Pilot Training

SDI + Community Guide
The original unedited SDI game guide is available at SDI_New_Players_Guide

Want to become a master mech pilot and war on post-apocalyptic city, desert, and mountain terrain? Get these tips before you go off rails and head to the warfront in Archangel Hellfire!

Find out what special abilities each mech is equipped with, how to use them, and other useful battle tactics-- there is some strategy involved in multimech and mech-on-mech warfare.

Kudos to the streamer Stuffalot for providing much of this advice in his video tutorial, check out the Archangel YouTube tutorials below in Video Tutorials

Power and Energy Management
Size matters when it comes to power management:
 * Light-Class mechs are the fastest, but do less damage than Heavy and Medium-Class and have less armor.
 * If you pilot a Heavy-Class mech and put all your power towards damage and shields, you will not get close enough to enemy mechs to hit them before they dodge your fire.
 * You can overcome this disadvantage by using boosts to jump or by reallocating power to mobility.
 * Always keep an eye out for armor or energy packs so you’re prepared for any attack. Picking one up will give you an instant energy boost. Energy is key to mech’s special abilities. Defense is more difficult when low on energy, and not refilling it can cost you a battle.

Adjust the sliders above to your advantage: Increase energy and speed slider when you're away from enemies, but when the enemy nears switch the sliders again to increase attack or defense.

Use presets to quickly change the reactor power distribution for your shields, weapons, mobility and defense -- it is also a less distracting method and advantageous on the battlefield. Keep in mind that presets only set two capabilities to maximum and set the rest to zero.

Radar
Your mech comes with a built in radar function. The radar screen is directly down in front of you inside your mech. It displays enemy units as red dots and friendly units as green dots, regardless of your team (USFF or HUMNX). It shows nearby enemy locations regardless of their vertical height (or through walls) on the map and is not affected by a light mech's cloaking ability, so use it wisely!

Mechs


Some experienced pilots recommend that new recruits start off with a heavy-class mech from either faction. One dev game tip is to switch the weapons over to rockets and flak cannon, then set the speed/damage preset (lower right button next to the sliders at the top of cockpit). This allows your now tank-like mech to get closer to smaller enemy mechs for an attack, but be wary of counterattacks while your defense is set down low!

After you’ve become a pro at managing a heavy-class mech in combat, get into a small or medium-class mech and learn to war with a faster, more agile machine. Ultimately, pilots figure what mech suits them best and strategies that are helpful for their own battle methods. When battling with allies, teamwork is the most important thing to do well.

Special Abilities
Each class of mechs has a unique set of two abilities that leverage their size and base statistics. You can engage these abilities using the buttons forward from you in the cockpit once you have gathered some energy.

Special Ability Costs:
 * Light - Cloak 30, DFA 100
 * Medium - Ammo 50, Beam 95
 * Heavy - Invuln 50, EMP 95

Light Class Mech Abilities


Distributed Field Artillery (DFA)

This special ability is also known as "Death From Above," and will propel your mech into the air with dual rocket launchers and allows you to unload a rapid-fire barrage onto the battlefield below. When this ability burns out, steer your mech to a desired landing area.

LR Cloak

Become invisible to enemy mechs with a Light Reprojection Cloak, the latest in cloaking technology. The product disclaimer states, “LR Cloaks do not hide anything other than the mech. Weapons blasts and battlefield destruction may give away your position.” Your boosters for jumping and shields are also always visible to opponents.

Flying, using shields, and being on fire from low armor are not cloaked and may give away your position

Medium Class Mech Abilities


Singularity Beam

The powerful, rechargeable beam deals heavy damage to any enemy mechs struck by it. While the beam is being fired, the mech's movement will slow down.

Athermodynamic Ammo Regen

Ammo Regen is now a reality: Most scientists have feared its widespread use and believe it cannot persist without consequence. War interests and the increasing intensity of The Great Mech Wars have inspired mech development teams to build "infinite ammo" into nearly a third of all new mechs produced. The sudden influx of power also gives the mech a temporary damage boost.

Heavy Class Mech Abilities


EMP Blast

Although the first iteration of this weapon was purely electro-magnetic in nature, further advancements have extended its functional reach. Enemy targets caught in the radius of the EMP Blast suffer EM Shield loss, decayed ordnance, and considerable material hull damage.
 * It does more damage the closer you are to your opponents.
 * Damage done to opponents armor regenerates the user's armor.
 * You can block it with your shields, if you face the direction of the epicenter.
 * It cancels all active enemy abilities except invulnerability

LiBond Invulnerability

LiBond is the trade name for Line Bonded Molecular Structure based materials, and with a strong enough energy source it becomes impenetrable to all known energy and ballistic weaponry when activated.

Defenses
DON'T FORGET DEFENSE!

If an opponent gives you an opening (like wasting their ultimate ability), do not just go in guns blazing: It is wise to keep some of your reactor dedicated to defense. It may save you from something unexpected. This is especially important for battles against mechs larger than your own and in close-quarters fights.

Using your shields effectively is also very important in combat. They will drain slowly over time and be damaged by incoming attacks. They regenerate quickly when not deployed but take much longer to return if they are fully broken. Weapons on an arm actively shielding cannot be fired, but the off-hand can be fired around or through the other arm's shield. Try holding one shield while firing the other arm's weapon and rotating back and forth for maximum performance!

More Game Tips
REMEMBER THE RED AREAS

Do double damage to enemy mechs by striking their upper back or head.

STAY HEALTHY, STAY ALIVE

Nanobot repair packs can be found scattered across the battleground and will regenerate a portion of your mech's armor. The amount regained is set so, while a light-class mech may see most of its armor regenerated with one pack, a heavier mech with more armor may need to collect multiple packs to be fully regenerated.

Teamwork Makes Victory Easier


 * Use communication systems. When under fire, you can ask your teammate for backup, or cover them as they go after the enemy.
 * Without communication, you can get caught in a 2v1 situation very quickly.