Mechanoid cluster - How to beat them here?

[Kaiser09]

Hi guys, I need your help as I found my colony in trouble.

I have got a mechanoid cluster, north of my base, a part some scyte, centipedes and so on, there is a mortar cannon and a mech low shield which is my main concern.

My tech is not advanced, I have got some hunting rifles, machine guns, pistols, my pawns do not have any armor nor mortars yet.

How would you deal with them in this situation?

I am afraid if I get close to the mech, I would be slaughtered, I cannot fire them due to the low shield and I do not have mortars to use, meanwhile they are bombarding me.
I have a lot of traps in a narrow canyon east of my base (you can see the wild animal on the mini map), but they seem smart enough not to follow me.
I could risk researching mortars, but it will require times and there would be the projectile problem, meanwhile they fire me with their mortar.

Any advice?

[Alenerel]

I dont think there is much you can do directly... But you can try to call military aid if you can, or try the manhunter item if you have it. You can also try to wait it until a raid or caravan takes care of it, the mortar can be very annoying but it also misses quite a lot.

The middle unstable power cell would probably wipe the cluster if you got it

[Canute]

He can't wait that much, the mortar will prolly fire soon and made much trouble.
But Alenerel prolly found a good solution.
You maybe should dig a tunnel that allow you to flank the cluster from the east.
Then you can move into the low shield and shoot the unstable power cell.
If you got EMP grenade (launcher) you can try to fight them. Smoke can help against the turret too. Nothing worse when a burning pawn run at panic out of the cover.

[Kaiser09]

So the options are:
1) Praying for a carovan to come (from the north at least)
2) Use the manhunter item (you mean the one to make the animals crazy?)
3) Maybe try a suicide attack, I could distract them on the west, while another pawn attach from the east?

I do not have the military aid yet.

[Kaiser09]

He can't wait that much, the mortar will prolly fire soon and made much trouble.
But Alenerel prolly found a good solution.
You maybe should dig a tunnel that allow you to flank the cluster from the east.
Then you can move into the low shield and shoot the unstable power cell.
If you got EMP grenade (launcher) you can try to fight them. Smoke can help against the turret too. Nothing worse when a burning pawn run at panic out of the cover.

Part of my colony is built under the mountain, the enemy mortar should not have effect there, right?

I think I will go for the secret tunnel soemthing, once all the pawn recover, then I will try to distract them while another will try to aim at the unstable power cell from the tunnel.
... and no, I haven't got a emp launcher.

[Canute]

Yes thick roof would protect you from mortar attacks. Use the roof overlay to identify the thick roof.

Btw. Psychic insanity lance can afffect mechanoids too. If you turn one of the centipede into berserk, he can damage some of the other mechanoids.

You should target the far south power cell at first, maybe the explosion is big enough to ignite some other things and maybe the power cells above.

[Alenerel]

If you dont have military aid yet, you could see if you are close enough to get it. See if you can send a transport pod or a caravan to gift items enough to become ally.

Although I have to say, when they decide to help you in their own they send a massive force that can wipe out almost anything, but when requesting it they send some shitty force.

[kclace]

Do you need to take the cluster out? If they are not a threat, just leave it alone. Eventually a raid or caravan will come along and attack the cluster for you.

[ShadowTani]

Mortar tech is relatively fast to research though, put two or more pawns at high research priority (you can have multiple research tables) and just get it done.

[Kaiser09]

In the end, I went for an ambush through the mountains in the east, I could not wait a carovan due to their mortar was doing pretty damage to my base, nor I could use mortars, since the production of guns requires fuel which I didn't have either. It would have been a too long process.

In wasn't easy, I managed to destroy the cluster and most of the robots with a grenade to the power cell that blasted all of them but the two centipedes. The guy who carried the ambush die in action soon after.
Other two guys who were acting as distraction, were severely injured and returned to the base quickly bending their wounds.

Once the cluster was destroyed, the two centipedes moved slowly but inexorably toward my base, I found the insanity lance very useful in this case, I used both shots to take down both of them (they don't go berserk, just lay down unconscious for about 1 minute), then I shot them everything I had, eventually 1 managed to recover before I could finish it and killed other 2 guys who were already seriously injured before.
Eventually, last centipede was killed before I could lose the game.

Now, the 3 dead guys were my best in terms of skills and everything, I put them in a permanent refrigerate room.
Is there a way to buy some mech resuscitate serum from the empire, or it comes by quest only?

[Canute]

Is there a way to buy some mech resuscitate serum from the empire, or it comes by quest only?

Item stash, quests rewards maybe (orbital) excotic trader.
But you prepare some decent prison rooms you can recruit some new one's rather then to wait years until you can "res" them.

I managed to destroy the cluster and most of the robots with a grenade to the power cell

Basicly bad choise, why you didn't shoot the power cell from distance with some rifle ?
Ok with just 1 grenade you might not instant kill the cell, but you still needed to go close. And i don't think you got an invisible psycast.
The grenade works great againt the centipedes, better then pistol or SMG.

But you made it, and now you need to be prepared for the next one.
Be sure you try to get some smoke (turrets don't shoot targets inside smoke or when they are in smoke).
EMP can be useful too, but more then 1-2 times you can't stun them before they are immun against EMP.

[Kaiser09]

Is there a way to buy some mech resuscitate serum from the empire, or it comes by quest only?

Item stash, quests rewards maybe (orbital) excotic trader.
But you prepare some decent prison rooms you can recruit some new one's rather then to wait years until you can "res" them.

I managed to destroy the cluster and most of the robots with a grenade to the power cell

Basicly bad choise, why you didn't shoot the power cell from distance with some rifle ?
Ok with just 1 grenade you might not instant kill the cell, but you still needed to go close. And i don't think you got an invisible psycast.
The grenade works great againt the centipedes, better then pistol or SMG.

But you made it, and now you need to be prepared for the next one.
Be sure you try to get some smoke (turrets don't shoot targets inside smoke or when they are in smoke).
EMP can be useful too, but more then 1-2 times you can't stun them before they are immun against EMP.

I couldn't destroy the cell directly with a rifle because the mech shield.
I had to get within the range of the shield before I could fire, but that was impossible as I would be killed by a rain fire before I could even aim at the cell.
Instead, I digged a tunnel from that mountain leaving last block intact so that I wouldn't be spotted.
Then I attracted the fire from mechs and turrets with other pawns on the side opposite to the tunnel, while the guy with the grenade digged last block and throw the grenade to the cell (I was within the shield's range at this point). 

[Barley]

There's only one real solution here: Leave.

If you can't win, just pick up everything you can and caravan off the map. Just go somewhere else, set up a temporary base, and keep researching new and better tech to take on the Mechs. Once you have mortars you could try again, or if you got Imperial Favor maybe an aerodrone strike permit or even a couple psychic Lances or Berzerker pulses. It's difficult, and it sucks, but maybe you could even come back and grab some more stuff from your old base once you've settled in.Just make sure your allowed areas have a path off the map but not in the direction of the mechs.

As a Tribal Player this basically happens every time I get hit with a toxic spewer mech hive event. Certainly it's taught  me the value of expensive flooring coupled with cheap wood furniture as it allows me to 'loose' the base and it's contents and still have fairly decent rooms once I reclaim the wreckage.

[Kaiser09]

There's only one real solution here: Leave.

If you can't win, just pick up everything you can and caravan off the map. Just go somewhere else, set up a temporary base, and keep researching new and better tech to take on the Mechs. Once you have mortars you could try again, or if you got Imperial Favor maybe an aerodrone strike permit or even a couple psychic Lances or Berzerker pulses. It's difficult, and it sucks, but maybe you could even come back and grab some more stuff from your old base once you've settled in.Just make sure your allowed areas have a path off the map but not in the direction of the mechs.

As a Tribal Player this basically happens every time I get hit with a toxic spewer mech hive event. Certainly it's taught  me the value of expensive flooring coupled with cheap wood furniture as it allows me to 'loose' the base and it's contents and still have fairly decent rooms once I reclaim the wreckage.

Onestly I didn't think about leaving and set up somewhere else, yes It was an option.

I am happy as It went however the lost of 3 of my initial pawns (the others lost arms and legs), I LOVE this game because this, the unpredictability of the events and the multiple choices and possibilities.

I wasn't expecting Cassandra sending a mech cluster much stronger than my actual tech level and weapons available in that moment, a little bit unfair maybe, but challenging.

[Canute]

Was that cassandra or did you accept a quest ?
Normaly Cassandra wouldn't drop a cluster that early.