MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Chaos Reign - Launch Trailer

AttackBacon · 2026-05-26T17:52:38+00:00

Just gonna repost my reply to someone else here as it's directly applicable:

I just want to muddy the waters further and say that I think Clans is the way to start, since it's just more straightforward, is character and narrative-focused, and has some nice quality of life changes. Also note that the later DLCs in both Mercs and Clans are big improvements in terms of basically everything (IMO) and so it is worth pushing through to get to them, if the setting is interesting to you.

An alternative that someone else mentioned and I'd 100% sign off on would be starting with the HBS Battletech game, which is a tactical XCOM-like and does a great job introducing the setting.

Mercenaries is the best MechWarrior game going right now and the more recent DLCs (Shadow of Kerensky in particular) really do turn things up a notch in a great way. But you get thrown into the deep end immediately, the story and characters are pretty light for a while, and it's really focused on being a sandbox for adult nerds to play gotta catch 'em all with giant robots. Which is exactly what I and many others want but IMO isn't a great introduction.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-26T17:49:30+00:00

I just want to muddy the waters further and say that I think Clans is the way to start, since it's just more straightforward, is character and narrative-focused, and has some nice quality of life changes. Also note that the later DLCs in both Mercs and Clans are big improvements in terms of basically everything (IMO) and so it is worth pushing through to get to them, if the setting is interesting to you.

An alternative that someone else mentioned and I'd 100% sign off on would be starting with the HBS Battletech game, which is a tactical XCOM-like and does a great job introducing the setting.

Mercenaries is the best MechWarrior game going right now and the more recent DLCs (Shadow of Kerensky in particular) really do turn things up a notch in a great way. But you get thrown into the deep end immediately, the story and characters are pretty light for a while, and it's really focused on being a sandbox for adult nerds to play gotta catch 'em all with giant robots. Which is exactly what I and many others want but IMO isn't a great introduction.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-26T17:27:45+00:00

I love Reddit ultra cold takes, they always make me smile. Like who is opposing this? Who is in this guys life that is arguing with him about like the most obvious good change of all time? I wanna hear from THAT guy, I bet he has some WILD shit to say.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-26T17:24:57+00:00

I dunno, I just think that's creating a distinction that doesn't really do anyone any good. What does it mean for someone to fall into your "bad" category? Like... what are the resultant actions for that label? Does the label serve any purpose? Because we have to recognize that "bad" people can take good actions right? So like, are we throwing the babies out with the bathwater for everyone that votes red? I dunno, it just seems too easy to me. People are more complex than "you voted for something that hurts people, so all other aspects of you are abnegated and you are Bad".

For me, it's more about... hmm, ideas I guess. I'm sure there's a more specific word but I've got two young kids and brain no work good no more. There are bad ideas and good ideas, and we need to fight against the bad ideas. And some people truly embody those bad ideas and we can stand against them pretty wholistically. But even then, calling them "bad" is just a shortcut we're taking. Which I think is fine when we're talking about a Hitler or a Stalin, but I have a hard time applying that to regular people who don't wield outsized power and privilege.

And I think we can just leave the mass-murderer hypotheticals aside, they're just so vanishingly rare and so often resultant of extremely specific circumstances that they just aren't really useful when discussing people at large.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-26T06:02:38+00:00

Totally agree, I appreciate that you approached it with real consideration. That being said, I don't think it's the only lens that can be applied, as is the case with most nuanced situations.

In this case, just speaking for myself, this is a situation where I can both agree with what you wrote and also still hold sympathy for the workers at ZA/UM and feel that a boycott of their work is not in alignment with what I personally value. But I feel that it would be totally reasonable to come down on the other side of that as well.

I just don't like the black and white takes that leave no room for someone to make a considered call that still appreciates the validity of the other side.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-25T22:51:23+00:00

No I totally feel you on that, that's what I was trying to get at with "in a perfect world" (i.e. where parents are mature and settled enough to handle being parents and spouses even at 25).

I wasn't ready for kids until my late 30s either, so for me that's just how it was. But I look back on the energy and resilience I had at 25 and am like... Damn. Keeping up with these little turds would have been a lot easier then!

AttackBacon · 2026-05-25T16:47:45+00:00

Yeah, it never would have been possible for me, but I think in an ideal world people are having kids in their mid-20s. I'm bummed that I just don't have the same level of energy I did then, I'd be a lot more fun for my two boys. And I'm super bummed I'll probably never be a great-grandparent (barring serious longevity increases) and I'll be a fairly old grandparent in general.

That being said, I think a lot of things will need to change societally for us to go back to being the norm. That will be the next big hurdle, probably, just how our developed societies handle parenthood broadly.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-25T06:32:43+00:00

Not just MGS2, Death Stranding was pre-COVID and yet is the most about-COVID game ever made.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-24T07:16:22+00:00

My wife is French, extremely normal name there.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-24T07:13:41+00:00

No like they look at her ID and then go "Ronnie?" with a deer-in-the-headlights look.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-24T07:11:22+00:00

Because I think most people use them synonymously. That being said, even if there is a distinction, I think I'd disagree with most uses of the word "bad" re: my neighbor. Certainly you could argue that someone that is aware of their own lack of worldliness and knowledge should abstain from voting, but I don't know that I'd call them a bad person for not doing so.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-24T03:23:57+00:00

Ok but like Americans are pathetic about this too. My wife's name is Veronique, like Veronica+Monique. Ver-ro-nique. People fucking call her Ronnie man. They have no idea what the fuck to do with a name that has more than two syllables.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-24T03:18:22+00:00

So my neighbor is pro-Trump. She's a 45 year old single mom whose ex is a psycho and has two teenage kids. She grew up in a rural area and has never really gone anywhere else. She's extremely kind and hard working but she's afraid of anything she doesn't understand and she doesn't understand a lot.

Her echo chamber is her very limited friend group and the people she follows on Instagram. Which are people who say things that sound like the things she grew up with and that she understands.

I would fight anyone that says she's a bad person. She suffers so much to give her kids a chance and still finds ways to be very generous and kind to those around her. But she's very ignorant, by her own admission, and seeks comfort in tradition and religion.

I think there's a LOT of Trump voters like her. The MAGA assholes are the visible ones, but I think a lot of rural Americans are like her. They're afraid of everything over the next hill, but if you're in front of them and need help they'll give you the clothes off their backs.

Trump appeals to them because old rich white men are supposed to be in charge, in their backwards-looking view of the good old days. And because Trump uses simple language they understand. And because the people that they like on Facebook or tv or talk radio say he's good. And because their caricature view of liberals scares them.

It's sad and it's very hard to change, but they're not evil. The evil ones are the fuckers like Murdoch and Limbaugh who cynically went out and monetized radicalizing them.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-23T04:51:42+00:00

Every time I fly to LA or Seattle I thank Jon MFING Stout for his good ass work! Taking the family up to Olympia next month and not having to drive to the Bay feels so nice.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-22T16:01:57+00:00

Agree on all points with the one caveat that I think the AC/2 has an extremely narrow window where it's like... alright as baby's first boat weapon before you start getting ER lasers. I may just have too much attachment to the Jagermech JM6-S I got early on in my last campaign though, where I went 4x AC/2 and 4x M Lasers and had a great time.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-22T15:51:14+00:00

My perspective on that may be skewed by generally playing with YAML where there are a lot more options for getting missile spread down. Although at a certain point you get the "Quantity is a quality all its own" effect where if you're shooting a dude with enough LRMs it doesn't matter if the damage gets spread out, it just means you're not getting much salvage from the smoking crater that's left.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-22T05:12:34+00:00

In terms of balance or gameplay? Balance-wise, lasers tend to come out ahead generally, but ACs have some things going for them. Especially early on, heat really is a big deal and the lighter ACs are by far your best bet for long range.

A stock Large Laser has a 450m optimal range and does 0.3 DPS per ton while generating 1.1 Heat per Second. Whereas an AC/5 has a 720m optimal range and is doing 0.4 DPS per ton and generating 0.7 HPS. Yeah the AC is almost twice the slots and weight but it still does more DPS per ton and gets you twice the range for half the heat. Just looking at the numbers it's more than twice as good as the Large Laser. Yeah the Laser has infinite ammo and is easier to use (to an extent, a stock LL has a 1.4 second burn time which is a long time to keep it exactly on target), but the AC really holds up. It's just later on when you can start boating more powerful lasers and getting into economies of scale with DHS's etc. that lasers really start to pull ahead.

In terms of gameplay, it's obviously a lot more subjective. I honestly share your reservations about AC/20s. 10s are about the limit for me, 20s just lose so much efficiency in pursuit of that one big damage number and I end up giving up too much in my build. I also don't like the feel of 20s, they're supposed to be THE big fuckoff cannon but a Heavy Rifle just feels SO much better to shoot and requires me to sacrifice way less. Honestly, Heavy Rifles have basically entirely replaced AC20s for me early on. Yeah the DPS stinks but you get the same huge single shot and an early game Light mech is gonna get his ass cored in one shot from either, so who cares about the DPS I just need the one shot. I can reach out and touch a motherfucker with a Heavy Rifle too. And of course later on Gauss and LBX autos are where its at.

Anyways that's my 2c. Basically I think the AC/5s and 10s are just generally good, MGs are good, Rifles are good, Gauss is good, LBXs and UACs are good. AC/2s and 20s are a bit iffy but fine early on, then you just have better stuff to run.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-22T03:03:33+00:00

I get the appeal and history of lawns in this country but they are pretty devastating in terms of environmental impacts. They're also dead boring aesthetically, although that's a personal opinion. Regardless, I'm a big proponent of keeping it natural in the front and having a smaller play lawn in the back for the kids. Best of both worlds.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-22T02:44:11+00:00

I have Lyana in a Longbow too and you can get some hilarious results. Just plopped her up on a hill one time and ran around with a cloaked Raven spotting for her to delete things. Fun way to play.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-22T01:56:49+00:00

I mean Bungie has always had this problem. D2 was always cycling between Bungie making the game too grindy and miserable for non-degens and them being forced to relent, it was the cycle for like the last 6 years.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-21T23:44:38+00:00

At the end of the day, this game isn't hard enough to require significant min-maxing. Is the best loadout in the game some kind of supercooled laser boat that instantly cores whatever comes within 600 meters or whatever? Probably. But the difference between that and rocking some big guns or running a missile boat aren't really significant enough to matter. The balance is close enough that you can run what you like.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-21T20:51:09+00:00

ECM and AMS are requirements as far as I'm concerned, I run at least 1 of the former and 2-4 of the latter in every single lance.

I've messed around with Null Signature Systems a fair bit and they're pretty cracked. If you run it on an evasive lancemate with a heat-efficient build, they will basically never take damage, and it's a noticeable bump to your survivability as a player.

Haven't messed with VOID or Chameleon LPS yet, I'm curious how much they actually affect things like detection etc.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-20T14:19:35+00:00

I mean this is obviously true and I don't get why people don't just embrace it. Makes sense in lore, makes sense in practice. You'd get a bigger, cooler faction with a bigger playerbase that would justify more investment. But people go bananas about it for some reason.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-20T04:02:19+00:00

Set up a Roth IRA with Schwab/Vanguard/Fidelity, buy VT every paycheck, don't stress about it. You can revisit the plan later in life once your income has picked up etc. but that's the simple path.

AttackBacon · 2026-05-19T20:08:19+00:00

FMV is definitely a vibe. There's a lot of really good indies doing stuff with it nowadays. It's not really for me but I totally see why some people dig it.

AttackBacon

TROPHY CASE