MEC Trooper (Long War)

The (M)echanized (E)xoskeletal (C)ybersuit troopers from XCOM Enemy Within, has been greatly expanded upon in Long War. They also cost significantly more resources to aquire. More research is required before the MEC trooper can be created and due to the item rebalancing, they show up much later in the campaign compared to vanilla and require a significant investment of both time and resources. To counter this, Long War has made significant changes to the S.H.I.V., while the MEC has been overhauled dramatically, to make up for its steeper cost. Many S.H.I.V. upgrades can also be used on MEC, allowing for broader customization of Individual MECS.

Like the S.H.I.V, in Long War, MEC Suits cannot take cover, however they have damage reduction, making them more difficult to take down. Some MEC classes can increase this damage reduction even further, with MEC class specific perks.

Like vanilla, MEC troopers are chosen from the Soldier roster on the base. Only soldiers with a rank of Specialist or above are eligible for MEC training; the higher the rank, the more abilities the MEC will start with.

As Long War has introduced new soldier classes, it also introduced new MEC classes, offering a unique MEC class for each of the 8 classes featured in Long War. These changes allow the MEC to be customised in ways that can suit any playstyle and offer greater tactical freedom, when setting up squads for missions. Each MEC class "inherits" traits from the class that the soldier was prior to undergoing MEC training, this means that when creating a MEC it is wise to think what sort of role the MEC should fulfill.

MEC troopers cannot function without a MEC suit, meaning that any surplus of MEC troopers will be useless unless given a MEC suit of their own. Unlike S.H.I.V.s, MEC Troopers suffer from fatigue and need to rest after each mission, however, only the MEC trooper needs the rest, meaning that the suit can be given to another MEC operator effectively letting you have a MEC with you on every single mission. Losing a MEC Trooper will destroy their suit however.

Even though they are heavily mechanized, MEC troopers are still human beings and as such, they can be affected by things like Mindfray and Panic. This is something to keep in mind when choosing what soldiers should be converted into a MEC trooper, as it can have catastrophic consequences, if a MEC panics and runs into an exposed position.

MEC Suits

Like vanilla, there are three different versions of MECs to be created. While in vanilla MECs had a choice of upgrades at each suit level, Long War MECs have slots, that can either be Weapon or Utility. The upgrades that go in these slots are researched and manufactured separately, and be swapped out for each mission, giving them a higher degree of tactical flexibility, compared to their vanilla counterparts.

The MEC-1 Warden:
Equipped with one weapon slot and three utility slots. This variant sports one weapon slot but makes up for it with three item slots. It is also the first MEC suit that you can acquire, and has the lowest HP

The MEC-2 Sentinel:
Equipped with two weapon slots and two utility slots. This variant sacrifices one utility slot for an extra weapon slot, while also getting a maximum health boost.

The MEC-3 Paladin:
Equipped with three weapon slots and one utility slot. This variant sacrifices an additional utility slot for another weapon slot, as well as a higher maximum health.

Note: The Alloy Belt increases its HP bonus the higher the tier of the MEC, meaning that a Paladin suit will gain a much larger health boost as opposed to the Warden suit.

The different variants each require an ever increasing amount of resources to build, as well as a MEC of the previous version I.E: A MEC-3 Paladin would need a MEC-2 Sentinel chassis in order to be created, essentially converting the Sentinel into the Paladin.

General Usage

The usage of MECs can fall into two very broad categories, Offensive Support or Tanking.

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 is 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 reducton, MECs can take quite the beating, however they are not invincible. During the late game, especially in Long War, they are quickly killed by precise and hard hitting plasma fire from the Muton elites, Mechtoids or the ever annoying Sectopod. Their Maximum health can be boosted, by quite a bit, with the Alloy belt upgrade, increasing its 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

• The Jaeger is created from the Sniper Class
• The Pathfinder is created from the Scout Class
• The Valkyrie is created from the Infantry Class
• The Marauder is created from the Assault Class
• The Goliath is created from the Gunner Class
• The Archer is created from the Rocketeer Class
• The Guardian is created from the Medic Class
• The Saburai is created from the Engineer Class

Absorption Fields

The Absorption Fields MEC perk has changed and integrated in to the Damage Reduction system. Absorption fields now work on the following formula:

fReturnDamage = fReturnDamage * (0.6 + 0.4 * Min(1, 2/fReturnDamage))

Essentially, absorption fields absorb up to 40% of the damage of a strike, and the bigger the strike, the more damage it absorbs:

Damage	Damage Reduction %	Damage Reduction
1	0%	0
2	0%	0
3	13%	0.4
4	20%	0.8
5	24%	1.2
6	27%	1.6
7	29%	2
8	30%	2.4
9	31%	2.8
10	32%	3.2
11	33%	3.6
12	33%	4
13	34%	4.4
14	34%	4.8
15	35%	5.2
16	35%	5.6

Absorption fields are applied after Shock Absorbent Armor, but before the MEC's built-in damage reduction and Damage Control perk.