Starting Spider Mech is Garbage?

[AHordeofBunnies]

Am I crazy or is that thing garbage? So weak that it makes a ♥♥♥♥ scout. Can't maintain line-of-sight because it is always getting dunked on. After the second pilot got layed-up I got fed up and scrapped it for credits. Did I do wrong?

[strask]

Nah it's kinda weak, for sure. You can improve it marginally by replacing the medium lasers with small ones and upping the armor, but it's still made of twigs. They start you with weak mechs and you progress to better ones over time.

Edit: Don't scrap anything. Instead, go to the store, switch to the "selling" tab at the bottom, and sell things from there. You get more credits. For mechs you need to send them to storage before you can sell them.

[wesnef]

I mean, it's better than the Locust.

I usually pull off the jets and max out it's armor. That way it can take a couple hits while you're hunting for a Firestarter or Jenner to replace it.

edit: I don't generally get pilots injured in it. It's pretty hard to hit when it's running around. Plus, maxed armor helps.

[strask]

Originally posted by wesnef:

I mean, it's better than the Locust.

I usually pull off the jets and max out it's armor. That way it can take a couple hits while you're hunting for a Firestarter or Jenner to replace it.

edit: I don't generally get pilots injured in it. It's pretty hard to hit when it's running around. Plus, maxed armor helps.

Fair; anything is better than the locust. :) I leave the jump jets on the spider because it's less likely to get hit at all that way, but heat management can be an issue on max jumps so I respect the non-jumpy method, too.

[DDragon501]

I lost my first pilot on the very first mission because he was piloting the thing. It is not a great mech. Jenners, Panthers, and Firestarters are much better.

[WorldEater]

I like putting a single large laser on it and harass assaults from the rear in later missions.

[maerchen]

Spider with a Pilot 10 and a defense gyro is kinda fun. Risky still, but fun. Early game it is nearly as much a deathtrap for your pilot as the Locust.

I see both Mechs as emergency money, nothing more.

[AHordeofBunnies]

Glad to hear it isn't just me. Clearly it has some utility if you build it right but it is something of a "trap" for new players and their pilots. I have no background in the tabletop game and I had issues where the tutorial messages were popping up super late. Like the timeline for that was broken or something.

Thanks strask for that tip about selling vs scrapping.

[ulzgoroth]

The Spider tries to do too much for its tonnage (2 tons lasers and 4 jumpjets is a lot on 25 tons total) and doesn't fit well into the game's framework. If it was in a scout lance, spotting mechs from extreme range and refusing to go near anything bigger than itself, the thin armor might work. But the game we're in doesn't allow that kind of spotting, let alone make it worth dedicating one of your four mechs to.

[Bunks]

Get a Firestarter, max its armor, full JJ 6, and 6 Mg's. Once you get the move after firing skill, you will never use anything else as your light scout.

I always use 2 of them as a sort of rotation. Ive had dozens of battle where I took no damage at all.

[canuck250]

Originally posted by Bunks:

Get a Firestarter, max its armor, full JJ 6, and 6 Mg's. Once you get the move after firing skill, you will never use anything else as your light scout.

I always use 2 of them as a sort of rotation. Ive had dozens of battle where I took no damage at all.

I prefer no JJ 4 ML and the 6 MG, still hardly gets hit and gives big back stabs all the time. Ace Pilot is very nice to have, reserve so it moves last, run in blast, blast and then run out.

[canuck250]

Originally posted by wesnef:

I mean, it's better than the Locust.

I usually pull off the jets and max out it's armor. That way it can take a couple hits while you're hunting for a Firestarter or Jenner to replace it.

edit: I don't generally get pilots injured in it. It's pretty hard to hit when it's running around. Plus, maxed armor helps.

Exactly, need to drop the JJs for armour. Lots of light mechs do not need JJs as they are fast enough without them.

[ulzgoroth]

Depends on the terrain, though. All the speed in the world won't get you past blocking terrain. In BTA I've found that to be a big problem for non-jumping mechs and vehicles, though I feel like the vanilla terrain seemed less rugged. (Does BTA actually have different maps? Couldn't tell you.)

[Bunks]

Originally posted by canuck250:

Originally posted by Bunks:

Get a Firestarter, max its armor, full JJ 6, and 6 Mg's. Once you get the move after firing skill, you will never use anything else as your light scout.

I always use 2 of them as a sort of rotation. Ive had dozens of battle where I took no damage at all.

I prefer no JJ 4 ML and the 6 MG, still hardly gets hit and gives big back stabs all the time. Ace Pilot is very nice to have, reserve so it moves last, run in blast, blast and then run out.

When I said no damage at all, I meant my whole team not just the scout mechs. A few dozen fights at least without ever getting a single point of damage. JJ's used right are OP.

[canuck250]

Originally posted by Bunks:

When I said no damage at all, I meant my whole team not just the scout mechs. A few dozen fights at least without ever getting a single point of damage. JJ's used right are OP.

I prefer taking a tiny bit of damage to kill things faster. Unless you take hull damage all armour is repaired for free so not taking hits is not any different then taking a few

[pete]

Originally posted by AHordeofBunnies:

Am I crazy or is that thing garbage? So weak that it makes a ♥♥♥♥ scout. Can't maintain line-of-sight because it is always getting dunked on. After the second pilot got layed-up I got fed up and scrapped it for credits. Did I do wrong?

Yes - hell yes.