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[MustrumRidcully]

Let's say the game stays as it is, but you are getting the task of giving players custom designed Trial Mechs. The goal should be to help them ease up playing the game. What would you suggest?

Here are my ideas:

First off, the implication here - by going from LIght to Assault, the player learns more and more about how mechs work and how to operate a mech and its weapons.

These mechs aren't 100 % optimized, though I tried to ensure that they were not too hot - most mechs can run 9-11 seconds of uninterrupted fire without overheating, I hope that this time is sufficient for a player to learn about overheating, without feeling constant frustration. .

Trial Light (Jenner JR7-F)
JR7-F - Mustrum-Trial

This mech could be more heavily armed, especially if it had an XL Engine, but I wanted to keep it relatively a bit more resilient, and have room to be upgraded.

This mech is designed to primarily teach about movement controls and torso-twist. That's already a tool order. The Jenner has the advantage of having arms without a lower arm actuator, and all the weapons in the arms. So we don't have to teach the player about the arm and torso reticules yet. But the mech has a fairly large twist range, so it should give the player something to really notice and care about during his first ventures.

Trial Medium (Hunchback HBK 4SP)
HBK-4SP - Mustrum Trial Hunchback

The Trial Hunchback is there to teach about arm movement in conjunction with torso movement. The Hunchback has a wider movement range then most mechs, which should make the differences pretty visible.
This will also be the first mech for the new player with two different weapon types. He still has the already familiar Medium Lasers, but he now adds missiles.

Trial Heavy (Catapult-C4)
CPLT-C4 - Mustrum Trial Heavy I

The Trial Heavy is designed to teach about missiles with locking, which is why he mixes (something I'd normally probably avoid) LRMs and SSRMs. Far from an optimized build, it still is heat efficient, and it features Jump Jets. It takes away some of the complexity of arm and torso movement we taught the player earlier in the Hunchback, which might be a risk - but for missiles, arm movement just isn't that cruicial, and the Catapult is still the best missile platform for the medium range.

Alternate Trial Heavy (Jagermech JM6-A)
JM6-A - Mustrum Trial Heavy II
This Trial Heavy is also designed to teach about missiles and locking, but it also introduces ballistics. I am a bit worried delaying this weapon type for the Assault Class, but it may be unavoidable.

Trial Assault (Atlas AS7-D-DC)
AS7-D-DC - Mustrum Trial Assault

This mech is combining missiles, ballistics and energy weapons for the first time (or second time, if we take the JM6-A instead of the CPLT-C4), and for the first time has an ECM - another piece of gear that the player may want to learn about - and since he has Streak, he will probably also learn about the value of ECM countering and not just regular jamming.




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Okay, that's my take, but you can probably do better - think about what you want to teach players about the game, and how you could find a mech or a set of mechs to suite this purpose.