Take command of your own mercenary outfit of ‘Mechs and the MechWarriors that pilot them, struggling to stay afloat as you find yourself drawn into a brutal interstellar civil war.
Tips in the Battlefield
1- Focus Fire on a single enemy mech. Removing sources of damage as fast as possible will compound over time. At late game, due to the commonality of Reinforcements you will most certainly be Outnumbered. Focus Firing will make sure that your mechs will last while each mech of the enemy will only survive the least amount of time. Simple battles will turn to battles of attrition and reducing the amount of time that enemy mechs are alive will be the only way to win.
2- If you will most certainly miss or are too far, don’t waste your turn attacking, especially with a single LRM5 attack, sprint or jump to get to a better position first.
3- If you’re at a good spot and have Bulwark. Don’t move then attack, just attack then stay put. Bulwark will only work if you do not move before attacking. You can still change the direction you are facing without losing the Bulwark Buff, just remember not to change the tile your mech is on.
4- Watch the terrain, Cover and Water are your friends, Cover provide 25% damage reduction in case you do not have Guarded in the current turn. Water adds heat efficiency. Always try to get to them then stay put. With Bulwark and in Water you will be able to consistently output damage with less heat worry. During initial contact ie. trying to get to the Optimal range, aim to jump to cover so that you will still be protected without Bulwark. Do not leave cover without having the ability to use 2 succeeding turns so that Bulwark will be active when the enemy’s turn comes up.
5- If you’re already in range or close enough to attack, attacking is usually the right decision. If you play too defensively, it will just make the fight longer and enable more enemies to deal damage to your lance. Aim to remove 1 source of damage at least in each turn. If you have the leeway to be aggressive, do so. Maximize your armor use, don’t aim to have no damage dealt to you, rather aim to end the battle as quick as possible without suffering structure damage.
6- The enemy AI will focus fire your mechs, especially if one of your Pilot suffered a few injuries, or there’s exposed structure, or the mech is the lightest in the lance. If you don’t intend this mech to be in a tank role, the best thing to do in this scenario is to have that mech break Line-of-sight of every enemy. Next best thing is get to cover then Brace. Lastly just sprint away or just brace for incoming damage. Breaking Line-of-sight will most likely make the enemy change targets.
7- Keep your mechs from being Knocked Down. Because of the enemy AI’s ability to focus fire even when disregarding its own safety, a downed teammate is almost a death sentence, best case scenario is losing only a few parts. If you have enough Piloting stats and because the enemy only ever uses stock mechs, it is almost impossible to be knocked down at a single turn. If you find your mechs at more than 3 bars of stability damage, consider bracing rather than attacking since it will also remove ALL stability damage. In the long run, bracing in this situation will give you more advantage than an all out attack.
Do not forget to use your Morale skills
1- Vigilance gives the equivalent of Bracing but is a free action which allows you to sprint or attack while still being able to remove ALL Stability damage and reduce incoming damage by 50%. It will also bump your initiative temporarily to +1 higher, this is especially useful on fights with the same initiative bracket ie. Assault vs Assault. In most cases this can be used to save a heavily damaged team member and allow them to take cover or break Line-of-sight before the enemy can do a finishing shot.
2- Precision Shot adds 20% flat hit chance on top of being able to do a Called Shot without needing a Knockdown or a Shutdown, this is mostly useful in farming mechs. A significant amount of Morale is generated in each kill, if you are able to get a kill in a turn, might as well use Precision Shot to guarantee it. If you are not particularly interested in salvage, a Precision Shot to the Center Torso with Called Shot Mastery will have a high chance of destroying a mech outright.
It’s end. I hope “Battletech: Tips in the Battlefield” helps you. Feel free to contribute the topic. If you have also comments or suggestions, comment us.