Flame Mech is a Prime-class mech in Into the Breach.
Team[ | ]
The mech is available as part of the Flame Behemoths squad.
Strategy[ | ]
The Flame Mech's main purpose is to spread as much Fire as possible throughout the map, wearing down enemies and limiting their movement options. Since the Mech comes with the Flame Shielding passive, this can be done without harming the other Mechs in the Flame Behemoths, or even in a Custom Squad.
Lighting tiles on fire with Flame Thrower is generally useful in controlling enemy movement and spawn population. Some examples include:
- Vek will avoid ending their action on fire if they have other options and are not already on fire.
- Setting spawn points on fire can immediately wear enemies down before their first action, which also helps deal direct damage to them with Flame Thrower immediately on the turn they emerge.
- Flame Thrower also pushes the last enemy away; an enemy at 2HP that is pushed away from it's intended target will be burned and miss their attack. This enemy will be at 1HP for next turn, effectively dead before it can attack.
- Enemies on fire at 1HP still count towards the maximum amount of enemies present in battle, which limits the amount of incoming spawns on following turns (notably useful in Unfair difficulty).
In order to spread fire throughout enemies more easily, it is recommended to power the additional range upgrades. The first +1 Range upgrade is cheap at 1 core, so that one should be prioritized first. Note that buildings cannot be harmed even if they are lit on fire, so with at least 2 range, it will let the Flame Mech shoot through buildings and mountains while pushing the target on the other side.
Despite all the benefits of lighting tiles on fire, the Flame Mech will benefit from a secondary weapon, as it can help alleviate the Flame Thrower's inability to deal direct damage unless enemies are on fire. This is particularly helpful later in the timeline, when more Alpha enemies at high HP begin appearing, as well as for specific objectives such as Destroy the Dam. The Flame Shielding passive is free as of the Advanced Edition balance changes, and can be equipped on another mech to make room for another weapon.
Trivia[ | ]
- Before the Advanced Edition, the Flame Mech started with two power, enabling a risky strategy to reallocate the flame Shielding Passive reactor core and powering additional range immediately. This is no longer a possible strategy, since even with Advanced Edition content turned off, balance changes will still apply and make both its weapons free.