4 replies to this topic

[Marius Romanis]

I have tested every mech listed in FP/CW and QP today all work well. 1k damage in my 1st BLR-2C game today in QP.

Firepower / Weapons Tree
Of note, all weapons now seem to have shorter range and higher cooldown than they used to.
Longer range Weapons benefit more from Range nodes (PPC, GAUSSE, ER LARGE) , shorter range weapons benefit more from the cooldown nodes (SRM's, Small pulse)


Survival/ Armor/Structure Tree
Only mechs with Armor / structure quirks should really bother with the Survival tree, focusing armor hardening nodes or Skeletal density nodes according to what existing quirks your mech has. This is the tree for brawler mechs, and brawlers require teamwork co-ordination which rarely happens in qp/skittles games.

Mobility/agility tree
I believe although Assaults are losing some of their twisting due to engine desync by investing in the left half of the mobility tree you can get enough torso speed and yaw to shield with arms still to an acceptable level, the right hand side half of the tree containing mainly nodes for fast decceleration and acceleration is mainly good for lights.

Jump Jets Tree

Left half great, right half, not so great(mainly useful for exploring the world in testing grounds). Good for poptarts.

Operations Tree
Is all about cool run and heat containment, if your good at managing your heat with override always on quick ignition is not that great a Skill node, if you suck at managing that, then this tree is even better for you.
This tree is Mainly for the High Alpha mid to long range laser vomit builds (LPL, ER MED etc.)

Sensor Systems tree
Target Info gathering is very important, Especially for brawlers, so you can focus the most damaged component. It is the best 1st node of any of the tree's, so If you can spare 1 Skill Node Point, get that 1st node in this tree.
Snipers need the 1st 4 right side nodes for Advanced zoom
Lurm Boats NEED target decay 5
Assaults and lights benefit the most from Radar dep / ECM

Auxillary/Miscellaneous "Consumables" Tree
A great place to burn through your cbills, where you can use up to 200,000 cbills in one game where according to PGI's latest shared data most people only earn 100,000 cbills per game.
2 Coolshots is great for laser vomit mechs
Capture assist great for FP/CW conquest, but worthless in QP.
Can get 5 consumable slots now, but to get to all 5 very Skill Point inefficient for most mechs, 3 Consumables beneficial for many mechs at SP cost, but most mechs have better things in other trees they need to get 1st.
You can have 2 Air Strikes on every mech in 1 game now (I am looking forward to TheBeefs 96 Airstrike on Boreal Vault Video (is there even enough time in a match for that ? I think not ... =( )

Below are 8 mechs with builds and skills trees, 4 for IS 4 for Clan, a great deck for starting your mech bay hunting in Seal Clubbing Hell
(coz they havent added a solo queue with matchmaker and grouped queue with bonus rewards YET (i live in hope)(and being the clubber gets boring, a close game is a great game.)

Great starter Clan deck.

65 ton EBJ
65 ton HBR
60 ton MDD
50 ton HBK-IIC-A

Why no 85 ton MAD-IIC (or other heavier mechs? because if you front load your deck with 1 big mech you risk being caught out of position once and there go's most of your potential output for the entire game)

EBJ (could also be built with 2 large pulse instead of ER-PPC, I prefer ER-PPC for whittling down opponent at 1000 meters before the engagement moves to <500 meters to switch to the ER-MEDS




I Would like to fit the laser Duration nodes in for twisting sooner after firing the ER-MEDS, but the EBJ is a glass Cannon with a huge CT nose so twisting vs a decent enemy is not as effective as on say a battlemaster with huge arms covering it from side view. So more heat reduction and cooldown are better




One heat containment node had to be sacrificed for 2 nodes in other trees, debating removing this vs removing 2 nodes in firepower tree.



HBR, 1st Image Description shows other good build for this mech not actual loadout which this build / skill tree is for.







MDD Fantastic brawler for its weight, Shoulders have bonus Structure, Arms have bonus armor.




Would be nice to get more Range/Cooldown/heat reduction but other trees are needed more I believe.





The 3rd Coolrun node for 2 Skill points would be nice to be able to pick up



Need fast information for where to take down enemies quickest.

HBK-IIC-A one of the best poptarts in the game.





Shock Absorbance great for saving your legs.




Have not yet concluded if this mech needs torso speed nodes for poptarting better.



Great starter deck for IS

85 ton BLR-2C
85 ton BLR-1G
70 ton GHR-5P
20 ton LCT-PB

BLR-2C one of the Best mechs in the game At shielding the important bits with the arms(why the lef thalf of mobility tree). And the Shoulder Structure keeps your ST's alive a long time to allow for the Xl engine in an assault. This mech is about finding balance between Skeletal density mainly because of quirks, armor hardening Secondary and LPL range and heat management. This is my 2nd iteration and I find it works better than my 1st too tanky not sustainable/ranged enough previous skill node build.







BLR-1G Standard Engine as not ST quirks to protect an XL, so can keep fighting if you lose 1 side, try to protect your 2 LPL side and tank with 1 LPL side arm 1st Apart from that, Similar Deal to the BLR-2C for what and why, slightly cooler mech so can go for more armor and less cooling nodes.








GHR-5P Great long range trader.







LCT-PB ecm, super fast, super small, can get some great harass damage off, tonnage filler with bonus cbill income.







Mechs I haven't built that I am most considering to skill up in the next 2 months before new weapons / new balance pass happen.

AWS-8R The only Lurm boat any IS player should own. With 4 LRM-15's AND IT SHOULD ONLY BE TAKEN . TO POLAR/BOREAL(DEFENCE)/ALPINE
GHR-5P large pulse/medium laser build
MAD-IIC's
MAL-MX90
AS7-D (dont own yet)
AS7-DDC
HGN732B (dont own yet)
MAD-3R
NTG

But i hope I will wait to save SP/Cbills

Would also like reports on how badly the LCT-1V and the SDR-5K were hurt by the cooldown quirk reductions on their ct lpl's

THIS POST IS NOW FINISHED EXCEPT THE POSSIBILITY OF THE FOLLOWING.

Alterations to the HBK poptart to increase torso twist speed
I may add notes on how not to play like a potato later (how best to utilise these mechs) and why these deck choices for starter decks.

I have already broken my desire not to level anymore mechs for 2 months and made a 2nd IS deck that is more teamwork winning drop orientated. The above to 2 decks are for solo dropping with skittles. I am in love with this new IS deck I just made I must say. But still prefer the above one for solo drops with Skittles(random people).

Edited by CadoAzazel, 17 May 2017 - 06:42 AM.

[justcallme A S H]

Nice homework sir.

We've been debating for a total of 14hrs on TS (people have come and gone lol). Seems that is going to be a few niche's once people figure them out in game.

Some of what you've posted is good, some need work - my opinion of course.


Lucky you are in our comp team, you'll get access to some of the info, maybe

[Marius Romanis]

justcallme A S H, on 17 May 2017 - 08:13 AM, said:

Nice homework sir.

Some of what you've posted is good, some need work - my opinion of course.

I have got rid of the armor / fall reduction on the HBK poptart for torso mobility I will update the image soon.tm

Im pretty happy with the clan deck





Not playing the IS deck much because I have premium time to get through clan side. Ill see if I have a good damage image soon.

Edited by CadoAzazel, 17 May 2017 - 07:31 PM.

[JC Daxion]

that is great advice.. But let me add a little.


Sensors, Right side is more for lrms, streaks and light hunting.. aka you are keeping mechs on radar longer so you can follow much easier. It can also help with flankers, or fast skirmishers. Taking a short cut because you know the person went left, instead of guessing did they go left or right?

movement. Speed tweak is nice, but taking only one side seams viable. consider this on many mechs. Some don't need to be lightening fast.

Operations. If you have JJ's taking Right side is the no brainer. (JJ's can also make left side of movement tree less needed).
If you don't have JJ's, consider taking the side with hill climb. It's 3 nodes so not a huge investment, and i do find it helps with faster mechs. Commando, cicada, locust, stormcrow.. basically anything that is over the 100 KPH mark it can help get over things you just couldn't before. The faster the mech, the more it helps basically. (i have done zero testing on assaults, but heavies it doesn't seam to help much, maybe more testing is in order?) Basically i'm saying if you have JJ's just skip that coolrun node on the left, it's not worth it.

weapons, To me the real important ones are the main weapon nodes, like duration.. But range IMO is huge. Stacking range and duration on ML's and SL's its very helpful. Pulses i i just don't think they really need the duration, its a small increase.


I find, you can take about 4 trees on a mech (not fully, and 3 if you really want to sink), so think of it in those terms when you are choosing.


Your first spent point.. Just unlock the extra consumable. Add a UAV, and then an airstrike or a coolflush. UAV is so helpful. aunched near the enemy to track, in an area to watch for incoming, or pop it in a brawl to hold locks.

Air strike is nice, Cool shot can really be a difference between who looses in a close brawl.

Even non-upgraded consumables are still worth using, they are better than non-upgraded before, and with a few points get even better.

[Appogee]

CadoAzazel, on 17 May 2017 - 06:40 AM, said:

(very useful starter trees)

Just wanted to say "massive thanks" for sharing all your work here.

I spent three days not logging in because I couldn't bring myself to start on skilling up Mechs.

But when I saw your thread it gave me a starting point and now (after two hours) I have two Mechs skilled up.

So: thanks! Great work and good of you to share it.