First death of an Elite Mechwarrior - traumatizing

[Kharille]

First death I saw was in the last campaign mission, Espinosa got a headshot, but that was my 2nd attempt since I lost the audio in the last game cutscene on my first playthrough.

I'm not saying I don't abuse the save function. Less of a need with the 'withdraw' option. But this is 1000 days on my 2nd game and I got 24 10/10/x/10 mechwarriors. Was surprising, I was taking out a base when a 2nd wave of victors came along. Was 3am last night when I was barely awake and suddenly that blood curdling scream when Buster got hit in the face. Whole annihilator barely got a scratch on the paint job and suddenly she got an AC 20 in the face....

Ah, never underestimate any mech with an AC20..... That scream is going to be with me for a while....

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

I make it a priority to take enemy A/C20s off of the battlefield. Demolishers get priority a long with any mech location with that autocannon or it's ammo.

Matter of fact, not long ago, I had an enemy Victor deliver an A/C20 headshot to my Annihilator as soon as it popped into view. Luckily it was my character so he lived. Still, I had to fight the remainder of the match without that Annihilator. It was a bit tricky.

A/C20s are always a priority for me. No matter how good my company might be, that A/C20 round round still can ruin a day.

 

[Kharille]

Yeah, until now an AC20 here and there is painful for Yangs workshop. But nothing I can't recover from.

Really selective about missions after some convoy missions where my assault mechs just couldn't move fast enough or tank sufficient damage. In one game where I drop markers my main character got 'killed' and I lost a Gauss ++. Oh well, its only 3.8 million, cash overflowing in the end game...

 

[Gurachn]

Hmm... I've never found AC20s to be either very attractive or scary.
I tend to go either light and fast, or heavy and long range. I cant remember the last time I came close to taking a shot from an AC20.
Just keep away from them and pick them to pieces.

I find AC10s/PPCs to be far more intimidating.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

I think what makes an A/C20 (and Gauss) a bit unnerving is that it can kill a pilot and remove a mech from the battlefield in one shot. It doesn't do it often, but when I see an enemy fire one at me, I hold my breath a bit. Other weapons can hit the head too, but they aren't quite the headcapper of an A/C20. Even an A/C10 can't destroy a fully armored head hotbox, but that A/C20 can blow the head clean off.

 

[Kharille]

What is the probability? 1%? I wonder if computer Elite Mechwarriors have the same tactical ability? I find all the skills in tactics essential, headshots, faster initiative and sensor lock. Until recently I was doing a lot of long shots with AC5's and PPCs, guess I dropped my guard and did some close quarter brawling.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

What is the probability? 1%? I wonder if computer Elite Mechwarriors have the same tactical ability? I find all the skills in tactics essential, headshots, faster initiative and sensor lock. Until recently I was doing a lot of long shots with AC5's and PPCs, guess I dropped my guard and did some close quarter brawling.

I don't think it is terribly common. I can remember it happening twice in my playthroughs (maybe 3 times, but twice for sure). This is over 640 hours of play though.

So no, it isn't common, but it has happened enough for me to be leery of it. Also, I make it a priority to destroy A/C20s, so if I didn't do that, it may have been more common too.

 

[ThatGuyMontag]

My last Career Mode run was just a couple of contracts shy of a perfect run. The problem was that damned Lunar convoy ambush.

I was struggling to get LOS so I popped a Bulwark and sprinted Scrub forward past 2 Victors in his brawler Cyclops-Z. 5 pips, Piloting 10 and a Hit Defence +3 gyro meant I was feeling pretty safe.

Literally the only fire he took that mission was that single Breaching Shot AC20.

 

[ThatGuyMontag]

On the question of odds, it's 1% odds on any shot that hits. Assuming 50% hit rate, you'll expect it to happen once every 200 AC20 shots.

Two year playing and Scrub was my first ever pilot lost to an AC20 headshot.

Head *punches* are my dumb death of choice.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

Head *punches* are my dumb death of choice.

I once had a Mechwarrior that got knocked to the ground only to have a mech (I think a Jenner), run up and stomp it's head, killing my Mechwarrior. That was a jaw dropping moment for me.

That is why I at least try to maintain 7+ Mechwarriors at all times. Between injuries and occasional deaths, it's good to know I have a good roster to pull from.

 

[Kharille]

So embarrassing. I never go for 5 star signal flare missions. One time my main guy got trapped with 4 vehicles. Can't recall, Manticores and Demolishers, after 4 blasts my main character got knocked down and quickly blown apart. Fortunately it was my main character so no major loss except a Gauss ++.

Barely managed to get through that one. I think I had one mech missing a leg, and it took like 5 turns to get to the evac zone. Shoulda' just ejected.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

I am playing with CT destruction equals total mech loss. Having that happen to me would be a huge blow to the lance (especially if the mech was Star League Era like my MAD 2R).

It gives me shivers just thinking about it.

 

[Yanotoshi]

Injuries are OK and make the gameplay challenging. If a core pilot in a expensively modified mech get killed, we'll, there are ways to restart the game or mission.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

Injuries are OK and make the gameplay challenging. If a core pilot in a expensively modified mech get killed, we'll, there are ways to restart the game or mission.

That's one of the reasons I Ironman, because I know I would be way to tempted to restart. If bad things happen, I have to live with that. It makes things pretty tense from time to time.

 

[Kharille]

Tempted to do ironman. Just concerned about corruption of saves. I haven't used the withdrawal option much, but it seems weird that during your turn you can do so much damage and then suddenly 'time out'. At least the evacuate option involved more realism since you're still under fire.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Tempted to do ironman. Just concerned about corruption of saves. I haven't used the withdrawal option much, but it seems weird that during your turn you can do so much damage and then suddenly 'time out'. At least the evacuate option involved more realism since you're still under fire.

Not only can you “Time Out” but if you’ve already accomplished a portion of your Mission Objectives, you get to keep* all of your downed Mechs and MechWarriors AND you get to claim Salvage from among the downed Mechs of those who just defeated you...


*CT Destruction and MechWarrior Mortality not withstanding

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

Tempted to do ironman. Just concerned about corruption of saves. I haven't used the withdrawal option much, but it seems weird that during your turn you can do so much damage and then suddenly 'time out'. At least the evacuate option involved more realism since you're still under fire.

I have made many Ironman runs and haven't had an issue with save file corruption. I may just be lucky, IDK. Overall I don't worry about it.

I don't mind the withdraw mechanic, although I can see both sides of the argument. I just look at it as a 'parlay' and we agreed to cease operations to save on cost and additional damage.

Parlay is supposed to be fairly common in this era of BT, so I just think of it like that.

 

[foamyesque]

First assault 'mech I ever got was from a Clash of the Titans mission. First "Titan" was a Demolisher and had me regretting my decision to max salvage.

I never even saw the second. It was just a sensor blip: It moved into sensor range and the Demolisher turned around and headshot the sucker, first volley.


... nearly ragequit when the salvage screen said it was a Banshee, but then I noticed which kind of Banshee :v

 

[SpenReyn]

I lost Amiakari recently because of a stupid mistake. Forgot he wasn't an ace pilot like my other playthrough, so he fired a volley of SLs into the target in front of him and he was left there with no evasion and no cover. Hunchback 4G topped the ridge nearby and boom, headshot and dead.

 

[ADisplayName]

Head *punches* are my dumb death of choice.

I had never seen a head cap from melee before; then one day I am doing some mission around three skulls, there is this Griffen, and I had taken out its weapons, so was down the low end of my threat chart, happily keep my mechs away from it while I dealt with its lance mates.
I turn away for a second as it starts to melee my Marauder, I am thinking thats fine the Marauder is full armoured and a return melee will allow a little heat venting, I look away to deal with something else, return my attention to the screen only to find the Marauder in a heap on the ground, and a dead pilot I had been training up.

I must have just looked at the screen for a full five minutes stunned that such a thing was even possible let alone that it had actually happened, but I think I was more stunned, and not a little gutted that I had missed seeing it happen.

These days I give even more space to crippled mechs.

It was a hard choice not to restart the mission.