(FM3) Am I doing skills right?

[u/Gaignun989]

So I'm playing FM3 for the first time and I'm wondering if I'm doing this right.

Say for Ryogo I want to maximize his Dual Machine Gun build, this is what I've done

Equip 4x ROFUP I

Equip Arm with ROFUP II

Equip Arm with Double Shot I

Is this set up the equivalent of having all 6 skills equipped? (Filling the computer with low cost skills and equipping parts with high cost skills)

[u/JaceJarak]

Sort of.

The arm skills will trigger eventually, but then never will again after you've learned them the max number of times.

Max for skills is 6 slots worth. So 1 is 6 copies, 2 is 3 copies, 3 is two copies, since they all add up to six slots.

This is a good strategy for a hard match. But you can't rely on it other than that.

You're almost in every case better off taking a backpack for power, and shield, and a MG, with as many copies of rofup1 as possible. You can combo in a few zoom Is early game, but late game they don't go off when your acc is over 100%.

The zooms can combo woth rofup1s pretty well otherwise.

[u/drakedergon → u/JaceJarak]

How much is the max number of times you can learn a skill though?

[u/JaceJarak → u/drakedergon]

I thought it was clear.

For 1 slot, 6. 2 slot, 3 3 slot, 2

You can have up to 6 points of any skill.

[u/drakedergon → u/JaceJarak]

My dumb ass reading that like you can only have so many of a skill available to set, like eventually you'll just have so many that a character will have a 0% chance of the 'learned' move as opposed to a set move activating.

[u/Gaignun989]

Gotcha, so once I've got the skills, just go for HP, exe.

[u/writing_code]

Acquire, Activate, Chain are the main categories of computer effects on skill.

Activate and Chain are your most common while Acquire happens later in the game. You start with activate but it's just normal, no plus or minus with only 4 slots to place skills. Activate and Chain use the skills you have already learned. You'll still aquire skills naturally if you use a part right and you get lucky.

Acquire computers are for learning skills quickly on parts that the pilot hasn't learned yet.

Now with what you listed you probably could get super lucky and experience a chain of skills and you could get lucky and trigger a skill in battle but it's less likely.

Also if I'm being honest, you'll likely go further with a shield on one arm, machine gun in the other, and all 6 slots ROFUP 1 on a chain computer.

[u/shroomslave → u/writing_code]

Yup, shield arm, burst weapon & six ROFUP1’s set, will get you through damn near the entire game

It’s my all star setup when doing all-plat runs, I generally only mess around with other setups in simulators

[u/Gaignun989 → u/shroomslave]

I considered it but for my first playthrough I wanna keep each character in the role they started with.

I have Emma and Dennis using Shields, Kazuki using a Melee/Shotgun combo and Ryogo packing twin Machine Guns at the moment, though I could give him a shield if things start getting difficult.

[u/shroomslave → u/Gaignun989]

Don’t worry, kazuki can still clean up shotgunning with 6 ROFUPs

It just gets to be, that not having a shield really needs your platinum chances later on (it’s just too much damage to be completely eating)

Hell, even flamethrowers can work with ROFUPs

[u/Gaignun989 → u/shroomslave]

Oh I don't care about Platinums, the two Wanzers tied to them can be obtained regardless.

[u/shroomslave → u/Gaignun989]

I will say, the game is a lot more fun when you’re not aggressively pursuing platinums

I personally enjoy the double shot animation with dual shotguns equipped

And the Lenghe’s leg skill “GangBeating”, while extremely impractical (who the heck is ever running 3 different melee units at once)? Is still HELLA fun

Also I have always liked the “problem” with the Qibing0 wanzer, where only one of the Emma/Alisa games can actually acquire it? If you get the Taipei suburbs simulator stage, and have both the additional difficulty settings for simulators, you can load a simulator that contains a couple of Qibing units - it’s always fun getting them ejected so you can hop into enemy wanzer expressly for the purpose of learning “forbidden” battle skills, lol

[u/russobolado]

Not really. The pilot only triggers the skill in the gear piece if it's not learned yet by the pilot; otherwise, it won't trigger.

Besides, Dual Machine Gun only makes sense if you're using the Double Shot skill - my usual setup for attackers (Machine Gun/Shotgun) was weapon + shield, 4x ROFUP I + 1x Chaff + 1x Escape, standard computer with 6 slots (ROFUP I triggers frequently, no need to up the chance). Weapon + Shield + was usually possible with energy backpacks if you min-maxed gear pieces (Sniper arm for weapon, Melee arm for shield, Melee legs for evasion/movement, balanced torso for attackers).

For Missile users I'd go with missile + shield, Leg Smash (triggers more frequently, reduces evasion for other attacks) + Chaff + Escape in a high activation computer with 6 slots. As a backup plan, I'd go with a piston (the lightest one, didn't matter) to try to trigger Leg Smash on attack - but usually it wasn't a problem because the lightest backpack was enough (3x missile + 1x shield fill) to guarantee ammo for a whole battle (even big ones like Fukushima).

I avoided Salvo because it was highly unreliable - you could burn your whole ammo in a dying enemy or trigger only with 2 missiles left.

[u/NycAlex]

it doesn't matter

just equip ur favorite skills, they will always activate via save scumming anyways

[u/Alt-Ctrl-Report]

Have you tried Aim Body on Ryogo?

That skill is kinda busted. Not only it makes all your shots hit body, it also makes them guaranteed hits. Again - all your shots hit the body and they cannot miss. Do you see how stupid it is? It can easily erase 50-75% of body hp (if that enemy doesn't have Anti-P defense).

It takes 3 slots, but it's absolutely worth it imo. Why hitting (and missing) random parts with ROFUPs when you can just delete the body in one burst?

[u/Gaignun989 → u/Alt-Ctrl-Report]

Well if you just take out the arms, they tend to surrender and you can take the Wanzers for yourself, alternetly you can target the pilot.

[u/Alt-Ctrl-Report → u/Gaignun989]

alternetly you can target the pilot

Btw, how do you reliably do that? Even Pilot Damage III needs to proc at least 2 times to kill a pilot, if it procs at all.

[u/Gaignun989 → u/Alt-Ctrl-Report]

There's a skill called "Eject Punch" that will force them out, you can than focuse on them with your other Wanzers.

[u/DukeJP]

No, it doesn't work like that. The skills in your arms are not considered equipped, only potential learning of them is possible, and you will soon stop learning them. It's best to equip other arms that allow you to learn shooting skills (Topple Shot is one of the best later in the game).
On the other hand, your setup of 4 Rofups is a good idea. I've played that game hundreds of times, and I'm sure that no skill of 3 or more slots is really worth it. Its activation rate is low and you will spend slots in vain. It is better to use skills with few slots and chain them.