Iron Rebellion Pilot Academy

This guide includes briefings on the various mechs you will pilot as well as basic information and operational techniques that will get you up and running on your new equipment quickly.

Game Basics - The Stuff the Tutorial Didn't Teach You

You did play the tutorial, right?

This list is compiled from the most frequent questions I hear from new players during a match.

Where are the in-game options?

You have what is referred to as your "wrist menu" on your left arm. To see it, roll your left arm over (like you're trying to look at your palm) and it should pop up.

How do I turn off the videos?

To turn off the tutorial videos that play in cockpit, bring up the wrist menu, click on Options, and you’ll find the switch to toggle the tutorials off. That said, be certain you know how to do the things the videos are trying to teach you. They're very important! If you need a refresher, you can watch them at any time using the console in the hangar.

Why can't I see?

Make sure you've booted your mech up fully. There are 4 switches (which aren't always easy to see, depending on your setup) and for whatever reason it's common for people to miss turning on the 3rd one. If you still can't see, you might have spawned in looking at a wall or a dark space. Try turning around.

Why is everyone hard to hear?

You can’t turn the comms up, but you can bring the effects down to balance things a bit. On your left wrist menu, click Options->Audio. Set Effects to 65 and Comms to 100. Then adjust your master volume to a comfortable level. That will get you started and you can tweak those settings to your liking.

Can anyone hear me?

Your mic is muted by default whenever you join a match or whenever you join a lobby. You unmute it by hitting the little microphone button in the top right of the cockpit or the mic icon next to your name in the lobby. The speaker icon above the mic icon in your mech mutes incoming audio. Be aware that these buttons are independent. It is possible to accidentally configure your comms so that people can hear you, but you won't be able to hear their response.

The AB button switches you between the World Chat and Team Chat channels. They are independent, so if you're on world you won't hear the team channel. If you're on team, you won't hear the world channel. You can tell which player is using which channel by the icon over them or next to their name in the score list. World chat is a circle and team a rectangle.

If you're certain you've turned on your mic and speaker and people still can't hear you, another common thing to check is that the correct microphone hardware is selected. On your wrist menu, select Options->Audio and you'll see a list where you can select from available microphones. Depends on your hardware, it's not uncommon to find out the incorrect mic is in use. You can typically tell when this is the case because people will say they can hear you, but you sound really far away (in which case it's usually a webcam mic, etc. that is selected instead of your headset).

Please remember that we have an open comms system. If your mic is on, anything you say is broadcast out. Loud noise in the background may also be picked up. If you need to make a phone call, answer a question from your SO, or there's a song in your heart that you feel you need to belt out, mute your mic before you do to spare the other 15 people on comms. Note: Chewing gum is so very, very loud.

Why is everyone on world chat?

It is common to find most players stay on world chat. We're mostly playing socially and enjoy complimenting kills and chatting back and forth. There are times when play gets serious enough for both teams to use their team channels, but it's rare.

Even in world chat you can tell if it's your team or the enemy that is talking. Teammates will sound clear on world comms while players on the enemy team come through a bit scratchy.

Muting Noisy Players

I was going to include some things about not singing on open comms, being intentionally annoying, playing music, saying things just to get a rise out of people, eating while your mic is hot, etc., but if you’re the kind of person who does those things, you’re probably not reading this anyway. So instead, here’s how to mute those people.

On your left wrist menu, hit Score to bring up the player list. Select the person by touching their name (if you’re not sure who it is, watch the score list until they talk and a speaker icon will show up next to their name). When you do, two buttons appear above the list - one to Mute and one to Vote Kick. The mute only lasts until the end of the match or until the leave. You can also mute someone in the lobby by touching the speaker icon next to their name.

Game Basics - Continued...

Which team am I on?

You can tell if you're on the red team or blue team by clues in your cockpit. Your briefing screen, glove color, and structural integrity bar will be your team color. You can also look at the Score tab on your left wrist menu and see who is on which team.
Your teammates will show up on your HUD with green labels. If they're close enough, their name will be included. If they're far away you will see a small green marker without a name label.

Why isn't my camo showing up? I made one!

Once you have created and saved your camo (using the tools under the Camo tab), you need to add it to your mech's loadout. You do this in the same place you select class, weapon, and augments. There is a 4th tab in that list called Camo.

How do I ping targets and why should I always do that?

Use the B button to mark enemy targets or locations. When you do, you’ll get a diamond on your HUD with a relative distance from you. If you ping an enemy, they will show up as red. Teammates will show up as green. Other objects or locations will be a slightly different green.

You’ll find knowing your range to target is important for many different reasons, including knowing when enemies are in range of your mech’s special abilities.

Always. Ping. Your. Targets. There’s no excuse not to. If you can shoot at them, you can ping them at the same time. Pinging your target shows your teammates the enemy location allowing them to help you and enhancing everyone’s situational awareness. The red diamond will stay above them even when they take cover behind something allowing you to be ready to take the shot when they come back into view.
Another benefit of pinging your target is you will see data about the player's mech appear on one of the screens in your cockpit. It includes information about their HP and equipment loadout. It also works on friendlies! If you're ever unsure about if your target is friend or foe, you can ping them and check the top right of the data screen. It will say either HOSTILE or FRIENDLY. It's also a good way to learn what loadouts other people use so you can try them too.

How do I use my Mech Abilities?

Each mech has one or more special abilities unique to their class. Most require Mass to use. The exception is the Reinforcer mech which can drop Mass/Ammo, Repair Pods, and Turrets. Instead of using Mass, its abilities are on a cooldown timer.

To use one of your mech’s abilities, push the corresponding button on the right side of the cockpit. The screen has A1 / A2 / A3 buttons labeled with which ability you’re selecting. Then, a small red cartridge pops out from the right side interior wall of the cockpit (slightly different positions for the mech classes). Push that cartridge back into the wall to deploy/activate the ability. The exception to that is the Breaker’s airstrike. For that, you will use the A button to fire it. It will land on whatever you had the targeting reticle pointed at.

How do I get new mechs/weapons?

Play! You get new unlocks with each level you get. You get levels by the amount of experience you gain (shown in white text on your HUD). You gain experience by playing, BUT not all play is equal for gaining EXP. Here are some of the ways to get EXP:

• Kill Enemy - 100
  
• Enemy Kill Assist - Between 25 and 75
  
• Capture Point - 100
  
• Neutralize Point - 50
  
• Win Match - 300
  
• Lose Match - 100
  
• Deploy Scanner - 15
  
• Detect Enemy w/ Scanner - 5 each
  
• Place Shield - 30
  
• Drop Repair Pod - 30
  
• Drop Mass - 15
  
• Drop Turret - 15

As a new player, getting a kill feels awesome, but let's be honest with ourselves. When you're new, you're not going to get very many kills in a match, so if you spend all match trying to get kills, it's going to take a long, long time to unlock new equipment. If leveling up is your goal, you can see from the list the fastest and most effective way to get that done is to play Recon in a Conquest match. Make sure you have all six of your scanners deployed near important parts of the battlefield. Instead of engaging in direct combat, focus on capturing points. If everyone is fighting at one point, odds are one of the other points is unguarded and is an easy 150 points. Keep it up for the entirety of the match and you're likely to win the match too. It's possible, easy even, to score thousands of EXP points in a match without having to fire a single shot.

Super Pro Tip: When you respawn as a different class, your previous equipment stays deployed. You can begin a match as a recon, drop a bunch of scanners, and then redeploy as whichever class you want to play.

Is there friendly fire?

Yes, there is friendly fire. Do not shoot your teammates. Accidents will happen, but do what you can to avoid them.

Be careful with the Breaker’s airstrike ability and ESPECIALLY the artillery (the weapon which is different than the airstrike). Check the location you’re about to bomb and be sure your team isn’t already there. You can tell by looking for green markers (^) on your HUD.

Also be careful when using the scope/zoom. Friendly tags may be hard/impossible to see. Double check your target if you're shooting while zoomed in.

Where do I get mass?

The terms Ammo and Mass are often used interchangeably, but they are two very different things. While they’re different, the source is the same. Mass can be picked up from the crates with the yellow bullet above them. Those crates also refill your ammo.

What is the best gun / mech / augment?

There’s no overall “best”, only what is best for the situation you’re currently facing. Some setups are good for close quarters, some for long range. Some are highly specialized for situations you rarely see. Try everything and find out what you like. Don’t be afraid to ask people you’re playing with for advice on what to use, but don’t expect one clear answer. There are lots of great combos that work well.

No kidding, the starting combo of breaker with dual spitfires is one of the most capable loadouts in the game. Other mechs and weapons add more options to combat, but the breaker/spitfire is an all-around combo that stays strong in nearly any situation.

Can I change my loadout during a match?

Yes! If your mech gets destroyed, push the LOADOUT button before the respawn timer goes to zero. You will be able to select from one of your presets or build a completely new one.

When you are ready, click the REDEPLOY button to get back into the action. Also, notice that there are sometimes additional options below. BASE is the default spawn location on the map. If there are Reinforcer players on your team, you can click their name in the list and spawn on their location. If they are currently unavailable (under fire, not in a suitable location, etc.) it will be indicated there too. You can wait for them or choose another location.

Game Basics - Continued Even More...

How do I reload?

Weapons automatically reload when you empty the magazine, but if you want to manually reload before that happens, pull down on the right thumb stick. You will not lose the ammo currently in the magazine. It tops it off.

Reboot M-Drive? How?!

When you are hit by an enemy EMP blast, your mech systems shut down over the next few seconds and the corresponding switches pop out. Restart your mech by turning the 4 startup switches back to the on position. Even after you start back up and repair, you may still experience arcing and electrical sparks in the cockpit. You've been fried!

Why am I moving so slow?

If you're walking slower than you should, there are a number of things to check:

• Do you have an ability activated and ready to deploy?
  
• Are you in repair mode? Is the repair handle extended?
  
• Are you zoomed in/using scope?
  
• Have you been hit by an EMP and need to reset your switches?

Any of those conditions will cause what you're seeing.

I'm standing on a capture point. Why is it not capturing?

To swing a capture point, there needs to be more of your team on it than the enemy. If you are on the point with an enemy, the capture bar won't move. If you can't see another person, there's a chance that there is a cloaked enemy infiltrator on the point with you.

There's another potential cause, though less likely. If the host player is currently in a disconnecting state and the new host isn't assigned yet, the game won't pause, but much of the mechanics will stop. Capture points stop moving, bots stop shooting, and ammo spawns will be stuck in the sky. This doesn't usually last long and normality will resume without you having to do anything.

Why does their gun work and mine doesn’t? I shot him so much and never killed them!

There are a couple of things at play here. First, try to hit enemy mechs close to their cockpit for maximum damage. You may have hit the other guy, but if you’re hitting legs and he’s hitting center mass, he’s going to win. Second, there is a good chance that they repaired multiple times during the fight or have additional armor. Certain augments allow you to repair faster and carry additional repair pods, giving you additional staying power in a fight.

That dude has a shield!!!

There are two types of shields. One (the Bulkhead) can be carried by light or medium classes and takes up a weapon slot. The other is a projected energy shield deployed by the Guardian.
Each of the shields have strengths and weaknesses that are covered elsewhere in this guide, but basically, they both block projectile weapons and lasers. Smoke and Hull Crackers will go through the energy shield and mechs can enter it. The Bulkhead doesn't block explosive damage. Pick the right tool for the job.

It’s not fair! That mech [thing you don’t like]!

Everything has a hard counter. It can be frustrating when you don’t know them (heck, sometimes even when you do), but that shortcoming is on you, not them. If you encounter a technique or strategy that’s giving you trouble, ask for help. People (probably even the person doing it) will be happy to tell you how to counter it.

The devs are very receptive to feedback and new player experiences and constantly tweaking balance. Just because it's a current game mechanic doesn't mean it's the way it has to be forever. Post your feedback to the Discord.

Learn to Play Multiple Roles and Styles

If you only focus on one style of play or one class loadout, you are going to spend a lot of your time frustrated. In the beginning, make sure you have a loadout suitable for long range engagements (like Breaker/Spitfire) and one that can fight well against fast moving targets in a close quarters environment (Breaker/Grad 12 is a good one). Both of those loadouts are available from the beginning.

Look for What Your Team Needs

To win a fight, you need to outplay your opponent. To win the match you need to outplay the other team. When you are selecting your loadout, consider what your team needs. If your team is already full of lights, consider being a medium or heavy and bring additional firepower. If your team is already stacked on firepower, consider playing recon and placing scanners so they'll be able to more effectively direct it. While you might not be playing your favorite loadout, you score way more points and win more matches, which is a different kind of fun in itself.

Spawns and Spawn Killing

Do not go into the enemy spawn. Currently, most maps don’t have built-in ways to prevent spawn killing. It’s on us to honor the agreement and keep the battle on the battlefield. The one exception is if an enemy is shooting from their spawn area, especially when it’s artillery, the truce is temporarily off and spawn is open to go in and neutralize the threat.

They're spawn killing me! (While not actually being killed in spawn.)

One of the perks of the Reinforcer class is you can spawn on them wherever they are in the battlefield. You do that by choosing their name in the list on the Loadout screen when you're respawning. If one is available, it will be shown below "Base". If you choose to spawn on a player, they may be in active combat. Yes, you're being shot as you're spawning, but that is different than being killed at the base spawn. It's not a bad idea to communicate with the person you're about to spawn on if you're worried about spawning into action.

Self-Destructing

There's a big red button on the control panel behind the left control stick. If you flip up the cover and push the button beneath it, you explode. No, it doesn't do damage to mechs around you, it doesn't keep the other team from scoring points, or anything else like that. It should really be called the "Redeploy" button, because it's basically just that. You take the penalty (loss of a kill and -100 EXP) and go back to the loadout screen.

There are two times it is most useful. First, if you ever find yourself stuck somewhere in a map unable to move or so lost you can't find your way back. Second, if the host started the match before you had time to pick the proper loadout. IMPORTANT NOTE: Self-destructing costs your team points in some match types, so be careful when you choose to use it.

What do the symbols on the score card mean?

In addition to player name, chat channel, and if they are actively chatting (speaker icon appears), you have the following info in the other columns:

• Crosshair - Number of Kills
  
• Skull - Deaths
  
• Flag - Objectives Captured / Activated (Uplink)
  
• Chevrons - Player's rank (at the time of writing this does not seem to work)
  
• Star - Total EXP points this match.

Game Basics - Even More Continued

Grip Settings

The grip settings let you choose how your hands will work when you interact with the controls and buttons.

• HOLD - You will need to manually hold onto your control by squeezing the controller handle grips. When you release the grips, you will release the controls. In this mode, your VR hand will also make a pointer finger automatically as you get near a button or switch to interact with.
  
• TOGGLE - In this mode, you need to squeeze and release your controller handle grip to toggle between holding on to your controls and releasing your controls. This is useful if you find yourself having trouble maintaining your grip for long periods of time, however, it will make fast transitions between controls and buttons a bit clunky.
  
• LEGACY - This mode works exactly like HOLD mode, but you do not get the automatic pointer finger. You'll have to do that yourself.

What's the deal with that floating grey button on the panel?

That's used for launching custom maps that aren't included in the map select screen. There are instructions on the Discord on how to load them into your headset or Steam installation. If you hit the button without a custom map installed, it launches you into a sort broken mech model. You should be able to use your left wrist menu to escape.

What about the red buttons on the left of the panel?

The first two currently don't do anything, but the rightmost two cycle through the available banners that you see in the top of the hangar. The banners are representative of past and current mech clans.

How can I back up my stats/unlocks on PCVR?

This one was outside my expertise, so big thanks to Shaz for doing a write-up to answer this FAQ. Also, the devs say that cloud storage/backup is coming soon, so at some point in the not too distant future this won't be applicable.

Currently, your save file is stored in the Windows registry. The easiest way to backup your save files is to open your registry

WIN KEY + R --> Opens the Run Dialog
Type "REGEDIT" without the quotes

In the Registry Editor look for:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Black_Beach_Studio\Iron Rebellion

And just backup that entire folder into a .REG file. On your new machine, just open and unpack that .REG file you created and your progress will be restored.

To backup a registry directory: Right-click on Folder on the lefthand side, and choose "Export" from the context menu. That will output the .REG file with the backed up data.

On Linux: (Thanks to copycat042)
"You copy the old compatdata/1192900 folder to the new install compatdata folder. Your numbers may vary, but mine didn't for the installs."

Cockpit Interactions

There are a lot of buttons in the cockpit reserved for future use. It can be overwhelming. (If you're feeling overwhelmed, spend a minute pushing all the buttons and turning the dials. The satisfying clicks and haptic feedback should calm you down.)

The following images show you the interactable parts of the cockpit. Yellow boxes are drawn around the things that serve some function or purpose (currently explained elsewhere in this guide).




The "cartridge" for you to use your special ability also does something, of course. It is in slightly different places for each class cockpit. There are also two on the coffee pot (the one on the left that isn't lit is the one that actually brews the coffee. The other steams the container.)

HUD and Screen Data

Heads Up Display (HUD)

The HUD contains relative information to increase your situational awareness without having to take your eyes off the battle.
Your current speed in meters per second is displayed under the vertical bar on the left. Your current elevation is displayed under the Boost Meter (vertical bar) on the right.
As you use boost (whether sprinting or flying) the bar on the right fills up. When it reaches the top it turns red letting you know you're about to overheat. If you max it out, the jets automatically shut off to prevent damage. Your boost system will recharge when not in use (indicated by the bar on the right draining back to the bottom.

Screens

Various screens in your mech allow you access to other telemetry that may be critical to your survival. Learn to read it at a glance.

The augments screen shows which augments are currently installed in your mech.

Your system status interface both displays the condition of each sector (indicated in percentage, not HP). As you take damage, they will decrease. The interface also allows you to select which sectors you would like to repair. The bar across the top indicates how many repair pods you have available (indicated by the white +).

Your status screen shows the mech operator, your operating area, and shows real-time battlefield information about other pilots (kills, deaths, when someone joins, and when someone leaves).

The ping data screen shows information about the mech you are actively ping tracking. It includes their speed, distance relative to you, pilot's name, whether they're friend or foe, the augments they're using, the weapon loadout they have, the class type, and their current HP.

Proving Grounds - Your Place to Practice Basic Controls

There's a very useful room where you can practice all of your basic mech controls. It's the Proving Grounds. To start your own, look for the PROVING GROUNDS button on the main console. If there's already one in progress it will show up as SOCIAL in the list of current matches.

They start you off with a nice picture of how all the controls work and a huge arrow to prompt you to walk forward and jump down into the play area.

Main Room

The first area is a no-damage area. Plenty of objects for practicing jumps, ammo/mass drops for using your abilities, and repair pads to learn to use those too.

Live Fire Area (Death Zone)

If you go past the boundary, you are no longer in the no-damage areas. Any shots that you take will do damage. If you are destroyed, you respawn at start. There is no EXP gained here, but it's a good place for learning to use your weapons while evading.

All players are on the same team, so some of the mech abilities won't actually work (things like scanners that would show enemies or turrets that would target opponents).

Mechball

There's an offshoot room from the main room that will help you practice your shooting. The interactive smashed-up ball of cars will bounce around as you shoot it. Try putting it in one of the goals and note the scoreboard. This is also a no damage area, so you can friends can practice shooting with a round of mechball with no risk of damage or stopping for repairs.

Game Modes / Match Types

There are a number of different game modes you'll encounter.

Conquest

Conquest is by far the most common mission type played. Each team starts with a set number of points (which players sometimes refer to as tickets). These points are lost over time as the enemy holds the capture points or when a player on that team is killed. The greater the difference between number of points controlled, the faster the tickets count down. The last team with points remaining wins.

Capture point areas are designated by large letters that show up on your HUD. Some maps have more points than others. To capture a point, you need to stand inside the point boundary designated by the grey circles. The time it takes for the point to go to neutral and then to your control varies by map. Some take only a few seconds while others can take almost a minute. The more of your teammates that are in the circle the faster it goes.

If players from each team are in the circle, it comes down to which team has more. If the numbers are equal, the bar stops moving.

The overall match status can be seen at a glance as each team's remaining points along with the status of each capture point is displayed along the top of your HUD. Team score and individual player scores, kills, captures, etc., can also be seen on the wrist menu scoreboard.

Team Death Match

This is the second most played mission type. The rules are simple. It's a race to see which team can get to a target number of kills first. This number can change depending on map and other factors, but it's usually either 10 or 20. The goal will be displayed on your HUD along with the current score.

A team kill of any kind will remove one of your team's kills. This includes use of the self-destruct button to change your loadout, so be mindful when you join one of those matches already in progress.

Uplink

The Uplink mode is similar to Conquest, but here the captures happen in a linear fashion (you have to get A, then B, then C.

Red is always the attacking/capturing team. Blue is always the defending team.
Offense wins by capturing all of the points. Defense wins by successfully defending the point until the offensive team is out of tickets. Tickets are indicated at the top of the HUD and one is lost each time an offensive team player is destroyed.

Rather than simply standing on the capture point you will use the Push/Pull function on your pickup lever. When you approach the capture point, you will hear an audio cue that you are within range as well as see your uplink panel illuminate. You will be given a randomized order of Push or Pull (indicated by the illuminated Align next to which you should do). Get all of them correct and you activate the capture. Miss one, and the sequence resets giving you a chance to try again.

When the point is activated, the defending team has a small window of time where they get a chance to deactivate the capture point using the same method. If the defending team resets it, play continues as it was. If time runs out, the offensive team locks in the capture and the next point becomes available.

Tip: When playing this mode, it's common for the host to play one round, then swap the teams from red to blue and play the same map again so everyone gets a chance to attack and defend.

Death Match / Free For All (FFA)

This mode is a competition to see who can get the most kills in an allotted time (typically 10 minutes). In this mode there are no teams. You can choose any loadout. You spawn at a random location and the hunt is on. Kill or be killed. The scoreboard and time remaining is displayed on your HUD.

Gun Game

Gun Game is another free for all mode where you have no teammates. In this mode, everyone will be put in the same unaugmented mech class (chosen at random when the match begins). All players start with the same weapon. Each time you get a kill, your weapon changes to the next in the list. First person to score a kill with all weapons wins.
Player scores and the next weapon up for you is displayed on the HUD.

OH GOD I'M THE HOST!!! - The Basics of Hosting Matches

Under The Hood

Matches are hosted in a peer to peer style where all of the players connect directly to each other by way of the person hosting the match. This is also a reason you may experience lag or stuttering sometimes and be fine others. You might have great internet and the host might also have a strong connection, but if the connection between you two isn't so good, issues can arise.

You also may find that the person hosting is on older equipment that can't quite keep up with the demands. That will lead to poor gameplay for anyone. If you are on older hardware, you can still successfully host a match. The key is to limit the number of bots. If the problem is a poor internet connection, there's really not much you can do to improve the match quality (outside of take steps to improve your connection).

Host Handoff

When the current host drops out, the game automatically chooses a new host (in order of who has been in the match the longest). It is quite possible to get multiple host changes during a match or while in the lobby. If you stay in a match long enough, you'll find yourself in the lobby with HOST next to your name and everyone looking at you for what's next.

You've found yourself in the hot seat and everyone is waiting on you. What should you do?

Don't panic. All the players in your lobby want is to start playing a match they're going to enjoy. Easy stuff. Don't be afraid to ask if anyone has a request for maps or game types.

It's okay to bail out. If you don't want to take on hosting yet or find hosting pushes the limits of your hardware or connection, it's fine to pass on the hosting duty to someone else. By leaving the lobby (you don't have to exit the game completely), hosting will be passed off to another player. You can immediately rejoin the lobby and play stress free. Just be sure to make a note of the Sector number at the top of the match info if you want to get back in with the same group of players.

Map Selection

Always change the map. Unless multiple players in the lobby have specifically asked to play the same match again, it's common practice to change the map to something that hasn't been played recently.

Make your map selection before you do anything else. The reason you do that first is you want to give everyone a chance to consider what map they're playing so they can select their class and loadout.

To change the map, touch the picture of the current map. That will bring up a selection menu of all available maps. Pick one that you want to play and hit confirm. Be aware that there are some maps that are very difficult for beginners. The veterans in the lobby will usually let you know quickly if you've made a bad choice (of which there are only two or three). If you're unsure, stick to the official maps in the grouping on the left. Very few people will complain about playing those.

Swap Sides

There's button near the bottom center of the host panel labeled Swap. This button swaps team colors (everyone on red goes to blue, everyone from blue goes to red). Consider swapping team colors occasionally as this can increase variety. While the maps are mostly balanced, spawning on the other side makes a bigger difference than you might think.

It's an especially good idea when playing the Uplink game mode as Red team always attacks and Blue team always defends. When playing uplink, the common approach is to play one round, swap teams, and play the same map again so everyone gets a chance to attack as well as defend.

Match Type

The match type you play is up to you, but if you're unsure, it's a safe bet to stick to Conquest or Team Death Match. Everyone likes those and they're easy enough for new players to participate in. Other game types like Uplink, Gun Game, or Death Match (different than Team Death Match) can be fun with the right group, but may be overwhelming or unfun for new players who are struggling with the basics, much less more complicated mechanics.

Team Balance

It's nice to have the exact same number of players on each team, but don't try to wait for exact balance before you'll start the match. Get it close enough and start it. The longer you wait, the more likely it is that people will leave rather than join. Your veteran players will actively change teams to help keep things balanced (assuming they check the score board and notice the imbalance). Players will leave and join constantly throughout the match anyway causing it to sort itself out.

You can manually balance it. If numbers are way skewed, you can force players in your lobby to the other side using the white arrows next to the player name. They can do the same thing and jump back (especially if they have friends they want to play with instead of against), but some will stay. Again, don't sweat it too much. It'll work itself out as the match is underway.

Warzone (8v8)

This is the option to enable 8v8 matches. Most people prefer these as it means they get to play with more of their friends at the same time. HOWEVER, there are a number of valid reasons that a person may want to stick to 4v4. First, 8v8 requires a little more processing power of the host machine. Not a lot, but some. If you're already riding the edge of what your equipment will do, it's a good idea to stick to 4v4 for a better experience for all involved. Second, 4v4 matches are significantly easier on new players simply due to having more space to move and fewer people potentially shooting at them.

Bots

The bots will fill up to 4 slots on the team.

Unless you have a specific reason not to, turn on bots for any match you're playing. This way, if the other team has players leave, bots will replace the empty slots (from 1-4) and the match will stay a little closer to balanced.

Choose the appropriate bot difficulty. The selection of Easy, Normal, Hard is pretty self-explanatory. Try to keep the bot settings reasonable for the group of players in the match.

Custom Slots

Uncheck the Custom Slots box. Unless you are trying to set up a very specific type of match (like humans vs AI), having the custom slots options active makes it really easy to accidentally mess up the balance of players per team or other specialized choices. Leave it off unless you meant to have it on. (Custom slots are covered in-depth shortly...)

Everyone Ready?

While there is a Ready button for players to indicate they're ready to start, it's not a requirement to wait until all lights are green. As host, you can start at any time. It's not a bad idea to give a verbal heads up. Something like "Starting in 5 seconds..." which gives anyone who wasn't focused up one last chance to select a loadout or at least say they aren't ready.

What Not To Do

Mainly, avoid things that disrupt the flow of game play for the other 15 people playing along side you. Working on a new camo, getting deep in the details of building a new loadout, getting up and going to get a drink, etc. is not the thing to do when you're the host. If you'd like to do those things, drop out of the lobby so someone else can host and get the match rolling. You'll be able to join as soon as you're ready.

If your hardware or internet connection is not up to the task, bow out and let someone else be host. Everyone's experience will be better, including yours!

If you're host when a match ends and you're taking a break, try to remember to leave the lobby before you exit the game. If you exit or remove your headset while still host, there's a chance that everyone has to wait until your connection times out (a minute or so) before someone else is made host and play can proceed.

Using Custom Slots

As host, when you check the Custom Slots box, you'll open up a few more options to change the match settings.

Slot Types

There are four slot types:

• ANY - Can be filled by either a human player or a bot.
  
  
• HUMAN - Can only be filled by a player.
  
  
• BOT - Can only be filled by a bot.
  
  
• --- - Cannot be filled by anyone.

It's very important to watch for accidental panel clicks when using the custom slots feature. If you've ever seen a public match that has uneven teams due to a few of the slots being turned off, this is probably what has happened and why you'll hear the recommendation to make sure custom slots is unchecked unless you have a specific reason to have it on.

Now What?

Once you understand what the slots do, you should be able to use them to tweak the match setup for some specific purposes. Here are a few ways you can use them to get you started.

Humans vs Bots
To play a match where one team is human players and the other is only bots, simply set your custom slots so that one side is all HUMAN and the other is all BOT. If you want to make sure that your side always has a full squad, you can set the human side to ANY instead of HUMAN. That way if one of the human players drops out they will be replaced by a bot.

Onslaught Challenge:
This is a fun humans vs bots challenge introduced to me by Specher. Select Grinder as your map and Conquest as the game mode. Set up a human only team versus bots and set the bot difficulty as high as you can stand. When the match starts, get to the center to capture and hold the point. Since Grinder spawns are set around the perimeter of the map, bots will be coming at your from all directions. Good luck!

Human Players Only with Custom Sized Teams
4v4 not enough, but 8v8 feels like too much? Try a 6v6! To do this, turn on Warzone so it's an 8v8, but using your custom slots set two on each side to "---".
Or, pit a few high-level players against a larger team by turning off more slots on one side than the other.

Practice / Social
Sometimes we like conduct in-game training to go over specific techniques or practice things on certain maps. Or maybe it's when you are trying to record a specific video. Or you're just hanging out with friends chatting in your mechs. Whatever the reason, imagine a scenario where you want to let other people in, but don't want someone joining and playing normally (which is a reasonable thing for a person to do). Currently, there's no method for creating private lobbies, but you can use custom slots to create a match that helps make it more obvious that something unusual is going on. What I like to do is create a match that has all slots closed on one of the teams. That way, when a person joins, there aren't any enemies to shoot at which usually clues them in that something is different.

Connecting With Friends

At the time of writing this, there is currently no mechanism for automatically joining or finding your friends in a match. Until that is added, here are the work-arounds that many of us use.

External Communication

Using a third-party communications tool like Discord, the built-in call features of a quest, a phone, etc. makes meeting up in game pretty easy. Simply give them the "Sector Number" of the match you're in and they'll be able to find it under "Server" in the list of active battles.
In the lobby, the Sector Number is listed near the top of the battle screen.
If you're already in a match, you can see the Sector Number on the screen at the top center of your cockpit.

The Other Way

If external communication of the sector number isn’t convenient (but you've coordinated getting together), you can always use some specific/unusual, easy to recognize configuration most people wouldn’t join - a 3 player Uplink, for example (I like using one extra slot than people I’ve invited so that if we get a random visitor, it doesn’t block one of my invited friends out). Once your friend has joined, you can close the unnecessary slots and set up the actual match you wanted. This method is especially handy if you decide to abandon a match mid game and start a new one. Just communicate to your friends that you’re going to start a X player match on Y map. They should be able to easily identify the lobby you have created without knowing the sector number.

Dealing with Uninvited Guests

There is currently no mechanism to create private lobbies, nor is there a way to eject people from the lobby on a match you're hosting. I hear these are on the to-do list, but for right now if what you're trying to do is create a private match for you and your friends, the best approach is a mix of creating matches that are exactly the right size for the group of people you want to play with and getting those slots filled by those people quickly.

If you do end up with an uninvited guest, be polite. Remember, they may be brand new and just hit the Quick Match button and were inserted into your lobby. They didn't mean to crash your party. Tell them you're waiting on friends that are grouping up to play together. Most people will say no worries and exit. If they don't respond, you can likely just wait them out. People who join a match typically want to play. If there's no indication a match will start soon, they will leave to find one that will.

Levels and Unlocks

As you progress through the first 20 experience levels, you will gain access to new equipment as follows:
(NOTE: I am still working on aligning ranks with titles with unlocks. The data is correct for each list individually, but the ranks don't line up with the levels. I'm sure the problem is with me, I just haven't figured it out yet...)

Level	EXP Required	Rank Title	Class	Weapon	Augment
0	0	Wet Nose	Breaker	Spitfire	Repair Expansion Nano Lace Armor Ammo Expansion
1	400	Grease Monkey		GRAD-12M	Extended Mag
2	800	Private	Guardian		2x Hip Motor
3	1400	Mech Rookie		Pulse Rail	Aim Stabilizer
4	2500	Specialist	Recon	Smoke
5	3500	Combat Engineer		GAUS-90
6	4750	Mechanized Trooper	E-Pulse
7	6000	Sergeant		QRTZ Heavy	Engine Cooling
8	7500	Squad Leader	Reinforcer		Fixer Drone Update
9	9000	Veteran Sergeant		LR-FOS Beam
10	10750	Mech Commander	Infiltrator	Bulkhead
11	12500	Field Operator		311-STAG	Gravity Lift
12	14500	War Strategist			Mass Expansion
13	16500	Fleet Lieutenant		Intimidator
14	19000	Fleet Commander			Overdrive
15	22000	Sector Overseer		HUL CRACKER
16	26500	Federation Elitist			Jet Fuel Recycler
17	32000	Rebel Leader		Howitzer	2x Optics
18	32000	Rebel Leader			Down Thrusters
19	38000	Overload		Artillery
20	45000	Federation Ruler			Mass Extractor

Note: The CAMO patterns also unlock with level progression.

Tip: Things that unlock at the same time usually pair well together.

Breaker - Class Basics

Stats (Unaugmented)

HP: 200 (4 sectors)
Max Walking Speed: 32
Max Sprint Speed: 62
Sprint Duration: 9s
Static Jump Height: 14m
Jump Jet Duration: 3s
Boost Recovery: 10s
Turn Rate: 120 deg/s

Basic Concepts

The Breaker is the first mech pilots are granted access to, but just because they start you with it, doesn’t mean it’s weak. It’s one of the most all-around capable platforms in the rebellion.






With the proper selection of augments, you’ll be a dominating force in the fight whether it’s delivering devastating payloads from a distance, using mid range skirmishing tactics, or handling business with an up close and personal touch.

Special Abilities

A1 - Breaker

Requirements: 100 mass
Duration: 12 seconds (after a 3 second startup phase)
Perks: Instantaneous acceleration (there is no change in max speeds); Higher total static jump of 50m;

The breaker ability turns your mech into an extremely maneuverable killing machine. For the 12 second duration, you will experience near instant acceleration and unlimited sprint and jet boost. Your max walk and sprint speeds do not increase, but with the increased acceleration, you will cover more distance in the same time and appear faster and harder to hit for your enemies. Breaker is effective both for closing distances and for quick getaways. You can also use the additional jump height to rain ordinance down on enemies.

A2 - Airstrike

Requirements: 100 mass

The airstrike calls in devastating ordinance over a large area. It's delivered quickly and near vertically giving your enemies little option to avoid it. Targets in the area of effect can take varying amounts of damage depending on how lucky/unlucky they are. If one of the shells is a direct impact, damage can be massive. Even without the direct impact, the explosive blast around it will do plenty.

The airstrike is deployed on whatever object, location, or mech your targeting reticle is positioned on. You don't need to see the ground or even the units that you are targeting. If you know the enemy is at a certain point, use a structure, tower, or other nearby object that you can target near them. It'll be close enough to do damage.

Important tip: The airstrike is a potent counter to far away enemies, like ridgeline snipers and flying scouts.
https://youtu.be/fF5XBHI8EkM

Augment Notes

All augments work with this mech class. With thoughtful combinations, you can fine-tune your loadout to handle most any situation.

Recon - Class Basics

Stats (Unaugmented)

HP: 150 (2 sectors)
Max Walking Speed: 65
Max Sprint Speed: N/A
Sprint Duration: N/A
Static Jump Height: 22m
Jump Jet Duration: 12s
Boost Recovery: 12s
Turn Rate: 120 deg/s

Basic Concepts

The Recon is your first unlock and a force multiplier on the battlefield when used correctly (and a death trap when used incorrectly). Your primary job is to make sure your team knows where all of the enemy units on the field are at all times. Use scanners and your manual ping system to accomplish that.

Scanners and point captures rack up your EXP making the recon a great mech for getting you access to all of the other classes and equipment.

You are very fast, but there are some things you need to know about your speed if you're going to be a successful recon.

The recon mech is always running at top speed. You do not have a sprint function like other mechs.

You are not as fast as other mechs when they sprint or use mobility augments. That means that once you are in close quarters with the enemy, you're going to need to do more than just run away if you want to escape. Evasive maneuvering up/over/around is a must. Put cover between yourself and attackers.

You are fragile. You have half the firepower as most other mechs on the field and can be one or two shot by many types of weapons. Be evasive. If you try to take on another mech directly, there’s a good chance you’re going to lose.

Instead of looking for direct combat. Use your speed to circle and flank enemies. Help your teammates ambush enemies and tilt the fight into their favor.

When capture points are on the line, use your speed and knowledge of enemy positions to capture unguarded points.

At the beginning of a fight, DO NOT GRAB THE CLOSEST MASS TO SPAWN! With your speed, go slightly out of the way to get your mass. Leave the close mass to the larger, less mobile mechs so they can get into the fight while you get your scanner network set up.
https://youtu.be/zSvXZZrhzbk

Cockpit Tips

You have far more visibility from your seat than any other mech. Use it to keep pings on enemy. If you're doing your job right, your team all knows where every enemy is at all times. This is how battles are won.

The space between ability buttons and deployment cartridge is tiny. Be precise or you could find yourself dropping a scanner before you meant to.

Special Abilities

A1 - Scanner

Requirements: 50 mass
Qty: Up to 6 at a time.

Your scanner ability deploys a tower that detects enemy mechs within a 200 meter sphere and puts the red marker above them on your allies' HUD.

You can have six deployed at any given time. You should strive to have all 6 deployed in strategic locations around the map.

Keep them out of sight of the enemy so they aren't destroyed. The active scanner makes noise, so enemies will know there's one nearby. If you can, place the scanner up high on an object. Larger mechs usually won't take the time to find it. EMP blasts destroy enemy scanners in their effect radius, so if you hear an EMP going off, it’s a good idea to go check on your scanners in that area.

Rather than placing scanners in the center of a high activity area where it's likely to be destroyed by combat, airstrikes, or EMPs, put your scanners in areas that lead to those high traffic areas. You'll still detect the enemy as they go by, but are less likely to lose that scanner.

You get 5 EXP for each enemy you detect which can score you a LOT of points.

Augment Notes

All augments work with this mech class EXCEPT for Overdrive. Since the recon is always running and does not have a sprint, Overdrive does not provide any benefit. The 2x hip motor is also not as impactful in most situations since your turn rate is already fast.

Regarding the Smoke Launcher

The Recon is one of two classes that have access to the smoke launcher and since this is the one of the first mechs you unlock, it's worth learning a couple of important things about smoke.
TURN YOUR SMOKE OFF (push your right thumbstick to the right) AND ONLY FIRE SMOKE WHEN YOU MEAN TO! By default, both of your weapons are active. When you pull the trigger, not only do you fire your primary weapon, but there's a good chance you also launch smoke. You can usually tell when there's a new recon pilot on the battlefield because no one can see anything at all.
The scanner pairs well with the smoke launcher. Smoking enemies in areas where you have scanner coverage gives your team the advantage of knowing where to shoot. However, smoke without scanners can be a detriment to your team and a benefit to your enemy.

Guardian - Class Basics

Stats (Unaugmented)

HP: 400 (6 sectors)
Max Walking Speed: 37
Max Sprint Speed: 103
Sprint Duration: 3s.
Static Jump Height: 12m
Jump Jet Duration: 3s
Boost Recovery: 3s
Turn Rate: 45 deg/s

Basic Concepts

In the guardian mech, you are the tallest, easiest to spot unit on the battlefield. As such, you're going to take a lot of fire. The good news is that you have a lot of armor and are equipped with deployable shield emitters which can can block most incoming fire to protect yourself and your teammates.

The guardian mech is suitable for medium to long range engagements. At close range you're going to need support due to poor visibility from the cockpit and a slow turning rate. Unaugmented, it will take your mech 9 seconds to complete a 360 degree turn.

Cockpit Tips

Turn your map display off for increased visibility down low.

Pro-tip: "Hey! Did you guys know that if you look behind you there's a coffee pot?"

Special Ability

A1 - Static Shield

Requirements: 100 mass
The Guardian can deploy an emitter that projects a spherical energy shield in a 50m radius which can block fast projectiles and laser weapons (hull crackers and smoke can still get through). Mechs, including enemies, can walk in and out freely. It lasts for 3 minutes or 2,400HP of damage blocked whichever comes first. And, of course, if the emitter is destroyed the shield collapses.

You can tell when a shield begins to weaken as it will turn red.
Tip: Don't wait until the first one fails to deploy the next. Deploy it *before* failure so you're never exposed.

The number of shields you can place is limited only by the mass you can access. If you expect your position to be directly attacked, it's a good idea to place multiple shields near each other so when one fails you can fall back. Setting up over a repair pad adds a layer of safety for teammates while they repair.

A single shield can protect you through multiple airstrikes, though some splash damage will get through. However, it is unlikely you will survive a direct artillery strike (the shield itself will probably remain standing though). Enemy EMP blasts will collapse the shield and destroy the emitter. Friendly EMPs will not.

Shields work well with reinforcer turrets protecting them as they fire, but be sure your shield encompasses the turret. A turret outside your shield will target enemies anywhere, even if that means trying to shoot through the shield which will deplete it rapidly.

Your shield is just as useful to enemies who take it over. If you plan to move, consider destroying it if you think it will no longer benefit your team.

You don't need to be inside the shield to benefit from its protection. A few well placed shield to block enemy firing lanes can completely negate snipers. Be careful not to your own team's fire though!

A2 - Mobile Shield

Requirements: 50 mass
The mobile shield creates a force field around the guardian that moves with you. It works the same way as the static shield (described above), with the important exception that it can only withstand 300HP of damage and lasts up to 30 seconds.
Use this shield when you need a little extra protection to move between cover positions or when ambushed. Be careful about blocking friendly lines of fire.

Augment Notes

All augments work on the guardian mech. In most combat scenarios you will benefit greatly from the use of some of the mobility-related augments.

The Mass Extractor augment pairs really well with the mobile shield as you'll have a charge ready to use every 50 seconds.

E-Pulse - Class Basics

Stats (Unaugmented)

HP: 200 (4 sectors)
Max Walking Speed: 32
Max Sprint Speed: 62
Sprint Duration: 9s
Static Jump Height: 14m
Jump Jet Duration: 3s
Boost Recovery: 10s
Turn Rate: 120 deg/s

Basic Concepts

The e-pulse excels at close to medium range combat and is quite literally a shock trooper mech unit, charging into battle, detonating its electronic payload, and helping offensive troops sweep up disabled enemy mechs. While it is also capable of using long-range weapons, its EMP ability is close range only and will not offer much advantage in a long range shootout (especially compared to the Breaker’s airstrike), however, it can still be very useful for taking care of stealth units trying to go the drop on them when running solo.

Cockpit Tips

The cockpit layout is the same as the breaker, however, it is located higher up in the body of the mech giving you a slightly higher view of the battlefield. It’s a small difference, but will allow you to use and shoot over cover slightly better than the other light and medium class mechs.

IMPORTANT! Due to the higher cockpit, the Bulkhead is not compatible with the e-pulse. You can equip it, but it will obscure your view and is not advised.

Special Abilities

A1 - EMP

Requirements: 100 mass
Deploy time: 3 seconds
When activated, the e-pulse emits an EMP charge that disables enemy units and turrets in a 200m range. Any scanners or shield generators in the area of effect are completely destroyed.
Stunned enemy units will move slower and lose most of their HUD and weapon systems aiming reticles until they have successfully rebooted their mech. The reboot process takes about 5 seconds, during which time you and your allies will have a distinct advantage. Use extreme caution, however, as stunned mechs still have the ability to return fire.

Mech counter measures prevent the system from being stunned in quick succession (about 15 seconds), so consider whether or not there are any targets in the effect area that will be hit the second time.
Your HUD will detect hits from your EMP blast. Pay attention to see what you hit so you’ll know what targets may be close by, but out of sight.

EMP is useful anywhere you suspect a scanner is hidden but cannot find it.
A charging EMP is obvious to everyone in the area. Clever enemy units will retreat outside of the area of effect and be ready for you when you make your move. Watch your pinged targets for distances. Plan your strike when you will have the most impact and when targets are unlikely to be able to escape.

Augment Notes

All augments work with this mech class.

Reinforcer - Class Basics

Stats (Unaugmented)

HP: 400 (6 sectors)
Max Walking Speed: 37
Max Sprint Speed: 103
Sprint Duration: 3s.
Static Jump Height: 12m
Jump Jet Duration: 3s
Boost Recovery: 3s
Turn Rate: 45 deg/s

Basic Concepts

The Reinforcer class is the mobile deployment and repair station on the battlefield. You are the only class your teammates can deploy on making one of your primary jobs being to station yourself outside of tactical objectives and keep the area secure.

When a teammate spawns on you, they'll need time to start their mech and get oriented. If you're already in the middle of the battle when they deploy, they'll be at a significant disadvantage. If your team is actively spawning on you, it's a good idea to be close to the fight but not too close. Medium range weaponry lets you help with the battle without being overrun.

Keep the mass and repair pods coming! Leave a trail of mass behind you as you leave your friendly spawn point so your allies can join the battle ready to strike. When a teammate spawns on you, drop them an ammo crate or repair pod if you have one ready so they can head into the fight ready to go. At the same time, be careful leaving supplies where enemy units can easily grab them and use them against you.

IMPORTANT NOTE: All of your abilities are on cooldown timers. You do not require mass crates to use your special abilities like all of the other mech units do. Quite the opposite, you're the one that can produce and provide that mass. Resist the urge to pick up mass crates if you do not need to refill your weapon ammo stores.

The Reinforcer is one of two mechs that can use artillery, and a pretty good case can be made that it's the better of the two since you can keep yourself supplied in ammo, repair yourself, and even provide a little local support for yourself with smart placement of your turrets.

Cockpit Tips

Turn your map display off using the 3rd button with the white triangle on the panel beneath it for increased visibility down low. You can turn it back on with the 2nd button.

Pro-tip: "Hey! Did you guys know that if you look behind you there's a coffee pot in this one too?!"

Special Abilities

A1 - Ammo (Mass)

Cooldown: 20 seconds
EXP gained: 15

Drops one ammo crate at your location. (May take a second or two to appear.)

A2 - Health (Repair Module)

Cooldown: 20 seconds
EXP gained: 30

Drops one repair module at your location. Note that this gets you more EXP than any of the other drops, so when you're dropping something simply because you have one available, the repair module is a good choice.

A3 - Turret

Cooldown: 40 seconds
EXP gained: 15
Max Qty: 3

Deploys a single turret equipped with dual LR-FOS beam lasers. On its own it is weak. With a second or third all shooting at the same target, the enemy will be dispatched quickly.

Turrets are extremely fragile and can be destroyed by any weapon much faster than they can be set up. When using turrets to protect a specific spot or area, it's advised to place the turret somewhere it can only be shot at once the target arrives in the area (rather than being able to destroy the turret as they approach). Spreading turrets out with 100m to 200m spacing will help avoid all of them being destroyed at once. It will also allow them to create crossfire situations which are highly effective.

In a pinch, a turret also makes a good early detection system. If you're worried about being flanked, placing a turret behind you will give you a few moments to turn and engage rather than being taken by surprise. This is especially important when you're running without mobility augments as it takes you almost 5 seconds to turn around and look behind you.

Augment Notes

Most augments work on the Reinforcer mech. In most combat scenarios you will benefit greatly from the use of some of the mobility-related augments. Since you will not use mass, there is no benefit from running either Mass Extractor or Mass Expansion.

Infiltrator - Class Basics

Stats (Unaugmented)

HP: 150 (2 sectors)
Max Walking Speed: 66
Max Sprint Speed: N/A
Sprint Duration: N/A
Static Jump Height: 22m
Jump Jet Duration: 12s
Boost Recovery: 12s
Turn Rate: 150 deg/s

Basic Concepts

The Infiltrator excels at anything that requires a quiet approach - point captures, depriving the enemy of ammo/mass, flanking, etc. You have a distinct advantage in surprise attacks and evasive maneuvering, but be careful getting caught in the open without your cloak ability. You won't last long.

One seemingly small, but very effective difference between the Infiltrator and the Recon is the body profile. The head of the Infiltrator is flatter providing a smaller target for enemy mechs to shoot at and benefits more from the Bulkhead as more of you is covered.

Cockpit Tips

The space between ability buttons and deployment cartridge is tiny. Be precise.

Special Abilities

A1 - Cloak

Requirements: 50 mass
Duration: 750m
The duration is distance based meaning you can maintain cloak indefinitely while standing still, but it will run out after you have travelled a total distance of 750m. A countdown on your status HUD tells you how much you have remaining. Using the cloak ability while already cloaked will reset your counter.
Cloak does not make you completely undetectable, but it does a good job of hiding your movements on the battlefield. When cloaked, enemies will not be able to ping you, and you will disappear from any HUDs that were tracking you when you activate it.

Be aware that you still leave footsteps and kick up dust/snow when you run. Cloak does not hide your sound, so jump jets can easily give away your position. Be careful what kind of noise you're making on an open channel. Comms are directional and an astute enemy will be able to detect you with surprising accuracy.

Firing your weapon will cause your cloak to disengage, so be sure you have the tactical advantage before opening fire.
External things to your mech that you might not be able to see will also give away your position. If you are damaged enough to smoke or are actively on fire, cloak will hide your mech, but it will not hide the fire/smoke. Repair drones can also be seen as well as some weapon components. Those are harder to pick up on, but if someone is actively hunting you, use caution with repairs.

Augment Notes

All augments work with this mech class EXCEPT for Overdrive. Since the Infiltrator is always running and does not have a sprint, Overdrive does not provide any benefit. The 2x hip motor is also not as impactful in most situations since your turn rate is already fast.

You may get more benefit from Mass Extraction than other classes as it will effectively keep your cloak ability charged up. If you find yourself out of range of a mass crate, simply stay cloaked and stand still. You'll have a fresh charge in less than a minute.

Augments - Overview

Augments are a way for you to choose a few additional perks for your mech loadout. Augments are chosen as part of your Loadout interface. You can have up to three active at any time.

They can increase your mobility, increase your damage output, make you harder to kill, more effective at stealth, and many other things. With clever combinations, you can create some very specialized mech units.

There is a screen inside of your mech to let you know which augments are currently installed.

Your scanner display will show you the augments installed on any friendly and enemy units you ping.

Tip: Checking your enemy's installed augment and weapon loadout can give you an idea of their strengths and weaknesses and thus a huge advantage over them in combat. Whenever possible, scan your enemies and adjust your tactics to match.

Repair Expansion - Augment

Auxiliary Repair Storage Bay

An additional storage compartment designed to support more repair canisters.

Increases repair canister limit by 1 and grants an extra on deployment.

Practical Usage Tips

Not only does this increase the total carrying capacity, it starts you out with one repair pod ready to go. A very helpful augment when you're on a map with lots of players competing for limited repair pods. It's also handy when you're spawning on a Reinforcer and may not have a chance to pick up a repair on your way to combat.

Nano Lace Armor - Augment

Molecular Reinforced Armor

Structural lattice fibers, providing increased durability and resilience against all weapon types.

Grants an extra 25 structure points.

Practical Usage Tips

When you don't have any augment options that would make your loadout more effective, the nano lace armor is a "it's better than nothing" selection. While it does give you an additional 25HP, it's worth considering how much additional protection that actually is. For most of the medium strength weapon types (spitfire, gaus-90, stag) it will allow you to withstand one or two more shots than normal. For the lighter ones (like FOS or Intimidators) you will survive for 2-3 more seconds. For some of the high damage weapons (like QRTZ heavy) it might not give you any extra staying power at all.

When you use this augment, expect an extra 2 to 3 seconds of survivability at most. If you are a slow-moving, high damage output class, it may be enough to tilt a fight in your favor, but don't expect miracles. However, if you are a fast-moving, evasive class doing your best to get in and out (recon or infiltrator), it could make all the difference.

Ammo Expansion - Augment

Ammunition Storage Compartment

An expanded module for carrying additional ammunition loads, while incorporating reinforced containment safeguards.

Increases starting and max ammo storage by 50.

Practical Usage Tips

This augment increases your total ammo carried, but does not have any impact on how your weapon works (like Extended Magazine). As such, the practical use cases for this augment are small, especially for the new pilot. If you manage to completely run out of ammo before you're destroyed, that's something that should be celebrated! Even then, running out of ammo and not being near a source of ammo/mass crates is not very likely (if you're playing the objectives, at least).

If you find yourself playing a style that puts you far away from the main map areas or stationary, with no way to replenish your mass and ammo, and having more shots is going to make a difference, then Ammo Expansion is for you. Beyond that, there's little practical application for most situations. One example where it might be useful is a Guardian inside of a deployed shield using Intimidators. More ammo would be useful, but by the time you have that equipment unlocked, you've also unlocked other augments that will likely be more beneficial in that same situation.

That all said, there will be a short window in your early to mid gameplay where you've gotten competent enough to survive long enough to use all of your ammo, in big enough fights where other people are using up all the mass drops AND (and this is the critical part) you haven't unlocked other augments that will serve you better, then Ammo Expansion becomes another "it's better than nothing" selection.

Extended Magazine - Augment

Compact Ammunition Configuration

A redesigned ammunition stacking mechanism, enabling increased magazine capacity without compromise on volume.

Increases magazine capacity.

Practical Usage Tips

This augment is a huge benefit to most weapons and most players focused on mid to close range fighting, and especially useful to new players.

Extended Magazine increases the number of times you can fire your weapon before the long reload cycle. It makes it more forgiving when you miss and it gives you an advantage in a 1v1 when you can keep shooting while the enemy is reloading.

It is especially effective on pulserails at close range, but also shines on most other weapons too. The difference between 4 QRTZ and 5 is an enormous increase in damage output. It can also catch enemies by surprise if they're counting your shots and plan to move in on you during your reload cycle.

You may find it less useful on weapons with already large magazine capacity and/or short reload times (like the LR-FOS or Intimidators). It's a percentage based increase, so you'll get even more ammo on those weapons, but you may find that a different augment may give you more benefit (like Aim Stabilizer on the Intimidator) if you have to choose between the two.

2x Hip Motor - Augment

Dual-Force Rotational Drive

Dual motorized actuators enabling rapid head rotation and precise targeting adjustments for enhanced combat agility.

Speeds up rotation by 50.

Practical Usage Tips

This augment speeds up the rotation rate (how fast you can turn your mech around while standing still). It works on any class, but there aren't many scenarios where it's going to be useful on a light or medium. Where you'll see the most benefit is on the heavy mech.

The big problem 2x hip motors solves is not being able to keep track of a target literally running circles around you. The unaugmented base rotation rates for lights and mediums is around 120 degrees per second, or a complete turn around in 3 seconds. If someone is shooting you from behind, you should be able to turn a full 180 in 1.5 seconds and have no problem keeping fire trained on them as they move. In a heavy, your unaugmented base rate is closer to 45 degrees per second or 8 seconds for a full 360 and 4 to turn around and look behind you. With that rotation speed there is no way for you to catch up with them. If you're being attacked from behind, depending on the weapon, you might have been killed in less than the 4 seconds it would take for you to even turn around and see them. The 2x hip motor speeds your turn up enough to where at least have a chance of returning fire.

There are usually more beneficial augments to take in most cases, but if you find yourself being harassed by light mechs, 2x Hip Motors may very well be required equipment until they decide to pick on someone else.

Aim Stabilizer - Augment

Precision Harmonic Dampeners

Advanced stabilizing actuators integrated into the targeting system, reducing weapon spread during sustained fire.

Practical Usage Tips

Weapons affected by this augment will tighten up their spread giving you two main benefits. First, your effective range becomes longer. You'll be able to engage targets earlier and do more meaningful damage. Second, building on the first, the amount of damage you deal will go up. Not only will you damage enemies from farther away, but as the distance reduces you'll hit more shots in the cockpit which further increases damage done.

Grad-12M, Pulserails, Stag, Intimidator all see a marked increase in effectiveness.

Note: It is believed that howitzers also benefit by reducing the amount of shake you get, but I don't have any actual data to back that up beyond people who use them frequently say there's a difference.

Autoloader Mark2 - Augment

Rapid Feed Mechanism

An advanced precision-tuned feeding component for accelerated ammunition reload cycles.

Speeds up reload by 20.

Practical Usage Tips

The autoloader is pretty straight forward. It decreases reload time for any weapon you have equipped. If you're relying on sustained fire or looking for one more advantage in 1v1 fighting, this augment is a good choice. If you're using weapons that already have a fast reload time or large magazine amounts (like LR-FOS or Intimidators, you'll be better served with something else.)

Note: It is also one of two required augments to get the most out of the "slam firing" technique (covered elsewhere).

Engine Cooling/Cooler - Augment

Increase Engine Performance

A sophisticated cooling grid designed to regulate engine temperatures, and enable higher top speed operations without damage to engine core.

Increases max speed by 15.

Practical Usage Tips

Engine Cooling (sometimes labeled Engine Cooler) is a good choice if you need a little extra mobility for offensive pushes or evasion tactics. It's a buff to your maximum speed, which for mediums and heavies that means while you are sprinting. You will gain about half of the increase during your normal walking pace. Since light mechs always run, you'll gain the full benefit all the time.

Fixer Drone Update - Augment

Quick Deploy Protocol

Rebel developed firmware bypasses safety to ensure faster repair level deployment and immediate accessibility to fixer drones.

Healing lever is ready 25 faster.

Practical Usage Tips

I'm not sure about the in-game description of this one because it's not 25% faster. (Maybe it means 25x faster???) Regardless of the number, what happens is the repair handle comes out immediately. No more waiting for repair mode to power you down and extend the handle. When you push the button, it's ready to go right now.

This augment is the rare example of a universally agreed upon must have option for your mech. There are definitely times where you don't need it which we'll talk about in a moment, but if you are doing any close quarters fighting or spend much time absorbing damage, the Fixer Drone Update is a must have.

If you've ever fought against someone and thought "how have I not killed them yet?! I keep shooting them!!!" odds are they're running Fixer Drone Update and repaired multiple times during your fight. When used well, your mech doesn't even stop moving. A short jump into the air gives you enough time to select your sections, hit the button, slap the handle a few times, and hit the ground running at full speed.

All that said, there are some loadouts that will repair infrequently or at least the repair speed isn't as critical - long range sniping, artillery, or backline play. These builds will often choose another more useful augment. There are also builds designed to do maximum damage in the shortest amount of time. These builds are based around other augments and will not be able to run fixer drone update.

Fixer Drone Update pairs really well with the Repair Expansion and fighting near repair pads. Practice your pickup timing so you can scoop up repair pods while running past them instead of stopping and you will quickly become a force to be reckoned with.

Gravity Lift - Augment

Anti Gravity Buffer

Magnetic field generators that offset mech’s gravitational vector, allowing for stronger lift capability when grounded.

Increases initial jump force by 20.

Practical Usage Tips

Makes you jump noticeably higher. Very helpful for getting into those hard to reach places, especially on maps with verticality or when using heavy mechs.

Mass Expansion - Augment

High Capacity Storage Bay

Cuts out all unnecessary insulation and redundant armor in the cargo section to improve mass storage.

Increases mass storage limit by 100 units.

Practical Usage Tips

Very straight forward modification allowing you to carry double the mass. In theory, this is going to allow you to use your mech ability twice in a row. In reality, it's only as good as the amount of mass available to you. It's going to be very context dependent on whether or not it's a good time to choose this augment.

Infiltrators often find it useful because they can carry 4 cloak charges instead of 4. Breakers can carry around two airstrikes instead of one which can be a huge surprise to the enemy engaging with them.

Note: High Capacity Storage is useless to the Reinforcer class as all of their abilities are on a cool down time and do not use mass.

Overdrive - Augment

High Efficiency Dissipation Vent

Extends sprint duration by reducing thermal buildup through upgraded heat dissipation systems integrated into the rear actuator assembly.

Reduces thermal buildup during sprint by 0.7x
Not applicable to light mechs.

Practical Usage Tips

Overdrive increases the amount of time you can use your sprint ability. Again, I'm not sure about the accuracy of the current in-game description, but testing shows that with Overdrive installed your sprint time is close to double. (Mediums go to 20s instead of 10s. Heavies increase to 6s from 3s.)

While at first glance this augment seems very similar to Engine Cooling, the end result between the two is huge. While Engine Cooling gives you the ability to go a little faster all of the time, Overdrive gives you the ability to sprint for much longer, meaning you'll go farther and faster overall.

If your engagement is mostly going to be in confined areas with short movements and limited sprint usage, engine cooling is going to be better. If you plan on having to cover a lot of ground, Overdrive is probably the better choice. You can combine the two and get benefit from both, but for most normal situations you'll get more benefit from picking one or the other and using a different augment to improve some other aspect of your loadout.

Note: Since light mechs don't have a sprint mode, Overdrive does not do anything useful on them.

2x Optics - Augment

Dual Focal Lens Array

A lens assembly integrated into the camera augment system, allowing for increased magnification levels.

Increases zoom level by 2x.

Practical Usage Tips

Another very straight-forward augment. It zooms in even farther when you're in scope mode. If you like using scope, you may like using this.

While it's primarily for long range sniping with Howitzers or Spitfires, there are some rare edge use cases that could benefit. Airstrikes and spotting for artillery, for example, where you could get extremely precise with your targeting at long distances or through narrow gaps in cover.

Jet Fuel Recycler - Augment

Jet Fuel Recycling Chamber

A high-efficiency chamber system that recycles exhaust gases to generate less thermal buildup, extending flight duration.

Reduces jets’ heat output by 30

Practical Usage Tips

Increases the length of time you can fly significantly. Similar to the effect that Overdrive has on sprint, but this one only impacts boost spent on flight.

Often used in conjunction with Gravity Lift to increase flight capability. You'll mostly see it used by light mechs, but it can make a huge difference on heavy mechs who are trying to get to the high ground.

Down Thrusters - Augment

Rapid Vertical Descent Thruster

Passive thrust system designed for rapidly descending your mech whenever in flight or airborne from a fall.

Speeds up falling by 50

Practical Usage Tips

This is a very niche augment for a few very special use cases, but when you're running one of those specialty loadouts your Down Thrusters can make all the difference.

There's a saying often overhead coming from Reptile (a long-time player here). "If it flies, it dies." Translated, targets are hard to hit when they can move, evade, and juke. When a player goes airborne, their trajectory becomes very easy to predict and it's over before they hit the ground. In situations where you plan on being airborne frequently, but have some pretty good shooters on the ground, Down Thrusters is a good choice that will make you much harder to target.

In a similar vein, recon mechs can do especially good evasive work with Down Thrusters installed, jumping over and behind cover rather than having to take more predictable paths. You may also get some use out of it with surprise attacks in any class where you wait on a perch and drop in behind an enemy as they pass.

Another less common (but very beneficial when you need it) is when running across uneven/bumpy terrain, it keeps you in contact with the ground as your run giving you better overall speed and control.

Mass Extractor - Augment

Ambient Matter Harvesting Unit

An advanced system that utilizes atmospheric particulates to synthesize raw material, enabling continuous mass extraction over time.

Extracts 1 mass per 1 s passively.

Practical Usage Tips

A great option to choose when you desperately need mass to run your loadout, but there isn't much to be found. The Mass Extractor generates 1 unit per second refilling your mass storage until it reaches max. At that rate, it gives you enough mass to run low cost abilities every 50 seconds and everything else every 1 minute and 40 seconds.

A couple of useful scenarios:

• Planting scanners as a recon. You'll have a scanner ready to drop every minute without scooping up ammo crates that your teammates could be putting to use.
  
• Infiltrators will gain a new cloak charge every minute. Since cloak discharges over distance rather than time, it would be possible to remain undetected for as long as you want (assuming you pick safe spots to stand while the next one charges).
  
• Guardians who need to stay with shield emplacements away from a supply of ammo. As long as their shield isn't being destroyed in less than 2 minutes, they will always have a shield ready to deploy when their current one times out.
  
• Breakers playing long-range sniping roles will have an airstrike ready to go every two minutes.

Note: Since the Reinforcer does not use mass for its abilities, the Mass Extractor augment is useless to them.

Weapons - Basics (and a Little More)

Your mech can be outfitted with a wide array of weaponry. With only a few exceptions, each mech can carry two weapons of your choosing and can be fired independently. (Take note of the LEFT ARM and RIGHT ARM tabs at the top of the list. Make sure you have selected one for each.) The exceptions to this are light mechs whose left arm mount will either be a smoke launcher or bulkhead shield and a heavy mech running artillery which is so large it takes up both weapons mounts.

Fire Modes

Your weapons types can be subdivided into different firing modes. Different people use different names, but here are the important characteristics of the groupings:

• Automatic / Continuous Fire - This group of weapons will continue to fire as long as the trigger is depressed.
  
• Semi-Automatic / Single Fire - This group of weapons require you to pull the trigger once per time it fires.
  
• Charged - This group of weapons require you to hold the trigger down for some period of time before it fires.

Combinations

You do not have to run the same weapon type on each side. You might decide to carry one for long range (spitfire) and one for short range (Grad-12M). You might choose weapons that are both strong at the same range but do different damage types.

Important Tip: While combinations can be fun and effective, if you are a new pilot it is highly recommended that you keep it simple and use your weapons in pairs until you're able to reliable hit targets. Combos can add complexity into your mech control that you might not be ready for yet.

A good example of a combo accessible in the early levels is Grad-12M with the Pulserail-380. Both are devastating at short range, but when you combine them, they help cover each other's weaknesses while benefitting from the same augments. The pulserail is weak against enemies using the bulkhead shield while the grad-12M does explosive damage which is not blocked by the bulkhead. When you're hit by an EMP you lose your aiming reticle until you reboot your mech, but you can still fire. You should be able to continue firing accurately using your pulserail to guide your aim which keeps the Grad-12M missiles on target as well.

There are so many viable combos for different situations that I am not going to try to cover them here. Try everything! See what works for you and what you enjoy using.

Matching Fire Modes

One bit of advice I will pass along when you're trying out combos... Pay attention to the fire modes (automatic, semi-auto, charge up). Pairing up different fire modes can be problematic. An example of this is something like Intimidator and GAUS-90. For the Intimidator to work, you need to hold the trigger to let the weapon spool up to its maximum rate of fire while the GAUS-90 is a semi-automatic weapon that you have to pull the trigger once per shot. If you try to use these weapons as a combo, you'll either never get the minigun firing at its full potential or you will only fire your GAUS-90 once.

It can also be problematic when you combine weapons with different travel speeds. The farther away you target is, the harder it will be to hit an enemy with both weapons. Even if you're very good, there will be times when it's just not possible to hit a moving target with both. If you lead for the fast one, the slow one will miss. If you lead for the slow one, the fast one will miss.

Alternating/Stagger FIre

Some weapons can benefit by an alternating fire technique (which some people call "stagger fire"). The principle here is to get your weapons firing out of sync to keep a constant stream of weapon fire on the target during reloads.

Like so many other techniques, the details can get complicated quickly because of all the variety in how weapons work, combine, and are affected by your chosen augments, so we're going to cover a very simple one to give you an idea of how it works. In a dual spitfire loadout, if you have both weapons selected and hold down the trigger, you get a steady rate of fire of 2 rounds on target about a second apart. Now, if you disable one of your weapons (using the thumb stick) when you pull and hold the trigger, one weapon begins to fire at that 1 shot per second rate. If right after you fire you push forward on the right thumb stick to enable both weapons while continuing to hold down the trigger, your second spitfire begins to fire out of sync with the first. Now you have each weapon firing, but a round on target every half second.

Now, apply that same technique to your Grad-12Ms which have a much larger gap between firing compared to the spitfires. If you stagger fire those, you can send a near continues line of rockets to the target.
https://youtu.be/1_QQj4pxUB0

Slam Firing

Slam firing is a technique where you reload after each round fired instead of waiting until your magazine is empty to reload the whole thing. The tradeoff is your unaugmented rate of fire is slightly worse, but you never have the long reload period which an enemy may be counting on for a repair or a counterstrike. With clever use of augments (specifically the Autoloader Mark2 and the Expanded Magazine), you can get your firing rate to be as fast, or in some cases faster, than the weapon default. This technique works great on a handful of weapons and makes others actively worse. I will try to point out which will happen for each weapon as we cover them individually.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EihS-8pofjs

Still Gathering Data

In the individual descriptions that follow, many of the weapon stats have been compiled through testing with other players. I'm working on getting more accurate data, but anything provided should be very close. If I don't know, it's not included.

Spitfire - Weapon

Panel Description:
A powerful, all-purpose, hard-hitting weapon designed for mid-to-long range engagements. It features semi-automatic fire, a low rate of fire, high accuracy, and high-damage rounds.

Damage: 10-20
Magazine Capacity: 8
Reserve Ammo: 96
Time Between Shots: 0.8s
Full Reload Time: 2.5s
Type: Continuous
Unlock Level: 0

Practical Usage Tips

Just because this is the starter weapon, doesn't make it weak. In fact, it's one of the strongest all-around weapons on the battlefield. It's useful at any engagement range and one of the hardest hitting projectile weapons you can equip. A pilot competent with the spitfire is going to be dangerous in most any situation.

The in-game description calls it a semi-automatic, which I guess it could be, but practical usage is you can hold down the trigger and it will continue firing, albeit slowly (about a second per shot), until it is empty. For practical comparison and combo purposes, we're going to categorize this as a continuous fire weapon.

Tip: You may find your accuracy improving if you hold the trigger down and track the target (even during reload). Avoid trying to pull the trigger for each shot.
https://youtu.be/gnR3_xLTnks

GRAD12-M - Weapon

Panel Description:
This missile launcher is great for saturating a small zone with damage. It excels at mid-to-short range, firing bursts with high speed and medium accuracy, delivering explosive splash damage.

Damage: 12 (per rocket)
Magazine Capacity: 12 (Fires in volleys of 4 rockets with each trigger pull.)
Reserve Ammo: 312
Time Between Shots: 0.33s
Full Reload Time: 3.5s
Type: Continuous
Unlock Level: 0

Practical Usage Tips

Just like the description says, the GRAD-12M excels at laying down splash damage across a large area. It's very useful for flushing out cloaked infiltrators and shooting light mechs harassing a heavy mech under foot.

This weapon benefits greatly from the Aim Stabilizer augment, tightening up the spread and making them more effective at slightly longer ranges.

Pulserail-380 - Weapon

Panel Description:
Ideal for close-quarters combat, this energy weapon excels in delivering rapid bursts of damage. It has a high fire rate but sacrifices accuracy and damage per round for speed and volume.

Damage: 2.5 - 5
Magazine Capacity: 45
Reserve Ammo: 540
Time Between Shots: 0.13s
Full Reload Time: 2.5s
Type: Continuous
Unlock Level: 3

Practical Usage Tips

The pulserails are one of the weapons that can dominate close range combat.

The projectiles are easy to keep aimed on target without the targeting reticle which reduces some of the negative effects when hit with an EMP.

The Aim Stabilizer augment drastically increases your damage output and effective range. So much so that it is almost required equipment if you plan to run pulserails. There are scenarios where you might benefit from a different augment, but they're rare. If you can afford to take Aim Stabilizer, do it.

Extended Magazine is another augment that greatly improves the performance of the pulserails by extending the amount of time you can shred your target.

An early level loadout of dual pulserails, Aim Stabilizer, Extended Magazine, and Engine Cooling on an E-Pulse class mech is will dominate in close range combat (technically, the STAG-311 have the fastest time-to-kill, but only when at super close range. If you can get fire on them as they approach, you'll likely win the fight). Keep moving and keep your shots focused on the enemy's cockpit.

GAUS-90 - Weapon

Panel Description:
A semi-automatic rifle that delivers rounds as quickly as you can pull the trigger. It's ideal for mid-to-long range combat, boasting a high fire rate, high accuracy, and moderate damage per round.

Damage: 5-6 (During testing we could not find significant difference in damage between cockpit and non-cockpit shots.)
Magazine Capacity: 20
Reserve Ammo: 320
Time Between Shots: 0.25s
Full Reload Time: 1.5s
Type: Semi-Automatic
Unlock Level: 5

Practical Usage Tips

The description oversells the fire rate a bit. It's very fast, but not actually as fast as you can pull the trigger.

One of the unmentioned perks of the GAUS-90 is that the impact is disorienting. Maybe not as much as the weapons that can completely blind you, but it's a very different, almost panicked feeling when you're getting hit by rapid-fire GAUS-90 rounds.

Many pilots find it's hard to be as accurate as you can be with a continuous fire weapon because each pull of the trigger likely causes your aim to bounce slightly. You'll also tend to wear out your shooting hand faster with all those trigger pulls. Those tightening muscles will also impact your aim.

A common question is "which is better? Spitfires or GAUS?" If you've read this far, by now you should know so many things depend on the situation, and this is no different. Spitfires do more damage and are easier (for most people) to hit what they're aiming at. Gaus is more forgiving when you miss because you can fire more rounds in the same amount of time. So the answer is that they're both really good weapons with similar features. Use them both and figure out which one you tend to do better with.

Reminder: If you plan on using different weapon types at the same time, you'll want to pair the GAUS-90 with another single fire weapon type.

QRTZ Heavy - Weapon

Panel Description:
A powerful rocket launcher that lets you time your attacks with a slow-moving projectile. It operates best at mid-to-short range with semi-automatic fire, a moderate fire rate, high accuracy, and delivers high damage with explosive splash effects.

Damage: 32
Explosive Splash Damage: 0-15 beginning at 25m
Magazine Capacity: 4
Reserve Ammo: 64
Time Between Shots: 0.75s
Full Reload Time: 3s
Type: Continuous
Unlock Level: 7

Practical Usage Tips

The in-game description for the QRTZ (most people pronounce it "Quartz") Heavy is quite accurate. It is the go-to weapon for most people in close quarters combat, especially when there are walls and objects making evasion difficult. It's also a popular choice of Infiltrators that want to do massive damage before their target has a chance to respond. A direct hit does high damage, but even the splash damage from a nearby hit can be deadly to light mechs or groups of mechs moving through a bottleneck.

It's a slow missile making it difficult to hit targets at range or flying targets, especially if they're aware you're shooting at them. You may have better luck aiming at the ground or objects near them and letting the splash damage do the work.

This weapon benefits greatly from the Extended Magazine augment as the difference the 5th missile can make in a 1v1 is huge.

LR-FOS Beam - Weapon

Panel Description:
An energy beam weapon known for its perfect accuracy and sustained damage output. Suitable for mid-to-long range engagements, it continuously deals low but precise damage.

Damage: 0.6 - 1.2 (per pulse)
Magazine Capacity: 200
Reserve Ammo: N/A (Unlimited)
Time Between Pulses: 0.05s
Full Reload Time: 2.5s
Type: Continuous
Unlock Level: 9

Practical Usage Tips

The LR-FOS (often referred to as "FOS" or "Laser") is the only hit-scan weapon. (For those unfamiliar with that term, it means there's no travel time to compensate for. If you're pointed at the target when you pull the trigger, it hits instantly.)

A noteworthy feature of the LR-FOS is that it's an unlimited ammo weapon. You do have a limited amount in your magazine, but you can reload as many times as you like to reset that number. This feature makes the FOS a good choice for loadouts and playstyles where ammo crates will be hard to find.

The damage output is very low, but extremely consistent and easy to keep trained on an enemy. It's also easy to keep hitting your target while recovering from the effects of an EMP.

Many people know the LR-FOS from the annoying "mosquito" type loadouts as they're called. Constant harassing fire from a long way a way that does very little damage while being a massive distraction. While this is a common build, the LR-FOS can be much more damaging in the right pilot's hands. Dual LR-FOS are a straight-forward mid to long range loadout, but the FOS really shines as part of a weapon combo (for continuous types). The FOS acts as a targeting beam that's easy to tell when you're actually on target (compared to the targeting laser for the Howitzer) helping deliver Howitzer or Spitfire or even rockets/missiles with far greater accuracy. You still need to account for the differences in lead time, of course. Plus it does damage the whole time you're tracking the target.

The LR-FOS is also a good counter to light mechs running with a bulkhead shield. It's much easier to tell when you're hitting around the edges and through the viewport. If there's a mosquito shining a laser at you, send them two right back and see what happens.

Finally, a downside to keep in mind (beyond the low damage output) is that when you fire, you are giving away your position. You're also advertising that you have a low damage weapon. If you're going to run the LR-FOS, make sure you're either hard to get to, or have support nearby as you're guaranteed to attract unwanted attention from your enemies.

Super Tip: One of the biggest advantages of the LR-FOS is that it completely blinds the enemy when you're hitting the cockpit. With some practice, you'll be able to keep the enemy blinded anytime they're looking in your direction.

311-STAG - Weapon

Panel Description:
A high-powered shotgun designed for close-quarters combat. It fires semi-automatically with a high rate of fire, delivering mid-damage per shot.

Damage: 5-25 (Damage falls off with range. Max damage is done within 25m.)
Magazine Capacity: 6
Reserve Ammo: 48
Time Between Shots: 0.4s
Full Reload Time: 3s
Type: Semi-Automatic
Unlock Level: 11

Practical Usage Tips

The 311-STAG is a true "game shotgun" as you will do extreme damage up close, but the spread is so wide you'll get barely any damage at all outside of about 50 meters.

When using Slam Fire to it's fullest potential (Autoloader Mark2 and Extended Magazine) AND you're right up against your enemy, the Stags have the quickest Time-To-Kill of all of the weapons.

Where people struggle is in distance control and the approach. You have to get close for them to be effective. Like, uncomfortably close. If you're spotted, there's a very good chance you'll not make it close enough to be effective before you're gunned down. Use the Infiltrator's stealth, mobility augments, or clever maneuvering to get the drop on your enemy.

Tip: If you find you're having trouble getting close enough with the Stags, switch to Pulserails as they will be very effective in that close-but-not-close-enough-for-Stags range.

Intimidator - Weapon

Panel Description:
Designed for suppression, this mid-range weapon builds up speed with automatic, high-volume firepower but trades off accuracy and damage per round for sheer output.

Damage: 1.25 - 2.5 (per round)
Magazine Capacity: 200
Reserve Ammo: 600
Time Between Shots: 0.125s
Full Reload Time: 0.5s
Type: Continuous
Unlock Level: 13

Practical Usage Tips

The Intimidator is your "minigun" or "vulcan cannon" style weapon option and it's so very, very fun to use. It's kind of weak on the damage output (way more so than the in-game description leads you to believe), but the sound and feel of using it makes up for the shortcomings if what you're looking for is fun.

That's not to say it can't be an effective weapon. As long as you're providing secondary, continuous suppressing fire and someone else is delivering the big chunks of damage, it's quite useful. The projectile spread makes it less effective as range increases, but the Aim Stabilizer augment can help with that.

Other downsides to consider are that there is an initial spool-up time where you'll get barely any rate of fire at all until the gun spins up to its maximum. Once it spools up, you get a short period of sustained fire before it begins to overheat (you can tell when the barrels turn orange). While overheated, there will be shots that don't fire and others that spread even farther than normal again reducing its effectiveness. As long as you understand the limitations and work within them, it can be a very effective weapon. Did I mention how fun it is?

In the Apr 2026 update, the spool up and down times were adjusted. It still works as described above, but the tweaks made it a much more viable weapon.

Howitzer-115 - Weapon

Panel Description:
A precision sniper rifle perfect for long-range planning and execution. This slow-to-charge weapon offers high accuracy, extreme damage, and devastating shots at long range.

Damage: 33 - 60
Magazine Capacity: 3
Reserve Ammo: 48
Time Between Shots: 1.5s
Full Reload Time: 5s
Type: Charged
Unlock Level: 15

Practical Usage Tips

The Howitzer-115 (often referred to as "Howies") is your traditional sniper weapon. Single shots, slow to fire, and huge damage when you hit. Your big difference here is it's a charged weapon. You'll need to hold the trigger for about 3 seconds until it fires, during which time you have a purple targeting laser to keep on your enemy.

While the damage output is very high, the tradeoffs are fairly high too. The purple laser means your enemy has about 3 seconds of warning that they are in extreme danger giving them a chance to evade you. It also lets everyone on the battlefield know where you are. And even if you shoot and move, the enemy will be on high alert that you're out there somewhere. Expect to be hunted when people see those beams.

When using the Howitzers you may get more benefit than most out of the 2x Scope augment. The Extended Magazine can also be really helpful as many of your veterans will count your shots so they know when it's save to move from cover and advance. Catching them in the open with an unexpected 4th shot will make them reconsider their choices.

The Aim Stabilizer is also supposed to help. I haven't confirmed it for sure, but the people who use Howitzers the most and whose knowledge I trust say it makes a difference. Not so much in the bullet spread as suggested by the in-game description of the Aim Stabilizer, but in the stillness/stability of the beams when you're aiming.

Beginner Tip: It is very common to hear a new people ask "which is the sniper weapon?". You can hear their visions of destroying targets from across the map while under concealment. That is not going to happen with the Howitzer. As explained above, as soon as that purple beam comes out, you will be hunted and when you're new you're not going to last long. If you're new and you want to be a sniper, use the Spitfires. They don't do as much damage, but they also don't give away your position. You'll have far more opportunities to hit your target and get those kills. The travel time and effective range between the two are very similar. When you find you can reliably hit a target at long range, then it's time to start using Howies.

HUL Cracker - Weapon

Panel Description:
A versatile weapon that allows you to charge launch velocity and time detonation. Effective at mid-to-short range, with moderate accuracy and high damage, causing explosive splash damage.

Damage: 1 - 25 (blast damage falls off along a radius of 25m. Full damage when within about 10m.)
Magazine Capacity: 3
Reserve Ammo: 36
Time Between Shots: Depends on you, but as fast as 1.5s
Full Reload Time: 3.5
Type: Charged
Unlock Level: 17

Practical Usage Tips

The HUL Cracker (and it's spelled HUL, not HULL in multiple places, so that's what I'm going with until I see otherwise) is your grenade launcher option. The really nice part about it is that you get to control when it explode. You pull and hold the trigger to charge up the shot. The longer you hold the farther it goes when you launch it. After a second or two it hits full charge and will launch automatically at maximum velocity, or you can release the trigger early and launch it slower (thus a shorter distance). Once launched, the next trigger pull will detonate it doing damage to anything in about a 25m radius. The maximum damage is done right next to the explosive and falls off rapidly, so get them as close to the target as possible.

The Hul Cracker can be used with the Slam Fire technique. With this one, it's not much faster (and maybe even a little slower), but you never get the long reload period people are waiting for to make their move. Be warned though. If you get them out of sync (which will happen if you accidentally turn one off while holding the reload down), you're gonna have a bad time. Each time you detonate one, the next launches, and so on. You'll mostly end up hurting yourself.

Hul Crackers bounce when they hit things allowing you to bounce them off cover, around corners, and down hallways. If you know your map well, you won't need line of sight to do big damage to an enemy that thought they were safe. The blast is also highly disorienting causing the mech to shake and comes with a blinding flash. Even if you're not close enough to do damage, there's a good chance you're going to flush them out.

Hul Crackers are a fantastic deterrent to light mechs and especially effective against lights carrying bulkhead shields. The damage output is similar to the QRTZ, but since you get to decide when it detonates, you don't need a direct hit on a flying target.

Another area where the Hul Cracker is the exact right tool for the job is when dealing with Guardian shields. It is the only weapon that can go through the shield (the smoke grenade also does, but that doesn't do any damage) so a well placed hul cracker can bring those shields down rapidly.

Tip: A fully charged hul cracker travels at about 100 meters per second. When engaging enemies at ranges where it's tough to gauge when to detonate, ping them and use their distance for the timing. If they're at 400m, launch it, count to 4, then detonate.

Another Tip: The slower the launch speed the larger the arc you get. When the enemy is behind cover, there's a good chance you can lob it up and over, or even roll it across the top and let it fall down on the enemy.
https://youtu.be/VA6lAhQi7jc

Artillery - Weapon

Panel Description:
A support artillery launcher used from a distance, ideally with a spotter's assistance. It provides long-range firepower with high accuracy and large area splash damage. This weapon uses dialable, distance-based, non-reticle aiming achieved with your right thumb stick.

Damage: 1-240 (Damage begins at a 120m radius with max damage being done within 25m. One shot kills on lights within 50m and mediums within 25m.)
Magazine Capacity: 8
Reserve Ammo: 96
Time Between Shots: 1.66s
Full Reload Time:10s
Type: Continuous
Unlock Level: 19

Practical Usage Tips

The artillery delivers massive damage and mass casualties to a large area. It's a great weapon and benefit to the team in the right hands, but more often than not, it ends up killing more teammates than enemies and ensuring a loss for the team.

The artillery platform is so large it can only be mounted on a heavy mech and even then takes up both hardpoints. You won't be able to use multiple weapon types like with other weapon loadouts, which also means you will not have many options for dealing with nearby threats. The reinforcer turrets can help, but they won't be enough to deter a determined attacker for long.

To use the artillery, you select the distance you want the missiles to travel by pushing forward/back on your right thumbstick. The right side of the targeting reticle will show you the launch angle and an estimated range. The tall vertical line is your launch direction. To fire, set your distance, align your reticle, and pull the trigger.

The biggest challenge to using it is the travel time. Depending on range and launch angle, it can take 6 to 12 seconds to get on target. In that time, the battlefield will have shifted significantly and it's likely the target fired at is long gone. To play artillery effectively, you must communicate with your teammates and you have to have enough situational awareness to know where everyone is going to be positioned 12 seconds from the time you launch.

Super Important Tip: DO NOT LAUNCH FROM YOUR SPAWN OR INTO THE ENEMY SPAWN. The community at large doesn't always agree on much, but they're fairly united on this point. If you launch from spawn, all rules of civility and no spawn killing are temporarily suspended and you will be hunted vigorously. (Not saying this is the right approach, but it's what routinely happens, so be ready for it if you're the one that breaks the social contract.)

For a more in-depth look at using Artillery, see this guide specifically on it:
Beginner Artillery - A Guide to Polite and Agreeable Mass Destruction

Weapon Stats Comparison Table

Weapon	Damage	Magazine Capacity	Reserve Ammo	Time Between Shots (S)	Full Reload Time (S)	Fire Type	Notes
Spitfire	10 - 20	8	96	0.8	2.5	Continuous
GRAD-12M	14	12	312	0.33	3.5	Continuous	Fires in bursts of 4 rockets.
Pulserail-380	2.5 - 5	45	540	0.13	2.5	Continuous
GAUS-90	5 - 6	20	320	0.25	1.5	Single-Fire	Testing did not show a difference in damage between cockpit/non-cockpit shots.
QRTZ Heavy	32	4	64	0.75	3	Continuous	Testing shows slightly more damage for a leg shot than a cockpit shot.
LR-FOS BEAM	0.6 - 1.2	200	Unlimited	0.05	2.5	Continuous	Hitscan weapon.
311-STAG	5 - 25	6	48	0.4	3	Single-Fire	Damage seems to fall off with distance. Uncertain if that's because of distance travelled or fewer pellets hitting at distance due to spread. (Common sense would say number of pellets, but in-game testing leans toward distance travelled regardless of pellet hit count. Still working on this one...)
Intimidator	1.25 - 2.5	200	600	0.125	0.5	Continuous	Takes a few seconds to achieve max rate of fire. Begins to overheat around 10 seconds.
HOWITZER-115	33 - 60	3	48	1.5	5	Single Fire / Charged
HUL CRACKER	25	3	36	N/A	3.5	Single-Fire / Charged	Charge time and detonation time are user selected, so a meaningful rate of fire is tough to calculate.
Artillery	1 - 240	3	36	1.66	10	Continuous	Splash damage at the distance sampled: 240@0m / 240@25m / 160@50m / 67@75m / 36@100m. 1@130m. Travel time between 6 and 13 seconds, depending on selected launch angle (longer as angle increases). 15 seconds to adjust aim from minimum of 30 degrees to max of 89 degrees.

[GenericBeard]

Fair enough! I am using the default controls as shown on the image they give you in the proving grounds. I will keep an eye out and try to clarify as I revise. Thanks for the input!

[Tide]

I think the only issue I have with the guide is that you should specify what you're using, so when you provide keybinds it's a lot clearer for people who don't use Quest & are trying to figure out why something isn't working

[GenericBeard]

Yeah, man! Just added those too.

[Shaz]

Seriously amazing job man. This SHOULD be the official Player Guide for the game. Period.

I know you're working on the weapon stats right now, one thing I was going to suggest is if you can give us the rate of fire for each weapon where applicable. Thanks for this amazing work.