Mech Classes

[Index Mordio]

Let me start off by saying that I know this game has no class system or roles, and basically every mech can fulfill any kind of role you want to put them in. So SRW fans might hate this post, but when I looked up what classes they are, people just said they are either super or real. So to a strategy gamer, that's not good enough. With a huge variety of units and many ways to play them, people can have their own opinion but if you are just starting out and need some tips on how to built your unit, I'll give my take on this. The game encourages you to focus on what a mech is good at, so that is the reason I came up with this. (Just so you guys know I beat the main story, and got every secret unit, so I've seen them all).

Attackers: I have a few different attacker roles

Infighter - This is my main attacker role in my game. Infighters are known for close range attacks and enough mobility to make any attack to them have a 0% chance of hitting them. They have low HP and armor, but who needs that when you can't get hit. My best infighters are Red 5, and Ikaruga, but you can also have any Gundam do this role as well. For infighters focus on upgrading mobility, sight, and weapons for max evasion and damage.

Sniper - On the other side of the spectrum is the sniper. Now the odd thing about this role is that it is mostly mech specific. Snipers are loaded with tons of long range weapons that don't have the move and fire icon. There are ways to increase the range of others but it requires upgrades and many power parts. If you attack and the enemy doesn't even get the option to counter, you are playing a sniper correctly. My best snipers are Gold 4 and Rein Weissritter. Some pilots also gain ace bonus that help with sniping which makes this role the most mech specific in my opinion. Focus on upgrading sight and weapons for these.

Brawler - These attackers basically do everything, deal damage, take damage, style for dominance, you name it. They are kind of like infighters with much more armor, HP, but less evasion. I like to give them effects that increase damage in certain conditions and maybe a small barrier. My best brawlers are Didarion (Hes almost immortal), the SRX, Gridman, and Gundam Barbatos, but there's quite a few mechs who can fill this role very well. I tend to upgrade everything evenly on them but upgrade HP, armor, and weapons first.

Defenders: I have one defender role

Tank - Just so you guys know, tanks still do a lot of damage but there is something unique about these mechs that really make a difference. As you might've guessed, tanks have the most health, most armor, and have barriers. They get so much damage reduction, it's usually a surprise if they take any damage at all. The main thing about this role is giving them multiple support defend skills, when they support defend they gain extra damage reduction and take an attack for an ally. The best tank in the game is probably King J-Der because that mech is a hulking beast of a robot with a size of 3L but don't discount Fuu's Windam, her support abilities and a barrier power part turned her into one of my best tanks. Obviously focus on HP and armor for these units.

Support-Hybrid: Any mech can be this class
Support hybrids are my fewest numbers but it's always nice to have a few of these in a squad. These mechs are loaded with all kinds of support effects. Why have an occasional unit that can repair others when you can handful that do EVERYTHING. Repair, resupply, support defend, support attack, analyze, they have it all. Your first support unit will probably be the Methuss, you know that mobile suit that transform, but even your own flag ship can be a support, you also can get Giant Sanyang, and let's not forget Purple 2. Purple 2 is probably the best support in the game with a unique effect that casts analyze on every enemy once per map. I like to focus on HP and mobility for these mechs just so they can live since I don't rely on their damage.

So that's my take on having mech classes in this game. As I mentioned before, this game technically doesn't have a class system, so this is all my opinion; but if you are new and the menus are confusing to you, maybe this helps a bit. I just play a lot of strategy games and building my units this way makes the most sense to me. So maybe you got something out of this but feel free to let me know you opinions as well.

[Ninth Hour]

You're not wrong. While there are no well-defined "classes", the characteristics of the mecha and their pilots do suggest an expected "default" role. For example, some machines don't have ranged attacks altogether and the highest attack stat of their pilots may lean towards CQB over ranged, which suggests their main specialty. And some pilots have a greater level of evasion over defense growth, which suggests whether they should dodge or tank. Also, Ace Bonuses suggest the direction to pursue for development- e.g. Lantis has a 20% damage bonus to melee attacks.

You are perfectly welcome to capitalize on these inherent strengths or ignore them altogether and build mechs and pilots in an unconventional way, Sometimes, unexpected roles may emerge.

For example, by virtue of having 4 parts slots after all the necessary AOS upgrades and 3 pilots with a varied mix of Spirit commands (including Zeal), SRX makes for a great support machine. You wouldn't necessarily consider this role at first glance because it is obviously built for combat but it works quite well.

I personally like to give Ryusei the Supply Parts skill and load SRX with rare parts like Hero Chronicle (Valor + Focus + Gain), Victorious Turn (+30% damage inflicted and -30% damage for an entire turn), Ultra Repair Ampule (completely restore all SP, HP, and Energy), and Essence of Jigen-Ryu (Soul, Accel, and Charge). Essence of Jigen-Ryu, alternatively, could be replaced with Miraculous Mark (among other benefits, can cast Miracle- i.e. a huge number of beneficial Spirits all at once, including Soul, Valor, Focus, Gain, Zeal, Accel, Flash, Persist).

Supply Parts allows the SRX to give the aforementioned effects to any adjacent units. Meanwhile, Acceleration (which Rai has) and Boost Dash give SRX a lot of mobility and allow it to easily get next to other units. On the chance that the SRX cannot reach the target, Ryusei simply casts Zeal to gain an extra action. Also, Aya has Prospect, which allows you to give 30 SP to any pilot, solidifying the support aspects of the SRX crew.

Basically, SRX excels as a Support machine that can also fight and tank.

The Gespenst is also, beyond its combat ability, a great machine for grinding PP, money, and MxP- if you are into that sort of strategy- as you can easily get its speed to 19 to 20, then load it up with the parts that provide extra resources for each space you move. The mech is very suitable for this role because it, too, has 4 part slots after upgrades.

And because Gilliam has Zeal, you can keep getting extra movement until his SP runs out. If you have a lot of characters with Prospect, you can keep on refilling his SP for extra uses of Zeal. But admittedly, this is a a very boring way to get extra resources and isn't strictly necessary.

Still, it's additional illustration about how unexpected roles can emerge once you consider the capabilities of both machine and pilot in combination.

[REhorror]

There's really no need for this kind of classing.
We just need to make each mecha unique with its own series-related abilities along with their downfall, kinda like back in SRW A or MX.

Yeah, we will have muh broken units, but just ignore them since SRW is made for challenge run and such.

[Index Mordio]

Originally posted by REhorror:

There's really no need for this kind of classing.
We just need to make each mecha unique with its own series-related abilities along with their downfall, kinda like back in SRW A or MX.

Yeah, we will have muh broken units, but just ignore them since SRW is made for challenge run and such.

I know. I've played enough to know classes are not a real thing. It was more for newer players who might find all the stats very confusing. Because they confused me.

[Function]

I think you should separate a robot's attacking role with their defensive method.

Defense:
A robot having high HP and Armor is a way too keep yourself alive. A robot having high mobility is a different way to keept yourself alive. Armor and Mobility don't affect how you attack.
That's what people mean when they say "Super" and "Real" in the context of this game.
The way a robot defends changes how you use them. Support defense is more useful next to squishy evaders. Personally, I find the supers easier to play with.
And of course some mechs have a somewhere-in-between or just have both.

Attack:
As you said in your post, some have close range attacks, and they need high movement to get to attacking position.
Some have high range not-post-movement attacks that needs high range to reach your enemies because you can't move before firing.
The style of attack also changes how you play and position your mech. Your sniper should have "hit & away", and you should always think about where you need to be to be in effective range next turn. With a close range, you need to think how not to overextend and defend yourself when attacking.
And of course some mechs have a somewhere-in-between or just have both.

Theoretically, you can have any kind of offense with any kind of defense. But very often the tanky mechs are also close ranged, and the dodgy mechs are also snipers. Which again adds to the "Super" vs "Real" class description often used.
But the two things that changes the way you would use the mech the most are how it defends and how it attacks. And whether or not it has any support abiities.