Any must-buy DLCs for first run?

[Bullett00th]

Title.

I'm also looking for mod recommendations, already seen some cool HUD reworks and weather effects on cockpit glass.

[Dalinar917]

If you are buying the game, just get the jumpship edition. It comes with Heroes of the Inner Sphere (most of us think this DLC is a must), Kestrel Lancers, and Call to Arms. The third DLC is kinda "meh" IMO, but the other two are pretty good. I also personally enjoy DLCs 4 and 5, Rise of Rasalhague and Dragon's Gambit but up to you if you want to splurge on those.

[Zasso]

I got the Jumpship edition a week ago and it did not come with Call to Arms.
I just checked the store again and I don't own it, nor does the bundle seem to be updated.

[Icehawk]

On the mod front and keeping things fairly lean, I'd check out:
-Yet Another Mech Lab https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/459
to fully unlock the mech customization, letting you swap engine sizes add endo/ferro, etc. It also adds additional rarer equipment like MASC, Superchargers, etc. If you really want tons of mech/weapon variants then there are additional mods in the same YAML family, but I may not suggest that the first run.
-Von Biomes https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/441
is another must for me, adding a bunch of new biome types for more mission variety.
-Mod Options https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/537
is recommended for all sorts of mods, including YAML to let you adjust...mod options in game.
The first three you can all get on the steam workshop if you prefer the simplicity, but
- Coyotes Mission Pack is only on Nexusmods, https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/263
but does a great job adding new mission types for more variety as well as potentially challenge. Though checking again, this one needs all the DLCs to work, so pass on it if you don't buy them all.

Those are my only big recommends for a first run, as well as they have all been updated for the latest patch. (Mod Options hasn't, but I've played with it for a few dozen hours since the patch and it works fine)

Later runs, or if you really want to add on more stuff, I'd personally check out 330s pilot overhaul, TTrulez_AI mod2, Ultra Visual and Weather, and the MW5 mod compatibility pack for stability. Several may need to wait on updates though.

Anyway, I hope you have a great time with it!

[goiflin]

Something to keep in mind as well is that if you intend to play co-op primarily, only the host needs the DLC.

That being said, for single player I'd say all of the DLC is pretty good so far. The missions are genuinely all much better than the ones in the base game, plus the extra equipment options/mechs are nice. Icehawk has all the great mod options listed. You can always play through the base game and pick up the DLC later on if you'd like it enough, but the vanilla campaign imo was kind of meh with all the DLC missions being much better at telling a story and having interesting scenarios.

Most of the mods I use are on the steam workshop but to get ModOptions you need to download it off nexus (still works with workshop mods!).

[Bullett00th]

goiflin eredeti hozzászólása:

You can always play through the base game and pick up the DLC later on if you'd like it enough, but the vanilla campaign imo was kind of meh with all the DLC missions being much better at telling a story and having interesting scenarios.

Are the DLC missions integrated into mid-campaign or can I just beat the vanilla game and then go through them?

[Robinson Drake]

Bullett00th eredeti hozzászólása:

Are the DLC missions integrated into mid-campaign or can I just beat the vanilla game and then go through them?

Mixed bag. Heroic missions are available all times, DLC campaigns are timegated. If your run is passed the date the DLC events happen in, that run misses out.

[Bullett00th]

Understood. Thanks for the input everyone!

[Illydth]

Couple responses here:

First I ALWAYS see mods like YAML and Coyote's mentioned. These mods change the game EXTREMELY SIGNIFICANTLY from base gameplay. That's not bad or wrong, but it depends what you want. Even vonBioms adds additional mission world maps that aren't in the base game and thus change the difficulty of some missions...if marginally.

The hallowed mods are great mods but most of them are built for carreer mode, not campaign mode (check out the MW5 reddit for why this is bad...enable yaml from the start of your playthrough or many of your mechs might end up without engines). IMO: I would get a feel for the base vanilla game in carreer mode in a somewhat throw-away campaign. Yes, go out and explore the mods, again the MW5:M Reddit has a stickied post that pretty much lays out what's out there. But before you go loading dozens of them decide what you want from a first playthrough.

Myself, I prefer QOL mods such as the StarMap mod, a heat gauge mod and an armor coloration graphical mod. From there I've stayed away from mods like vonBioms, Coyote's, and Pilot Overhaul mostly because there are reports of those mods causing problems and/or me being terrified that i'm going to get into the campaign and something will be broken (I already had to restart one campaign when I couldn't drop on the second mission of a multi-mission...hard stuck...and it was obviously mod related from one of the major mods like vonBioms or Pilot because that's all I disabled for the playthrough i'm running now which is working).

YAML is a huge change to the way the game plays so that's (IMO) best left for a carreer mode playthrough. I'm not massively concerned about difficulty however so I've added a couple of salvage related mods (better salvage numbers and buyable salvage) because I want to obtain mechs faster in my campaign. Figure out what you want and then load mods to achieve that.

As to the expacs and integration: All of the xpacs are integrated at timeframe points. When your game hits a specific year (For instance I think 3026 for Rashalhague but don't quote me on that) you'll get a communication telling you to proceed to a certain area to start the DLC missions. If you don't do so within a certain period of time (for DLC5 that's 6 months) you lose the ability to complete the missions.

THAT SAID you can ALWAYS import a campaign mode playthrough into a career mode new game (I THINK...I haven't tried this but I've read this is possible) so that you can take your campaign mode progress and go back and play the DLC missions if you want. The DLC missions are somewhat difficult, requiring you to have multiple lances of both pilots and mechs to complete the missions based upon the tight timeframes you get with the missions in the DLCs (there's little to no repair time between missions).

[Letobrick]

Dalinar917 eredeti hozzászólása:

If you are buying the game, just get the jumpship edition. It comes with Heroes of the Inner Sphere (most of us think this DLC is a must), Kestrel Lancers, and Call to Arms. The third DLC is kinda "meh" IMO, but the other two are pretty good.

Correcting this post since Jumpship edition DOES NOT include Call to Arms DLC.