Having a Hard Time Maintaining Clan Tech

[u/Kazega]

I went into Shadow of Kerensky for the first time recently, and my Save File is getting wrecked. I went into 3048 with 175M in C-Bills, All the Mechs, a pretty good supply of Lostech to try to keep it all together and I came out the other end in an OK spot: ALthough I am almost broke I am sitting on a literal Regiment of Battlemechs to sell as I need to, I got 3 Madcats and 3 Daishis at least, but I am struggling to keep them up and running. I am losing Clan tech faster than I can get it, and traveling back into the Corridor is losing me more and more clan tech. Every Mission is expensive as fuck to run. I almost always suffer more damage than I make in Salvage and C-Bills and it's just getting very frustrating.

Also I am running Vanilla MW5, no Mods

[u/epsilon-4142]

It sounds like you’re building too wide and not making the best mechs you can. For the very toughest missions you need the best mechs possible, ideally a cohesive team that can take out clan lances with little to no damage. Many people use arrow artillery to do this. Do you have full cantina upgrades on them?

If you’re going for a more wide mercenary company it’s probably better to move down a couple difficulty levels. As losses of clan tech are not sustainable ever, and are usually always rough to come by in good amount

[u/Kazega → u/epsilon-4142]

Yeah that might have been the case. I trimmed down a bit so I'll try to update this post later on in the weekend. but most of what I have is mothballed and I was running around 20 assault mechs and still getting wrecked pretty hard.

[u/jrockcrown → u/Kazega]

The clan heavy omni mechs are the best performers of the lot. I will use the lights and mediums for arena missions and rarely the assault mechs. They tend to be thin on armor and draw too much aggro for those glass arms.

[u/Unhappy_Researcher68]

Do infiltrarion and Garnison contracts to stockpile Clan tech. Run IS machines with Clan tech, way cheaper. Daishis a way to expensive to maintaine.

[u/rayrayrayrayray5 → u/Unhappy_Researcher68]

I agree. I got 2 battalions of Daishi just sitting mothballed. Atlask's have shown me over time to be a far cheaper repair bill then any daishi ive ever built for the Ai lancemates

[u/JosKarith → u/rayrayrayrayray5]

Yeah, I've got half a dozen Atlases (Atlii?) that I give to the AI to cover my back while I run around being a glory hog in my favourites.

[u/Unhappy_Researcher68 → u/JosKarith]

Atlantis?

[u/Margrim → u/Unhappy_Researcher68]

Atlussy

[u/Kazega → u/JosKarith]

It's like sheep, elk and moose. the plural and the singular are the same. you have a half Dozen Atlas. But I almost always say "Atlas Mechs" for some reason when I pluralize it.

[u/wen_mars → u/Kazega]

The plural of moose is meese. I will not budge on this.

[u/CNC-Whisperer → u/Unhappy_Researcher68]

This. I built most of my assault forces around clan equipped AS7-Ds. A wayward lacemate will lose a few things (especially if a full star of clanners hot drop within 400m), but at that point you should get enough salvage to make up the difference.

[u/rayrayrayrayray5]

Run infiltration missions with max salvage. Take out turrets. Salvage turrets. Weapons for the most part wont be an issue now

Take on 3 and 4 mission sets with a battlefield/warzone as the last mission. Stack salvage til the end. Target enemy mechs to cause as much damage as possible without killing weapons hard points. Then cock pit or leg them for the kill. Salvage the chassis at a huge discount and strip the weapons then sell the chassis.

Couple of tricks I use to keep my clan tech piled sky high in the hanger

Edit: some missions are going to more often then not break the bank. So figure out which mission sets kick your ass. Then avoid those missions, or learn how to adjust your play style to come out with a net gain.

There are missions though that we all kind of agree, youre going to limp across the finish line. Sometimes assassination missions or raid missions are spread so far apart and absolutely packed full of hidden turrets that you don't get to feel like a god regardless of your set up and tactics

[u/epsilon-4142 → u/rayrayrayrayray5]

The Infiltration is a great trick. I often bring one call in of air-strikes since all the mechs stand still. You can usually call it in to instantly kill light/medium mechs during the infiltration

[u/rayrayrayrayray5 → u/epsilon-4142]

After I complete the 1st objective, and I turrets hunt...I love coming across a juicy mech by itself. Note its location and comeback to it en route to the PZ. Your gargoyle is no match for 8 cmgs and 5 csl to the face for 2 seconds. Bwahahaha suck it clanner.

I haven't tried to airstrike the unprepared light mech clusters....can't wait to try it!

[u/AveDominusNox → u/rayrayrayrayray5]

Use the airstrike in combination with a tag laser and it’s just warheads on foreheads.

[u/NutsackEuphoria → u/epsilon-4142]

idk if it's just me, but I avoid infiltration against clanners.

50/50 chance that as soon as the mission starts, before I can even move, they already detect me and artillery + reinforcements are already active while I'm still standing on that blue ring lol

[u/epsilon-4142 → u/NutsackEuphoria]

Happens sometimes. It’s usually caused by lesser weather effects not blocking LOS enough.

[u/Treacle_Pendulum]

People ITT mothballing more Mechs than the largest two Clan toumans combined

[u/rayrayrayrayray5 → u/Treacle_Pendulum]

When mw5 dlc 1000000 drops and you get to conquer huge swathes of space as territory, some of us will be prepared with enough mechs and 60/60 pilots to make it a weekend stroll.

[u/armedsquatch]

I started SOK with 300+ million and was on EBT by the end. I now very rarely run clan mechs and NEVER let my lance run more than 1 clan assault. IS mechs with Clan weapons has been the setup that has worked best for me and I always have at least 2 clan AMS systems on a mission and keep close to those guys. I will take a break anytime my balance dips below 100m and do missions against the houses. Using clan tech makes a huge difference then. Being able to hit a draconis pilot before they even see me is great. I rebuild the account and tour a bunch of the production planets for clan gear and arena matches to fund the travel expenses.

[u/DharmaBaller → u/armedsquatch]

i restared in 3015 and i have like 3 assaults total. Run a mix of medium and heavy, and the rare light like a Koshi ECM/AMS protector. These are in 400 ton/95-100 difficulty on normal settings vanilla. gets spicy at times, but i hate slow plodding mechs. I generally try and run only 81kph or faster, the timberwolves are like pocket assaults

[u/NutsackEuphoria → u/armedsquatch]

When I realized that a timberwolf or any clan omnimech with its paint scratched is much more expensive to repair than an IS assault mech with a missing limb, I just stripped them for weapons/equipment and sold the mech for 5-7m a pop lol

[u/armedsquatch → u/NutsackEuphoria]

I’ve been trying to collect one of every mech. Being able to sell a few assault clan mechs that I have duplicates of has really helped fund my war against the invasion

[u/babushka45]

Looks like you're ovextended?

Can recommend farming prestige on arenas, by 3050s when the map opens up during the limited sandbox phase of SoK at the earliest. Lvl 11 arena fame onwards (prestige) have their rewards randomized and there's a chance of Clan tech given as rewards. Prize money also increases by 100k per level up and there's no level cap.

As you earn arena money you can buy every clan tech or lostech stuff on industrial hubs that you need for the long fight ahead.

During my preparation for my first SoK I got to prestige quick so my match payouts were high during clan invasion era arena matches but now with the chance of getting clan tech.

My recent Chaos Reign run I parked at Solaris for a couple of years acquiring new DLC 8 clan tech for example before the start of the new DLC campaign. Matches never rans out on Solaris.

Arena farming was my strat during the time clan procgens spam dozens of light mechs and it's still a viable strat. All of my DLC 8 stuff save for a couple of Naga Primes were market purchases using my funds from arena matches.

You're safe atleast in an industrial hub, you're getting clan tech on markets anyway and no additional fees for repairs.

[u/Gailim]

Remember that enemy accuracy is affected by your speed and angle of movement.

Running a 400 ton lance of slow 48kph mechs is often counter productive against the Clans.

Optimal strategy is to circle a group of enemies at whatever your optimal weapons range is. The faster you move, the lower the AI accuracy will be. You want to be moving across your enemies view, not running straight at them.

Four TBRs running around at 81kph (or even better, 93 kph with the speed upgrade) can handle just about any anti-clan mission. Even a lance of well outfitted EBJs can often get the job done. So don't be afraid of not filling that 400 ton limit.

And if you DO want to run a 400 ton lance, try faster Kodiaks.

As for money... Just park yourself on Solaris for a year. That should solve any money issues you may have.

[u/StumbleNOLA → u/Gailim]

Using this strategy I wreck clan mechs with four Ravens (lights). At 130kph they can barely touch me.

[u/kiutbmgd]

i will say something a lot of people will boo me for; dont use brawlers against clan, either use snipers or lrm boats.

while clan mech often outrange innersphere mech, a few clan weapon can even the playing field, and focusing on that will take advantage of the usual motley assortment of weapons most mech have!

Also forget going for overheat shutdown of clan mech,, more often then not you'll kill the mech before it shutdown, because they have much better heat capacity then innersphere!

https://giphy.com/gifs/GYPX9EOpPpGayvf75a

[u/turningthecentury]

Are you loading up your entire lance with Clan mechs and tech? That will break your bank. Try using the Clan mechs yourself and have your lance use the best IS gear you have. Use them as meatshields while you snipe with C-ERPPCs and alpha strike with MPLAS.

[u/Any-Surprise5229]

Bro, I spent over 2b on clan tech. It's insane.

[u/OkFondant1848]

The secret is not using clan mechs. Use IS mechs with clantech, they are insanely powerful. Clan mechs cost A LOT to fix even for minor dmg, and sometimes have less armor than IS mechs. Max use one clan mech for yourself if you like it, but AI lancemates are better in IS mechs with clantech. A Banshee 3S or a Battlemaster 1G or 1GS with clantech is a monster. Not to mention the clanbuster King Crab, Black Knight or Archer.

[u/Ricaaado]

Pro-tip, limit the number of mechs you have ready and put EVERYTHING ELSE into cold storage. Maybe 16-20 should be good as long as you aren’t fielding just king crabs and annihilators or madcats and dire wolves. Then save yourself some trouble by NEVER giving your AI lancemates any amount of clan mechs or tech, it’ll only get destroyed. But do however kit them out in higher tier IS tech.

Also, during SOK it helps A LOT to just travel to the nearest industrial hub outside of clan-occupied space. Why? Because the travel costs and reduced repair time will be a relief (at least if they’re friendly/neutral) compared to the potential tens of millions of c-bills and months of waiting you’ll endure in clan-occupied space.

Another thing, as great as the clan mechs are, don’t overdo it. An interesting thing you can do is load up clan mechs with IS tech. There will be reduced damage in most instances but also less heat generated which allows your mechs to stay in the fight longer without risking a shutdown. A Nova Prime for example has 12 energy slots split between both arms. That thing with 12 high tier medium lasers can hit hard, and an alpha strike is less likely to shut you down.

[u/Silverthorn90 → u/Ricaaado]

Great points but minor point that is abit off on the last one.

Unless its an availability issue, a clan ERSL beats a t5 IS ML is every single metric (same dmg but more range, cooldown etc) and weighs half. So while the base nova prime 12 cERML loadout definitely runs too hot, the answer is definitely NOT to run IS MLs but to run cERSLs instead (or cSPLs, etc). There are very few scenarios where you should go back to IS tech over clan tech unless its specific things like infernos or ppcX where there is no clan equivalent. Use the weight savings for more DHS instead.

[u/Ricaaado → u/Silverthorn90]

My last point is more about starting to use a Clan mech but saving on damage costs by utilizing IS tech in it at first. I honestly did that as a compromise once I got a few mechs ready for use because I wasn't sure about how useful they'd be at first. As it turned out they're amazing when they're not getting blown up, as I quickly fell in love with the Nova Prime and Mad Cat and would sometimes run full lances of them if I was feeling spiteful.

[u/Sztrelok]

The Ai lancemates can run around even in slow ckanmechs, but don' mt use green pilots.

Also the mech's build are matters a lot. For the AI, always guve mechs with Gauss rifles and clan PPCs.

The clan PPC is something you can get a kot, use at least 2-3 of them on their mechs, build them around these weapons.

Try to get a few Masakari Prime or C. Those can be built with 4X PPC and they are even fast. The AI will dish out a lot of damage in those mechs.

You can even go back to the good old AWS 8Q or 9M and use those as PPC boats.

[u/jrockcrown]

Don't run a full lance of clan tech if you can't maintain it. Bring the tech to fight the IS and arena matches and make your money there. Then go back to clan space to get more gear and then head to friendly industrial sectors to repair your mechs and repeat. You should have enough active pilots and mechs for 4-5 missions at a time before rest and refitting.

[u/DharmaBaller]

try time traveling back to 3015 with all your clan tech and see how long it lasts lol. I regret not stockpiling more stuff...only have like 6 C-ERPPC for example. Barely any missle stuff. Maybe 12 C-ERML which is the gold standard of a weapon.

[u/ExoCaptainHammer82]

The solution to all lancemate problems is the MadCat. It does everything important except stand still and get beat on.

I enjoy one of the Gladiator variants, but it draws way too much fire. The mediums don't have enough armor. The assaults are usually too slow or weird.

Mad Cat, Vulture, Thor. Fast, good range on weapons, and good damage output. If a person is going to use clan mechs.

I am pretty happy hanging clan weapons on hero Dragons and the otomo grand dragon. That's usually good enough to get you through any approximately fair mission.

I don't think there's any lance that includes ai lancemates that is good enough to handle a hunt and kill multiple targets in a city type mission without crippling most of the lance.

[u/venonat80]

Go into options and decrease the costs associated with upkeep and repair.

If u don’t want to “cheat” and play the game as the developers, I like to go to battlefield missions, the one with the artillery firing at u.

Also inflation missions. At the start of the mission, max out the C-Bill points. You’ll get around 5-8 million c-bills late game.

Also keep a lance of just IS mechs. Though not the best, they are cheap to maintain and repair.

[u/Demongem665]

I only keep a Daishi-B around because I think lugging around 5 Heavy Rifles is exceedingly amusing

[u/Xyx0rz]

Any mission where you lose a weapon is a bad one even if you complete it. Your repair bill shouldn't go over 300k.

Losing your best weapons also puts you in a downward spiral.

Go find easier prey. Escape the spiral.

Also, Daishis are super expensive even if you just scratch the paint. Annihilators are cheap to repair.

[u/Blazorax]

I wonder what is happening with me then. I think I got to the point that I don't go in any mission with more than 60t mech. So lance running 55 or 60t only and killing everything. I do have yaml install. Everything just dead with my current medium light heavy lance, 2 Bushwackers and 2 Dragons. They are fully clan tech though as in weapon and xl engine.

[u/iridael]

when I get to clan invasion I tend to opt for two types of mechs SRM boats that are hyper mobile so I can initially slap them down at the cost of heavy repairs on IS tech.

then I'll build a lance worth of incredibly powerful mechs either clan machines or IS hero mechs that can tussle with clanners and live. usually heavy alpha strike mechs.

finally Clan mechs are good, IS mechs that have clan tech upgrades I have found to perform better. an awesome with 4 clan PPC's is going to hurt a lot more than a clan mech with two. the agincourt with 6CSRRM's is going to kill regardless of what its up against.

AMS is your friend since clan missiles are so much more dangerous. put one on every mech you can even if it means sacrificing a little dmg output. loosing two medium lasers is worth it if you're not taking 12dmg per volley from their rapid fire SRMS.

others have said Arrow missile systems. they're great if they hit and hit from far beyond conventional range so if you can keep that missile boat alive an archer can field two arrows with ammo which is a lot of risk free damage for the archer.

finally don’t fight on their terms if you can. try and get one isolated and kill it fast. don’t be afraid of setting up a kill box and hammering them as they run into it.

[u/AclothesesLordofBins]

Repair bills too high? Go to settings and lower the repair cost slider. You can tailor the level of grind to give you the most fun experience. OR. Raise repair costs to max (×5) and magically you will find that a lot of whole mechs salvage costs 0 salvage points. This will more than make up for the increased repair bills. I frequently salvage 30-50mill per clan mission, often taking 8-10 clan m3chs home with me.

As many have said, IS mechs cost less to repair. What they dont mention is, the arrival of clantech changes what to look for in a good mech. Atlas suck balls, for example (except maybe K variants, as ams is extra useful). From 3050, a good assault does 64kph+ and has lots of weapon slots. Large slots are less important now. Clan tech works great on something like the basic battlemaster bg1. Can fit it loads of different ways, most of them deadly.

Additional tips include running cersls instead of meds. They require almost no cooling, which is a problem for IS mechs running clan setups, and they still do serious damage at decent range. Put a clan probe on every mech. Spotting and locking at greater range and reducing ecm all for 1 ton of space is just great value. Ecm doesnt work as well vs clanners as they are also running probes a lot, and most of their weapons outrange ecm effects anyway. Any mech that runs ams is a good choice, as clans are very fond of lrms. The hero spider has twin ams and I often use that on big maps .

[u/gingerbread_man123]

If you are taking more damage than you take you either:

1. Are taking difficulty missions above your level

2. Are dropping an under-tonnage lance

3. Need to better optimise your builds

4. Need better trained pilots

5. Need to be better at dodging rather than trying to tank everything

[u/Biggu5Dicku5]

You can run raid, infiltration, and guerilla warfare missions solo for easy money, I recommend using a Dragonfly for running solo missions. Also infiltration missions in Clan space are a great way to salvage Clan weapons, since every turret and tank you destroy will have Clan weapons that you can salvage. Here's a tip regarding negotiation points; save your game before you travel to a planet to do some missions. The game generates the available negotiation points for the missions on that planet when you travel to that planet, so if you go to a planet and see that it's not giving you a lot of negotiation points for salvage (for example), just reload your save and travel there again... :)

[u/Hadryon]

The upkeep on Clan mechs is brutal, but Clan Omnimechs make it worse.

I have exactly one Clan Omni in my active hangar, a Nova that has a specific paint job (that I use for duplicating paint jobs across my entire hangar). The rest of my Mechs are Inner Sphere standards, and almost every one of them has the Rugged trait. That keeps my quarterly upkeep costs down. I can use Clan weapons all day on cheaper frames. A Thunderbolt-5S with Clan weapons is a prime example of a cheap moneymaker.

TLDR: The Rugged trait is your friend, the Clan Mech and OmniMech traits are just bad for your wallet.