9 replies to this topic

[Starkad10]

Hey.
I got a few questions on XP and skills for mechs. Here's my story and situation:
I got a Raven 4X mech and a Cataphract 2X. I got all the basic skills for my Cataphract, but still needs some for my Raven. Now, my questions:
1. To get veteran skills, do I really need two Cataphract more, in different variants, skill them up, before I can get veteran skills for my 2X?
2. Is my XP for my X2 absolutely useless now unless I want to skill up two more cataphracts or unless I want to use money to convert it into GXP?

If that is so, then, to be honest, I think that sucks a bit. Mostly the part I can't level up a mech without getting two more mechs of same class. First of all, my current cataphract is a nice mech, which I customized and all, used alot of c-bills on that. I considered changing the engine, but now that I need two new cataphract and a XL engine cost just above 4 mill, that is waste of time and money. To buy a new Cataphract I need somewhere between 5,2 and 5,9 mill c-bills. From my old I can get almost 1,5 mill and additional 1,5 if I sell all equipment as well. My Raven gives less than a mill. A match gives me 50.000-60.000 for a lose, and a win gives 110.000 to 150.000, typical.
So, buttom line, it would take ages to get the money, unless I sell my current mechs, which dosen't nearly give me enough. But worst of all, even though I really like this game, it would bore me to death, playing the same class of mech for so long time, for so little. Living a life beside this game, I couldn't get veteran skills on any mech if I wanted to try other classes as well.

Am I missing something here, or am I right about how it goes?
Thanks!

[Ranulf Magnusson]

Nice to see that Im not alone. Same situation, even same mec. ok, Im still saving for the cata...

*waiting for answers*

[Xiang]

Hi Starkad10,

The short answer is yes, but I will try to give you some extra info, and im sure many others will as well.

When you first start playing, it seems like it will take forever, but things do get faster as you go along. So bare with the game and give it a chance. So now on to some explaining:

In order to gain the elite level skills, yes, you need to complete 8/8 basic skills in 3 variants of the same mech. Once this is done, you can start working on the elite skills. Once you have completed 3 mechs of the same weight class as elites, you unlock master for that weight class. So what does this mean? Well, if you are enjoying your Phract 2x, then do not sell it. As you have noted, you dont get much money. The good thing is, you can share your expensive engine in new builds, you dont HAVE to own 2 or 3 engines.

How do you do this with only 4 mech bays? Well, it can be done, but it is time consuming and expensive. Mech bays that are purchased with MC (real money) are one of the best priced items the game currently offers (300 MC). So for $15 US, you can buy 10 extra mech bays. Now if you have been playing this game for a few months (or when you get to that point) and you are enjoying it, is it really too much to pay, considering if this was a game you bought in a store it would have cost upwards of $60?

OK, back to basics. You have a raven and cataphract, so you will be limited to start with. i would suggest that you pick one or the other to start working on first, because you will need the 2 open mech bays you have to do 1 mech to elite. Finish your basic skills 8/8 in your mech, and play around for a while and before you know it, you will have saved up the 5-6 million c-bills you need for your next mech. Many players can earn 1 million c-bills in 1-2 hours play time (faster if you have bonuses).

Now you will need to buy the next mech in line, which will leave you only 1 open mech bay. Use your engine and anything else you can from your first mech to make it cheaper to twink out your new mech. Just remember, that upgrades (endo-steel, ferro fibrous armor, double heat sinks and artemis) cost money to upgrade or downgrade and cannot be shared between mechs, so be careful with these.

Once again, play this mech, get to 8/8 basic and you should be close to having enough money for mech 3. Save up and buy #3. Again, use what you have. Play this mech to 8/8 basic and you will have unlocked elite for all 3 mechs. This is where it gets tough unless you buy more mech bays. You can choose to continue playing these 3 mechs and finish completing the elite skills (recommended) or you can sell the 2 mechs that you like least (make sure you strip off all equipment and save it - sell only the chasis), and then you can start doing the same thing with your other mech of choice.

I would suggest that you complete elite in the 3 mechs you have first, so that any other mech in that weight class you will not need to completely elite if you only want to keep 1 version, it will save you a lot of time earning xp, plus the extra money you earn while earning the elite xp doesnt hurt.

edit: also having the elite skills gives you a 2x bonus to your unlocked basic skills, so instead of 7.5% increase, it is 15% or instead of a 10%, it is 20%. So definately worth getting elite level!

There is much more to this process, but this should get you started.

Welcome to the game and have fun...dont stress, just enjoy what you are doing and it wont feel like a grind or like work.

Xiang

ps - if you use teamspeak, it really helps finding people to group with and talk about things so you can learn. Look me up on either the NGNG or Comstar NA teamspeak channels if you use them.

more edits for spelling and grammar, i was trying to get this out fast for you....LOL

Edited by Xiang, 25 February 2013 - 01:54 AM.

[Tincan Nightmare]

Makes you wonder what will happen with Omnimechs? Since they only have a single chassis and loadout is determined by filling pod space does that mean you can go to master status with a single mech?

[rangecard]

Silly question related to elite skill levels... Is it necessary to have all three base mechs in your inventory when you go to buy elite skills, or is it enough to have unlocked them at some point?

[Cycleboy]

rangecard, on 25 February 2013 - 05:34 AM, said:

Silly question related to elite skill levels... Is it necessary to have all three base mechs in your inventory when you go to buy elite skills, or is it enough to have unlocked them at some point?

You can just have 8/8 basic unlocked.

[churchofjt]

Thanks, Xiang for the extended answer. So many answers for questions that newbies may ask have been way too brief for my taste.

[Fiachdubh]

Tincan Nightmare, on 25 February 2013 - 02:06 AM, said:

Makes you wonder what will happen with Omnimechs? Since they only have a single chassis and loadout is determined by filling pod space does that mean you can go to master status with a single mech?

Good question.

Maybe since Clan mechs are obscenely expensive in comparison with IS mechs you buy the chassis once and then you can buy a variant package for each different variant
For example you pay 80 million cbills for a Summoner Prime. You can then buy the Variant C package for say 15 million cbills.
This way the Clan mechs are still expensive enough to make the IS mechs a viable alternative but you do not have to pay out for a whole new mech just the weapons and equipment packages for the variants. Also be handy for saving mech bays! Then proceed to gain skills for each variant. Actually they would probably need to rework the skill tree to make this work but they have said will be personalizing skill trees to different mechs anyway.

Just a thought.

Maybe PGI would like to steal it and reward me with a shiny founders Summoner in return? No? Aww..

Edited by Fiachdubh, 25 February 2013 - 06:35 PM.

[p4r4g0n]

rangecard, on 25 February 2013 - 05:34 AM, said:

Silly question related to elite skill levels... Is it necessary to have all three base mechs in your inventory when you go to buy elite skills, or is it enough to have unlocked them at some point?

In order to get ANY efficiencies, you MUST have the variant in your mech bay.

Example: You have the basic efficiencies for Raven 4X, 2X and 3L and you have also stockpiled 21,500 XP for each variant while grinding basic. You no longer own any variant but the 3L.

You will be able to get the elite efficiencies for the 3L since you have the basic efficiencies for 3 variants of the Raven BUT you will NOT be able to get the elite efficiencies for the 2X and 4X until you repurchase them.

It is quite possible to manage this process even with just 4 mech bays but it requires planning to minimize C-Bills needed and limits you to just 1 fully mastered mech to play with while you are working on other mechs. I managed to master at least 1 mech in every class with just 4 bays and it has now become a lot easier to master others.

However, please note that this is more of a grind compared to having say 8 - 10 bays as you will definitely need to repurchase mechs at some point.

[Starkad10]

Alright, many thanks for the answers.
It's going to take a hella lot of time, but might as well get starting!