Force Building - Part I: Specialist

[Support, Technology]
To be a successful Commander in the Mecha Galaxy you need to have Mechs that is up to snuff.

Some will concentrate on their main formation exclusively, adding new Mechs as they become available or won and selling the older and lighter Mechs.

This approach will give the Commander a strong but narrow force.

In the Clan Tournaments (Squad Wars, Clan Wars and Faction Wars) many of the opponents field specialist formations, and if you don't have Mechs for those formations they are untouchable by the narrow commander, unless they are totally out of formation (oof).

Also, in the King of the Mountain (KotM) circuits, there are many events where the restrictions on what is allowed will leave an narrow Commander out in the cold (Admittedly, in many of those KotM events the number of medal winners who are oof is pretty high)

To have the flexibility needed to fully participate in all events, a Commander needs to have a broader range of Mechs than just the Main force. Question is, what Mechs to acquire and how many of them?

Starting at getting prepared for the current weight specialists in the Wars, (10 tons, 20 tons, 30 tons, 40 tons, 55 tons, 65 tons, 70 tons, 80 tons) we start at the lowest weight class, 10 tons. 

10 Tons Spec

Here the only Mech available is the Red Ant. How many should you get? 

The answer to that is at least as many as you have room for in the formation. 

If you are planning on sticking around for the long haul, getting forty one (41), which is the maximum number that can fit into a formation at the moment, is a good idea. They will start to take a long time to be improved, and having them ready when a bigger base becomes available is almost a must.

As Red Ants are cheap to buy and upgrade, this should not put a to heavy burden on your resources.

20 Tons Spec

The following bracket is 20 tons. Here there are more Mechs to chose from. Staying at the exact tonnage we have the Shocklite, and two Niode Mechs; Axe Bot and Commissar.

Unless your Niode account is close to limitless, the bulk of the Mechs here should be Shocklites.

Some Commanders pick one specialty as their preferred, and get several Niode Mechs in that tonnage. Here would seems the Commissar is the better choice, as it gets additional weapon slots at a faster rate than the Axe Bot. Still, more than a trio is perhaps excessive unless you plan on dominating this weight class. Again it is recommended to acquire 41 Shocklites, but if you have say 1 to 5 Axe Bots and Commissars, the number of Shocklites could be reduced by that amount.

30 Tons Spec

For 30 tons the Crystal Mech of choice is the iMech. There are two 30 tons Niode Mechs here as well; Banshee and Trooper. Both get weapons at the same rate, but until the Trooper gets an upgrade package, the Banshee is the superior of the two.

Although they aren't the best choices as support Mechs. If you have been lucky enough to get a Novum, they are much better than Banshee or Troopers. Also the Commissar (20 Tons) gets weapons faster than both the Banshee and Trooper and could fill in as well.

Again targeting 41 iMechs (minus the number of support Mechs) will be a good investment, and not to expensive.

40 Tons Spec

At 40 tons, the Crystal Mech of choice is the Nifthel. There is a 40 tons Niode Mech as well; the Buccaneer. (Also, you could use any Niode 35 Tons Mech as Orcus and Keradon).  

But if you have been succesful and gotten some Gold medals in the Clan Tournaments and KotMs you will have won some Craftsmen Mechs as well.

The Zadok is a 35 tons Crystal Mech given to winning clans in the Wars (In Division One, Zadok is replaced by the superior Vizi, which is a 45 tons Mech), and the Nephilax is a 40 tons Mech that needs neither Crystal nor Niodes to upgrade, given to winners of the KotMs .

Both of these Mechs (Zadok and Nephilax) are superior to the Nifthel and should be given preference in the formation.

The Buccaneer is not a bad Mech, but it isn't arguable better than the Nephilax in the long run, so you might do without it. If you have some Novums on the other hand, put them in the frontline, they are still superior to the 40 tonners.

How many Nifthels you should get is as you can see a question of what number of other preferred Mechs you have. But 20 or so should cover the needs, provided you win some prize mechs.

55 Tons Spec

Getting to the 55 ton range we have several Mechs to chose from. There is one 55 tons Crystal Mech; the Warg and one 55 ton Niode Mech; the Cindron.

But just below them in weight are some Mechs that might fit in. The Oggun is a Crystal Mech of 50 tons that is quite a brawler, albeit slower and without the weapon focus the Warg have. The Fides is another 50 tonner, Niode Mech, and while it doesn't have the focus a Cindron have, it have boosts to damage in more categories. Again, any Novum you have will do well in the frontline.

The Warg isn't a cheap Mech to have a big force of, and the Oggun isn't much cheaper. If you have some Nephilax they might fill in as well.

But in the end you should probably get at least two dozen Wargs, a dozen or so Ogguns to fill out the ranks might also be warranted. If you get two to three Fides as well, you should be ready to tackle opposing specialists.

65 Tons Spec

The 65 ton specialization is not for those faint of heart. The Crystal Mechs you can use are not our favorites. 

Past the Warg we have gotten the 60 tons Namtar, a strong Mech with good odds at Crit-Kill, but it has a tendency to self-mutilate as keeps a vulnerability built in Kickback.

The Pyrophorus is another 60 tons Mech, Pretty well balanced, dealing high fire damage, and getting weapon modules faster than the other Crystal Mechs.

Then there is the Orester. 65 tons of missile dealing damage, unfortunately it is slow, both when it comes to getting additional weapon modules and firing them at the opponents.

The Niode Mechs to look at are the Smilodon and the Megazome. Both are Machines having a good reputation. Some prefer the Smilodons speed and precision, others set store in the Megazomes dodge and multiples. Both have decent Crit-Kill chances and damage boosts.

The Novum and the Fides will also work here, albeit at less efficiency and survival odds than in the lower tonnages.

But the Crystal Mechs will probably once more be the bulk of the formation.

How many of each Mech you should get is a question of preferences. A possible recommendation could be six Oresters, six Ogguns and two dozens of Pyrophorus for the core of the formation.

70 Tons Spec

70 ton is a big step up from the 65 ton, mostly because the Betrus Processor now can be put into the Mechs. This +10 Precision and +3% Crit-kill Cockpit is perhaps the best piece of Crystal gear ever made.

We have two 70 ton Crystal Mechs; the Krampus is mainly a projectile Mech and the Freon is an ice Mech. Of the two, Krampus is the best one.

At the Niode side of the 70 tonners we find the Inferno (fire and multipliers) and the Spitfire (multipliers, fork and missiles)

The Spitfire gets weapon modules at an accelerated rate, making it a recommended model. One or three of them should be a welcome addition to your forces.

Admittedly both the Freon and the Krampus are expensive Mechs, More so as they need expensive gear, but still, a couple dozens of Krampus and a six pack of Freon is a good investment into future conflicts.

80 Tons Spec

At 80 ton the choice among the Crystal Mechs have grown. We have the 75 tonners, Ammonite and Bishop in addition to the 80 tons Gigus and Ballista. Of these four the Bishop gets weapon modules a 14.3% slower than the others.

On the Niode side we have the 75 tons Sever and Dilophos in addition to a string of 80 tonners: Rook, Skriag, Nakshi and Frigis. The Frigis develops weapon modules 20% faster than the others (acquiring 1 weapon pod every 4 Mech levels instead every 5 as the other mentioned Mechs).

Here the recommendation is to get mostly Ammonites and Ballistas. At least a dozen of each. One of each of the Niode Mechs would be a good investment, or at least 1-3 Frigis. If you have some Spitfires, they would also be a force multiplier, and in a pinch any Smilodons or Megazomes will fight above their weight.


Related Entries



(By Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184)