16 replies to this topic

[Nesutizale]

I elited my frist mech. (Yah)
Can I now sell the other variants without loosing my Elite status on the one I want to keep?

Also about modules. How do I unlock them and are they worth their money?

[Xbwalker]

1. You can not lose elite status. XP spent is permanent.
2. Modules are great. I think the extra is essential for that extra edge. As far as value, yes, target denial and advanced zoom (if you are a sniper) is quite useful. In fact, they all are in their own way. Every bit counts and modules can count for a lot.

[Wintersdark]

Yes. Once learned, mech and pilot skills are forever.

And for modules:

They're learned in the same place mech skills are learned. There are 5 ranks of each, and skilling up upgrades any modules you may already have.

They end up at roughly 12% range and cooldown bonuses, so... Yeah, they're worth it.

Also valuable are radar deprivation and seismic sensor modules. Situationally ADV. Zoom as well, and if you're LRMing, sensor range and target decay. And target info, too.

[Koniving]

Nesutizale, on 21 October 2015 - 11:00 AM, said:

Also about modules. How do I unlock them?

When in the "Skills" menu there is "Mech skills" and "Pilot skills." They fall under pilot skills. GXP only. Think of it as getting the knowledge on where to find "rare after market parts."

[Wintersdark]

Xbwalker, on 21 October 2015 - 11:03 AM, said:

1. You can not lose elite status. XP spent is permanent.
2. Modules are great. I think the extra is essential for that extra edge. As far as value, yes, target denial and advanced zoom (if you are a sniper) is quite useful. In fact, they all are in their own way. Every bit counts and modules can count for a lot.

there are a LOT of totally junk modules, through. Either because their stated purpose is stupid or because the actual gain is so incredibly minor.

[Xbwalker]

Wintersdark, on 21 October 2015 - 11:07 AM, said:

there are a LOT of totally junk modules, through. Either because their stated purpose is stupid or because the actual gain is so incredibly minor.

I want to see troll modules that PAY you to use them
+10% weapon jam chance

[Nesutizale]

Thanks. Now to get some money to spend.

[Torezu]

Nesutizale, on 21 October 2015 - 03:37 PM, said:

Thanks. Now to get some money to spend.

One more thing, though. You can't get that Master skill until you've Elited 3 mechs in that weight class, and Elited the one you want Master on. Sometimes that extra module is actually useful.

[DemonicDonut]

Seismic and Radar Derp are all i really use besides weapons modules.

Also upgrade your cool shot to 9 x 9

Would worry more about buying mechs than modules at first. Get your mechs and engines etc all set, then get modules.

[Rogue Jedi]

Some modules are worthwhile others not so much, and weather or not a module is worthwhile depends on wharrole you are performing.

E.g. On a KitFox armed with an ECM and 3 AMS Radar Deprivation, which reduces lock duration by 3 seconds, instantly breaking them unles the Mech targeting you has the target retention (that may be the wrong name) module, is pointless because for missiles to hurt you the enemy must counter your ECM and fire a lot of missiles at you simultainously, however the AMS Overload and AMS range modules (which would be wasted on most other Mechs) may be useful because those 2 combined effectivly would make your 3 AMSs significantly more powerful, to the point that you can effectivly cover half your team from LRMs

Another example Seismuc Sensor is pretty much pointless on a fast Light Mech like the Spider because you will rairly if ever stop, and Siesmic Sensor only provides information if you are standing still.
A Spider is hard to hit when moving but can be killed with one hit pretty easily when standing still, so if you think the enemy are near standing still is a really bad idea, however some of the "bad" modules can be useful for a Spider, Spiders cam mount lots of jumpjets allowing you to jump high, if the Mech lands hard you will damage the legs, the shock absorber module allows you to land harder without damaging the legs, si if you frequently forget to leave fuel for a soft landing that could be useful, Spuders oftern die after loosing a leg, and being restricted to 40 KPH, the speed retention module allows you to move 20% faster while legged, in the Spiders case that means 50KPH, the extra 10 KPH has allowed me to limp to cover in the Spider and other legged fast Mechs.

So I have just provided reasons to use some of the "bad" modules, and situations where the "best" modules are not very usefull.

If you want to get modules look at the role you want to fulfill then look at the modules and try to work out which would be useful for that role then if uoy are unsure ask, telling us what you want to do.

Do not unlock or buy modules untill you plan to use them unless you have more cbills or GXP than you know what to do with, and even then unlock them in the order you think you will use them, unless you convert Mech XP to GXP using MC GXP accumulates slowly so spend it wisely,
most modules cost about the same as the purchase price of a medium or heavy Mech

[PocketAces]

Torezu, on 21 October 2015 - 06:29 PM, said:

One more thing, though. You can't get that Master skill until you've Elited 3 mechs in that weight class, and Elited the one you want Master on. Sometimes that extra module is actually useful.

Correct, lets say you elited (start of mastery) your Jenner, the other two are at end of basic. To master the Jenner, you need to either elite the other two Jenners, or elite any other two mechs in the same weight class, i.e. a Spider or Locust.

In other words:
To unlock the elite skill tree, you need to basic out three mechs of the same chassis (Jenners)
To unlock the mastery skill tree, you need to elite three mechs of the same weight class. (in the example above, that would be the light weight class)

[Kjudoon]

Just remember you cannot master a mech unless you have at least 3 total mechs in your stable To elite status. So if you sell 1 or both of the ones you do not like you can never master that mech you want till all 3 have been elited. Learned this the hard way.

[Koniving]

Xbwalker, on 21 October 2015 - 11:53 AM, said:

I want to see troll modules that PAY you to use them +10% weapon jam chance

Even if they didn't pay, I would still use them if free to obtain.

My mechs in Megamek (the unofficial online Battletech tabletop application) are all deliberately given minor flaws. Specific range targeting penalties, jam chances on regular ACs and machine guns, poor cooling jackets or totally no cooling jackets on laser weaponry, "Mech is difficult to pilot", it makes the game so much more interesting.

My custom designed security mechs, the Nin Kei (Neen Kay-ee; Japanese) and the unnamed humanoid police mech with shoulder mounted tear-gas SRM launcher (was originally an actual vehicle grenade launcher but bugs) have such flaws. By inserting an ejection seat crit slot to my head slot, the CT-cockpitted mech can lose its ability to eject with damage to the head. The Nin Kei, which depending on the variant runs an ICE (internal combustion engine; diesel-powered) or Fuel Cell Battery, typically has 2 standard heatsinks and can overheat pretty easily, considering that some models come with Vehicle Flamers and 1 ton of fuel. I've had 3 of each unit fight each other and the meltdowns are really awesome, especially since I play with heatsink taxing (which means if you get a certain amount more heat than the heatsinks can handle, you can melt them).

My favorite aspect of the original quirk system was that good stuff came with bad stuff on some mechs.

[Koniving]

Rogue Jedi, on 21 October 2015 - 11:57 PM, said:

E.g. On a KitFox armed with an ECM and 3 AMS Radar Deprivation, which reduces lock duration by 3 seconds, instantly breaking them unless the Mech targeting you has the target retention (that may be the wrong name) module, is pointless because for missiles to hurt you the enemy must counter your ECM and fire a lot of missiles at you simultaneously,

At the moment this is true. On the PTS (public test server), RD was incredibly useful because they didn't have to counter your ECM to lock you.... as Gene Roddenberry's ghost discovered the Romulan cloaking device embedded in Guardian ECM and removed it.

[Ano]

Rogue Jedi's post a few posts up is a really smart look at some of the exceptions to the "standard guidelines" for module purchases. Here's my €0.02 on module purchases:

1. get Radar Deprivation first unless most of your mechs are ECM-capable. High level play is apparently relatively free of LRMs but if you regularly play in the solo queue, you're going to regularly encounter LRMboats and radar dep does make it much easier to shake off a lock.

2. I personally still often equip the Seismic sensor mod on light mechs, and on most mechs I've mastered provided they have two or more weapon module slots. For all standing still DOES often equal death in a light, I still find it useful to be able to stand for a moment behind cover and get a sense of what's on the other side. I'm not a great light pilot, make of that what you will. Seismic's still a very useful module thought.

3. Advanced zoom was the very first module I bought, having seen it in action in a video (possibly one of Konivings) and decided it looked cool. As it turns out, I'm neither a proficient sniper nor do I particularly enjoy it, so it spends the vast majority of its time gathering dust.

4. get cooldown mods for ballistics first but in most cases range mods for energy weapons. Builds focused on energy weapons tend to be heat-constrained, so you won't always get the benefit of faster cooldown. In general, heat is less of an issue with ballistics so faster cooldown = more damage. This can be pretty build- and playstyle-dependent, of course, and if you're running a homogenous loadout and there are two weapon module slots available, get both if you can afford it.

5. There are some useful pilot skills which affect consumables, but they're only worth it if you plan on using consumables.


Lastly, and this is more because I quite clearly didn't understand the skills/modules system when I first started playing, some stuff you probably know but just in case:

Weapon modules and many of the other skills require you to unlock that skill first with GXP in the skills menu, THEN purchase the corresponding module with Cbills (generally by attaching it to a mech). For some reason I didn't make this connection at first, and thought I was buffing my lasers just by unlocking the skills.

Some pilot skills are pure unlocks (some of the consumable-related skills). When you unlock the skill, you're done.

I believe you can buy a module when you have unlocked 1/5 levels, and the module you buy will automatically upgrade as you unlock the remaining 4 levels for a given weapon skill; I can't confirm that personally though.

[Jody Von Jedi]

Ano, on 22 October 2015 - 06:34 AM, said:

I believe you can buy a module when you have unlocked 1/5 levels, and the module you buy will automatically upgrade as you unlock the remaining 4 levels for a given weapon skill; I can't confirm that personally though.

You are correct. The module you purchase as a 1/5 will automatically upgrade as you unlock up to 5/5.

[Ano]

Jody Von Jedi, on 22 October 2015 - 11:50 AM, said:

You are correct. The module you purchase as a 1/5 will automatically upgrade as you unlock up to 5/5.

Thanks. I seem to remember asking the question myself ages ago, and getting that answer, but I've always been short of Cbills, not GXP, so when I find myself in a position to buy a module, I've always long since fully unlocked it, and didn't want to promise something I didn't know for sure.