I have no doubt there are plenty of these threads around (or will be, given time), but I was curious as to what all of your opinions regarding the new skills are.
I feel that Bulwark is still essentially mandatory, and here's my reasoning: in most missions, the OpFor outguns you. It is not rare to have two (or sometimes three) times as many opponents as you. That means overall a lot of incoming fire. There are things you can do to mitigate that through positioning and clever tactics, but there will be scenarios where you have to endure a lot of guns trained on your 'Mechs. A 60% damage reduction really helps there, and even if you are not bracing cover still gives you a 40% damage reduction.
Coolant Flush is a cool concept and might work very well in multiplayer where you are facing a numerically similar OpFor, but in single player I feel its usefulness is not up to par with Bulwark's and Ace Pilot's.
Even though evasion is stripped each time you are shot at, the first piloting skill is nice. A 'Mech with jump jets can get quite a nice stack of evasion bonuses and if you jump into a forest and brace, you are pretty much set to survive whatever is thrown at you that turn, barring incredibly good luck on the OpFor's part. Stack Ace Pilot on top of that and you have a lot more options when maneuvering.
Sensor Lock is very handy if you have a lance that can take advantage of it. Even if your lance is geared toward mid or short range, it can be useful if you want to target a high-evasion enemy. Master Tactician is a good skill and stacks well with the Cyclops bonus, especially if you are running an assault lance (bunch of assaults activating on Phase 3? Yes please).
I feel that Multi Shot is powerful early game but wanes in usefulness as you face heavier opponents. Breaching shot also seems less valuable now that damage reductions have been reduced for the most part.
TLDR: In my opinion, the guts and piloting branches provide the most useful skills in single player, with my recommendation being to take one skill in guts and both skills in piloting. I do not feel that the gunnery and tactics skills offer comparable value. I have not had the chance to experiment with multiplayer yet (my spare time is very limited and somewhat erratic these days, I am looking forward to when my schedule lightens up enough to allow for some more multiplayer enjoyment).
I feel that Bulwark is still essentially mandatory, and here's my reasoning: in most missions, the OpFor outguns you. It is not rare to have two (or sometimes three) times as many opponents as you. That means overall a lot of incoming fire. There are things you can do to mitigate that through positioning and clever tactics, but there will be scenarios where you have to endure a lot of guns trained on your 'Mechs. A 60% damage reduction really helps there, and even if you are not bracing cover still gives you a 40% damage reduction.
Coolant Flush is a cool concept and might work very well in multiplayer where you are facing a numerically similar OpFor, but in single player I feel its usefulness is not up to par with Bulwark's and Ace Pilot's.
Even though evasion is stripped each time you are shot at, the first piloting skill is nice. A 'Mech with jump jets can get quite a nice stack of evasion bonuses and if you jump into a forest and brace, you are pretty much set to survive whatever is thrown at you that turn, barring incredibly good luck on the OpFor's part. Stack Ace Pilot on top of that and you have a lot more options when maneuvering.
Sensor Lock is very handy if you have a lance that can take advantage of it. Even if your lance is geared toward mid or short range, it can be useful if you want to target a high-evasion enemy. Master Tactician is a good skill and stacks well with the Cyclops bonus, especially if you are running an assault lance (bunch of assaults activating on Phase 3? Yes please).
I feel that Multi Shot is powerful early game but wanes in usefulness as you face heavier opponents. Breaching shot also seems less valuable now that damage reductions have been reduced for the most part.
TLDR: In my opinion, the guts and piloting branches provide the most useful skills in single player, with my recommendation being to take one skill in guts and both skills in piloting. I do not feel that the gunnery and tactics skills offer comparable value. I have not had the chance to experiment with multiplayer yet (my spare time is very limited and somewhat erratic these days, I am looking forward to when my schedule lightens up enough to allow for some more multiplayer enjoyment).
