MEC Trooper (LWR)

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In General

The (M)echanized (E)xoskeletal (C)ybersuit troopers remain fundamentally the same as in Long War. Although Long War introduced new MEC classes as well as soldier classes, Long War Rebalanced has cut down the former 8 MEC classes into 4, more generalized classes. This also increases flexibility in choosing which soldiers to augment, as each MEC class can be created from 2 different soldier classes.

As with vanilla, MEC Suits cannot take cover beyond breaking line of sight. Fortunately, they possess a limited amount of innate defense and have innate damage resistance, making them more difficult to take down. Some MEC classes can increase this damage reduction even further with perks.

MEC troopers cannot function without a MEC suit, meaning that any surplus MEC troopers will be useless unless given a MEC suit of their own, but also suffer from Fatigue and need to rest after each mission, more so than normal troopers. The suits can be cycled between operators and rearmed as long as you have enough operators for them. Barring injury or fatigue, it is possible to have a MEC on every mission. Like gear from your other soldiers, MEC gear can break if your MEC takes health damage, and there is a chance to recover the suit and equipment if the MEC trooper dies in combat.

Even though they are heavily mechanized, MEC troopers are still human beings and are affected by panic and psionic powers like Mind Fray.

For semantics, MECs are considered soldiers, as opposed to SHIVs which are not. Thus, abilities that cause an affect on soldiers will still affect MECs. However, MECs are not considered biosoldiers. MECs, SHIVs, and biosoldiers all fall under the broad category XCOM units or just units.

Augmentation

Like vanilla, MEC troopers are chosen from the soldier roster on the base. Only soldiers with a rank of Lance Corporal or above, that are not Officers, are eligible for MEC training.

Augmenting a soldier costs 90 meld and 70 credits and takes 20 + 20% of the soldier's fatigue and wound time in days. This means augmenting a soldier removes 80% of their fatigue or wound time and can be an effective way to get wounded soldiers back on the battlefield.

Augmented soldiers will have their mission count reset to 0, which reduces their fatigue accumulation after missions.

Augmented soldiers lose all XP and revert to SPEC rank upon being augmented. They also will lose all non-special quirks, genetic modifications, and psionic abilities.

MECs (augmented soldiers) cannot become officers, receive genetic modifications, or train in psionics.

In order to augment, you need to research Alien Biocybernetics (prerequisites Alien Materials and Sectoid Interrogation), then build a Repair Bay. Augmentation is available in the Engineering tab of the strat layer. Alien Biocybernetics also unlocks the MEC-1 Paladin.

Attributes

Their attributes reset to:

10 HP, 19.3 mobility, 65 aim, 30 will

For each rank above LCPL the MEC will gain average bonus attributes as follows:

0.44x mobility, 1.33x health, 2.66x aim, 5.33x will

For each base HP above 7 the MEC will gain average bonus attributes as follows:

0.22x mobility, 0.66x health, 1.33x aim, 2.66x will

The bonuses are variable and range from approximately 50% to 150% of the average. The actual formulas for calculating the bonuses is:

Choppoint = 2 * Ranks_Above_CPL + Base_HP_Above_8 NewChopPoint = ChopPoint / 2 + Rand(ChopPoint + 1) Mob += 0.66 * ((1 * NewChopPoint / 3) + (100 * 1 * NewChopPoint / 3 - 100 * (1 * NewChopPoint / 3)> Rand(100) ? 1 : 0)) NewChopPoint = ChopPoint / 2 + Rand(ChopPoint + 1) HP += (2 * NewChopPoint / 3) + (100 * 2 * NewChopPoint / 3 - 100 * (2 * NewChopPoint / 3)> Rand(100) ? 1 : 0) NewChopPoint = ChopPoint / 2 + Rand(ChopPoint + 1) Aim += (4 * NewChopPoint / 3) + (100 * 4 * NewChopPoint / 3 - 100 * (4 * NewChopPoint / 3)> Rand(100) ? 1 : 0) NewChopPoint = ChopPoint / 2 + Rand(ChopPoint + 1) Will += (8 * NewChopPoint / 3) + (100 * 8 * NewChopPoint / 3 - 100 * (8 * NewChopPoint / 3)> Rand(100) ? 1 : 0)

Success Rate

For each base HP above 2 the soldier will gain a 20% chance of augmentation success.

For every 10 days of fatigue or injury (modified by campaign length) the soldier will lose a 1% chance of augmentation success.

Failure to convert a soldier into the MEC will occur immediately (if they fail), will consume the 50% of the augmentation cost, and the soldier will be wounded equivalent to the time they would have spent being augmented.

MEC Armamentarium

Armor

MEC Exoskeletons (or Armors) provides multiple options per tier, splitting upgrades into Survivability and Mobility. The MEC-1 Paladin can be upgraded to either the heavy HMEC-2 Defender for a focus on more Survivability, or the light LMEC-2 Valiant, for a focus on more Mobility. Both of these armors have two different options for the final tier, as well.

MEC Armors have one primary weapon slot, one to three small equipment slots and one to three large equipment slots. The upgrades that go in these slots are researched and manufactured separately, and can be swapped out for each mission, giving them a high degree of tactical flexibility.

For more information see the specifications on MEC Armors.

Weapons

Primary Weapons include the same basic Minigun/etc. as the base game.

Secondary Weapons include Grenade Launchers, MINE Launchers, Kinetic Strike Modules, Electropulses, and Restorative Mists.

Equipment

Utility upgrades include MEC-specific upgrade modules, along with a handful of items shared with SHIVs.

General Usage

The first thing to note is the Skyranger can only carry a maximum of 2 MECs into an engagement.

MECs are Offensive Support troopers, delivering high firepower to the battlefield, as well as supporting perks such as One For All.

Due to the MEC's variety of weaponry, ranging from the powerful Kinetic Strike Module to the less damaging but equally useful Grenade Launcher, the offensive capabilities of the MEC are great and offer a lot of tactical variety. However they are less useful as frontline fighters than one might think, due to their rather low ammo capacity and inability to take cover. This means that they, more often than not, become relegated to an Offensive Support role akin to the Rocketeer, though with more armor and a cooler sounding voice.

With a high base HP and somewhat high damage reduction, MECs can take quite the beating, however they are not invincible. During the late game, they are quickly killed by precise and hard hitting plasma fire from the Muton Elites, Mechtoids or the ever annoying Sectopods. Their maximum health can be boosted by items and Foundry projects, increasing their durability significantly. Classes such as the Goliath also compliment the MEC's "Tank" role, by giving a higher base defense and also several abilities centering around damage and/or panic reduction.

MEC Classes

Some MEC class variants, such as the Shogun, allow for more tactical diversity, while others can give a different spin on a well-established class such as the Marauder compared to the Assault. Overall the MECs are designed to perform differently than the soldier classes they replace.

All MECs gain the perks:

One for All
Upon activation: gain 40% DR, immunity to critical hits, disable reactive fire, remove all base defense, incoming attacks will never graze, and act as full cover element. Creates a barrier that prevents enemy explosive shots that hit this unit from damaging nearby units. Lasts until unit moves or uses an arm-based weapon (includes overwatching, steadying, reloading). Does not trigger reaction fire.

Indomitable
If above half HP, fatal non-psionic non-melee damage reduces this unit to 1 HP instead.

Jaeger

	The Jaeger is created from the Sniper and Scout classes. Jaegers excel at delivering accurate and mobile fire at various ranges, and emptying multiple shots with Hunter.
	Hunter This unit cloaks at the beginning of each turn if it can see an enemy, has ammo, and is idle. Cloaking breaks after taking any non-movement action or at the end of turn. Shots from cloak deal +30% weapon damage and +30% crit. Grants Combined Arms.	Lock N' Load Reloading any weapon costs only 1 AP. Dashing automatically reloads the active weapon.

Marauder

	The Marauder is created from the Assault and Infantry classes. Marauders have a more offensive-mobility focus than other MECs. Marauders are extremely useful for securing time-sensitive, sparsely-covered objectives with their mix of firepower, mobility, and durability compared to regular soldiers.
	Onslaught The first use of the Kinetic Strike Module each turn will leave this unit with 1 AP but reduces mobility to 3.3 tiles during their next action. Grants Ram and +0.6 mobility.	Sprinter Grants +1.3 mobility and increases the movement bonus when dashing to +40% (from +20%).

Goliath

	The Goliath is created from the Gunner and Rocketeer classes. Goliaths have the most Defense-related perks, and thus excel in the tanking role. Goliaths can also utilize various offensive perks such as Double Tap and Grenadier.
	Absorption Fields Advanced shielding grants +30% DR. Shots from beam weapons (laser/pulse/drone/cyberdisc) lose half of their penetration when targeting this unit.	Kinetic Dampening Grants proximity-based DR from shots against this unit over 10 tiles away (+5% DR per tile further than 10). Grants 1 penetration resistance.

Shogun

	The Shogun is created from the Engineer and Medic classes. Shoguns are particularly flexbile due to their innate Collateral Damage and range of support perks, granting them the ability to assault, support, and tank.
	Collateral Damage Use a full ammo clip to destroy some cover and deal 15% weapon damage per ammo in a 5 tile radius. Costs 1 AP. 3 turn cooldown. Grants Lock N' Load.	Packmaster Equipped medikits, grenades, and mists receive an additional use. Grants +1 ammo to non-arc primary weapons. Grants +1 HP to healing from Restorative Mists.

See also

• Weapons
• Armor
• Equipment

Long War Rebalance: Soldiers
	Soldiers Assault Infantry Rocketeer Gunner Sniper Scout Medic Engineer
	MEC Troopers Marauder Goliath Jaeger Shogun
	Officers Psionics Gene Mods S.H.I.V.s