Your first impressions of Flashpoint?
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I guess I've been lucky so far - I have the hanging loading screen, but it only takes an extra minute or so.
So I decided to start a new campaign fresh and I'm about a third of the way through, so no flashpoints yet, but several jungle missions (much more rugged than I expected - good thing I like jumpers) and a couple harrowing encounters with the Hatchetman. I haven't seen the jungle at night yet, but it sure looks purty in the bright daylight. I also happened to enjoy a very rewarding exchange of resources with one Morgan Kell.
The new Argo animations are a rather nice touch. The planetary orbit screen looks like it has more variety in lighting, too, and during the stage where I was still based on the Leopard, the planet outside lit up the interior of the command deck rather colorfully. Was that always the case, and I somehow didn't notice?
I'm trying not to rush the campaign too much, but I kind of want to... I just keep hearing so many good things about the flashpoint missions.
So I decided to start a new campaign fresh and I'm about a third of the way through, so no flashpoints yet, but several jungle missions (much more rugged than I expected - good thing I like jumpers) and a couple harrowing encounters with the Hatchetman. I haven't seen the jungle at night yet, but it sure looks purty in the bright daylight. I also happened to enjoy a very rewarding exchange of resources with one Morgan Kell.
The new Argo animations are a rather nice touch. The planetary orbit screen looks like it has more variety in lighting, too, and during the stage where I was still based on the Leopard, the planet outside lit up the interior of the command deck rather colorfully. Was that always the case, and I somehow didn't notice?
I'm trying not to rush the campaign too much, but I kind of want to... I just keep hearing so many good things about the flashpoint missions.
Read about the splash logo problem before I started. Just let it sit for 2-3min and it always continue for me. Since I'm playing on a min. spec machine, I'm used to waiting for BT stuff to load.
By the way, if you're having a ton of different problems and googling about all of them doesn't help you, try :
the steam check for integrity of game files & repair
Fixed missing textures, crashing, freezing, sfx chirps and a few other problems for me (6 files repaired right after FP installation). I'm glad I tried it because I was already resigned to waiting for the next patch.
the steam check for integrity of game files & repair
Fixed missing textures, crashing, freezing, sfx chirps and a few other problems for me (6 files repaired right after FP installation). I'm glad I tried it because I was already resigned to waiting for the next patch.
After going through 4 flashpoints, i can say we got an excellent DLC+patch.
The short stories are cool, the choices matter and while i only got one of the 3 new mechs, its already on my main lance (battle computer!). The skills review improved tactical gameplay (bulwark 2.0 made cover/resolve management essential) and the alliance option made reputation relevant (faction/black market stores). The new biome is probably the most beautiful in the game and while the new mission type didn´t made me go light, it gives a nice challenge to my Steiner Scout lance.
I´m getting my money´s worth. Thanks HBS!
The short stories are cool, the choices matter and while i only got one of the 3 new mechs, its already on my main lance (battle computer!). The skills review improved tactical gameplay (bulwark 2.0 made cover/resolve management essential) and the alliance option made reputation relevant (faction/black market stores). The new biome is probably the most beautiful in the game and while the new mission type didn´t made me go light, it gives a nice challenge to my Steiner Scout lance.
I´m getting my money´s worth. Thanks HBS!
My first impression of the Flashpoint is ... bad?
"Joint Venture" is labelled a 2.5-star mission. I brought a 2.5-star lance to it (four mediums, three of them 55T), and the first mission was fine. The second mission asked me to defend a base against:
I'm not sure how this is doable with an actual 2.5-star lance, unless I missed something? The only part loss I suffered was a single right arm, but the objective seems impossible.
"Joint Venture" is labelled a 2.5-star mission. I brought a 2.5-star lance to it (four mediums, three of them 55T), and the first mission was fine. The second mission asked me to defend a base against:
Orion, Thunderbolt, Shadow Hawk, Locust, Vindicator, Vindicator, Griffin, two small tanks, a Demolisher, and anything else I may have missed in the chaos. All full armor. To accomplish this, I had 3/4 of my tired lance (with no internal damage or limb loss!) and a forced Hatchetman. Even splitting my forces up across the map to try to distract the OpFor as much as possible, I could not possibly prevent them from destroying all the buildings: They did it with four turns remaining, despite my actively putting myself in harm's way to try and bait fire.
I'm not sure how this is doable with an actual 2.5-star lance, unless I missed something? The only part loss I suffered was a single right arm, but the objective seems impossible.
Where you shooting at all/most of the enemies every round? The key to base defense missions is to distract the enemies. Standing in the open won't attract fire. They will only stop targeting buildings if one of your mechs takes a shot at them. It doesn't have to be much, just a medium laser of LRM 5. That will distract a unit for 2 turns, then it will go back to shooting the base.
Multi-Target is very helpful for base defense missions. I would even go so far as to say it is nearly required.
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Huh, I didn't know it was so rigidly mechanical; I assumed if you threatened them or presented a better shot, they'd take it. That said, I was attacking pretty much constantly. It's hard to tie up 9+ active units spread on either side of a hill.
I had a base defense mission like this early in my Iron Man run.
Base was at the top of a large hill.
The main force advanced from the front, but the reinforcements 2 rounds in flanked from the rear side.
It was tough sledding keeping all the opfor mechs occupied. I had to split my force composed of a Shadowhawk, Jenner, Spider, and Locust.
I sent the Locust and Spider to delay the flank of 4 mechs and two vees while my meds tried to mop up the remaining two from the main force. Rng was not on my side with the meds and it took them a few turns longer that I wanted to be able to rejoin the scouts.
The hard part was finding enough opportities for the locust and Spider to fire at all the opposition without getting in a bad defensive position.
By the time the Shadowhawk got to the flank the vees were lined up for it to melee like checkers to a king.
The base took a few hits in between and lost one building but was within mission tolerance.
I was very ecstatic to pull that one off.
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I need to get around to building a dedicated base defense lance. I expect it will be mostly tough mediums (any of the 55 tonners will work well) with two LRM 5s each, then whatever other weapons fits their desired roll. These will be pair will a full lance of pilots with the Multi-Target skill.
Finally got done with my first flashpoint in career mode, which was Joint Venture.
The base defense portion is very nearly impossible unless you know the exact chain of events, or drop with a weight substantially over the skull recommendation. The latter of which is not fun at all, because the hatchetman that forces its way into your lance becomes dead weight.
The problem is that you got a LOT of rounds to wait before reinforcements arrive, and you are hung out to dry with the crappiest base in the entire Inner Sphere. No turrets, no walls, and on the low ground. The two medium-to-heavy lances you face will bumrush the objective, guaranteeing the OpFor has LOS of all buildings. And as soon as one does, all the LRM Boats and Snipers will wipe out a huge portion of the base before you can even act. You also have a TON of rounds to wait for reinforcements. I don't remember the exact number, but it's like 8-10 or something. I made it to four.
Even when you DO distract the two lances, as I was able to thanks having a bunch of units with multitarget, there's one last "screw you" from the devs. You will soon realize that at least 4 60-100 ton tanks have spawned behind a huge mountain, half of which are likely LRM boats. You will never reach them in time unless you already knew they would be there, and yes, they exclusively target the base until you can reach them. And even if you already knew they'd be there, rush them down at your own risk, because they are probably guarded by at least one 100 ton demolisher. Jesus!
And the real kicker? The first 'Mech I encountered on this mission was a HATCHETMAN.
There goes me caring about any written narrative.
What a mess. No wonder they gave you the chance to re-do flashpoints if you fail. You probably won't succeed on them without prior knowledge.
On the plus side, a good faith effort is relatively easy to achieve here. For a consecutive deployment, one mission success and one good faith effort is still a good payday in early career mode (assuming you didn't incur huge repair costs in the process).
The base defense portion is very nearly impossible unless you know the exact chain of events, or drop with a weight substantially over the skull recommendation. The latter of which is not fun at all, because the hatchetman that forces its way into your lance becomes dead weight.
The problem is that you got a LOT of rounds to wait before reinforcements arrive, and you are hung out to dry with the crappiest base in the entire Inner Sphere. No turrets, no walls, and on the low ground. The two medium-to-heavy lances you face will bumrush the objective, guaranteeing the OpFor has LOS of all buildings. And as soon as one does, all the LRM Boats and Snipers will wipe out a huge portion of the base before you can even act. You also have a TON of rounds to wait for reinforcements. I don't remember the exact number, but it's like 8-10 or something. I made it to four.
Even when you DO distract the two lances, as I was able to thanks having a bunch of units with multitarget, there's one last "screw you" from the devs. You will soon realize that at least 4 60-100 ton tanks have spawned behind a huge mountain, half of which are likely LRM boats. You will never reach them in time unless you already knew they would be there, and yes, they exclusively target the base until you can reach them. And even if you already knew they'd be there, rush them down at your own risk, because they are probably guarded by at least one 100 ton demolisher. Jesus!
And the real kicker? The first 'Mech I encountered on this mission was a HATCHETMAN.
There goes me caring about any written narrative.What a mess. No wonder they gave you the chance to re-do flashpoints if you fail. You probably won't succeed on them without prior knowledge.
On the plus side, a good faith effort is relatively easy to achieve here. For a consecutive deployment, one mission success and one good faith effort is still a good payday in early career mode (assuming you didn't incur huge repair costs in the process).
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Yeah, I took a second shot at it (didn't realize Flashpoints respawn!) and got it fairly easily with a 210T lance ... but it meant playing in a way that is kinda counter-intuitive and relies heavily on prior knowledge of the mission. Also, the second time I played it, those tanks over the mountain were replaced by another lance that included a Cataphract and a Grasshopper. Again: 2.5 stars? I fought: Discoback, 2 x Trebuchet, Shadow Hawk, 2 x Hatchetman (!), Cicada, Cataphract, Grasshopper, and at least a couple other blips I never actually laid eyes on.
I think I only killed four enemies total, because I was spending the entire time "babysitting" 8-10 live opponents by pinging them with LRMs so they would take bad shots at me and not the base.
I think I only killed four enemies total, because I was spending the entire time "babysitting" 8-10 live opponents by pinging them with LRMs so they would take bad shots at me and not the base.
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I played the "Joint Venture" and found it pretty entertaining. Admittedly the base defense one tends to be rather difficult depending on what you've brought and what the enemy spawns. I wasn't happy when the buildings started suffering 'missile rain' and the reinforcements didn't even appear on the map yet. Fortunately for me I had a trebuchet with multiple targeting ability, a griffin, a vindicator and of course the hatchetman wiith high level pilots. By the time the enemy showed I'd already gotten lucky and killed an enemy panther with a couple of lucky PPC hits and had trashed another enemy mech (the 4P variant with all of the lasers instead of the AC20). Killed the Firestarter and the locust the next round so the enemy didn't have line of sight anymore. Jumped over to the hill and managed to start hitting the enemy by with the loss of only a 2nd building.
Over all I had a bit of luck in the opfor draw since I went with the unknown choice and they enemy was a bit spread out so even with the assault mech it had I was able to jack rabbit my way to a relatively clean victory. Lost one of the apcs when the 2nd round came.....but it consisted of only 1 locust, 1 trebuchet and 2 vehicles so while not necessary I cleaned up that lance as well.
It paid pretty well since my random rewards include two Griffins.
Over all I had a bit of luck in the opfor draw since I went with the unknown choice and they enemy was a bit spread out so even with the assault mech it had I was able to jack rabbit my way to a relatively clean victory. Lost one of the apcs when the 2nd round came.....but it consisted of only 1 locust, 1 trebuchet and 2 vehicles so while not necessary I cleaned up that lance as well.
It paid pretty well since my random rewards include two Griffins.
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I've just hit the first Flashpoint in my new career save.
I went in to the first mission with a Shadow Hawk, Crab, Vindicator and Firestarter, all heavily modified. The Shadow Hawk was an SRM boat, the Crab had five ML and one SL, Vindicator PPC + four ML, Firestarter 2 x ML and 6 x SL. All jump capable, most with Sure-Footed pilots.
The first mission went fairly smoothly; I wiped out the first force before the Trebuchets appeared, so they lacked any spotters for indirect fire shenanigans. However, there was a Hatchetman in the Opfor which managed to slice an arm off my Firestarter with a single swipe, and the Shadow Hawk also lost an arm just before the last opponent fell.
Fortunately, I had another SL-equipped Firestarter ready to go back on the ship, and the mission-supplied Hatchetman made an okay substitute for the Shadow Hawk during the second mission.
Defending the base, the Hatchetman and Firestarter charged in amongst the first wave, while the Crab and Vindicator hung back. The Firestarter wreaked mayhem all over the place, while the Hatchetman soaked up more fire than was good for it. All of the buildings remained standing until the second wave arrived, which was also around the time that the Hatchetman fell.
At that point the Crab jumped in amongst the second wave to distract them, but ended up losing a leg and a torso in return. Fortunately, the Vindicator picked off the enemy mech poised to deliver the killing blow, allowing time for the Crab pilot to eject.
As the final heavies lumbered up the hill, the Firestarter and Vindicator hopped around like mad, drawing fire and killing time until the reinforcements arrived. It worked.
Much of fun, overall. Nicely challenging without being overwhelming.
I went in to the first mission with a Shadow Hawk, Crab, Vindicator and Firestarter, all heavily modified. The Shadow Hawk was an SRM boat, the Crab had five ML and one SL, Vindicator PPC + four ML, Firestarter 2 x ML and 6 x SL. All jump capable, most with Sure-Footed pilots.
The first mission went fairly smoothly; I wiped out the first force before the Trebuchets appeared, so they lacked any spotters for indirect fire shenanigans. However, there was a Hatchetman in the Opfor which managed to slice an arm off my Firestarter with a single swipe, and the Shadow Hawk also lost an arm just before the last opponent fell.
Fortunately, I had another SL-equipped Firestarter ready to go back on the ship, and the mission-supplied Hatchetman made an okay substitute for the Shadow Hawk during the second mission.
Defending the base, the Hatchetman and Firestarter charged in amongst the first wave, while the Crab and Vindicator hung back. The Firestarter wreaked mayhem all over the place, while the Hatchetman soaked up more fire than was good for it. All of the buildings remained standing until the second wave arrived, which was also around the time that the Hatchetman fell.
At that point the Crab jumped in amongst the second wave to distract them, but ended up losing a leg and a torso in return. Fortunately, the Vindicator picked off the enemy mech poised to deliver the killing blow, allowing time for the Crab pilot to eject.
As the final heavies lumbered up the hill, the Firestarter and Vindicator hopped around like mad, drawing fire and killing time until the reinforcements arrived. It worked.
Much of fun, overall. Nicely challenging without being overwhelming.
I wasn't going to comment here again, but I found the second flashpoint I played hilarious.
You blow up a bar and brawl with a bunch of drunken 'Mechwarriors. I found it hilarious because the "bar" was actually four military buildings that were in a 100x better fortified position than the base you have to defend in Joint Venture, and it is surrounded by indestructable walls. I wonder if my company just got depressed from failing the first flashpoint, got heavily drunk, and just blew up a random military outpost somewhere.
The second mission of that flashpoint was real fun though. And I rolled a heat exchanger++ from it.
You blow up a bar and brawl with a bunch of drunken 'Mechwarriors. I found it hilarious because the "bar" was actually four military buildings that were in a 100x better fortified position than the base you have to defend in Joint Venture, and it is surrounded by indestructable walls.
I wonder if my company just got depressed from failing the first flashpoint, got heavily drunk, and just blew up a random military outpost somewhere.The second mission of that flashpoint was real fun though. And I rolled a heat exchanger++ from it.