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Any more suggestions you have I will be thankful for, I'm really lost in the world of (realistic?) mech combat games.
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Firstly, when you go through the rigmarole of acquiring all the plus upgrades, save in a new slot. That way if you ever want to play the game again in the future (or a friend does, I've spent hours playing versus battles) you don't have to do it again.
While they don't seem especially interesting, investing in a good generator and radiator will vastly improve your performance. Heat management is a curious feature, but overheating is responsible for the Output Down error where you continually lose armour points (this is most often caused by flame throwers, lava, grenade launchers and machine guns, but all weapons impart heat). Basically, standard cooling is how efficient your cooling is prior to the error, making it less likely to occur, and emergency cooling counts when the error kicks in and ultimately reduces the damage you will take (assuming you don't continue to absorb heat from somewhere). Also a good FPS, which is your targeting system. Try to pick one with good synergy with the weapons you use, such as missile support and lock speed if you are focusing on missiles, or range if you like the sniper rifles for some reason. these ones are most important to test, because it isn't always apparent what effect they'll have if you're not used to the system and don't understand the stats. They can change the size and shape of the big targeting box on your screen. So do weapons, so they both count. A narrow FPS couples with a narrow cannon system can give your AC tunnel vision, which isn't very helpful.
Blades are much more useful than shields in my opinion, though you may have a different experience. They have no ammo cost, impart a lot of damage and have infinite uses. Some missions I can do entirely with the sword, and like to deal with disorder units with them. The legs influence the stroke: bipeds and floaters slash which makes for an easier hit, quads and tanks stab, which may do more damage. It's also lower down, at least with the quads, so it's easier to hit disorder units. The blade has good synergy with the back booster, an extension part (and my own preference) found in the mission in which you protect the train Black Tail. It's in the second to last carriage. I can't remember which button picks up parts, just mind you don't blow it up by mistake. That's an instant mission failure, btw but it can be sold for the same price as your payment would have been if you don't like it and it saves your on the additional ammo and repairs you might have suffered at the hands of Cruel Justice.
The arena is great for funds. You incur no costs, and the prize money increases which rank, exponentially towards the end. At rank one your will be a spoilt millionaire. Every ten ranks a corporation sponsors you with a unique part, and sometimes other Ravens you defeat or approach give you things. Sometimes arena Ravens show up in missions (the Frighteners aren't Ravens) where they usually die, often (not not always) at your hands. They disappear from the Arena (but can be fought again when you finish the game) and their place is taken at the bottom ranks by new entries. These guys get harder as their rank worsens, until you reach Matthias, an Almighty Janitor. He is without question harder than Ares, the rank one. Not least because his tactics counter all the assholey ones people like to adopt that take advantage of the AI.
One thing I recommend for Arena battles is to turn on the enemy ammo indicator in the garage's cockpit control. It lets you know what weapon your opponent has selected and how much ammo is left. If you're a good enough pilot you can tease your opponent until he's used up all his ammo before he kills you. This is especially useful on high-offence ACs, since the baddest guns tend to have least ammo, such as the grenade launchers. DO NOT GET HIT BY GRENADE LAUNCHERS. I'm serious. Anything that makes a big spherical explosion is likely to finish you off very quickly. Keep your distance, dodge the shots (they're quite slow) and let him run out. The alternative is pain. And watch out for large missiles, they're slow and enormous but they can still sneak up on you. It's hilarious to use a decoy on them but generally decoys aren't very effective.
Missile interception is very useful, but rarely do they have enough rounds to last through an opponent's entire arsenal in the arena, let alone missions. also they incur ammo costs (except for the laser one). Emeraude cores come which an in-built missile interception function (you may have noticed the white beams that occasionally flash in front of you when facing missiles?). It's free and infinite, but very limited in effectiveness and only works in a cone in front of you. And the best one seems to be the default core you start with. I actually prefer the Zio Matrix cores for their other stats and the general optional part slots they have. Optional parts have no weight or stat information so you have to depend on the descriptions. There's one that reduces the energy cost of firing energy weapons, another that increases energy weapon damage. The must-have part is the one that increases turning speed, it is a godsend.
One more thing: the bigger the energy surplus you have, the faster your energy bar will recharge in combat.
