Mech Combat, what is it and how can I take part in it?

Mech combat is the only form of PvP or Player Vs. Player kind of action present in the game at this moment and this will probably not change in the near future, so if you like to fight against other players this is the only way to accomplish this in Core-Exiles. To aquire a mech you first have to collect the 4 parts that make one up and those are a chassis module, an AI pod, an armour pack and lastly a weapons pack. They can be aquired either by trading with other players, buying them from the PM (PLayer Market), crafting them yourself if you have the necessary skills, schematics and resources or as an alternative way you can win a whole mech-pack by participating in Core-Exiles's IRC chatroom, where each day there is a draw that can get you your mechpack.

The rules for this are available in the competition forums. Once you have aquired the 4 parts, you must travel to Grelia in the Drakos system and assemble the mech in the Mech Assembly Plant that is located there, this is an easy process and can be done by just following the on-screen instructions. After completing the asembly you will want to put your mech into battle and fight against other players, this can be done in 2 ways:

1. For this you have to be docked on Grelia and enter the mech combat arena manually and choose a battleground and insert your mch into it.

2. This is the easiest way as you don't need to be on Grelia or even on any other planet for this. You just have to open the right-hand drop-down menu, scroll to the point it says View mechs and from the screen it brings up just choose your mech and set it into battle.

There are 3 arenas available for combat use, however as a beginner mech commander you won't be able to enter the more advanced Bravo and Charlie sectors, only the beginner class Alpha sector, but as you win more fights and advance your commander level, you will gain access to these sectors and then you can fight epic fights against the best commanders CE has to offer and their mechs.
In the mech control panel or View Mechs list, whichever way you want to call it, there is also an option of dismantling your mechs, but it is advised that you do not use this option after your mech has won any fights as this will make all mech points gained by said mech to be lost forever, so it is highly discouraged to use this option unless your mech is a brandnew one or you really need to discard an obsolete mech so you can assemble a new one.

There is also another advantage of fighting in the mech-arena and that is that with every fight you win beside your mechpoints that are necessary to qualify for higher arenas, you also win the same amount of Victory points. These points are unalienable, so you do not loose them even if you loose your mech or dismantle it and can be used to gain gift certificates which in turn can be used in the Official Core-Exiles Store to purchase items like new engines, fuel tickets or even a new ship.

I hope this has answered all your questions regarding mech combat and you will join us soon so we can see who's mech will win the day.