Hey guys!

First time posting here and I can see the Supermechs area of the forums looks pretty new. I think a good way we should get the ball rolling is by discussing some different strategy to use when fighting one another.

Personally, as my mech got into the mid twenties of the level system and was granted access to the resistance modules I've found them invaluable. An electric resistance module along with Shield 3 which would block two points of damage per energy spent meant I could focus more on keeping a large heat capacity while maintaining my shield for the entire battle.

I've also found keeping an explosive Resistance module handy as most effective damage types seem to be explosive and the most common for players to carry. I don't however carry any of the physical resistance modules as although they can be quite effective damage wise, they usually end up having too many flaws for my taste such as limited uses (including bullet ammo), short range and knockback, which kind of defeats the purpose of using that weapon continuously when your range is maxed at 2.

It's easy to say I have an affinity for mech torsos that allow many modules, although too many kit slots I could do without.

Discuss and post your strategies!

I rolled a overheat build below level 20 but noticed how useful shields are the hard way. I don't however use the damage resist modules, because an electric weapon will still drain my energy regardless of how much damage I can block.

The torso's with the most module slots are ALWAYS better, unless you want to use bullets and rockets and heat based and electric weapons equally (which I think doesn't work).

Some general tips:
Activate your drone as soon as possible (duh).

If you see the enemy has a high energy capacity chances are he's going to use a shield. If you're lower leveled you start with the first turn and if you have a shield build as well DON'T START WITH USING YOUR SHIELD, instead get as many damage in as possible because, especially above level 30, their shields will absorb a lot without draining too much energy. You can always set your own shield up the turn after they set up their shield + drone and you won't receive much damage from one action/drone.

Wait as long as possible with your Harpoon. If the enemy isn't paying attention and is very close to overheating, strike with your harpoon so they waste one turn shutting down while you nabbed some damage, if you have a flamethrower you can even make him waste a full turn, and if you have a cool kit or massive heat capacity you can use the flamethrower again to make him waste the next turn as well.

And don't use the Level 26 drone of destruction, ever. No one that had one has ever beaten me, and statistically it's worse than cheaper lower leveled drones.

Oh and one final thing:
If you know you can win easily you should push the enemy as far back as you can before killing him. Then when he has low enough HP that one Harpoon will take him out teleport as far away from him as you can, and use the Harpoon. I promise it will be the closest thing to a fatality in this game

I've been playing for a few weeks. I started really paying attention to PVP around level 20 (like you guys), and I initially did an overheat build, through level 25 or so.

Same as you guys, I started getting beat up by guys with shields -- it's the Shield Level 3 that really does it: 2 damage per point of energy! Game changing! -- and so I started to work shields into my build. Since then, I haven't seen a strong player who doesn't use shields.

I did pretty well in the 20s (like 10:1 win loss ratio, it feels like ), by using the Yelloworm and various knock-back oriented builds, but around level 29, one guy started wiping the floor with me. He was 4 levels ahead, and he used nothing but energy weapons and the Roman chassis. The first time I saw him, he had 2x Blue Rein and a couple of Zappies. These guns actually drain *more* energy than they cost to use, which the earlier energy weapons rarely do. So it was pretty brutal. He would break my shields and take me apart every game. His build was workable for a few different reasons.

(1) The Roman Chassis

The Roman chassis comes out around level 34, and it's just crazy-good. It has SIX module slots! And on top of that, you get to use 4 side weapons (but no top weapons).

(2) Improved "Specials" -- double use!

Around the same time, levels 33 I believe, you also get access to the two-use Grappler, the two-use Teleport, and the two-use Charge. This means that it's much easier to get close, even if the enemy has lots of knockback.

I tried everything to beat that guy, but I never managed it until much later, like when he was 37 and I was 35, or something. The level disparities can be very frustrating. I think a good feature would be for the lower-leveled player to get some additional buff (they already go first, but sometimes it's still very one-sided). This could be based on the record of previous games between the two players. Of course, it would be challenging to balance something like this.

Through the 30s, I generally continued playing knockback-oriented builds, with the Big Blue Blast (range of 3, knockback of 2, with good damage) playing a central role. The Yelloworm is still in most of my builds, even though you unlock it at level 23~!! Knockback of 2 is pretty amazing, because if the other guy can't respond from the place that you knock him to, he has to burn one of his actions just to get back in position. At level 39, I can still beat guys who are above you in levels if you bring a Yelloworm and they don't have Physical Resistance.

Anyway, I'm now at level 39, having just got access to the Termination guns - the big fat blue-and-red cannons that work at range 2 and 3, with knockback of 1. I haven't really figured out the best builds at this level. It seems like there's a LOT of flexibility with the Termination guns in the mix, and I'm hoping I can get something that wins consistently, but it's going to be hard. Most of the people above 40 have played a lot of games, and they don't roll over easy.

I'm looking forward to level 43 because when I get there I'll switch out of the Roman chassis, finally. Level 43 unlocks the Flower Power chassis, which has 4 side weapon slots and 2 top weapon slots, 100 Energy with 30 regen, and five module slots.

Interesting post.

But... description says:
SHIELD 3
40% damage absorbed
3 energy required to block 2 damage

I'm level 25 and I dont use shield, it seems very expensive to me (in energy). I never had problems cause of shields because people tend to use them in not high energy builts, so most of the times I can rip off the shield in one turn.

Personally I believe the best strategy is just having a build that you enjoy, but that is also capable of handling as many tricky situations as possible. Every build will have a counter-build; so, personally, I think it's equally important to have a quick mind on the battlefield to think all the way to the end of the battle but be able to change how you do it depending on your opponent; a full-out damage-dealing blitzkrieg may work better than tactical thought sometimes as well, when facing certain kinds of enemies. Just my thoughts.