The Times, They Are A Changin’ By Kenneth Hicks ID# 846092

Scott Abbott sat in his command ship in orbit over Srixin. That was one of the most intensive, weirdest, and difficult invasions that the Mercenary Clans have ever had to endure. It was like you were going into combat with the Bizarro World versions of themselves only they had most definitely been tweeking the mechs.

Now that hostilities have been sufficiently contained, you’d think it would be time for a little R&R, licking of the wounds and rebuilding the fleets, check out ESPN to see if Chris Zimmer is looking to take another KotM.

But no. Nope, that would be too easy. That would have made this whole blasted thing bearable!
Instead, the Home Office of Clan War Broadcasting had to send a memo down the line. One…Memo…

The memo too which Scott was brooding was a General Rule Change with the next Clan War. For the next war, clans will have a minimum of 5 or a maximum of 7 members.

One…Memo…

So instead of having some pleasant downtime, Scott has been awake for the last three cycles, running troops through exercises, taking in data, wins, loses, improvements, activity level, and frequency of bathroom breaks. Pilots and ground crew have been on 18/4 sleep cycles, keeping everyone on edge, always working.
Clan Leaders and cadre have all learned, if Cmdr. Abbott is awake then so are they. Running drills, collecting notes, strategy sessions, keeping the troops moving, making the work pay out in stronger clan structures.

One…Memo…

Clan Wars Administrative Division
Novum Dolorum
Marketing Department

Stan Jennings was just finishing up work with a skip in his step, and a smirk on his face. It’s been a great day!

Apparently Mr. Shapiro really liked his Holovid campaign idea. Why not just double the number of clans, ensuring customers will have to buy the “Clan War Package Deal” to ensure that they’re able to see all the matches. They’ll rake it in! IT Analytics are already projecting a rise of 21% profits for the quarter because of it!

Then there was that tasty bonus they gave me hitting the account at lunch time. With that kind of money, he can take Jane and the kids to Disney World, just like they’ve always wanted!

Yep, life is good.

Psychic Enhancer Equipment Review By Pat Willis#224534

A Niode cockpit equipment piece for mechas 90-95 tons which will cost you 1,173 Ferrite, 1,340 Bioptics, and 55 Niodes. It has a Precision of [8], Crit Kill of 4%, Speed of -6, 3x Damage of 3%, and 2x Damage of 5%.

Given the tonnage range on this usage is highly limited. First off it'll only work in your BMF mecha, and secondly the speed penalty will keep many from stacking these on their mecha. Lets face it the big boys don't move to swiftly as is, no use turning them into a colossal gun turret in your line up. Aside from that draw back not too bad for abilities. It could be better, it could be worse. Personally owning quite a few mechas in that tonnage range myself I think it's rather meh and wouldn't blow 55 niodes on one. But that is me and my play style, you dear reader may have plans for this, as well as equipment combinations I haven't thought of yet. By all means go nuts and have a blast.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Synfuel Reprocessor Equipment Review By Pat Willis#224534

For mechas in the 30-50 Ton range here is this handy little niode engine part. It costs 1,050 Ferrite, 1,050 Bioptics, and 19 Niodes to purchase. It has Auto Repair of 1, Speed of +5, Projectile Vulnerable at 10%, and Laser Vulnerable at 4%.

Now those two vulnerabilities aren't really an issue with proper slots and shielding to put them in. The Auto Repair isn't bad, minimal but at least it's there. The Speed isn't bad, there are bigger, faster and more powerful engines out there yes, but use these right and with the right mecha sporting a proper load out for the rest of your equipment and you could be very satisfied with the end results.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Core Reactor Equipment Review By Pat Willis#224534

A Crystal engine equipment piece for mechas in the 65-75 ton range. To get one will cost you 511 Ferrite, 455 Bioptics, and 49 Crystal. This piece grants your mecha Speed +8, Fire Damage at +6%, and Missile as well as Ice vulnerable both at 5%.

Honestly that looks to be the fastest engine in that tonnage range, however if you go into the 70-85 ton range you get into the Max Torque Charged engine with its speed at +10. So really it all depends on where your mecha in questions tonnage lies. The speed on this piece is even more than its Niode cousins +7, and usually Niode gear is better. You will have to put up with the vulnerabilities, a slim boost to fire damage, but hey it'll be the fastest in engine in its weight class.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Plasma Core Equipment Review By Pat Willis#224534

A  crystal engine part for mecha 90-95 tons, which will run you 1,725 Ferrite, 1,542 Biopotics, and 73 Crystal. This part has the abilities of Speed +4, Auto Repair of 3, Fire vulnerability of 30%, and laser vulnerable at 8%.

In my humble opinion simply save your resources  and go all in on the Heat Cycler engine, for the same tonnage spread. You'll get plus 7 to speed nothing else but it will save you a world of hurt when it comes to vulnerabilities. The heat Cycler is also much cheaper only coming in at 54 Crystal rather than the Plasma Cores 73 crystal price tag.  If you want auto repair that badly save your niodes and buy a R.A.C.E. Engine for 53 niodes and get Speed +10, dodge (1), Proj. Damage +4%, and Auto Repair of (1). Stack em and see much more effectiveness in your mech than something with large percentage of vulnerabilities built in. Sorry but this is a real waste of resources for the Plasma Core, and will just lead to getting your mecha blown up all the sooner.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Rockin Tunes Equipment Review By Pat Willis#224534

Some kick ass and take names tunes to go along with your 85-95 ton mechs, cause everyone concentrates better with loud music blaring. It will cost you 1,021 Ferrite, 420 Bioptics, and 51 Crystal to buy one cockpit unit. It features the abilities of Precision (2), Trample at 5%, Freeze at 5%, and Speed of +2.

Mechas in that weight range usually have a decent Precision rating rating as is so adding another 2 here and there is always a good thing. Especially if you are running low on niodes for your gear and need a small boost. Trample and freeze both come in at 5% which is pretty decent for crystal gear and can give a much needed push to whatever else you are packing in your mechas. Speed of +2 is a nice little bonus for anything that heavy as they don't really move all that fast to begin with so any potential to add to it is always welcome. Not the worst piece of gear for crystal and it is free of those annoying vulnerabilities so all in all a good deal.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

CW 3317 Rule change by David McCallum : #701548

Attention all clans... rule change for next war

Straight from our news feed...

SECOND WAVE PORTALS

In the aftermath of the recent conflict with Unification, the Illyrian Hegemony and all the mercenary clans are regrouping and discussing the abrupt end to the final battle on Srixin. No one is certain about the reasons for Unification’s retreat, but all are determined to be prepared if and when they return to our galaxy.

Just days after the Unification Army inexplicably retreated from Srixin, a new phenomenon was sighted on Srixin. This phenomenon appears to be another type of portal or gateway, similar in form to the portals used by Unification. Preliminary scans indicate that this new portal is considerably smaller in physical size than the previous portals and seems to be even less stable, flickering in and out of existence.

Initially, there was some speculation that these small portals might be a weapon or a weapon delivery system of some sort, but there has been no evidence to support this theory. Top scientists and theoretical physicists across the galaxy have presented many theories on what these could be, but as of yet, no one opinion has gained much support outside its presenters.

As a precaution, governments are warning citizens to avoid the portals, if possible, and have dispatched military units to secure areas where they have appeared. More new portals are being reported each day and the growing number has made it challenging to respond to them all, even with additional help from the Mercenary Clans.

The Illyrian troops have resorted to splitting their forces into smaller units in order to cover more ground and will likely need to persevere with this strategy if they hope to keep up with the increase in portal appearances.

The Mercenary Clans will undoubtedly be asked for assistance in addressing this new threat, as they were with the portals last year. The Mercenary Clans can expect to have a clan size of 5 to 7 for Clan Wars 3317. These smaller “squads” will be better equipped to handle the current challenges. Any clans planning to participate would benefit from starting to prepare as early as possible.

These flickering portals are now opening seemingly at random across dozens of worlds. It is possible that they are uncontrolled. It is also possible that there is a pattern to their appearances that has not yet been discerned. Either way, the Illyrian military and the few reinforcements from the other Major and Minor Powers involved are already being stretched thin in their attempts to monitor the situation.

CLAN SIZE 5 TO 7... expect some shuffles

Folks, this is a very interesting development.

For single clans, it unfortunately means that somebody may need to either sit out, or alliances will be formed and players swapped in, or an influx of people on the Free Agents page.

Larger clan families will suddenly be giving out brevet promotions as squad leaders are pressed into taking up some slack.

There is also going to be a greater chance of clan families being piutted against each other in the same division with its inevitable probability of clone on clone action.

Is it going to mean more, smaller, faster battles?

Oh, and specialists... with less numbers in the clans, these will play an even bigger role on a percentage basis... or will this finally be the long awaited return of the unlinited clan war?

Who knows?... but stay tuned.

Submitted by David McCallum : #701548

Lantern Engine Equipment Review By Pat Willis#224534

A crystal engine for mechas 80-90 tons. It'll cost you 1,012 Ferrite, 1,021 Bioptics, and 56 Crystal to buy one. It has a Speed of +7, 2X Damage at 5%, and Missile Vulnerable at 3%.

In the 80-90 ton range it is probably the best for speed in its class. Note that is only for the 80-90 ranges not the 75 - 90 or 70-85. The X2 damage can always be a bonus to be tacked on to a mecha already imbued with X2, or X3 damage abilities. The missile vulnerability  can be canceled out with proper placement and usage of a Missile Shield. So when all is said and done, not too bad of a engine.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

The Second Look At The Notos By Pat Willis#224534

When last we reviewed this mecha I only was able to base the review off of it at level 70 something. Now I have the majority of them up to full pilot level of 116, and can give a more informed review. As usual basic purchase information and stats are contained in the side image.

Off of the show room floor your Notos comes equipped to BBQ the hell out of its opponents. It packs 1 Prometheus, 4 Illyrian Flares, 2 Chimera, and 4 Setaline Torches. Taking it from level 0 to level 116 gets you the following for in built mecha bonuses.

Fire damage at +74%, 3X damage at 17%, Shield of (15), Fork shield at 30%, Laser shield at 15%, Missile shield at 40%, Ice shield at 15%, 2X damage at 8%, Fire shield at(25) Missile shield of (24), Splash at 20%, Precision of (12), Wide Fork shield 20%, Projectile vulnerable 4%, and a Dodge of (5). I Have 6 Cockpit slots, 5 Chassis slots, 5 Engine slots, 4 Shield slots, and 49 Weapon slots available to me.

Obviously this is a flame thrower through and through, but as with most mechas it has room to modify it in the equipment slots to make it more accepting of other weapon types. Granted you probably will not get a lot out of whatever you install for a secondary or fall back system, but you can put it in there.

It has a decent array of inbuilt shielding to it so you're looking good on that even with just 4 Shield slots available. But you may want to get that pesky inbuilt vulnerability to Projectiles shielded off as soon as possible. That weapon family is one of the fastest firing and most devastating weapons the game has at higher levels. As a result it's popular with many a pilot and something you are often going to run into in a fight. So be smart shore up your weaknesses as soon as you can, especially with so much in built shielding to help negate whatever vulnerabilities equipping it with gives you in the first place.

Follow all that? Good moving on...

The weapons slots allow you to pretty much equip most of the flame weapon family to this mecha if you were so inclined. The flame weapons have a long and solid history of burning and splashing their way to victory. Add on the weapon specific damage bonus and you could be looking at burning your opponent to a smoldering wreckage in no time.

The 2X and 3X damage potential can be upped of course with proper equipment and placement so capitalize on that as you go. It doesn't have a lot of slots for dodge or have much for inbuilt dodge itself so do yourself a favor and go for the niode gear on this. Not saying you can not go crystal with it. Just saying niode gear usually does more and packs more of a punch and after all isn't that what you want out of a mecha you are investing in rather heftily from the get go?

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Synaptic Boost Equipment Review By Pat Willis#224534

For mechas 95-100 tons, and costing 1,057 Ferrite, 2,131 Bioptics, and 87 Crystal. For all that you get  Precision [4], Trample at 3%, Crit-Kill at 2%, and a Speed penalty of -3. So with the 100 ton mechas already at a huge disadvantage for speed and dodge, we can slow them down even more but hey at least they can aim.

You can go the niode route and buy the Predictive Analysis cockpit piece, at least there you won't have to worry about slowing down your already slower than molasses mecha but you'll blow 57 Niodes per unit you purchase and acquire Missile as well as Laser Vulnerabilities at 5% and 4% respectively, as well as gain double the precision of the crystal variant. Although I'm beginning to wonder how valuable precision is as I have a Boreas with 111 Precision rating, once mecha build and equipment are all factored in and it still misses about half its shots. So up to you folks go for precision which may not be that beneficial as we all thought or go for slowing down your already lumbering machine.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Something Is Brewing Over On Yomi By Pat Willis#224534

So I was over on Yomi yesterday knocking the crap out of the bosses as I got the fights to unlock. I finally get to the "Big Boss", and his wave after wave of henchmen that attack you for simply breathing and being there.

Apparently Doorknob Drochah has gone to ground there and is now that levels mission boss. Honestly he was harder to fight in some of the many raids he has appeared in. But we slugged it out, he sends his troops in, I send in mine. They clash and collide on the field until it is just he and I.

Now I know that he's an upper tier bad guy to a degree, he won't be a pushover, or be packing anything "light" on his mecha. So out of everything in my hanger I grab my Fext, Crossfire and go to town on his prehistoric, reptilian, space neanderthal ass. It was a short fight.

End result instead of picking through the wreckage like any other battlefield after victory, this tells you straight out what is going on. Some kind of energy from that chroniode thing arcs out and hits an upgrade kit. You having just won the battle are present to witness this and also take possession of said upgrade kit. This single lone upgrade kit allows for you to add +20 levels instantly to your mecha with no cost to you in resources.

Yup, you read that right a freebie for +20 levels on whatever needs upgrading in your hanger. I asked around about this, see if it can be had multiple times with repeated run ins with the level boss. So far the answer is yes from everyone I have spoken to. So hit Yomi hard, beat that Drochah into the ground and kick back to relax with a mecha getting +20 levels added for free!

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534