Guides:Lancemate Strategy

## Putting to Good Use

With several lancemates, one way to arrange the battlefield is to have some as close combat characters with melee and short range weapons, and others who stand back and shoot from a distance. A medic/repair specialist is another good role.

Close combat characters should have high stats such as Bo, Dodge and Vitality or else it will be difficult to keep them from being eaten by albino alligators. For example, warrior monks typically make good melee fighters.

Having several mates can be a great help in battles where the field is wide open, so everyone can fight at the same time. It is less advantageous in narrow corridors.

Due to fog of war, lancemates may have an easier time finding the right place to stand in order to shoot at enemies. In such cases, it may be wise to follow their lead rather than continually getting "Target is not in range" messages because of an unseen hill.

One use of lancemates, similar to spare mechas, is to carry extra items. However they are more likely to die when burdened. If they do die, it may be possible to recover their items.

## Disadvantages

There are a few disadvantages to consider. Having more than a couple of lancemates can make it difficult to notice when they die or their mecha gets destroyed. There is also more to keep track of when upgrading equipment and mechas.

More lancemates also means less mission XP (see Leadership).

Lancemates always attack, so it is difficult to bring them on missions where it is recommended to investigate without attacking.

## Repair

First Aid, Medicine and General Repair are useful skills for the PC to help lancemates survive on long dungeon dives. A lancemate is quite willing to slowly die from poisoning without complaining, while perhaps the PC is busy fighting or searching for hidden passages and does not even notice.

Alternatively, give your lancemate the skill along with the appropriate repair fuel, for example Field Surgery Kit. They will use it whenever there are no enemies to be found, or anything else going on such as conversations. Their order of preference: Medical, First Aid, General Repair, Mecha Repair, Biotech.

Typically Bio Technology is important for the PC to repair the Argoseyer. However a lancemate can be trained with the skill instead, although it can take longer for repairs to be completed.

## Characteristics and Gear

High marks in defensive skills such as Vitality, Dodge, Mecha Piloting and Resistance are important for lancemates, because sometimes they foolishly put themselves in dangerous situations.

Also they may be used to compensate for skills that the PC does not have. For example, the PC may focus on Mecha Gunnery to shoot Phase Cannons and have lancemates with a high Mecha Artillery score to drive mechas with Heavy Railguns.

It is helpful when lancemates have long-ranged weapons, because when an enemy is off-screen, you may not notice right way, but they will notice and start shooting.

Melee weapons can be dangerous because they may unwisely attack enemies such as instead of keeping their distance.

## Dismissing

Sometimes NPCs get depressed after taking a lot of damage (shown with a minus sign in their stats). One way to help them feel better is to dismiss them for a few days to let them recover. Remember what city they were left in. My favorite is to leave them in Mauna for a nice vacation. When dismissed, it takes a few days before they can rejoin.

Like the PC, lancemates who die either resurrect or die permanently. If they resurrect, they will be depressed and need a vacation.

Dismissing an old lancemate and accepting a new one as a replacement is easy as far as their mecha. Simply reassign the mecha to the new owner. Regarding gear however, it is necessary either to remove all gear from the old lancemate before dismissing, or else buy a new set of gear.

When a lancemate is dismissed, remember that their mecha will no longer automatically follow your party. So it may be necessary to ask a bus dispatcher to deliver it until a new owner can be assigned.