Shymer's Guide to Battletech (Heavy Metal update 1.8)

Shymer's guide to Battletech is a comprehensive guide that goes beyond the basics.

The guide covers:
Mechwarrior roles, skills, and skill synergies
Lance composition
Battlemech roles and design theory
Battlefield tactics, threat assessment, defensive, and offensive play
The economics of running a mercenary company and answers the question "Where do I put the money/salvage slider?"

Update December 2018 - I am revising the guide to include the changes in update 1.4 and cover the Flashpoint DLC.

Update February 2020 - I am revising the guide again to include the changes in updates up to 1.8 and cover the Urban Warfare and Heavy Metal DLCs. Any sections where the title is marked with ** have yet to be reviewed and updated.

Introduction

Welcome to Battletech - a game about giant robots at war in the 31st century. The franchise started as a tabletop wargame in the 1980s and has since spawned numerous books, games, role-playing systems and other things. Battletech has a deep and long history and has a large base of fans, myself included, that love the lore and are desperate to like everything ever made about the Battletech Universe.

BATTLETECH is a recent (2018) adaption of the game. It is a thoughtful tactical turn-based mission-based game that allows quick access, but takes time to master and offers scope for experimentation on different levels.

This guide assumes that you have completed the tutorial and have a basic grasp of the UI, conducting battles, and weapons available, and are starting to explore some of the depth of the skill system, 'Mech building, lance composition and tactical nuances that exist within the game - either to find ways to improve your game - or to simply explore different tricks and strategies for fun and (virtual) profit (in C-Bills)!



A quick primer

Mankind has colonised thousands of planets around Earth, but previously centralised political control from Earth (initially the Terran Hegemony, then The Star League) has failed and groups of planets are now ruled by great and minor Houses, each dominated by a few powerful families and lineages, all vying for power and resources.

War has been raging for hundreds of years and people's ability to manufacture even basic electronics has declined as factories are systematically blown up, scientists and engineers killed or kidnapped and leaders assassinated. Military power is now in the form of the most advanced weapons platforms of two hundred years ago - The Battlemech - a walking, running, and sometimes jumping tank filled with high energy weapons and advanced systems - many of which are now failing with spare parts in constant short supply.

The themes of BATTLETECH are politics, treachery and loyalty, power, lost technology, scrounging for survival and the romance of feudal knights and royalty.

Game modes

When you start the game, you are given the choice between Campaign or Skirmish modes, and since the 1.3 update, a Career mode.

Skirmish is a one-off battle, which can be played multiplayer, or against AI enemies. It also has a 'Mech bay feature, which allows you to experiment and tinker with 'Mech designs.

The Campaign Mode involves "The Restoration Campaign" which follows a narrative involving a lone 'Mechwarrior forced into a mercenary life, but then dragged into interstellar politics and family feuds. The story has some cut-scenes, text-based unvoiced dialogue and is punctuated by slightly scripted story missions. There are tons of side contracts to build your mercenary group from humble light lance beginnings to massively well-equipped assault class organisation, albeit with limited drop abilities (limited to a lance of four 'Mechs).

The Flashpoint update introduces optional scripted story missions, adding up to 30 hours more content, according to the DLC blurb. The missions often involve more difficult (3+ skull) missions, often with consecutive drops without an opportunity to repair. Also many feature a decision that can determine the nature of the follow-on mission. The rewards are excellent, though, with new technology, rare 'Mech components and other goodies on offer.

Urban Warfare adds the excellent city maps to missions. Missions in cities suffer from difficulties and opportunities with line-of-sight, environmental hazards, and collateral damage mechanics with collapsing buildings. Three new vehicles, two new 'Mechs, the introduction of active probes and ECM systems, and a new challenging mission-type "Attack and defend."

Heavy metal introduces 8 new 'Mechs, some of them classics, a new flashpoint mini-campaign involving legendary characters from the books, and new weapon systems with novel mechanics and new tactical choices.

Players are encouraged to have completed the Campaign mode before selecting the Career mode. That's because career mode assumes you know the basic mechanics and economics behind the game.

First thing to know so you can enjoy the game

Difficulty

Some players will find BATTLETECH difficult. In part this is because the game pits the player's selection of four 'Mechs against an enemy force consisting of up to twelve enemy vehicles, turrets, and 'Mechs on relatively small battle maps where it can be difficult to avoid engaging them all at the same time.

In defence of the design decisions behind this gameplay feature, the player is given a mission difficulty rating prior to going on the mission. It's not precise, but it can be used as a guide, alongside the contract value, as to whether to take on the mission or not.

The enemy units, particularly the 'Mechs, are sub-optimal stock builds, many with profound weaknesses, such as ammunition placement in vulnerable locations, or weak armour components. The enemy AI is somewhat predictable and does not play a perfect game. Also, the player has access to some special abilities that can be incredibly potent (called shot and vigilance, for example).

There are game settings that can make the economic and strategic game easier, increase salvage and money that can be obtained from missions, allowing a player earlier access to bigger and more capable 'Mech chassis and, by extension, greater chance of success in missions.

However, the observation stands. BATTLETECH can be a difficult game, and on the face of it, it can feel like the AI is cheating by always outnumbering the player. If that doesn't charge your particle cannon, then you may not find the game to your taste.

All I can advise is to make the most of your options, as lance commander

• Choose your missions carefully
  
• Optimise your 'Mechs
  
• Understand and use your pilot's abilities
  
• Match your pilot to the 'Mech
  
• Create a lance of four 'Mechs that complement each other
  
• Master movement, line of sight, armour facing, terrain and morale abilities
  
• Engage one enemy group at a time, pulling back or kiting to reduce the numbers
  
• Master threat assessment, shot selection, and target the weak points of enemies
  
• Focus on one enemy at a time and move to reduce the number of enemies shooting at you
  
• Don't be afraid to pull back, eject pilots, and/or withdraw from the mission

Mechwarriors: Skill levels 1-5

Your Mechwarriors have four stats that identify how good they are at certain skills.

Gunnery, Piloting, Guts, and Tactics.

Each skill is rated from 1-10, the higher the better. Those skill levels determine base stats such as chance to hit with a range weapon, chance to hit with a melee attack, number of hit points, and modifiers to weapon minimum ranges, recoil penalties, or the point at which a ‘Mech overheats.

Your Mechwarriors gain experience points through battles, or time in simulators on-board your dropship if you have purchased that upgrade. Those experience point can be spent improving their skills. Before any of their skills reach level or tier 5, pilots are “Recruits” and have no speciality or expertise.



In addition to the stat bonuses, the first two times that you increase a stat from 4 to 5, the Mechwarrior unlocks a talent associated with that stat; Gunnery 5 will give you Multi-Target, Piloting 5 will give you Sure Footing, Guts 5 will give you Bulwark and Tactics 5 will give you Sensor Lock. Once a particular pilot has two of these talents, the other two tier-5 talents are locked away from them. As a consequence, you can only choose a combination of two of the four talents for each pilot.

Tier-5 talents - descriptions

Multi-Target (Class description “Gunner”)

This active speciality allows the Mechwarrior to select up to three targets in their firing arc and then can select groups of weapons for each target. Clearly better for ‘Mechs with several weapon systems, weapons with differing range profiles, or reducing enemy evasion of three ‘Mechs by 1 each. Synergises with Breaching Shot, which only activates if only one weapon is fired at a target.

A general principle in ‘Mech combat is to focus down individual high threat targets one at a time, rather than spreading your damage between targets and Multi-Shot would seem to be counter to this principle. However, it can be used to dispatch several light targets at once, or finish off a weakened opponent and make a start on the next one, rather than wasting shots through overkill. As such it is generically useful in many playstyles.

When you click on multi-target, you then need to select your three targets by clicking on them. The first will be labelled A, then B, and then C. In the weapon list at the bottom right of the HUD, you can see that letters have appeared next to each weapon. You can click on the letter to cycle it through the targets, if they are valid for that weapon (ie. in LoS and in range) - the chances to hit will be updated accordingly.

Sure Footing (Class description “Pilot”)

This passive speciality adds one to the number of evasive charges built up by a ‘Mech through movement, which can exceed the maximum for the unit. Each charge reduces the chances to be hit by 10% (+2 difficulty to the shot), and only one charge is lost each time the ‘Mech is fired at. In addition, the 'Mech gains ENTRENCHED if it makes a simple move or stands still, which halves stability damage taken.

All ‘Mechs move and so having additional evasive charges is never a bad thing and so this talent is generically useful - particularly for lighter ‘Mechs that are going to be relying on not being hit - or minimising the number of missiles from particularly large volleys that can hit in one go.

Bulwark (Class description “Defender”)

Bulwark has been changed in the 1.3 patch. The change has meant that 'Mechs no longer gain the protection by standing still. You just get a boost when using the BRACE or VIGILANCE abilities (to give you GUARDED) and when hiding in COVER. It increases the damage reduction for COVER and GUARDED - from 20%, to 40% individually, or 60% if you are both GUARDED and in COVER.

This change has reduced the synergy issues with 'Mechs that move, and means that cover becomes potentially of greater value than previously - since, for the most part, you would want to be shooting more than using BRACE.

Sensor Lock (Class description “Tactician”)

This active talent replaces your ability to attack a target. It does three things. The first thing is that it can reveal units that are detected as blips on sensors, but not identified - allowing other units to fire long range weapons at them. The other thing is that it reduces a target’s evasive charges by 2 (increasing chances to hit by 20%). This is only twice as effective as shooting at the target, even if you miss since each 'Mech shooting at a target reduces its evasion by 1. The third is that the target suffers a +2 SENSORS IMPAIRED effect.

Sensor Lock reduces your lance’s potential turn firepower by 25% because one of your ‘Mechs is not firing in order to activate the talent. As such it is only really useful for allowing extreme and long range bombardment of targets outside of LoS. It can be an option when you are inside sensor range for those moments where a ‘Mech cannot, for some reason, engage in weapon’s fire against a target. Perhaps because it is a melee build or has very short-range weapons, it's carrying a lot of heat, or it has poor battlefield position/mobility.

With two ‘Mechs armed with long-range weapons (perhaps LRMs) and Multi-Shot, one can conceive of an approach which involves two ‘Mechs firing at three targets with LRMs, reducing each target’s evasion by 1 as well as potentially causing some damage. Each of those three targets will then have the same effect as having a Sensor Lock on them - bar the impairment to sensors.

Sensor Lock may be useful on scouts, recon and ‘Mechs with limited shooting options (brawling or short-range builds, high heat builds), but otherwise you would not necessarily want too many of your pilots to have it - unless you aim to get Master Tactician. Anti-synergy with anything that modifies shooting, like multi-shot and breaching shot.

Mechwarriors: Skill levels 6-10

In addition to two tier-5 talents, there is also a talent unlocked at tier 8. Your pilot can only have one of these - and only in a skill which they have the talent unlocked at Tier-5. Those abilities are; Gunnery 8 - Breaching shot, Piloting 8 - Ace Pilot, Guts 8 - Coolant Vent, Tactics 8 - Master Tactician.



Tier-8 talents

Breaching Shot

Breaching Shot is a passive speciality that ignores guarded and cover for a single weapon system fired at a target. It can significantly increase the effectiveness of single shots against guarded targets or those in cover. It synergises well with Multi-Shot, particularly for ‘Mechs with three primary weapons, although alongside caution about spreading your fire between targets rather than focusing fire on an individual target. It also suits ‘Mechs with one massive primary weapon (AC20, LRM20 etc.) and several smaller ones.

Targets that are guarded have a little shield above them in the HUD. The shield flashes if the selected ‘Mech can breach the guard using this ability.

Ace Pilot

Ace Pilot is an ability that allows a pilot to shoot and then move, rather than having to move and then shoot. For ‘Mechs with high mobility and high initiative (Light ‘Mechs), this may give you the opportunity to reserve your move to the end of a turn, move into range and shoot - and then at the start of the next turn, shoot and then move out of LoS. With certain ‘Mech builds, such as Multi-flamer Firestarters, this can be an incredibly powerful method of disabling enemy ‘Mechs as well as making them vulnerable to follow-up fire by lance-mates, whilst keeping the light ‘Mech relatively safe.

The benefit wanes as weight class of 'Mechs increases, but it can add somewhat to the defence of a 'Mech if used with 'hit and run' tactics against enemies that lack mobility.

Coolant vent

This active ability allows a 'Mech to immediately reduce heat load by 50 additional points, but at a cost of increasing heat use by 8 over the next three rounds. The ability has a 4 round "cooldown" if you pardon the pun. This supports an alpha strike energy build, rather than a DPS build. The plan might be to alpha strike with high heat weapons, trigger the vent and alpha strike again the next turn, then withdraw and wait for the cooldown.

There are various 'Mech chassis that suit this talent - Firestarters, Hunchbacks (P variant with lasers) for example - 'Mechs with high heat, high impact weapons like PPCs and AC20s. The staccato hit-and-run playstyle may not suit everyone's taste. This talent can become very powerful with the right chassis, allowing two alpha strikes in a row

Master Tactician

The Master Tactician is a passive speciality that improves the ‘Mech’s initiative by 1, and can reduce stability damage by reserving which is useful for ‘Mechs which tank damage. Initiative is a subtle mechanic and probably more powerful in the end game when you are facing multiple threats capable of killing your units in one hit.

Mechwarriors: Roles and assessment of available abilities

There are six combinations of tier-5 talents, each with two subsequent choices of talents at level 8 - which means a total of twelve possible combinations of talents. Some of the combinations synergise well and suggest certain playstyles or sympathies with ‘Mechs and roles on the battlefield.

It is worth noting that, although the talents you did not pick are locked away once you have selected two talents at level 5 and one at level 8, there’s nothing stopping you spending more EXP in skills without the talent, and so you can have a tactics 10 ‘Mechwarrior without having to take Sensor Lock as long as you make sure you have two other level 5 talents first.

Role	Tier 5 ability 1	Tier 5 ability 2	Tier 8 ability	Assessment
Skirmisher	Multi-Target	Sure Footing	Breaching Shot	Good
Flanker	Multi-Target	Sure Footing	Ace Pilot	Prefer Recon
Lancer	Multi-Target	Bulwark	Breaching Shot	Good
Gladiator	Multi-Target	Bulwark	Coolant Vent	Good
Sharpshooter	Multi-Target	Sensor Lock	Breaching Shot	Questionable
Striker	Multi-Target	Sensor Lock	Master Tactician	Questionable
Outrider	Sure Footing	Bulwark	Ace Pilot	Good
Brawler	Sure Footing	Bulwark	Coolant Vent	Good
Recon	Sure Footing	Sensor Lock	Ace Pilot	Good
Scout	Sure Footing	Sensor Lock	Master Tactician	Prefer Recon
Sentinel	Bulwark	Sensor Lock	Coolant Vent	Average
Vanguard	Bulwark	Sensor Lock	Master Tactician	Average

A note on Shymer’s assessments

My assessment is not based on whether a particular combination of talents and specialisations are without merit, but only where you can consistently make use of those talents and specialisations without impeding or denying use of the others.

Breaching shot only works with single weapons, but synergises with multi-shot as long as you split fire one weapon per target.

Multi-target and Breach Shot are useful when shooting at targets, but Sensor Lock means you cannot be shooting - and so it seems to make more sense (to me) to have you pilots with Sensor Lock take other talents that may still be useful, like Sure Footing and Master Tactician.

Bulwark and Sure Footing are your defensive boosts, and so you would ideally want at least one of these. Sharpshooter and Strikers have neither, which is why I question whether these are as useful as other combinations, particularly with Sensor Lock.

Mechwarriors: Matching pilots, 'Mechs, and playstyle

Pilot type and ‘Mech type synergies

Skirmisher

Primary skills: Gunnery, Piloting
Abilities: Sure Footing, Multi-Target, Breaching Shot

This pilot role is ideal for general ‘Mech combat. They are likely to close with the enemy to optimum range and shoot at them. Each skirmisher moves as far as it can each turn (build up evasive charges and use positioning to influence hit location) whilst maintaining its ideal range and focusing on taking down the highest threat target. It tries to maintain facing to present armour and empty locations to the majority of enemy fire, but can be cycled out if chunks are being knocked out of it.

Examples: Any ‘Mech too light to be able to tank damage effectively and so reliant on mobility for defence, but too slow for it to be reliable. Most medium ‘Mechs. General combat role.

Flanker / Recon

Primary skills: Piloting and either (Gunnery or Tactics)
Sure Footing, Ace Pilot and either (Sensor Lock or Multi-Target)

These pilots are best in ‘Mechs that are highly mobile and flank enemy forces using routes that are out of sight or provide maximum cover; to strike from behind, or disable targets with sudden attacks at the right time. Getting behind the target means that breaching shot is not as necessary, and you should aim to abuse the reserve function to move behind and shoot, then the ace pilot to shoot and then withdraw at the very start of the next round.

I prefer Recon (Sensor Lock) over Flanker (Multi-target) as the aim is to isolate a single target, and the 'Mech can provide sensor lock services as it closes to range.

Examples: Often more suitable for lighter ‘Mechs - Commandos, Firestarters with a melee/disabling build, or Centurions with an AC20, Kintaro with bunches of SRMs. Jump jets and high speed movement are often essential combined with a big-hitting weapon or punishing melee capability.

Lancer / Gladiator

Primary skills: Guts and Gunnery
Bulwark and Multi Target and either (Breaching Shot or Coolant Vent)

These pilots provide an anchor for any lance formation, being the focus for enemy fire, but dishing out as much targeted damage as possible. They approach from the front or sides, using cover rather than evasion for defence, Lancers making use of breaching shot, Gladiators combining high heat alpha strikes with dropping out of sight to cool down, or switching to melee.

Examples: Most slow-moving direct fire support ‘Mechs and indirect fire support ‘Mechs and sniper builds can fit into this category - the more heavily armoured the better. Jump jets can be advantageous in finding good high ground. ‘Mechs fitting this mould might be the Urbanmech, Blackjack, Jagermech, Catapult, Griffin, Orion and the like.

Scout / Recon

Primary skills: Piloting, Tactics
Sure Footing, Sensor lock, and either (Ace Pilot or Master Tactician)

These pilots excel in ’Mechs that range ahead of the lance. They are the first to spot enemy contacts (and usually the first to get shot at as a consequence). They ideally find a spot behind LoS blocking cover, or better, moving at maximum speed to get behind different LoS blocking cover, and use sensor lock to improve hit chances against targets with high evasion. They are likely to come under indirect missile fire and soak up enemy sensor locks, rather than contributing greatly to lance offence. A brave commander may sprint them into LoS of multiple enemies to draw fire, relying on maximum evasion for survival. Their weight/build often precludes anything other than the most limited offensive actions as they are most vulnerable to being hit in melee by something bigger than them. Potentially good at chasing down escaping light vehicles.

Examples: Anything with speed and not much else; Spiders, Locusts and the like. Please don’t store ammo in the centre torso or legs.

Brawler / Outrider

Primary skills: Piloting and Guts
Bulwark, Sure Footing and either (Ace Pilot or Coolant Vent)

There is clearly space in Battletech for ‘Mechs designed around maximised melee capability and these are the pilots that fit the role. You need a chassis with weight (for damage), speed (to close range quickly), arms/hands/fists (for damage), and plenty of support weapon slots (Small lasers, machine guns and/or flamers). The combination of Bulwark and Sure Footing can get you into range with maximum defense. Ace Pilot is good for light brawling and escape, because melee doesn't create much heat, Outriders probably edge it for me. Good platforms for focused melee at different weight categories are:

• Firestarter
  
• Shadowhawk (2D) [only 2 support weapons, but quick, heavy and robust]
  
• Grasshopper
  
• Banshee (3M)

Lance composition and different builds

Your lance is made up of four members. It is possible to have every member of the lance in exactly the same build of ‘Mech and cover for each other in a 100% generic and flexible format - but each ‘Mech would need to cover multiple ranges and capabilities - perhaps without ever excelling.

It is also valid to have each ‘Mech being completely focused on a specific role with no overlap. This might maximise performance in individual areas, but can be more fragile - if one of the ‘Mechs is disabled or destroyed - can the others do without that role - or make do? The choice is yours.



What we are talking about is Lance Composition - how the ‘Mechs and pilots work together as a lance. What the strategy is. How you move them on the map and the kinds of decisions you can make to optimise their effectiveness as a unit. There are different approaches here. Some are more cautious - some more aggressive - some are better for different maps and environments - some take enemies down over time leaving little scrap - some are surgical in taking out enemies - some are more fun to play. Here are some of my ideas, but I encourage you to experiment.

General purpose: 4 x Whatever

This lance has probably not been planned. Each ‘Mech is built according to what suits the chassis available and/or the whims of the Commander. Individual ‘Mechs have no defined purpose having both long and short range capabilities, some with and some without jump jets, some better protected by being in cover, some better protected moving maximum distance. The lance moves in a clump and engages as they can.

Balanced: 1 x Recon, 1 x Brawler, 2 x Skirmisher/Lancer

This lance has been planned to offer a balance between specific roles and flexibility to accommodate other goals and deal with loss during an operation. The recon provides visibility and mobility, the brawler moves from cover to cover hitting targets with massive alpha strikes and then cooling off and re-positioning. The other two members can be more general in design, but should close in on the highest threat and, supported by the other two, take the threats down, one at a time.

Forward Observer: 1 x Scout/Flanker/Recon, 3 x Lancer/Skirmisher/Outrider

This lance is a conservative composition designed to maximise long range firepower and keep out of range of enemy retaliation. The lightest 'Mech with sensor lock roams forward, staying out of LoS, in cover, guarded and/or otherwise protected as best as possible. It uses Sensor Lock on a target after it has moved, or tries to get LoS and a shot at just one enemy. Meanwhile his lance-mates, probably parked at maximum range on high ground, wait with massed LRMs (perhaps AC2s) to pummel the nominated targets into the ground using sheer volume of fire.

Artillery: 4 x Lancer

Why use a fragile light ‘Mech to get sensor lock and lose 25% of your potential lance firepower when you just need one ‘Mech with line or sight to hit them with missiles from everywhere. This lance advances together and simply bombards the first target in range into a pulp. Advance slowly, stay at range, rinse and repeat. Multishot and breaching shot means that lancers can split fire between three targets, ignoring cover and guard, and removing evasion markers from three targets each. So start firing with the lightest 'Mech with 3xLRM, and move up to the 3xLRM15/20 coup de grace.

Rat pack: 4 x Outriders

This composition is a highly mobile (and potentially fragile) build of fast-moving and jump jet ‘Mechs that flank the enemy, pick out targets that are on the edge of enemy formations and take them out, then retreat before picking their next target. Imagine four Kintaros, each with triple SRM6 launchers, all attacking one target - or four Centurions with AC20s. Wait out of sight and reserve until the enemy has finished moving, then all close in on one target, two alpha strikes, and then withdraw early next round.

All-Brawl: 4 x Brawlers

Probably a derivation of the rat pack, this composition is not serious, but might be a fun challenge. Is it possible to go through a campaign only using melee attacks and support weapons? You may have to avoid missions involving lots of turrets - or make some kind of exception for taking out turrets.

Combat - Melee and DFA

There are two physical (rather than ranged) attack types. Simple melee, which is punching/charging or kicking and DFA (“Death From Above”) where the attacker uses jump jets to try and land on top of a target ‘Mech.

In DFA, the attacker takes leg damage and can cripple themselves, as well as falling over, whether they hit or not. If hit, the enemy can take stability damage, and a lot of potential damage to the head, torso and arms, but the whole process is less certain and predictable than weapon fire, and often a ‘Mech can cause more damage with guns and even pick the location to focus on with precision strike.

Unlike the original Battletech tabletop game, you can find Arm and Leg Modifications which can be installed into ‘Mechs to increase their melee or DFA damage output, whilst protecting the ‘Mech from damage from DFAs. This probably makes designs based on systematic and regular use of DFA possible, but it still seems risky and might take a while to find the right Modifications and chassis selections with suitable benefits for their tonnage.

DFA without planning is a bit of a desperate move and is funny, rather than long-term cost-effective, for the most part. Since the 1.3 update, the AI does not seem to DFA as much as it used to. If an enemy does do it, you could then target their legs to down them and finish them off.

Fun fan fact: DFA in a 95 tonne Highlander ‘Mech which destroys a light 'Mech, is known as a “Highlander Burial.”

Melee is crucial against some vehicles and causes them double damage, which can amplify the threat a light ‘Mech would otherwise pose to a vehicle. Melee is also useful against targets with a lot of evasive charges as it can completely remove a target’s evasion. Melee is totally useless if a target is elevated in a position where melee is impossible - which includes many turrets.

Piloting is clearly important for melee builds because it directly improves your chances to hit. Sure Footing is also useful for closing the distance to the enemy more safely - as is Bulwark if there's cover to be had on the way in - of it you want to boost any cover you'll be standing in after your melee attack.

Combat - Enemy threat assessment

One of the key skills in Battletech is the ability to assess, from the information you have, what your primary threat is, and thus what you should eliminate first. In general, you should focus on removing the greatest threat possible one threat at a time, either by destruction, or by removing its weapon system(s) and/or mobility - rather than spreading your damage over several targets. Badly damaged ‘Mechs that still have weapons can still shoot or hit you in melee.

By right clicking on targets that you see, the game presents you with the weapon systems the enemy has available - either by initials familiar to all previous Battletech players throughout the years, but perhaps opaque to new players - or slightly longer forms like "M Laser". Here's a little list of the common weapons of the 31st century.

• SL/ML/LL = Small Laser, Medium Laser, Large Laser
  
• PPC = Particle Projector Cannon
  
• SRMn = Short range missiles with n missiles in a shot each causing 8 dmg (n = 2,4,6)
  
• LRMn = Long range missiles with n missiles in a shot each causing 4 dmg (n = 5,10,15,20)
  
• MG = Machine Gun
  
• FL = Flamer
  
• ACn = Autocannons of increasing size and damage, but decreasing range (n = 2,5,10,20)

There are other, rarer weapons that can appear, such as Gauss Rifles (GR), Extended Range weapons (ERxx such as ERPPC or ERLL). The naming convention is, at least, uncomplicated and guessable.

Each weapon has an effective range which is worth knowing. If the enemy cannot bring their firepower to bear, then you may prioritise a different threat that can. Of particular note is the mighty AC20. This is a scary weapon that is only effective at close ranges.

Some weapon systems are incredibly damaging individually, and some are incredibly damaging in large numbers.

Individual weapon systems that should raise a red flag are those that can headshot a ‘Mech in one go, or cause catastrophic component and/or stability damage: AC20, AC10, LRM20, LRM15, PPC. Most of these weapons are also long-ranged (with the exception of the AC20) and you might want to prioritise those first.

Direct mass damage to one component is worse initially than lots of little packets of damage spread over your ‘Mech - so AC10s are probably more dangerous at the start of a fight than LRM15s, for example. Where an LRM and other “crit-seeking” weapons are more dangerous is when you have numerous armour breaches - towards the end of protected or hard-fought battles. You may prioritise these weapons later in a match depending on circumstances.

When you group together lots of smaller weapons, you can also multiply the threat - Hunchback-4P is a ‘Mech design with 7-8 Medium Lasers, SRM and LRM carriers mount several SRM or LRM launchers which, combined, can punish an inattentive commander focused on taking ‘Mechs down.

Massed flamers can be used to create a very specific disabling build which adds heat to a target’s heat track - preventing it from firing hot weapons, or causing it to shut down entirely in some cases. Flamers carry extremely limited charges, though, and so you have to pick your targets very carefully to avoid waste. An Ace Pilot with flamer build can be the quickest way to disable assault ‘Mechs.

Combat - An introduction to hit locations and crits

Targeting ‘Mech components, crits and you

Battletech has a “hit location” system. Every target consists of several discrete components which can be hit independently.

A ‘Mech consists of a head, left arm, right arm, left torso, centre torso, right torso, right leg and left leg. Just like the weapons, these are referred to by initials: H, RA/LA, RT/CT/LT, RL/LL. Left Leg (LL) is not to be confused with Large Laser (LL).

Each component has a structure with a certain amount of capacity to absorb damage. It is also protected by ablative armour which has a separate protective value. The head, arms and legs have a single armour value regardless of facing - the torso locations have armour on the front and armour on the rear - and generally the rear is weaker.

Each location is also home to one or more of the guns, heat sinks, ammunition magazines or other pieces of equipment mounted on the ‘Mech. Each component has its own capacity to absorb damage (known as a critical). Most equipment only has a single critical location, but others can take up two, three, four or more slots. When enough of its critical locations are damaged, the equipment is destroyed and can no longer be used. Some pieces of equipment, when hit, causes additional effects. Specifically ammunition, when it takes damage, destroying the location is it in. A good reason not to store ammunition in the ‘Mech’s head or centre torso.

If a location’s structure is destroyed, all equipment in that location and any attached to it, are lost. The right arm and left arm are attached to the right and left torso respectively, The legs are attached to the centre torso, as is the head.

You can kill a ‘Mech in one of four ways:

• Destroy the Centre Torso (“Coring”)
  
• Remove both legs (“Legging”)
  
• Decapitation (taking the head off)
  
• Incapacitate the pilot

Coring the target is simply a matter of doing sufficient damage to the centre torso (CT) structure. As damage is transferred after bits are blown off the target from the outside in, eventually you will destroy the centre torso, just by attrition - and so this is the most common way for beginners and general builds to defeat an enemy ‘Mech. However if you face the enemy front on, or better from direct behind, and can use Precise Strike on the Centre Torso, you may be able to consistently (75%+) one-shot light ‘Mechs with a single shot from a big gun. CT destruction give you the least amount of salvage from the target.

Legging is popular in Mechwarrior Online because pilots often lightly armour legs, store ammunition in legs, and if you aim low at even a fast-moving ‘Mech, you only have two possible hit location areas, rather than six above the waist. In Battletech is is harder to consistently leg ‘Mechs (except for those that have just performed a DFA). Legs tend to carry a lot of armour and are a bit trickier to focus on than torsos and contain fewer pieces of equipment to destroy.

Early on in the game, even with Precision Strike, the chances of hitting the target’s armoured cockpit are small - typically 2%. Later on, when your pilot has unlocked bonuses to Precision Shot, and finally Precision Shot Mastery, then the chance to hit the head increases to 17-18% from the front or side. I have a Cyclops with six medium lasers (+3 acc) and a TTS (energy), and a pilot with Precision Hit Mastery, and can regularly decapitate enemy 'Mechs.

Precision shots work best with one shot weapons like autocannons or lasers. Missile systems, particularly LRMs, the called shot bonus diminishes after the first missile - meaning you can often injure a pilot with a head hit, but it may not penetrate the cockpit armour.

In Battletech, pilots can take damage from a number of different circumstances - head hits, loss of side torsos, falling over, and ammunition explosions. Pilots can only take three or four of these injuries before they are incapacitated.

Head hits are hard to plan for, but taking the torsos off a mech and aiming at locations containing ammunition, and causing stability damage through autocannon, missile or melee are easily doable. It is possible to create a build around causing stability damage and continually knocking ‘Mechs over to shake the enemy pilot to incapacitation before stealing their ride for spare parts and C-Bills.

Combat - Manipulating hit locations; also vehicles and turrets

Manipulating hit location using positioning

When you attack an enemy, your chances for the shot to hit a particular location are influenced by where your ‘Mech is in relation to their facing. If you are on their right-hand side, your are more likely to hit their right arm, right leg and right torso. Even if you select a Precision Strike, it adds to your chances, but if you are not on the correct side of a target, you may not be able to aim for the component location you want.

Part of a target threat assessment is to identify where the enemy has their “big gun.” Take, for example, a Panther light ‘Mech. It’s slow for a light ‘Mech and the torso-mounted SRM4 might not be that scary. However, the Panther has a PPC which can be intimidating. It is mounted in the Right Arm. If you can attack a Panther consistently from the right hand side, the chances are - even if you are not using Precise Shot, that the right arm will catch much of the damage.

In some cases, the arm is just as heavily armoured as the associated torso - and the torso may have the additional benefit of housing ammunition and causing damage to the pilot if it is destroyed. So it is often the case that Precision Shots are best employed when aiming at a side torso, preferably from the rear straight on, or at an angle from the front. If you can take the torso out, the arm drops off as well. Take a look at the next Griffin GRF-1N you come across. It has all of its weapons attached to its Right Torso.

It seems clear that the AI knows about this technique because I have observed several times where an enemy has targeted the arm with the heaviest weapon mounted in it. Also the AI does twist to position their shield arms towards your 'Mechs. I don't think this is cognitive bias at work - but I haven't done the numbers, so it could be.

Other ways of manipulating hit location

If a ‘Mech has fallen over, you can call shots for free if you only target that ‘Mech. Also if a ‘Mech shuts down because of heat you can call shots for free. This is a great way of permanently destroying or hobbling bigger ‘Mechs - and also the most likely way one of your pilots will die - knocked over by someone followed by many enemy shots aimed at the centre torso.

Hit locations, vehicles and turrets

‘Mechs are not the only target on the battlefield, there are turrets and vehicles too. Vehicles are like side torsos, in that they have a single internal structure, but several different armour facings. The armour is typically much, much greater than the internal structure. This makes it imperative to focus fire on one location, rather than spreading it out, and preferably hitting it in the back. Given that a lot of vehicles are incredibly dangerous for their size (Demolishers have twin AC20s, SRM and LRM carriers have many, many weapons, Shrecks mount triple PPCs and don’t suffer from heat), hitting vehicles early and focusing them down might be a good idea. Remember that melee damage causes double damage to vehicles.

Turrets have a single armour rating and single structure rating, but can also pack some serious firepower - quad AC2s, multiple LRM10s and 15s, AC20s and multi-PPC turrets can all cause bad problems. If you cannot see a convenient turret generator to kill, then clearing out turrets can be a vital priority. They can’t evade, so can usually be sniped or pummeled from long range, and it also gives you the option of using LoS-blocking scenery to avoid contact with them until you're good and ready.

Combat - Crit seeking

Once a component location’s armour is stripped off, every hit thereafter has a chance of causing a critical hit on a piece of equipment mounted inside that location. That means that some weapons that cause multiple hits have a greater chance of causing critical damage - we call these crit seeking weapons.

The ultimate crit seeker is the humble machine gun. It has no range, but each “shot” is actually five hits, each of which could cause critical damage. If you have a melee build ‘Mech with machine guns as your supporting weapons, then you can open up the armour with a punch, and then crit seek with the machine guns with great potential effect.

LRMs and SRMs are also crit-seeking to some extent. In general, if a target has multiple breached armour locations, then hitting them with missiles is a good way to cause them additional inconvenience. It would also suggest using missiles and crit seekers after your big hole-punching weapons.

The principle thing to note about this is that many stock 'Mech builds have ammunition in certain locations, and a critical hit on ammunition means an explosion. If the ammo is in a side torso, the 'Mech can lose the side torso and associated arm. If the ammo is in the centre torso, any ammo explosion will destroy the target entirely.

There are many enemy 'Mechs, such as Thunderbolts, that are particularly prone to being destroyed in this way. Stripping the armour from the centre torso, or centre torso (rear) and then crit-seeking can often result in complete destruction of an enemy unit with no hassle.

Combat - Defensive positioning and builds

It is relatively easy to grasp the idea of turning your ‘Mech’s most damaged side away from incoming enemy fire, yet still keeping your target in your firing arc. As the UI displays the front of your ‘Mech, it is also easy to get muddled up about which side should be facing the enemy.

When designing your ‘Mech, bear in mind that you may wish to have a default “side” to act as a damage sponge, and to position your ‘Mech to enable this side to face the enemy. For example, I outfit my Centurion with an AC20 in its right arm and all of the ammo in the right torso. I commit my Centurion to the left-hand side of the map, but always twist the ‘Mech to be facing into the map at the end of movement or jumping, so I can keep my empty “shield” left arm and torso towards the enemy whilst still being able to shoot my weapon on the extreme of the firing arc.

Many ‘Mechs are right-handed in this way, which means that the left side of the map can be popular and this factor might be useful in building for multiplayer or skirmishes. You may want to consider using football terminology for “left wingers” “centre midfield” or “right wingers” depending on whether the ‘Mech is balanced, or asymmetrical in build.

Asymmetrical builds of heavy ‘Mechs with Bulwark, Steady Footing, and various mods can be very powerful tanks with correct positioning - soaking up tons of damage and shots. However they are better at range where an enemy has less chance of positioning to take advantage of hit location to focus on where your gun and ammo are stored. If an enemy gets into your rear arc, or an enemy turret is behind you. then your cover could be for naught.

Later on in a game, when your default “sponge” side has been stripped of armour and you are at risk of losing limbs and torsos, don’t be afraid to turn your back on an enemy if your rear armour can take a hit or two - or even lead with your weapon arm instead of your shield arm if the armour is still intact. Your C-Bill bank balance will thank me.

Where (and where not) to store the ammunition

Some weapons require ammunition and that’s a risk. If ammunition is hit, it explodes and destroyed the location it is stored inside. This is an opportunity and a threat.

The opportunity is that some stock ‘Mech designs store the ammunition in the centre torso. The Locust-1V is a notable example. There is very little armour here. Any crit through the CT has a chance of destroying the ‘Mech in one hit. Some large ‘Mechs also have this design flaw, but it might be easier to seek to penetrate the CT(Rear) armour than the front. Regardless - any ammo explosion in the CT destroys the ‘Mech. Don’t make the same mistake when building your ‘Mech.

Ammunition in the head is a brave choice for similar reasons and also uses a slot best reserved for electronics. However the benefit of this location is the relative difficulty in targeting the head deliberately. I’ll leave it up to you to experiment. I have heard that the chance for head hits seems higher in the 1.3 patch. I have no data to confirm or deny that. The advertised hit rate with precise shot seems to max. out at 17% - and only then with called shot mastery. My pilots do get hit in the head a lot from MGs and LRMs during missions, but usually only once.

You can put ammo in a leg location - but be aware that if you lose the leg, the ‘Mech slows right down and so this won't be good for 'Mechs that are designed around evasion as a defence.

Arms and Torsos are likely places to store ammunition. If an arm is destroyed, then it doesn’t matter too much. Asymmetric designs can comfortably store ammo in an arm that is then positioned away from the enemy. However the enemy is most likely to hit the arm if they flank you. A Torso offers a greater density of armour, but is harder to prevent Precision Strikes and positioning from hitting that location - and, on top of that, loss of the torso is damage to your pilot and loss of the arm too. Pay your money - make your choice.

Crit stuffing or crit padding

If a weapon scores a crit on an internal structure and the only thing in that location is ammunition, then it can explode. When you are building ‘Mechs with ammunition, you can fill the location that houses the ammunition with other components that might take the crit instead - weapons, heat sinks and mods. I call this crit stuffing or crit padding.

‘Mech rotation

With the principle of focusing one enemy at a time firmly established, the implication for defence is to cycle your ‘Mechs to spread the enemy’s damage over all of them rather than allowing them to focus on any one - as well as prioritising removal of high-impact weapons such as AC20s, AC10s, PPCs compared to ones that spread damage such as LRMs, SRMs and lasers.



‘Mech rotation is probably more pertinent to generic or balanced lance compositions, rather than where one ‘Mech is a designated tank or scout, but you should always have sufficient mobility to rotate ‘Mechs so that undamaged ‘Mechs come to the frontline and damaged ones drop back behind cover or out of LoS.

If one of your 'Mechs is being focused on, then check whether it is the "tip of the spear" (i.e. the closest to the enemy units) and if it is, you may wish to push one of your other 'Mechs forward to take some damage instead. The weakness of lance composition where several of your 'Mechs are out of LoS and bombarding from range is that their armour is not available to share the damage.

If you can identify and destroy enemies with Sensor Lock capability and take them out, it can protect lighter or damaged ‘Mechs from indirect fire from supporting turrets and/or vehicles.

'Mech design - The Mechlab

‘Mech design

There are several approaches to ‘Mech design, but in general they all apply regardless of ‘Mech tonnage - but following each design principle can lead to different builds or variants of ‘Mechs which may be more suited to some battlefield roles and piloting styles than others.

Stock load-outs

Most ‘Mechs you encounter out of the few remaining factories are standardised variants and given different codes to identify them as a standard - or stock - variant. Most of these codes consist of three letters from the ‘Mech’s name, followed by a number, and a letter. The naming is not consistent, but at one point, the letter at the end could refer to one of the Houses that developed/sponsored/owns the most of that variant - and so you see a lot of “M”, “L”, “D”, “K” and “S” letter codes.

Stock builds are complete - in that they use every ton of available capacity. However, they are not built with a single design philosophy, or optimised for specific theatres of operation, or piloting style. Many of them are distinctly sub-optimal in the way they use their tonnage and/or weapon loads. In short, stock builds are generally not very good and can be improved.



BATTLETECH the game has simplified the ‘Mech design process by ruling out the ability to swap engines between chassis, or separately accounting for the weight of the cockpit. A basic Gyroscope is also included, although more advanced ones are available. This simplification is not to everyone’s taste, but probably reflects the difficulty of modifying a ‘Mech built on technology that was lost hundreds of years in the past - mercenary units do not have a magical capability to rebuild these machines - just jury rig repairs and sometimes swap weapons out - although the canon material suggests even that was not always possible.

Design variables

In the game, movement is a fixed function of the chassis - as is the maximum number of jump jets the chassis can mount. The number of slots in each hit location is also fixed - and the hardpoints are fixed by the variant of the chassis you are working with. This means that, when you start designing, you have a fixed weight allowance to work with and a number of hardpoints and slots to use.

Weapons, armour, jump jets, mods and cooling

The design process you will follow will see you selecting a balance of weight spent on several interlocking systems: weapons and ammo, armour, jump jets, mods and heat sinks for cooling.

Weapons all have a weight in tonnes, and some require separate ammunition (missiles and ballistics). The weapon can only be installed on a hardpoint designed for it in one of the locations. Ammunition can be placed anywhere there is space for it regardless of how far from the actual weapon it is - including, if you desire, the cockpit, centre torso or a leg.

All items take up space inside the ‘Mech and need to be placed in a location. Unlike some other versions of battletech, where space is at a premium, BATTLETECH has generous slot limits in locations and has no space-consuming technology such as ferro-fibrous armour or endo-steel. In general this means that space is not a constraint for most 'Mech designs, and actually allows some builds that would otherwise not have been possible in other versions of the game.

Armour weighs one tonne for every 90 “hit points”, spread how you like across the ‘Mech, but it takes up no internal space, is free to repair after battles and can be moved around in the ‘Mechlab instantly.

Jump jets vary in weight depending on the weight class of chassis - the bigger the chassis, the heavier each jet becomes to a maximum of 2 tonnes per jet for the biggest ‘Mechs. This means that the most efficient use of weight is for ‘Mechs at the top end of their respective weight category: 55 tonnes, 85 tonnes and 100 tonnes. Each jet takes up one space and can be placed anywhere - although legs and torso sections seem the most common places. Light and Medium ‘Mechs are considered a single weight class from a jump jet perspective.

Mods are a new feature that BATTLETECH introduces that have never really been used in ‘Mech design systems this extensively. There are various mods, all of which take space, some of which also weigh an amount. Each mod provides a certain bonus to ‘Mech performance. Some mods have to go in a certain location - such as cockpit mods, gyros, arm mods or leg mods. Some are more general and can be placed anywhere there is space.

• Arm mods - bonus to melee damage (Coventry) or melee stability damage (Friedhof)
  
• Cockpit mods - Additional pilot hit points
  
• Rangefinder - Additional view distance
  
• Comms system - Additional morale gain per turn
  
• Leg mod - Additional DFA dmg (Rawlings), reduced self-dmg from DFA (Pitban)
  
• Gyro - Reduced stab.dmg taken (Rawlings) “Hit Defence” (Friedhof) “Melee Hit” (Coventry). These can make your ‘Mech harder to hit by a certain amount in melee, or both in melee and at range.
  
• TTS - Bonus accuracy for Missiles (Hartford), Energy (RCA) or Ballistics (Kallon)
  
• Heat bank - Increased max heat and overheat capacity
  
• Thermal exchanger - Reduce weapon heat by a percentage

Heat sinks are systems for cooling a ‘Mech. All ‘Mech activity generates heat - walking, running, jumping, and mainly, firing weapon systems. The ‘Mech comes with a certain amount of cooling built in, but can install heat sinks to increase this rate of cooling (heavily modified by the environment the ‘Mech is operating in). If the ‘Mech overheats, it takes structural damage, which will need repair after a battle, and may destroy very weak parts of the ‘Mech mid-battle. If a ‘Mech overheats too much, it shuts down. Enemies can get a free called shot on a shut-down ‘Mech - and it also takes a full turn to reboot, which means it misses its next turn.

The Mechlab

In Skirmish mode you can examine all ‘Mech stock variants, and begin to design and test your own designs. The first and foremost design principle is - experimentation. Try different approaches and see what works for you. There are many guides and posts that tell you “the right way” to design ‘Mechs, but none of them can tell you what will give you the most joy. LRM10s may be mathematically inferior, but 10 might be your lucky number - or ten tubes might look fantastic on your favourite ‘Mech.

'Mech design - Armour, Jump, Symmetry

Design aspects 1 - Maximum armour

Stock ‘Mechs rarely mount maximum armour on the chassis as a design choice. One design approach starts with the idea that maximum armour is ideal - and so in the Mechlab, you strip all armour and equipment and them hit the Max armour button before thinking about anything else. Armour is free to repair and if you have more of it, you are less likely to incur costs resulting from structural damage - so the investment is most protected.

The obvious downside to this is that some ‘Mechs, with maximum armour, don’t have much weight capacity left for anything else - and so your offensive capacity for that chassis is diminished - meaning that the time to take down an enemy may stretch over more turns than strictly necessary, which means that you will be shot at more, so you will end up suffering more damage than strictly necessary.

Rather than building for maximum armour, you may choose to experiment with a percentage of maximum that suits the ‘Mech’s role and likelihood of coming under fire. Extreme indirect fire platforms may spend most of the game out of line of sight and thus require little in the way of armour for maximum tubes and/or ammunition. High mobility skirmishers and brawlers may be used as tanks and deliberate targets to soak up shots and sensor locks to allow other lance elements to focus on damage dealing rather than defence.

Light ‘Mechs are very fragile and probably benefit the most from maximum armour. Whether your 95T Banshee is substantially improved by 100% maximum armour compared to 95% maximum armour is debatable.

Design aspects 2 - Jump

Jump jets add a great degree of tactical flexibility to your ‘Mech which suits some play styles more than others. Some of the maps have locations which requires jump jets to traverse - leaving ground-pounding ‘Mechs and vehicles having to take the long way around. You can use this fact to split up enemy forces and defeat them piecemeal - and you don’t want one of your frontline ‘Mechs getting stuck in a similar way.

Heavy and assault ‘Mechs may find jets the only way to make good use of evasion charges at all, which can be a boon defensively.

Because of their ability, in ‘Mechs designed to be on the frontlines of engagement, to boost evasion charges, use blocking terrain to manage engagement, pick side and facing freely and navigate maps quickly - I am of the opinion that they offer significant value per tonne spent - particularly for ‘Mechs at the top end of their weight class - 55 tonnes, 85 tonnes and 100 tonnes. Light and medium ‘Mechs both use the smallest of the jump jets, which means the 55 tonne ‘Mechs have maximum value per jet.

Jump jets generate about 7.5 heat per jump jet, with range increasing from 2 spaces for 1 jet, to 9 spaces for 7 jets in a roughly linear progression (although pairs of jets are a bit better than an odd single jump jet after the first.)

Design aspects 3 - Symmetry and asymmetry

Given the capability to target attacks at certain components under certain conditions (‘Mech shutdown, ‘Mech fallen over, even through attacker positioning) where you place your equipment is important. It is human nature for symmetry to appeal to a sense of the aesthetic - ‘Mechs with symmetrical silhouettes such as the Marauder, Warhammer, and Rifleman are very popular. However there is a functional aspect to equipment placement which is about defence.

If you are able to dictate the position of your ‘Mech with respect to the incoming damage, it is possible to shield your offensive equipment (weapons) from incoming fire - increasing the amount of time that your ‘Mech can continue offensive operations.

The Centurion is a ‘Mech with a specific “shield arm” - its left arm - and naturally its primary weapon is in the right arm. A specialist Centurion pilot learns to angle the shield arm between the ‘Mech and the enemy and let the arm and left torso absorb incoming fire that could otherwise not have been avoided through evasion or blocking line of sight without impairing the Centurion’s ability to twist and fire at its target.

The Griffin GRF-1N is another ‘Mech characteristically designed with asymmetry in mind. All of its weapon systems are on its right torso, and the left arm commonly sports a “baffle plate” designed to be used as a shield.

Asymmetry has a weakness, however, in that if you forget, or lose the positional advantage, or the enemy manages to surround you, you could find all of your eggs in one basket - and give the enemy pilot an obvious choice about which ‘Mech component to target when given a choice.

Hunchbacks typically suffer from the problem that the Hunch on the right torso, is a clear target for enemy fire. The Hunchback is also typically too slow and lacks jump jets to be able to dictate the terms of where the incoming fire is hitting it, and so a Hunchback is often the target of precision strikes aimed at knocking out 90% of its offensive potential by destroying the right torso.

Asymmetry is a high risk, high reward strategy that benefits commanders that employ jump jets, mobility and/or ranged combat over melee and close quarters. It may also lead to asymmetric armour loading to focus armour on locations that contain equipment prone to crits, sacrificing hit locations that have nothing but internal structure to protect.

Not to say that internal structure is not important. In the campaign, it costs more money to fix internal damage than it does armour damage - and so you may find that choices of ‘Mech symmetry may differ depending on whether you are in a Skirmish or a campaign, playing against the AI or playing multiplayer.

Symmetrical designs are aesthetically pleasing, but also offer the lowest risk of complete loss of combat capability if one or other torso/arm is taken out. The spread of equipment over the hit locations and lack of concern about where the enemy is shooting from is possibly best employed by 'Mechs in a role of tanking damage, or regularly using Vigilance, and a more balanced distribution of armour.

'Mech design - Weapons

Design aspects 4 - Weapons

The bulk of ‘Mech design is about weapon selection and so a thorough understanding of the weapons is required. There are plenty of spreadsheets and resources online that provide tables of damage, heat, range, weight, slots and the like and I won’t repeat them here. This is one I have found useful:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fnaqQv8nnYpy9gtQm75-D6fmYfNJ5u3OALSIe8ckOuo/htmlview?sle=true#

Some initial questions to consider are: How many shots do you need per mission? How much heat per turn can you build up and disperse (30 + 3 per heat sink)? Are you building to punch holes in armour (big damage, single shots) or look for critical hits (small damage, lots of shots) and is that something you want on a single ‘Mech in your lance - or is it something you will spread across every ‘Mech?

Weapon types

There are four types of weapons in BATTLETECH - Ballistic (B), Energy (E), Missile (M) and Support (S).

Ballistic weapons tend to be for punching holes in armour. They are very heavy in and of themselves, and require ammunition, which can also be heavy. They are reputed to not generate much heat, but this is only in comparison with energy weapons - the larger the autocannon, the more heat it generates - up to the AC20 which generates 24 heat per shot. They all have a recoil penalty and suffer from increasing difficulty to hit, which can be modified by pilot GUTS stat.

Range is inversely proportional to the size of the weapon, which may be counter-intuitive. Most modern tank guns have a higher effective range the bigger they are. AC2s have the longest range of any weapon in the game - AC20s only operate effectively at ranges under 200m.

Missile weapons come in Long or Short range flavours. Long range missiles are individually weaker, but come in larger racks (20 maximum per shot). Short range missiles are individually potent, but their rack sizes are small (6 maximum per shot). Because the missile damage is the same across all launchers in each of these two families, one can compare each launcher to work out which is the most efficient.

Energy weapons - lasers, and the mighty PPC, tend to be quite light, and require no ammunition, but they generate the most heat of comparable weapons. Lasers are also a touch more accurate (+5%) and PPCs can cause enemy targeting issues (-5% to hit).

Support weapons only work at very close range (inside 90m), but, unlike other versions of Battletech, are used immediately after a melee attack - potentially adding significantly to the potency of ‘Mech melee. The three different support weapon systems have very different characteristics and uses. Machine guns have a massive bonus to inflict critical damage to hit locations that have been stripped of armour. Small lasers offer the greatest armour penetration. Flamers are a special weapon system with incredibly limited ammo, but able to overheat enemy ‘Mechs causing structural damage, forcing them to cool rather than fire, and possibly shutting them down.

Comparing weapons

Weapon capabilities are best explored by comparing them to a base, or unit, weapon. The weapon usually chosen for this comparison is the Medium Laser. The reason this weapon is useful as a unit weapon is that it takes up one slot and weighs one tonne and so all other weapons are easy multiples of medium lasers based on weight, allowing you to easily compare damage, heat and other criteria per tonne of weight.

Comparing ballistic weapons

If you plan for 20+ shots per weapon and preemptively add in the tonnage for ammo, then the AC2 and AC5 are 3 tonnes apart (7 vs 10), and the AC10 and AC20 are also 3 tonnes apart (15 vs 18).The AC5 and AC20 offer more damage per tonne than either the AC2 or the AC10 and, unless constrained significantly by weight, one would like to go for an AC5 or AC20 by preference.

Comparing energy weapons

There are few weapons that offer the damage to tonnage ratio of the medium laser. Even with four heat sinks to make it heat neutral it is lighter than an AC2 and does as much damage, albeit at a smaller range and without causing stability damage.

Large lasers have nothing but range over medium lasers even after the reduction in heat that came in a balance patch. They are less damage efficient and less heat efficient. If you have the slots, Medium Lasers are likely to be better value.

The PPC is an interesting weapon. Its heat load is so high that a stationary ‘Mech with no extra heat sinks can only fire it half a dozen times before overheating. Given its profile it seems closest to an AC10 - slightly less damaging, but just as much stability damage, no refire penalty and makes it harder for enemies to hit you as well as having a range advantage.

Four heat sinks would allow a stationary ‘Mech to fire a single PPC every turn and maybe even walk or run without undue build up of heat. However, putting in a second PPC is going to make the “heat sink tax” increase quickly. Two PPCs together generate 70 heat, which is 40 above standard sink capacity, requiring 13 heat sinks for neutrality.

So it appears that a PPC on its own can be good if combined with low heat or a small number of additional weapons, but that mounting more than one of them, or blended with other energy weapons might blow the heat budget without a great deal of care about cooling. It may be best not to combine it with large numbers of jump jets either.

Comparing missile launchers

When comparing missile weapons, it is useful to modify the damage potential by 75% to take into account the fact that a number of missiles will miss the target - and the average/base hit chance unmodified is 75%. So an SRM6 has an absolute maximum damage potential of 8x6 = 48, but for comparison purposes, you may wish to use 75% * 48 = 36.

Comparing Ballistic, Missile and Energy weapons

An LRM20 compares most easily with an AC10 - and also a PPC - creating a nice framework with which to compare ballistic, missile and energy weapons. At 75% to hit, you are likely to get 60 damage from an LRM20, 30 stability damage and 14 tonnes would buy you more than 20 shots in a match with extreme range and indirect fire to boot. It is less compact (ammo is easier to hit), has bad minimum ranges and is not *quite* as heat efficient as the AC10. The PPC needs lots of heat sinks for sustained fire and so won’t perform as well in biomes which make heat sinks less effective. Also not as easy to pair, or operate with other high heat systems (jump jets or weapons).

LRMs simply get more potent as gunnery skills increase because more missiles will hit per volley. Defensively strong as well because they can be fired indirectly without too much impact on accuracy.

Because access to precise strike is much more readily available during the campaign, LRMs are likely to be stronger there. However, in Skirmish, or against other players, or where Precise Strike is less readily available, you may begin to find that LRMs spread damage too much for quick takedowns of high threat targets.

Alpha strikes

The term Alpha or Alpha Strike is used when a ‘Mech shoots all of its weapons at once. With its capability to sink heat a fixed and finite level (assuming that a pilot does not have Coolant Vent talent), most ‘Mechs can only Alpha fire a certain number of times before overheating. This is an important design variable to be aware of.

'Mech design - Weapons 2

Weapon heat

The idea of heat neutrality is one where a ‘Mech can disperse as much heat as it can generate - therefore never increasing its heat load. The problem is that this probably indicates that the ‘Mech has spent too much weight capacity on heat sinks - that actually some heat gain per round is optimal. The heat track can be used as a way of monitoring whether you have the balance of weapons and heat sinks correct.

Each ‘Mech starts with 10 heat sinks built into the engine, which means each ‘Mech has the ability to ‘sink’ 30 heat in one turn. If a ‘Mech stands still and fires three medium lasers (10 heat) every turn, it will remain heat neutral - but if it walks, sprints or jumps as well as firing weapons, then it will build up heat along the heat track. Each additional heat sink adds the ability to sink an additional 3 heat per turn.

The heat track runs from 0 - 100. Normally, ‘Mechs start taking internal heat damage when the track hits 60 heat and above. At 100, the ‘Mech will shut down. High guts skill increases the overheat threshold, so the ‘Mech can run a bit hotter without damage, but it will still shut down at 100.

Each weapon generates a fixed amount of heat per turn - some weapons are much hotter than others.

Weapon damage type

Each weapon generates a certain amount of maximum damage. Some weapons (PPCs, ACs, lasers) do all of that damage in one hit location, whereas others spread it across several in smaller “damage packets.”

The latter is notable because the chance to hit is calculated per damage packet, rather than per shot. This means that LRMs can usually be relied on to get at least some damage on a target, even if the % chance to hit is low, but the weapon is also not going to do maximum damage as often - and, as mentioned, spreads its damage over a number of locations, rather than focusing on one.

You can broadly group weapons into those that “punch holes”, which cause 20+ damage per hit, and “spread damage”. As already noted in this guide, a valid principle is to punch holes in enemy armour first, and then spread damage to “crit seek”, looking to destroy equipment or make ammunition explode.

In addition, some weapons cause high (10+) stability damage and the Flamer has an impact on target heat levels and so can cause overheating and shutdown, debilitating their target.

• Hole-punching weapons: All autocannons, all lasers, PPC, Gauss Rifle, Melee
  
• Spreading weapons: All LRMS, all SRMs, Machine guns
  
• De-stabilising weapons: AC5-20, PPC, Gauss Rifle, SRM4-6, All LRMs
  
• Debilitating weapons: Flamer

Knocking an enemy over can cause them a variety of problems. Firstly, similar to shutting an enemy ‘Mech down through heat, a ‘Mech on the ground can have its locations hit with a called shot for free without using Precision Shot. Secondly, it causes a level fo pilot damage. It also inflicts a +4 shot difficulty penalty on shots on the turn it stands up. ‘Mechs have a stability bar (0-100). After a certain level (probably 60, like heat) the ‘Mech becomes “unstable”. If it reaches 100 stability damage, it falls over.

At a lance level, it is desirable to have a blend of these capabilities at your disposal. If you have too much spread damage, you may find it difficult to kill of enemies efficiently, leading to more drawn out battles. If you have too little stability damage possible, or spread it around, rather than focusing on one enemy, you may find it harder to take down big threats.

Specialising a lance in a particular damage type can be fun, though. A melee-only build with Firestarters all mounting maximum flamers and maximum jump jets is a good example.

Weapon accuracy

A pilot with level 1 gunnery has a base +2.5% chance to hit. A pilot with level 10 gunnery has a base +25% (+5) chance to hit. Strangely, other aspects of shooting talk about +1, or +2 difficulty, rather than percentages (for example, indirect fire is a +2 penalty to shot difficulty, TTS mods appy a +1, +2 or +3 bonus to weapon accuracy). I have not seen anywhere that directly relates +1 to a percentage, but it appears to be a 5% swing to hit chance per bonus point. I’m not sure if the game engine rounds up or down.

The base chance for a shot to hit appears to be 75%, modified upwards by gunnery skill and any accuracy boosts from equipment (TTS, accuracy of lasers), and is then modified by shot difficulty (which you can see when hovering a mouse over the hit percentage). There appears to be a maximum of 95% chance to hit.

A height difference in your favour applies “+1”, which is a 5% bonus. Arm-mounted weapons have a +1 bonus too. Evasion provides a 10% swing in hit chance per evasive charge (max 60% to hit penalty), light ‘Mechs have a 10% penalty to be hit because they are small, medium ‘Mechs this is just 5% with no penalty to shoot heavy and assault ‘Mechs.

So shooting at a light mech (+2) with indirect fire (+2) beyond optimum range (+4) where the target moved with maximum evasion (+12) is a +20 shot, which means -100% chance to hit. That’s a bit extreme, but shows you the limit of what you may be expecting on the battlefield.

Weapon range

There are a number of range categories that weapons in BATTLETECH belong to, some of which may not be “realistic”, but they suit the nature of the size of the battlefields and provide a design decision which relates to a balance between engagement range, mobility and battlefield role.

• Support/close range weapons operate from close combat up to 90m only.
  
• Standard range weapons operate from 0-270m with an optimum range of 180m
  
• Long range weapons operate from 0-450m with an optimum range of 300m
  
• Very long range weapons operate from 90m-540m with an optimum range of 360m
  
• There are currently two extreme range weapon systems:
  
• LRMs operate from 180m-630m with an optimum range of 420m
  
• AC2s operate from 120m-720m with an optimum range of 720m

Mono-task ‘Mech designs have a single comfortable engagement range, which means that all of their weapons will come from a single range category, or two neighbouring categories that overlap. It makes sense that mono-task ‘Mechs will beat generic ‘Mechs for firepower and capability at their chosen range because they specialise. However, they need mobility to allow them to choose the engagement range, which means capacity spent on speed and/or jump jets. If they lack mobility, but are mono-task, then there is a possibility that they can find themselves in positions where they have to engage at sub-optimal ranges, or a more mobile enemy can weaken them by selecting a range of engagement which does not suit them.

Multi-task ‘Mechs mount weapons that mount weapons giving them a broader engagement range. Long range missile racks (extreme range, but 180m minimum range) are often paired with medium lasers (0-180m optimum range), for example, to give the pilot more choices. Multi-task ‘Mechs don’t necessarily need to choose the engagement range with the enemy as they always have an option - so mobility may not be as important. They can also optimise their cooling systems based on firing either one set of weapons, or another, but not both. The classic idea of using LRMs to “soften up” an enemy before switching to close and standard weapons when you are in close range.

When you look at weapon composition at a lance level, it is clear that either of these design choices can work, but mono-task ‘Mechs can limit your lance’s capability if your choices are not taken into account across all of your ‘Mechs. If all of your ‘Mechs are built for melee and close range engagement, and the enemy can successfully stay at range, then you will lose more often than not. Also if you lose a mono-task ‘Mech, it could be that your remaining lance members cannot fulfil the demands of the role left vacant.

'Mech design - Sustaining fire

Sustained fire

You can only maximise lance firepower if all of your ‘Mechs can fire all of their weapons, every turn. If they are out of ideal range, out of heat capacity, out of ammo, then they cannot meet their potential.

How much ammo you need will depend on your idea of how often you need to be able to fire your weapon before all of the enemy is destroyed. The answer to this question may depend on whether you are playing a campaign level or a skirmish, how many and what type of enemies you are facing.

A typical campaign level, in my experience, might consume 20+ turns, and most, if not all, of those turns will be spent in combat with only 2-3 turns before starting a fight, and then possibly, a few turns at the end to reach an objective.

LRM ammo comes in packs of 120 missiles per ton. This will provide an LRM20 with 6 shots, an LRM15 with 8 shots, an LRM10 with 12 shots and an LRM5 with 24 shots. LRM threat radius is high (walk/jump radius + weapon maximum range) and I will be shooting them constantly if I can.

I aim to have 20 or so shots from each launcher, which means supplying an LRM20 with a minimum of 3t of ammo, preferably 4t. An LRM15 with 3t, an LRM10 with 2t and an LRM5 with a tonne.

SRM ammo comes in packs of 100 missiles per ton. This will provide an SRM6 with 16 full salvoes (with a bit left over), an SRM4 with 25 salvoes and an SRM2 with 50 salvoes. Similarly to LRMs, I aim to have 20 or so shots from each launch, which means supplying an SRM6 with a minimum of 1t, preferably 2t, an SRM4 with 1t and two SRM2s with 1t. With a lower engagement range than LRMs, I may reduce the amount of ammo because I won’t always be in range.

If I do the same calculation for weapon heat capacity, I am going to assume a target of 10 turns of sustained fire before I can take a break, perhaps between engaging a main force and reinforcements (if there is any gap at all).

Heat calculations have to be performed on the total weapon heat load of an alpha, if the ‘Mech is designed to fire all of its weapons every turn, or a proportion of that number if the ‘Mech has two distinct range bands and the pilot is disciplined enough to stick to certain weapons at certain ranges. Of course, the biome will impact this number too - and can be taken into account at this stage of the planning if you wish.

'Mech design - Summary

Design summary

So what have we learned here?

Designs are about balance, aesthetics, efficiency, elegance and, in regard to BATTLETECH, about the Lance as well as about individual ‘Mechs. I could create a list of bullet point “design dos and don’ts”, such as “‘Mechs lacking mobility should probably mount longer range weapons.” or “Lances should be able to cover engagement at any range.” or “Asymmetrical ‘Mech designs are superior in skirmishes against AI.” but there’s a point where “right and wrong” stop being important.

Mech design - Tweaking the campaign starting lance

When you start the Restoration Campaign, you have a stable of five 'Mechs. An SHD-2H Shadowhawk, a Vindicator, a BJ-1 Blackjack, an SPD Spider, and a LCT-1V Locust. At least three of these 'Mechs (the Shadowhawk, Blackjack and the Locust) have ammo in the centre torso, and the stock builds are not necessarily that good. However, you don't want to waste time and money trying to get Yang rebuilding all of the 'Mechs before you get going.

So, here are a few recommended tweaks to the starting 'Mechs that won't take too long, won't cost too much, and can be easily fitted in during long spaceflights between the starting missions.

Shadowhawk

The first job is to move the ammunition out of the centre torso. I tend to move it to the left leg. I do not like the mixed ranges of the weapons, or the fact that they do so little damage. The LRM5 is particularly weak, to my mind. I like to drop the LRM5 and upgrade the SRM2 to an SRM6 when time and stock levels allow. Eventually I tend to specialise the Shadowhawk in close range brawling, and so I drop the AC5 in favour of a second SRM6, second laser, additional armour and systems.

Vindicator

The PPC is the Vindicator's strength and so I build around a long range support mode. I drop the small and medium lasers and upgrade the LRM5 to an LRM10 to create a "mini Griffin."

Blackjack

The Blackjack's main issues seem to be the weight of the AC2s, and the heat the 'Mech generates. After moving the ammo out of the CT, I am happy to keep the 'Mech as-is, at least for the first missions. The firepower is OK and the heat load manageable. Eventually I would drop the AC2s and think about what to do with the freed up weight - bigger lasers? bigger autocannon?

Spider

The Spider is fine, but I prefer a little bit more armour and melee potential and so I swap the medium lasers for small lasers. I make sure the pilot has sensor lock so they have something to do if they are not in small laser range.

Locust

Like all Locusts, this 'Mech is a make-weight. I drop the medium laser for an additional MG, and I make sure I move the ammunition out of the CT. I have it attack any enemy that has breached armour locations, and use melee, and the MGs to look for criticals on ammunition.

Instead of the leg, I will sometimes put it in an arm, so if it explodes, I may get away with it, and still be able to use my speed to escape danger. This 'Mech will typically be the first one benched, and then sold.

'Mech design - Shymer's favourite 'Mech builds (WIP)

Light

Panther - LRM15, 2 x ML
Urbanmech - AC20
Firestarter - 6 x SL

Medium

Vindicator - PPC, LRM10
Centurion - AC20
Centurion - 3 x LRM10
Hunchback (P) - 6 x ML, 3 x SL
Shadowhawk - ML, 1 x SRM4, 2 x SRM6

Heavy

Grasshopper - 6 x MG, 4 x ML, 1 x PPC or LL
Orion - 3 x LRM10, 2 x ML or LRM20, LRM10, 2 x ML

Assault

Zeus - AC20, 3 x ML
Cyclops - 6 x ML

Strategy - Mercenary company economics

How do you best keep your unit afloat in career mode?

Career difficulty

When you start a new career, you can select how difficult it is going to be for you by adjusting some of the difficulty settings. Some can only be modified at the start of the game

• the number of parts you need to build a full ‘Mech (defaults to 3, but can be increased to 8 for more difficulty.)
  
• whether your ‘Mech comes without stock equipment when you have collected the requisite parts (defaults to yes, but you can, instead, choose to gain a fully equipped ‘Mech if you want things a good deal easier.)

Most of the other settings can be chosen on the fly and adjusted to suit your desired challenge level. ‘Mech destruction and lethality options are brutal since ‘Mechs and pilots are expensive to replace. I’ve not found a lack of rare items in salvage as much of a problem since you can win them as rewards for Flashpoint missions, or locate them in stores.

If you're aiming for high scores in career mode, then pay attention to maximising enemy OpFor weight, salvage, and C-Bills from missions and avoid slowing down EXP gain.

Mercenary economics 101

You have to pay some money each month out of your mercenary company’s cash reserves to keep the Argo and your unit ‘Mechs running, and your pilots will expect to be paid each month. If you cannot meet your payments, the business folds. You lose.

When you start your career, you will be spending 140,000 CBills a month on the ship and ‘Mechs, and 76,000 CBills a month on the pilots. Because you start with, roughly, 1m CBills in the bank, if you do nothing, you will run out of funds in month 5. The little white pips to the right of the date gives you a quick view as to how many months your unit can survive on your current cash ‘burn rate.’

There are only a limited number of missions available in each system before you have to move on, and, at the most, you can squeeze in three systems in a month because of travel times. Keeping your monthly running costs low is as important as bringing in money.

Here are some simple tips to reduce your monthly outgoings, and increase earnings:

• Put ‘Mechs you are not using into storage, rather than keeping them in a ‘Mech bay.
  
• Do not recruit experienced pilots, instead train rookies, they demand lower wages.
  
• Upgrade warrior skills in blocks at the start of a month and only when you need to
  
• Check on monthly costs of ship upgrades before investing in them
  
• Sell ‘Mechs from storage, rather than selling them for scrap, you’ll get more for them

Strategy - Running costs

Argo running costs

You start with your ship, The Argo, in a mess. It has only one of its three habitation pods airtight and so can support 8 ‘Mechwarriors. Only one ‘Mech bay is operational, which gives you a maximum of six ‘Mechs operational at any time. You have a basic drive system, basic medical facilities, and enough duct tape and string to keep the ship together for the moment. Even in this state, it is costing you 80,000 CBills per month to keep it flying.

You can, of course, splash some cash and improve the Argo over time, to expand your Mercenary company’s capabilities. Each upgrade costs some CBills and takes some time to do. However, crucially, once built, your running costs will increase by an amount. It is important to note which upgrades add the most to your operational costs because you will have to bring in more money each month to cover the luxuries.

For example:

Medbay 2 upgrade adds 13,500 CBills onto your running costs, and level 3 another 18,500. However, that may be cheaper than hiring a spare ‘Mechwarrior and keeping them on the payroll for those missions when someone is out injured - or otherwise occupied.

The second Mechbay is 25,000 CBills a month, and the third is 50,000 on top of that. That’s not including the monthly cost of any ‘Mech chassis in each bay. These are the major upgrade points which allow you to rotate ‘Mechs around in between repairs, and so undertake more high risk missions, where internal and critical damage is inevitable.

Mechwarrior Salaries

Salaries are 2,000 CBills per point of stats per month of people you hire, but their salary increases by 1,000 CBills per point if you increase it with EXP. This means it’s cheaper to pay pilots you develop, rather than hiring experienced pilots. This difference is significant. If you have a stable of eight ‘Mechwarriors, that could mean 200,000+ CBills a month trained, as opposed to being recruited at a high level.

If you don’t spend the EXP on skill improvement, they don’t cost you any extra. This probably suggests leaving pilots at a lower (cheaper) level accumulating EXP until you can afford to level them up in one go to reach some milestone stat advance - such as Guts 4, to increase their health by one.

Experience level	Skill points	Salary/recruited	Salary/trained
Recruit	~10 points	20,000 CBills	20,000 CBills
Regular	~20 points	40,000 CBills	30,000 CBills
Veteran	~30 points	60,000 CBills	40,000 CBills
Elite	40 points	80,000 CBills	50,000 CBills

** Strategy - Mission selection (WIP)

Missions

Of course, to make money as a Mercenary means taking on contracts to fulfil missions. Each mission contract has a difficulty rating in Atlas "Death's Head" icons - 1/2 Atlas-5 Atlases. The challenge measures the nature of the Opposing Force ("OpFor") in weight, the enemy usually appearing in lances of up to four turrets/vehicles/Mechs. A typical mission will feature two enemy lances and if you are fortunate, they won't turn up at the same time. If you can tackle each separately, so much the better.

#Atlases	OpFor lance weight	Weight classes expected
1	125t	Full light, or partial light/medium
2	175t	Full light/medium, or partial medium
3	225t	Full medium, or partial medium/heavy
4	275t	Full heavy, or partial heavy/assault
5	325t	Full heavy/assault

Each mission contract offers a maximum fee in C-Bills, an amount of salvage, and impacts your reputation with the employer, and the OpFor faction. You can adjust sliders to demand more salvage, or to maximise the payment. This has implications which I will explore in a mathematical way later - to answer the question "Where should I put the slider?"

There are various mission contracts which you will become familiar with over time, and each contracts relates to one of a handful of mission structures/objectives. All contracts have primary objectives, some have secondary objectives, and others still have hidden tertiary objectives. Completing secondary and tertiary objectives nets you a bonus of a fixed percentage of the maximum payment negotiated for the contract.

Strategy - Career mode scoring

I was two thirds of my way through my first career playthrough before I worked out how the game was calculating my 'score'. You can see the breakdown if you click on the green button, top left of the screen, which tells you how many days you have left before the 'score' is calculated.


You earn career points through completing a variety of challenges, with running totals based on performance characteristics, and bonuses based on completing various targets. These points are added up over the course of your career, and compared to a maximum possible total. You can keep playing after the timer reaches zero if you wish.

Criterion	Description	Maximum points	Notes
C-Bills	1 point per 10k earned	80,000	800m C-Bills target
Contracts	50 points per contract skull	70,000	1,400 skulls
Mech chassis collected	1273/unique chassis in bays or storage	70,015	55 unique chassis to find
Mech weight class completion	10k per weight class completed	40,000
Chassis complete bonus		25,000
Mechwarrior experience	2 points per 100xp in barracks	55,000	Does not include the Commander
Star systems visited	500 points per system	85,000	170 star systems
Star systems complete		25,000
+ve faction rep	100 points per point of +ve reputation	40,000
-ve faction rep	100 points per point of -ve reputation	40,000
Maximum reputation with factions	10,000 points per faction	50,000
Argo upgrades	2,000 points per upgrade installed	70,000	35 upgrades
Argo upgrade complete bonus		25,000
Morale	500 points per point of morale	25,000
MRB reputation	45 points per point of MRB rep	45,000
Maximum MRB rating bonus		25,000

Strategy - Where to put the (money/salvage) slider?

WARNING! unashamed algebra and "back of an envelope" calculations follow. It's just for fun.

Each mission has a maximum amount of salvage (picks/random), then the slider allows you to pick from one of five different amounts of picks/random to the maximum.

Max salvage	Position 1	Position 2	Position 3	Position 4	Position 5
2/10	0/2	1/4	1/6	2/8	2/10
3/14	0/2	1/5	2/8	2/11	3/14
4/18	0/2	1/6	2/10	3/14	4/18
5/22	0/2	1/7	3/12	4/17	5/22
6/26	0/2	2/8	3/14	5/20	6/26

You can adjust sliders to demand more salvage, and more picks of premium salvage, or to maximise the payment. You could decrease your fee and/or your salvage demands for more reputation with the faction you are contracting with (but additional reputation lost with the faction targeted.) We will deal with reputation a bit later - for the moment, let’s just look at the raw financial impact of the decision “Where do I place the slider?”

In position 1, you are choosing maximum pay (11n), but only two pieces of random salvage. In position 5, you are choosing maximum salvage, but minimum pay (n). The question then might become “What’s the value of salvage?”

Let’s say that x is the financial value of a pick of salvage, and y is the financial value of random salvage. By selecting one of the five slider positions, we are selecting one of the following equations.

Max salvage	Position 1	Position 2	Position 3	Position 4	Position 5
2/10	0x + 2y + 11n	x + 4y + 8.5n	x + 6y + 6n	2x + 8y + 3.5n	2x + 10y + n
3/14	0x + 2y + 11n	x + 5y + 8.5n	2x + 8y + 6n	2x + 11y + 3.5n	3x + 14y + n
4/18	0x + 2y + 11n	x + 6y + 8.5n	2x + 10y + 6n	3 + 14y + 3.5n	4x + 18y + n
5/22	0x + 2y + 11n	x + 7y + 8.5n	3x + 12y + 6n	4x + 17y + 3.5n	5x + 22y + n
6/26	0x + 2y + 11n	2x + 8y + 8.5n	3x + 14y + 6n	5x + 20y + 3.5n	6x + 26y + n

Calculating y (value of random salvage)

Most random salvage has a low value. Support weapons, medium lasers, heat sinks, and ammo are only worth a couple of thousand CBills each. The resale value of weapons and mods is 10% of their retail value, and so random salvage tends to span a range of 2,000 CBills to 30,000 CBills. I’ve not bothered to do a full analysis of random salvage, I have just picked 10,000 CBills to represent a reasonable mid-range value for a piece of random salvage.

This cuts down my work considerably, but does lead to some missed observations. Easy missions have less salvage because there are fewer enemies and if you take too much salvage, you can run out. Also the average value per item is lower because easy enemies seldom mount expensive weapons. I’m just ignoring that for the moment.

y=10,000 CBills for analysis purposes - although earlier in the game it will be lower and increase slightly as the game goes on and bigger, better, and augmented weapons appear alongside a greater number of ‘Mech-equipped enemies.

Calculating x (value of first picks of salvage )

All missions will involve you fighting at least one ‘Mech. Every ‘Mech will leave, at least, one piece of partial ‘Mech salvage. The scrap (lowest) value of the Locust, the smallest ‘Mech there is, at default difficulty (where 3 pieces of a ‘Mech make one full ‘Mech) is over 40,000 CBills - or four times that of random salvage. From this, it is fair to say that most first picks of salvage are going to be pieces of ‘Mechs.

A completed ‘Mech is worth more than the total of scrap value. So for maximum value, you should keep the pieces and sell them when you have completed a full ‘Mech.

A good rule of thumb is that you can sell a completed ‘Mech for a bit under 10,000 CBills per tonne - so selling a 35 tonne ‘Mech will get you a bit under 350,000 CBills. A 55 tonne ‘Mech will get you a bit under 550,000 CBills.

This means that each component is worth, roughly,

(Tonnage x 10,000) / Number of partial chassis required for a full ‘Mech (from 3 to 8)

Pieces per ‘Mech	35t	55t	75t	100t
3 (default)	120k	180k	250k	330k
4	90k	140k	190k	250k
5	70k	110k	150k	200k
6	60k	90k	125k	170k
7	50k	80k	110k	140k
8	40k	70k	90k	125k

So, the value of x changes with difficulty level, and weight class of enemy ‘Mechs you are facing. The difficulty level you set at the outset of your career. The latter, with one or two exceptions, is a function of the number of skulls in the missions you choose.

We’ll look at the default (3 pieces for one complete ‘Mech) and the maximum (8 pieces for one complete ‘Mech) to see how the campaign difficulty might affect where you place the slider for maximum financial return on your missions.

#skulls	Enemy class	x (Default)	x (8 pieces)
0.5-1	Light	120k	40k
1.5-2.5	Medium	180k	70k
3-4	Heavy	250k	90k
4.5-5	Assault	330k	125k

Total salvage value (C-Bills) based on slider position for 0.5-1 skull missions (@300k pay)



Total salvage value (C-Bills) based on slider position for 1.5-2.5 skull missions (@500k pay)



Total salvage value (C-Bills) based on slider position for 3-4 skull missions (@700k pay)



Total salvage value (C-Bills) based on slider position for 4.5-5 skull missions (@900k pay)


Observations and conclusions

At default difficulty, if you are offer 3/14 or better salvage, picking maximum salvage is never a bad option. Only if offered 2/10 maximum salvage change to position 2 instead when the money is decent.

At maximum difficulty the choice is harder. In general, unless you are offered better than 4/17 salvage rights, maximising pay is likely to be better, but choosing position 2 would not necessarily be too bad to keep some chassis picks coming in. If you are offered great salvage rights with 5 picks or more, then positions 4 or 5 become attractive unless the money is exceptional.

Credits

Thank you very much to the following lovely people without whom this guide would be even more riddled with errors:

• LeeTheMan - for pointing out the correct relationship between evasion pips and % to hit
  
• OwlRaider - for discussing defensive talents and advocating 'Juggernaut'
  
• [CoH] Joker - for comments and points too numerous to relate
  
• RecklessPrudence - for correcting my sloppy thinking about Jump Jets on Assault 'Mechs
  
• Dedmosh - for prompting me to write about the economics and strategy layer
  
• Icthyic - for advocating Striker pilots
  
• danko9696 - for well-thought through feedback on missiles and precision shots

** Strategy - Flashpoint missions (WIP)

Let's Play - Restoration Campaign (Iron man, pieces of 8, vanilla)

Here are the story missions for my playthrough of the Restoration campaign - the intervening missions and stuff are on YouTube if you want to follow the whole series.

Majesty Metals

Axylus - Raising the Argo

First Strike - Liberation of Weldry

Perdition - Liberation: Panzyr

Black Box - Liberation: Smithon

Served Cold - Destroy the Union

Raising the Dead - Grave Robbing Part 1

Dead in Space - Grave Robbing Part 2

[Nyito]

I found out about crit padding from some of the major mod developers; they changed some of their mods to be more true to tabletop, and in the process discovered that all empty spaces were acting as crit pads. I admit I haven't confirmed this myself, but I also have no reason to doubt it considering that multiple mod teams have all said the same.

[The Giant Mimir]

@Nyito Thanks for the feedback. I was not aware of the HBS changes to crit padding. An interesting observation. Where did you find that out? I was aware that walking/running did not generate heat in the computer game, I was not aware I had stated that it did - an edit is in order. The naming of the gyro mods is unclear to me. I'm glad you sorted it out. Thanks again.

[Nyito]

Overall a very comprehensive well thought-out guide, but there's a few mistakes I noticed.

In the question of ammo placement: Unlike the tabletop, HBS has all slots acting as critical pads, even if empty. As such placing components with ammo to crit pad is actually a bad idea, as it means if a critical is scored on the ammo (the likelihood of which is the same regardless of the amount of crit slots filled) and it detonates those components are also lost.

In the mech lab, on heat: Moving generates no heat in HBS battletech. Only firing weapons and using jumpjets generates any heat, and so can be removed as a consideration for how well a build sinks heat.

In the mech lab, on gyros: The +melee hit gyro is melee hit chance for the mech making the attack, not melee hit defense, making it harder to hit. Compare to the Vulcan which has a unique module that increases melee hit defense, making it harder to hit in melee.

[Bandit Hadron]

Certainly doesn't hurt that the ANH comes with the BSC System for a 20% damage boost - if you get the AC/5++ that adds 10 damage, that puts the damage per shot at 66.

[The Giant Mimir]

@Bandit Hadron. The ANH is an interesting choice to recommend. 100t 'Mechs are definitely powerful, pretty much independent of loadout. ACs are notoriously heavy for their punch, although the additional range of the AC5s, and the proportionate impact of upgrades on the smaller autocannon makes it superior in the computer game version. Precision shot with highly penetrating weapons is a potent combination. Thanks for the comment.

[Bandit Hadron]

With the Heavy Metal DLC, I would highly recommend the Annihilator as a point-defense 'Mech for Defend Base and Defend and Attack missions - strip out the AC/10s for five upgraded AC/5s with 4+ tons of ammo, drop one M Laser for a TTS system for ballistics, and throw in either a Cockpit Mod or Rangefinder (preferably cockpit, Annihilator is slow and big), and you have a standing tower of firepower that will shred just about anything (especially with precision shot).

[The Giant Mimir]

@Notion Seller You're very welcome. I hope you have fun.

[Notion Seller]

Just bought game, I am more of a reader so this was great to have before i got into it. Thanks a bunch mate

[The Giant Mimir]

@Asuzu. Crazy maths :) Heh. Thank you.

[The Giant Mimir]

@Calruin Thank you. I'm pleased you think so.