Start with a complete loadout
The base Hangar has six squad bays. Each ordinary War Machine uses one bay. A loadout has a frame, a pilot, two weapon slots, armor, a core, thrusters and a shield. Specific dual-crew frames have a co-pilot slot as well.
The equipment types are enforced by slot: Weapon I and II accept weapons, while armor, core, thrusters and shield accept their matching type. Base-game equipment is not locked to a faction or chassis class; class-tagged gear can instead earn a set bonus.
ONE FRAME, THE RIGHT SLOTS
War Machineprovides the chassis
Primary pilotfull crew stat contributionCo-pilotonly on dual-crew frames
Weapon IWeaponWeapon IIWeapon
ArmorArmor
CoreCore
ThrustersThrusters
ShieldShieldSix equipment slots: two weapons, armor, core, thrusters and shield. Stat symbols identify slot roles here; use each item’s actual equipment type to check compatibility.
How pilots contribute
Your primary pilot contributes its stats to the frame. On a dual-crew frame the co-pilot contributes 45% of its scaled stats. Weapon specialty calculations separately use half of the co-pilot’s ranged or melee bonus, so do not apply 45% to every mechanic.
The pilot’s passive comes from its own faction, while the frame’s Special and Defend effect come from the frame’s faction. Mixing factions is allowed. A pilot’s ranged or melee bonus applies when the corresponding weapon type is being used.
CREW CONTRIBUTIONS ARE DIFFERENT
100%Primary pilot stats
Add the main pilot’s scaled stat bonuses.
45%Co-pilot stats
Only when the frame has a second crew slot.
50%Co-pilot weapon bonus
Ranged/melee specialization is a separate calculation.
Match chassis to threats
The standard cycle is Assault → Skirmisher → Siege → Guardian → Assault. An arrow means 30% more damage for the attacker. Prototype advantage entries can provide a stronger 1.5 multiplier against the listed chassis instead.
Use the comparator to see actual HP, Attack, Defense, shield and evasion together. A higher rarity is useful information, but it is not a replacement for examining the role and equipment you can field.
FOLLOW THE CHASSIS ADVANTAGE CYCLE
Assault
+30% damage
against Skirmisher
Skirmisher
+30% damage
against Siege
Siege
+30% damage
against Guardian
Guardian
+30% damage
against Assault
The cycle loops back from Guardian to Assault. Listed prototype advantages use their own stronger multiplier; inspect the specific card.
Signature pairs and gear sets
The game defines specific story-canonical pilot/frame signature pairs. A verified pair gives +8% HP, Attack and Defense. Sharing a faction or a similar name alone is not sufficient. Entity pages link the actual pair when it is present in the catalog.
Two matching-class Legendary/HSP gear pieces give a 6% HP/Attack/Defense bonus; four or more give 15%. The gear’s class must match the frame’s chassis. The signature and set bonuses add together before the resulting multiplier is applied to those three stats.
Plan without guessing a tier list
For a first squad, fill your available bays with equipped frames and assign pilots for their bonuses and cover more than one matchup. Compare a shielded frame’s total survivability with your current options, and keep a response to whichever chassis is stopping your progression. This is guidance derived from the counter cycle, not a tested ranking.
The team builder enforces base-game slot types, dual-pilot eligibility and unique card-family limits. It treats each repeated equipment selection as a separate owned copy and cannot check your in-game inventory. Its totals model fresh level-1, rank-0 loadouts; temporary combat effects are not forecasts.
Your learning journey
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Implementation sources
Guide explanations are maintained separately from the extracted database. This version was checked against:
utils/squadEquipment.tsutils/gameLogic.tsconstants.tsutils/typeHelpers.ts