Understanding The Basics By Reading Some Weapon And Mech Guides
Start by reading these three guidesFirst - thanks for writing these great guides guys. Top work. These guys did a great job, so I don't need to write anything here, except go and read these. My apology to anyone I missed, these are three I found really useful.
Best Mech for AI in Early Game, IMO
By Zako Mk.II
Yet Another Revamped Weapon Guide
By LittleTex2112
MW5 Main Campaign Progression Guide
By ZoomBeast
If you read them, you will get a lot out of them. You need to know what Mechs are good and which are crap. What weapon setups and combos are good, and how to equip your dumb buddies, the AI, so they will function properly.
Building YOUR Personal Mech - A Few Basics
Blackjack-1X LL X1, ML X7Hero Treb With SRM6 X4, ML X2
Charger-1A1 With LL X2, ML X5Charger-1A1 With LL X4, ML X3
There are two types of Mech in this game - Your Mech and AI MechsThere are Mechs you build to pilot yourself and Mechs you build for the AI to pilot.
You need to be very clear on this. For the Mech you are going to pilot yourself, build whatever suits your style. I recommend having two or three variants of your Mech, suitable for different missions or roles you need to play. Aim for a minimum of 8 good, effective Mechs in your bay. Three for you, and 5 to swap and mix for the AI. If you are short on cash, enable the 'don't strip weapons in cold storage' in YAML and put some in storage - be aware it WILL strip any upgrades.
Be very careful giving one of your Mechs to the AI, you might get unexpected AI behaviour. I keep them as two very separate groups.
Armour, armour, armourYou can't fire that awesome alpha strike if you are dead - so max armour is better than being a glass cannon - regardless of what Mech you are building, always try to have max armour. Even better, why not have more armour than the maximum armour on your Mech, just read on to find out how.
Building YOUR MechMake a style choice - brawler or sniper or mixed - up to you.
If you read the guide 'Best Mech for AI in Early Game, IMO - By Zako Mk.II', you might use a Hunchback-4P as your Mech. Or you can travel to Valentia and use the Wolverine Mk2. I used the Wolverine for a while, the UAC5 is easy to aim, has a big hit and good rate of fire vs what you will meet at this stage in the game.
Personal Mech weapons overviewLarge and Medium lasers - Standard LL and ML is all you really need.
PPC - good damage - harder to hit with - better for the AI IMO - ER PPC not worth the heat
ER lasers - Pulse - SB - not worth it early game
Small laser or MG - no - save the weight for heat or armour or a bigger engine for more speed.
SRMs - hard to manage - most Mechs can't handle more than SRM6 x 2 (or max 3) combined with massed lasers - lasers will do most of the damage and use SRMs as the killer blow to finish a Mech.
LRMs - One 10 or 15 is useful early, to shoot down flyers. Can be variable against tanks.
Putting LRMs in your Mech is not a good tactic because when you get charged by enemy Mechs they can get inside your minimum fire distance and then you have no weapons. Better for the AI to have LRMs.
Strategy 1 - mass lasers (and optional SRMs)I like mass lasers. Sustained damage with a good recycle rate.
Early builds are all ML, or LL x 2, ML for the rest. You want 6 to 9, or whatever Mech you find early.
Hero Trebuchet is a good early find. My early game fave is the Hero Trebby. Use SRM6 x 4, ML x 2. Downsize the engine to 84 kph and up the heat management. Kills lights and even mediums. Another early Mech is the Blackjack-1X, LL x 1, ML x 6.
Blackjack-1X and Hero Trebuchet:
------
Charger-1A1:
Everyone hates the Charger, but you can get one fairly early in the game and fix the design problems.
Strip all the SL weapons and downgrade the engine to core 325 (65 kph). Install ML x7 or LL x2, ML x5 or LL x4, ML x3, depending on having a double heat sink kit, etc.
Why it works - it has massive armour compared to the OpFor at this stage in the game - has a 50+ alpha strike from ML x7 and fast recycle, good heat management, and a massive fist punch.
------
Strategy 2 - mixedJack of all trades - master of none
I am not a fan of the mixed weapons approach. The advantage is situational flexibility and having different weapons to take out different threats. This is ok early game, but I specialise by the mid game.
The disadvantage is too many choices. Do I use the PPC now, or the ML x 3, or the AC 5 or AC 10 against which targets? I like to keep it simple and focus on piloting and identifying the biggest or primary threat and navigating the objectives. Lasers are simple, they are either long or medium range and you just have to keep them on target for the burst duration.
Strategy 3 - ballisticsHigh damage per hit - but have a slow recycle rate
I am not a fan of multiple ballistics in my Mech and only put them in the AI.
This is why.
AC 2 - I find AC 2 really hard to aim and use. Too hard to stay on target long enough to do enough damage, leaving you exposed to return fire for too long. Can be great in an AI Mech because of the AI ability to maintain target lock on and the really fast fire rate.
AC 5 or 10 - Can be good early with ML as backup.
AC 20 - Good if you hit - bad if you miss - short range - too slow refire - I don't use them
Rifles - Heavy might be worth it - all the guides say small and medium are meh.
LBX - up to personal choice - good once you get some high tier ones.
Gauss SB or Single shot - Single shot needs no explanation
I mounted an SB fairly early and used it to cluster shot pesky things like tanks and light Mechs, even VTOLs and Igors at range.
Building Your AI Lance - Keep It Simple
Blackjack-BJ1 With AC2 X2, ML X4Blackjack-BJ1 With PPC X2, ML X2
Centurion-AH With AC10-BF, LRM 10Centurion-A With AC10, LRM 10, ML X2
Jagermech-6S With AC2 X4, ML X2Rifleman-3N With PPC X2, ML X4
Orion-1K With AC5 X1, LRM 10 X2, ML X4Marauder-3R With AC5 X1, PPC X2, ML X2
Building AI lance matesRight from day one, do not equip any SL, MG or SRM in any AI Mech in your lance - they confuse the AI and stop it using the better weapons they have. Remove them if you have to - this is mostly true for the whole game.
Early game AI MechsThe early game is a bit of a grind in low value Mechs. You may be running a Jenner, or Javelin or Firestarter with you in the Centurion. Keep the AI Mechs simple and give them ML x4 and max armour.
The best early game AI Mech is the Goblin Phoenix Hawk. It may be tempting to use it yourself, but I always let Goblin pilot it as an AI Mech and stayed with the Centurion.
The next Mechs I chase are Blackjack and another Centurion because they are common. I aim for a lance of Centurion x2, Goblin and a Blackjack. The blackjack is a specialist AC2 or PPC Mech. Centurions are general purpose. See the examples below.
Blackjacks:
Centurions:
Mid game AI MechsBy now, your personal Mech might be a Hunchback-4P, the Wolverine Mk2, Blackjack-1X, Hero Trebuchet or anything else with good short to mid range hitting power. I use a customised Charger-1A.
At this stage I start chasing a Rileman-3N and a Jagermech-6s for the AI and specialising these two AI Mechs for ballistics and PPCs. The AI does one thing well, so group PPCs or ACs together in one Mech and use ML for the other weapons.
The third AI Mech to chase should be a mutli-role Mech. The Marauder or Orion make good choices for this role at this stage of the game. A mix of LRM, AC or PPC is good.
Rifleman and Jagermech:
Orion and Marauder:
GEAR - Finding And Equipping The Right Gear Gives You OP Mechs
Buying or salvaging gear is a always a trade off between price and function, and rarity. Do I need it now or can I wait? What benefit will it give my Mech? Can I afford it? Will I ever see it again? Can I afford NOT to buy (at any price)? These are the choices we face after every mission or trip to the shop.
This section helps you understand much of the gear available and make choices about what to buy and when.
Gear - Heat managementHeat sinks can also go into Engine Heat Sink slots - a double heat sink can be put into one engine slot instead of using 3 crit slots - saving 2 crit slots!
Heat banks do not give additional cooling - they only increase the heat cap at which a Mech will shut down - the Mech will still need to dissipate this extra stored heat
Thermal transfer duct increases overall cooling by 2.5.% - one in each leg gives 5%
Upper exothermic housing, Cooling jacket, Cooling lines - these all give a heat bonus that applies to the weapons mounted at a specific location.
This table summarises the heat gear I have seen so far. Items in italics are a recommended 'always buy'.
ComponentMounting slotWeightSinkingCoolingHeat modifierSpecial Single heat sink1 crit slot1 ton1.00.1nilnil Double heat sink3 crit slot1 ton2.00.2nilnil Double heat sink (QS)2 crit slot1 ton1.50.15nilnil Double sink KITmain engine slotzero+ 100.2nilnil Double sink KIT (QS)main engine slotzero+ 50.15nilnil Thermal transfer ductupper leg0.5 tonnil+ 2.5%nil- 15% leg structure Upper exothermic housingupper arm1% of Mechnilnil- 5% weaponnil Cooling jacketarm + shoulderzeronilnil- 10% weaponarm weapons Cooling linesarm + shoulderzeronilnil- 10% weaponarm weapons Thermal mass small1 crit slot1 tonnil0.2- 14 heatone off bonus Heat bank I1 crit slot1 tonnilnilnilstores + 5 heat Heat bank II2 crit slot2 tonnilnilnilstores + 10 heat Heat bank III3 crit slot3 tonnilnilnilstores + 15 heat Retrofit support heatsupport slotzeronilnilnil+ 2 heat skill
Gear - Engines, Structure And Armour
Engine typesInstall into Engine Type in the centre torso. Each engine reduces engine weight by a fixed percentage, but take up fixed slots in the left and right torso. For earlier light engine types, a Mech is destroyed if a single torso is destroyed. Keep an eye out for engines that need BOTH torsos destroyed before you die. Always buy these and retrofit Mechs to remove the older (more vulnerable) types. QS engines appear fairly late and are cheaper to buy in stores. This is the most effective weight reduction for a Mech - heavy and assaults get 8 to 13 tons for an XL engine.
This table summarises the gear I have seen so far. All of these are really useful and are a must buy until you have plenty in stock.
ComponentWeight reductionTorso slotsDisadvantage Light engine- 25% engine weight 2 (4)torso death Light prototype- 40% engine weight 2 (4)torso death, no engine heatsinks Light engine (QS)- 15% engine weight 3 (6)torso death XL engine- 50% engine weight 3 (6)torso death XL prototype- 50% engine weight 3 (6)torso death, +20% weapon heat XL engine (QS)- 44% engine weight 4 (8)torso death
Structure and ArmourEndosteel Structure - reduces structure weight of Mech by 50% and takes up slots on the Mech.
Structure (QS) - small weight reduction (0.25 to 1 ton)
Ferro Armour - saves weight, adds more armour per location and takes up slots.
Modular armour - adds a fixed amount of additional armour to a location for a fixed weight cost. Only applies to front armour. Also comes in a 'rear armour' version.
Modular Ferro armour - adds extra armour capacity at a location. You then need the weight available to allocate any more armour to that location.
Hardened Armour - adds double armour at every location for double the weight - manually remove armour to get down to the correct Mech weight
This table summarises the gear I have seen so far. All of these are really useful and are a must buy until you have plenty in stock.
ComponentMounting slotWeight reductionDisadvantage Structure EndoStructure- 50% (up to 5 tons)takes up 14 slots Structure (QS)Structureup to 1 ton- 10% structure Armour FerroArmoursaves 0.5 to 2.8T, increased armour / tontakes up 14 slots Armour Ferro prototypeArmoursaves 0.5 to 2.8T, increased armour / tontakes up 16 slots Hardened ArmourArmournone - doubles Mech armourdoubles armour weight
**Special note** - Modular armour is a game changer Why? - It fixes the "I keep getting my arms blown off and losing my fav Lostech weapon" problem. It also fixes the "my Mech died when my XL engine got torso hit" problem. For me, I always buy every single piece I see. You run out so buy it all the time.
Here is the breakdown - most Medium and Heavy Mechs have about 30 to 45 armour points in the arm. For the cost of 1 ton you can add a MKII module (0.5 ton) to each arm and add 16 points per arm. That is 30% to 50% more armour in each arm! I put it in the arms and torsos of every Mech I build. In an assault Mech I put 4 x MKIII or IV for 85 to 100 armour points in each arm and torso.
ComponentMounting slotWeightArmourConditions Modular armour MK I1 crit slot0.25 ton+ 8added automatically - above location maximum Modular armour MK II1 crit slot0.5 ton+ 16added automatically - above location maximum Modular armour MK III1 crit slot0.75 ton+ 24added automatically - above location maximum Modular armour Mk IV2 crit slot1.0 ton+ 32added automatically - above location maximum Modular Ferro Mk I1 crit slotzero+ 8raises location maximum - need to allocate Modular Ferro Mk II1 crit slotzero+ 16raises location maximum - need to allocate Modular Ferro Mk III2 crit slotzero+ 24raises location maximum - need to allocate Modular Ferro Mk IV2 crit slotzero+ 32raises location maximum - need to allocate
Gear - Weapon Enhancements (WIP)
WIP - watch this space
Things that make your weapons perform better
Gear - Mech Handling (WIP)
WIP - watch this space
Things that make your Mech handle better or faster.
Gear - Sensors And Electronics (WIP)
WIP - watch this space
Things that increase sensor range or targeting.
Pilots - Which Skills Matter (WIP)
WIP - watch this space
Who to buy to get the best pilots long term.
Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3256081722
More MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries guilds
- All Guilds
- A strategic approach to MW5
- MECH WARRIOR 5 MERCENARIES PTBR
- Yosharian's MW5 Music Modding Guide
- some note
- T.Flight HOTAS One with rudder pedals as "gas" and "brake"
- MW5: Mercs Official Manual (Controls and Basics)
- Winwing HOTAS Mapping
- Battle Tactics Guide - revised 500 hours
- MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries Guide 186