First Foray Into Career Mode

[Camicon Dachass]

So I'm like, let's go with vanilla settings to start, see how things go.

First planet I'm on has three pieces of a CN9-A, and five missions offering enough C-Bills to pay for it. Since they're all .5-1 skull missions, I'm like "yeah, let's go full cash and buy myself a solid Medium before I've even travelled a day". So I did. And I got it. Dropped the LRM10 for an SRM6, upped the armour, and had myself a tanky frontliner out the gate.

Second planet I visit has three pieces of a BJ-1, and five missions offering enough C-Bills to pay for it (and then some). Again, all .5-1 skull missions, so I'm like "I could use another Medium". I go full cash, and buy myself the BJ-1. And in the meantime, I blew up three Firestarters, so I've got myself a fancy FS9-H that's being kitted out with a sextet of SLs.

Third planet I go to has some 1.5 skull missions. Now I'm glad I got the Centurion and Blackjack. The first mission I take is a .5 skull assassination. The pay is kinda crap, so I take 2/8 salvage and hope that the target isn't a tank. Thankfully, it isn't; it's a CN9-AL, in disrepair. Which I headcap with my CN9-A's AC10. And, since I obliterated the screening force, there's only 11 pieces of salvage to choose from. Just like that, I have myself a full lance of Medium 'Mechs.

"This is great!", I think to myself. Feeling pretty cocky, I take one of the 1.5 skull missions. A Battle contract against a single lance (or so Darius says). My Blackjack is still in the shop, trading out the AC2s for LLs and heatsinks, so I head out with my CN9-A, a (mostly) stock CN9-AL, my Vindy (which dropped the LRMs and SL for two more MLs), and my FS9-H. I drop, make sensor contact, but can't tell what the target is. "Whatever," I say to myself "I can handle this measly little 'Mech with one hand tied behind my back!".

Can you guess where this is going?

A HBK-4G walks into view, followed quickly by a ENF-4R, and a GRF-1N.

*KABOOM!*

That AC20 goes off, and my Commander gets pasted inside her cockpit before firing a shot. Cypher attempts a flanking maneuver in her FS9-H, while Gnarly and Harpy try to draw the attention of the Enforcer and Griffin, but the OpFor is having none of it. Cypher gets legged, then cored, torn apart by PPCs and AC10s. The Hunchback sets his sight on Harpy as she tries frantically to gain distance with her CN9-AL, trying to bring her LRMs to bear, and then *KABOOM!*. Harpy is down, cored straight through! Gnarly fires her Jump Jets, maybe she can take down the Enforcer before scrubbing the mission, but she's building up too much heat and damn it if there isn't a spec of cover to be found! The Hunchback turns the corner, Enforcer just behind, Griffin perched on a hilltop just out of sight. Gnarly's trapped, nowhere to run, staring down the barrel of that damned AC20. KABOO-

Oh. Wait. That's not what happened.

What happened is the Hunchback presented me with it's left side, so I shrugged my shoulders and obliterated it's AC20 ammo before it was even in range. Then Cypher took out the Enforcer's left leg and torso with a Called Shot. And after spending a turn to mop up those two, Gnarly 360° no-scoped the Griffin with her PPC and blew it's head clean off. Which I salvaged in full.

So now I'm sitting here with five Mediums and a Firestarter, a couple million C-Bills in the bank, and only 30 days into my first attempt at career mode, wondering two things:

Firstly, should I restart with some difficulty settings increased?

Secondly, what kind of sadistic Hell Trap™ is RNGesus preparing for me, that He would bestow upon me such bounty before I've even reached my first second report?

How are things going for you guys?

 

[mjbroekman]

Not as good on the mission / shop side of things, but better on the pilot survival side

That sounds like an awesome start to a career

 

[Camicon Dachass]

Not as good on the mission / shop side of things, but better on the pilot survival side

That sounds like an awesome start to a career

I haven't lost any pilots though.

(Was my fictional aside too subtle? )

Anyways, yes, a very fortuitous start. I'll probably never be quite so lucky again, and I don't want to blow it, so I'm taking a small break to let my ego deflate a little.

 

[ronhatch]

Sounds to me like you have an obligation to attempt a max-score run.


So get cracking on figuring out how you're going to hit all the systems! (In case you aren't aware, apparently passing through on the way to other locations does count.)

 

[LemurFromTheId]

Firstly, should I restart with some difficulty settings increased?

Frankly, I think that three parts for a full mech makes it way too easy to get new mechs. It depends on the player, but I'd say 5 or 6 is the sweet spot. With 8 the game becomes a massive grind. Though obviously some like it that way.

Should you restart? Only you can answer that.

 

[Quardak]

i Play with 5 Parts and slow Pilot Progression. No more Mech shopping and every Mech you can obtain feels like a real step up.
I am some Month in Career and still hope for gettin my second Medium Mech (only managed to get a second Jenner and some crappy locusts)
Hoping for a last part to create a Firestarter. A lot more challenge

 

[stjobe]

Firstly, should I restart with some difficulty settings increased?

That's up to you of course, but I find that 5 pieces slows down 'Mech acquisition enough that you have to work for them a bit. Just think what your command would look like had you had 5 pieces instead.

Secondly, what kind of sadistic Hell Trap™ is RNGesus preparing for me, that He would bestow upon me such bounty before I've even reached my first second report?

"We have such sights to show you!"
"Your suffering will be legendary, even in Hell"

How are things going for you guys?

1.5-star Repossession mission; the tanks to be repossessed turn out to be a Striker, a Manticore, a SRM carrier, and a Demolisher. Backed up by two Spiders, a Locust, and a Panther. It was over in nine turns (eight for me, didn't get to act at all in the last turn).

But I actually managed to come back from that though, because CT destruction is off. It only took six days to put that Hatchetman back together, and all in all it was about three months (94 days) until the last memory of that mission was gone. Poor Killjoy had to go through therapy too - I guess having your 'Mech blow up around you might do that:

 

[Marc_Hicks]

So I'm like, let's go with vanilla settings to start, see how things go.

First planet I'm on has three pieces of a CN9-A, and five missions offering enough C-Bills to pay for it. Since they're all .5-1 skull missions, I'm like "yeah, let's go full cash and buy myself a solid Medium before I've even travelled a day". So I did. And I got it. Dropped the LRM10 for an SRM6, upped the armour, and had myself a tanky frontliner out the gate.

Second planet I visit has three pieces of a BJ-1, and five missions offering enough C-Bills to pay for it (and then some). Again, all .5-1 skull missions, so I'm like "I could use another Medium". I go full cash, and buy myself the BJ-1. And in the meantime, I blew up three Firestarters, so I've got myself a fancy FS9-H that's being kitted out with a sextet of SLs.

Third planet I go to has some 1.5 skull missions. Now I'm glad I got the Centurion and Blackjack. The first mission I take is a .5 skull assassination. The pay is kinda crap, so I take 2/8 salvage and hope that the target isn't a tank. Thankfully, it isn't; it's a CN9-AL, in disrepair. Which I headcap with my CN9-A's AC10. And, since I obliterated the screening force, there's only 11 pieces of salvage to choose from. Just like that, I have myself a full lance of Medium 'Mechs.

"This is great!", I think to myself. Feeling pretty cocky, I take one of the 1.5 skull missions. A Battle contract against a single lance (or so Darius says). My Blackjack is still in the shop, trading out the AC2s for LLs and heatsinks, so I head out with my CN9-A, a (mostly) stock CN9-AL, my Vindy (which dropped the LRMs and SL for two more MLs), and my FS9-H. I drop, make sensor contact, but can't tell what the target is. "Whatever," I say to myself "I can handle this measly little 'Mech with one hand tied behind my back!".

Can you guess where this is going?

A HBK-4G walks into view, followed quickly by a ENF-4R, and a GRF-1N.

*KABOOM!*

That AC20 goes off, and my Commander gets pasted inside her cockpit before firing a shot. Cypher attempts a flanking maneuver in her FS9-H, while Gnarly and Harpy try to draw the attention of the Enforcer and Griffin, but the OpFor is having none of it. Cypher gets legged, then cored, torn apart by PPCs and AC10s. The Hunchback sets his sight on Harpy as she tries frantically to gain distance with her CN9-AL, trying to bring her LRMs to bear, and then *KABOOM!*. Harpy is down, cored straight through! Gnarly fires her Jump Jets, maybe she can take down the Enforcer before scrubbing the mission, but she's building up too much heat and damn it if there isn't a spec of cover to be found! The Hunchback turns the corner, Enforcer just behind, Griffin perched on a hilltop just out of sight. Gnarly's trapped, nowhere to run, staring down the barrel of that damned AC20. KABOO-

Oh. Wait. That's not what happened.

What happened is the Hunchback presented me with it's left side, so I shrugged my shoulders and obliterated it's AC20 ammo before it was even in range. Then Cypher took out the Enforcer's left leg and torso with a Called Shot. And after spending a turn to mop up those two, Gnarly 360° no-scoped the Griffin with her PPC and blew it's head clean off. Which I salvaged in full.

So now I'm sitting here with five Mediums and a Firestarter, a couple million C-Bills in the bank, and only 30 days into my first attempt at career mode, wondering two things:

Firstly, should I restart with some difficulty settings increased?

Secondly, what kind of sadistic Hell Trap™ is RNGesus preparing for me, that He would bestow upon me such bounty before I've even reached my first second report?

How are things going for you guys?

The phrase "your mileage may vary" definitely comes to mind here .

 

[Camicon Dachass]

Sounds to me like you have an obligation to attempt a max-score run.


So get cracking on figuring out how you're going to hit all the systems! (In case you aren't aware, apparently passing through on the way to other locations does count.)

How many days would it take to hit every system? And is the bonus score even worth it? That seems like a score buff that someone might go for if they have a couple really bad missions where all their 'Mechs get trashed, and they don't have the cash to fix and refit them all.

 

[LemurFromTheId]

How many days would it take to hit every system?

No one knows. This is a highly complex variation of a traveling salesman problem. I think the whole point of this objective is that it ensures there's always room for improvement and no one ever gets a perfect, maximum score.

 

[Camicon Dachass]

No one knows. This is a highly complex variation of a traveling salesman problem. I think the whole point of this objective is that it ensures there's always room for improvement and no one ever gets a perfect, maximum score.

Do we have anyone here with a mathematics degree that might be interested in solving the Travelling Mercenary problem?
(given our map of the Periphery, is it possible to visit every single system within 1200 days? If so, what is the most time efficient route?)

 

[ronhatch]

It's definitely possible to hit every system, since you can just pass through systems to get it and that doesn't take nearly as long.

Doing it while getting max score in other categories? That's not likely at all. But if it is possible, it will probably require the kind of start you had. Regardless, the comment was made as a very tongue-in-cheek thing.

I did figure out a path that would take me to every system after I finished my first campaign and there were only two spots on the map that I couldn't figure out any way to avoid going through twice. My list is on a different computer than I'm on right now, but off the top of my head... there was a star near the northern border of Canopian territory that only had three possible jumps in range of it. Since you have to jump both in and out unless it's at the start or end of the sequence, you end up making the star on the other end of the unused jump a dead end... and all the stars on the other ends of those jumps had only two possible jumps, so you had to go through a specific system to get there and there was no way out without backtracking. The other spot is in the southwest corner where there is an isolated three-star chain... I made that the end of the sequence, but access to it still goes through a system that I needed to make a connection at another point.

In any case, the sequence I came up with started at Coromodir, so it would need to be adjusted to be useful in career mode. And trying to hit every system requires at least some advance planning, so it's hard to say whether or not you'd be able to work in things like travel contracts and Flashpoints that require going to specific systems.

 

[LemurFromTheId]

Alright.... please ignore my previous post. Only now, after having played the game some 300+ hours, did I realize you can change your course while docked on a jumpship...

I thought I tried it once a long time ago, but somehow I couldn't do it, so I thought you have to plan your route through the map with one "string" of systems at a time. Duh.

As it turns out, you can jump through every single system - by my quick calculation from the game files there are ~174 of them - in about 520 days*, so it shouldn't be all that difficult of a challenge if you can keep track which systems you have visited.

*: Well, in reality it may be a bit more than that, because there are some systems that aren't well-connected to others.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

Things were a little touch and go for me at first, however now things are looking a bit comfortable for me.

I started the run with mostly stock settings, but changed a couple of things. I selected 5 pieces of salvage and slow MechWarrior progression. I like this because it makes things a bit trickier when trying to upgrade my lance to heavier mechs. I did end up buying a mech piece or two when I needed to complete a chassis (Vindicator and Centurion), however even doing that often cost so much money that I had to be a bit careful.

Eventually I earned a decent medium mech roster that I like, however I still never quite got the mechs I wanted. I only have 2 parts to the Hatchetman and Enforcer. I think I have 3 parts for a Hunchback 4P and for a Crab. With 5 pieces of salvage, they are not as easy to get and I have passed over parts for them to try and farm parts for heavies. Salvage is sometimes a tough decision.

Now things are more stable. I have over 6 million C-Bills and the Argo is about 2/3s fixed up. My only issue is I am still short a heavy mech. I am close for several chassis (Orion (K I think) at 4 pieces and Jagermech A at 4 pieces). I have a few Quickdraw, Thunderbolt and Grasshopper parts as well, so I think I will be getting those chassis soon.

Also, I have switched from Allying with the Taurians to allying with the Steiner. Those Flashpoints gave me a lot of Steiner rep, so I figured...Why not.

So, I think I have roughly 500 more days left on the score board so I am hoping to be allied and at least have some Heavy Mechs before the time runs out. I will see how it goes.

 

[Timaeus]

I got to aggressive in an early mission, and had my forces blown back to a panther and commando only (surprisingly no pilot losses). I'm just now back to a force that includes a medium (wolverine), and the top end lights (panther, firestarter, jenner) and I'm about ~400 days in.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Alright.... please ignore my previous post. Only now, after having played the game some 300+ hours, did I realize you can change your course while docked on a jumpship...

I thought I tried it once a long time ago, but somehow I couldn't do it, so I thought you have to plan your route through the map with one "string" of systems at a time. Duh.

As it turns out, you can jump through every single system - by my quick calculation from the game files there are ~174 of them - in about 520 days*, so it shouldn't be all that difficult of a challenge if you can keep track which systems you have visited.

*: Well, in reality it may be a bit more than that, because there are some systems that aren't well-connected to others.

I’ve never even thought to see if changing course while in transit was possible. Excellent job and great find! :bow:

I am still 57-days from completing my first foray into Career Mode.

I’ve made a very good effort of it, but my max possible score was only ever about 30k short of 800k Career Mode Points.

Does anyone know why 800k wasn’t the Max Possible Score?