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Mech Efficiencies Explained


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#1 Darwins Dog

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Posted 06 June 2013 - 11:38 AM

I have seen this question come up many times, so I thought I would present a thorough and detailed explanation of how the mech efficiency system works. If people find this useful, hopefully it can become a sticky topic. Feuerfuss has kindly translated this guide to German for our friends in Deutschland.

Throughout this explanation I use examples of what I am talking about. They are in the spoiler tabs. If the initial explanation doesn't make sense, check the example.

First some terminology that I will use throughout:
-Weight Class: Light, Medium, Heavy, or Assault
-Chassis: The generic type of the mech. Centurion, Atlas, Commando, etc. This is the part of the designation before the hyphen as well. CN9, AS7, COM, etc.
-Variant: The specific model of a chassis. This is the part of the designation after the hyphen CN9-A, AS7-D, COM-2D. Note that there are several special releases of many mechs, such as the champion mechs (e.g. AS7-RS(c), etc.), founder's mechs (e.g. CPLT-C1(F)), phoenix mechs (e.g. LCT-1V(P)), clan invason mechs (e.g. TBR-Prime (I)), and more all the time that are considered to be the same variant as their non-champion/founders/etc. counterparts.
For clan mechs the variant is defined by the center torso omnipod. The center torso used determines where the experience points are awarded.

The pilot lab has three tiers of efficiencies for each mech: Basic, Elite, and Master.

You must own a mech in order to unlock the efficiencies, but you can gain experience by piloting either a trial mech or one that you own. You will get to keep the experience that you’ve earned, but you will not be able to apply it to any of the efficiencies until you actually purchase that variant. If you sell a mech you will keep all of your experience and unlocked efficiencies for it, should you choose to buy it again later. If you buy a second mech of the same variant as one you already have then the experience and skills will apply to both.

The XP that you earn is specific to the variant that you were piloting when you earned it, and can only be applied to the efficiencies of that variant. Any GXP that you earn can be applied to any variant of any chassis, however GXP is the only way to unlock pilot skills (modules) so it is better to save it for that instead. Once you unlock the master efficiency for any variant you will continue to earn XP for that variant (as well as GXP). The only thing that you can do with the accumulated XP is to spend MC to convert it to GXP.

The eight basic efficiencies are available for every variant as soon as you purchase it. You can unlock them in any order, and plenty has been written about which ones you should prioritize.
Spoiler

Once you have all eight basic efficiencies you will notice that the elite efficiencies are still locked. You will need to own three variants of that chassis, and earn all of the basic efficiencies for those in order to unlock the elite efficiencies.
Spoiler

Once all four elite efficiencies have been unlocked on one variant the effects of the basic skills for that variant are doubled. This is a very nice bonus that is reason enough to earn the elite skills (which are very good on their own).

In order to move past the elite efficiencies to get the master efficiency, you must first complete the elite level of three variants within the same weight class (note that they don’t have to be of the same chassis; this will be important later). Unlocking the master efficiency does not double the elite efficiencies. The tech type of the mechs (clan versus inner sphere) does not matter, only the weight class.
Spoiler

If you were to purchase a mech of a different weight class, you would have to do the same procedure all over again. Earn the basic efficiencies for three variants of the same chassis in order to unlock elite. Earn the elite efficiencies for three variants within the same weight class in order to unlock master.
Spoiler

If you purchase a new chassis of the same weight class as a chassis for which you have three variants with all of their elite skills you will have less work to do in order to reach master level. You will still need to buy three variants of that chassis and earn all of the basic skills. Once you have done that, however, you only need to earn the elite efficiencies for the ones that you intend to take to master level (because you already have three variants within that weight class with their elite skills). Remember that this works no matter whether they are clan or inner sphere mechs. Only the weight class needs to match.
Spoiler

It may seem confusing at first, but I hope this guide will help some of you. If you have any feedback or critiques I would be happy to hear them.

My thanks to scJazz and Padric for their contributions in another thread that led to this guide.
EDITS
Spoiler

Edited by Darwins Dog, 21 December 2015 - 05:34 AM.


#2 scJazz

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Posted 06 June 2013 - 11:52 AM

NEVERMIND! Post and Sticky this as is... perhaps with... Padric and I as co-contributors or not I don't care!

Edited by scJazz, 06 June 2013 - 12:35 PM.


#3 Hammerfinn

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Posted 06 June 2013 - 12:36 PM

This should definitely be stickied. Best explanation I've seen of how this works.

#4 Darwins Dog

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Posted 06 June 2013 - 02:15 PM

View PostscJazz, on 06 June 2013 - 11:52 AM, said:

NEVERMIND! Post and Sticky this as is... perhaps with... Padric and I as co-contributors or not I don't care!

You're absolutely right. Credit where credit is due. :)

#5 Dashwood Fox

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Posted 07 June 2013 - 10:14 AM

Good explanation. This should be stickied.

#6 scJazz

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Posted 07 June 2013 - 11:09 AM

Yeah apparently there was kinda sorta another thread which some founder wrote over in Guides... it just got Necro'd. I couldn't be bothered to read the whole thing on account of...

Why Necro a dead thread, rather than u know... sticky a perfect thread explanation!

Niko Snow! Sticky this one or move and Sticky to Guides!

#7 scJazz

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Posted 08 June 2013 - 04:33 PM

Bumping for visibility since the question is being asked yet again.

#8 FERAL TIGER

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Posted 08 June 2013 - 11:47 PM

Beautiful! I didn't know you could double the basic skills efficiency. This makes the chase that much more exciting!

#9 Hammerfinn

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Posted 09 June 2013 - 01:30 AM

Seriously, let's just sticky this.

#10 scJazz

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Posted 09 June 2013 - 04:21 AM

View PostHammerfinn, on 09 June 2013 - 01:30 AM, said:

Seriously, let's just sticky this.

srsly

#11 Darwins Dog

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Posted 09 June 2013 - 06:05 AM

Thanks for the support and the likes. Remember that a thread needs to have likes, enough comments for a star and needs to be reported to be pinned.

#12 scJazz

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Posted 09 June 2013 - 06:26 AM

Reporting for PIN is bad... it says so on the report form!

#13 BootHands

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Posted 09 June 2013 - 07:29 AM

Two questions:

Do I get anything for raising a mech to "Master" other than the extra module slot?

Do I get anything for raising three mech's of the same variant (in my case it'll be three spiders) to master?

#14 Darwins Dog

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Posted 09 June 2013 - 08:40 AM

View PostBootHands, on 09 June 2013 - 07:29 AM, said:

Two questions:

Do I get anything for raising a mech to "Master" other than the extra module slot?

Do I get anything for raising three mech's of the same variant (in my case it'll be three spiders) to master?

Unfortunately no, and no. I would love it if the elite skills doubled, but they do not.

View PostscJazz, on 09 June 2013 - 06:26 AM, said:

Reporting for PIN is bad... it says so on the report form!

It says in the new pinning guidelines that they won't pin a topic without it. They probably just haven't changed the report screen.

#15 scJazz

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Posted 10 June 2013 - 10:18 AM

View PostDarwins Dog, on 09 June 2013 - 08:40 AM, said:

Unfortunately no, and no. I would love it if the elite skills doubled, but they do not.


It says in the new pinning guidelines that they won't pin a topic without it. They probably just haven't changed the report screen.


Button pushed... also accidental bump on thread :( ... imagine that someone else is wondering about this subject today.

#16 M1ster1

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Posted 10 June 2013 - 02:45 PM

Yeah, Thanks very much for this explanation. Also very good examples! It was especially useful for me as a relatively new player.

Greetz,
M1ster1

#17 scJazz

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Posted 12 June 2013 - 05:02 AM

Question asked again today bumping again today

#18 Darwins Dog

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Posted 17 June 2013 - 10:01 AM

Added a bit about earning XP, so I figured this would be a good time for a bump.

#19 Adran

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Posted 13 July 2013 - 07:52 PM

bump, because i'm sure this is still needed.

#20 copaceticsmokey

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Posted 13 July 2013 - 08:28 PM

bump...sticky





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