MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries – Main Campaign Progression Guide

Provides players with an in-depth guide on game progression while keeping up with time sensitive campaigns.

Players can expect to build up their lances from the ground up and progress & complete the game with relative ease.

Introduction & DLC Requirements

All credit goes to ZoomBeast !

Greetings Mechwarrior, this guide will provide you with the knowledge required to progress the game rapidly with the goal of competing the main campaign and major DLC content.

For this guide, you need the following DLCs. If you are playing Co-op, only the host requires these DLCs.

Required DLC:

• Heros of the Inner Sphere
• Legend of the Kestrel Lancers

Recommended DLC:

• Rise of Rasalhague – Adds Crusader mechs, Rasalhague campaign & Bounty Hunter
• Dragon’s Gambit – Adds Kurita campaign & interesting loot/rewards

Non-essential/Optional:

• Call to Arms

The following content will be SKIPPED.

• Those in Need – (Rewards are too insignificant)
• Dire Circumstances (Too far out, rewards are too insignificant)
• Tributes for the Imperator (Too far out, rewards are too insignificant)

Optional (For Best Solo Start & Coop / Multiplayer)

If you plan to have the most perfect start or are playing with friends, I recommend installing YAML mod after completing the starting missions to get Goblin & his hero phoenix hawk, Kobold. You can uninstall YAML after getting Kobold if you want to have an unmodded experience.

For Coop/Multiplayer:

This provides your team with more mechs to work with so that you dont have to fight over the free Razer branded wolverine you get from Valentine system.

For Best Solo Start:

This provides you with more mechs and AI pilots to work with & makes the early grind alot easier.

Overall Progression

This is only a general recommendation for starting a new campaign mission. Expect spoilers if you continue reading. Updated for Dragon’s Gambit.

1) Get 30 Million Cbills & free Wolverine @ Valentine system

2) Buy any two heavy mechs from this list. Sell mechs as needed but try to keep a light mech for infiltration missions.

• Archer 2S
• Crusader 2R

3) Play the following missions to salvage these mechs:

• No Pilot Left Behind Mission 1: Battlemaster 1G
• Errant Signal Final Mission: Stalker 3F (outfit it with med lasers & srm6)

4) Complete Hazing of the Weak, get the following mechs:

• Black Knight 6
• Highlander 732B (put 1 Jump Jet on this for Tikonov Final Mission)
• Stalker 3Fb(2 large sb, med lasers, 2 LRM10)
• Orion-YAJ (2 large sb lasers & 3 SRM6)

5) Head over to Marik/Steiner territory, get the following mechs:

• two Battlemaster 1G (Fast moving assault mech for AI to use)
• Stalker 3F (Outfitted med lasers & srm6, fills downtime of the first stalker 3F)
• Atlas RS (Outfitted with UAC, Large sb lasers & srm)
• Kane’s King Crab (2x gauss & srm6 or 2x ac20 + tag & LRM)

6) Complete Main Campaign (Completed around 3020-3023)

• Get Banshee 3S or Black Knight Partisan (Crucible mission)

7) Get the following mechs:

• Cataphract 0X & Raven 1X (Eyes On Democracy Final Mission)
• Archer Agincourt & 2 Charger 1A5 (Bow & Arrow missions)
• Corsair (X Marks The Spot)
• If you took Partisan in step 6, buy a second Atlas RS

8) Complete Kestrel Lancer Campaign

• Highlander 732B (put 1 Jump Jet on this for Tikonov Final Mission. You can toss this mech in cold storage after completing Kestral campaign)
• Place Cataphract 0X at 4th position to minimise damage, provide ecm support & counter enemy ecm)

9) Run Cantina Missions & bounty hunter rep

10) Complete Rise of Rasalhague & get the following mechs:

• Banshee 3S (Gunsberg Mission 3, filled w T5 weapons)

11) Complete Operation Onoda & continue to grind cantina/bounty hunter

• Optional: Replace Orion YAJ with Orion M

12) Complete Dragon’s Gambit

13) Whatever missions you wanna do next.

Notes: All Charger 1A5, ECM Ravens/Cataphracts in Kestral campaign cannot be salvaged. If you need a fast moving mini atlas, get the 1A5 or other mech before the campaign starts.

Double Heatsink Farming

Hero light mechs such as Commando TDK & Urbanmech K9 are cheap and carry multiple heatsinks.
You can use these hero mechs to collect double heatsinks before the technology is widespread/available.

1) Check the number of heatsinks in the hero light mech

2) Purchase the hero light mech

3) Place the hero light mech in cold storage

• This will remove all DHS from the mech

4) Sell away the hero light mech

• The hero mech will eventually respawn again in the future with DHS

5) Continue playing the game as per normal & enjoy your new DHS

Weapon Grouping & Compatibility

The following is a simple guide on which weapons to fire on the same firing group. You will still need to decide how to group your weapons for your playstyle.

Energy Weapons:

Tag: Pairs well with AC5BF, UAC5, medium/large lasers & SB variants

Flamers: Generally, avoid using these. AI may use only flamers if enemies get too close & ignore all other equipped weapons. alternatively, Get a mech with many flamers and overheat enemy AI to death. Pretty boring imo but dont let me stop you.

Small: Skip unless you’re on a light mech. Range is too short & AI does not work well with small lasers. AI may use only small lasers if enemies get too close & ignore all other equipped weapons.

Medium & Medium SB: Pairs well with AC5BF, UAC5 & SSRM

Large: Pairs well with AC5BF & UAC5. I personally prefer large SB due to shorter burn times.

Large SB: Pairs well with ACBF, UAC5 & Gauss

PPC: Pairs well with PPC due to zero projectile drop.

ER-PPC: Pairs with ER-PPC due to zero projectile drop.

Ballistic Weapons:

Machine Guns: Generally, avoid using these. AI may use only machine guns if enemies get too close & ignore all other equipped weapons.

Light Rifle: Pairs well with AC20 & SRMs due to similar range and projectile speeds.

Medium Rifles: Skip these. They dont do enough damage and are too heavy.

Heavy Rifles: Heavy rifles pair best with MORE HEAVY RIFLES. Upgrade your mechs with projectile & ballistic speed and you’ll have a gauss rifle for half the tonnage. If you fancy a challenge, try to headshot targets outside of your effective range.

Gauss: Pairs best with Gauss & Large SB Lasers due to minimal projectile drop and similar ranges.

Missiles:

SSRM: Pairs best with tag & med lasers

SRM: Pairs best with AC20 & light rifles

SRM-ST: Avoid using these. The damage spread and odd tracking makes it difficult to concentrate damage.

LRM & LRM-ST: Pairs best with tag