MechQuest

[RJDiogenes]

Where's the snowman-part shooter?

[Unicron]

Here's one of several testbeds I've been tinkering with the past day or so. Just cleared L44, so I'm almost up to the cap again. This design is named Osprey and uses a vampire chassis as the base. It was developed in part for use in the Assault Mecha (PvP) circuit.



The head can boost damage and accuracy, and gets a bonus against enemies belonging to the sinister EbilCorps. The arms are hybrid missile/cannon units and were developed by GEARS University for the houses as special equipment. They get a bonus against ShadowScythe units. The shoulders fire missiles that get progressively stronger, and the chassis default is the form of an energy bat that nerfs the target's accuracy and damage.

[RJDiogenes]

I don't think I've ever seen one float like that before.

[Unicron]

The ShS possess a number of units that utilize hover technology in place of legs. The main advantage seems to be that a hover unit could cross terrain such as water that a legged unit couldn't. It's one of the things the Soluna Defense Force has been trying to copy, with limited success, but a few other units like the vampiric chassis can hover as well. It does create some very odd perspectives for this particular chassis.

[Unicron]

It's time for the fourth annual GEARS Games at the university. Every year, the three houses face off in a grand tournament to test their overall capabilities. House Wolfblade has so far been able to hold the championship, but the competition is always fierce. It's currently in the lead with 109,152 individual victories. House Mystraven is second with 49,609 victories, and House Runehawk is closing in with 33,922. The special weapon shops should be open soon. I seem to recall that the hawks were in second place last year, though I could be wrong.

There are several different events available to pilots, although some of them require the use of a specially modified GEARS version of the house mechs. Customized units can only be used on certain other portions. I've mainly been participating in the one-on-one honor duels, and have done well so far. These require the GEARS units, and pilots may face additional restrictions during a given match (all buffs count as nerfs instead, or all critical damage is reflected etc).

[RJDiogenes]

I don't think House Wolfblade has much to worry about.

[Unicron]

We're maintaining a comfortable lead, but the other two houses are neck and neck. I've been spending a fair amount of time in the labyrinth portion, where there are no specific restrictions on mechs and equipment. I devised a new unit specifically for that environment - the Nazgul.



The labyrinth is divided into five sectors - blue, green, red, purple, and gold - and the object is to find the treasure stored in gold sector. There are other contestants wandering the maze which can be fought, and there are also repair stations scattered around, but there's no way to repair damaged components if you should fight an enemy that can damage specific parts of the mech. In that event, you will be down at least one component for the rest of the maze. Sometimes it's better to avoid fights when possible. Some of the sectors must be unlocked by hitting a number of switches within other sectors, and the treasure is protected by a house commander.

One of Wolfblade's specialties is tactical flexibility. We know how to put damage in the right spots, and the Nazgul is built to survive whatever gets thrown at it. It can deal an impressive amount of critical damage, and I've managed to solve the labyrinth even after losing several components (with a little luck, naturally ) The base is the headless horsemech from the Halloween planet, Mortis, and it's unusual in having two default weapons. The front arm is fixed since it holds the head, which it can throw, and the chassis buffs damage. The front shoulder is also a default, being able to deal very high damage. The rear shoulder mounts a twin heavy mortar, and the head (somewhat hard to see here) deals very similar clusters of damage. The rear arm is from the advanced DragonGuard mech, and has the ability to heal in addition to high damage. In single combat, the Nazgul is a very dangerous opponent even if it should lose a component or two.

[RJDiogenes]

"Headless Horsemech." That's pretty cool and scary looking. Nazgul is a nifty name, too.

[Unicron]

It seemed fitting, and I've been reading my copy of the Tolkien Bestiary lately. I've lost a few battles, but those were mainly not being able to fight on ideal terms (i.e. several opponents getting bunched together in the maze) or to a few very good opponents. The Nazgul were among the most powerful beings in the Third Age of Middle Earth, having both great offense and being very difficult to kill. The healing ability afforded by the Dragonguard arm has saved me in a few spots, and the large defense boost created by the head is great. The mech has good armor protection too, so it's a tough nut to crack. I often avoid fights in the labyrinth except when they're necessary, as it's possible to sidestep many competitors and thus keep as many healing stations open as possible.

[Unicron]

* shakes the dust off the thread *

I really need to get better at being less lazy. Laziness is a hard job. The 5th annual GEARS Games are coming up soon, and I've been field testing a new prototype. It'll be interesting to see what they do this year, and I hope perhaps they can tie it into storyline advances.

[RJDiogenes]

I love laziness.

Good luck, though.