- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
T I T A N S O F S T E E L
W a r r i n g S u n s
FAQ v1.2
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Original FAQ by Aensland.
Version 1.0 - May-June 2006 - original release
Version 1.1 - July 2006 - fixed some typos, clarified a few minor points.
(not submitted)
Version 1.2 - July 2006 - added turn system primer. Read here for a quick
overview of the move/action command panel system.
- fixed formatting for jock attributes, added a bunch of info,
a lot of clarifications and some hard figures instead of the
previous speculation or assumptions.
- added sample tournament guidelines for special squads
- added additional weaponry notes
- added initiative, terrain, and movement sections
- added line-of-sight section
- range section expanded to include firing arc
- added scanning section
- expanded additional weaponry notes to include HtH & charging
- added experience section
- expanded heat section
- added shield section
- added internal damage section
- added ammo section
- expanded line-of-sight section to include called shots
- added engine explosion section
- added Jock damage section
- added kills and ejection explanation
- expanded winning section
v1.0 Submitted to GameFAQs on 28/06/2006 22:57 GMT+9
v1.1 (not submitted)
v1.2 Submitted to GameFAQs on 17/07/2006 16:49 GMT+9
" Titans of Steel: Warring Suns "
is copyright Vicious Byte and Matrix Games
Vicious Byte
http://www.Titansofsteel.de/
Matrix Games
http://www.matrixgames.com/games/Titansofsteel2/
(order here)
http://www.matrixgames.com/games/store.asp?gid=237
Crownd
http://www.crownd.net/
This guide can only be posted on GameFAQs, although exceptions will be
noted below. I have little to add except point out how GameFAQ contributors
have explained how some scumsucking liars try to pass off others' work as
their own on their websites. Non-compliance will be dealt with extreme
prejudice.
On the occasion where permission has been granted to display this
elsewhere, the site name will be displayed beneath these paragraphs,
followed by the date email was received granting said permission.
Note that permission is only granted on a FAQ by FAQ basis! One 'yes' does
NOT mean my other FAQs can then be lifted wholesale. And no, I don't feel
like registering elsewhere just to host my FAQs. There are REASONS we
gamers pick GameFAQs, not least being because they aren't ad-hoes (yet),
are for the most part gamer-oriented, and aren't slaves to the Content
Cartels.
Besides, there's no buzz from seeing my FAQ at yet another generic XYZ
entertainment site. There are too many of you out there anyway, and you
always claim to reach some kinda audience. Screw that, GameFAQs reaches
all the audience I need.
As of July 2006, only one other site has permission:
- 1UP.com - Richard Li from 1UP.com mailed me. I didn't need to register
or anything so what the heck. I don't normally do this,
though. So I expect only to see this FAQ there. They don't
have permission for my other stuff. My take on 1UP.com?
They look decent enough but to be honest the page comes
across as just another mishmash of ads and stuff. I don't
know how BIG they are but they certainly don't look as if
they're in GameFAQs/GameSpot's league. Now this ain't
dissing them, its just my OPINION of their site. I checked
out a couple of links and read his blog. Nothing really
exciting. It's like one of those homepage thingies and
doesn't really look very coordinated. Overall, just doesn't
give me that feel like when I'm on GameFAQs or GameSpot.
- - -
According to the official Matrix Games forum, Vicious Byte has been
disbanded after the 1.2.1 update of ToS:WS in 2004. They also removed the
disc-checking requirement so customers may play without needing to find
where they kept their CDs, or suffering additional needless wear-and-tear
when the installed program doesn't actually need anything from the disc.
A highly commendable gesture, signifying the trust and respect they have
for their customers.
Go buy this game, it's available as a direct digital download - no need
to go to a store.
===== [ TABLE OF CONTENTS ] ===== - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+ INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [INT]
+ HEADQUARTERS MODULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [HQ.]
- Training Camp Database
- Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [RCS]
- Jock attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ATT]
- Jock skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [SKL]
. Pilot skills
. Combat skills
. Other skills
- Attribute-skill analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ASA]
. My recommendation
- Note: Special Squads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [SQD]
- Jock Transfer Database
- Titan Factory Database
- Jock Roster
- Titan Roster
- Save Squad Data
- Jock Roster Printout
- Dismiss Squad
+ FACTORY MODULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [FAC]
- Titan design tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [TDT]
- Armor
- Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [SYS]
- Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [WPN]
. Weaponry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [WRY]
- Additional weaponry notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ADW]
- Shields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [SHD]
+ BATTLE MODULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [BAT]
- A quick guide: the turn system primer . . . . . . . . . . . . . [TRN]
- Combat factors
- Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [INI]
- Terrain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [TER]
- Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [MOV]
- Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [RNG]
- Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [SCN]
- Heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [HOT]
- Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [POW]
- Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [HP.]
- Line-of-Sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [LOS]
- Fog of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [FOG]
- Hiding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [HID]
- Skill Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [CHK]
- Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [DMG]
- Internal damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ITR]
- Ammo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [AMO]
- Engine explosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ENG]
- Jock damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [JOK]
- Winning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [WIN]
- Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [EXP]
+ MISCELLANEOUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [MSC]
- tips
- Tutorial notes
- Squad file editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [HAX]
+ End
Several oft-browsed sections are marked by the bracketed three-letter
code at the end. So for example if you wanted to quickly scroll to the
Battle Module, simply search this FAQ for the code "[BAT]" using your
text viewer's search command.
===== [ INTRODUCTION ] ===== - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -[INT]-
Titans of Steel: Warring Suns ("ToS:WS") is a mech turn-based strategy
game based on a hex grid. It was inspired by the tabletop FASA game, and
fans of the old Battlemech game will be on familiar territory as well,
although the developers were creative enough to use original mech designs.
The soundtrack is also original, by the band Crownd (link at top of FAQ).
Released in 2003, the last major update was in 2004, version 1.2.1. The
game is also available as a digital download from the Matrix Games website
(link at top of FAQ) and at the asking price is an absolute steal.
- - -
The future is one of the great unknowns, everyone wants to know
how it will turn out to be. Many have tried to control the future
and still others demand that it take us where we want to go. Our
future led us to space, to expand and to seek glory and honor. We
paid a pretty cheap price for these things over the last 753 years.
In fact we've done nothing but expand and claim new territories for
our own... until now!
When war finally broke out, we were not ready for the conflict.
The initial skirmishes escalated almost immediately into full-blown
wars, across hundreds of light years all at once. Key resource and
commerce systems were engulfed by the struggle. Before long,
neither we nor the other empires could afford the high losses or
the economic burden required to supply the many battles to come.
In order to maintain an effective fighting force, a new way of
waging war was developed. The main fighting unit became the Titan
Attack Tech, better known as the Titan-AT. Along with their pilot,
these machines were organized into battle Squads and sent out to
continue the war we had started.
Thanks to this innovation, the war expanded and raged on for
years. Many of the outlying systems could no longer rely on the
core systems for trade or communications. Most were forgotten and
became known as the Lost Worlds. Often, these independent systems
set up their own order of government, which included settling their
differences in large arenas by having men and women fight to their
deaths in Titan-ATs.
The old world had finally met the new world. News of the arena
combats reached the leaders of the warring empires, who built
training camps to better train new recruits and to hire the best
Titan-AT pilots, also known as Jocks.
- - -
So here we are at last. Welcome, Commander. You are in charge of a Squad
of raw Jocks fresh from training camp, and it is up to you to lead them
either to glory... or death.
A detailed engine underlies the deceptive simpliciy of ToS:WS, although
everything is explained quite well in the included pdf manual as well as
the in-game tutorial. It is highly recommended to read the manual at least
once and refer to it while perusing the tutorial to get a feel of things.
It isn't all that hard to get into, you just have to have patience.
Hair-trigger gamers are better off playing action games, feel free to leave
now before finding yourself getting mired in the mechanics and then
unfairly complaining about how boring it is - I repeat, this is a strategy
game for those who pride themselves on beating their opponents through
superior tactical manuevers instead of mindless button-mashing force. You
are the Squad Commander, not some front-line grunt.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After the introduction, the game takes you to the main menu, referred to
as the Command Centre. From here you will access the three modules which
make up ToS:WS. You may also go to the options selection screen from here.
options : customise settings, etc
Headquarters: Squad management, recruiting, training
Factory : Titan design / modification, post-combat Squad repairs
Battlefield : where the action takes place
Anytime, anywhere, you may press F12 to toggle music on/off, Alt+W to
toggle windowed/fullscreen mode, and Alt+X to exit. Help is generally
available by pressing F1 - in the combat interface, a list of hotkeys will
be displayed.
First of all, enter the options screen to input your Commander name
into the section on the bottom left. It will be used for both Singleplayer
and multiplayer.
===== [ HEADQUARTERS ] ===== - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -[HQ.]-
Here is where you, as Squad commander, manage your Squads. Yes, you may
have up to 4 active Squads at any one time. Don't worry about it for now,
it is certainly possible to play the game with a single Squad. The slots
for additional Squads are generally intended for multiplayer games.
For the single user gamer though, don't worry about it. Certainly you
can develop additional Squads if you wish, but remember time spent on other
Squads is time not spent on your own.
To create a new Squad, simple click on the Squad row under the 'Select'
column (Squad A, B, C, or D). The game comes with a premade Squad A,
"Vicious Raiders". You can ignore it, the tutorial uses separate info and
random AI Squads are generated on-the-fly. By default, new Squads will be
created with no Jocks nor Titans, and with an initial fund of $500,000.
Once selected, you may change a Squad's name by clicking on the topleft
text which says 'Squad A' (or B, C, or D). This may be done at no cost at
any time except during a mission.
There are 8 options under 'Access File'.
- Training Camp Database
- Jock Transfer Database
- Titan Factory Database
- Jock Roster
- Titan Roster
- Save Squad Data
- Jock Roster Printout
- Dismiss Squad
>> Training Camp Database - - -
This is where you recruit Jocks. Recruiting costs $25,000 to cover their
initial training. Enter the Jock's full Name, Callsign (nickname in
battle), then select a race, and gender.
- [ Races ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [RCS]
Jocks may be recruited of 4 different races.
Humans : No particular strengths or weaknesses.
They get a +1 bonus on charisma and instinct each.
Replicants: Cloned humans, genetically enhanced either in dexterity
(Replicant D) or intelligence (Replicant I); they receive +2
on one of those attributes. They are highly susceptible to
radiation.
Cyborgs : Sturdy humans enhanced with cybernetic implants. They
receive +1 constitution but suffer a -1 penalty on charisma.
Cyborgs are less vulnerable to certain effects caused by
damaged life supports or cockpit hits, and rapidly regain
consciousness when knocked out.
Androids : Intelligent robots that are also humanoid in appearance.
They have self-healing abilities and are sexless. They do
not benefit from the healing capabilities of life supports,
but do benefit from the shock absorption. They are very
resistant to radiation effects caused by neutron blasters or
engine explosions, and will never become unconscious.
Androids gain +1 on both reaction and neural sense.
Gender also has some influence on the stats of a Jock. Female Jocks are
granted an +1 bonus to instinct; male Jocks receive +1 to constitution.
- [ Jock attributes ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ATT]
A Jock is defined by 7 attributes and 19 skills grouped in 3 categories.
Each skill can be developed to a limit determined by its primary and
secondary attributes. This limit is calculated as follows:
Max = 5 * ((2 * primary attribute + secondary attribute) / 3)
A skill's primary and secondary attributes are displayed in the message
bar when the mouse pointer is over the skill's name. Attributes range from
5 to 20, thus allowing a maximum skill of 100%. Basically the equation
shows that the primary attribute factors in twice as strongly as the
secondary attribute, so a skill depends on the primary and secondary
attributes in a 2:1 ratio.
The attributes are:
- INTelligence
- NEUral Sense
- REAction
- INStinct
- DEXterity
- CONstitution
- CHArisma
Recon and light Titans are piloted manually by the Jock, so DEX and REA
are their primary/secondary attributes. Medium, heavy, and assault Titans
are controlled with the help of a neural bridge, connecting the Jock with
his machine. Each Jock has a personal sensibility towards this device,
called neural sense. Therefore, neural sense and dexterity are the primary/
secondary attributes for piloting medium, heavy and assault Titans.
Some attributes have effects other than maximum skill limit calculation:
INT limits the number of skills a Jock can improve; each point of INT
allows training in an additional skill.
REA determines initiative in combat actions.
A Jock's maximum health is equal to 9 times his CON in hit points.
CHA will directly influence the amount of experience he needs to be
promoted; Jocks with CHA above 10 will need less experience, those with CHA
below 10 need more. The higher the CHA, the faster he will go up in rank.
Ranking up bestows some development point bonuses, and lifts a few minor
restrictions like maximum Titan class purchase limits, but other than that,
there is no real benefit to gaining a newer rank.
Every point above 10 decreases the amount of experience needed for the
next rank by 5%; every point below 10 increases it by 5%.
A Jock's salary is modified by the number of battles and number of
kills.
- - -
Jocks start with 333 development points (DPs) in each of three
categories – Pilot, Combat, and Other – that they can distribute amongst
their skills and/or attributes. These points represent their initial
training. A Jock can improve his attributes, at a very high cost, by left
clicking on the attribute's name. The better the attribute, the more DPs he
has to pay to increase it. Jocks can improve skills by 1 point to their
limit by left clicking; pressing SHIFT and left clicking adds 10 points.
Reductions in trained skills can be done using the right mouse button, but
only during the initial training and may not go below the initial value.
The costs of increasing attributes and skills are displayed in the DP
column. Note that the cost for attribute increases is deducted from ALL
THREE categories! This reflects the importants of attributes, which
directly influence how good a Jock is with his skills.
Allocate your points wisely, remember that your Jocks belong to a Squad
and are not lone wolves. It is recommended to concentrate on two combat
skills maximum per Jock when starting out. Once you hit the upper limits
you may spend a few points raising the other skills while they're still
cheap.
*Attribute level DP cost
Int/Ins/Dex Neu/Rea/Con Cha
7 8 9 9
8 9 10 12
9 10 11 16
10 11 12 22
11 12 13 30
12 13 14 40
13 14 15 52
14 15 16 66
15 16 17 82
16 17 18 100
17 18 19 120
18 19 20 145
19 20 175
20 250
*does not include racial modifiers; see races section above ([RCS]).
A Jock's initial attributes and skills are a function of his/her/its
name (try it and see; any particular name will always generate fixed values
for skills - if you cancel creation and recreate the Jock, they will have
the same skill values). This is, however, modifiable by the leadership
value of the Squad Leader. The first Jock of a Squad is created using a
virtual leadership value of 75%.
- [ Jock skills ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [SKL]
There are three types of skills: Pilot, Combat, Other.
- Pilot : Recon/Light, Medium/Heavy, Assault, Jump, Scouting
- Combat: Close Combat, Guided Missile, Unguided Missile, Cannon,
Energy Weapon, Indirect Fire
- Other : Electronic Warfare, Scanner, Defensive, Damage Control,
Leadership, Business, Survival, Medical
Skill % DP cost
1 - 10 1
11 - 20 2
21 - 30 3
31 - 40 4
41 - 50 5
51 - 60 7
61 - 70 11
71 - 80 17
81 - 90 23
91 - 100 29
All skills are listed by name and their [Primary/Secondary] attributes,
the combination of which serve as the maximum skill level limit.
[ Pilot skills ]
- Recon/Light [ DEX / REA ]
Needed to pilot recon and light Titans (up to 70t). These Titans are
still piloted by sticks, so dexterity and reaction are the attributes
that limit the maximum skill level. This is a vital skill, especially
for rookies who cannot pilot heavier Titans.
- Medium/Heavy [ NEU / DEX ]
Needed to pilot medium or heavy Titans (up to 140t). These Titans are
piloted by neural bridges, therefore neural sense and dexterity are the
primary and secondary attributes. Jocks have to reach Green rank [2] to
be able to improve this skill.
- Assault [ NEU / DEX ]
Needed to pilot assault class Titans (up to 200t). These are also
controlled by neural bridges. Only Jocks of Regular rank [4] or better
can improve this skill.
- Jump [ DEX / REA ]
The jump skill is required to perform jump maneuvers on any Titan
equipped with jump ports. This is a vital skill if you want to make good
use of the Titan's jump capability. The Jump skill is fairly important,
not least if you do not want your actions or strategy dictated by the
terrain.
- Scouting [ INS / INT ]
A successful scouting skill roll will allow your Titan to move faster in
wooded areas. Good scouting skill will make a motionless Titan harder to
hit when in a hex with any type of cover. It will also be harder to spot
in such hexes.
[ Combat skills ]
- Close Combat [ INS / REA ]
Used for hand-to-hand combat - includes punches, kicks, and close combat
weapons as well as charges (including jump charges).
- Guided Missile [ INT / INS ]
The deadly guided missile racks depend on this skill. Very useful in
conjunction with the indirect fire skill.
- Unguided Missile [ DEX / REA ]
The unguided short and long range and napalm missile racks depend on
this skill.
- Cannon [ REA / DEX ]
Machine guns, auto cannons, and gauss cannons are fired with this skill.
It is also used for meson guns. This is a typical skill for rookies, but
is useful for all ranks. High values here will allow you to make called
shots with cannons.
- Energy Weapon [ REA / DEX ]
Applies to lasers, plasma guns, tesla bolts, black ray and cold light
guns as well as the flame thrower, the neutron blaster and the
electromagnetic pulser. Again, this is a useful skill for rookies. High
values here will allow you to make called shots with some energy
weapons.
- Indirect Fire [ INS / INT ]
All missiles (guided and unguided) can be fired in a ballistic arc on
targets to which you do not have a direct line of fire. This skill
reduces the penalty for indirect fire. Guided missiles are better suited
for this task than unguided ones. This skill is also used to get a
better range modifier if you have established a scanner link.
[ Other skills ]
- Electronic Warfare [ INT / INS ]
Influences a wide variety of actions. In combination with the battle
computer it is used for calculation of the time to lock enemies. It
influences the time to toggle the ECM device. It also helps defeat
active scans and is used for threat level calculation.
- Scanner [ INT / NEU ]
Needed to calculate time for toggling the scanner as well as performing
active scans and establishing scanner links. It influences the maximum
number of link partners and is used to keep scanner links stable. It is
most valuable for succeeding in active scans.
- Defensive [ DEX / INT ]
Very useful if your Titan has flares and / or a shield; it is used to
calculate the time to activate these devices. A successful skill check
will prolong the duration of flares and will prevent shield overload. A
shield's protective value against energy weapons is increased by this
skill. A Jock can also fine-tune his Titan's heat regulator, making it a
bit more effective on a successful defensive skill check made at the
start of battle.
- Damage Control [ INT / DEX ]
Needed to efficiently use damage control systems and to avoid ammo
explosions. It is also used to calculate the cost of Titan repairs after
battle (the Squad automatically uses the best member i.e. the Mechanic
for this job), as well as the maximum number of Titans in the Squad.
Also, salvage recovered after a battle is modified by the highest Damage
Control skill of all Squad Jocks who took part in that battle.
- Leadership [ CHA / INT ]
A good leadership skill will help your Squad in recruiting better
rookies. The member with the highest leadership skill will automatically
be assigned as the Squad Leader. The Squad Leader's leadership skill
divided by 10 determines the maximum number of Jocks in a Squad (up to
a maximum of 8).
- Business [ INT / CHA ]
Used for all kinds of financial transactions, especially buying/selling
Titans. This is a vital skill for your Squad. You should have one Jock
with a good business skill. This member will automatically be assigned
as the Squad Manager. Also used to calculate the Jock's upkeep as shown:
( 2500 - 25 * ( Business skill - 50 ) ); which means, the higher the
business skill, the lower the Jock's salary (a Jock with good business
skill knows how to save you more money...). The Squad Manager's business
skill also determines the purchasing modifier when buying Titans:
( Markup = Manager's Business skill - 70% ); maximum (i.e. worst) markup
is fixed at 40% though. Also, money earned and salvage recovered after
battle is calculated using the highest Business skill of all Squad Jocks
who took part in that battle.
- Survival [ INS / INT ]
Vital for successful and quick ejects as well as useful to reduce the
effect of shock damage.
- Medical [ INT / DEX ]
Needed to use the healing capability of life supports and to stop
bleeding.
Each Jock has a leadership value given by the following equation:
( Leadership skill + rank x 20 ). The Jock with the highest leadership
value is the Squad Leader. Note that this means that a Jock with a lower
Leadership skill than the actual with the highest skill CAN be the Squad
Leader if his rank is higher enough.
Jocks left behind at HQ during a battle that have a Titan allocated to
them receive 5 DPs in each category (to reflect some time probably spent in
training).
- [ Attribute-Skill analysis ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ASA]
Here is a comparative listing of attributes as they relate to skills.
For each skill type, the skills have been listed in order of importance
(weightage is explained below).
Format: Attribute name (number of occurances)
Pilot skills : Dex(6), Neu(4), Rea(2), Ins(2), Int(1)
Combat skills: Rea(6), Ins(5), Dex(4), Int(3)
Other skills : Int(13), Dex(4), Ins(3), Cha(3), Neu(1)
Overall : Int(17), Dex(14), Ins(10), Rea(8), Neu(5), Cha(3), Con(0)
The values were computed by tallying the primary and secondary skill
requirements. Primary attributes score 2, while secondary score 1. This is
taken directly from the weightage equation mentioned above in the Jock
attributes section. I repeat the formula again:
Max = 5 * ((2 * primary attribute + secondary attribute) / 3)
As can be seen, INT, DEX, and INS rate fairly highly, while REA gets an
honorable mention for being the most important for Combat skills. NEU is
almost exclusively a Piloting requirement save for a single point as the
secondary for the Scanner skill. CHA affects Leadership and Business only
(as well as reducing experience requirements), while CON seems solely for
the Jock's hitpoint tally.
- For gunners (Cannon, Energy Weapon), both are REA/DEX; Unguided Missiles
too although backwards.
- Close Combat pilots should favour INS/REA. They can supplement their
combat skills with a gunnery skill as secondary by pushing DEX as well.
- Indirect Fire relies on INS/INT; Guided Missiles too although backwards.
Good for Scout-types or dedicated missilers who aren't too hot at close
range but have plenty of INT to boost their Other skills.
Experience-gaining tips:
Piloting experience is fairly easy to rack up - run through water
(risky), go down steep inclines (e.g. high hill to plains, when the run
indicator is grayed out while the walk forwards indicated is lighted
yellow in caution), or jump briefly then land (easy). You should have
plenty of energy unless your Titan design skimped on power (bad idea),
so jump whenever possible.
Jumping is also faster than running uphill, you may be able to save a
lot of time even if you only jumped one hex forward to scale that steep
incline. This is a crucial skill in maps where you need to negotiate tough
terrain in order to chase down enemy missilers (the AI is smart enough to
back away in order to get you out of minimum range) or to give yourself
some distance.
At lower levels of skill, expect low accuracy to translate into close
combat rushing. However, gunners don't suffer a minimum range penalty for
most of their weapons, so don't feel pressured into taking Close Combat as
a requirement for your Jocks. You can still shoot at point blank range,
and you may even be able to start calling shots.
What does this mean? Pick two skills and stick to them. Even though
skills start getting expensive around 60%, push them to at least 70% before
considering improving other combat skills.
You get less experience for shooting at prone enemies, and none for
shooting up disabled or destroyed Titans. Tip, you can still attack
disabled Titans in order to blow them up (destroy the body part containing
the engine) so you can damage other enemy Titans that come too close to it.
Other skills are not so easy to obtain, the main source I noticed being
successful active scans. You will obtain experience only once per level of
success per target, although subsequent scans become easier to get as green
critical successes and help you maintain up-to-date information about a
given enemy Titan's health.
There may be several more perhaps due to the defensive skill etc but I
am not entirely certain. The easiest way to check would be by toggling the
F2 key during combat - yes, it shows you the summary screen as seen when
ending the mission, albeit during missions it shows the current experience
you've gained in that map.
After battle, earned experience is translated into DP at a 15:1 ratio.
NOTE: ! Special Squards ! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [SQD]
You can create special Squads by recruiting a pseudo Jock with name
MONEY and callsign XXX (XXX is a number); this Squad immediately receives
this amount of money. You can recruit a pseudo Jock with name SKILL and
callsign XXX (again a number); all subsequent Jocks will start with XXX
development points in each of the three skill categories instead of 333.
A special Squad will show these values in yellow in the lower right window
of the main screen. Jocks in a special Squad have a rank given by
(DPs / 1000 +1).
These Special Squads do not receive experience after battles and cannot
be used in missions and campaigns. They are generally used in multiplayer
battles between human players as a pre-determined mutual handicap.
For tips on creating tournament rules visit the Matrix Games ToS:WS
forum and check out the pinned topic "Guide". It should be an attached
document about 230kb in size. Here are some sample tournament guidelines.
" Standard Tournament Rules "
Money = 1,000,000
Skill = 1,000
No skill can be raised above 70%
All Squad Jocks must participate in battle
" Ultra Tournament Rules "
Money = 1,200,000
Skill = 2,000
Combat skills can be raised up to 80%, all others to 70%
4 Titans per Squad maximum
All Squad Jocks must participate in battle
Random battlefield
>> Jock Transfer Database - - -
Select a Jock from a different Squad for transfer. The transfer cost
will depend on his rank. If the other Squad is out on a mission (has a
running game in the Battle module), it cannot be selected for transfers.
The transfer cost is partially paid to the Squad the Jock was drafted
from. If you choose to transfer a Jock, both Squad data files are
automatically updated and saved; there is no undo for this action. A Jock
must be of Green rank [2] or better to be eligible for transfers. Again,
special Squads cannot be involved in Jock transfers.
I am currently toying with the idea of redoing certain campaigns because
several missions were finished unsatisfactorily (mostly due to enemies
escaping death by ejecting). I figure the transfer option may allow a way
around this since the Squad itself seems to have no information that is
unique to it except in terms of campaign missions played (special missions
remain playable even after you've done them). I suspect transferring Jocks
to a different Squad will allow them to replay previous campaigns.
Squads do seem to exist independant of Jocks (when you first create a
Squad it is empty), but to be safe I'll leave an extra Jock in the original
Squad in case anything funny happens. Update to be done later when I
confirm this.
-todo-
>> Titan Factory Database - - -
Here you purchase Titans for the Squad by selecting from the Titan
Database as seen in the Factory module. You can sort Titans in the database
by name, weapons range or weapon skills needed. This will make your life
easier when buying Titans for a specific role or a specific Jock. Make
sure you buy a Titan that matches the Jock's skills, because experience
gained is through successful execution of actions and not merely repeated
usage of skills.
A Squad's maximum number of Titans depends on its Mechanic's damage
control skill, and can go up to a maximum of 16. The cost is modified by
your Squad Manager's business skill.
A Squad's ability to buy a Titan from a given weight class is limited by
the rank of its Leader:
Rookie : Recon
Green : Light
Novice : Medium
Regular: Heavy
Veteran: Assault
>> Jock Roster - - -
Here you can examine your Jocks, allocate Development Points (DP) gained
through experience in battle, dismiss them, or allocate them to a Titan for
use in subsequent battles.
Your Squad Leader is chosen automatically; he is the one with the
highest leadership skill, modified by rank. A good Leader has a chance to
recruit better rookies from training camp. Furthermore, the leadership
skill directly influences the number of Jocks a Leader can recruit
(skill/10). A Jock can attain 10 different ranks during his career:
Level Rank Title Experience Points
1 Rookie 0
2 Green 4,000
3 Novice 12,000
4 Regular 24,000
5 Veteran 40,000
6 Crack 60,000
7 Elite 80,000
8 Ace 110,000
9 Champion 140,000
10 Hero 180,000
Each promotion depends on gaining enough experience points or performing
an outstanding battle (survived with at least 3 kills, etc). Upon receiving
a promotion, the Jock receives a bonus of ( rank x 30 ) DP.
Your Squad Manager is also chosen automatically; he is the one with the
highest business skill. If this skill is lower than 70%, the difference is
added to the cost when buying and subtracted when selling Titans; the
highest penalty is 40% for Managers with 30% or less skill in business.
Business skill in excess of 70% gives a bonus, i.e., a Jock with a skill of
100% gets a 30% discount.
The Squad's Mechanic, again, is chosen automatically and will be the
Jock with the highest damage control skill. If this skill is lower than
70%, the difference is added to the cost when repairing Titans in the
Factory module. If it is higher, the difference is subtracted making
repairs cheaper.
Your Jocks will receive Development Points (DP) after each battle, the
amount depending on the experience earned in each skill category.
Experience in battle is earned by mastering all sorts of skill checks,
successful piloting skill checks granting movement experience points and so
on.
It is good advice to enter the Headquarters after each battle to
increase every Jock's skills using these development points. Concentrate on
the skills the Jock is most likely to use or need, and leave the rest for
developing later.
While skills get very expensive around 60%, remember again that just as
during recruitment, to increase attributes will cost DP from ALL THREE
skill categories (piloting, combat, other). Don't neglect your attributes
either because they are an important factor during skill checks.
>> Titan Roster - - -
You may view and sell your Squad's Titans here. Damaged Titans are
marked with their average damage in red next to their name and should be
repaired in the Factory. This can be done at any time the Squad is not
away in combat.
The money you receive from selling a Titan ranges from 50% to 65% of its
purchase value. Squad Managers with a markup will get 50%, while those with
a Business skill over 70% will get half the excess more.
Example: Manager with 90% Business skill: (90-70/2)=10% bonus
Thus, selling price = 50% + 10% = 60%.
This keeps the selling price below the buy price even for Squad Managers
with 100% perfect Business skill:
100% skill, buying = (100-70) = 30% discount = 70% price.
100% skill, selling= 50% + (100-70/2) = 50 + 15 = 65% price.
See? Buying, 70%, selling 65%. There is still a 5% overall loss. So you
can't simply buy and sell Titans in hope of making a profit :)
A Squad out on a mission can sell its unallocated Titans for 50% of
their purchase values, if it needs money for retrieving the Squad from
battle. This is an emergency sale, so the Squad Manager's skill does not
apply.
Titans with no Jocks allocated to them cost only 50% maintainence when
left back at HQ while the Squad is out on a mission.
>> Save Squad data - - -
Save all changes to the Squad's data file. Confirmation appears in the
top status bar, it can be hard to see - who chose that yellow-on-white
font? -_-"
>> Jock Roster Printout - - -
This option will create a text file in your data folder containing the
information of the selected Jock in printable format.
>> Dismiss Squad - - -
Dismiss your current Squad and reset the Squad data so you can start a
new one from scratch. You don't really have to do this, you know - if
you're worried about not having space to add new squads, just rename and
swap out the Squad's data file, located in the \data\squads\ folder.
May be useful as a last resort for resetting the campaign missions if
you want to redo them with your current Squad - just transfer the Jocks
out first to a different Squad and make sure that Squad has enough funds
to transfer them back. Unless you don't mind the Squad name change and
simply use the new Squad you transferred them to.
>> Logout from database - - -
You will be prompted to save, although due to an oversight you will
still be asked even if you already have selected the Save Squad Data option
before attempting to log out.
If your Squad was out on a mission (via the Battlefield menu and haven't
finished yet), you cannot do any recruiting or repairing, but you get an
option to retrieve your Squad from the field. This costs 4x times the
Squad's upkeep, with a $50,000 minimum penalty. Choosing to abort a mission
this way results in no Squad updates from the Battlefield.
I'm not certain whether this retrieval no-update clause means that Jocks
killed in action can be saved. It may be something to keep in mind though.
===== [ FACTORY ] ===== - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -[FAC]-
The Factory module is the tool for creating your own Titan designs,
modifying the standard ones to match your playing style or your Jocks'
skills, and repairing battered Squad Titans after battles. This is
supported by an easy to use interface and an extensive help, which is
accessible at any time through the F1 key. (Remember that you maintain
your Squads' Titans by purchasing them in the Headquarters module although
repairs are done here.)
It is possible to store up to 90 Titans in each of the 5 weight classes,
for a total of 450 Titans (the game comes with a default of around 30 per
class). You can use the export/import tool to share your designs with other
players and/or add their own Titan designs to your own database. A file
with the <.xch> extension is created in or loaded from the \data\xchange
folder.
You can also create a Titan printout by entering the pinboard. This
action generates a text file with a Titan's haracteristics, which is saved
in the respective weight class subfolder in the \data\print folder.
Besides allowing repairs of Squad Titans, the Factory also allows you to
customise the Titans loaded from a Squad. This opens the door to ongoing
campaigns, in which Squads are able to repair their damaged Titans or
reconstruct them to special, unique designs. The Factory administers the
money of the Squad and considers the Manager's business skill and the
Mechanic's damage control skill during repair and refit.
- [ Titan design tips ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [TDT]
The general rule in Titan design is to create a design that utilizes
your Jock's skills, and do it as efficiently as possible. Don't look only
to the Jock's combat skills, but also to the systems skills. Having a set
of weapons with similar recycle times is important, but also to have a
scanner that allows scan times that match those recycle times or a DCS that
allows repairs in the same time frame.
From personal observation though most of the time especially in smaller
Titan design you will run into weight and size constraints. Normally I
design around a specific weapon loadout, dispense with flares and shields,
and hope that the good scanner and battle computer configuration will make
up for it. I also usually put in a decent engine and heat regulator, while
the life support, dcs, and ecm are an afterthought. Basically I design for
quick offence, heat tolerance, and jumping (albeit only short jumps since
invariably I run into the Titan chassis weight limit).
- [ Armor ] -
There are four types of armor available, each with its own advantages
and disadvantages. Wise selection of armor type is essential, a compromise
between heat dissipation and protection.
Protection of the head and engine location should be the best possible.
The head holds the cockpit, which, if destroyed, kills the Jock – you can
repair or buy a new Titan if it is disabled or destroyed, but you cannot
revive a dead Jock. The engine, if destroyed, might explode annihilating
both the Jock and the Titan in the process.
The other locations should not be disregarded, nevertheless. Losing a
leg turns trying to stand up into a very difficult task, and losing the
lower torso makes it impossible. Severe balance problems will also arise
if any of the locations where a section of the Titan's gyro is housed
(center torso, lower torso and center back torso) gets destroyed. The arms
usually hold a significant part of your firepower, including the ability to
punch. The lateral torsos, if destroyed, render the respective arm useless.
Millenia armor:
Has the best heat dissipation, but grants little protection and is very
heavy. It is generally used in situations where the amount of armor is not
the primary concern, like in support Titans or protection of the center
back torso in Titans with the largest heat regulators.
Titanium armor:
Does not affect heat dissipation capability, and is very compact. It is
the wise choice where available slots are the limiting factor, generally
the center torso and arms.
Vicenium armor:
The lightest of all armor types, it is, however, very bulky. It slightly
decreases the Titan's base heat dissipation but offers very good protection
in return. It is used when the number of free slots is high.
Dullaroy armor:
Though it has the worst heat dissipation capability, it is, however, the
best armor type when looking specifically for thickness , making it the
best option for the head, which is restricted to one armor slot. It doesn't
take too much space or weight, but is expensive.
- [ Systems ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [SYS]
A varied array of electronics and defensive systems is available to
increase a Titan's offensive and defensive capabilities. A good balance of
these is essential for the survival of a Titan in the battlefield. For a
design to make it to the assembly lines though, the basic requirements
include an engine, a heat regulator and a life support system.
Engine:
The heart of a Titan, it generates the power needed to maintain some
systems and Titan movement, as well as recharging energy weapons. Thick
protection in the location it is built in is advisable because, as if it is
destroyed the Titan is rendered inoperable. The destruction of the engine
location also often triggers an explosion, a deadly event to anyone else
within 2 hexes.
The engine generates PUs to maintain, in order of priority:
- 1PU - Heat Regulator
- 1PU-3PUs - move actuators, depending on on move mode
- 1PU-4PUs - Shield, depending on shield setting
- 1PU - Scanner
- 1PU - ECM
- (*) - weapons
- 1PU-4PUs - hand-to-hand actuators
- 1PU - Jump Ports
(*) energy weapons (except Flame Thrower) recharge at these rates:
more than 15 PU needed - recharge max 3 PU per second
more than 6 PU needed - recharge max 2 PU per second
more than 0 PU needed - recharge max 1 PU per second
Charging (including Jump Charging) can only be performed if both legs
are fully recharged. Weapons that will be reloaded the fastest will be
assigned PUs first. Damaged close combat/hand-to-hand/energy weapons will
rechage last. A Gauss Cannon requires 1PU to fire, which will be spent
before the weapons recycle phase.
Heat Regulator:
Responsible for venting off heat created by movement and weapons
discharge, it is spread over several locations, making it very vulnerable.
Heat management is critical for good performance in battle. Overheating
will cause the Titan to shutdown but that is not the only danger - ammo has
the nasty tendency to explode when overheated. However this does not apply
to Gauss Cannon ammo.
After a shutdown, the heat regulator will kick back in when heat drops
back to red, but a complete Titan restart will only take place when it
reaches yellow.
Life Support:
Protects the Jock against the deadly effects of heat and radiation, and
hostile environments in case the cockpit is breached. It slowly heals
wounds when the Jock is hurt.
Battle Computer:
A state-of-the-art targeting and tracking computer, it is invaluable in
a Titan. Not having one means manual targeting, which is slow and
inaccurate. The battle computer increases the speed of target locking and
is required to calculate threat level. A Titan without a BC gets a -25%
to-hit penalty with ranged weapons (all but HtH and CC). You can design a
close combat Titan without a BC. Conversely, the BC's ToHit modifier does
not apply to HtH and CC attacks.
Scanner:
A complex array of sensors provides the Jock with all the information
needed about terrain and other Titans in range. When on, allows active
scans on enemy Titans; these provide various degrees of information on the
scanned Titan depending on the level of success. A normal success active
scan (yellow) also provides a +4% to-hit bonus, and a critical success
active scan (green) +8% – either one is required to make called shots.
A Scanner also allows a scanner link to a Squad member, useful for
targeting and scanning unseen enemies, and getting a better range modifier
when using indirect missile fire.
Reduced visibility is the price to pay for not having one. Warning:
when scanning active, provides a source of energy for energy guided
missiles to lock on to.
Flares:
Heat generating decoys designed to elude heat guided missiles into
exploding harmlessly away from the protected Titan. They do, however,
hamper the battle computer's targeting (-5% penalty to-hit), create heat
(5C) and increase the chance of losing own scanner links (by 5%). They only
protect the Titan that launched them, and become obsolete when it moves to
a different hex or to any jump level. Each Flare Launcher has 7 charges.
Shield:
The Shield, when on, provides some protection against Energy weapons and
heat, but at the cost of producing heat and consuming PUs. It converts
absorbed damage to heat (except for Cold Light Guns, Neutron Blasters and
E.M. Pulsers). It reduces heat from burning woods, Napalm Missiles and</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
Flame Throwers, and damage and heat and radiation level from exploding
Titans.
ToHit–Mod < roll <= ToHit : negates damage but feedbacks as heat
1 <= roll <= ToHit–Mod : damage applies as normal
Damage Control System:
An automated repair system that can also reduce or negate critical
damage to internal components, this device increases the survivability of a
Titan in the battlefield. When activated, tries to repair one damaged
system of your choice, with no guaranteed success. It can also
automatically reduce or negate internal damage, ammo explosions and Engine
explosion.
Electronic Counter Measures:
Electronic warfare at its best, for a cost of 1 PU this device jams
enemy active scans, reduces VH of enemy scanners, and hampers the guidance
system of heat guided missiles. It helps cloak a Titan's signature making
it ideal for ambushes and spotter units. Threat level calculation requires
this system, and accuracy depends on its quality. Warning: it's high-energy
emissions make targeting by energy guided missiles easier.
Jump Ports:
Invaluable for crossing difficult terrain and gaining access to high
ground, they however have to be recharged every so often and produce a
large amount of heat. Handy in hand-to-hand combat, and mandatory in close
combat heavy and assault class Titans for closing in fast. Better class of
jump ports provide faster and longer airtime.
The jump port, like the heat regulator, is spread over several different
locations, and damage to a location affects the system as a whole. Caution!
If any part of a Titan containing a piece of the jump port system is
destroyed, the jump port is considered destroyed as well.
- [ Weapons ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [WPN]
Weapons should be placed primarily in the arms and the upper torsos of a
Titan. Weapons in these locations (and the head) can fire even if the Titan
is lying prone. Weapons mounted in the legs and lower torso cannot fire
when the Titan is crouched.
Ammo slots are always placed in the same body part as the weapon they're
feeding. This is why when factoring weapon placement you must remember to
include additional slots for extra ammunition.
It is not a good idea to mount ammo-dependent weapons in the head or the
body part where the Titan's engine is located. A critical hit to an ammo
slot might have devastating consequences.
Close Combat weapons:
Very powerful although only usable at point blank range. They preclude,
however, the use of punch attacks with the arm they're mounted in.
The chain saw has the edge in sheer damage, the power axe is slightly
better in aiming for specific locations, and the vibra claw has a very good
chance to cause system damage.
I noticed though that a miss with the vibra claw inflicts 1-2 damage on
the arm wielding it. Be careful.
Energy weapons:
The continuous beam of regular lasers makes up for their poor targeting
abilities, making them very effective against fast moving targets. The
pulse laser, with its machine gun-like stream of energy darts, is more
suited to target immobile or slow moving targets.
Accurate and with good range, the plasma gun is the sniper energy weapon
of choice. It is also excellent as a support weapon and at burning down
forests.
The most feared weapon of all, the tesla bolt, fires a devastating bolt
of energy. It has a rather short range and creates a massive amount of
heat, though. It excels at overloading enemy shields.
A true powerhouse, the cold light gun combines high firepower with low
efficiency against shields. Accuracy and low heat make it a formidable
weapon.
The black ray gun literally vaporizes a section of the target's armor,
creating instability and forcing the opposing Jock to compensate or fall.
Nasty at point blank range.
Sometimes referred to as the "Jock killer", the neutron blaster affects
the Jock rather than the Titan, making him unconscious or even killing him.
Deadly in the hands of a veteran Jock.
A multi-use weapon, the electromagnetic pulser can shut off power-
dependent systems, stop movement or even shutdown the engine. The nightmare
of Titans packed with electronics.
The flame thrower fires a stream of overheated plasma at very short
range. It melts away armor and overheats the target. Very dangerous once
in range.
Cannons:
Cannons in Titans of Steel: Warring Suns are direct-firing weapons. Only
missiles can be fired indirectly (with no direct line of sight) at the
target.
The machine gun fires a rapid stream of armor piercing shells, which
enables it to efficiently track a fast moving target. It is deadly at point
blank range.
Auto cannons are direct fire weapons with different calibers that fire
armor piercing rounds. Magazines have smoke rounds available, which allow
the setting of smoke screens.
The gauss cannon accelerates a non-exploding projectile to supersonic
speed, which makes it a very accurate weapon. The damage is caused by the
impact and not detonation.
Meson guns penetrate armor and may cause system damage on the target.
Their use is something of a gamble, a very rewarding one if successful.
Missile Racks:
Guided missiles are very potent small cruise missiles with very
sophisticated guidance systems, seeking heat or energy emissions.
Long and short-range missile racks unleash a large amount of unguided
rockets that pepper the entire frame of a target, sanding off armor slowly
but steadily.
Napalm missiles are the nightmare of any Jock; they ignite their
unstable warheads on impact and cause a massive spike on the heat of the
target.
It's best to factor in your Jocks' combat skills and your playstyle,
before designing a totally new Titan. I strongly recommend you modify
existing designs to get a feel of it. In particular, armor thickness can be
quite difficult to balance. It's much easier to take apart an existing
Titan to swap in the systems and weaponry you want.
You may have noticed that you can't change the designer's name when
editing an existing Titan, though, even if you save it under a different
name. To overcome this, copy down all the Titan's stats somewhere, then
build a new one. Do this at least once, it helps you be aware of all the
different systems and armor that go into building a Titan. Try your hand at
variations like adapting a specific configuration to a different chasis.
When modifying armor, if no more armor may be added to that particular
slot, a "(S)" will be shown under the Status heading. A "(W)" Status means
that no more armor may be applied to that section because it will exceed
the Titan class weight limit - this does not necessarily occur
simultaneously for all sections, because of the different weights of armor
types. Thus sections using lighter armor may still be increased while
sections with heavier armor will show "(W)". The Head section (HD) will
display "HMAX" to indicate that no more armor may be mounted on the Titan's
Head.
- [ Weaponry ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [WRY]
Titan weaponry is divided into several types:
- Close Combat [3] [Instinct/Reaction]
- Energy Weapons [11] [Reaction/Dexterity]
- Cannons [8] [Reaction/Dexterity]
- Unguided Missiles [7] [Dexterity/Reaction]
- Guided Missiles [3] [Intelligence/Instinct]
Weapon attributes are listed, in order: weight, slots taken (base ammo
amount can be increased, at the cost of taking up more slots), min/max hex
range/range class, damage inflicted, heat produced upon firing, to-hit
modifier, ammo per ammo slot (if applicable), reload time (and PUs used
in brackets). The lower section shows cost per weapon and notes any
special effects that may apply.
Class range = (C)lose, (S)hort, (M)edium, (L)ong.
Close Combat weapons depend on the [Ins/Rea] attributes.
Weapon Weight-Slot-Mn/Mx/Rng-Dmg-Heat-Mod-Ammo-Reload(PU)
Power Axe 3.0 1 0/ 0 C 10 6 +5% - 8(8)
Vibra Claw 4.0 2 0/ 0 C 5+5 8 -5% - 9(9)
Chain Saw 6.0 2 0/ 0 C 15 5 0 - 10(10)
Weapon - - - - - - Cost($) - Special - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Power Axe 2,500
Vibra Claw 3,500 60% chance of critical damage
Chain Saw 3,000
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Energy Weapons depend on the [Rea/Dex] attributes.
Weapon Weight-Slot-Mn/Mx/Rng-Dmg-Heat-Mod-Ammo-Reload(PU)
Small Laser 0.8 1 0/ 4 C 3 6 -5% - 5 (5)
Medium Laser 1.5 1 0/ 9 CS 6 15 -5% - 7 (9)
Pulse Laser 2.5 2 0/ 7 CS 8 14 0 - 8(10)
Large Laser 4.0 2 0/13 CSM 9 23 -5% - 11(17)
Plasma Gun 7.5 3 3/17 SM 11 33 0 16(33)
Cold Light Gun 8.5 4 0/ 8 CS 13 15 0 - 12(20)
Tesla Bolt 10.0 4 0/ 5 CS 25 35 -5% - 15(30)
Flame Thrower 2.5 1 0/ 1 C 7 7 +10% 7 8
Black Ray Gun 7.5 4 0/ 7 CS 10 25 -5% - 13(25)
Neutron Blaster 7.0 2 1/ 9 S 0 15 -10% - 12(20)
E.M.Pulser 3.0 1 1/11 SM 0 20 -10% - 13(25)
Weapon - - - - - - Cost($) - Special - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Small Laser 2,000 fire, reduced target's speed modifier
Medium Laser 3,000 fire, reduced target's speed modifier
Pulse Laser 5,000 fire
Large Laser 8,000 fire, steam, reduced target's speed modifier
Plasma Gun 12,000 fire, steam
Cold Light Gun 14,000
Tesla Bolt 16,000 fire, steam
Flame Thrower 3,500 fire, steam, raises target's heat (12.6C)
Black Ray Gun 16,000 fire, steam, increased instability (+65%)
Neutron Blaster 15,000 chance of damage to Jock
E.M.Pulser 13,000 chance to affect internal systems
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cannons depend on the [Rea/Dex] attributes.
Weapon Weight-Slot-Mn/Mx/Rng-Dmg-Heat-Mod-Ammo-Reload(PU)
Machine Gun 0.5 1 0/ 3 C 2 2 +5% 25 6
AC 4 3.0 2 0/20 CSML 4 8 0 22 13
AC 7 6.0 3 0/16 CSM 7 12 -5% 18 16
AC 12 9.0 4 0/12 CSM 12 17 -5% 14 19
AC 20 12.0 5 0/ 8 CS 20 25 -5% 10 22
Gauss Cannon 10.0 4 2/14 SM 10 20 +5% 15 19
Light Meson Gun 2.0 1 0/9 CS 2+2 9 -5% 15 14
Heavy Meson Gun 5.0 2 0/15 CSM 3+3 13 -5% 10 19
Weapon - - - - - - Cost($) - Special - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Machine Gun 1,000 reduced target's speed modifier
AC 4 2,000 smoke
AC 7 3,000 smoke
AC 12 7,000 smoke
AC 20 15,000 smoke
Gauss Cannon 13,000 ammo does not explode
Light Meson Gun 6,000 40% chance of critical damage
Heavy Meson Gun 14,000 50% chance of critical damage
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Unguided Missiles depend on the [Dex/Rea] attributes.
Weapon Weight-Slot-Mn/Mx/Rng-Dmg-Heat-Mod-Ammo-Reload(PU)
SRM 4 1.5 1 0/ 9 CS 2 5 0 22 12
SRM 8 3.0 2 0/ 9 CS 2 10 0 11 16
LRM 6 5.0 3 4/23 SML 2 12 -5% 20 15
LRM 9 8.5 4 4/23 SML 2 18 -5% 15 20
LRM 12 12.0 5 4/23 SML 2 24 -5% 10 25
NM 7 3.5 2 0/10 CSM 1 7 0 20 14
NM 14 7.0 3 0/10 CSM 1 14 0 10 20
Weapon - - - - - - Cost($) - Special - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SRM 4 2,500
SRM 8 5,000
LRM 6 6,000
LRM 9 9,000
LRM 12 12,000
NM 7 3,500 raises target's heat (1.8C/location)
NM 14 7,500 raises target's heat (1.8C/location)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Guided Missiles depend on the [Int/Ins] attributes.
Weapon Weight-Slot-Mn/Mx/Rng-Dmg-Heat-Mod-Ammo-Reload(PU)
GMH 2 6.0 3 5/26 SML 4 6 0 16 18
GMH 4 12.0 5 5/26 SML 4 12 0 8 25
GME 2.5 2 0/ 6 CS 9 13 -15% 13 16
Weapon - - - - - - Cost($) - Special - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
GMH 2 10,000 +1%/15C, reduced target's speed modifier
GMH 4 20,000 +1%/15C, reduced target's speed modifier
GME 7,000 variable range and chance to hit
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- [ Additional weaponry notes ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ADW]
Hand-to-hand Recycle time is:
Punch: 8 + (Titan weight / 40) - (Close Combat / 20) (min 6 seconds)
Kick : 13 + (Titan weight / 40) - (Close Combat / 20) (min 10 seconds)
Damage is:
Punch: 4 + (Titan weight / 25)
Kick : 6 + (Titan weight / 20)
A Titan must be still to use CC and HtH attacks. A Titan cannot kick if one
of its legs is disabled. Arm mounted weapons may get damaged when using
punch attacks. Punches are handicapped when a target is prone, and kicks
get a bonus.
Charging:
Speed and tonnage are factors in charge damage. Skill checks are not
affected by tonnage. If the target is running towards the attacker, a
countercharge will happen. Damage will be calculated adding the tonnages
and speeds of both Titans, and each will take half of that damage.
Base chance for a successful jump charge = (( Jump + Close Combat) / 2)
modified by the target's movement modifier and hex modifiers for cover.
Jump charges are not possible in heavy cover.
Charges (including jump charges) are only possible if both legs are
fully recharged. Legs will take 20 PUs to recycle after a charge.
Two move skill checks may be required after a successful charge. The
first, if it happens, is due to instability caused by damage taken during
the charge; the second always happens and is the check to stand/land
upright after the impact.
Meson Guns have a better chance to cause light or medium amage to
internal systems, 40% for the light and 50% for the heavy meson - if the
target's Shield is on, it will subtract 1/3 its defensive value from that
chance. Vibra Claws have the same special ability, with a 60% chance, but
Shield is ineffective against it. Their damage is applied to both the
external armor and to the internal structure. Critical hits to armor slots
can cause additional internal structure damage as long as external armor
has not been depleted yet, and that additional damage won't destroy the
body part – light critical hits cause 1 additional point of damage, all
others cause 2.
Each weapon hit that does more than 4 points of damage has a small
chance of causing internal damage to the target Titan; the higher the
damage of the weapon the better the chance. Also, each weapon hit that does
more than 4 points of damage, except the Flame Thrower, has a chance to
cause instability to the target Titan, forcing the opposing Jock to make a
move skill check. Each weapon modifies instability, and the check if
required, with its damage (the AC20 modifies with 20%) – energy weapons
only modify with 75% of their damage (the Tesla Bolt with 18%, the Pulse
Laser with 6%). The Black Ray Gun further modifies instability with +65%
and the Pilot skill of the opposing Jock is reduced to 2/3 of its value for
the move skill check calculation if one is required. It has a good chance
of burning woods, and does increased Jock damage on head hits, negating
Life Support protection.
Cannons and Energy weapons (except the Flame Thrower, the Neutron
Blaster and the E.M. Pulser) have the ability to make called shots.
The Flame Thrower and the Napalm Missiles do damage and add heat to the
target – for each point of damage dealt (Flame Thrower) or each location
hit (Napalm Missiles) in each attack, the target's temperature is raised
by 1.8C. They can be used to heat an already hot Titan, reducing enemy
fire and forcing shutdowns and ammo explosions. They also have a good
chance of burning woods.
Guided Missiles have a lower penalty for indirect fire. Flares, fire and
ECM reduce the effectiveness of Heat Guided Missiles, and the target's
temperature increases it; they lower the target's defensive speed modifier
(speed/8 instead of the normal speed/5). The effectiveness and range of
Energy-Emission Guided Missiles increases with the target's Shield and ECM
(when on) and active scans, as well as its Engine's power output.
All Heat Guided Missiles in a given rack will hit the target on a
successful attack roll, except if fired indirectly, or if the target has
Flares deployed or is in a burning woods hex – in which case a roll is made
for each missile against the respective protection value, failed checks
causing the corresponding missile to be deflected. Burning woods can
deflect Heat Guided Missiles the same way Flares do, dense woods with 75%
chance, light woods with 50%. Heat Guided Missile racks will get +1% ToHit
for each 15C target's temperature.
Flare duration is prolonged on a successful Defensive skill check, by
(Defensive / 10 + duration / 3). Flares are launched after move. If you
time them to be launched in the exact game second that your current
movement will end, GMH enemies set to 'wait on locked foe' can only fire
before they are launched if their Reaction is better than yours.
Energy-Emission Guided Missiles have their range extended (from 6 base
up to 12 maximum) by the highest range extension for target's Shield, ECM
and Scanner when these devices exist and are on – Shield extension is the
target's current Shield setting, ECM extension is the target's ECM quality,
Scanner extension is the target's Scanner quality and is only applicable
when it is scanning active.
Their ToHit is also increased by the following cumulative modifiers:
(Shield_power * 3%) if target has an active Shield and is within base range
extended by Shield setting; +10% if target has an active ECM and is within
base range extended by ECM quality; +10% if target has an active Scanner
and is scanning active and is within base range extended by Scanner
quality; (Engine_power * 1%) where the target's Engine power output is
modified by damage, and is 1 in case the target is shutdown. Range modifier
for attack rolls is calculated using the extended range, not the base range
of the weapon.
For Unguided Missiles, the number of missiles that hit depends on the
type of rack and the attack skill check. LRM minimum hits are 2/4/6
missiles for each rack size, SRMs 2/5, and NMs 3/8. The higher the
difference between the skill check and what was rolled, the more missiles
hit; any roll below what was needed minus 50% will result in maximum hits.
Missiles fired at a target in a hex with multiple Titans might hit any
other Titan, including Squad mates. If you miss the original target, there
is a chance you'll hit another one. The more Titans in that hex, the higher
the chance to hit one of them. A maximum of 50% of the missiles will hit,
with a minimum of 1. Woods/cover will get full damage from splash hits if a
check against the Jock's skill to hit the hex is passed, and buildings take
no damage.
Firing missiles without direct LoS incurs in a ToHit penalty given by
- ((35 - (Indirect Fire / 3)) * 2) for Guided Missiles
- ((35 - (Indirect Fire / 3)) * 4) for Unguided Missiles
Regular Lasers (all except the Pulse variant) lower the target's
defensive speed modifier (speed/8 instead of the normal speed/5).
The Neutron Blaster has a chance to affect the enemy Jock, lowering his
ability to fire weapons – if affected he also takes minor Jock damage. It
may render the Jock unconscious, which can be used to prevent ejects.
Shield protection is only half-effective, but the Jock's Constitution and a
good Life Support help. Cover does not protect against this weapon.
All Energy weapons, except the Cold Light Gun, the Neutron Blaster and
the E.M. Pulser, can overload Shields on a Shield hit, and have a chance of
burning woods hexes; big energy weapons can create steam in water/swamp
hexes, the chance depending on the damage of the weapon.
Ammo duds or missile launcher failures may happen when firing damaged
ammunition-dependent weapons. They do no damage, just a wasted shot. If one
weapon has more than one ammo slot, rounds will be deducted first from the
closest slot to the weapon. For each slot distance one additional reload
second is added. Here is an example: WWA[12]A[13]A[14] a two slot weapon
with three ammo slots. Ammo is first deducted from slot 1 with 12 seconds
reload time.
The Machine Gun lowers the target's defensive speed modifier (speed/8
instead of the normal speed/5), and deals double damage at point blank
range at the cost of double heat and double ammo.
Auto Cannon rounds fired at a non-water/swamp hex will create a smoke
screen, which will block LoS; the higher the caliber, the longer the
screen will last.
Gauss Cannon ammo does not explode, neither when hit nor by excessive
heat. Each Gauss Cannon requires one PU of available power to be fired.
The E.M. Pulser can have one of many effects, depending on location hit:
- cockpit : minor jock damage if Titan has neural bridge, light jock damage
for androids
- gyro : break move
- hip actuator : break move, kick recycle set to 15 secs if lower
- knee actuator : 50% chance for break move, kick recycle set to 10 secs
if lower
- foot actuator : 20% chance for break move, kick recycle set to 5 secs
if lower
- shoulder actuator : if prone and getting up break move (fall), punch
recycle set to 15 secs if lower
- elbow actuator : punch recycle set to 10 secs if lower
- hand actuator : punch recycle set to 5 secs if lower
- weapons : energy (except Flame Thrower) and Close Combat weapons set to
maximum recycle
- Engine : possible shutdown (higher chance for lower level Engines)
- Heat Regulator : disable for 5-15 secs (cumulative)
- Shield : toggle off, set recycle to 15-50 secs
- E.C.M. : toggle off, set threat level to a random value
- Battle Computer : lose lock, possible +1 step damage (higher chance for
lower level Computers)
- Jump Ports : drain remaining jump time to 0
- Scanner : toggle off, scanner links broken
- Life Support : special Jock damage
- D.C.S. : light damage, break repair in progress
Armor and empty slot hits have no effect. Shields give 10% protection
against E.M. Pulsers. Cover does not protect against this weapon.
- [ Shields ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [SHD]
Shields absorb all damage when hit, directly converting the damage to
heat. If it overloads this is doubled.
The Shield's protection against energy weapons (including the Flame
Thrower) is modified by (Defensive / 10), except for the Neutron Blaster
and the E.M.Pulser.
For the Neutron Blaster, the Shield's base protective value is halved;
for the E.M.Pulser, the Shield's protective value is 10%. Nothing happens
on a Shield hit with these weapons.
If the chance to hit without Shield would be 70% and the Shield's
protective value is 30%, then 1~40% is a normal hit (displayed ToHit),
41~70% is a Shield hit, negating damage, and 71~100% is a miss. Shield hits
are supposedly counted as hits for hit ratio calculation but provide no
CXPs - but if you look at the combat summary after the end of a mission
(or simply pull up the summary by pressing <F2> during the game), you will
see that shield hits are counted as misses.
Shields also reduce the amount of heat received from Napalm Missiles,
Flame Throwers and burning woods as well as the damage, heat and radiation
from Engine explosions.
Shields reduce heat from Flame Throwers, Napalm Missiles and fire by
(20 + 10 * sh_lvl) %. If a Titan is hit with a Flame Thrower, it'll take:
- on an armor hit (bypassing Shield): 7 damage plus 12.6 C if it has no
Shield or Shield is down, or 7 damage plus 8.82 / 7.56 / 6.30 / 5.04 /
3.78 / 2.52 C (Shield 1~6) if Shield is up
- on a Shield hit: 7 C (or 14 C if Shield overloads)
The extra heat of Flame Throwers does not count on Shield hits. If the
Shield is damaged, for each damage level it is treated as one level lower
for heat reduction purposes.
Shield overload chance is [ ( damage – sh_lvl ) * 3 ]. If the defending
Jock passes a Defensive skill check, he will deduct (Defensive skill / 4)
from that chance. If overloaded, the Shield will take (damage * 2 + 1d10)
seconds to recharge – it will not recharge if it is turned off however.
Example: Large Laser hits Shield 1, 24% overload chance. Defending Jock
with Defensive skill 50 passes check and will deduct 12% -> 12% final. If
it overloads, it will take 18 seconds + a random number from 1 to 10
seconds to come back online.
The Cold Light Gun cannot overload Shields; its damage will not be
converted to heat on a Shield hit.
===== [ BATTLE ] ===== - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -[BAT]-
This module is the heart of ToS:WS. Here is where you send your Squad
out to do battle. The manual has a pretty detailed explanation of things,
and it is advisable that you start by playing the Tutorial. It will teach
you the basics about Titan control, the interface, and the game in general.
There are 3 game types you can choose from:
- Solitary Game: this is the mode you should use to play the RPG/campaign
game style. It allows you to load and play one of your custom Squads (those
created in the Headquarters module) against AI controlled Teams. This is
the mode which you will be using most, be it for random missions to
increase your Squad's experience, or for the special missions or campaigns
which consist of multiple maps.
- Hotseat Game: this mode allows you to play with or against up to 3 other
human players and their Squads, custom or randomly created by the Battle
module, on a single computer.
- Network Game: and this is what you want to choose to play over the
internet or in a LAN, against up to 3 other human players and their Squads,
custom or randomly created by the Battle module.
In all 3 modes, setting the game parameters is done in a similar way. If
playing a netgame, the host gets to choose the game parameters after all
the other players (clients) have joined the game.
If you selected solitary mode, 'Load Mission' will let you play single
maps with specific goals. You can also choose 'Load Campaign' to play full
campaigns, each with several maps linked to each other by a storyline;
winning a map will grant you access to the next. In hotseat mode, only
multiplayer maps are accessible; these are maps specifically created for
games involving 2 to 4 human players, with custom or random Teams.
Note that you CAN play multiplayer maps by yourself against the AI: set
up hotseat mode and load a map - the multiplayer map names and briefing
will indicate how many teams are needed. Load up your Squad and then set
the other necessary teams to be randomly generated and click on the
'Played by Human' text to change it to 'Played by Computer'.
The quality level of the random Teams you select rank from inferior to
perfect (1 to 10) and their corresponding names in the Jock's rank system:
Inferior - Rookie
Very low - Green
Low - Novice
Below average - Regular
Average - Veteran
Above average - Crack
Good - Elite
Very good - Ace
Superior - Champion
Perfect - Hero
Inferior Jocks' skill values are about 50%; perfect Jocks' will go as
high as 90% or more.
I will not cover the basics of combat because it really is very simple
despite all the variable that come into play - all you need is experience.
Like all good games, ToS:WS is easy to learn and difficult to master,
although mastery in this sense is more of a function of your Squad's
efficiency rather than skills and tricks you use as the commander.
At it's heart combat consists merely of moving and attacking; it is that
simple. The fun lies in how you deploy your Squad on the battlefield,
because there are more ways of engaging the enemy rather than simply
rushing into range and letting all hell break loose.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- [ A quick guide: the turn system primer ] - . . . . . . . . . . . [TRN]
This section is to help you quickly get up to speed with how ToS:WS
plays. Basically there are only two types of commands to give to your
Titans: movement, and action. This corresponds directly to the two
different command panel types located directly below the main tactical
display.
A Titan can only carry out one movement command and one action command
at any given time. Each movement and action is measured in seconds, and the
number of elapsed seconds can easily be seen in the first top-left icon in
the information panel directly to the right of the command panel.
- [ MOVE MODE ] -
Let's say you want your Titan to run into the adjacent hex (the one it
is currently facing). Mouseover the "run" icon, you will see displayed in
the middle info box what it does and how long it takes to execute. Let's
suppose it says 15 seconds. Click on it to give the order.
Notice how the move command panel will not prompt you for this Titan
anymore until the 15 seconds have elapsed. Of course - it makes no sense to
ask you earlier (say, in seconds 5, or 9) because the Titan has not yet
finished the move. Unless you deliberately want to interrupt, which is
explained below.
[ Waiting ]
If you've reached a good firing position and you wish to stop giving
movement orders for this Titan for a while, issue the following order:
Wait -> Call ("Wait on Call", or basically, Wait here without moving until
you explicitly issue a new Move order). The Titan will not move from its
current position until you later tell it to (it can be standing still, or
crouched, or even lying prone if for some reason it fell down and you don't
want it to stand up).
If you wish to wait a couple seconds for a friend to catch up, for
example, then order: Wait -> Time -> (time). You can adjust the timer by
clicking on the various arrows (larger arrows increase/decrease the time by
a larger amount). During this time the Titan behaves exactly like during a
Wait on Call order, i.e. it stands still there.
[ Waiting on recycle ]
Another example is if you wish to use your Jump ports to scale a cliff,
but you've already Jumped previously and don't have enough energy to
sustain another long Jump. Simply order: Wait -> Recycle -> Jump. This will
tell the Titan to wait until its Jump ports are fully recharged again.
[ Waiting on the enemy ]
If you want to wait until the enemy you're targeting has finished moving
(it's easier to shoot at a stationary target), order: Wait -> on Unit ->
Locked foe. Note that this does not mean you will not fire on an enemy that
is running across the battlefield; it will simply wait for that moment when
the enemy finishes its current movement in the hex and before it proceeds
with its next movement (perhaps by continuing the run into the next hex).
So don't worry that you won't fire on something that keeps moving - you'll
still nail it, while it is between move commands. Sneaky!
[ Interrupting ]
If something important crops up while that Titan is Waiting (e.g. a new
enemy shows up) and you wish to move, for whatever reason, then simply use
the "Call Move" command in the action command panel when that Titan's
action turn comes up, OR you can click F3 during any other Titan's turn to
display the Squad command summary - here you can change any Titan's move
status from Call to Done by click-toggling the status.
Warning! Note that interrupting a movement will force the Jock piloting
that Titan to roll a movement check; it's hard to suddenly stop something
as large as 200 tons in the middle of a run. However, if you interrupt a
"Wait until..." kind of command (like the Wait -> Recycle -> Jump above)
it is 'safe' because the Titan was just standing there. You only have to be
careful when interrupting actual movements, like turning, running, and
Jumping.
- [ ACTION MODE ] -
Giving action/attack orders works very similarly to giving movement
orders. First you will need to lock on an enemy, then scan it or fire your
weapons at it.
[ Camping ]
Before you can shoot at an enemy, you have to lock on it. And before you
can lock on it, you have to be able to see it. Therefore, it makes sense to
not ask for action orders when there are no actions that can be taken. If
prompted, give the order: Wait -> on Unit -> New foe. This will stop the
Titan from bugging you for action commands until it spots a new enemy, and
you are free to keep issuing move commands until an enemy comes into sight.
Note that this can also be applied to move commands (Wait on New Foe) -
effectively making the Titan stop moving until an enemy becomes visible
(i.e. camping, lol).
Btw this type of waiting can be an enemy you've seen before that went
out of sight again (behind a hill perhaps). This command can also be used
when there are other enemies already in sight but you want to ignore them
since they are out of range, or your other Squadmates are already engaging
them, or whatever.
At the start of a mission, all Titans are by default Waiting until New
foes are spotted, in case you were wondering why they don't ask you for
action orders at the start of the map - if enemies are already visible,
though, it will automatically trip the 'spotted' command, so don't worry
about Titans ignoring enemies at the start of a mission
[ Waiting for weapon reload ]
After scanning or firing, you will need to wait until a weapon becomes
available again to fire (energy weapons need to powerup, guns need to
reload, etc), so simply order: Wait -> Recycle -> Any weapon. The Titan
will stop bugging you until a weapon becomes available again. If you fired
a weapon and still have other weapons available, waiting will recycle on
the fired weapons only while ignoring weapons that are already ready, so
make sure you really want to wait if you don't want to fire the other
weapons.
There are plenty of reasons for doing this, for example you may not want
to fire a large weapon to conserve power, or you want to conserve ammo and
only fire your energy weapons, or you want to stop overheating and only
fire small guns. This way you can keep wait recycling the weapons you want
to fire while ignoring your other weapons.
[ Efficient wait + scanning ]
Another tactic which I use is to squeeze in scanning between weapon
recycles. You may realise that scanning an enemy often only gets you poor
(red) or fair (yellow) scans. You want a good (green) scan, that tells you
all the details about the enemy. You can still shoot at it despite not
having green scans (or without scanning even, just a lock will suffice) but
shooting like this isn't accurate. But you will not want to waste time just
scanning repeatedly until you finally get a green scan, right?
What I do is, shoot anyway, but instead of recycling give a scan order.
When the scan pops up, some weapons may already be ready to fire again -
they may even have been ready a while ago, but you might as well take
advantage to wait in case you get a green scan. OR as the case may be with
larger weapons, the scan gets done but your weapons are still reloading.
Simply order a wait recycle, and as you will see from the number of seconds
till recycle (indicator on top portion of the thin vertical right sidebar)
your weapons will already be partially recycled during your scan.
Neat trick huh? If you're lucky or you designed your Titan right,
scanning will complete just before the weapons finish recycling, so you
might have gotten a good scan in time for the next round of attacking to
take advantage of. Cool.
[ Waiting until heat goes down ]
Sometimes you may notice that repeated firing will cause too much heat
to accumulate than your Titan can disperse before the next attack. You can
use the Wait -> On heat -> (select heat level), so that the Titan won't
attack until its heat has gone down to the level you specify. Another
great shortcut that saves you guessing how long to wait until it's safe to
attack again.
- - -
Basically, that's it. There are other "Wait until..." triggers available
for you to use, try them out. Another useful example is waiting until your
movement finishes before attacking - because it's easier to aim when your
Titan isn't bouncing around moving or running. Simple order Wait -> on move
when asked for action orders. Then when the movement panel comes up, click
on the call attack button to issue your action order before giving the next
move order (if you don't call attack you will give another move order, and
your Titan will be moving again, wasting that time you waited for an
opportunity to fire between moves).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Combat in ToS:WS is affected by several different factors, each one of
which will be detailed in its own section below.
- [ Initiative ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [INI]
Jocks start the game in an order depending on their Reaction attribute.
The Jock with the best Reaction of all Squads acts at game second 1; all
others will act with a delay of 1 second for each point difference in
Reaction relative to the best.
Whenever two Jocks are ready for an action in the exact same game
second, the one with the best combination of Reaction, Instinct and rank
will go first.
Firing weapons and other actions may be delayed for a few seconds if the
Jock fails a Reaction check.
- [ Terrain ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [TER]
- Savannah: woods are smaller, offer less protection, have less HPs; hills
are lower; Quicksand does not dissipate heat; Wadi hexes are
less deep.
- Polar: global -1.0 C/sec heat modifier; decreased movement rate and
slightly harder move skill modifier in normal terrain; pines are
harder to burn; steam can be created in any hex with energy
weapons and Napalm Missiles; Frozen Water has reduced movement,
much harder move skill modifiers, and lower heat dissipation.
- Core: global +1.0 C/sec heat modifier; cover cannot be burned, is
smaller, offers less protection, has more HPs; Lava and Lava &
Rock hexes produce heat instead of dissipating it; Lava and
Lava & Rock hexes melt armor of immersed body parts.
- BioChem: cover cannot be burned, is smaller, offers less protection, has
more HPs; hills are lower; Acid and Acid & Rock hexes melt
armor of immersed body parts; Pit hexes are deeper.
Chance to create steam in water and swamp hexes is (damage * 4). Chance
to create steam on snow hexes with Tesla Bolt, Large Laser, Plasma Gun,
Black Ray Gun and Flame Thrower is (damage * 2 + 20) and with Napalm
Missiles (rack size * 3 + 20) if the hex is locked; if a Titan is locked
and the shot misses, the chance steam is created in that hex is half that
value.
Water and swamp hexes increase heat dissipation; only in water hexes
does depth have influence. Titans prone in water and swamp hexes get
double heat modifier. Damage from falling is less in water (except frozen
water) and swamp hexes. The depth is only important in cooling your Titan.
Rivers will often have shallow water fords to allow easier crossing.
Streams in Core and BioChem have 'Lava & Rock' and 'Acid & Rock' hexes
respectively instead.
Napalm Missiles and energy weapons (except Cold Light Gun, Neutron
Blaster and E.M. Pulser) have a 'cause fire value'. The base chance to
burn woods is normally the damage of the weapon for light woods, double
for dense woods; there are some exceptions, Black Ray Guns get
(damage * 2), Flame Throwers get (damage * 3), and Napalm Missiles get
(rack size * 2 + 5). This value is then modified by wind strength. Scrub
cannot be burned. Chances are halved for woods in Polar hexes.
Burned woods work exactly like the corresponding normal woods but
defense modifiers and height are halved, and HD is increased by 50%.
Standing in, moving through or jumping over burning woods will affect your
heat dissipation. Woods on fire will burn for a length of time depending
on their HPs, modified by wind strength.
Woods/cover can be reduced (dense/heavy to light and light to scrub/
rubble) with missiles (except Napalm Missiles), intentionally or not.
Dense woods have 150 HPs, light woods 70HPs – same for pines in Polar, in
Savannah woods have 110/50, and in Core and BioChem cover has 170/80.
Reducing a burning woods hex will extinguish the fire. When intentionally
firing at woods/cover, missed shots will not reduce HPs.
The Jock's Scouting skill will grant additional protection when his
Titan is stationary in hexes with any type of cover, (Scouting / 10) in
heavy cover and (Scouting / 15) in light cover. It will not work for
weapons fired at point blank range though. Neutron Blaster and E.M. Pulser
attacks ignore defensive modifiers for cover and Jock's Scouting skill.
In acid and lava hexes, Titan size (stance) is compared to hex depth to
determine immerse locations (where there is armor corrosion):
- 45% lower torso
- 60% center torso and center back torso
- 70% right and left torso
- 80% arms
- 90% head
When prone, all parts are immersed with the exception of:
- if Titan is facing up it must be immersed > 50% to take center torso
damage;
- if Titan is facing down it must be immersed > 50% to take center back
torso damage;
- the head is only damaged if immersed > 90%, regardless of stance.
'Acid' hexes melt armor of immerse body parts at a rate of 1 point every
5 game seconds, 'Acid & Rock' every 10 seconds, and have a lower penalty
for move skill checks.
'Lava' hexes melt armor of immerse body parts at a rate of 1 point every
10 game seconds, 'Lava & Rock' every 20 seconds, and have a lower penalty
for move skill checks.
Immersed Titans cannot fire weapons or launch Flares. Firing on immersed
Titans has a penalty depending on distance and target's weight class. A
Titan cannot fire its leg-mounted weapons or kick when standing in fluid
hexes.
- [ Movement ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [MOV]
Elevation change is an independent modifier for movement time
calculation. If the height difference is greater than 8m (+/-4m is the
standard deviation of height) then moving uphill will take longer,
whereas moving downhill can be quick as long as it is not too steep.
Walk forward and walk backward down very steep slopes is possible.
Move buttons will be yellow and a skill check with very hard modifiers
has to be passed.
Move buttons will be yellow if the Titan will leave the battlefield
(flee) by performing that move.
Completing a move (say run) does not change the speed of the Titan; it
will keep its speed until a new command is issued. The speed is calculated
for the new command, so you have no speed break if you would choose to run
again (continuous movement). If you call fire weapons mode, speed drops to
zero. When using 'wait on locked foe' to wait for the target to complete a
move, you will not get the movement related penalties if he calls his move
and your Jock's Reaction is higher than his.
Turning, standing and crouching provide a 5% defensive bonus. For other
move modes, the defensive speed modifier is calculated as speed/5 (speed/8
for Machine Guns, GMHs and regular Lasers). During ground movement, leg-
mounted weapons have a speed/4 ToHit penalty, speed/3 if dodging.
A crouched Titan gets +5% to attacks, -5% to skill checks, and opponents
get a ToHit offensive penalty because of its reduced size (50% height,
rounded up). You can't engage in CC and HtH attacks while crouched;
weapons mounted in the legs and lower torso won't fire.
A prone Titan's size is 20% its height, rounded up.
A prone Titan can only fire weapons mounted in the arms and head. It
cannot launch center torso mounted Flares if 'face down' or center back
torso mounted Flares if 'face up'.
There is a +ToHit bonus when attacking prone targets.
Jump forward has no skill check; jump up has a check for jumping out of
water, swamp, or dense woods; landing always has a skill check, which is
harder for landing in water, swamp, or dense woods. Landing in dense woods
has a -25% move skill check modifier. Jumping out of a water or snow hex
creates steam on that hex.
Dodging provides a defensive bonus based on the Jock's skill with the
piloted Titan's weight class:
(pilot skill + chassis handling modifier) / 5
Jumping forward gives a Titan a big defensive bonus, jumping up/down
gives a smaller defensive bonus, jumping forward/up/down gives the
attacker an offensive penalty. Hovering Titans also get an offensive
penalty (-20%, -15% for energy weapons).
Breaking move when running, dodging or jumping (including up and down)
will result in a skill check; when standing up, in a fall with no skill
check. An E.M. Pulser hit to the gyro or leg actuators might cause the
target to break move, resulting in (immediate) higher ToHit chances, and
possibly on a move skill check (end of game second).
A Titan cannot swivel, eject, fire weapons or engage in HtH combat
while standing up or crouching from prone.
If the lower torso or both legs are disabled, the Titan falls and no
further movement actions are possible. If one leg is disabled, only
standing, walking or turning is possible, and at 300% move time. If one of
the gyro sections is destroyed, no movement is possible except for swivel
and jump down.
Climb rate is modified by damage to the leg actuators, which reduces it
by half the corresponding move modifier. Expl: 150% movement time results
in a 25% decrease in climb rate. Loss of one of the legs results in half
climb rate, loss of the two legs results in no climb rate.
- [ Range ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [RNG]
To fire a weapon at a locked target, that target must be within the
weapon's maximum firing range. There is a modifier to your 'to hit' chance
with that weapon, based on the distance to the target – see Skill Checks
for a detailed list of modifiers. The farther the target is, the higher
that penalty. If the target is at the weapon's maximum range, that penalty
is 45%. If it is closer, the penalty is reduced accordingly on a linear
scale across the weapon's effective range (from maximum to minimum range of
effectiveness).
Thus, a medium laser (range 9) has no penalty at point blank range, -5%
at 1 hex, -10% at 2 hexes, up to -45% at 9 hexes; a flame thrower
(range 1), on the other hand, has no penalty at point blank range, and -45%
at 1 hex.
Some weapons have a minimum range of effectiveness, usually long-range
weapons used mainly in support actions. This means that targets inside
their minimum range will be much harder to hit; the below-minimum range
penalty is fixed at -20% per hex. This makes rushing support Titans an
extremely effective tactic in combat.
Missile racks can be fired through a scanner link to get a better range
to-hit modifier if the linked Team mate (the spotter) is closer to the
target than the firing Titan. Both range modifiers are calculated and the
best one is taken. The spotter's modifier has some special rules:
1. If it is inside the missiles' minimum range, the modifier is a fixed
-10%
2. The modifier for range can't get better than -10%.
Therefore, the modifier at optimum range (the rack's minimum range) is
-10% and will remain so even if the spotter gets closer.
When playing a split Squad, you can link your scanner to a Squad mate
that is in a different Team.
When moving forward out of a hex (with either ground or jump movement),
a Titan can only fire at that hex or at any Titan in that hex with weapons
mounted in its center back torso. When moving backwards out of the hex, all
weapons except those mounted in the center back torso (and HtH and CC) can
be fired.
The arc-of-fire of weapons mounted in the legs and lower torso will not
rotate if the Titan swivels.
If a Titan is firing from any jump level above (same hex) its target, a
different damage allocation table is used – upper body is hit more often.
If firing from below, lower body is hit more often.
- [ Scanning ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [SCN]
Normal scans (yellow) give +4% to hit, critical ones (green) give +8%.
These modifiers are lost if the Battle Computer is destroyed.
Accuracy of the gathered information depends on the distance to the
target, and therefore on the Scanner's optimum and maximum ranges. The
scanning Titan's heat level will also influence this information.
Chance as well as scan speed will increase once the target is
successfully scanned. No experience is gained for scans of the same or
lower accuracy than the best one already in the scanner database for a
given target.
Background of target's armor display is black for no scan or red scan,
green for yellow scan, and a brighter green for a green scan. Also, if you
have hit the enemy, normal scans will show red (no armor) locations, and</pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
critical scans will show red and yellow (less than 10 armor points left)
locations. Body parts change color because of damage.
An active scan does not detect if a Jock is a Replicant, so these will
always show as Human.
Scanner linking:
A Titan can fire missiles at a target that it does not see if it links
Scanners with a spotter that does; the spotter must have LoS to the firing
Titan. A scanner link also allows firing missiles at a better ToHit if the
spotter is closer to the target. You will never be penalised for firing
with a link partner.
Additionally, the linking Titan will get its LoS augmented by that of
the spotter. There are no scanner link chains though, that is, you don't
get LoS extension from other Titans linked to the Titan you're linked to.
A Jock can link his Scanner to a Squad mate that is in a different Team
(split Squads).
An Indirect Fire skill check has to be passed for the attacker to take
advantage of linked fire. The Titan uses its own scan (and respective ToHit
modifier), if it has one, of the target.
When a Titan fires missiles at a target through a scanner link, both
range modifiers (from linker to target and from spotter to target) are
calculated and the best one is taken. The spotter's modifier has some
special rules:
1. If it is inside the missiles' minimum range, the modifier is a
fixed -10%
2. The modifier for range can't get better than -10%
Therefore the modifier at optimum range is -10% and will remain so even
if the spotter gets closer.
It is possible to active scan a target through a scanner link. Scan time
is increased by 50%. Time and effect are modified by Scanner type of link
partner.
A Titan that has deployed its Flares will have its link stability
affected by –5%. If both linked Titans have their Flares deployed,
stability will decrease by –10%.
- [ Heat ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [HOT]
Overheating is the one thing a Jock fears the most (besides a critical
hit to the cockpit). Heat is generated by weapons as well as movement and
some miscellaneous effects like shield hits or explosions. Some weapons,
napalm missiles and the flame thrower, will cause heat on the target –
however, their ammo explodes more violently when hit, causing double
damage.
At 150 degrees Celsius a Titan is automatically shut down, leaving it
helpless on the battlefield. At 250 degrees Celsius a Titan will explode if
the engine is not disabled. Heat is divided into categories which are
possible triggers for 'wait on heat' actions and which affect skill checks.
The hotter the Titan, the worse the penalties, so you had better monitor
your heat closely.
The levels are from cooler to hotter:
Heat level Temperature range Effect
Green 0.0 - 49.9 C None
Blue 50.0 - 74.9 C Small skill penalty
Yellow 75.0 - 99.9 C Small skill penalty
Red 100.0 - 124.9 C Medium skill penalty;
Possible ammo explosion
White 125.0 - 149.9 C Big skill penalty
Possible ammo explosion
Shutdown 150.0+ C All systems down!
Explosion 250.0+ C Titan explosion!!
Heat is reduced by a regulating system that is a closed circuit. This
means that a heavy damage critical hit to any one component heavily damages
the whole system! Also keep in mind that engines and plasma guns with
critical damage will produce heat, the heavier the damage the higher the
heat.
Weapons that generate heat on the target Titan create 1.8 C per point of
damage, less if the target has its Shield active. That's 12.6 C for the
Flame Thrower, 1.8 C per location hit for Napalm Missiles.
All energy weapons (with the exception of the Cold Light Gun, the
Neutron Blaster and the E.M.Pulser) will only cause heat on the target if
they hit the Shield (1 C per point of damage, doubled in case the Shield
overloads).
After a shutdown, the Heat Regulator will kick back in when heat drops
to red, but a complete Titan restart will only take place when it reaches
yellow.
- [ Power ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [POW]
The engine generates power (in the form of Power Units) that is used to
maintain shields and scanners, provide movement and recharge energy
weapons, close combat weapons and jump ports. Devices are powered up by the
engine in the following order:
Device Requirement
Heat Regulator 1 PU
Move Actuators 1-3 PU, depending on move mode
Shield 1-4 PU, depending on level set
Scanner 1 PU
E.C.M. 1 PU
Weapons See below
Punch/Kick 1 PU for each arm/leg
Jump Ports 1 PU for recharging
Energy weapons (except flame throwers, which have ammo) need power units
to recharge completely (example: 33 PUs for a plasma gun or 9 PUs for a
medium laser). There is a restriction on how many power units per second an
energy weapon can use for recharge:
more than 15 PU needed - recharge max 3 PU per second
more than 6 PU needed - recharge max 2 PU per second
more than 0 PU needed - recharge max 1 PU per second
Our friend the plasma gun (req. 33 PUs) will recycle in 16 seconds,
recharging 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 PUs.
(from 33: -> 30 -> 27 -> 24 -> 21 -> 18 -> 15 -> 13 -> 11 -> 9 -> 7 ->
5 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> 1 -> ready)
The 9 PU medium laser on the other hand will recycle in 7 seconds,
recharging 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 PUs.
(from 9: -> 7 -> 5 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> 1 -> ready)
Close combat weapons recharge at a constant rate of 1 PU per second.
A gauss cannon will need one power unit to be fired. This power unit is
deducted from the pool of available power before energy weapons and close
combat weapons are recharged.
Charges (including jump charges) and kicks are only possible if both
legs are fully recharged.
A damaged engine will produce less power, the heavier the damage the
lower the power output. If the engine cannot generate enough power to
recharge all weapons, it will give priority to those that will be ready
first – damaged weapons will be recharged last. If you are really low on
power, it is possible that some systems will be automatically put offline
to supply those with a higher priority.
- [ Health ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [HP.]
A Jock starts a battle at full health. The amount can be read in one of
the status screen pages.
During battle, there can be some events that will hurt him, resulting in
loss of hit points. The more the Jock is wounded, the worse the modifiers
for his skill checks. By pointing the mouse to the health bubbles, you can
quickly check the Jock's current health and skill check modifier.
The life support system built into a Titan can heal a Jock at a constant
rate. The success depends on the Jock's medical skill, while the amount
depends on the quality of the life support system. For the Jock to benefit
from the healing capabilities of the life support system he must have at
least one of the action modes on wait; having both action modes on wait
will make concentrating on healing much easier. Android Jocks will not be
healed by the life support but rather heal at a constant rate of 2 hit
points every 18 seconds; they will, however, benefit from the system's
protection from radiation and concussion damage.
Each time a Jock is hurt, there is a chance that he will be temporarily
affected (he can get dizzy, stunned, bleeding or unconscious) or even
permanently affected (loss of Dexterity, Reaction or Constitution) – the
higher the damage level he suffers, the higher the chance for that
happening.
Temporary effects affect the Jock's skill checks depending on the amount
of hit points lost, except unconsciousness which causes the Jock to be
unavailable for action (and therefore very vulnerable) for some time.
Androids never get unconscious and Cyborgs recover very quickly. Bleeding
is also very dangerous, as the Jock loses one hit point every other game
second – this rate is doubled if bleeding fast.
- [ Line-of-Sight ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [LOS]
LoS is calculated adding terrain height, Titan size (stance) and the
Scanner's VH. You can only lock hexes to which you have a direct LoS.
Smoke screens and steam block LoS with an effective height of 25m. All
Auto Cannons have the ability to create smoke screens. Duration of the
screen is dependent on caliber, but it'll never go below 10 game seconds:
duration = (weapon damage * 3) + 30 - (wind power * wind power) +
random(0-5)
Burning woods also block LoS.
LoS is calculated from source to destination with hexes between them
blocking the sight. Smoke, steam, and/or fire in the target's hex do not
affect LoS or ToHit, they just affect HD. Woods in the target's hex do not
affect LoS either, but modifies ToHit and HD.
Holding down the <SHIFT> key and clicking on any hex in the map will
give you the LoS path from the active Titan to that hex. Use this to block
LoS with forest fires or smoke screens or steam.
A Titan does not have LoS to a target when:
- intervening obstacle is higher than observer and higher than target;
- intervening obstacle is higher than observer but lower than target and
distance from source to obstacle is smaller or equal to distance from
obstacle to target;
- intervening obstacle is lower than observer but higher than target and
distance from source to obstacle is greater or equal to distance from
obstacle to target.
In the case the observer is higher than the obstacle, the obstacle
"shadows" a distance equal or less than its distance to the observer.
When the Scanner is off, maximum sight range is 15 hexes.
Titans immersed in water/acid/lava have their visibility reduced.
There are a total of 125 shade levels for any hex, fading in about every
2 game seconds; the lower the Jock's Intelligence, the faster they fade.
Memory fading is also faster if the Jock is dizzy or unconscious.
Called shots:
For a weapon to qualify for called shots, it must be ready and in range,
its ToHit must be 85% or above, and you must have a yellow scan or better
on the targeted Titan. You cannot call shots with missile racks, Flame
Throwers, Neutron Blasters or E.M.Pulsers.
Called shots are modified by weapon type, distance to target and
targeted location:
Weapon type: Cannons have a -5% modifier, and Close Combat weapons -15%.
Distance to target: -3% per hex distance for Cannons, -2% per hex for
Energy weapons.
Location:
30% for CT
35% for RT/LT/RL/LL
40% for RA/LA
45% for LOT
50% for HD
The resulting modifier is shown in the called shot window (E = energy
weapons, C = cannons, H = close combat weapons).
If the called shot attack check is successful, you get a number of rolls
on the internal damage location table. If one of those rolls falls into the
desired location, the called shot hits that location; otherwise it hits the
location of the last of those rolls. The number of attempts is modified by
what you roll making the check.
Example: Let's say your ToHit for a called shot to the center torso is
50%. You roll 30. You get 4 free rolls on the location table for aiming at
the center torso and 2 more for being 20% below what you needed.
6 rolls are made on the internal location table, which has a 20% for the
torso you want to hit. If one of these rolls makes it your called shot is
successful.
Each location has a different value on the location table based on size.
The head for example gives only 2 free rolls on the location table, making
it much harder to hit.
- [ Fog of War ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [FOG]
To damage a Titan, you must first lock it with your battle computer. To
lock it, you must have it in direct sight or scanner range. The game makes
great use of visibility and computes the visibility for all Titans to
recreate fog of war. Hexes that cannot be scanned are displayed in various
shades of gray. As the Jock's memory of these hexes fades, they become
shadowed more and more – the Jock's Intelligence attribute determines how
fast these hexes fade. Memory fading is also faster if the Jock is dizzy or
unconscious.
There are a total of 125 levels of display for any given hex: Titans
which once were scanned but left scanner range are displayed as shrinking
dots (red for enemies, yellow for allies) as time goes by. You can check
the line of sight of any hex relative to the active Titan by pressing SHIFT
and left clicking on that hex; the line of sight path will be displayed on
the map. Use this path to determine which terrain features are blocking
your line of sight, or to set smoke screens in one of the path hexes to
block direct firing from your opponent.
- [ Hiding ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [HID]
Some terrain features can conceal a Titan from its enemies, making it
undetectable and impossible to shoot at. These are woods/cover, fire, smoke
and steam. A Titan in one of these hexes can only be detected a short
distance away, but at the cost of it too having a reduced visibility –
though not as much as its enemies. They are perfect for creating ambushes.
Clicking on a hex will display its visibility value (HD 0.4 = 60% sight
reduction). If the distance is displayed in red, you are too far away to
detect Titans in that hex under normal circumstances. This value is
modified by the height difference of the observed hex compared to the one
the Titan is on. Titan's height as well as active E.C.M., deployed flares,
active shield, firing weapons, scanning active, dodging and jumping up will
modify the HD value; this Titan-related multiplier is displayed in its
first info page. The Jock's scouting skill will also improve hiding.
Standard HD modifiers for woods/cover in Terran and Polar:
Swamp Depression Plain Low hill Medium hill High hill Mtn.
Dense 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2
Light - 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4
Core has -0.1 HD; Savannah and BioChem have +0.1 HD.
The height difference between the Titan's hex and the observed hex will
modify the HD value. If the observer is in plains, the target gets the
standard HD modifier. For each level the observer is higher than plains,
the target gets +0.1 to HD. (swamp = depression = plain, low hill +0.1,
medium hill +0.2, high hill +0.3, mountain +0.4)
If a Titan's height is equal to or greater than 11m, its base HD value
will be higher. Active ECM modifies your HD by (1.0 – Mod1 / 100), where
Mod1 is the first ECM modifier, used for GMH distraction. ECM does not
count against the visibility of own Squad members. Your ECM will also help
you detect hidden Titans while they are scanning you, adding 0.5 to their
HD for the duration of the active scan (a Titan without ECM won't notice
being scanned).
The Jock's Scouting skill reduces HD when in hexes with any type of
cover, (Scouting / 250) in heavy and (Scouting / 500) in light cover.
- Dodging adds (hex_HD)/2 to HD.
- Jumping up adds (hex_HD) to HD.
- Active Shield adds 0.5 to HD.
- Firing weapons adds 1.0 to HD.
- Deployed Flares add 1.0 to HD. The HD value is not updated when Flares
are exhausted, only when you move to a different hex (a Titan launching
its Flares has revealed its position, the same for firing weapons).
Smoke/steam and fire work like a 0.5 HD multiplier.
Titans totally immersed will have their total HD value reduced to 0.1.
The HD value in the first info page is the total HD factor.
All HD end results which will exceed 1.0 are treated as 1.0 = NO hiding,
normal sight.
The range within which a hidden Titan can be detected by another Titan
is: observer's Scanner long-range value modified by damage, multiplied by
the hidden Titan's total HD.
A hidden Titan's detect range is: own Scanner long-range value modified
by damage, multiplied by (1.5 * hex HD). Hexes where enemy Titans might be
hiding are displayed with a '?' in the tactical screen when Scanner ranges
are toggled on. It does not take into account the enemy's HD modifiers like
ECM, size, etc. It's just the hex HD. When in cover, red range marker shows
area an enemy with the best Scanner has to enter to penetrate the HD
"bubble".
A Titan cannot hide if its current size (stance) is higher than the
cover's height.
- [ Skill Checks ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [CHK]
Whenever you have to pass a skill check manually, press the right mouse
button or the 'Enter' key. There are several modifiers that are calculated
for a final chance of success.
Attack skill checks
1. Jock's combat skill with the respective weapon type
2. Weapon's base modifier
3. Jock status modifier
4. Weapon damage modifier
5. Actuator damage modifier
6. Battle computer's to-hit bonus, modified by damage, and flare penalty
if deployed
7. Titan's heat modifier
8. Titan's and target's move modifiers
9. Titan's offensive hex modifier and target's defensive hex modifier
10. Target's size and speed modifiers
11. Range modifier
12. Indirect fire modifier if applicable
13. Target's defensive modifiers for shield and E.C.M. if applicable
Move skill checks
1. Jock's pilot skill with the respective Titan class
2. Actuator and gyro damage modifiers
3. Jock status modifier
4. Handling modifier of chassis
5. Terrain modifier
6. Stance modifier (prone, crouched, standing)
7. Movement mode modifier
8. Hit modifier (when hit by weapon; black ray gun gives added penalty)
The target's size modifier for attack skill checks is (size - 11); it
does not apply at point blank range.
Heat modifies attacks (half for close combat), ammo explosions (double
modifiers) and active scans.
There's a 5% penalty to move skill checks when a Titan is in a hex with
fire, smoke or steam.
Breaking a stand move from prone will cause the Titan to crash to the
ground with no skill check.
Negative chassis handling modifiers are doubled when jumping or dodging,
and positive modifiers will not be applied at all. The handling modifier is
displayed in the Jock Skill Data status window, next to the applicable
pilot skill. All jump-related skill checks are modified by wind power if it
is > 3.
When a battle starts, each Jock makes a Defensive skill check. Success
will grant him an increased cooling of (Defensive / 200) C/second for the
duration of that battle.
When standing up, "Movement rate increased" is possible. It's related to
the pilot skill with the respective weight class. A Jock must pass an
exceptionally good check.
There can be situations where there are multiple reasons for a move
skill check (dodging into water, being hit by a weapon when moving to stand
up...).
If such a situation occurs, the worst modifier is taken as the primary
modifier. All reasons for skill checks also have a secondary modifier,
which is always negative and will be added to the primary modifier.
Example: Your Titan is standing up and being hit by a weapon. The
primary modifier for standing up is +30%. Let's assume the weapon modifier
is +5%. Since 5 is smaller than 30 the primary modifier is +5%. Now the
secondary modifier for standing up comes into play, which is -10%. Final
modifier is -5%.
If the move would have a primary modifier of 0%, this would be taken and
the weapon's effects secondary modifier would be applied (-10%) with a
final of -10%.
Each hit of more than 4 points of damage (with the exception of a Flame
Thrower hit) can cause instability on the target Titan. The chance is
dependent on:
1. The amount of damage being dealt
2. The location being hit
3. The weight class of the target
4. The target's move mode
If the instability (need for a move skill check) occurs, it is again
modified by the above factors. The Black Ray Gun's effect is in addition
to all other effects. It can cause a move skill check with 60% even if it
hits an arm.
Bravery is based on Leadership and affects skill checks. Jocks that
start the battle within 3 hexes of and have LoS to the Team Leader start
with Bravery = Leader's Leadership; others start with their own Leadership.
Hex transformations (floods for example) break both attack and move
modes of Titans in them.
- [ Damage ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [DMG]
If damage occurs, the game engine checks which body part is affected,
taking into account line of fire and other aspects. Damage ranges from 1 to
25 per hit and is normally subtracted from the armor of the respective body
part. If the armor is reduced to zero, the damage is applied to the
internal structure and critical equipment damage is likely to happen.
Equipment can receive light, medium, or heavy damage, or it can be
destroyed. All weapons causing more than 4 points of damage can cause
interior equipment damage even if the armor is still intact.
Meson guns have an increased chance for this effect. Damage control
systems (DCS) help against this though; they can automatically reduce or
even negate interior equipment damage. Shields, if online, will also help
by lowering meson guns' chance for critical hits.
If all limb actuators in a given location are destroyed, weapons mounted
in that location are disabled. When the internal structure is gone, the
body part is either disabled (torsos) or ripped off (arms, legs, head);
systems there, and external armor, if any, are destroyed.
When a Titan explodes, everything in a 2-hex radius is affected; wood
hexes may ignite and Jocks within 1 hex may take radiation damage. An
active shield will reduce the amount of damage, heat and radiation taken
from the blast – the higher the shield setting, the lower the effects.
Smoke is created in the hex the Titan exploded in. The Jock, if still
inside the cockpit, will be killed. If a Titan takes 60 or more points of
damage from a nearby engine explosion, it can be blown out of its hex
(as long as that won't make it leave the battlefield).
- [ Internal Damage ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ITR]
Each weapon hit that causes more than 4 points of damage has a
(damage / 2) chance to cause internal damage. If internal damage happens,
the internal structure of the hit location is reduced by (damage / 4) and a
slot is chosen randomly in that location. If it's an empty slot or an armor
slot, nothing happens; else, either the DCS negates further damage or the
equipment installed in that slot gets light damage.
Example: A Tesla Bolt hit (25 damage) has a 12% chance to cause internal
damage, in which case 6 additional internal structure points are removed
for a total of 31 damage.
All missiles that hit the same location are added before damage is
applied; therefore they might exceed the 4-point damage limit.
Titans with DCS can perform repairs during battle if they have damaged
weapons/systems/actuators/gyro. Repair skill check is:
Damage Control skill + DCS mod - damage level mod - health mod
(damage level mod is -15% for light, -30% for medium and -60% for heavy
damage.)
If you have skill 70 and a DCS [6] you will repair lightly damaged
systems with 70 + 35 - 15 = 90%. Successful skill checks repair one level,
which is from heavy to medium, medium to light or light to none. Repairs
performed on the battlefield are permanent; the Squad doesn't need to
spend money in the Factory after battle for those repairs. Repair Bays
perform repairs like a DCS with mod 100%.
The gyro is not a single system, but 3 independent sections. Damage
level in each section is independent of damage level of other sections;
move skill check modifiers however are cumulative.
Leg actuator damage results in a move time modifier. Modifiers from
different damaged actuators are not cumulative, only the worst modifier
is counted.
If the swivel actuator is damaged, swiveling will take longer; if it is
destroyed, the Titan cannot swivel. Destroyed limb actuators modify related
skill checks in the following manner:
shoulder / hip -50%
elbow / knee -40%
grip / foot -30%
If all limb actuators in a given location are destroyed, weapons mounted
in that location are disabled. Weapons mounted in an arm are also disabled
if the respective shoulder actuator is destroyed.
Destroying the Life Support of a Titan will not automatically kill the
Jock. Destroying the cockpit will. The cockpit is just a slot in the head.
It does not accumulate damage; it is a spot that will hurt the Jock when
hit internally. If it gets destroyed, the Titan is disabled.
Damage to the Engine will create heat on the Titan and reduce its power
output:
/- Light - - Medium - - Heavy - -\
Heat | power/10 power/6 power/4 |
Power | 75% 50% 33% |
If the Engine is destroyed, the Titan is considered disabled.
Light damage to the Heat Regulator will decrease its heat dissipation
ability to 80% normal, medium damage to 60% and heavy damage to 40%. A
Titan with a destroyed Heat Regulator will still have a base heat reduction
of 0.25C/second; it will not be considered disabled unless its heat rises
to shutdown level. Of course, surviving combat in this condition is close
to impossible, especially in hot terrain with positive head modifiers.
Destroying a body part containing a section of the Heat Regulator will
damage the whole system with a damage level depending on the destroyed
location:
center torso or center back torso: destroyed
each leg or arm: medium damage
rest of body: heavy damage
A missing leg/arm allows the Heat Regulator to be repaired to medium
damage.
Scan ranges decrease as the Scanner takes damage, to 85% with light
damage, 70% with medium, and 40% with heavy. A destroyed Scanner means
visual detection only, 15 hexes. Minimum value for maximum range is always
15 hexes (visual).
Damage to the Jump Ports will only affect recharge rate. Destroying a
body part containing a section of the Jump Ports will destroy the entire
system. Normally this means the legs, so if fliers are giving you a
problem, hack the legs off.
Damaged CC/HtH/Energy weapons will recycle last. Damaged Plasma Guns
produce heat according to their damage level: 0.3/0.6/1.2/2.0 for light/
medium/heavy/destroyed. If the location is destroyed, however, no heat is
produced. Damaged cannons and missile launchers may dud or fail when fired,
round is lost, heat is only 20% normal.
- [ Ammo ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [AMO]
Critical hits to ammo slots (except for Gauss Cannon ammo slots) will
cause ammo loss or detonation, depending on the damage level of the
critical hit.
When rolling to avoid ammo explosions by heat, near skill failures
result in ammo loss, fumbles in detonation. Gauss Cannon ammo is not
affected by heat.
Ammo explosions by heat may occur after 25 seconds in heat level red.
The counter will be stopped as soon as you reach heat level yellow and will
be decreased each second you spend below heat level red.
Example: You spend 20 seconds in heat red (counter 20) till you are
cooled down yellow. You spend 5 seconds there (counter 15) when heat goes
back up to red. After 10 seconds in red the ammo will explode if you fail a
skill check!
The DCS helps the Jock with ammo explosions and even has a slight chance
on its own. Once a Jock is ejected, ammo explosions might happen
automatically, only the DCS can control this if the Engine is still
running.
Ammo explosion damage is calculated as:
(weapon damage * rack size * ammo) / 5
with a minimum of 3. So 10 shots of AC20 do 40 points of damage. Ammo
explosions always raise the Titan's heat by an amount equal to the damage
they cause. In weapons that cause heat buildup on the target (Napalm
Missiles and Flame Thrower), they will do double damage (and therefore
double heat). Bear this in mind if you are piloting a Titan with a lot of
heat-based ordinance!
An ammo explosion may cause damage to the reloading mechanism of the
respective weapon, which will be one level below that of the ammo slot
critical hit.
Ammo explosions in the legs and the lower torso will force a move skill
check, modified by (damage/2).
- [ Engine explosion ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ENG]
There is a small chance that a Jock may survive the explosion of his
Titan's Engine. It depends on his Survival skill, Life Support and luck.
The probability an Engine will explode when destroyed depends on the
Jock's Damage Control skill and the quality of the DCS (if present). Though
the chance to avoid explosions will never drop below 50% it can go as high
as 98% for well-equipped Titans with experienced Jocks. If the Titan is
shutdown, the Jock's Damage Control skill and the DCS will have no effect.
Damage from Engine explosions is (Engine power * 8). Titans 1 hex away
take half that damage, those 2 hexes away take 1/4. Titans that are not in
LoS of the exploding Titan (except for smoke and fire) will take no damage.
Everything else within 1 hex is also affected; woods/cover and buildings
take damage the same way, woods may ignite, and Jocks may suffer a special
effect caused by radiation exposure. Smoke is created in the hex the Titan
exploded in.
If the exploding Titan is immersed, damage from the explosion will be
halved. Immersed Titans not in the same hex as the explosion will only take
half damage and radiation.
Shields protect from explosions, reducing damage by their protective
value. Heat taken is equal to what damage is left. Example: A Titan
explodes for 80 points of damage. For Titans in the same hex with no Shield
protection, heat would be raised by 80 C. A Shield 6 (50% modifier) will
reduce damage to 40, so heat will only be raised by 40 C. Shields have a
random chance (half their protective value) to negate radiation from
explosions.
If a Titan takes 60 or more points of damage from the Engine explosion
of another Titan and fails a skill check, it can be blown out of its hex.
- [ Jock damage ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [JOK]
Minor : 4d6
Light : 10d6
Medium : 20d6
Heavy : 30d6
Critical: 40d6 or instant death
The Jock takes damage from falls, ammo explosions, and even weapon hits
if the Life Support is damaged.
A Jock may survive the destruction of the cockpit (Engine explosion,
head ripped off), even though it is a very remote possibility. When that
happens however, the Jock will not take any further damage.
Weapons hitting the head but not penetrating the armor:
Weapons that do >10 damage have a (damage * 7) chance to hurt the Jock;
they do medium Jock damage with a chance equal to their damage (25% for
Tesla Bolt), otherwise they do light Jock damage.
Weapons that do >4 damage have a (damage * 4) chance to hurt the Jock
with light Jock damage.
Other weapons' chance is (damage * 1) for minor Jock damage.
The Black Ray Gun would normally fall into the second category, but it is
in the first (increased Jock damage bonus). Life Support protects against
head hits that cause medium Jock damage with (-2 * LS_level), except for
the Black Ray Gun.
Weapons hitting the head when armor there is depleted will cause minor
Jock damage if no cockpit critical hit is rolled; light/medium/heavy
cockpit critical hits will cause light/medium/heavy Jock damage.
Hits to locations other than the head will only hurt the Jock when the
Life Support is damaged. If the Life Support is undamaged, it will prevent
shock damage completely. If it is damaged, each hit to any location has a
25% chance to cause light Jock damage from shock.
Jock damage level from shock is determined by Life Support damage level,
weapon damage and luck. It can be reduced by one level if the Jock passes a
Survival skill check; Cyborgs get one Jock damage level reduction for free
after the Survival check (so they can still earn OXPs), meaning they can
effectively reduce 2 levels on a successful check.
The Neutron Blaster causes minor Jock damage whenever its special effect
is triggered. A good Life Support and high Constitution help in avoiding
both.
Here is the arithmetic behind being affected by a Neutron Blaster:
Roll a random number from 1-80 and add 1 for each 5% scored above what
you needed to hit. Maximum is 99%. Subtract Constitution, three times for
Androids, two times for Humans and Cyborgs, once for Replicants. With an
average Constitution of 10 that's -30/20/10%. Subtract the Life Support's
healing value times 3. Here you get a range from -9% to -30%. If the total
is greater than 0 you are affected, the more above 0 the worse the effect.
Replicants should go for a good Life Support.
The E.M. Pulser will cause minor Jock damage on a neural bridge hit
(cockpit critical hit, only on medium Titans or heavier); if the Jock is an
Android, it will take light Jock damage. Life Support hits will cause Jock
special effects (dizzy, stunned, unconscious, bleeding).
A wounded Jock will get a skill check penalty according to his current
health:
76 to 99% max HPs : 5% penalty
51 to 75% max HPs : 10% penalty
26 to 50% max HPs : 20% penalty
11 to 25% max HPs : 40% penalty
01 to 10% max HPs : 60% penalty
An unconscious Jock gets a skill check penalty of 100%.
A Jock that is bleeding will lose 1 HP every other game second, if
bleeding fast he will lose 1 HP every game second. A good Medical skill
will help in stopping bleeding.
A Jock in a Titan with a damaged Life Support and high heat will lose
HPs on a regular basis. It's called burning, and the Jock may burn to
death. Damage is dependent on Life Support damage and heat, and checked
every 18 game seconds after the Medical skill check.
Androids can take advantage of a Life Support's general shock/concussion
protection. They just won't be healed by it if they take damage. They'll
heal at a constant rate of 2 HPs every 18 seconds when wounded.
Healing from the Life Support will only occur if you have at least one
action on wait mode, and is checked every 18 game seconds. Base chance for
using the healing capabilities of the Life Support is 40% if doing no
action at all.
Each time a Jock is hurt there is a chance for a special effect (15% on
light wounds, 30% on medium). These effects can be dizzy/stunned/
unconscious/bleeding, or the loss of 1 point in Dexterity, Reaction or
Constitution.
Regaining consciousness is a matter of time. Maximum is 60 seconds, less
for Cyborgs. Androids never get unconscious, whatever the source (Neutron
Blaster, E.M. Pulser, normal damage).
- [ Winning ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [WIN]
The main goal of combat is to wreak havoc on your opponents before they
do the same to you. A Titan is considered destroyed if either its engine or
its cockpit is destroyed or if it is shut down and its heat regulator is
destroyed. It is considered disabled (but not destroyed) if it has lost
both one arm (or the torso it is connected to) and the ability to make a
decent stand skill check, which can be due either to a destroyed gyro or a
ripped off leg.
Conditions for a Titan to be considered DESTROYED:
1. Destroyed Engine
2. Destroyed cockpit
3. Destroyed Heat Regulator and shutdown.
A safety circuit disables the Engine so that no explosion is possible in
any of the 3 cases (i.e. shooting them up after the fact will not trigger
explosions).
A Jock cannot eject if his Titan is totally immersed in water/lava/acid
(size <= depth). Ejects from a partially immersed prone Titan are possible
if the Titan is not facing up. The hatch is in the back of the head. It is
blocked if the Titan is facing up; otherwise the Jock can exit. So you can
always try to get up and tumble on the belly.
Ejects in dangerous terrain have severe modifiers. The eject skill check
includes not only escaping the Titan but also the battle. So you also get
penalties for each enemy Titan in your hex and surrounding hexes. The eject
skill is also modified by the Titan's heat level (half the heat modifier).
The eject skill is modified by the quality of the Life Support system,
[ +10% + (LS_level - 1) * 3% ].
The damage a Jock gets during ejects is based on the difference of his
roll and what he needed to succeed. Critical failures in the eject skill
check may result in high damage or even the death of the Jock.
Jocks will lose their Titans if they ejected and their Squad lost the
battle. A Squad loses the battle if all its Jocks ejected.
Squad Jocks with Damage Control and Survival skills of 60% or more will
get a chance to self-destruct their Titan when they eject. The eject skill
check will be modified by –25% and by the Jock's bravery. Eject time is
doubled, or tripled if the Jock fails a Damage Control skill check.
If all Titans in a Team are either destroyed or disabled, the battle is
lost. There can be situations where a Titan is considered ready but is
counted as destroyed/disabled for winning conditions purposes. That's the
case when the Jock ejects or dies from accumulated damage (from concussion,
neutron blaster hits or radiation exposure from engine explosions).
Heavy damage to the legs slows down the movement rate, allowing you to
put some distance between you and an enemy close combat specialist - those
hand-to-hand weapons tend to have high to-hit from being so close plus they
inflict serious damage.
It is often enough to cripple an opponent (rip off a leg) and then
concentrate on the next one. The crippled Titan is not destroyed nor
disabled, but it does not pose as much a threat as a fully functional one.
You can target it again later and put it out of commission then.
A Jock will not be promoted if he deserts the battlefield. Ejecting is
not dishonorable. He will also not be promoted if his Titan is destroyed
in battle.
For a Jock to be promoted for an outstanding performance in battle
(regardless of accumulated experience) he must have scored at least 3 kills
in that battle and then there is a random chance modified by rank. This
does not hold true all the time; I have consistently attempted to have one
Jock do all the finishing blows so that the kills for that mission are all
attributed to him. Even with 6 kills he will often not be promoted out of
hand.
In case of defeat, you lose all the Titans that have been disabled or
destroyed and all Titans that have no Jock (killed or ejected). In case of
victory or draw, you get to keep all Titans except those that were
annihilated by an explosion.
Bounty:
For each enemy Jock killed, your Squad gets a bounty of calculated as:
[ 10,000$ + 2,000$ * killed Jock's rank ].
Mission and campaign maps can award additional money as bounty.
Payment:
Money the Squad gets for fighting the battle, regardless of the outcome.
Depends only on the rank balance between sides; for same rank, it's a fixed
base amount of $125,000. Mission and campaign maps can award a base payment
and additional money as success bonus.
Salvage:
The Squad will only get salvage if it wins the battle; there'll be no
salvage in case of a defeat or a draw. It also takes into account the size
balance between sides, and depends on how efficiently your Squad disabled
the opposition.
It is modified by the Jock with the highest Business skill (not
necessarily a Manager) and by the Jock with the highest Damage Control
skill (not necessarily a Mechanic) from the winning side (both Teams if
applicable) that fought and survived (even if they ejected or fled) the
battle. It will be split between the 2 allied winning Teams, if that is the
case.
Special:
The winning Squad has a chance of getting opponent's most valuable Titan
that was not destroyed as reward after battle in random maps. That chance
is equal to the Damage Control skill of the best Mechanic of the winning
side.
There is a +/- 50% deviation of the Titans' base value for Titan or money
salvage choice calculations. The Titan can be sold later in the HQ for
money. Mission and campaign maps can award a specific opposing Titan as
special reward.
There will be no rewards (Bounty, Payment and Salvage) if 50% or more of
a Team's Jocks flee the battle, or eject before game second 100 – these are
marked as coward Teams. This is true for any battle, random or not, and
regardless of advancement on defeat in mission/campaign maps.
- [ Experience ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [EXP]
The base formula for experience earned for passing a skill check is:
XP = 375 - 3 times what you need - what you rolled (minimum 15 XPs)
No XPs that require a target will be earned if the target is disabled
or the Jock has ejected or been killed.
Combat XPs for succeeding in hitting the target with a weapon are
divided by 7/10/14 depending on weapon class (heavy/medium/light) - weapon
class is determined by weight/slots. You will only get half the normal CXPs
for hitting a prone or shutdown target.
Launching Flares will only give you experience if there is a GMH threat.
Successful tuning of the Heat Regulator grants experience, as do Shield
hits due to the Defensive skill and defeating active scans due to the
Electronic Warfare skill.
A small amount of XPs is awarded after each battle, whatever type of
map.
Coward Jocks, those that fled the battlefield, will only get half their
total earned XPs; Jocks that ejected or that had their Titans destroyed
will get full XPs.
===== [ MISCELLANEOUS ] ===== - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -[MSC]-
- [ tips ] -
Like in any other tactical game, make the numbers work for you. Gang up
on enemy Titans whenever possible and avoid multiple confrontations
yourself.
Try to use forested cover to your advantage; lock forested hexes between
you and the enemy and burn them down with lasers - good for forcing enemy
missilers to close in and for setting up ambushes. Besides obscuring
vision though, burning forests aren't exactly a large threat unless a Titan
is crippled and cannot flee.
If you need to stay away, for example when deploying missilers, try to
park yourself on high ground. Besides a good vantage point, mountains also
really slow down Titans attempting to climb them.
I favour mid-to-close range combat oriented towards energy guns, and so
my favourite random maps usually feature polar terrain with a guaranteed
river (100%) and lots of woods and hills (over 50% for both). Pine trees
are harder to burn down but still possible, although I rely more on terrain
rather than fire or cover for protection.
For easy piloting points, jump up and then land, this is among the
easiest skill checks. Getting into water then turning around in it also
generates fairly easy checks, but running in water is quite risky.
Although breaking off a run, dodge, jump forward or jump backwards move
requires the Jock to pass a skill check, no experience is gained by passing
such checks.
For general category experience, repeatedly scan each enemy until you
get a green scan (you get experience for each scan level - red, yellow,
green - but only once per scan level per enemy). Note that disabled Titans
(for whatever reason, destroyed or Jock ejection) do not give exp for
scans - they aren't counted as threats and will not trip Wait Until new
Enemy triggers.
As mentioned above in the section on winning, it is often more prudent
to quickly disable an opponent then moving to the next instead of
concentrating on one until it is destroyed.
Note that destroying either both arms or both legs, or disabling a Titan
via destroying an arm or the torso it is connected to and the lower torso
or a leg, will cause most AI jocks to eject. A Titan may still punch and
kick, so bear that in mind lest you think a foe is rendered helpless after
destroying the body parts it has weapons on. (This brings up some hilarious
Monty Python and the Holy Grail memories - "Bah! 'Tis but a flesh wound!")
XD
Ripping off or otherwise destroying the head section will kill the enemy
Jock. If you manage to sneak upon an enemy right into point blank range,
aim for the head - it's got way less armor than the rest of the Titan,
making taking down even those enormous Assault Titans fairly easy. You also
avoid explosions and get more value for your salvage.
If in a hurry, personally I favour ripping off a leg before moving on,
although a few AI jocks will eject even so.
If there are other enemy Titans nearby and you are at range, it may be
useful to attempt to blow it up. Destroying the body location where the
engine is located has a chance of making it explode. Always take advantage
of the situation to inflict as much damage as you can.
Note that Titans with ejected or killed Jocks can still be targeted.
This way if you disable, say, an advance melee unit, you can hang back,
wait until it's team reaches it, then blow it up. Ejected Jocks may also
be killed by an explosion - I don't know how the ejection procedure works,
perhaps the pilot merely lurks there until combat is over before being able
to rejoin it's Squad or flee. In any case, I've seen myself a few times the
message that "so-and-so(ejected) was annihilated" that follows a Titan's
explosions - only the Jock of the Titan that exploded can be killed
directly by the explosion. Others will mostly likely be killed indirectly,
e.g. by having their own Titan's head damaged in the explosion, or under
very happy circumstances by their own Titan blowing up in a chain reaction.
However, Jocks killed after ejecting or in secondary explosions (their
own Titans blowing up after sustaining fatal damage from the original
explosion) are not counted as kills.
If you can blow a Titan up while the Jock is still piloting it so much
the better. There's nothing more satisfying causing then a well-timed
explosion in the middle of enemy ranks. Even better when the others get
thrown off-balance and themselves become ripe targets for subsequent
explosions. Certainly this will be much easier to accomplish against
smaller Titans, because the sheer mass of larger Titans means a lot of
damage needs to be inflicted.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- [ Tutorial notes ] -
( stream-of-consciousness stuff - do the tutorial, you'll see what I mean )
hex grid toggle ;
hex coords toggle keypad -
height info toggle keypad - again
arc of fire overlay keypad +
Titan stats .
show terrain info click on hex (click on red/blue side indicators to
toggle between terrain and Titans in hex)
show and confirm automove route alt-leftclick on distant hex
show automove route available alt-rightclick on distant hex
Titan stats window = 7 pages
page 1: General Data - info on active Titan & Jock, which target is
locked, which systems are enabled/disabled, available engine
power, more info e.g. last move and attack orders, etc.
page 2: Armor Data - info on Titan's armor (internal & external), gyro &
actuators statuses
page 3: Weapon Damage/Reload Data - weapon status; damage affects to-hit,
can't shoot while reloading
page 4: Weapon Ammo/Range/Location Data - ammo status, max effective
range, weapon location
page 5: Systems Data - systems status, damage and location
page 6: Jock General Data - Jock's primary abilities & combat performance,
health, exp, etc.
page 7: Jock Skill Data - Jock's skills (0%-39% red, 40%-59% yellow,
60%+ green, 100% white)
recall tutorial msg F11
general help F1
confirm msg + close window leftclick msg window
move windows around rightclick window
walk forward = 1st button left upper row of move menu
turn left = 5th button left upper row of move menu
run = 3rd button left upper row of move menu
call attack (opens atk menu) = 6th button 2nd row of move menu
lock target = 1st button left upper row of atk menu; then rightclick on
target hex then on move menu, select wait, on call (to
prevent asking for moves until firing available)
Wait - on Recycle - aNy weapon = don't ask for atk commands until a weapon
becomes available again
scan active = 6th button 1st row of atk menu; scan result (red=n/a,
yellow=ok, green=good) indicated by colour of the "A" icon
in lower right of scan window popup page 1
scan database = F6
attack locked target = a
activate jump ports = 3rd button 2nd row of move menu
weapon range radius = numpad /
scanner range radius = numpad *
activate shield = 3rd button 1st row of atk menu
( Btw all hotkeys are available by pressing <F1> any time in combat )
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- [ Squad file editing ] - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [HAX]
To be honest, ToS:WS has built-in mechanisms to facilitate playing with
whatever Squad makeup you wish. So for example you can design a Hero Squad
with as much money as you like.
There also doesn't seem to be any difference between the single or
multiplayer Squads. Also, there just aren't that many ToS:WS online
players, and it would be a shame to drive those few away just to
accomodate the whiny few who can't play anything without cheating.
Yes I say whiny because after reading several threads and looking at my
own experience of the game, I have to conclude that the difficulty present</pre><pre id="faqspan-4">
in the game in no way reaches any frustating point. Let me repeat; there
is absolutely no reason why you would want to cheat.
Despite the abysmally low performance of a newly-created Squad, you can
play random missions that tilt the tonnage in your favour AND add an ally
AI Squad to help you - how much more easier do you want things to be??
Even if you, like me, feel an attachment to your created characters and do
not like the idea of replacing Jocks as they get killed, you will realise
that it is trivial to keep a fresh Squad intact until they mature and gain
enough skill to survive without needing endless babysitting.
And even if you want to play a specific type of game, say a Squad of
Heroes in Assault Titans, you can easily do that with the Special Squad
function I mention earlier in this FAQ.
Thus I have to conclude that expanding this section will be
counterproductive.
===== [ END ] ===== - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
...futari ni god bless.
- - - EOF - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
