Mech affinity idea

[nyanko]

I watched a lot of playthroughs on youtube lately and I thought pilots could get rewarded for piloting the same mech a certain amount of time, like a bonus in skills or a passive they would get only when they are piloting this special mech. It would add to the decision making of choosing lances in the campaign.

[MAD-3R_Marauder]

This was discussed a loooooong time ago on the original HBS forums, but it didn't make it in the game (I agree, btw, that it would be a cool thing to add)

[nilus]

Its a double edged sword because your pilots will be building affinity from day one but ideally you will be replacing most, if not all your initial mechs at some point. So all that initial affinity will feel wasted.

I think a better solution would be to maybe build familiarty with weight classes rather then specific mechs that give small passive bonus. That way you don't feel like you need to lock certain pilots into specific mechs every mission. You still may get some initial pilots with some light and medium experience they don't need but at least if you do want to use it you have the choice to pop them in whatever light or medium you have and not the specific spider or locust you were using the first week of the campaign

[wendigo211]

I don't mind the idea, most mechwarriors are tied to their mech. But with repairs and upgrades, you probably will be swapping mechs around a lot.

[Sticky Wicket]

Having pilots more familiar & appropriate bonuses with weight classes makes sense to me. In Mech Commander certain skill affinites were associated with mech classes. Some pilots better at scouting, others ranged, others assault etc.
The only speciffic skill affinity for a Mech was for the Raven and it's extended scanning and ECM countermeasures where a pilot could make those more effective.