Help With Trueborn Difficulty

[Nelsonbr06]

Currently stuck on the last mission of courcheval, where you fight nova cat. Cant seem to get the right mech loadouts, and barely make it past the first area of the map before being taken out just before the repair bays open up. cant seem to put out enough damage fast enough. ive even tried the x17 MP Laser Direwolf build from TTB. Any constructive feedback would be awesome

[You dare to refuse my batchall?]

Jade Falcons on Courcheval? When was this?

[Graess]

i think he means clan nova cat

[Nelsonbr06]

indeed. nova cat. my mistake. However im still stuck on the mission lol. post is edited to reflect the proper clan.

[Xiphias]

I played through this mission on Trueborn recently and it felt like a significant jump in difficulty, mainly due to how much health the clan mechs have. You need good burst and sustained damage to chew through all that armor. Running 17xMPL is going to be too hot to keep up the DPS. Keeping your star alive as long as possible so that they can draw attention and tank damage is important, but you have to carefully balance how much damage you take to keep them alive.

The build I settled on was 1xGauss (4 tons ammo), 2xERPPC, 2xMG (1 ton), and 11xERSL + Jump Jets and actually came in undertonned at 97.5 since it was crit limited. You should be shooting the Gauss every time it comes off cooldown. Use the ERPPCs + Gauss to take CT shots at targets while they are running in/far away (e.g. jumping off the cliffs) then switch to using the Gauss, MGs, and ERSL when things are close enough. If you're about to overheat, hold off on the lasers and keep shooting the Gauss + MGs until you cool down. You can't afford to lose that DPS by overheating. If you have extra heat to spare you can use the ERPPCs for extra alpha strike damage, but save that for backshots or when you think you can finish a kill more quickly. As a note, make sure to max the armor on the one leg that you can.

Build Disclaimer: I had already researched all the damage/cooldown upgrades for PPCs and ER Lasers along with most of Gauss Rifles as well as all the structure and some of the heat. If you upgraded different weapons like pulse lasers instead, you might tweak the build to whatever gives you the best DPS and DPH(eat).

Tactics:
1st Area: Target the Stormcrow first, switch lance to target the Viper when it jumps down while you finish the Stormcrow. Help with Viper then try to take down the Nova as it runs away.

2nd Area: Focus down the Maddog and Summoner while they have their backs to you (using PPCs until you get in small laser range) don't waste damage on the side torsos, just try to CT core them as soon as possible. Once the close mechs are down I used cover and traded long range potshots with the Executioner (it stands pretty still, so it's easy to hit) when the Timberwolves and Summoner start to drop down, rotate back towards the ramp and focus with your lance on the closest mech to you. If you do it right you can be mostly shielded from the Executioner/Summoner that snip from the ridge. Once you've kill the mechs that charge you, push up and finish off the Executioner/Summoner.

3rd Area: Use your long ranged weapons to shoot the Shadowcat/Gargoyle (depending on what's visible) while closing. I like to kill the Shadowcat first if possible since it dies quickly, but if you have good backshots on the Gargoyle take them and try to have your lance help kill it quickly. You can split up the spawning mechs a bit if you don't push forward too far. When the mechs start to spawn, pull back around the corner and focus them down as they come in 1/2 at a time. I kill the Arctic Cheetah first because I feel like the ECM makes my lance aim worse (not sure if this is actually true) and the visual distortion annoys me. Usually, the Maddog is next/greatest threat, but just work your way through the enemies as they come.

4th Area: Shoot the Timberwolf/Summoner as they run off the top cliff area. You should have time to get two CT shots in (potentially on different mechs). You're probably decently beat up at this point, so hug the right corner and poke out to take shots while the enemies are distracted by the other Jaguar mechs. If anything comes around the corner towards you have your lance focus it down with you. Once the Direwolf starts to move up a bit, try to prioritize and focus it down, but because it is slow you can ignore it a bit if you hang behind the corner and shoot the faster mechs as they come to you. I try to avoid letting my star fully round the corner to reduce damage (rotate any badly damage mechs to the back). Once those mechs are dead, pull back behind the corner if possible and focus down whichever mechs charge you first (usually the two Timberwolves) kill them as fast as you can by shooting the nose and then finish the Summoner.

Last Area: Repair Bays (finally). Unfortunately, only two and I feel like the remain part of the level is even harder since most of you Star is now pretty beat up. Choose your path between Ezra and Mia. Ezra's path has more open areas where you can snipe at range. I feel like it's potentially the easier to the two paths. Mia's path you just have to try and minimize damage while focusing down priority targets as fast as you can. If/when you're fairly damage and trying to stay alive, use your JJ's to pop up from behind cover and take quick shots. Try to spread damage as best you can because you have a lot of mechs to kill here.

If you win, congratulations! The next mission is significantly easier with a lot more repair bays and a lot fewer pesky clan mechs to deal with.


General Tactics:
Don't forget to torso twist to spread damage. The easiest way to die is by getting CT cored. If you start getting focused by a mech, pull back/break line of sight to get it to switch to another target if possible.

Aim for the very tip of the Timberwolf's nose when it is running towards one of your lancemates. You can get good at coring it without wasting damage on the side torsos which is important because they have a lot of armor.

Kill summoners before Timberwolves when practical because they have a lot less armor, so they die faster. If a Timberwolf is charging you/your lance you may have to it though.

If you/your star take too much damage in the first area or two it can be worthwhile to just restart the mission rather than waste time playing through and getting destroyed later.