Worth it to start training new recruits mid game?

[Tanker]

I did not realize the value of Bulwark at the start of the Campaign and I only have one Outsider in my group of pilots. Even the 3 shield missions are tough now with two lances of enemies and I'm not sure new pilots would be able to last.

[IRMcG]

Yes, you might well have to at some points if some missions go bad anyway. Reloading's for the weak :)

You can pick up rarer Ronin/Backer pilots with higher starting skill ratings sometimes, plus use the Argo's training pods to get standard pilots out of the noob zone. I tend to babysit them on easier non-story missions as well until I unlock their first two skill perks.

[Twelvefield]

At any point in the game, you can lose pilots. Having some rookies in training is almost always a good idea, especially if your budget is sound.

The first skill perk comes quickly if you babysit rookies on easier missions, and the second one doesn't take too long either, especially if you beeline.

[L37]

You can build simulators or whatever they are called which provide some expirience just for passing time up to some limit.
Also as usual in such games - bring single rookie to a mission, he will be a liability, sort of, but you have no other choice anyway.

[The Giant Mimir]

Hiring rookies and training them is cheaper than buying experienced pilots, because their salary only increases half as much as the initial salary for experienced pilots. So if you can train from nothing, that's all good.

In addition, in career mode, you gain score for EXP gained by your pilots (not your Commander), which means you can hire every rookie you can to fill up your barracks, and invest in the simulators to gain 'free' score.

Having one or two pilots with Bulwark is useful - keep them as the 'tip of the spear' in cover, and use vigilance, and then put them in harm's way. Not all of your pilots will need it. Sure footing is less potent as the game goes on, and will demand you move quickly every turn, but it can still be a useful defensive boost in the absence of bulwark.

When you are facing multiple enemy lances, then your movement and positioning start to become really important. Don't be afraid to pull back and string an enemy out. Use terrain to split them up. When one enemy is isolated, gang up on it.

If you seem overwhelmed with no avenues of escape - it may be better to withdraw and lose the rep and the mission, than lose 'Mechs and get an extensive repair bill.

[Tanker]

What types of pilots do you feel most useful in a lance (Outrider, Recon etc)?

[danko9696]

Yes, it's worth to train pilots in the mid game, and even easier in the late game, because you have access to harder missions which still are very easy, so you can experiment with other skills.

What I do is to assign one mech as a "trainer-mech", like for example a 4xLL+++ 2xAC5++, as the LL+++ has +3 accuracy +1 native acc + 1 if in the arm, so up to +25% base chance to hit. It works well but the problem is that this is the kind of weapon setup you would want to do Precision Shots with it, and noobies are not good at that, but still is a fine setup for both experienced and training purposes. The one I think works best is a pure LRM boat. I usually pack 75 +2dmg tubes, but in "trainer mode" I go for 70 or perhaps even 65 tubes, and I add 2/3xTTS (+30/45% to hit). You have to spend weight on the extra accuracy because the LRM don't have native extra accuracy but on the other side you may not need any extra cooling at all, and the best part is that usually you don't use Precision Shots with the LRM boats, so now can have a newb far from the frontline, with extra accuracy from equipment only firing regular shots and not worrying about heat (Guts) or Piloting (evasion), only gunnery and tactics (indirect fire penalty). Also I never train more than one pilot at the same time and when not in training mode at least one TTS is a good idea anyway.

Originally posted by Tanker:

What types of pilots do you feel most useful in a lance (Outrider, Recon etc)?

For me all Vanguards for the late game, but you should take into account that some skills become much less useful as you progress and enter the late game (like Coolant Vent) while other Skills become much more useful (Master Tactician), and others remain the same (Bulwark).

[L37]

Originally posted by Tanker:

What types of pilots do you feel most useful in a lance (Outrider, Recon etc)?

This depends a lot on your tactics, how you like to play, etc.
Personally i, after much experimentation prefer this:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1654025004

Sometimes replacing sniper with another brawler.

There can be a lot of arguments on what skills are most usefull, but IMO the choices here are balanced well enough for all of them to be viable for certain usecases, apart from may be bulwark being almost required...

[Tanker]

Bulwark for all 4 or for only two?
Quite a stable of Assaults there. I count myself fortunate to have 2. Need to get busy and do harder missions I suppose.

[onebit]

All you need are Vanguard and Gladiators.

Guts 8 / Gunnery 5 - bulwark, coolant vent, multishot
Guts 5 / Tactics 8 - bulwark, sensor lock, master tactician

maybe a lancer for breaching shot if you like the big guns

Gunnery 8 / Guts 5

personally running all gladiators now. coolant vent is great. bulwark is great. multishot has nice utility.

melee || vanguard / brawler || rush to close combat
hit and run || outrider || strike and reposition
dps || gladiator / vanguard || keep firing!
lrm || lancer /vanguard/ striker|| several long range weapons
big gun || lancer || punch 1 big hole

[L37]

Sniper does not have bulwark and has reduced armour. He is never under fire if everything goes as planned, so he does not need to have max armour or bulwark.
Everyone else has it though. Because most other skills are situational, but bulwark is universally usefull for any mech that is supposed to be shot at.
A lot of my choices here are "because i like it" or "for fun". For example breaching shot for sniper. I find it fun to take 18% headshot chance with gauss rifle when i run into enemies with bulwark+cover or out of PPC range. This is also the reason to use gauss rifle itself. It is not very practical, but i find blowing head off fully intact mech on the other side of the map fun, even with just 18% chance.
The reason for having sensor lock on sniper and cyclops pilot is - they have nothing to do from time to time (either because of LOS or heat), in this cases sensor lock is usefull.

As for the mechs - i played from time to time since release, so it is just a result of doing a lot of missions. At some point it also becomes clear that mechs are quite common, things like dual heatsinks, heat exchangers, ++/+++ weapons with bonuses you want and such are much harder to get.

[onebit]

striker might work for a dedicated lrmer

STRIKER
Multi-Target
Sensor Lock
Master Tactition

[:WTF: Grendel]

Gotta have a B Squad of pilots lol... and a C Squad for good measure, assuming you can afford to maintain enough Mechs and payout on salary for pilots... and Argo upgrades and staff...

[wesnef]

If you're playing Campaign, there's always time to train up new pilots (since you're not racing the Career scoring timer). You can head back to the earlier planets (like Detroit, Alloway, etc) for some lower-skull missions.

In my v1.3 Career run, all my pilots had Bulwark, with my typical lance being 2x Sensor Lock/Master Tactician, 1x Multi/Breaching shot, 1x Evasion/Ace Pilot. And I kept two sets of these trained up (8 pilots total)

Tacticians in the general sluggers, Evasion in my jumping assassin, Breach in the long-range support mech.
(once I got a Cyclops Z, I switched out one Master Tac for another Breach)

[WC?]

Originally posted by danko9696:

Yes, it's worth to train pilots in the mid game, and even easier in the late game, because you have access to harder missions which still are very easy, so you can experiment with other skills.

What I do is to assign one mech as a "trainer-mech", like for example a 4xLL+++ 2xAC5++, as the LL+++ has +3 accuracy +1 native acc + 1 if in the arm, so up to +25% base chance to hit. It works well but the problem is that this is the kind of weapon setup you would want to do Precision Shots with it, and noobies are not good at that, but still is a fine setup for both experienced and training purposes. The one I think works best is a pure LRM boat. I usually pack 75 +2dmg tubes, but in "trainer mode" I go for 70 or perhaps even 65 tubes, and I add 2/3xTTS (+30/45% to hit). You have to spend weight on the extra accuracy because the LRM don't have native extra accuracy but on the other side you may not need any extra cooling at all, and the best part is that usually you don't use Precision Shots with the LRM boats, so now can have a newb far from the frontline, with extra accuracy from equipment only firing regular shots and not worrying about heat (Guts) or Piloting (evasion), only gunnery and tactics (indirect fire penalty). Also I never train more than one pilot at the same time and when not in training mode at least one TTS is a good idea anyway.

Originally posted by Tanker:

What types of pilots do you feel most useful in a lance (Outrider, Recon etc)?

For me all Vanguards for the late game, but you should take into account that some skills become much less useful as you progress and enter the late game (like Coolant Vent) while other Skills become much more useful (Master Tactician), and others remain the same (Bulwark).

you give trainees the good stuff? damn dude....

I just keep my bay 3 empty and let it fill with garbage mechs, then send the trainees out in whatever stock rubbish as piled up in there. If they survive long enough to become a regular I start putting them in real mechs. Slot 4 is the skrub slot. I always keep one expendable around, both to train them, and to have a pawn around in case i need to throw someone under the bus.

[Kexin]

I run all Vanguards. Why? Being able to focus fire one mech down before the bad guys can even move is HUGE.