MEC Trooper (Long War)

The (M)echanized (E)xoskeletal (C)ybersuit troopers from XCOM Enemy Within have been greatly expanded upon in Long War. They also cost significantly more time and resources to acquire. 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. To counter this, Long War has made significant changes to the SHIV to make up for the steeper cost and time requirements of MECs. Many SHIV upgrades can also be used on MEC units, allowing for broader customization of individual MECS.

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

One fundamental (and massive) change to the MEC classes is that 'One For All' is now the 'base ability' for all MEC classes, allowing any and all MECs to function as mobile cover. Now each subclass also has a basic Specialist-rank perk (such as Light 'Em Up for Valkyries) that helps define their role along with their unique perk tree and stat progression.

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 just like normal troopers. Since the suits themselves do not, the suits can be cycled between operators and rearmed; as long as you have enough operators (barring injury) it would be possible to have a MEC on every mission. It should be noted, though, that suits are no longer recoverable; losing a MEC Trooper in battle means the suit is destroyed as well.

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

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 with a fairly limited progression system, Long War MECs have one primary weapon slot and a mix of upgrade slots that come in two varieties - Secondary Weapon and Utility. The upgrades that go in these slots are researched and manufactured separately, and can be swapped out for each mission, giving them a higher degree of tactical flexibility compared to their vanilla counterparts. Note that this includes the devices that were exclusive to one another in vanilla: for example, you can equip both the Flamethrower and the Kinetic Punch at the same time. No "Flaming Rocket Punch", though.

As a result, the earlier MEC units are no longer completely obsoleted by the later models. Whilst having more secondary weapons can be a huge benefit to a team (given the indirect fire support potential of a Grenade Launcher, for instance) the operator also loses out on very useful utility and upgrade items such as ammo capacity (Autoloader), health (Alloy Belt) and accuracy (Weapon Gyros). Commanders may want to think twice before upgrading all of their suits to the Mark 3 Paladin model.

Primary Weapons include the same basic Minigun/etc. as the base game, with added MEC weapons for the new weapon tiers.

Secondary Weapons include previously tier-specific upgrades such as the Grenade Launcher, Flamethrower, and Kinetic Strike Module. One notable change to Secondary Weapons is that not only can previously mutually-exclusive weapons be fitted (e.g. Flamer+Kinetic Strike) but in some cases, multiples of the same Secondary Weapon can be installed. This acts much like giving a soldier two grenades in both slots, and can allow MECs with Packmaster (such as the Shogun) to have extremely large special munition reserves - ideal for extremely long missions.

Upgrades include MEC-specific upgrade modules, along with a handful of items shared with SHIVs such as the basic Autoloader.

The MEC-1 Warden:
Health: +10 / Defense: +20 / Will: +10
Equipped one secondary weapon slot and two utility slots. The Mark I Warden is the first MEC suit you can acquire, and also the least durable, but its utility slots give operators a good 'early edge' when Commanders don't need (or don't have the resources to produce) lots of secondary weapons.

The MEC-2 Sentinel:
Health: +14 / Defense: +20 / Will: +15
Equipped with two secondary weapon slots and two utility slots. The Mark II Sentinel chassis is tougher and effectively a straight upgrade over the Mark I Warden. It also provides its wearer with a slightly higher Will boost than the Mark I.

The MEC-3 Paladin:
Health: +18 / Defense: +20 / Will: +20
Equipped with three secondary weapon slots and one utility slot, the Mark III Paladin sacrifices upgrades and secondary-utility equipment for the ability to bring a massive array of support weaponry. It also has the highest health of all MEC units and provides a little more Will than the prior models. It also grants the user the Tactical Senses perk, further increasing defense.

Note: The Alloy Belt's HP bonus scales to the tier of the MEC instead of granting a flat HP boost, meaning that a Paladin suit will gain a much larger health increase compared 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; a MEC-3 Paladin will need a MEC-2 Sentinel chassis in order to be created, essentially converting the Sentinel into the Paladin. Fortunately, this is somewhat less Meld-intensive than vanilla MEC upgrading.

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 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 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.

The firepower MEC units bring to the table is also extremely helpful in EXALT missions, as a Shogun can make use of grenades to deny cover and proximity mines to 'trap' groups (if any one member moves, then they all take damage!) whilst a high-ranking Pathfinder can rack up a sizeable bodycount using In The Zone.

MEC Classes

A good rule of thumb, when choosing which soldiers to convert into MEC Troopers, is that the MEC class variant will, In most cases, behave like the class which the Soldier was beforehand. This means, that the Soldier can retain the same role as before, but with the advantages (and disadvantages) of being a MEC. Some MEC class variants, such as the Goliath, open up for more tactical diversity of a given class, or can give a different spin on a well-established class such as the Archer compared to the Rocketeer. Think about the MEC classes as advanced versions of the Soldier classes. This makes it somewhat easier to figure out, what sort of MEC you would want for your specific team.

• The Jaeger is created from the Sniper Class.

Jaegers receive Vital Point Targeting at first rank, and excel at singling out and destroying individual opponents regardless of their cover, especially if their target is already badly wounded. They are the only MEC class that can receive Squadsight, increasing their effective range by 20%. Whilst not as far-reaching as their base class, Jaegers can stand further back and shoot from a safer distance than most MECs.

• The Pathfinder is created from the Scout Class.

Pathfinders are fast-moving units that can flank around and mop up groups of weaker enemies. They have the potential to be the fastest-moving class of all, with the correct perk choices. With the ability to receive In The Zone at the maximum rank, Pathfinders work extremely well in conjunction with a cover-destroying, enemy-weakening Shogun.

• The Valkyrie is created from the Infantry Class.

The Valkyrie focuses on making maximum use of the MEC's main/primary weapon. By taking Shredder Ammo, Valkyries can set up tougher enemies for focus-fire kills, or even gun down certain opponents all by themselves - potentially putting three shots on a target in the span of one turn by using Rapid Fire in conjunction with Light 'Em Up.

• The Marauder is created from the Assault Class.

Marauders have a more offensive-mobility focus than the Valkyrie, unsurprisingly; and they are the only MEC class that can receive Run 'n' Gun. They are second only to the Pathfinder in terms of mobility, if the correct skills are taken. Marauders are extremely useful for securing time-sensitive, sparsely-covered objectives with their mix of firepower, mobility, and durability compared to regular soldiers.

• The Goliath is created from the Gunner Class.

Whilst Goliaths are by far the slowest (no perks grant Mobility increases, and their first perk actually reduces Mobility by 1) they also have the most Defense-related perks, and thus excel in the Tanking role mentioned above. Goliaths can also utilize HEAT Ammo, increasing their main-gun firepower against mechanical enemies.

• The Archer is created from the Rocketeer Class.

Whilst slow, Archers are capable of raining down explosive, anti-mech firepower from afar using the Grenade Launcher. Whilst they aren't as effective at destroying cover as the Shogun, they have greater range with their launchers and inflict roughly the same amount of damage. With Packmaster, an Archer can bring a lot of powerful munitions to the fight.

• The Guardian is created from the Medic Class.

The highly-mobile Guardian's upgrades can make the Restorative Mist unit into a very effective area heal system that can be used several times in a mission, whilst having Packmaster as a basic ability also allows for fairly extensive use of explosive support equipment such as the Grenade Launcher or Proximity Mine Launcher, or close suppression weapons like the Flamethrower.

• The Shogun is created from the Engineer Class.

The Shogun excels at battlefield control by deploying mines and using the Sapper and Collateral Damage skills to destroy enemy cover. They can also excel in an anti-armour role, as they can receive both HEAT Ammo and HEAT Warheads, making all of their weapons especially effective against mechanical opponents.

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.