Where are all the weapons and gear?

[rolypoly]

Maybe a bit too early, but I'm on maybe the 4th or 5th campaign mission (just did the one where you gotta take out the landing control centre within 18 turns before reinforcements arrive, and I can't find any good weapons or equipment. And not just good, but like any. I'm looking for variety, but there isn't much! Is this because the game just doesn't have many variations of weapons and only just has a few only? Like, can I expect to see the kind of weapons that you can find in MWO?

[Your Mom's Oshi]

The good stuff usually hides out in faction stores and Black Markets. You can get some good gear through salvage but you will rarely see it in missions lower than 3.5 skulls. You're still extremely early in the game so just keep building your mechs through salvage and eventually good stuff will start showing up.

[kensw]

Originally posted by Meatball Panini:

Maybe a bit too early, but I'm on maybe the 4th or 5th campaign mission (just did the one where you gotta take out the landing control centre within 18 turns before reinforcements arrive, and I can't find any good weapons or equipment. And not just good, but like any. I'm looking for variety, but there isn't much! Is this because the game just doesn't have many variations of weapons and only just has a few only? Like, can I expect to see the kind of weapons that you can find in MWO?

What version of the game are you playing ??? With the 1.8 update the stores are generally overflowing with high tech gear.

[Sam Look]

Originally posted by kennethsw:

What version of the game are you playing ??? With the 1.8 update the stores are generally overflowing with high tech gear.

I agree, 1.8 + Heavy Metal brings so much high end stuff to the stores you can barely buy a Small Laser when you need it!

[rolypoly]

I don't have any of the DLCs, just the base game.
I think the version says 1.8.9 or something, I just bought the game a week ago or so.

[Graygan]

By the time you get to that particular campaign mission, you should be rocking and rolling with at least 4 medium mechs. I usually have a heavy and 3 mediums at that point, but I take my time levelling up my pilots and getting gear.

The variety of equipment that works best for me in that mission is 2 long-range mechs, 1 med-short range bruiser with full armor, and 1 fast jumper with full armor to head over to the control center.

Notice I'm not specific about the weapons, because long-range means LRMs, PPCs, LLs, AC5s, and AC2s. Easy enough to mix and match. Since you don't have any of the DLCs, you are going to be stuck with just those and the other normal shorter range weapons... but there's a large variety. Especially with +s on some of the weapons. Though there won't be many of those that early in the campaign.

I've usually found a cockpit mod or two and a gyro mod or two by then.

Keep checking the stores. Join the black market, assuming you've not killed your pirate faction rep. Specifically, look in stores on planets that have a comstar presence, former star league presence/battlefield, high tech, etc.

[wesnef]

Originally posted by Meatball Panini:

Like, can I expect to see the kind of weapons that you can find in MWO?

I presume you're talking about Star League/Clan/Lostech equipment. And yeah, unless you get Heavy Metal, most of that stuff (UAC, LBX, Narc, TAG, etc) won't show up in stores.

In the base game, "good" weapons are the regular ones (Lasers, Autocannons, Missile racks) with various rarity bonuses (MLas++ +10 damage; LRM20+++ +50% crit/+2 stability damage; stuff like that). There are a small number of 'lostech' weapons in the basic game (Some ER lasers, pulse lasers, Gauss rifle), but they may be hard to find. I've no idea what the new updated stores look like without Heavy Metal.

(Use the star map filters and look for "Star League"/lostech planets. Each planet's shop has a theme now - ballistic, missile, energy, equipment, lostech; and it will have a few items matching that theme, alongside all the mech parts & basic supplies like ammo & heatsinks)

[Exarch_Alpha]

Originally posted by kennethsw:

What version of the game are you playing ??? With the 1.8 update the stores are generally overflowing with high tech gear.

Not by mid game, no. ++ and +++ versions are late game, let alone on snub PPCs.

Best place to buy stuff is the Black Market BTW. Don´t make the pirates too angry.

[rolypoly]

Originally posted by wesnef:

(Use the star map filters and look for "Star League"/lostech planets. Each planet's shop has a theme now - ballistic, missile, energy, equipment, lostech; and it will have a few items matching that theme, alongside all the mech parts & basic supplies like ammo & heatsinks)

All I can see there are things like "Agricultural" or "Chemicals" or "Industrial" which doesn't make sense to me because I don't understand how that maps to what kind of weapons they'll have for sale.

Originally posted by Exarch_Alpha:

Best place to buy stuff is the Black Market BTW. Don´t make the pirates too angry.

Anti-pirate missions are all that I have been running up to this point in order to avoid making any factions angry :(

[Exarch_Alpha]

If they hate you you still can get the access to BM event - it will cost you 2.5 million C-bills.

[Axeface]

You just need regular medium or large lasers OP, they are great.

[Named]

Originally posted by Meatball Panini:

Originally posted by wesnef:

(Use the star map filters and look for "Star League"/lostech planets. Each planet's shop has a theme now - ballistic, missile, energy, equipment, lostech; and it will have a few items matching that theme, alongside all the mech parts & basic supplies like ammo & heatsinks)

All I can see there are things like "Agricultural" or "Chemicals" or "Industrial" which doesn't make sense to me because I don't understand how that maps to what kind of weapons they'll have for sale.

Originally posted by Exarch_Alpha:

Best place to buy stuff is the Black Market BTW. Don´t make the pirates too angry.

Anti-pirate missions are all that I have been running up to this point in order to avoid making any factions angry :(

There is a little information circle that you can toggle near the shop type filter - it's a bit touchy but it does explain what they all correspond to.

As mentioned above, never upset the pirates. On Career, I avoid Pirate OPFOR whenever I can and do all their missions so the black market buy in is cheaper and prices are better.
The other advantage to this is having a store with good prices available to you across the whole system. Wherever a black market is... Great for efficiency :)