Finale - what to bring? [Spoilers]

[ItWasRhetorical]

I'm about to hit the Point of No Return, and Darius has told me I should have multiple fully equipped lances... Which has sent me scrambling for salvage. I've been running pretty lean on both pilots and mechs for both upkeep and business reasons. So, I don't really have a B-team to send in, and I don't tend to take enough damage that keeping one around under normal circumstances doesn't make sense.

So, in as unspoilery way as possible, could someone tell me what sort of number/class of mechs and pilots I need to grind? And for the bonus round, where's the best place you guys have found to grind them?

 

[Gendou]

I was coming here to ask the exact same question. I haven't kept more than a single lance. The game didn't prepare me for this - we've only ever NEEDED one lance.

 

[Lord Skeletor]

This is a huge sticking point. Huge. The game encourages you to upgrade your 'mech bays, customize 'mechs---and you can only use 4 battlemechs in all of the missions? What gives?
That's crazyness. You should start fleshing out your company early on and use as many as you cobble together. Perhaps with an overall tonnage limit or something---or even more fun, no tonnage limit at all; given how seemingly rare heavies and assaults are to get. We want to have fun, remember guys?

 

[Kuroko_Fey]

Without getting too spoilery, you don’t need two lances. As long as you take no pilot damage and don’t lose any limbs in combat, one is fine.

 

[TheWackyWombat]

I'd say the final mission is really more like 2x 4 skull missions back to back. Even though your told you should prepare multiple lances, you could carry the entire team through to the second mission if no one is injured/takes too much damage.

I found both missions pretty easy actually, easier than the standard 4.5 skulls for sure, you just dont get time to repair or heal between so just having 1-2 backup mechs/pilots should carry you through... Assuming your already tooled up.

 

[ItWasRhetorical]

Without getting too spoilery, you don’t need two lances. As long as you take no pilot damage and don’t lose any limbs in combat, one is fine.

Thanks! I'm probably ready now then. I really don't tend to take internal damage. I sometimes get pilot injuries though, so I'll probably just train up a couple more pilots. I'll probably send them in first, actually, and then hold my best in reserve.

This is a huge sticking point. Huge. The game encourages you to upgrade your 'mech bays, customize 'mechs---and you can only use 4 battlemechs in all of the missions? What gives?
That's crazyness. You should start fleshing out your company early on and use as many as you cobble together. Perhaps with an overall tonnage limit or something---or even more fun, no tonnage limit at all; given how seemingly rare heavies and assaults are to get. We want to have fun, remember guys?

I think honestly it was all designed assuming we'd spend more time with lousy Tech Points and take more internal damage.

 

[WandererRTF]

Advice posted before have been rather good. You don't necessarily need spare 'Mechs or pilots. The first mission however is kinda tricky - do listed to the advice, it pays off - and you need a tad of good luck in addition to what you bring to the fight. Assuming you want to keep the same team and have no real foreknowledge of what is to come. Besides the recommended equipment is not a total waste in the very last one either...

While usually you can make do with say 1 ton of ammo for 15 LRM tubes you might want to considering alternative strategies just for the odd case you happen to run out of them. Like i did. Had alternative ways of dealing with what waited ready though.

 

[Agreenz]

I did the final sequence with the same four mechs, without taking any structural damage- an Atlas, King Crab, Grasshopper and Stalker. It was a lot easier than I expected, but lots of fun and a satisfying end.

 

[Jastebro]

The first stage mission at the point of no return had no music in it.
I reported it as a bug. If any experience similar things, I encourage that to be reported as well.

 

[Agreenz]

I had music for the first stage, so it's definitely supposed to be there.

 

[President Jyrgunkarrd]

Don't worry about it; the last two missions are pretty easy, and the very last mission is super fun.

You don't need two lances - Darius is just lying again. You might want to have a spare vehicle to sub-in if one of your mechs gets IS damage in the second last stage, but this probably won't be necessary.

 

[yewjrn]

Just one lance is enough if you are careful in the first mission although backup pilots might be great in the case of head hits.

As for the final mission, focusing on firepower would do as you are unable to salvage the one mech that is attractive there (I've tried and killed the pilot via knockdowns but not even a single piece was available for salvage)

 

[Jadedfalcon]

Without getting too spoilery, you don’t need two lances. As long as you take no pilot damage and don’t lose any limbs in combat, one is fine.

Here's hoping for the day we can deploy 2 (or more) lances.