Tip of the Day

[Curtis Cook]

This may be the most useless tip you ever heard, but it's worked twice for me:

If you're short on pilots who can sensor lock to break through ECM, use artillery. You don't need to be able to target to fire a Thumper (preferred) or Mortar, you just need to be within range. The area of effect template nicely covers everything within jamming range of the jammer, so often you'll be able to hit everything in the OpFor every time you fire.

In my threat level 10 (5 skull) lance I have two Bullsharks with two-shot Thumpers. I can tell you that four Thumper rounds will kill an unmodified Cataphract… while simultaneously killing most of the mechs it's trying to protect.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Looking forward to tomorrow’s Tip of the Day!

And trying to come up with a few myself :bow:

 

[Curtis Cook]

Looking forward to tomorrow’s Tip of the Day!

Well, I set myself up for that one! I wasn't actually expecting to post many more of these, so I guess today's will be a question:

Who has found a use for the master ability Coolant Vent? It took me literally years to get good at using Sensor Lock*, but I have never recognized a situation in which using Coolant Vent was superior to just bracing. Now that I'm thinking about it, I could try Archangel (Multishot, Bulwark, Coolant Vent) in my Archer in a bad heat sinking environment, as that Archer is the only mech I have that takes multiple rounds to cool off.

* = In my experience Sensor Lock's best use is defeating ECM. Every once in a while it can be useful for shooting at a target beyond a hill (or building in an urban environment), but using it to degrade a target's chance to hit or improve my own is just a waste. I see the OpFor do it all the time (usually with units that have lrms, which should be the ones taking advantage of the lock rather than being the ones applying it), and in nearly every case they'd be better off taking a shot instead, since shooting at a target also improves the chance to hit for later mechs in the turn (though not as much) and additionally can do damage itself.

 

[MarkDey]

Well, I set myself up for that one! I wasn't actually expecting to post many more of these, so I guess today's will be a question:

The thread could be renamed to Tip of Today if you want

Who has found a use for the master ability Coolant Vent?

I've found it useful when launching an alpha strike to expand my heat budget, but it's generally not something I choose.

 

[Panzer-Killer]

Well, I set myself up for that one! I wasn't actually expecting to post many more of these, so I guess today's will be a question:

Who has found a use for the master ability Coolant Vent? It took me literally years to get good at using Sensor Lock*, but I have never recognized a situation in which using Coolant Vent was superior to just bracing. Now that I'm thinking about it, I could try Archangel (Multishot, Bulwark, Coolant Vent) in my Archer in a bad heat sinking environment, as that Archer is the only mech I have that takes multiple rounds to cool off.

* = In my experience Sensor Lock's best use is defeating ECM. Every once in a while it can be useful for shooting at a target beyond a hill (or building in an urban environment), but using it to degrade a target's chance to hit or improve my own is just a waste. I see the OpFor do it all the time (usually with units that have lrms, which should be the ones taking advantage of the lock rather than being the ones applying it), and in nearly every case they'd be better off taking a shot instead, since shooting at a target also improves the chance to hit for later mechs in the turn (though not as much) and additionally can do damage itself.

IMHO the best use of a Gladiator Master MechWariror is combined with a very high Alpha Strike Damage with a huge buildup, like a top class laser boat (Warhammer, Black Knight or Grasshopper) or Missile Boat (lsuch as a 4x LRM20 Bull Shark BSK-M3), as it would allow them a couple of alfa strike before needing to retreat and cool down their Mech. At least, this is how I always use them

 

[Doctor Machete]

I can tell you that four Thumper rounds will kill an unmodified Cataphract… while simultaneously killing most of the mechs it's trying to protect.

Neither of both things are close to be a guarantee. Dealing 10-50 damage the thumper and mortar are extremely unreliable.

I've found it useful when launching an alpha strike to expand my heat budget, but it's generally not something I choose.

The net cooling over four rounds is very poor for a lvl-8 skill, only 6.5 cooling per round. IMO the best use case is in very light mechs that don't have much room for other types of cooling and rely on hit & run tactics, although then Ace Pilot might be superior.

IMHO the best use of a Gladiator Master MechWariror is combined with a very high Alpha Strike Damage with a huge buildup, like a top class laser boat (Warhammer, Black Knight or Grasshopper) or Missile Boat (lsuch as a 4x LRM20 Bull Shark BSK-M3), as it would allow them a couple of alfa strike before needing to retreat and cool down their Mech. At least, this is how I always use them

Those laser boats would benefit a LOT more from (perhaps) slightly lower alpha damage and then having Ace Pilot instead. And I say "perhaps" because due to Ace Pilot you should be able to pack the same firepower plus better cooling, subtracting from armor instead.

And a BSK would benefit a LOT more from having a 75 missile count and Master Tactician instead. Or (again) just take it on the armor and add two regular HS or one DHS.

 

[Curtis Cook]

Neither of both things are close to be a guarantee. Dealing 10-50 damage the thumper and mortar are extremely unreliable.

Four of them is 40-200 points of damage to every location (except Head). If a location is destroyed it continues to generate damage from each subsequent artillery round, directing all of it to the next location in towards center torso. Twice four rounds have wiped out a 'cloaked' Cataphract and either two or three other mechs from that lance (all heavier than the Cataphract). When you fire more rounds the luck tends to even out.

I've pulled the same 'artillery barrage' twice during the Bounty Hunter/Black Widow scenario, and each time killed five mechs with it. Admittedly this isn't an apples-to-apples comparison as the BH and the Widow were simultaneously pounding on each other.

 

[Curtis Cook]

Since it's a new day, today's tip is that Called Shots have many uses. I'm currently trying to run a pirate unit (for the second time; the first ended in karmic disaster) and have discovered that it's sometimes more useful to 'waste' a Called Shot by a weak mech, just to delay the OpFor mech from acting until a more formidable mech can get its shot off, even though it doesn't leave enough points for the 'better' mech to pull its own Called Shot.

Until now I've tended to save the Called Shot to use with the mech that delivers the most damage, but waiting for their action to come up often means allowing a dangerous OpFor mech to get its shot off first, and at the beginning of a campaign/career that can be a huge mistake.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

These are all great tactics and suggestions to use in BATTLETECH.

While some are no doubt for single player playthroughs, others are of prime use in BATTLETECH tournaments like this year’s Valhalla tournament: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/valhalla-a-tournament-of-champions.1623315/

Eck, one of our HBS Developers will be joining us for this year’s tournament. It kicks off in just five days. And will surely be some BATTLETECH gaming to remember! And remember the only gaming requirement is but to schedule and complete on game per week, in this double elimination tournament.

Maybe we can keep this “Tip of the Day” thread found throughout this run up to the tournament?

To that end, I offer the following on Competitive Level Play:

Always take Arclight in a Light Mech. If you do, and you aggressively push to find your opponent, and do so first, you’ll have seized initiative and can force your opponent to make the first move during each turn.

You’ll have to be careful not to cede initiative back to your opponent by taking by taking turns earlier than your opponent in a given round. But depending on the opportunities presented, even that choice may turn to your advantage as eventually doing so might give you the chance to remove one of their Mechs from the board.


If anyone has any questions, just let me know.

Have a great day, and ever better tomorrows.

I hope to see you at the tournament. :bow:

 

[Curtis Cook]

I recently had a situation in which I achieved the scenario goals, but was unable withdraw because the pickup point was on the other side of the OpFor's third wave and I was already badly beaten up.

Today I foresaw the same thing happening and took advantage of it. This was a 3 skull convoy attack mission that I undertook using a 2 skull force, because I'm getting desperate to up my reputation with some clients. I negotiated it from a +8 to a +10, then kept firmly in mind the option of withdrawing before eliminating the escorts.

I was a little surprised by the map, which is one I always have trouble on (the convoy vehicles run down a sunken road which makes it very difficult to target them without throwing your shooters out into the open), but I felt good because I had been warned I might be facing two lances of escorts, and I'd never seen a second set of escorts on that map.

Until tonight. I managed to kill the convoy vehicles more quickly than usual, but had only eliminated the weakest of the initial escorts when the second group showed up. When the final vehicle went up, I looked around for my pickup point, and of course it was on the other side of both waves of escorts. (In fact, I was surprised again by the location because I thought that spot was beyond the boundary.) I made the mental calculation that even without the second escort group I'd have to be shot full of luck to avoid losing my Shadow Hawk, but with it there was no way to evacuate… so I withdrew again.

This time I kept track of the exact results of withdrawing. I don't know what effect it had on my MRB rating, but I got 1/3 of the money I negotiated for, none of the salvage, 1/3 of the experience points, and 1/2 of the relationship bump. I also only got half of the relationship malus I was expecting with the OpFor, and I was satisfied with that.

So today's tip is to keep withdrawing in mind as a tactic. As a campaign (actually career) move it came out to be a net plus this time; for an individual mission it's more likely to be a failure. It probably falls into the same category as punching out. The loss of a mech makes you weaker in that fight, but saving the pilot (and most of the mech) makes you stronger in the campaign/career.

 

[Shark7]

Little tip of my own for convoy ambushes:

To prevent getting over-whelmed by enemy forces, always try to take out the escorting mechs first. That way you never face more than 2 to 1 odds.

Also, if the convoy has a particularly nasty vehicle (LRM Carriers are the bane of my existence), target it to get rid of it then take out the escorting mechs. Certain vehicles can do more damage to your force than the escorts can and it really is in your interest to remove one of those particular units from the field quickly.

 

[Eximar]

Good to see someone post.

I was thinking the slime green they randomly changed the forum to had caused everyone to hit the eject button.

 

[Shark7]

Good to see someone post.

I was thinking the slime green they randomly changed the forum to had caused everyone to hit the eject button.

It has been a bit slow around here of late, for sure.

I'm still playing the game regularly, just not stopping by forums as much these days.