Level Penalty vs higher level enemies?

[Xzaven]

So I have recently found a Level 4 UHMG and a level 4 axe and started using them.
But when I am currently fighting level 5-7 enemies, it seems like they are getting a heavy penalty to the damage they apply.
Shooting at a lv4 enemy, the UHMG pops out 1pt concussion damages frequently.
But when I shoot a higher level enemy, that does not happen. Rather they barely take any concussion damage at all. Even from a full barrage.
The same happens when I use the Axe. The heat and concussion damage seems to get heavily penalized when used against higher level enemies compared to hitting a same level enemy.

If this is indeed the case, it would be nice if that was explained somewhere. And does that work the other way round too? Do enemies get this penalty too when they are lower level than my own mechs, on top of already being weaker cause of lower stats on lower level gear?

[Ragvard Grimclaw]

Concussion damage scales with level difference between weapon and average level of the mech parts - you deal less damage to taget with armour level higher than your weapon and more if armour is of the lower level.
And yes, it's not explained anywhere in the game

[JKjoker]

It does not matter if enemies get the penalty, enemies will always be higher level than you after the first few battles. So they will be inmune to concussion

The game starves you of blue components, there is no point crafting anything that is not blue so you will be rocking blues several levels behind often and the workshop level will go up very slowly anyway because its tied to your overall squad level (the easiest way to level up you workshop level is to grab high level loot and put them on until the overall level increases, then go back to your good stuff, the bs the game says about the workshop level being tied to liberating provinces is a lie)

Concussion is the worst kind of damage you can get. Its set for each pilot, you cannot defend, heal or increase it in anyway. And you dont get to use it because of the level thing.

[Xzaven]

Hm? I have enemies within a 4 level range currently, the highest ones i encounter in missions are level 10 while the lowest are level 7. Concussion works great on the lower level enemies but it is harder to apply on the higher level ones. It still works though, when you just have enough of it

[JKjoker]

Originally posted by Xzaven:

Hm? I have enemies within a 4 level range currently, the highest ones i encounter in missions are level 10 while the lowest are level 7. Concussion works great on the lower level enemies but it is harder to apply on the higher level ones. It still works though, when you just have enough of it

Just keep playing a bit and as you start using blues your level will stagnate while enemy level will quickly leave you behind. Note the game will still be completely playable since you can make up the hp difference with one additional shot, but no concussion for you

[metalvile]

Originally posted by JKjoker:

Originally posted by Xzaven:

Hm? I have enemies within a 4 level range currently, the highest ones i encounter in missions are level 10 while the lowest are level 7. Concussion works great on the lower level enemies but it is harder to apply on the higher level ones. It still works though, when you just have enough of it

Just keep playing a bit and as you start using blues your level will stagnate while enemy level will quickly leave you behind. Note the game will still be completely playable since you can make up the hp difference with one additional shot, but no concussion for you

Sounds like you just don't upgrade your weapons frequently enough.

Once you're into the mid game (more than 6-7 provinces liberated), you should have most if not all of the blue prints unlocked already. Make it a priority to craft new versions of the weapons your concussion focused units are using every 2-3 levels, and the drop off in effectiveness should be minimal.

[JKjoker]

The game starves you of blue components, crafting a 4 full sets of items without counting attachments cost 188 components, the game maaaaaybe gives you 10-30 per province, sometimes you get reeeeally lucky and get 50. Scrapping them gives you only a fraction back and then there is all the save scumming you have to do to get what you really want because devs decided RNG was a good idea. Your workshop level does not go up unless you upgrade overall level, you cant just upgrade the weapons.

So, tell me how to keep up with the enemy levels

[Legadian]

Originally posted by JKjoker:

...So, tell me how you keep up with the enemy levels

I think he meant blue weapons.

Personally, I run with crafted blue weapons and crafted green armor of the same level range (within 1 of each other). The only thing that might change that is a random blue drop with exactly the right stats.

I agree that the game could give you more blue components (or a way to convert the plethora of green components to blue. However, it does give you enough to make new weapons, especially if you attack the convoys whenever you come across them.

[JKjoker]

Convoys do not guarantee blue components, the only pattern i could find is that the longer you linger in a province, the more common they become but then you never progress with the game so you liberate, move to the next one and then they are using all whites and a few greens again

[Legadian]

Originally posted by JKjoker:

Convoys do not guarantee blue components, the only pattern i could find is that the longer you linger in a province, the more common they become but then you never progress with the game so you liberate, move to the next one and then they are using all whites and a few greens again

I think you're missing the point: Craft blue weapons, yes, but also craft green armor. That way, your armor is always around the same lvl across the board.

In fact, do it the other way around, craft the green armor to get the workshop upgrade. Try to time it so that just when you liberate the province, you get the workshop level (even if that means not putting on a piece of green armor for a little bit). That way, the province lvls calculate on your old workshop lvl. Then, once you lvl your workshop, upgrade your blue weapons to the newly acquired lvl and start hitting the next province.

That way, you're always, at most, just a lvl or two behind the max lvl enemy you come across when you start the next province.

[metalvile]

I've found there's very little need to craft any blue armor pieces outside of the torso slot so you can have free range of booster options. Green tier arms and legs is enough to fill out any builds outside of whatever the enemy drops for you. The only other exception to this is crafting blue Elbrus pieces because it gives you an extra customization slot per part, which is especially valuable on the arms and legs because the bonus slot is offensive.

The other way to stay on par as much as possible is to be semi-flexible in your build choices. Use anything decent that the enemy drops for you; don't limit yourself to exact builds with specific weapons, especially in the early game when resources for crafting are scarce because you're spending them on base upgrades.

And for the record, I've got about 3 provinces left before total liberation in my current campaign (including the capital) and the enemies I face are anywhere from lvl 26-30, while my units are avg lvl 25. I finish most battles in 4 turns or less with 1-2 out of 4 units sustaining maybe 10-15% damage except in extremely rare cases if I make a major misplay like not seeing one of my units is going to crash, or getting concussed by a Oneshot missile I forgot the enemy fired.