How to Master Into the Breach - Episode 2: Gearing Up (Tips for mastering the game)

[@soulmata]

I'm aware I called the Defense Mech "science mech" a few times. That's because he's so irrelevant he doesn't really deserve a unique name.

[@Leylite]

I think this grid model helps show why putting a Ranged weapon off-class onto any other mech is usually a decent move - it gives a great secondary option for controllable movement or long-ranged damage, to mechs that otherwise would be blocked by Vek logjams in the middle of the board. I also have a (maybe sub-optimal) joy in putting Prime weapons on Science mechs, because often you wind up with a flying mech that can choose whether to non-damage manipulate, or just do actual damage to help clear the board, or maybe kill an Armor Psion to clear the way for your "real" damage-dealers.

[@soulmata]

Thanks. And yeah, flexibility is almost always the right choice. In another video I want to go over pilots and where to put cores, particularly in debating movement vs HP, where IMO movement is king.

[@lewisliu1943]

Or Kazaaplethik's mantis attack in a sci mech, preferably with him already having +2 HP to counteract low mech HP

[@narD0426]

After watching this video, I felt confident that I could achieve another 30k.:)

[@soulmata]

You could get a 30k with one mech and no pilot.

[@tornad8063]

Hi. I just started watching you. Your skills are amazing. I have idea for some videos from into the breach "Gameplay review" You either take some gameplay from youtube, or something, that your viewers sent you and describe good and bad moves etc.

[@soulmata]

Thanks! That is a good idea. ITB is a pretty small community so there's not a whole lot to choose from, unfortunately.

[@tornad8063]

@@soulmata yeah. Community is small and I recently undigged game from time, when it was free on epic. I think, i would be able to send you something soon (if you want) (rather begginer)

[@tornad8063]

@@soulmata hi. if you want, there's my gameplay kzbin.info/www/bejne/anW7fqqna8mVfbc

[@soulmata]

@@tornad8063 I look forward to it, let me know when you do so.

[@tornad8063]

@@soulmata hey. Here's my gameplay. It's with custom team, I like to play with. I wanted to do 4 islands, but ended with 2. If you want something longer or with me explaining my actions, or just something else, let me know kzbin.info/www/bejne/anW7fqqna8mVfbc

[@imaytag]

The very first run I ever succeeded on I got the boosters, smoke drop and the air strike and put them on the Combat, Artillery and Cannon mechs respectively. Since I was not getting very many cores due to being new and failing objectives, having those zero cost options seemed amazing! I've loved all thee of them ever since, especially the boosters.

[@soulmata]

Boosters are deceptively good.

[@epicsandvich014]

Rusting hulks were my first victory (hard mode too) and it was really easy to get because of all the shields and stuns they offered

[@mesquiteaviation]

Thank you so much for these videos. I enjoy going for 30k games, but I don’t pull it off as often as I’d like. I’m looking forward to future installments.

[@soulmata]

Thank you! If you have a topic suggestion let me know.

[@dirtycat99]

Please make more of these videos. All your videos are excellent and help a lot!! Also if you make more 30k videos, commentary would be amazing. Awesome info, thanks!

[@soulmata]

Thank you.

[@Mortis_XII]

My biggest complaint is you only have 2 entries in this series. Fantastic content and it gives a refreshing way to think about this game. Thank you!

[@soulmata]

Thanks for that. I will hopefully finish it off.

[@Mortis_XII]

@@soulmata With news of the advanced edition of into the breach, will you be making new ITB content? Thanks for your time!

[@soulmata]

@@Mortis_XII Absolutely. Hopefully on release date if I'm not too busy.

[@soulmata]

@@Mortis_XII Yup. Planning on streaming the day of the launch and then after I learn the new mechanics start making 30k videos.

[@armanyusaf5019]

Why did you disappear?

[@soulmata]

Mostly because I got a ton of really shitty comments I got tired of deleting. However, I am currently working on a major side project that is not ITB but closely related that I hope to show off on YT and twitch soon.

[@armanyusaf5019]

@@soulmata don’t let that gate get you down my man

[@ROTTERDXM]

@@soulmata No idea why people would post shitty comments on content this good, it's great stuff!

[@ninomhw827]

Are you excited for the ITB advanced update coming july 19?

[@soulmata]

@@ninomhw827 100%

[@TheIronSavior]

I feel like I'm playing naked until i have everyone up to 4 movement. I wind up prioritizing cores over all else. Usually also wind up finishing with four islands and everyone still pretty much has the starting gear

[@pairot01]

The rock accelerator also places a rock on the map if the traget tile was empty, which is great for blocking Vek spawns/create chokepoints/slam the Vek into.

[@ROTTERDXM]

I only just started putting off-class weapons on my mechs today as I am moving into medium difficulty again after a hiatus. Makes quite a difference if I let go of the idea of "needing" to fully upgrade it! Loved the 8-box diagram and your explanation of it, and I will be keeping this in mind! A game highlights from yesterday: Carrier Mech (Prime flier from Iron Legion) tooling around with a *very* meaty dash punch while spamming fighters. Suddenly the fighters' jobs becomes to herd enemies into the Carrier's punching range. Then I put the Zenith Laser on it instead of the fist, and it became even more fun setting up great shots.

[@soulmata]

Yeah it turns out that flexibility is much more important overall.

[@faircelt8635]

Hey man, been a while since I’ve seen your vids but Into The Breach just got a heavy update with new mechs, mechanics, and an “Unfair” difficulty. It’d be nice to see you back!

[@soulmata]

I think 40k for every squad is impossible with the "perfect" win, but I have already seen people pulling some 40ks on Unfair with custom squads. I will be back as soon as I am done with this COVID infection.

[@faircelt8635]

Good to hear, nice to know this channel ain’t dead! Hope you get better soon.

[@lewisliu1943]

Low damage vs high damage: the way I think about it is, will this kill the average newly-spawn Vek in 1 turn, or 2 turns

[@soulmata]

You definitely need to consider your alpha, and a vek with 1 HP is as dangerous as a vek with 3hp when you hit that end turn button.

[@narD0426]

Bro, come back to breach, AE updated!

[@soulmata]

As soon as I recover from COVID, I will.

[@scottleland403]

This is a good system to look at weapon function! I have an ugly habit of forgetting about my weapon upgrades and/or not being adventurous with new ones, so this really helped changed my mindset when going into the end of island screen.

[@soulmata]

The new DLC will probably change things a lot too.

[@sashamakeev7547]

Just finished playthrough and zenith science mech is not that bad. Pulling is good for few reasons. Pull to align a vek line for laser mech. Pull to avoid grid damage. Pull on self to finish off weak vek. Pull vek in water, since it is flying you can. Pull to save other mech from death. Pulling is not that bad. But there is a really bad thing about it - it is linear, not artillery.

[@soulmata]

If it was arty instead of LOS it would bump it up into an entirely different class. But LOS makes it situational at best. It's not that you can't use it, but I'd rather have any other science mech. Pull is pretty rare though, so you got a point, but usually the counter to that is there are plenty of AoE pushes that won't damage grid or disablers like smoke you could use instead.

[@someguy7576]

I’m honestly excited to see you absolutely blast through a perfect victory on unfair difficulty with the new mechs

[@soulmata]

We'll see, it's pretty rough!

[@Kristijan-j8k]

Part 3 when?

[@Studious_Studios]

Thank you for this excellent video. Perfect timing for me since I'm about to play with the zenith guards. I wish you would do your grid for every squad, that would be super useful.

[@danielschaublin]

Your videos were excellent on the series when you posted them 2 years ago. I hope you'll consider revisiting Into The Breach again once the Advanced Edition comes out in the middle of July 2022 and showing perfect runs with the new squads that come with it, if that's an option you'll explore at the time (and if the tips from your older videos will still apply once the Advanced Edition releases). Otherwise, I look forward to whenever your next project is. To me, the game looks a lot like a hybrid of chess, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Final Fantasy Tactics all under one roof.

[@soulmata]

I am 100% going to be both streaming and uploading 30k videos of the new content.

[@danielschaublin]

@@soulmata I look forward to seeing it once the update is out on July 19. The day just can't get here fast enough to enjoy the first content update they had for the game in almost 4-5 years since its release (and mostly will be the only content update for it, since I can't see anything else release for it after a big update for it this year.). In addition, I hope you'll do an unboxing of the physical game for Switch when it's out in October. It'll be nice to see what comes in the box for that version as well to wrap up stuff for it. Otherwise, I look forward to the new project you mentioned in the comments here once you complete the advanced ITB stuff and if it's about a game similar to ITB.

[@danielschaublin]

@@soulmata Forgot to ask too: Could you show off how to complete the challenge run achievements too, since I'm confused how you got the secret squad unlocked way back then since it does require you to complete them at some point and I couldn't find any good tips on how to complete them, especially the ones where your mechs can't take damage at all on the run, you can't add or replace any of your pilots or weapons (you have to beat the run using only what you started with), etc.? As another suggestion, you could also do a tips video on how to complete some of the harder achievements like on some of the squad achievement ones and maybe the one that you have to beat a run in under X time? I could see a reason as well to complete those on easy mode since almost all of the achievements (expect the one that wants you to beat a hard difficulty run) aren't tied to a certain difficulty in order to get them done. Just thought I asked, since some of the game is about being "perfect" in almost everything (completing objectives and achievements) that can throw a lot of people off when they're new to the game, especially with a timer requirement on one of them and the game itself getting updated in almost 2 weeks.

[@soulmata]

@@danielschaublin Sounds like an interesting idea, I could do something like that.

[@danielschaublin]

@@soulmata I hope you'll make a video down the line for achievements then, especially when they add a bunch of new ones to the game with the Advanced Edition. I know the 5+ new mech squads will have 3 each to complete, and I don't ever know if they will add more general achievements (ones like those challenge run achievements that you can complete with any squad), but it's a video worth making a part of that short series of videos you'll make once the update is out. This game really tests your ability to be "perfect" and "do this crazy stunts" at the same time with those achievements and objective. Maybe one day they'll make a "complete a run completing all general achievements in the game," if people want to try to get a "perfect" run at that point especially when your mechs can't take damage, etc.

[@RackaGack]

One of the best synergies i had was the hazardous mechs with the self destruct button. So damn fun

[@soulmata]

It's also hilarious. Related, I didn't even know that worked until after I'd done my 30ks.

[@ravitsunami2000]

I love these videos! I'm hopeful for a sequel

[@soulmata]

thank you

[@martinocogarcia]

Well that was confusing..

[@soulmata]

The intention was the opposite!