My only two design tools:
[1] "What is the experience we're trying to create" is the first & constant question
[2] To make something seem more like anything, put it next to the opposite (big guy/lil guy, happy thing/sad thing)
Sorry if am misunderstanding... is your pilot basically riding opponent's mechs like it's a rodeo, while tethered to your mech?
Yes, precisely. Look, I take a great pleasure in seeing how weird I can make a LL0 build.
Here it is if you're curious! Before I rolled to get temporary use of a Viral Logic Suite, that SP was spent on smoke bombs . The mechanical basis was the question "how do I make a talentless comp/con mech effective while I black thumb/jockey?" and since hacking is by-and-large not dependent on talents and the comp/con can still get a bonus to tech attacks from your pilot's system score, making a hacking controller seemed the best way to go. The Ahab pilot tether (from the IGF module) + mobility hardsuit means that I'm always within range to run back and mount up if the black thumb shield goes down.
-- GMS CHOMOLUNGMA @ LL0 --
[ LICENSES ]
N/A
[ CORE BONUSES ]
N/A
[ TALENTS ]
SCROUNGER 1, BLACK THUMB 1, GIANT KILLER 1
[ STATS ]
HULL:0 AGI:0 SYS:2 ENGI:0
STRUCTURE:4 HP:12 ARMOR:0
STRESS:4 HEATCAP:6 REPAIR:4
TECH ATK:+3 LIMITED:+0
SPD:4 EVA:8 EDEF:12 SENSE:15 SAVE:11
[ WEAPONS ]
MAIN/AUX MOUNT: Assault Rifle / Nexus (Light)
FLEX MOUNT: Charged Blade
[ SYSTEMS ]
Turret Drones x3, COMP/CON-Class Assistant Unit, EVA Module, Personalizations, Viral Logic Suite