I created my first Scarab APC yesterday, and could not for the life of me figure out how to deploy it with my Manticore for about an hour. I looked online, and I’m sure an explanation exists, but I could not locate one.
Eventually, I figured out that I need to return my Manticore to the base where the Scarab was built and stationed, and then go to the character screen and manually deploy a few of my people to the base to then select a “vehicle” tab (that I didn’t notice before on the character screen), and then deploy that to the manticore.
In retrospect, it feels like a bit of a “duh” moment, but I also understand why I didn’t figure it out sooner. It would be really nice if it was made clearer that:
- A newly-built APC (and hired soldiers for that matter) are stationed specifically at one base.
- A manticore that you want to load them on MUST be sitting on that base to transfer them.
- With 5 soldiers in my manticore, the 5/8 that appears on the squad screen is for the BASE, even if the people are loaded in the manticore sitting on the base. That suggests that the manticore can carry three more weight, and since a vehicle weighs 3, it follows that the manticore should be able to take the Scarab. However, when selecting the icon to switch where the character is deployed, it instead says “Manticore 5/6” (Numbers based on my instance and how far I am in the game).
- There is an inconspicuous Vehicles tab on the character menu that is fairly easy to miss if one is not naturally particularly observant, or otherwise looking for it.
If these things are mentioned in any way, it was very easy to miss them. If not, this info will save new players some minor frustrations and confusion.
Bonus Suggestion:
When a soldier is moved next to an item crate, the inventory auto opens. I’ve had situations where the character I moved didn’t have enough inventory slots for everything, so I took would I could. Then I moved another soldier next to it… and nothing happened. It was only after leaving several items on the battlefield that I realized I could still obtain the items from other soldiers by moving them next to the crate, and manually selecting the inventory icon, and dragging the items from the crate inventory to my soldier’s inventory.