If truth be told, probably very new players, but it occurred to me that in all my time I haven't actually seen anything official on just how important this piece of gear is.
It fits on any mech at all from 10 tons up to 100, has no drawbacks whatsoever and gives any mechs some form of boost.
Actual worth of this piece is 5 Niodes (and you should learn very quickly that niodes can be hard to come by and spent very wisely indeed..) but you can't actually purchase it.
You get it FREE!!!
I am talking of course about the humble Instant Upgrade Kit.
And when I say free, I mean of course that you need to make some in game friends and you can send and recieve gifts, of which this is probably the most important one.
Think about it. Every day, you can make one of your mechs permanently better. Veteran players will no doubt advise you to use them only on Niode mechs, and for you first little while in your career you should certainly reserve them for your warhorse or the mech you will receive upon joining a clan.
But if you already have your Niode Mechs fully upgraded, there is no reason you can't use one of these on a Crystal mech. Trust me, if for any reason you do run out (and I can't recall running out in the past few years), send them to all you friends and they will come flodding back in.
Now just as a quick aside, definitely keep the X2 Instant Upgrades you get as KOTM prizes or mission completions for your Niode Mechs. ou don't get many of them and you need to use them for the best return.
So there you have it. The most under rated piece of gear in the game, all free and worth around 150 Niodes expenditure a month. At least that what you would have to pay to get the equivalent in upgrades.
Submitted by David McCallum : #701548