mech. As long as you land 7 of 8 missiles (105 heat), you'll instantly shut it down.
2) Have your laser boats follow up by taking called shots to the head. With the number of shots you're firing, it's not hard to get the 2-3 hits you need for a kill.
3) If the first enemy dies, use PS to headshot another one.
4) If you can't make a called shot, move to a better position.

Headshots work well when facing heavy and assault mechs. Against lighter mechs, you can just aim for the CT instead.
You can pull this off earlier than a PS based headhunting strategy since high morale and a Marauder are optional.
The key to success is to shut down the enemy in a single volley. You can improve this by adding TTS, Flamers, Inferno or increasing Gunnery.
Inferno++, MLas++, and UAC++ are easily obtainable if you know where to look.
 
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I wouldn't advise this strategy in missions involving the word "Defend", though...
The tactic is not about using just one mech but about using a very jumpy playstyle. If you add more mechs you can easily do more types of missions too, and being able to jump+fire very often does help for those, much easier to go jump from one target to another after the first is killed.

The inferno strategy is absolutely overpowered and can generate mountains of salvage from headshots. I almost feel bad mentioning it since it's so insanely game breaking but since you asked, here is how it works:


You'll need the following:

1) Jagermech-A (or any mech with 4+ missile hardpoints) equipped with 4 or more Inferno++

2) 3 "laser boat" mechs equipped with a mix of MLas++ and UAC2++. Marauder is most notorious of these but you can make it work with lighter mechs like Rifleman, Hunchback, or Blackjack.


Here's the most basic way to play it:

1) Alpha the most dangerous enemy with your inferno mech. As long as you land 7 of 8 missiles (105 heat), you'll instantly shut it down.

2) Have your laser boats follow up by taking called shots to the head. With the number of shots you're firing, it's not hard to get the 2-3 hits you need for a kill.

3) If the first enemy dies, use PS to headshot another one.

4) If you can't make a called shot, move to a better position.


Headshots work well when facing heavy and assault mechs. Against lighter mechs, you can just aim for the CT instead.

You can pull this off earlier than a PS based headhunting strategy since high morale and a Marauder are optional.

The key to success is to shut down the enemy in a single volley. You can improve this by adding TTS, Flamers, Inferno or increasing Gunnery.

Inferno++, MLas++, and UAC++ are easily obtainable if you know where to look.
That doesn't seem very OP to me. Unless there's some time limit I can headcap every single heavy and assault mech in most five skull missions with a single non-Marauder mech using my above tactic.

And your strategy seems dependent on high level Tactics too. If you don't have have CSM your chances to quickly headcap will be much lower and the inferno ammo isn't plentiful enough to allow you doing it again and again, while in my case past the very few first turns, when is the most risk involved, I can keep going on as long as needed.


This seems op to me:

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The tactic is not about using just one mech but about using a very jumpy playstyle. If you add more mechs you can easily do more types of missions too, and being able to jump+fire very often does help for those, much easier to go jump from one target to another after the first is killed.
I specifically meant doing defend missions with one mech, no matter the tactics. Not advisable.
 
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