Only 3 Mechs normal?

Yes, he's not available in your build.

The next update will have a different system for unlocking the pilots (based on dropship level). Zeke (Zeth's new name) will be available after you level up.

speaking of dropship level, I haven't seen anywhere where it shows how much xp is needed to get to the next lvl, or how much you have currently of that lvl.  Am I missing that info somewhere or is it not yet (or not going to be) implemented?

Also, is there any plans for the future of adding bonus abilities or stats or something at certain dropship levels?  Like maybe a bonus to scrap or credits on mission/scenario completion?  Or perhaps a bonus to dropship, building, and/or drone health the higher your dropship level is? (that would make your dropship last longer at higher levels at least, and make it so abilities never start to one shot buildings at the highest levels)

I hope so, egable found an item combo that can 2 shot a base if the mech makes it to it alive :o Also I did creep rock city with him and he could hold off more creeps than the insane ai mechs with 1 mech. He told me he got a weapon earlier that does 50 dps with splash damage with an area of 4 and it can aoe down creeps and drones very fast.

I hope nothing like that gets added. Players should not get advantages over others just because they have played for longer. That's the kind of thing guaranteed to kill a game hoping to have any MP community. Better off just rebalancing any crazy weapons or parts that are OP. Parts should ideally all be sidegrades that offer different playstyles and combos - not just straight up better or more powerful so that playtime handicaps new players.

I was replying under the impression that there would be a matchmaking system of some kind, like some combination of dropship level and average servo quality #.  If that were the case they wouldn't have the advantage because they would be matched with players within their dropship class. 

Another nice feature would be maybe adding guns to the dropship at a certain lvl.

I fully admit I'm not a huge pvper, so you'll have to forgive if my opinions are from a campaign progression perspective.  Where one would expect the parts to get progressively better.

Quoting Dracohouston, reply 3

I hope so, egable found an item combo that can 2 shot a base if the mech makes it to it alive

My sentiments exactly, though Ekko_tek's suggestion of just re-balancing the parts would be better in the long run.  A combo like that would OP in both PvP and Campaign.

Great feedback on my question guys, keep it up!  Lets give the Servo team all the info they need to do things right.

There will be matchmaking, right now there isn't because there aren't many players.

From the FAQ

How will Servo stay balanced if people are equipping all these different parts?

There are two answers to that... First, and most importantly, we are building the matchmaking to take the strength and skill of the players into account so you have evenly-matched opponents to play. Second, we believe in giving players options in all phases of gameplay. As you collect new parts for your Servos, you'll get more options about what they can do. That doesn't necessarily equate to being more powerful, though. Skill will be the dominant factor in determining the winner of a PvP match or how many waves a co-op team can clear. No matter what you're up against, there's always a response available if you're good enough to pull it off.

That's the way we're looking at it. We are fully aware that the hardcore want to fight with 'even up' stuff. We assume, like a lot of games, that the hardcore will be at max level pretty quickly. The path up should be handled by matchmaking, of course.

In any event, we are adding some buffs to the non-Servo parts of the RTS game based on dropship level in order to have the rest of the game keep pace with the Servos. If the Servos get better gear over time and the rest of the RTS game doesn't "keep up", then there's a weird balance shift that occurs. If we don't do that, then the Servos gain more importance the longer you play and the RTS options you have dwindle.

Yes, we will show you the effects of the dropship level. Likely in update after the next one.