MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries by Piranha Games - now on Steam and GOG

[GhostCow]

Here'sa question I may have asked already - but if you shoot an enemy in the face as per MW3 are you guaranteed that mech will be available fo salvage?. I don't think the gaming industry ever realised how awesome a mechanic that was.

As far as I know yes but there may be a chance you don't get the whole mech. I'm not 100% sure. Its always worked me for though

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

if you shoot an enemy in the face as per MW3 are you guaranteed that mech will be available fo salvage?

the mod i played it with tried to fix this, you can change the percentages a mech will be salvageable separatedly for legging and coring. no beheading but pilots respond to it, it might be 100%, which is weird because as far as i remember they didn't in vanilla.

 

[Spark Mandriller]

MW5 is weird because there are two separate rolls for salvaging, and you need to pass both. The first one is 95% likely to succeed if you get a headshot, so that's fine, but then you have to roll again and the second one only has a 60% chance to work. So in the end headshots only give you a 57% chance to salvage which is pretty shit. The second roll really fucks you and there's no way to improve its odds without modding.
If you kill by CT or legging the first check is 40% so the overall chance is 24%, if anyone was wondering.

Also MW5 has salvage shares which can make things weird. If you get perfect headshots and leave the rest of the mech untouched then it has a high value since it's in nearly perfect shape, so you might not have enough shares to salvage it. If you're more sloppy and end up destroying both side torsos and a leg before taking the head off it's worth way less, so you're far more likely to be able to afford it. Which makes sense, but it's still weird. You end up with scenarios where you see a mech you want to salvage, so you deliberately damage it before headshotting it so you'll be able to afford it on the salvage screen. I mean, assuming it shows up on the salvage screen, because you still have the 40% chance it magically vanishes because fuck you.

 

[Chippy]

MW5 is weird because there are two separate rolls for salvaging, and you need to pass both. The first one is 95% likely to succeed if you get a headshot, so that's fine, but then you have to roll again and the second one only has a 60% chance to work. So in the end headshots only give you a 57% chance to salvage which is pretty shit. The second roll really fucks you and there's no way to improve its odds without modding.
If you kill by CT or legging the first check is 40% so the overall chance is 24%, if anyone was wondering.

Also MW5 has salvage shares which can make things weird. If you get perfect headshots and leave the rest of the mech untouched then it has a high value since it's in nearly perfect shape, so you might not have enough shares to salvage it. If you're more sloppy and end up destroying both side torsos and a leg before taking the head off it's worth way less, so you're far more likely to be able to afford it. Which makes sense, but it's still weird. You end up with scenarios where you see a mech you want to salvage, so you deliberately damage it before headshotting it so you'll be able to afford it on the salvage screen. I mean, assuming it shows up on the salvage screen, because you still have the 40% chance it magically vanishes because fuck you.

You see, now that's exactly the kind of shit decision making that fucked the series up and makes me want to skip this game on principle. Fucking brain dead, fucktard, spastic developers making decisions like this because as you've said - fuck the player.

I appreciate that it would be stupid if everyone on your team had an Atlas. But there are ways to compensate for that like making it financially impossible, like fabircating an in-game reason for prohibitive cost of maintaining them - enemies decided to kill all the mechanics to control who gets to fied the most expensive mechs for example, so mechanics want godly paychecks for the danger money.

Or maybe your mechanics could level up in skill over time to work on the advanced stuff. Or maybe you need a fucktonne of mechanics to research and repair stuff (within a reasonable timeframe) like in Syndicate Wars.

Yes, those are pants 'mechanics' but it's better than rolling the dice randomly on what used to define these games for me. The main reason I fell out of love for this franchise was because of how they handled salvage from MW3 onwards, and they obviously still don't realise how much fun it was.

 

[Chippy]

pm_675 What do you mean "no". This stuff makes my piss boil and all you can say is "no". The only way I'd buy this now is if a modder fixed it as per MW3 salvage, and maybe made the game a bit harder - like an economy adjuster for salvage mechs - as a plus. Otherwise a mech game without salvage and customisation of mechs is just giant robots pew pewing at each other.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

there is, it's merctech, but that mod also makes a lot of very as arbitrary as retarded changes to the game (you'd know if you had read what i wrote already).

 

[pm_675]

pm_675 What do you mean "no". This stuff makes my piss boil and all you can say is "no". The only way I'd buy this now is if a modder fixed it as per MW3 salvage, and maybe made the game a bit harder - like an economy adjuster for salvage mechs - as a plus. Otherwise a mech game without salvage and customisation of mechs is just giant robots pew pewing at each other.

Meh, the game would become far too easy with full salvage from headcapping or destroying legs. Remember MW3 (or was 4?) and the absurd parts and mechs situation you could find yourself.

I understand the frustration of not getting all you kill but at the end of the day it is a game. And games are supposed to be difficult.

 

[anvi]

I would give this game a solid 3 or 4 out of 10.

 

[randir14]

New expansion announced. Some nice features like full city biomes, switching mechs in combat, and melee.

 

[GhostCow]

Trying to do a second play through after the steam release made me finally admit that this game is intolerable shit but I'll buy anyway because I can't help myself when it comes to Battletech

 

[Fedora Master]

Melee combat: Good
No Clan Invasion: Lame

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

they probably planned to nickel and dime clan mechs, but they chose epic, and also chose to make a shitty game, so no one bought it and no one will give a damn about more mechs.

 

[GhostCow]

They are saving clan mechs for Mechwarrior 6. I would bet my next paycheck that they will never appear in MW5. PGI is too retarded to do decent balance so they are putting it off as long as they can just like they did with MWO.

 

[anvi]

For me this game is pretty far from being good, maybe ever. I really would expect maps that are 4 times bigger, more enemy variety, better enemy ai, weather effects changing visibility etc, more weapons and weapons that effect gameplay, better team mate ai, etc. It's ok at best, personally I would play MWLL instead.

 

[Spark Mandriller]

They are saving clan mechs for Mechwarrior 6. I would bet my next paycheck that they will never appear in MW5. PGI is too retarded to do decent balance so they are putting it off as long as they can just like they did with MWO.

MW5 is a single player/coop game so balance isn't a big issue. If Clan equipment is overpowered, then so what? If the PC is IS then you get to fight tough enemies and then feel cool when you steal their overpowered guns for yourself. And if the PC is Clan then you get either fair fights against other Clans who have the same equipment you do, or power fantasy missions where you get to beat up hordes of freebirths with their inferior equipment/training. Works out fine either way. It's not like the AI is going to complain that your mech is too good.

 

[GhostCow]

For me this game is pretty far from being good, maybe ever. I really would expect maps that are 4 times bigger, more enemy variety, better enemy ai, weather effects changing visibility etc, more weapons and weapons that effect gameplay, better team mate ai, etc. It's ok at best, personally I would play that mechwarrior mod instead.

Honestly my complaints are much smaller than that. I just want hand crafted missions that don't throw piles of tanks on top of you while making you fight like 30 mechs with a four man lance. The combat and AI are good enough to be passable. I won't even complain about the stripped down mech lab, the ghost heat (I'm pretty sure it's in there even if some people say it isn't), or the lack of viable builds.

 

[Fedora Master]

Sorry for acting like Infinishill here and posting Polygon but...

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is still a bit of a mess, even with the new Legend of the Kestrel Lancers expansion. The new DLC succeeds in eliminating the early-game grind, mainly by throwing in-game money at the problem. But nothing seems able to stop the overwhelming stupidity of its friendly AI.

 

[TheDiceMustRoll]

The allied AI is easily the biggest hurdle the game has, and its worse and worse and worse each time. Kestral Lancers is easily the best mode there is since you start out with tons of cashmoney and fun mechs, but watching your griffin just kind of...wander off and ignore commands to return is really irksome, it wrecks the experience

 

[Matalarata]

, but watching your griffin just kind of...wander off and ignore commands to return is really irksome

Give 'em commands, like constantly. For example AI is lousy with all kinds of missiles but I was able to properly use LRM boats by giving the bots "hold your ground" commands to specific vantage points. Also, prioritize targets for bots, mainly considering optimal
range of engagements. Don't necessarily think that the heavier mech you pilot the easier it will be. Using a lighter mech allows you to both maneuver better to order your lancemates around and to bully specific targets (e.g. Hunchbacks) which are dangerous for bots to tackle but have huge blind spots you as player can exploit easily. I did many of the hardest mission with a lance of mixed heavies/assault while piloting a pimped up Firestarter myself.

Friendly AI is indeed bad but believe me when I say that if you use the tools you've been given, it becomes much more manageable and enjoyable.

wander off and ignore commands to return

Does this happen frequently to you? I only remember a couple situations in which they had any problem with the "Form on Me" command, usually due to pathfinding. I admit I haven't touched the title in months tho, mebbe they changed something and exposed other issues.

 

[Fedora Master]

The AI is very anal about weapon loadouts and ranges. There's a guide on Steam that gives examples of what a good AI loadout looks like and it ain't the same a player would use. You have to accommodate it when making mechs.

 

[Fedora Master]

If anyone cares:

GAMEPLAY

• Fixed an issue where Mechs occasionally don't shoot with a clear shot at the target. The implementation also addresses an issue where users found AI mechs with LRM's equipped not attacking
  
• Fixed the issue where battlefield loot items were not being added to inventory
  
• Fixed the issue where the minimized batttlegrid positioning is off on specific maps
  
• Mechs injected from an imported save will now keep any installed Upgrades
  
• Players can now import Career saves when starting a new Career
  
• Fixed the issue where the Rasalhague questline appears before the formation of the FRR
  
• Fixed the issue where "No Pilots Left Behind Pt.2" was not spawning enemies

UI

• Fixed issue where the Battlemech maintenance/upkeep costs are all 10,000
  
• Updated prompt to clearly define what will be imported when starting a new career
  
• Updated the Cross-Platform Social Icon
  
• Fixed the issue where players reputation will briefly appear incorrect when swapping tabs

BACKEND

• Updated Nvidia DLSS DLL
  
• Updated AMD CAS to a new version

 

[TheDiceMustRoll]

its wroser

 

[Chippy]

"Enemies spawn from anywhere, even at your side or behind your mech. They are not dropped there, they just spawn."

This taken from a review on GOG. Is it true? I was gonna buy this if it came up in a sale over Christmas, but if they did DA2 parachuting enemy mechs or teleporting mechs out of the warp then I just can't be assed.

 

[Fedora Master]

"Enemies spawn from anywhere, even at your side or behind your mech. They are not dropped there, they just spawn."

This taken from a review on GOG. Is it true? I was gonna buy this if it came up in a sale over Christmas, but if they did DA2 parachuting enemy mechs or teleporting mechs out of the warp then I just can't be assed.

Its not TOO bad, I think they changed the spawn distance somewhat and there are mods that tweak it further. By enemies they mean tanks and stuff, not entire mechs. Certainly no DA2 nonsense.

 

[anvi]

MWLL is pretty good, puts this one to shame!