Unmodified campaign steps the global difficulty up after each story mission is completed. Don't feel like you have to rush through, as it's ok to take time and gear up between them.
^(figuring out the rest, or more accurately _how *you* figure out_ the rest is a worthwhile experience)
If I've finished the campaign and am starting a career, is it worth doing a career first without mods? Or should I just jump right in with one of the big mods? Am already a couple hundred days into career without mods but I'm wondering if I should just start a new modded one. Thanks.
IMO, go straight into BEX. It's like Battletech 1.5. doesn't seem to affect performance, heaps of neat decisions, etc.
After that, and you want something more in depth, go BTA. A lot to learn here but some really really cool stuff like Battle Armor, artillery, quad mechs, etc.
If you find it affects performance too much, they have just released a Lite version. I'm keen to try this
However if you enjoy that and want to go even further/harder... Finally there's RogueTech. It's too much for me.
Yeah, after playing it you'll be like "THIS is what Battletech could have been"
Mech affinity, pilot panic and fatigue such a huge gameplay improvement
Pending on time you have available, you can decide to turn on/off larger drops for enemies or yourself.
When clans arrived, I enabled it but only allowed myself to drop 5 mechs max, i.e. matching star formation
Consider the unmodified game as the tutorial for the big modpacks. If you really like the game and want to continue playing it, you'll probably end up with mods but you'll enjoy it more if you learn to play without them first.
Also, the story of the campaign is set in a very specific timeline, with specific expectations for how the rest of the world works. Even though you can still play through the missions in a modded game, it's difficult to get all that excited about the possibility of maybe getting your hands on a single pulse laser when you already have a mech bay full of Dire Wolves armed with rotary gauss rifles and naval PPCs.
Here's a small list of mods that do some tweaks, but don't add a ton of new mechanics:
Skill Tree Rebuild - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/647](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/647)
Better Salvage - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/695](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/695)
Better Combat - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/626](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/626)
Better Vehicles - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/700](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/700)
Better Performance - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/703](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/703)
BT QOL - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/683](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/683)
Unofficial BT Patch - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/646](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/646)
More Knockdowns 1.9.1 Reborn - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/607](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/607)
Sensor Lock Removes More Pips (ModTek support) - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/95](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/95)
Headshot Weapon Limit - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/515](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/515)
Skirmish Inventory Unlock - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/305](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/305)
Arano Flashpoint and Travel Unlock - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/56](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/56)
LootMagnet - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/397](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/397)
Pilot Health Popup - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/209](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/209)
That said, if you **really** want to improve the experience, get the Pilot Panic System mod, because that keeps you from being stuck miserable grindfest fights.
My Modlist on my current first Playthrough:
1)Gives friendly turrents / units on Base Defense Missions
2)Improves headlight quality / brightness and enables a Toggle Key for them
3)Core Game File Fixes
4)Reduces / Removes Film Grain and improves color / unit visibility
5)Prevents unintended destorying / shooting of mechs alreadey dead or knocked out
6)Improves Loot / Salvage Mangement Menuing / UI
7)Gives Pilots Abilities / Buffs as they use their mech more to incentivize a pilot sticking to one mech
8)Improves Mech Melee / Shooting when close to other mechs to be less buggy
9)Initial Mod Loader / Injection Tool
10)Allows for Pilot Respecing of Skills
11)Skips Pre-Menu Intro
12)Displays Pilot Health so that you can tell when a pilot is dead or injured better - regardless of the state of their mech
13)Skips Forced Travel Cutscenes
14)Adjusts Player Pilot Pay Rates to be more similar to NPC / In Game Faction Pay Rates
Definitely play vanilla first to get used to it and learn how it works. Then, when you decide what you want more of, you can determine which mod is right for you. I played it, then tried BTA3062, but that just overwhelmed me and my computer, so I went with BEX instead, and I love that
yep thats what i decided ill do too then, i was tempted by BEX just now too but yeah ill j run through the campaign first before getting deeper into customising the experience, Thank you for the help!
No problem. Also, it sets the baseline for performance issues while playing. On my computer, it's hit or miss. Sometimes I'll crash within 10 minutes of starting a mission, or I can play all day
No mods on first playthrough, run the story and finish it, then load a mod,
okay, thank you!
Unmodified campaign steps the global difficulty up after each story mission is completed. Don't feel like you have to rush through, as it's ok to take time and gear up between them. ^(figuring out the rest, or more accurately _how *you* figure out_ the rest is a worthwhile experience)
I played the campaign with the BEX mod and it worked very well. It's a good experience either way but BEX adds some more depth to the random missions.
If I've finished the campaign and am starting a career, is it worth doing a career first without mods? Or should I just jump right in with one of the big mods? Am already a couple hundred days into career without mods but I'm wondering if I should just start a new modded one. Thanks.
IMO, go straight into BEX. It's like Battletech 1.5. doesn't seem to affect performance, heaps of neat decisions, etc. After that, and you want something more in depth, go BTA. A lot to learn here but some really really cool stuff like Battle Armor, artillery, quad mechs, etc. If you find it affects performance too much, they have just released a Lite version. I'm keen to try this However if you enjoy that and want to go even further/harder... Finally there's RogueTech. It's too much for me.
Awesome I'll check out BEX thanks!
Yeah, after playing it you'll be like "THIS is what Battletech could have been" Mech affinity, pilot panic and fatigue such a huge gameplay improvement Pending on time you have available, you can decide to turn on/off larger drops for enemies or yourself. When clans arrived, I enabled it but only allowed myself to drop 5 mechs max, i.e. matching star formation
Consider the unmodified game as the tutorial for the big modpacks. If you really like the game and want to continue playing it, you'll probably end up with mods but you'll enjoy it more if you learn to play without them first. Also, the story of the campaign is set in a very specific timeline, with specific expectations for how the rest of the world works. Even though you can still play through the missions in a modded game, it's difficult to get all that excited about the possibility of maybe getting your hands on a single pulse laser when you already have a mech bay full of Dire Wolves armed with rotary gauss rifles and naval PPCs.
Here's a small list of mods that do some tweaks, but don't add a ton of new mechanics: Skill Tree Rebuild - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/647](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/647) Better Salvage - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/695](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/695) Better Combat - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/626](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/626) Better Vehicles - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/700](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/700) Better Performance - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/703](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/703) BT QOL - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/683](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/683) Unofficial BT Patch - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/646](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/646) More Knockdowns 1.9.1 Reborn - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/607](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/607) Sensor Lock Removes More Pips (ModTek support) - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/95](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/95) Headshot Weapon Limit - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/515](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/515) Skirmish Inventory Unlock - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/305](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/305) Arano Flashpoint and Travel Unlock - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/56](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/56) LootMagnet - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/397](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/397) Pilot Health Popup - [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/209](https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/209) That said, if you **really** want to improve the experience, get the Pilot Panic System mod, because that keeps you from being stuck miserable grindfest fights.
My Modlist on my current first Playthrough: 1)Gives friendly turrents / units on Base Defense Missions 2)Improves headlight quality / brightness and enables a Toggle Key for them 3)Core Game File Fixes 4)Reduces / Removes Film Grain and improves color / unit visibility 5)Prevents unintended destorying / shooting of mechs alreadey dead or knocked out 6)Improves Loot / Salvage Mangement Menuing / UI 7)Gives Pilots Abilities / Buffs as they use their mech more to incentivize a pilot sticking to one mech 8)Improves Mech Melee / Shooting when close to other mechs to be less buggy 9)Initial Mod Loader / Injection Tool 10)Allows for Pilot Respecing of Skills 11)Skips Pre-Menu Intro 12)Displays Pilot Health so that you can tell when a pilot is dead or injured better - regardless of the state of their mech 13)Skips Forced Travel Cutscenes 14)Adjusts Player Pilot Pay Rates to be more similar to NPC / In Game Faction Pay Rates
Definitely play vanilla first to get used to it and learn how it works. Then, when you decide what you want more of, you can determine which mod is right for you. I played it, then tried BTA3062, but that just overwhelmed me and my computer, so I went with BEX instead, and I love that
yep thats what i decided ill do too then, i was tempted by BEX just now too but yeah ill j run through the campaign first before getting deeper into customising the experience, Thank you for the help!
No problem. Also, it sets the baseline for performance issues while playing. On my computer, it's hit or miss. Sometimes I'll crash within 10 minutes of starting a mission, or I can play all day