Not all mechs have jump jets (thanks Captain Obvious), but the ones that do can benefit a great deal from this tree. Ultimately, the goal of the tree is to make it feel like you have more jump jets than you do, by emphasizing one stat or another. We can’t really apply our Goal and Priority node method to this Skill Tree, so let’s just look at what it offers and come up with a few paths from there.
What we want out of jump jets is to leave the ground at high speed and stay in the air for as long as we like. This means that Lift Speed and Vent Calibration are going to be our two top priorities pretty much always, and in that order.
Reducing the negative side-effect of heat build-up while we jet is a nice bonus, which makes it our third priority, but the little boost forward from activating jump jets can be a liability in some situations (and was even introduced to reduce poptarting), so while I don’t think it’s a full-on negative, it’s definitely not something we’ll go for. The exception to this is in large mechs that use jumpjets for extra mobility on slopes, where it can be useful.
With this in mind, let’s put together some paths.
Do You Even, Bro?
- Goal node: Lift Speed
- High-Priority node: Vent Calibration
- Low-Priority node: Heat Shielding
Budget Path (5 nodes) | Middling Path (10 nodes) | All-In Path (14 nodes) |
Vents, too
- High-Priority nodes: Lift Speed, Vent Calibration
- Low-Priority node: Heat Shielding
Budget Path (7 nodes) | Middling Path (12 nodes) | All-In Path (15 nodes) |