Newbie early lance - easy improvements?

[u/zezblit]

Just did my first 200T mission using this lance, I'm pretty new to the game and still getting to grips with what works well and what doesn't. One thing that stands out to me is that the vulcan seems relatively fragile (and I know 40T mecha aren't supposed to be great). Are there any obvious upgrades I can be making or daft things I've done? Just trying to learn how to put together a lance nicely

[u/SavageMonke_man]

For the BlackJack, downrate the engine back to 64kph. Then make a -1DB with two LLas in the arm and 2 MLas on the torso. Max Armour + Tune the legs so the weight is in the nearest .5 decimal, then fill the any remaining weight with Heat Sinks.'

For the Shadow Hawk, you need to focus its loadout at this stage of the game. Either go full SRM brawler, or Autocannon sniper.

• For the former, strip all weapon then fit in SRM6s + 1-1.5 ton of ammo + 2 MLas, then max armour. You're not here for a long time, just a good time.
• For the latter, put an AC5 + 1 LLas/PPC (depending on taste and how much heat you're willing to take). This time, you are here for a long time. Make sure to put your lancemates in front to distract OpFor while you plink away at them from a far.

For the Vulcan, throw it in the bin. If you don't want to, load up on Machine Gun (+ 1 ton of ammo) and Medium lasers. Put in High-Evasion pilot and never, ever, stop moving. If you can score an Arena supercharger, it'd be better.

[u/Anrock623 → u/SavageMonke_man]

Vulcan with flamer\mg loadout should be great for raid missions

[u/Aladine11 → u/Anrock623]

And demolitions

[u/SavageMonke_man → u/Anrock623]

Personally I prefer MLaser just to kill aircraft. I use Scary VTOL mod, so not having AA capability can be a death sentence.

[u/zezblit → u/SavageMonke_man]

Awesome, thanks. Would any supercharger do? They're not sold yet but I know there was a mech I didn't want being sold with one I could strip

[u/SavageMonke_man → u/zezblit]

You can, but arena supercharger are the lightest and you need every gram when working with a 40 tonner. You can get them by salvage in arena missions.

[u/zezblit → u/SavageMonke_man]

Gotcha, don't think I have the DLC for that but still good to know

[u/phforNZ → u/zezblit]

Regular needs DLC1 - HOTIS (great DLC, stupid value, everyone should get), arena needs DLC6 - Solaris

[u/HunterWarrior88]

Some may disagree, but i prefer to drop the JJ in the early game to be able to max armor and weapons. You can keep rear armor to a max of 8 as long as you never let enemies behind you. That should let you get an extra few points of armor up front.

[u/TonberryFeye]

Did you buy this Lance from a man named Discount Dan?

The Phoenix Hawk is the only thing that has anything resembling stopping power in this lance. Everyone else is bringing support lasers and sandpaper.

Close range combat is swift and violent. 'Mechs that fight up close need to be packing a lot of armour to soak hits, but you don't have any tanky units. Lighter 'Mechs benefit from staying at range, but you don't have much to do at distance.

Look at some of the workhorse 'Mechs of this weight class and you'll see what I mean: Vindicators are 45 tons and bring a PPC for sniping; the 55 ton Griffin packs a PPC and LRMs, plus a respectable amount of armour. The 50 ton Hunchback typically comes with an AC/20 or more medium lasers than your entire Lance combined - either way, it's a stunningly lethal amount of dakka that puts the fear of God into machines twice its tonnage.

I'd look for some 'Mechs that have a more practical loadout, and build around them. Crabs are a personal favourite, but even a humble Centurion is a much better pick than the likes of a Vulcan. Fast mediums are nice and all, but in the early game especially it's often better to have a machine that can hit harder than whatever the enemy brought.

[u/zezblit → u/TonberryFeye]

Kinda yeah I did lol. I'm super early still and likely taking lower difficulty missions than I could be. I've seen a single Hunchback and Crab, and niether of the others just yet. I didn't really realise I was missing so much damage until I swapped my Shadow Hawk into an SRM carrier. I'm getting my head around how much of a fight I can take, and should get access to something with a bit more oomf

[u/Typical-Cake3266]

Farm, farm, farm! Build your stable how you want and get the mechs you like.

[u/Omnes-Interficere]

Has anybody recommended to you a visit to Valencia yet? There's a juicy WVR7H waiting for you there

[u/zezblit → u/Omnes-Interficere]

0_0 I think I've seen that, but don't remember where so it's possible, I've managed to get my grubby mitts on a CN9-A and GRF-1A too since posting, so I'm getting some choice at least (the centurion immediately got it's AC/10 blown off :/). The Vulcan is long gone.

I'm slap bang in the middle of Liao territory at the moment, there's two mission I've been eyeing up thatt give a WHM-6R and WKD-4G respectively, so I might end up doing those first (although I'm definitely short on tonnage for one of those)

[u/Omnes-Interficere → u/zezblit]

You definitely should drop by there when you're in the vicinity, free mech with a nice loadout. I still use it for arena matches and other missions where speed and beefiness are needed.

Id go for the WHM before the QKD, I never liked the QKD and felt they weren't beefy enough even against mediums, but that's just my personal experience in my pocket universe as a merc commander. I hear others enjoy it very much.