9 replies to this topic

[Deathlike]

If there's no way of getting PGI to "change" the state of ECM (the entire dynamic), why not work with the dynamic that probably is easier to negotate... the ECM cloaking range.

When it comes to Streaks... there's a very small radius where Streaks can actually target an ECM mech. 270m is max range, 180m is the ECM cloaking radius.

90m is not a lot of space to work with, and gives the ECM carrier a greater range of "leniency" for screwing up. Heck, putting on ECM doesn't really require its user to use the "Counter" function, so that LRM/streak allies may benefit... that's how impactful ECM itself is...

Anyways, my suggestion is to reduce the ECM radius from 180m to 120m (or 135m). A light mech has the speed to move to/from the distance required to close the gap. When it is @ 90m, there's no leniency for other light mechs to even use their own streaks. Reducing it to 135m would at least give the non-ECM light mech a 50% range reduction to work with.. not a 66% range reduction that the current system provides.

Adding in Advanced Sensors or BAP only increases the detection range by 50m or so (when stacked together, it's 100m or so), which is not a lot of room to work with in terms of detection... and any light mech is able to close such a gap pretty quickly.

Reducing the overall cloak range would reduce the effectiveness of ECM to levels even other light mechs can still be made competitive when using streaks.

[Corvus Antaka]

Id go so far as to say nurf it to 30 meters.

[Syllogy]

Colonel Pada Vinson, on 09 April 2013 - 03:08 PM, said:

Id go so far as to say nurf it to 30 meters.

It's a good thing that PGI has the telemetry to make more informed decisions.

[Deathlike]

Colonel Pada Vinson, on 09 April 2013 - 03:08 PM, said:

Id go so far as to say nurf it to 30 meters.

lol

But seriously... lowering the range would not entirely negate Streaks as the weapon as much as it does now... so light vs light combat has a chance to work.

That doesn't mean Streaks are fine or the interaction of LRM vs ECM... but it's a step in the right direction IMO.

[Corvus Antaka]

Syllogy, on 10 April 2013 - 12:17 PM, said:

It's a good thing that PGI has the telemetry to make more informed decisions.

Any other answer would have been smarter than this

[Syllogy]

Colonel Pada Vinson, on 10 April 2013 - 01:48 PM, said:

Any other answer would have been smarter than this

Really? How so?

[Corvus Antaka]

Syllogy, on 10 April 2013 - 02:06 PM, said:

Really? How so?

I'm just making fun Syllogy relax

[General Taskeen]

Syllogy, on 10 April 2013 - 12:17 PM, said:

It's a good thing that PGI has the telemetry to make more informed decisions.

And which camp do you belong to exactly.

[Adamski]

Having mastered all of the ECM mechs but the Spider, I like the idea of reducing ECM range to 30m for the cloak which means a single Atlas / ECM escort will not protect the entire lance from LRM barrages.

To be honest, I would rather they heavily nerfed ECM such that it wasnt a no brainer to equip it on every mech capable of it. Give the cloak field a very small radius of 100m or less, remove the short range missile lock completely and instead make it so missile locks require 2x as long to acquire. It keeps ECM as allowing scouts to scout from long range, but removes its ability to turn lights into these brawlers that are immune to their major counter of SSRMs.

[DerHuhnTeufel]

Adamski, on 11 April 2013 - 11:11 PM, said:

Having mastered all of the ECM mechs but the Spider, I like the idea of reducing ECM range to 30m for the cloak which means a single Atlas / ECM escort will not protect the entire lance from LRM barrages.

To be honest, I would rather they heavily nerfed ECM such that it wasnt a no brainer to equip it on every mech capable of it. Give the cloak field a very small radius of 100m or less, remove the short range missile lock completely and instead make it so missile locks require 2x as long to acquire. It keeps ECM as allowing scouts to scout from long range, but removes its ability to turn lights into these brawlers that are immune to their major counter of SSRMs.

The problem is that there shouldn't be hard counters. Streaks take away the only advantage a light mech has (being difficult to hit) in a fight. I'm not suggesting we stick with table top rules, but the only thing streaks did there was preserve ammo. Having an auto-hitting weapon in a game that otherwise requires aim is just ridiculous. LRMs aren't bad because most maps have a lot of cover and there's more warning with those.