I will keep it short and simple. 1) Press "+" on your numpad to deactivate the constant throttle. 2) Press and hold "F" while you maneuver to align your legs with your torso. That way you can easily walk towards where you aim. The game doesn´t tell you this, so I hope this helps. Beginners Guide to maneuver your mech properly I will keep it short and simple. 1) Press "+" on your numpad to deactivate the constant throttle. It will be much easier and precise to operate your mech now. You will have to do this in every battle once at the beginning. Alternative (credit for this useful advice goes to "Swumprat"): If you go into Settings>Gameplay and look at the list of toggles there are two of note. One is "Enable Throttle Decay" which will make point 1 moot as you won't have to toggle it every match. The other is "Enable Crosshair cooldown pips" which shows which weapon groups are ready to fire by, well showing pips around the crosshair. 2) Press and hold "F" while you maneuver to align your legs with your torso. That way you can easily walk towards where you aim. This is very convenient when walking from checkpoint to checkpoint and especially helpful in battle when you need to turn fast but also have to keep focused on your target. The game doesn´t tell you this, so I hope this helps. About your teammates You will need to constantly order your mates around, otherwise they won´t do much. Press F1 to activate all of them and F1 again to have them engage your target. Afterwards, activate all of them again and press F2 to make them follow you, otherwise they will often walk off towards the map edge. This should be enough knowledge to get you through the first battles and gain some experience. Max out your armor! The mech design capabilities are very limited in this game because hard points are mostly fixed, but it is absolutely important that you max out your armor! Take out ammo or an entire weapon system and max out the armor, you will need around 70-80% front armor and 20-30% back armor on all your mechs to survive. A free mech in Valentina system When you are free in the beginning, you should go to a system called "Valentina". It will be north of your position in a red area. You can get a Wolverine hero mech there for free. How to get more credits and mechs - multiple mission contracts The real money-maker in this game are multiple-mission contracts. Any unspent salvage points will be carried over to the next mission. If you have 15 salvage points and use only 5 on your first mission, you will end up with 15 + 10 = 25 salvage points for your next mission, so you will be able to salvage whole mechs. They also give a negotiation bonus for more credits. They are more difficult than single missions, because you cannot repair mechs inbetween missions and you might have to field damaged mechs. How to estimate if a mech you plan to buy is good or not - weapon hardpoints Take a look at the weapon hardpoints of mechs you plan to buy. The more the better! Mechs with only 3 weapon hardpoints (e.g. 1 laser, 1 ballistic, 1 missile) will have a lower performance than mechs with 6 weapon hardpoints (e.g. 4 laser, 2 ballistic). You don´t have to use all of the hardpoints, often it is better to sacrifice missiles for armor and heat sinks and run with one or two weapon types only. Heavier mechs are better armored but they might lack fire power, so look for mechs with lots of weapons! General combat tipps 1) ABM, always be moving! Credit goes to my lance mate ForteDS for this valuable advice. 2) If you get targeted (you see laser lights towards you and hear bullets swiping by), use your jump jets or try to get behind cover. Jump jets are activated with "space bar". 3) Focus fire on the center torso or the legs. 4) Keep your laser beam on the target the whole time it fires. Laser fire lasts longer than your mouse click, so keep that beam on the target for full effect. 5) You can switch and take over your AI lance mates mech by pressing "Z" ("y" on german keyboard). This is helpful if your lance mate gets stuck or your mech is close to destruction. Heat management - chain fire is your friend If your mech produces too much heat, use the option to chain fire weapons. You can do this in battle by selecting weapon groups with "arrow keys" and then press "backspace". Or you do it in the mech lab prior to battle in the weapons group tab by selecting "chain fire". Medium lasers can be fired simultaneously, large lasers will need "chain fire"! Later in game, you will get your hands on double heat sinks. They take up more space, so put them into the "engine heat sink compartment" in your center torso. How to estimate mission difficulty You will come to a point where missions get too difficult, even though you have the same reputation level than the mission. A good indicator is the tonnage limit. If you are severely undertonned, it means the mission will be difficult for now. You will need to field heavier mechs to stand your ground here. Heavier mechs can be found in industrial hubs near higher-reputation areas. There is no shame in relocating your dropship to a lower-reputation area and take on multiple-mission-contracts there, so you can go on a shopping tour for heavier mechs. You are in it for the credits, not the fame, mercenary!