You’d think that romping around in a post-apocalyptic wasteland in a heavily armed mech would be the most straightforward thing in the world. And you wouldn’t be far wrong. But even so there are nuances and hidden tricks in Mech …
You’d think that romping around in a post-apocalyptic wasteland in a heavily armed mech would be the most straightforward thing in the world. And you wouldn’t be far wrong.
But even so there are nuances and hidden tricks in Mech Battle that it really pays to get on top of. Follow this quick guide to the letter and you’ll have the best possible start.
On the battlefield
Each battle in Mech Battle – whether last man standing, 4v4 team deathmatch, or capture the flag – takes place in an environment comprising uneven terrain and large objects that can either help or hinder you.
There also several different weapon types that you can mount on your mech, and each type has a dramatic effect on how you engage your enemy.
Let’s start with weapons types.
Kinetic is the most basic type. Cannon, F300 shotgun, MG, and the powerful Decimator are all kinetic weapons, which basically means they fire bullets (or shot).
Then you’ve got your Homing Missiles, like the Tomak, the TomakNGEN, the RR8, and the spectacular Swarm. These seek out their target like terriers.
Next up are the Rockets, such as the single-projectile Q200, the improved 5-projectile Q3500, and the lethal 9-projectile Persuader. These rockets fly straight forwards.
Finally there are the Energy weapons. These include the Plasma Gun, which fires balls of plasma, the LaserMK2, which fires out a beam of killer light, and Bertha, which is an even more powerful beam.
You can also equip a couple of different types of shield, if you happen to be more defensively minded.
Every weapon and shield has its own detailed profile made up of stats such as damage, reload time, damage over time, damage over range, required mount point (light, medium, or heavy), clip size, fire delay, and more.
You need to reach higher levels to unlock more powerful weapons.
While your mechs are generally quite slow-moving and cumbersome, you can do certain things to protect them from enemy fire. The most obvious is to find cover, which is where your Homing Missiles come in.
It’s impossible to hide in Mech Battle – every player is always indicated, even if they’re not visible on the screen. If an enemy gets close enough, they can be targeted, meaning you can let off a volley of homing missiles from behind cover.
Another solid tactic is to circle strafe. Particularly effective against less experienced opponents, this allows you to fire while constantly evading your enemy’s fire.
Naturally there are numerous different mech types too. Fifteen to be precise. These come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from the light and agile Polaris to the heavy and bristling with mountpoints Atlas. Some have special skills, too, such as the ability to jump or boost.
These mechs come at a cost, though, and you can only obtain them through long hours on the battlefield, earning currency to spend on bringing your fleet up to strength and growing it incrementally.
Off the battlefield
There are three types of currency in Mech Battle: Lithium, Platinum, and Energy Cells. After every battle you’ll get a summary outlining how much of each currency you’ve earned.
Interestingly, you get paid Lithium according to how much damage you’ve dealt – but you also need to pay to repair your mechs, so you only get to keep the difference. There’s also a bonus for winning.
Meanwhile you’ll earn Platinum for finishing a game, being the last mech standing, or destroying the most mechs. Energy cells are collected from the battlefield.
Lithium is your main currency. It’s this you use to upgrade your mech and its mountpoints, as well as to buy new mechs and weapons. These upgrades have timers, too, which you can expedite by either watching a video or spending Platinum.
Platinum is a much more valuable currency that takes a lot longer to accumulate – particularly if you don’t manage to do very well on the battlefield.
It also costs Platinum to buy mech slots. This is pretty vital since the more slots you have the more mechs you can field in battle, each one effectively giving you another life.
It can take a long time to earn enough currency to progress in Mech Battle, so don’t forget to claim all the free stuff that comes your way.
For example, you’ll earn Battle Progress Rewards every day, in the form of Platinum, Lithium, or Energy Cells. You’ll also get a regular supply drop, containing all three currencies in usually quite small amounts.
And you can trade your Energy Cells for other items in the form of chests. Each chest is a sort of Schroedinger’s cat box, with different odds of winning different items, from bundles of currency to weapons to new mechs.
These trades come in Silver, Gold, and Ultimate varieties, at the cost of five, 25, and 50 Energy Cells respectively.
All of these free income sources are available on the left of the screen, and they light up with notifications when you can act, so just keep an eye out. Less obvious is the “offers and bonuses” screen, which you can visit to claim free goodies by tapping on the little white circle in the top-right of the hangar.
Finally, you can sell your weapons for a bit of extra scratch. You can do this, as well as viewing your inventory, applying upgrades to your mountpoints, changing weapons, and upgrading your mechs in the hangar, by tapping on the orange circles.
You can put this Guide to the test by downloading Mech Battle right now on Google Play and the App Store.
