After releasing MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries in 2019, Piranha Bytes has returned with a brand new experience. Despite its name, MechWarrior 5: Clans is a brand new chapter in the series, following a new cast of characters and providing a more narrative-focused campaign. Of course, it still features the extensive customization and knock-down, drag-out BattleMech combat and destruction that defines the franchise.
MechWarrior 5: Clans launches on October 17th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out 15 things you should know before enlisting based on hands-on time with a preview build.
Campaign
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries has a story, though it’s not quite the deepest, with players accepting contracts for different factions. MechWarrior 5: Clans is different, as players take control of a new squad of pilots (known as a Star) from Clan Smoke Jaguar. After training, they’re thrust into the Clan Invasion of the Inner Sphere. It’s much more character-driven, with over 90 minutes of cinematics as Smoke Jaguar undergoes various conflicts across multiple planets, attempting to survive.
Characters
Among the core cast is Jayden, the Star Commander; Liam, who has a rebellious streak; Ezra, the more open-minded of the squad; and Mia, who’s driven yet compassionate. They’re tested by Kit Commander Ibrahim Ismiril, who becomes a mainstay of the story and offers his fair share of wisdom (and tough love) to Smoke Jaguar. Other characters emerge, adding on to the intrigue and conflicts that Smoke Jaguar faces.
Player Hub
The Player Hub is your de facto base, where you can choose which missions to embark on. It also features access to the different Facilities and Barracks, which we’ll get into later, and showcases your Honor Level, Merits, and Kerenskies used to purchase parts and BattleMechs.
BattleMech Types
MechWarrior 5: Clans offers four types of BattleMechs – Light, Medium, Heavy and Assault. These include mainstays like the Mist Lynx, a Light OmniMech which is good at all ranges thanks to its machine guns, LRM-10 launcher and Streak SRM-4, or the Viper, a Medium OmniMech with high maneuverability and armed with a Laser, AMS, and SRM4 launcher. Other options like the Mad Dog, Dire Wolf, Warhawk, Timber Wolf, and many more also return for your destructive pleasure.
MechLab
The MechLab is where you’ll spend time customizing the squad’s BattleMechs. There are multiple parts – the legs, torso, arms, and head – and each has different slots to fit weapons and other tools like Active Probes, Ferro Armor Pods, ammo, and much more. Other options open up over time, though you need to consider a BattleMech’s tonnage and balance things out.
Marketplace
While you can purchase different weapons and parts directly from the Mech Lab, the Marketplace offers its own selection of goods. There are Lasers, Gauss Rifles, and Flamers to acquire, but you can also purchase equipment and entire BattleMechs. It’s also a great place to sell excess parts and reinvest them into other upgrades.
Pilot Skills
Outside of customizing your BattleMech, each Pilot has different Skills to improve in the Barracks. As they earn XP, you can invest in increased melee damage, better handling, decreased cooldown on weaponry, and a chance to evade enemy attacks. Some Pilots, like Liam, have differing Skills like Electronic Warfare for increased Active Probe and ECM range and effects. Meanwhile, Mia possesses Heat Management for a higher rate of heat dissipation and more heat capacity.
Research
To further improve your squad’s combat weaponry, you’ll need to research different projects, like the duration of ER Lasers and reducing their cooldown or increasing the range of Active Probes. Scientists must be on hand to research projects with Components salvaged from missions.
You can bring on more Scientists, upgrade the Salvage Operations and much more, though it will take a few Cycles to complete projects. You’ll also want to earn Mech XP and unlock Chassis Upgrades to improve a BattleMech’s top speed and acceleration, torso movement speed, and more.
Combat
Those new to MechWarrior shouldn’t expect something fast-paced like Gundam or Zone of the Enders. It’s more grounded and heavy, and you’ll feel the weight of BattleMechs as they stomp around or hover and drop back down.
Each unit has limited ammo for each weapon, though Lasers generate Heat and have a short cooldown before being used again. During combat, you can target different parts of enemies and destroy them, but the same applies to the squad. Damage doesn’t automatically heal either – you need to find a repair station to recover and refill on ammo.
Heat Management
Depending on the climate of a biome and the weapons used, your BattleMech will generate heat. Too much, and your unit can shut down. Heat can be managed by dipping into water sources, but it’s also worth installing Heat Sinks and considering the different weapons installed. Of course, you must also consider the Cooling, Heat Capacity, and much more.
Modern and Classic Movement Styles
MechWarrior 5: Clans offers two ways to control your BattleMech. Modern is more conventional, with your movement aligning with your reticle’s aim, similar to a first or third-person shooter. Classic offers more control, with your BattleMech moving independently of your aim, allowing for relatively free aiming. The latter takes some getting used to but adds to the immersion.
BattleGrid
During combat, you can issue orders to your team with a Command Wheel and have them form up on you, focus a target, guard a location, etc. However, there’s also the BattleGrid, where the camera pulls out and provides an overhead view of the action, allowing you to manually hand out marching orders for your team. It’s possible to queue up actions, and get a better view of the battlefield and where threats are coming from to decide the best tactics.
5 Player Co-op
While you can play through the entire game with AI teammates and guide them accordingly, there’s also support for co-op. Other players can assume the roles of Smoke Jaguar members and experience the entire campaign together. As enjoyable as it is to issue commands and manage the battlefield, there’s nothing like wreaking havoc with a full squad.
Unreal Engine 5
Unlike Mercenaries, MechWarrior 5: Clans is developed on Unreal Engine 5, with the team leveraging it in “every way we possibly can.” Speaking to WCCF Tech, Piranha Games CEO Russ Bullock confirmed the full use of Nanite and Lumen, Chaos for the dynamic destruction, motion capture for the cinematics, and World Partition. Thus far, it’s leveraged quite well, and the full-scale mech battles are fun to witness.
PC Requirements
In terms of system requirements, PC players will need an Intel Core i5 8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600, 16 GB RAM, and an Nvidia GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 590 with 6 GB VRAM, at the minimum, which is enough for 720p resolution at Low-Quality settings. Recommended requirements include a Core i7 8700 or Ryzen 5 3600, 16 GB RAM and an RTX 2080 or Radeon RX 6700 for 1080p at High-Quality settings. A solid-state drive is “strongly recommended,” and you’ll need 80 GB of space for installation. On the plus side, it’s confirmed that an internet connection isn’t required for single-player.