Press Tab to bring up the main menu and select BattleMechs.
In this part of the menu, you will see all the mechs currently in your active hanger on the left, and those in the cold room on the right. A mech must be in your active hangar if you want to modify it (placing a mech in a cold room strips it of all equipment).
Once you've selected the mech you want to edit, click Edit Load at the bottom of the screen
This will bring you to the MechLab, which will showcase all of your available gear on the left, with your robot stats just above it. The first view is just the Weapons view, and depending on which mech and variant you have, you'll have different access points available. Some mechs have four small energy points, some have two medium ballistic orientation points and one large obstacle point, etc. You can filter your gear on Valid Only (which I recommend), by type, or even open the market to buy anything you might be missing (assuming the system you're in sells it). Anything you want to install can be either right clicked or dragged into the appropriate location.
For armor and equipment that is not a weapon, you will need to click on the Details button. This will bring you to a screen showing each part of the mechanic, its allocated armor, and where to place ammo, heat sinks, and more. Keep in mind that placing a weapon in a hard spot doesn't automatically provide it with ammo - you have to do it manually. You can also remove your robot from any equipment, remove it from any armor, maximize its armor (this will not exceed the maximum tonnage allowed, as the robot name shows in the top left), undo all changes made, and repair everything. damage parts of your robot.
You can place weapons of equal or smaller size in a hard spot, so if you're trying to maximize armor or squeeze more items into your robot, this is a valid way to lose weight. If you don't care about armor and are looking for raw firepower, you can use Strip Armor to peel your tonnage as far as you can, then use Max Armor to replenish it once your gear is set up. The plus and minus buttons allow you to change your armor manually, and holding the Shift key will allow you to increase or decrease the armor in five increments.
Once you are satisfied, be sure to click on Start Job. Your refitting total and the time it will take will be displayed at the bottom of the MechLab as you work, and a full breakdown will be provided once you select Start Work. Use the Home tab to wait for the refit, travel somewhere to cut down on the days, or even take on a mission to shake the clock (that's your call).
That's all it takes to edit your loadout in MechWarrior 5. For more guides, be sure to keep an eye out for our guides page.
