I'm gonna wait for mods to update before I hop in, but super excited to check it out.
Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries: Solaris Showdown
- Thread starter Drew J
- Start date
So far just looks like I'm waiting on YA Special Variant (definitely bugged in latest) and YAEC (not sure yet) to update; YAML/YAW/YAWC were updated.
All my critical mods have been updated, so I started playing (minus YA Special Variant because I didn't want to wait); Decided I'd do a fresh run, and early into it I thought.. "Let's focus on supporting the indies/small folk instead of targeting them so we could have good rep with all the major factions.
I may keep at least one faction in relatively good graces just so I can not get fucked too hard on purchase costs.
I may keep at least one faction in relatively good graces just so I can not get fucked too hard on purchase costs.
I've started a fresh run of this for the new DLC as well. Mostly tooling around upgrading my lance, Added a Shadowhawk, Assassin, Vulcan, and Phoenix Hawk (not the hero one) to make a reasonable medium squad alongside the starting Centurion.
Not using a huge amount of mods, just YAML and some UI/cosmetics.
I wish there was a mod that let me change the incoming damage for my lancemates but not me. They're such goobers for keeping bits attached to their mechs early on without pilot skills, and they can't skill up in shielding without taking damage which means leaving bits of their mechs on the floor like the sphere's most careless litterers, and if they've got any kind of somewhat valuable weapon in an arm slot you can guarantee they'll yeet it into the bushes at the first opportunity (I've done the Kurita sandbox start a few times and you have to switch over to driving the Panther yourself if you want to keep that PPC for more than two missions.)
Not using a huge amount of mods, just YAML and some UI/cosmetics.
I wish there was a mod that let me change the incoming damage for my lancemates but not me. They're such goobers for keeping bits attached to their mechs early on without pilot skills, and they can't skill up in shielding without taking damage which means leaving bits of their mechs on the floor like the sphere's most careless litterers, and if they've got any kind of somewhat valuable weapon in an arm slot you can guarantee they'll yeet it into the bushes at the first opportunity (I've done the Kurita sandbox start a few times and you have to switch over to driving the Panther yourself if you want to keep that PPC for more than two missions.)
Most of my mod stack has updated, but I am still waiting on Undertonnage 2 and Better Mission Choices.
Since YASV was updated I loaded up my old save where I finished the previous DLC and confirmed everything was good..
..And then decided to go ahead and try my Assassin-only run
I gotta say, the Assassin ASN-21 stock has to be the most useless mech there is.
I did get lucky; I sold off all my other mechs, and lo and behold an NSS was right there at my starting locale. Snatched it up.
After some tweaking I've been running an MXP Laser and an LRM 5 HL. I also added a MASC, bumped up core armor, and added C Endo and some C Ferro to help give me some more room, and immediately went with clan DHSs.
I think I've finally got it to a usable state, so now I'm saving up for better models so I can start running with other mechs.
I did a few assassination/targeted kill missions, and holy shit those are tough solo in the assassin; Even the lower-tier ones are a struggle. Mostly running arena stuff, but those are a struggle too.
..And then decided to go ahead and try my Assassin-only run
I gotta say, the Assassin ASN-21 stock has to be the most useless mech there is.
I did get lucky; I sold off all my other mechs, and lo and behold an NSS was right there at my starting locale. Snatched it up.
After some tweaking I've been running an MXP Laser and an LRM 5 HL. I also added a MASC, bumped up core armor, and added C Endo and some C Ferro to help give me some more room, and immediately went with clan DHSs.
I think I've finally got it to a usable state, so now I'm saving up for better models so I can start running with other mechs.
I did a few assassination/targeted kill missions, and holy shit those are tough solo in the assassin; Even the lower-tier ones are a struggle. Mostly running arena stuff, but those are a struggle too.
A good early trick with the Assassin is to trade in most of the weapons for two SRM6 stacks. You can make it live up to its name by getting close, dumping a decent sized burst, then using its speed to GTFO before coming round for another pass. Especially if you use Artemis racks so you concentrate more damage into a single location.
Accessorise with a short burst or pulse laser in the hand for cherry tapping things that are already exposed structure.
It's always going to be a victim of the 40t curse though. (40/45t mediums tend to be good at bullying things smaller than them but not good at trading with anything else).
Accessorise with a short burst or pulse laser in the hand for cherry tapping things that are already exposed structure.
It's always going to be a victim of the 40t curse though. (40/45t mediums tend to be good at bullying things smaller than them but not good at trading with anything else).
I got a PPC-X early on and that actually made the starter Assassin pretty useful for early missions, but as I progressed (and managed to snatch an ASN-26 randomly in an industrial area) I just feel like you can't field a full lance of these things and expect the AI to operate them without getting blown up, since you have to pilot them with hit & run strategy.
Anyway, this morning after another arena free-for-all I got bored with the assassins and decided to load up my DLC-ready save. I've started redoing some of the loadouts; Will do a few arena contracts and tweak everything before starting Chaos Reigns..
..And also make sure enough of my lance is rocking AMS
Started playing the DLC stuff, and overall.. Eh. So far nothing special. It's decent enough, but there's enough issues with AI to take me out of it.
I kept getting shot in the back by my own teammates, and actually lost an arm (and a C-Gauss & CHL Laser) because of it. Another teammate kept getting stuck in terrain, and at one point got stuck in an area that ended up spawning an enemy mech close by; It was almost cored by the time I was able to complete the mission, and it didn't even fucking fight back.
They really need to not make the mission areas so cramped that the AI can't path it's way through it.
I kept getting shot in the back by my own teammates, and actually lost an arm (and a C-Gauss & CHL Laser) because of it. Another teammate kept getting stuck in terrain, and at one point got stuck in an area that ended up spawning an enemy mech close by; It was almost cored by the time I was able to complete the mission, and it didn't even fucking fight back.
They really need to not make the mission areas so cramped that the AI can't path it's way through it.