How to handle Mech Clusters?

[Teleblaster18]

Hey all

I really do not want to start a new discussion about the DLC. Please!

I got 600+ hours in the game. As in: "not quite a Novice any more", i am sure you are much better player than me. No reason to prove that. I am here to learn.

Here is my Situation.
Mech Clusters took all (well most) of the fun out of the game,for me.

I can not handle them. They just wipe my base regularly. Until mid to late game when i am finally strong enough. As in usually i shell them with mortars...
How do you beat a mech cluster with, like 5 guys with 1 revolver, 1 rifle and a couple old bows ...
They just seem waaay to strong and way to early. The reach they have is insane. I loose several pawns even just walking towards them...

-I was writing this topic to ask if there is a way to turn the bloody mech clusters off completely?
-While writing i figured maybe you guys know a better way to handle them? I am open to suggestions.

Thanks

I've found that different stages of the game will require different approaches.  With Mech Clusters early on, I've found it important to rush EMP Grenades, EMP Launchers, and mortars as quickly as possible - these can help you quite a bit.  But let's assume that you have none of these.

I believe that Mech Clusters need to be peeled back like an onion, one layer at a time.  I see clusters as having 5 layers:

Layer 1: Mobile Mechs, and reinforcement pods and beacons, which will send additional mobile mechs your way.  I believe these should be dealt with first, before anything.  Mobile Mechs will either pot-shot you (Cents, Pikemen and Lancers) from what would normally be "safe" cover from the stationary guns, or drive you out of safe cover, or simply overrun you (like Scythers can and will do).  Trying to destroy the cluster before these have been dealt with is often a recipe for disaster.

Early on, when weapons are limited, a small trap maze can work wonders against mobile Mechanoids...especially if you're on a biome where wood traps can be made in bulk. Most Mechs don't do well against traps, even with the latest nerf to the power of wood traps.  For a trap maze to be effective, you have to be able to use your colonists as "bait" so that the Mechs try to physically path to you, and blunder through the trap maze while trying to get to you.

This essentially means building a small, *non-flammable* 2-room bunker close to the *dormant* cluster, with a door leading to the trap maze - that you'll also build close to the cluster.  The trap maze should be built as part of this 2 room bunker.  How many traps you use depends on how many mechs you're facing.  If you have a surplus of more powerful materials than wood to build your traps, by all means - use it, as long as you don't mind spending the materials.  How you design this bunker and trap maze are up to you.



Layer 2: Turrets - once you've neutralized the ground mechs, you now have quite an advantage.  You can now figure out areas where the turrets can't target you, and start your ground assault from those "blind spots".  Look carefully at where the now-active turrets have a clear line of fire, and avoid those lines of fire, while getting as close as you can to the first turrets that you want to destroy.  I tend to want to target Inferno Turrets first: they can send all of your colonists running into danger.  Losing control of your colonists is the thing to avoid most, and you lose control of them when they're on fire. 

You're sooner or later going to have to get in the line of fire of something, though...and get within range of the turrets that you want to destroy.  A Smoke Thrower is essential in these cases:  the smoke provides a cloud of cover for your colonists.  If you have two colonists with smoke throwers, you can slowly "walk" colonists in range of the turrets that you're trying to destroy.  Have a colonist launch smoke into the area where they would normally be vulnerable, and then immediately move your strike force into that cloud. Launch the second cloud of smoke, and then keep moving them closer.

In destroying turrets, I've found that normal Frag Grenades do enormous damage...and smoke throwers and frag grenades should be available to you right off the bat if you've researched Machining.  Two or three colonists with frag grenades should be able to lob enough damage that you should be able to take out a turret with every volley.  The idea is to kill the turrets as quickly as possible, before your smoke cover disappears, then move on to the next smoke cloud.



Layer 3: Mech Assemblers - these will spit out more mechs, of course.  You want these dead ASAP, but only if it's safe to destroy them, which means dealing with the Turrets first.  If you're safe, and can take one of these out simultaneously to taking out the turrets, absolutely do so.  Keep an eye on when the next Mech is going to be spit out, at all times...if you see that you're in the middle of your assault, and a Centipede, Scyther or Lancer is popping out in a minute or two, start prioritizing it over the Turrets.  Mobile Mechs are almost always the biggest threat to your assault.



Layer 4: Auto-Mortars.  These are a threat to your base, but less of a threat to your colonists, who are assaulting.  They also make a fantastic explosion when they explode;  I figure I can always rebuild part of my base, so these might get a shot off or two while I'm killing the Inferno Turrets, Charge Turrets, and Slug Throwers.  However, if I see an Auto Mortar right smack in the middle of other turrets, I might hit them first: their explosion might very well take out a bunch of other turrets in one shot.  Again: frag grenades work wonders at close range.



Layer 5: The Interference Device: the building that generates Smoke/Psychic Drones/Electromagnetic Interference.  These can't do direct damage to you.  I tend to target these last.  I believe that some of these buildings (if not all) can generate an EMP blast when destroyed, which can shut down surrounding turrets temporarily, but I can't confirm this right now, since I've never tried to use their destruction in that way.  Still...if you're feeling adventurous, by all means, feel free to experiment with it. 

One final tip: prepare your colonists' moods before assaulting.  Make your colonists' moods as high as you can get them - if you have fine or lavish meals and psychite tea, give it to them right before you start.  You don't want your colonists breaking in the middle of an assault, if it can be avoided.  This is true of any battle, of course.

Keep in mind that other tactics can be equally or more effective, if you have better weapons and technology:  using melee weapons, shield belts, EMP launchers and Mortars can accomplish much of this even more efficiently - I wrote this guide assuming that you have only the very bare bones weapons at your disposal.

I hope this helps.   Again: I believe that success comes from not trying to take the whole cluster in one shot, or even all in one game day.  Peel it back like an onion, one layer at a time, and I think you'll find that they are much more manageable.  If your colonists are starting to get stressed, break off the assault, and continue it after they're well rested and well-fed again.

[Alenerel]

i dont get why you put layers 3, 4 and 5... if you killed all the metch and all the turrets then there is nothing to defend, just rush the assemblers and deal with the rest when ppl is not bleeding

[steviebuk]

If they have unstable power in their base I target those as well. They create a massive explosion when they go pop.

[Teleblaster18]

i dont get why you put layers 3, 4 and 5... if you killed all the metch and all the turrets then there is nothing to defend, just rush the assemblers and deal with the rest when ppl is not bleeding

They were included to outline what type of threat they present to the player (if any), how the threat combination can be unraveled, and what order I prioritize the threats to keep the number of colonist casualties as low as possible.

By all means, if you have developed your own strategies, go with what works for you.  The outline is to show the OP who's having trouble dealing with clusters one possible way of approaching them...it's certainly not the only way.

[Teleblaster18]

If they have unstable power in their base I target those as well. They create a massive explosion when they go pop.

Yeah, they make a fantastic explosion - 11 tiles worth in any direction, IIRC.

I try not to kill them if I can avoid it, though - I'd rather have the 400 watts of power they produce to use for my colony than use them as an explosive, but it there's no other reasonable choice?  Yeah, I'll frag them too.

[Liwet]

If you have two colonists with smoke throwers, you can slowly "walk" colonists in range of the turrets that you're trying to destroy.

You can actually do this with just one smoke shooter and can fit in about 20 colonists into a smoke cloud.  Only issue with one smoke shooter is if he doesn't hit the target you aim for, you have to wait for him to fire again.

[Nainara]

Any mech structure, including turrets, can be destroyed by a hand grenade. Instead of bringing your whole squad to demolish a mech drop (after it's been stripped of its defenders), it's safer and faster just to bring a couple of smoke launchers and a grenadier.