What's the best way to get going on a career game?

[Duskmare]

I've restarted about 5 times now because it just seems like I'm not going anywhere.

The first time I set mechwarrior progression to very slow, thinking I'd enjoy a long campaign and that I'd get some levelled up eventually. However, I'd forgotten how important levelling is for simple accuracy. I ended up feeling that I couldn't challenge any mission above 1 1/2 skulls without having to be way better than the enemy since they would spawn in with double the numbers, far better accuracy and generally just better loadouts.

Sadly, restarting and tweaking the settings didn't seem to help. Even with my guys leveling up at a decent rate I ended up with teams full of light mechs that either died in a couple of hits or couldn't do any damage. Funnily enough I figured that hitting 'randomise team' was a bad idea. How wrong I was. The stock team is a single vindicator and 4 light mechs of varying crapness. Literally none of them can equip a ballistic weapon. Loaded them out with a couple of M-lasers and stub-PPCs so that I could actually do some damage. Even with nearly max armour thought hey were tearing really easily. I was losing an arm or two every mission just because I couldn't kill enemies fast enough to avoid return fire and because there's no enough armour to take two full lances of return fire.

Anyway, long story short, I can't seem to progress at all. No matter how many missions I do I'm just not getting any parts for better mechs. Just armies of locusts, commandos, spiders and other light mechs. I could save up and buy one from the black market or a random shop but that's a massive grind too. Especially if you're only doing missions worth 200,000 - 500,000.

[Itchies500]

Go for Generous Loot on settings, have Rare Weapons turned off, High Level Mech Warriors Off, Experienced Pilots Low, Center Torso = Kill, Enemies = normal, Generous Cash. Don't be afraid to take the neutral against the houses at first as well. go for the low level cash and go for all mechs and SELL the extra mechs that you make. (Make sure you are building mechs at minimum build x 3 with full load outs).

[wesnef]

Uh. . . do missions and kill stuff?

Seriously, I'm not sure what to say. You kill things til your gear & skills get better, then kill bigger stuff? With random mechs, you get what, 2 mediums & 3 lights? So you tweak your mech builds to be more effective, fight things until you improve your lights (to a Jenner or Firestarter), and then go Medium hunting.


(I don't really do terribly challenging difficulty settings - Normal enemies/cash/loot, no rare pilots, mech destruction & lethality, unequipped mechs. Went with 4 parts this latest time, which was actually a pretty big change - you can't just get a new mech by headshotting it. I suppose I should try Hard enemies next time. But yeah, you're right - slow XP gain is just tedious.)

[DiceWrangler]

I am using the "slow" XP gain setting and like it because it makes the Training Modules (Argo upgrade) a worthwhile investment. With the "normal" setting your mechwarriors level-up so fast that by the time you can afford Training Modules, they are not the highest priority upgrade, your mechwarriors have accumulated too much XP to benefit from them anyway.

I have a similar experience, however, in that without a Heavy mech to "tank" some 2-Skull missions can be quite challenging. It adds to the thrill though, going in underpowered for the mission, as you need to stay focused on the primary objectives and keep your options open in case you need to evac immediately after completing them. I have used Withdraw and ejecting from a severely wounded mech too when the odds of success -- or survival -- became overwhelming.

That said, in my latest career I disabled Ironman mode because I got screwed-over in my previous game and my career ended abruptly in bankruptcy. I was low on funds and my loan payments were due soon but I had a hold full of complete mechs ready for sale and was heading towards a friendly system to sell them. Just before I reached my destination, however, I was hit with the "pirates want money to retain access to the black market" event. I paid them off because, based on my calculations, I had enough cash leftover to meet the upcoming payroll. Apparently not and there was some extra, unexpected costs that I did not account for. GAME OVER.

[MortVent]

Stick to having at least 1 or more skulls above the mission difficulty starting out. Early on you want cash, and I tend to go for around 2 items to 3 item picks on salvage (so I can build new mechs)

Pay attention to the money and salvage options, even low skulls with good payouts will be better armed and equipped foes.

And early on it's mostly just a grind to level up your pilots to have the right skills

[Mudpony]

I find the single biggest factor in how easy the start is is salvage. Most importantly, how much of it you need to build a new mech. If it is three, it is pretty easy to get new mechs. Coupled with that are $$$ (so you can buy some salvage) and how much you get per contract (lets you get more cash, while still getting plenty of salvage). And of course, it can also be handy to get fully equipped mechs, rather than bare bones ones.

Beyond that, customizing your mechs right is important. Getting rid of some of the crappier weapons for more armor and the more efficient weapons. And of course, consider the mech itself. A Commando that gets hit by a PPC tends to be in a world of hurt, so it's usually easier if you give it an LRM-10 or multiple 5s instead of a bunch of SRMs. That way, you can tackle enemies easier.

And then it is knowing your contracts and mechs. Know what gives you the best shot at loot, what is most likely to throw nastier stuff at you, and what enemies to prioritize, as well as if you should try to prioritize doing something like taking out a right (ML Hunchback) or left torso (AC 20 Hunchback).

[glen525]

i found the first year sort of slow, but in my 2nd year, i have more mechs than i know what to do with. stuck with 1/2 and 1 skull missions for most of the time, recently managed a 3 skull mission no problem. running with a lance that consists of an assault and 3 heavies. when in battle, try for some head shots and take both legs out, you get more salvage.

[SertanDoom]

The game since Heavy metal came out makes it more difficult to upgrade your lance early on by salvage (to me anyway) , run missions for for cash and buy some new mechs. A guy in the facebook BattleTech group said the same and bought an assault lance after about a day of playing. He sounded bummed because that kinda threw out all feeling of progression.

The only missions I'd recommend on higher skulls early on will be the ones that turn into a three way fight (if you're brave). Use jump jets to move your lance into some spot the other lances can't reach, let them damage/destroy each other/run out of ammo then pick off what remains using your light mechs initiative advantage to jump in and shoot when it's safe and jump to safety before things get dangerous. Look for "clash of the titans"