Mechanist balancing suggestions

[lot lizard baron]

After playing several classes, I feel like the mechanist has some real issues.

1. WEIGHT. Scrap is one weight a piece, and you often build up hundreds of it. Bear traps are 30. Sentry bots are 40 a piece. To be effective, especially late game, you need to carry tons of traps and turrets. The weight is just insane. You move so slow and it's so hard to justify dropping things. In my run, I ended up having to limit myself to 5 bear traps and 3 turrets or else I wouldn't be able to get away from danger. For such a squishy class with no healing abilities, being this slow and heavy is awful.

2. I'd really like to see a healing ability. Maybe the gyrobot could passively heal with a cooldown once you hit a certain tinkering level. The thing is, you aren't fast. You have no armor. And you have no health. Getting hit even once, especially late game, feels really punishing. Maybe you're expected to use alchemy since you can craft bottles and alembics, but how can I do that when I am so weighed down already?

3. I feel like having to deploy sentries isn't practical for most fights. Clearing some of the bigger levels like this is so insanely slow. Maybe consider adding something mobile to the mechanist's arsenal? Even if it's just the dummy that's mobile, it would make it feel a lot more practical.

4. Leveling is awful. I completed a full run with an automaton mechanist, and I only made it to 71 in tinkering by the time I killed the twins. Keep in mind, I start at 40 tinkering. I also was constantly using traps/sentries, repaired plenty of stuff, and scrapped literally every single thing I didn't want. I couldn't believe I only gained 31 levels from all of that.

5. Not only is leveling awful, but the legendary ability is terrible. The gold bonus would only amount to maybe 1 or 2 thousand extra gold, and you would get it so late in the game that you wouldn't see many shops afterwards anyway. Repairing legendaries is great and all, but a repairing scroll can do the same thing. Maybe the legendary could allow you to craft some stronger, mobile creatures? Or maybe it could allow you to craft automaton allies?

I like the idea behind the class. I just wish it was a bit more viable.

[LadstonFelisGaming]

Originally posted by lil stinker:

After playing several classes, I feel like the mechanist has some real issues.

1. WEIGHT. Scrap is one weight a piece, and you often build up hundreds of it. Bear traps are 30. Sentry bots are 40 a piece. To be effective, especially late game, you need to carry tons of traps and turrets. The weight is just insane. You move so slow and it's so hard to justify dropping things. In my run, I ended up having to limit myself to 5 bear traps and 3 turrets or else I wouldn't be able to get away from danger. For such a squishy class with no healing abilities, being this slow and heavy is awful.

2. I'd really like to see a healing ability. Maybe the gyrobot could passively heal with a cooldown once you hit a certain tinkering level. The thing is, you aren't fast. You have no armor. And you have no health. Getting hit even once, especially late game, feels really punishing. Maybe you're expected to use alchemy since you can craft bottles and alembics, but how can I do that when I am so weighed down already?

3. I feel like having to deploy sentries isn't practical for most fights. Clearing some of the bigger levels like this is so insanely slow. Maybe consider adding something mobile to the mechanist's arsenal? Even if it's just the dummy that's mobile, it would make it feel a lot more practical.

4. Leveling is awful. I completed a full run with an automaton mechanist, and I only made it to 71 in tinkering by the time I killed the twins. Keep in mind, I start at 40 tinkering. I also was constantly using traps/sentries, repaired plenty of stuff, and scrapped literally every single thing I didn't want. I couldn't believe I only gained 31 levels from all of that.

5. Not only is leveling awful, but the legendary ability is terrible. The gold bonus would only amount to maybe 1 or 2 thousand extra gold, and you would get it so late in the game that you wouldn't see many shops afterwards anyway. Repairing legendaries is great and all, but a repairing scroll can do the same thing. Maybe the legendary could allow you to craft some stronger, mobile creatures? Or maybe it could allow you to craft automaton allies?

I like the idea behind the class. I just wish it was a bit more viable.

Not necessarily.

Points 1,3, and 4 have the same solution: you don’t use your machines to fight random mobs outside of the early game. They are best used against bosses. Mechanists start with a decent ranged skill and a crossbow, so use that and other ranged attacks for dealing with trash mobs. Scrap everything you find and at the end of the level before you leave, you can power level with sleep traps and bear traps like so:

1. Craft a dummybot if you don’t already have one.
2. Craft a lockpick if you don’t already have one.
3. Equip the lockpick and tinkering kit.
4. Craft as many sleep traps as you can. Once you run out of magic scrap, craft as many bear traps as you can.
5. Equip and deploy all of your sleep traps in the same spot. Do the same with bear traps.
6. Throw your dummybot in such a manner that it touches the sleep traps without obscuring your view of them.
7. Equip your lockpick and use it on your deployed sleep traps to disable their safeties. If you did it right, they should blow up on your dummybot and leave scrapable remains behind. Scrap these and your deployed bear traps.
8. Repeat from step 1 until you run out of scrap or hit 100 Tinkering.

As for point 2: Food, potions, or magic like everyone else. For an automaton, Alchemy would probably be your best bet if a bit unreliable due to RNG. What you can do to simulate your “gyrobot healer” is have your gyrobot carry a potion of extra healing and if you need to heal, tell it to drop it for you to drink.

In regards to point 5: I see the legendary skill as more maximizing the amount of active machines you can have, the amount of scrap you get from unlocking chests, and the ability to repair anything. The bonus gold and items are nice if you can trade without being attacked by racist shopkeeps so you can buy more scrapables, but that’s hardly the primary benefit.

Remember: Tinkering is designed as a support skill. It helps you along, but it’s not going to keep you alive by itself. You’ll have to use it in conjunction with other skills to maximize its effectiveness.

[Shaalanaar]

Originally posted by LadstonFelisGaming:

Originally posted by lil stinker:

After playing several classes, I feel like the mechanist has some real issues.

1. WEIGHT. Scrap is one weight a piece, and you often build up hundreds of it. Bear traps are 30. Sentry bots are 40 a piece. To be effective, especially late game, you need to carry tons of traps and turrets. The weight is just insane. You move so slow and it's so hard to justify dropping things. In my run, I ended up having to limit myself to 5 bear traps and 3 turrets or else I wouldn't be able to get away from danger. For such a squishy class with no healing abilities, being this slow and heavy is awful.

2. I'd really like to see a healing ability. Maybe the gyrobot could passively heal with a cooldown once you hit a certain tinkering level. The thing is, you aren't fast. You have no armor. And you have no health. Getting hit even once, especially late game, feels really punishing. Maybe you're expected to use alchemy since you can craft bottles and alembics, but how can I do that when I am so weighed down already?

3. I feel like having to deploy sentries isn't practical for most fights. Clearing some of the bigger levels like this is so insanely slow. Maybe consider adding something mobile to the mechanist's arsenal? Even if it's just the dummy that's mobile, it would make it feel a lot more practical.

4. Leveling is awful. I completed a full run with an automaton mechanist, and I only made it to 71 in tinkering by the time I killed the twins. Keep in mind, I start at 40 tinkering. I also was constantly using traps/sentries, repaired plenty of stuff, and scrapped literally every single thing I didn't want. I couldn't believe I only gained 31 levels from all of that.

5. Not only is leveling awful, but the legendary ability is terrible. The gold bonus would only amount to maybe 1 or 2 thousand extra gold, and you would get it so late in the game that you wouldn't see many shops afterwards anyway. Repairing legendaries is great and all, but a repairing scroll can do the same thing. Maybe the legendary could allow you to craft some stronger, mobile creatures? Or maybe it could allow you to craft automaton allies?

I like the idea behind the class. I just wish it was a bit more viable.

Not necessarily.

Points 1,3, and 4 have the same solution: you don’t use your machines to fight random mobs outside of the early game. They are best used against bosses. Mechanists start with a decent ranged skill and a crossbow, so use that and other ranged attacks for dealing with trash mobs. Scrap everything you find and at the end of the level before you leave, you can power level with sleep traps and bear traps like so:

1. Craft a dummybot if you don’t already have one.
2. Craft a lockpick if you don’t already have one.
3. Equip the lockpick and tinkering kit.
4. Craft as many sleep traps as you can. Once you run out of magic scrap, craft as many bear traps as you can.
5. Equip and deploy all of your sleep traps in the same spot. Do the same with bear traps.
6. Throw your dummybot in such a manner that it touches the sleep traps without obscuring your view of them.
7. Equip your lockpick and use it on your deployed sleep traps to disable their safeties. If you did it right, they should blow up on your dummybot and leave scrapable remains behind. Scrap these and your deployed bear traps.
8. Repeat from step 1 until you run out of scrap or hit 100 Tinkering.

As for point 2: Food, potions, or magic like everyone else. For an automaton, Alchemy would probably be your best bet if a bit unreliable due to RNG. What you can do to simulate your “gyrobot healer” is have your gyrobot carry a potion of extra healing and if you need to heal, tell it to drop it for you to drink.

In regards to point 5: I see the legendary skill as more maximizing the amount of active machines you can have, the amount of scrap you get from unlocking chests, and the ability to repair anything. The bonus gold and items are nice if you can trade without being attacked by racist shopkeeps so you can buy more scrapables, but that’s hardly the primary benefit.

Remember: Tinkering is designed as a support skill. It helps you along, but it’s not going to keep you alive by itself. You’ll have to use it in conjunction with other skills to maximize its effectiveness.

wow this is super useful thanks so much, to level i was using stacks of traps on random mobs, but the dummy trap strat is incredible

[mistersneak]

For what it's worth, I recently reached Legend in Tinkering as a Hunter (so I found my tinkering kit later in the game), without any grinding. Mostly consistent crafting and use of traps, and then repairing items (once you have access to that ability). There are a ton of ways to play Barony, and a ton of ways to play just a Tinkerer.
Two big tips I can give you is that you only have a chance of leveling your Tinkering skill with Sentries if they get the killing shot, and Dummybots are greatly, greatly underrated. They can tank just about anything if your Tinker skill is keeping up. With these two bits of knowledge, you can easily rely on sentries as your only method of combat throughout the whole game if you really want to.

One last tip, I love teleport traps and setting up "kill rooms". Set up a teleport trap where you want your Kill room to be. Lockpick it to make it into a 'receiver' teleporter. Now every teleport trap will send targets to that trap location. Run around with teleport traps and just throw them at enemies when they come after you.

I prefer these strategies as they fit naturally into a fun gameplay loop, rather than going out of my way just to grind. But I ain't here to judge. ;)

[lot lizard baron]

Thanks for all this. This is super helpful. The class has a lot more to it than I thought. I'm gonna try this out on a future play through.