What is your choice for a PA pilot class?

[RockJock]

Pretty simple, what is your favorite Power Armor Pilot Class? Needs to be class available to a human, no real limits other then that.

[Soldier of Od]

The Headhunter anti-robot specialist. I like the techno-nerd "robophile" concept, and the ability to hotwire robots and power armour. Cool.

[Warshield73]

Pretty simple, what is your favorite Power Armor Pilot Class? Needs to be class available to a human, no real limits other then that.

For me I think the best PA Pilot is just the Robot Pilot OCC from RUE with the Power Armor MOS. They have a decent number and range of skills.

If you want something more specialized the NGR Power Commando is a good one and if you like it you should check out the revised OCC in Rifter 55.

If the player wants someone a little tougher the Pheaton Juicer in Juicer Uprising is also pretty good.

The truth is that any OCC that can take the PA pilot skill, including OCCs like the Temporal Wizard I meant Warrior, Rogue Scientist, and Body Fixer can be good PA pilots if they take the necessary skills and have decent PP.

[kaid]

NG loss control officer can make a fun robot/power armor pilot. Within reason they can requisition new armor/vehicles from any NG store/outpost and their job sends them out into areas where they work well in a normal adventuring group.

[Mlp7029]

Psi-Tech or an Operator with Telemechanics

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

Paratrooper.

Probably the best “i shoot guns” class in the entire game, really. Lots of skills, insane bonuses, extra attacks.

Otherwise... Headhunter partial borg (so you dont have to worry about rolling a high PP) or Any Juicer (same reason).

[Meneliki]

Pretty simple, what is your favorite Power Armor Pilot Class? Needs to be class available to a human, no real limits other then that.

Honestly the... robot power armor class... from... RUE... lol... uhh... wut? lol.

I think the Samson is pretty badass. Infact, I don't know how to link pictures in this forum, but here's a picture of an NG Samson punching an NG Delilah in the face in the Ishpeming Robodome! (Our campaign has gone off the rails lol)

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f4273bb2-9e41-4bf0-a484-092e7d5ca44a/ddbsaq3-1873a84e-5e56-42dd-89de-bb5e1ad516f0.jpg/v1/fill/w_1280,h_1050,q_75,strp/samson_punching_delilah__rifts__by_meneliki_ddbsaq3-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTA1MCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2Y0MjczYmIyLTllNDEtNGJmMC1hNDg0LTA5MmU3ZDVjYTQ0YVwvZGRic2FxMy0xODczYTg0ZS01ZTU2LTQyZGQtODlkZS1iYjVlMWFkNTE2ZjAuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEyODAifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.7a9wZL0ky4ur5cvDb-ltXVe7qMyQjqWAzz4mgMoBFqs

[StormSeeker]

I'd go, in order, Headhunter from RMB, Robot Pilot from RUE, 'Bot Slammer from the Canada book, though that last one would be my first choice if the campaign is gonna be heavy on bot vs bot fights.

[RockJock]

The Brutal Killer Headhunter has always been a favorite, but I am looking to expand options.

Thanks for the ideas guys and gals. I'm working on sort of a mental exercise to see what the limits of Rifts Earth can build as far as a pilot.

There are a few random upgrades out there available for any human pilot. Maybe a genetic tweak or two from Lonestar. Minor or Major Psychic powers to start with are always an option. They don't really make a better pilot, but they do offer the possibility of using TW enhancements. True Atlantean tattoos could also be helpful for powering TW upgrades, if the armor goes that way.

The strange Earth Tech approach yields a few random tidbits. Mindwerks has an implant that gives artificial Telemechanics, which allows the use of Archie's interface helmet. The German JAEP implant can be configured to add an extra attack. A cybernetic implant or two might be useful as well.

The CS additional training found in HoH is also another avenue to upgrade.

Any other specific or generic tricks I'm missing?

[Library Ogre]

I'm not up on the RUE, but I always liked using the Technical Officer as a generic military OCC. Need a Grunt? Use their MOS skills to make a grunt. Pilot? MOS skills. Electrician? MOS Skills.

[Sohisohi]

Psi-Tech or an Operator with Telemechanics

Psi-Tech is objectively the best option, you can pilot and repair anything. Just play a Psi-Tech as Race, so you get infinite telemanhanics and then go whatever your preferred OCC is.

[RockJock]

Psi-Techs are probably the best pilots out there, but it isn't a good fit for what I'm looking for with this. Being a Master Psychic they're just too rare for what I'm looking for. That being said, they are a great class.

[Hotrod]

I'd need to know more about what you're wanting out of the class to give you a good response.

Are you going for best overall bonuses? The Phaeton Juicer is probably your best choice. Descended Glitter Boy Pilots are excellent, though admittedly specialized. The Psi-Tech grants some great bonuses, too, as does any Operator who uses the Telemechanics power (see p23 of the Mechanoids sourcebook).

Do you want a class that can handle many different suits, or one that specializes in just a few, or one? Phaeton Juicers and Psi-Techs can pilot anything.

What kinds of suits are you looking to pilot? If you must be a human to do this, I'm guessing that you're keen on working with a human supremecist government, in which case choosing a class from their OCC list would be a wise idea if you want to use their tech. This is especially true of the C.S.

Do you want a class that can sustain and repair its own suit, or can you rely on getting repairs from others? Operators and Psi-Techs are a good way to go for those who want to sustain themselves in the long run.

[RockJock]

So this isn't something that is going to be used in a game or anything. I was really just bored and thinking. I want a Rifts earth class with all the bells, whistles, and add ons available. My thought is something that could be collected or trained by say an alien power using Rift's Earth human manpower as fodder. Almost a Megaversal Legion type set up, but using Rifts Earth bodies and tech. So Archie's Telemechanics link is a go, as is Mindwerks Psnetics, but Spulgoth Biowizardry would be a no.

I would stay away from something like the Psi-Tech because it not a "trainable" class. You need the potential of a master psychic to start with. A Phateon Juicer would fit, but their short life and limits on other tweaks might limit their potential.

Robot Slammer Headhunter, Descended GB, CS Elite RPA, Chinese Metal Warrior, all count as better than average power armor pilots, and would be able to pick up specialized training (HoH), and some of the add ons I've mentioned from other sources. I'm looking for any dedicated pilot I could be over looking.

[WhiteKnight]

I think when I'm making an RPA pilot in general I like the Special Forces OCC from Mercenaries, not a ton of OCC bonuses but loads of skills that you can tweak to whatever RPA you thinking of driving and whatever campaign style you're in

The Robot Slammer is great for a lot of reasons that people have pointed out already, a little less Flexible than the Special Forces but some really neat abilities even if you arent doing a ton of anti-bot combat (like say in a Vampire campaign)

I think for my last choice I'd pick the either the FQ or RUE Glitterboy pilot OCC, even if you dont like the standard GB type there are a few cool options like the Shadowboy or Silverwolf that can provide an alternate playstyle

[Hotrod]

My thought is something that could be collected or trained by say an alien power using Rift's Earth human manpower as fodder. Almost a Megaversal Legion type set up, but using Rifts Earth bodies and tech. So Archie's Telemechanics link is a go, as is Mindwerks Psynetics, but Spulgoth Biowizardry would be a no.

I would stay away from something like the Psi-Tech because it not a "trainable" class. You need the potential of a master psychic to start with. A Phateon Juicer would fit, but their short life and limits on other tweaks might limit their potential.

Robot Slammer Headhunter, Descended GB, CS Elite RPA, Chinese Metal Warrior, all count as better than average power armor pilots, and would be able to pick up specialized training (HoH), and some of the add ons I've mentioned from other sources. I'm looking for any dedicated pilot I could be over looking.

So you want a mass-produce-able power armor super soldier where the alien power kidnaps, trains, conditions, and equips natives of Rifts for military service. That I can work with.

Military folks tend to like standardization, and while you'll see plenty of variants of a common chassis, most vehicles in the military are from a limited set of basic designs. Thus, these power armor pilots are likely to be specialized in a single type of power armor. The Glitter Boy Pilot O.C.C. would likely be a good fit, and you could simply have it use a different type of power armor.

You might consider some sort of technology specialization for your alien power and incorporate that. You might, for example, have the alien power install a brain-machine interface that both lets them keep tabs on their soldier-slaves and enables the soldier-slaves to link with their power armor, conferring the same bonuses that a Psi-Tech or Telemechanics link provides, but without requiring psionics.

You should probably have some sort of reason why the alien power is kidnapping people specifically from Rifts Earth. The Megaversal Legion's members were chosen because they came from dominant warrior cultures that were already disciplined and great at working together. Is there some sort of trait that humans of Rifts Earth have, or is there something else that's special about the particular people that the alien power is collecting?

Finally, I think you should put some thought into the specific types of armor to be piloted. Are the aliens importing power armor suits from Rifts Earth too, or are they making their own, or are they hybridizing Rifts Earth designs?

[torjones]

I've had fun with Operators with combat skills. Works pretty well, in and out of combat. I've done Mind Melters with a few combat skills, and of course Neo-Humans too. Psi-Tech, as mentioned, is a bit of a gimmie. Altess was fun, again, with the right skills selected makes a pretty good combat monkey.

See, that's one of the advantages to Palladium, you can take just about any class and make them capable of just about whatever you want them to be good at. The fun in it is in the character and the story being played. Anything can be fun, even characters that don't work as characters (on paper at least).

[SpiritInterface]

Psi-Tech or an Operator with Telemechanics

Psi-Tech is objectively the best option, you can pilot and repair anything. Just play a Psi-Tech as Race, so you get infinite telemanhanics and then go whatever your preferred OCC is.

A Malvorean is better at it than a Psi-tech.

[DD The Shmey]

The silver hawk combat training found in DB2 Phaseworld page 133 is slightly better than the Elite Flying PA skill found on page 352 of RUE.
It gets an extra attack earlier, extra combat bonuses including an additional +1 to parry, +2 dodge on ground, +1 dodge when flying.
However the sliverhawk training does not have the +2 initiative, and +2 disarm found in the Elite Flying PA skill.

[DD The Shmey]

My favorite Pilot class is the Luftwaffe Cyborg Combat Pilot OCC. I know that they are only rigged to give their awesome bonuses to the XML series aircraft, but I think it is only a matter of time (or skilled PC operator intervention) before they are able to integrate the XML systems into additional air vehicles and power armor.

[Warshield73]

Psi-Tech or an Operator with Telemechanics

Psi-Tech is objectively the best option, you can pilot and repair anything. Just play a Psi-Tech as Race, so you get infinite telemanhanics and then go whatever your preferred OCC is.

A Malvorean is better at it than a Psi-tech.

Malvoren range between 7'4 and 8'8 can they even pilot Earth power armors?