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I don't post here often, so I'll just give some info that gives me a bit of credibility here.I'm a member/starter/one of many leaders for the House of Lords, winners of the PGI First Engagement Tournament and Run Hot or Die Season 3. I've come in first place for Mercenary Corporation in the two Faction Challenge Tournaments, and have 101 'Mechs with 2billion c-bills total accumulated. I've been playing MWO for about a year and a half now with experience in previous competitive FPS games, and a lot of experience competitively with MechWarrior: Online.
And now, onto the important part
Clan Mech and Weapon Balance
It's almost been a week since Clans have been released. While we all feel things are revitalized and refreshed, the weapons and how they've been balanced previous to Clans should not be forgotten. The energy, ballistic, and missile weapons are still the three main groups, and new ones with new mechanics have simply been added. This may slightly change the way balancing will be approached, but there are still general rules of thumb balancing much abide by in order to reach some form of equality between all 'Mechs and playstyles.
For example, we have learned, that in an FPS game, pinpoint weapons are inherently overpowering. The Gauss, AC5s, and PPCs are the best weapons in the game due to that. With Clans, we saw the implementation of less pinpoint-oriented ACs. This example is the first of many issues in current imbalances with the meta-game post-clan launch.
The existence of Inner Sphere AutoCannons as it stands, being pinpoint, are inherently better than the Clan AutoCannons. Gauss, both as an IS and Clan weapon, performs better than other Clan ballistics and equal to Inner Sphere ballistics.
This brings me to my next point. With the introduction of Clans, overall Damage-per-second (DPS) has increased. Sustained DPS has also increased. This means Time-to-Kill (TTK) has decreased. For those who remember the introduction of the Stalker before SRMs had their splash damage removed and received a nerf, it was the first 'Mech with the ability to truly high-damage alpha. While the 'Mech worked well in it's time, in the current environment with Clans, it would not.
The introduction of Clans is similar to the Stalker, only it is much proportionately larger. Alphas have even more damage, and there is a greater ability to have greater sustained DPS. This increase causes issues mostly in the lower weights of the game, removing their viability due to having no survivability. Their armor means nothing if it can't take the damage.
Our first lesson: We saw this with the Locust in the Inner Sphere. That viability has now reached other light 'Mechs. Armor given to 25, 30, and even 35 tonners has now become almost meaningless. Lights are almost cornered exclusively into a end of game clean-up role. They can no longer use their speed to take small amounts of damage and dodge many shots, and risk being the squirrel to the dog that is the enemy team. They have lost that role as 'Mechs.
Now to bring this all full-circle and back to the pinpoint weapon balance, Time to Kill needs to be increased in order for Lights, and even mediums, to be more viable again. It's why I don't believe bringing everything up to the viability of current pinpoint is the solution, and the solution is rather to nerf the current pinpoint weapons to decrease DPS, increase TTK, and make 'Mechs with less armor more viable.
Not only is there more damage being done, but the range of engagements has increased. This means, even with the return of SRM hit registration, closing in the gap for brawlers is even more difficult than before. Since many lights, mediums, and heavys can make great use out of the power missile weapon, SRMs, they will die before they get to the fight due to the large DPS being put out by today's current meta-'Mechs.
Even with the addition of heat generated by jumpjet use and fall damage, I still believe that weapon balance is a much different monster. JJs are a monster on it's own, weapons still need adjustments.
Also, since I believe this 'Mech deserves it's own section, the Timberwolf is an atrocity on balance in this game and needs to be nerfed. It is 75tons, goes 89kph, and is better than all of Clan Assaults, Heavys, Mediums, and Lights at literally everything. It can loadout nearly anything, and can out maneuver anything. This is a massive issue.
That being said,
Possible Solutions:
2xClan ERPPCs is ridiculously overpowered. Following the current implemented Ghost Heat rule, firing two should cause Ghost Heat. This will require two separate shots, and if you want pinpoint, it's at the penalty of quite a bit of heat.
With the introduction of longer range engagements, Clan laser duration needs to be increased. Clan pulse laser duration needs to be decreased.
This may be the one change that is opposite to my philosophy, but I feel the current IS AC5s are in a good place. They have decent range, decent damage, use good weight and slots, etc. I feel the IS AC10s/AC2s need a buff. Clan ACs, however, are burst fire. They are definitely lacking in comparison to IS ACs. Clan ACs need the duration of shells being fired decreased. The spread is too much and cannot compete with any pinpoint ballistics.
For the Timberwolf: The acceleration, twist rate, jumpjet speed, the whole nine yards needs to hit it. It has above average hitboxes which make it difficult to hit when moving quickly or torso twisting fast.
Of course, values need to be adjusted as well, but that's not really an area I like to speculate with. I think these are simply the directions, and the values are the fine-tuning. If anyone wants to throw some number adjustments out there for the sake of discussion, feel free
Now that I've typed what I feel like I know best about this game, what do you think about it? What should happen to missiles? Which 'Mech quirks and loadouts are overpowered to you? How do you think things are currently stacking up?
Thanks for reading
Thanks for reading
Edited by heimdelight, 22 June 2014 - 04:56 PM.
