r/OutreachHPG

The base game, Merc 5 mercenaries, was played years ago. I recently purchased the expansion pack bundle thinking all of the updates would provide enough content to warrent a replay. It was very unclear if the content was installed when I reinstalled the base game.

I started a new campaign and was reminded of how janky the base game was and there was no evidence of new content. This is through 10 minutes of restarting the game. I got cold feet and wanted to return the purchase.

There is no option to return the content. Even though I never played it. It says that if the 2 hr play time, 2 week ownership, or receiving as a gift has been violated then nobody can do anything.

Best I can tell, the base game has 100 hours on it so that in turn means that any content you download cannot be returned.

I will never buy a game from Epic ever again and likely done with any Mechwarrior content.

Question for always in development games.

With the patch buffing the Archer 5S MRMs, I’ve really been enjoying the MRM playstyle. Something about walls of missiles is incredibly satisfying! So now that I’ve skilled out the Archer, I’m looking for any other chassis that have a similar play style with MRMs. Any recommendations?

It seems like it has more armor than the Naga, which would have mattered more prior to the Naga getting a bit of a buff, and... ?

Also what are your thoughts on the balance between the mechs that can use Arrow IV in general? What's best and why? What's worst and why?

Used to be able to stack bodies in Timberwolves but now im mostly dead after like 2 exchanges of fire.

Aside from on specialized mechs like the Jenner or the locust.

Is there anything medium sized thats good with large x pulse lasers? maybe with JJs and a high mount?

that one dragon build with four of them just feels weak and unsatisfying but maybe it’s just the pew pew sound not feeling as cool?

I’ve been so frustrated lately. I shoot at everything with everything I got but it seems to do little meaningful damage. I use 2 Gauss rifles with 3 erlls for one build or even heavier weapons like heavy gausses and railguns. I’ve used MPLs and AC10s on other builds. None of this is exclusive to builds just weapons I’ve used with alphas of 50-66+ just off the top of my head. I hit backs, side torsos, CTs. Nothing seems to faze the enemy but heaven forbid I get sniffed for a second or I lose all of my armor or side torso. I don’t understand. Please help because I love this game but I’m frustrated completely. I’m usually pretty good at positioning in most games but I seem caught a lot too.

My favorite gun, I have a medium and multiple assaults. Looking for heavy candidates.

edit: I am now the proud owner of a second roughneck

I love the archer(gladiator). I have both the tempest and jaime now. And believe it or not, i do not run lrms on either.

I am sticking with the group (PUG). I am jockeying for positioning(s) as best i can. I'm equiping ecm (yes, i know it's not an unvulnerable umbrella) and ams to help everyone around me. But it usually ends up in either a f2f brawl that i just overheat and die in (yes, i know i can override that), or a map that my team just gets sniped to death in.

So, the experience gap is still noticable.

I get it, knowledge is power. I come from other old(er) games where experience beats exuberance every time (Planetside 1&2, WoW, =v= online). You don't just jump in and win.

Enter the new mechs and tactics.... Roughneck Bolt and Marauder(zentradi officer pod) Blight.

Roughneck Bolt: THE BEST VIDEOGAME NPC IN THE GAME. BAR NONE. [Better off Dead ]"Go(shoot) that way, really fast(accurately). If something gets in your way(or shoots back), turn." [/Better off Dead]. 4x ac of some sort and a shit ton of ammo for [Goodfellas] "F U PAY ME" [/Goodfellas] play. Can easily upgrade from there depending on your level of caring.

Marauder Blight: Feel like being a little bit more involved and not dieing because of late drops, lack of teamwork (understandale in PUGs), and same team afk'ers (or even TK'ers)? This is your mech. Can do what the roughneck bolt can do, but better.

So, as a cadet newb, to other cadet newbs, or people that just need to be reminded, instead of getting frustrated, go back to basics and start small. Or, if you prefer, to quote Harry Callahan, "A man's got to know his limitations."
The roughneck bolt (re)taught me to concentrate on the basics. Positioning, aiming, and info. The marauder blight has (re)taught me integration of the above with further simple weapon progression.

If you are new, or are getting burned out, try going back to the basics. It's SUPER easy to get lost in the weeds or stuck in a rut. Build a bare bones basic mech and try again.

It might just surprise you.

Beach party part 2 starts in a few hours so which mechs are you picking up? For me it’s;

Light/med: Belial(love the 260% mrm speed on the archer so want to try it here)

Heavy: Talon(fast and jumpy lovely stuff)

Assault: honestly don’t know maybe the mako just to have a bullshark but very open to suggestions.

Legendary:War emu( got all the others that appeal to me and apparently is very good and tanky + is a stalker)

What are your picks and sell me on an assault pls!

General tips:

Get stuff that you will play (if you don't play it ever then you get zero value from the free mech)

Get stuff that is expensive (a locust pb or fire moth aletha should not be picked because they are dirt cheap. Heavier mechs tend to be more expensive so if you want a pb and a dante, get the dante for free and use lootbag mc on your pb)

Try real loadouts in testing grounds for every mech you are considering before you redeem. You can go to the grimmechs database and copy a build code, then import it into the mechlab and take it into testing grounds.

Take your time deciding. Maybe in a month one of the two mechs you were choosing between goes on sale and you can pick it up for MC and the other one as a redeem. Just don't forget to redeem!

You get one light/medium, one heavy, one assault, and one legend pack (includes all the pack stuff like mc/warhorn/etc)

Here are the mechs I think are worth considering for most people:

Lights/Mediums:

Veagle Rival - masc poptart with great quirks

Shadow Hawk IIC dante - flexible, at least 3 good loadouts. poptart with heat quirks

Black Lanner Bellonarius - essentially a comp pick. you get an energy hardpoint instead of ecm in head. good though.

Viper Scaleshot - poptart with srms that have longer than usual range

Shadow Cat mishipeshu - for the right arm, you get an extra ballistic hardpoint

Uziel Belial - 4lppc 2mrm10 poptart with hyperspeed mrms. very fun.

BlackJack Arrow - DPS or poptart, either is great.

Urbanmech Street cleaner - urbie poptart, running speed quirk

Jenner Oxide - srm bomb, doesn't jump, still good and pretty tanky for a light

Kit Fox Purifier - 4 high energy mounts opens up a lot of build options for the mech.

Heavies:

Marauder Blight (lgd) (dakka) - crit immune with good quirks and hitboxes. A top performer in QP

Marauder BH2 (snubs ac20 + slas or lasvom) - Versatile mech, very solid.

Mad Dog Bandit (2uac20) - One trick but it's a really good trick.

Orion IIC Skoll (3ppc lb20/ac10) - Masc + good PPFLD at range and bulk.

Grand Summoner Talon (fast dakka 4pac4 2plas) - high tight mounts, supercharger lets it go relatively fast.

Timber Wolf Howl (lgd) (brawl or ATMs) - Versatile battlemech (NOT omni - no pod mixing) with masc, jjs, good hardpoints, good quirks.

Archer Tempest (lasvom with ecm and range quirks) - Bit of a sleeper IMO. Great new quirks and it was good before.

Quickdraw Desperada (lgd) laser poptart - Built like a steakhouse but handles like a bistro. Short laser burns are perfect for poptarting, and quirks help.

Cataphract Naomi (lgd) poptart with ecm - the better butterbee. ECM, JJs, you can do MRMs and lppcs, MRMs snubs, snubs srms, lasvom, even lock ons.

Catapult Ferroblast (lgd) (4lac5 2lppc or snubshot) - There is no faster heavy in the game. Very fun, but you do have to pick your battles because you'll lose 1v1s against things your size.

Assaults:

DWF-UV (enables dakka builds on -WM especially) - 2B on each arm is a big deal. Enables 8lb2/8ac2/5 or 6AC5+PPC of choice style builds on the -WM (for DPS) or -C (for ecm+JJ)

HGN-HM (no jj shake, big jj quirks) - very unique and good poptart for QP. Convergence is poor but genuinely it is fine. Great mech.

STK-WU (lgd) (dakka) - crit immune with great hitboxes and plenty of firepower.

EXE-B-C (lgd) (dakka) - Another dakka option, shares omnipods with other exes but with fewer JJs and a small engine it is built for dakka.

KGC-A (lgd) (ecm dakka) - UAC10 HSL and ECM makes it the most comfortable king crab in QP.

Bullshark VK (ideally get this in the legend pack and you'll also get -WG as a 2 for 1) - VK is still the best platform for railgun. Perfect convergence long range 40 PPFLD + splash but long cooldown. Bring 2PPCs with it and stagger fire (it will ghost otherwise) for even more output.

https://preview.redd.it/gmiok14gec9h1.png?width=1919&format=png&auto=webp&s=0d71b04b49b0aeb316e5f7a76a20b662b7f90757