13 replies to this topic

[Russ Bullock]

As you may be aware, our resources are currently focused 100% on Community Warfare Phase 2.
However, there are quite a few items that are currently in branch testing at PGI that I wanted to give you an update on... I do not have a firm patch delivery date for most of these items yet, though they should all be released in the months of October and November. I wanted to give everyone a heads up on those items so you can see some of the improvements coming in the future.

Fall Damage
I have instructed the team to make a small adjustment to fall damage for Medium and Light class 'Mechs. Currently Medium, Heavy, and Assault class 'Mechs all take falling damage at 35 m/s, with Light class 'Mechs starting at 38 m/s. After some more testing, we have decided to leave Heavy and Assault class'Mechs as they stand, but we will be slightly increasing Medium class 'Mechs to 39 m/s and increasing Lights to 46 m/s.

I feel this will feel a little bit better for the more mobile Medium 'Mechs and provide a much better feeling for fast-moving jump-capable Lights overall.

ETA: Oct 7th patch. - Integrated Oct 7th - bug fixes in for Oct 21st - same values but they currently dont work in Testing grounds - will be fixed for Oct 21st.

Jump Jet Thrust
Since the adjustment of JJ thrust, along with fall damage, we have seen 'pop-tarting' gameplay decrease to a much more acceptable level. I think everyone agrees this is a positive step for MWO. However, I think certain 'Mechs, well-represented by the Summoner (who takes 5+ JJ into combat), are not receiving enough of a benefit for taking them into battle. I am going to be making a small adjustment to allow the thrust to increase a little bit faster as you add more JJs. This will make those 'Mechs feel a little more mobile and give more advantage to 'Mechs that dedicate more space to JJ.

ETA: Oct 21st patch.

Jump Jet Turn Rate
While analyzing why certain players still enter combat with as little as 1-2 JJs, we discovered (or at least reminded ourselves) that the JJ turn rate while in the air was the same whether you had 1 JJ or 5+. This is obviously a huge disadvantage for 'Mechs such as the Summoner that have 5 fixed JJs for 5 tons. We are making an adjustment so that the turn rate while in the air while using JJs will increase with the number of JJs equipped. This means that a 'Mech such as the Summoner will have a more appropriate advantage in a brawling situation over a non-jump capable Heavy, or one utilizing far less JJs. This, in combination with the small change in JJ thrust, should mean 'Mechs such as the Summoner will have a more appropriate advantage for its tonnage spent on JJs.

ETA: Unknown - critical engine issue discovered with an "on the ground" flag interfering with this change - for this is tabled and mech's ability to turn in the air while firing JJ will continue to be determined solely by their engine size. Proper integration TBD.

Omnimech Fixed Jump Jet Slots
The current rule for Omnimechs is that slots are set by the Prime variant. For instance, the Prime variant of the Summoner has 5 fixed JJs and this rule is dictated across each variant. We are expanding this rule slightly when it comes specifically to Jump Jets so that the rule is determined by the variant instead. What this can mean, for example, is that the Timber Wolf S variant will come with 5 fixed JJs. This also means that if you are using (again, for example) the Timber Wolf Prime and decide to equip the RT omnipod of the Timber Wolf S you will have 2 fixed Jump Jets and another 2 if you equip the LT omnipod.

This should result in a much more fair relationship between Clan 'Mech variants and chassis.

ETA: Oct 21st patch - I will know in the next 24 hours if this is confirmed for Oct 21st or not.

Destruction of a Clan Side Torso
Although we hope to eventually put in a full engine critical hit system that would affect both IS and Clan 'Mechs, we are going to start out with a change to place some penalty on a Clan 'Mech that loses a side torso. Essentially, there needs to be some penalty for losing 2 critical engine slots. Using the tabletop game as a guideline, we have decided to not make movement a part of the penalty but to save that for some future implementation on the effects of heat on your 'Mechs functionality. A Clan engine has a total of 10 critical engine slots and the destruction of a Side Torso in a clan ‘Mech means the loss of two of those slots, or 20%. With this in mind, we have decided to implement a rule that the destruction of a side torso in a Clan 'Mech will result in a loss of 20% of the engines internal heat sink capacity. By way of example, a Timber Wolf with 15 internal engine heat sinks will lose the cooling equivalent of 3 of those heat sinks. A small penalty, but we feel that heat sink loss along with the loss of everything in that torso and arm will be enough.

ETA: Oct 7th patch.

Updated Reward System
Since the implementation of the Queue size window, we have been working on an improvement to the reward system to help promote the use of Medium and Light 'Mechs. What we have done is rework the rewards table by adding some brand new rewards, as well as adjusting how the current ones work. Once implemented, it should represent a moderate improvement to the Role Warfare pillar of MWO.

ETA: Oct 21st - looking good for Oct 21st - will have confirmation in the next 24 hours.

Inner Sphere Quirk System
The capabilities of the quirk system continue to grow. Our first full quirk pass with the new system has taken the input of several players, including competitive team members. This has allowed us to categorize each Inner Sphere 'Mech, from Tier 1 being the best to Tier 5 being the least competitive. Tier 1 Mech's won't receive any quirks at this point in time, while Tier 5 ‘Mechs will be receiving serious attention. We also made every attempt to give each variant a particular role: e.g. the Hunchback 4G has weapon-specific AC20 quirks, general energy weapon quirks, and Armor/Internal hit point quirks to the right torso. For the greatest impact, players will want to have an AC 20 with energy weapons. Other weapon configurations will still benefit from a subset of the quirks but will prevent the player from reaching the full potential of the variant. We hope to be testing the complete quirk pass by mid-week.

ETA: Nov 4th patch - Didn't quite make the Oct 21st patch but we aim to have a final release candidate by the end of the week which will ensure it for the Nov 4th patch.

For feedback, please comment here: http://mwomercs.com/...d-map-feedback/

[Russ Bullock]

I have updated the release dates a bit, lots will come in for the 21st it looks like.

Also here is the Tier list we are using, I am sure plenty of debate will ensue. I will listen to requested changes but remember everyone will want to push their favorite down the tier list so it can get more buffs. This was created with great consideration from those that are always looking for the most competitive builds.

Another note is remember that the negative quirks on the Victor have been flushed so it is now considered a tier 1 mech again, which is why it is listed as such.

Another note is to remember that the existing quirks we gave the Awesome, Dragon, Centurion and Hunchback are being flushed for new ones that go a lot further -

	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4	Tier 5
Light	JR7-F FS9-E	RVN-3L JR7-D	COM-2D COM-DK SDR-5D SDR-A FS9-A FS9-H FS9-K FS9-S JR7-K JR7-O	LCT-1E LCT-3M RVN-4X	LCT-1M LCT-1V LCT-3S COM-1B COM-1D COM-3A SDR-5K SDR-5V RVN-2X
Medium		SHD-2D SHD-2D2 SHD-2H SHD-2K SHD-5M GRF-1N GRF-3M	CDA-3M CDA-2A BJ-1 BJ-A HBK-4P CN9-A TBT-LDG KTO-18 KTO-GB GRF-S	CDA-2B CDA-X5 BJ-1DC BJ-1X BJ-3 VND-1AA VND-1R VND-SIB VND-1X CN9-AL CN9-D CN9-YLW HBK-4H HBK-4J HBK-4SP TBT-3C TBT-5J TBT-5N TBT-7K TBT-7M GRF-1S GRF-1E KTO-19 KTO-20 WVR-6R WVR-7K	CDA-3C HBK-4G HBK-GI WVR-6K
Heavy	CTF-3D	JM6-F	DRG-Flame QKD-5K CPLT-K2 CPLT-J CPLT-A1 CTF-IM JM6-A JM6-DD JM6-S	DRG-1C QKD-4H QKD-IV4 CPLT-C1 TDR-9SE CTF-1X CTF-2X CTF-4X ON1-V ON1-VA ON1-K ON1-M ON1-P	DRG-1N DRG-5N DRG-Fang QKD-4G CPLT-C4 TDR-5S TDR-5SS TDR-9S
Assault	VTR-9B VTR-9S VTR-9K VTR-DS	STK-M STK-3F STK-5M HGN-733C AS7-D-DC	AWS-8R BLR-3M HGN-732 HGN-733 HGN-733P HGN-HM BNC-3E BNC-3M BNC-3S AS7-D AS7-RS AS7-BH	BLR-1D BLR-1G BLR-HS BLR-1S BLR-3S STK-3H STK-4N STK-5S BNC-LM AS7-K	AWS-8Q AWS-8T AWS-8V AWS-9M AWS-PB

Please give us your feedback here: http://mwomercs.com/...back-continued/

Edited by Nikolai Lubkiewicz, 30 September 2014 - 01:04 PM.
Table Added

[Russ Bullock]

The Huginn is missing from the tables but it is listed as tier 5

[Russ Bullock]

Correction

Fall Damage

Assaults start taking fall damage at 33 not 35

[Russ Bullock]

Hopeful to be testing IS quirk pass internally today

[Russ Bullock]

Updated the release dates of various items.

[Russ Bullock]

IS Quirk pass update.

I spent the entire day and got about half way done implementing a global change to the initial IS Quirk pass. It always felt that phase 2 of this IS Quirk pass was going to help broaden the reach of what weapons they impacted.

Therefore I decided since the Quirk pass was delayed until Nov 4th anyhow I had time to implement these changes now.

So here is where we ended up by way of example:

Hunchback 4G - Tier 5 Brawler

Additional Armor (RT) +18
Additional Structure (RT) +12
AC/20 Range +12.5%
Ballistic Weapon Range +12.5%
AC/20 Cooldown +12.5%
Ballistic Weapon Cooldown +12.5%
AC/20 Velocity +12.5%
Ballistic Weapon Velocity +12.5%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -15%
Energy Weapon Range +15%


- Yes all of the values stack with each other.
- Yes Cooldown is represented with a + symbol but that means being able to fire your weapon faster.

So you can see that we still completely accomplish our goal of making a statement that this 4G is about the AC20 and the quirks will stack in a way to make it just as effective as the previous quirk pass I teased last week. However now if you simply must take out AC2's then you will still bring in half of the ballistic benefit.

The new rule set is that each Weapon Specific quirk gives half to the specific weapon and half to the global family.


As compared to the Hunchback 4H - Tier 4 Skirmisher

Additional Armor (RT) +18
Additional Structure (RT) +12
AC/10 Range +10%
Ballistic Weapon Range +10%
AC/10 Cooldown +10%
Ballistic Weapon Cooldown +10%
Medium Laser Cooldown +10%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +10%
Medium Laser Heat Gen -10%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -10%

[Russ Bullock]

I finished with the quirk update yesterday and hope that QA will be back on testing the entire pass. Things look good for a Nov 4th release.

[Russ Bullock]

Locust 1E - Tier 4 Brawler

Additional Structure (LL&RL) +8
Armor Strength (LA&RA) 50%
Small Laser Range +30%
Energy Weapon Range +30%
Small Laser Heat Gen -10%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -10%

Movement:

• 
  Acceleration +25%
  
• 
  Deceleration +50%

Locust 1M - Tier 5 Skirmisher

Additional Structure (LL&RL) +8
Armor Strength (LA&RA) 50%
Medium Laser Range +12.5%
Energy Weapon Range +12.5%
Medium Laser Cooldown -12.5%
Energy Weapon Cooldown -12.5%
Medium Laser Heat Gen -12.5%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -12.5%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +15%
Missile Weapon Heat Gen -15%
Movement:

• 
  Acceleration +25%
  
• 
  Deceleration +50%

Locust 1V - Tier 5 Support

Additional Structure (LL&RL) +8
Armor Strength (LA&RA) 50%
ER-Large Cooldown +25%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +25%
ER-Large Duration -12.5%
Laser Duration -12.5%
Energy Weapon Range +15%
Ballistic Weapon Range +15%
Movement:

• 
  Acceleration +25%
  
• Deceleration +50%

Locust 3M - Tier 4 Brawler

Additional Structure (LL&RL) +8
Armor Strength (LA&RA) 50%
Small Pulse Range +30%
Energy Weapon Range +30%
Small Pulse Cooldown +10%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +10%

Movement:

• 
  Acceleration +25%
  
• Deceleration +50%

Locust 3S - Tier 4 Skirmisher

Additional Structure (LL&RL) +8
Armor Strength (LA&RA) 50%
Medium Laser Range +12.5%
Energy Weapon Range +12.5%
Medium Laser Cooldown +12.5%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +12.5%
Missile Weapon Range +30%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +15%
Movement:

• 
  Acceleration +25%
  
• Deceleration +50%

[Russ Bullock]

Jenner Oxide - Tier Brawler

SRM/4 Range +7.5%
Missile Weapon Range +7.5%
SRM/4 Cooldown +7.5%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +7.5%
SRM/4 Heat Gen -7.5%
Missile Weapon Heat Gen -7.5%

Note negative quirks from before are removed.

Raven Huginn - Tier 5 Brawler

Additional Structure (LL&RL) +4
Additional Structure (RA&LA) +3
MGun Range +12.5%
Ballistic Weapon Range +12.5%
SRM/4 Range +12.5%
Missile Weapon Range +12.5%
SRM/4 Cooldown +25%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +25%
Missile Weapon Heat Gen 15%

Cicada X5 - Tier 4 Skirmisher

Additional Armor (RA&LA) +12
Medium Laser Range +10%
Energy Weapon Range +10%
Medium Laser Heat Gen -10%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -10%
Medium Laser Duration -10%
Laser Weapon Duration -10%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +12.5%

Centurion CN9-A Tier 3 Skirmisher

Additional Armour (LA) +16
Additional Structure (RA) +16
SRM/4 Cooldown +7.5%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +7.5%
SRM/4 Range +7.5%
Missile Weapon Range +7.5%
Laser Duration -10%
Movement:

• 
  Torso yaw speed +25%
  
• 
  Turn rate +10%
  
• Deceleration +10%

Note removal of the negative quirk it currently has

Centurion CN9-AH Estimated to be a Tier 4 Brawler like YLW

Additional Armour (LA) +16
Additional Structure (RA) +16
AC/20 Cooldown +10%
Ballistic Weapon Cooldown +10%
AC/20 Velocity +10%
Ballistic Weapon Velocity +10%
SRM/4 Cooldown +10%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +10%
SRM/4 Range +10%
Missile Weapon Range +10%
Movement:

• 
  Torso yaw speed +35%
  
• 
  Turn rate +10%
  
• Deceleration +10%

Centurion Yen Lo Wang - Tier 4 Brawler

Additional Armour (LA) +16
Additional Structure (RA) +16
AC/20 Range +10%
Ballistic Weapon Range +10%
AC/20 Cooldown +10%
Ballistic Weapon Cooldown +10%
AC/20 Velocity +10%
Ballistic Weapon Velocity +10%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +12.5%
Movement:

• 
  Torso yaw speed +56.3%
  
• 
  Torso pitch speed +24.4%
  
• Turn rate +5%

Old movement quirk values are retained for now - a future quirk pass will look at movement quirks across the board.

Hunchback Grid Iron - Tier 5 Skirmisher

Additional Armor (RT) +18
Additional Structure (RT) +12
Medium Pulse Range +12.5%
Energy Weapon Range +12.5%
Medium Pulse Heat Gen -12.5%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -12.5%
UAC/5 Cooldown +12.5%
Ballistic Weapon Cooldown +12.5%
UAC/5 Velocity +12.5%%
Ballistic Weapon Velocity +12.5%
Ballistic Weapon Range +15%
Movement:

• 
  Torso yaw speed +37.5%
  
• Torso pitch speed +10%

Wolverine 6K - Tier 5 Skirmisher

Additional Structure (RA) +18
Large Pulse Range +25%
Energy Weapon Range +25%
Large Pulse Cooldown +12.5%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +12.5%
Large Pulse Heat Gen -12.5%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -12.5%
Missile Weapon Range +15%
Movement:

• Torso yaw speed +25%

Catapult K2 - Tier 3 Skirmisher

Medium Laser Range +7.5%
Energy Weapon Range +7.5%
Medium Laser Duration -7.5%
Laser Weapon Duration -7.5%
Ballistic Weapon Cooldown +10%

Cataphract Ilya Muromets - Tier 3 Skirmisher

AC/10 Velocity +7.5%
Ballistic Weapon Velocity +7.5%
Medium Laser Cooldown +7.5%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +7.5%
Medium Laser Duration -7.5%
Laser Weapon Duration -7.5%

Awesome 8Q - Tier 5 Support

Additional Structure CT +20
Additional Structure LT +10
Structure Strength RT +10
PPC Heat Generation -12.5%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -12.5%
PPC Range +12.5%%
Energy Weapon Range +12.5%
PPC Velocity +25%
PPC Cooldown +12.5%
Energy Weapon Cooldown 12.5%
Laser Duration -15%
Movement:

• 
  Torso yaw speed +10%
  
• Torso pitch speed +10%

Awesome Pretty Baby - Tier 5 Skirmisher

Additional Structure CT +20
Additional Structure LT +10
Structure Strength RT +10
Large Laser Cooldown +25%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +25%
Large Laser Range +12.5%
Energy Weapon Range +12.5%
Large Laser Heat Gen -12.5%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -12.5%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +15%
Movement:

• 
  Torso yaw speed +10%
  
• 
  Torso pitch speed +10%
  
• Turn rate +5%

Stalker 4N - Tier 4 Skirmisher

Large Laser Range +10%
Energy Weapon Range +10%
Large Laser Cooldown +10%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +10%
Large Laser Heat Gen -10%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -10%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +12.5%

Atlas Boar's Head - Tier 3 Skirmisher

Additional Structure (RT&LT) +11
AC/10 Velocity +7.5%
Ballistic Weapon Velocity +7.5%
Medium Pulse Range +7.5%
Energy Weapon Range +7.5%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -10%

Atlas AS7-S - Tier 3 Brawler

Additional Structure (RT&LT) +11
AC/20 Velocity +7.5%
Ballistic Weapon Velocity +7.5%
SRM/4 Cooldown +7.5%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +7.5%
Laser Duration -10%

Banshee La Malinche - Tier 4 Skirmisher

Large Pulse Laser Heat Gen -10%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -10%
Large Pulse Laser Range +10%
Energy Weapon Range +10%
AC/10 Range +10%
Ballistic Weapon Range +10%
AC/10 Cooldown +10%
Ballistic Weapon Cooldown +10%

Dragon Fang - Tier 5 Skirmisher

Additional Structure CT +24
Additional Structure RA +6
AC/10 Cooldown +12.5%
Ballistic Weapon Cooldown +12.5%
AC/10 Velocity +12.5%
Ballistic Weapon Velocity +12.5%
Large Pulse Cooldown +12.5%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +12.5%
Large Pulse Range +12.5%
Energy Weapon Range +12.5%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -15%

Dragon 5N - Tier 5 Support

Additional Structure CT +24
Additional Structure RA +6
AC/2 Cooldown +12.5%
Ballistic Weapon Cooldown +12.5%
AC/2 Heat Gen -12.5%
Ballistic Weapon Heat Gen -12.5%
ER-LL Heat Generation -12.5%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -12.5%
ER-LL Cooldown +12.5%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +12.5%
ER-LL Duration -12.5%
Laser Weapon Cooldown -12.5%
Movement:

• Torso yaw speed +10%

Obviously very different from the Champion build - but the game has evolved greatly since then - with 3 ballistic hard points this was the path that made the most sense to reach its greatest impact as a support Heavy.

[Russ Bullock]

Vindicator SIB - Tier 3 Skirmisher

Large Laser Range +7.5%
Energy Weapon Range +7.5%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +10%

[Russ Bullock]

Spider 5V - Tier 5 Skirmisher

Medium Pulse Laser Range +12.5%
Energy Weapon Range +12.5%
Medium Pulse Cooldown +12.5%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +12.5%
Medium Pulse Duration -12.5%
Laser Weapon Duration -12.5%
Medium Pulse Heat Gen -12.5%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -12.5%

Spider 5K - Tier 5 Support

ER-Large Cooldown +12.5%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +12.5%
ER-Large Range +12.5%
Energy Weapon Range +12.5%
ER-Large Duration -12.5%
Laser Weapon Duration -12.5%
Ballistic Weapon Range +15%

Kintaro - 18 - Tier 3 Support

LRM/5 Cooldown +7.5%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +7.5%
LRM/5 Heat Gen -7.5%
Missile Weapon Heat Gen -7.5%
Laser Duration -10%

Wolverine 6R - Tier 4 Support

AC/5 Cooldown +20%
Ballistic Weapon Cooldown +20%
Missile Weapon Range +12.5%

QuickDraw IV-Four - Tier 4 Support

Additional Armor (LA&RA) +10
Additional Structure (LL&RL) +7
AC/5 Cooldown +10%
Ballistic Weapon Cooldown +10%
AC/5 Velocity +10%
Ballistic Weapon Velocity +10%
Missile Weapon Range +12.5%

QuickDraw 4G - Tier 5 Skirmisher

Additional Armor (LA&RA) +10
Additional Structure (LL&RL) +7
Medium Laser Range +12.5%
Energy Weapon Range +12.5%
Medium Laser Heat Gen -12.5%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -12.5%
Large Laser Duration +12.5%
Laser Weapon Duration +12.5%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +15%

Catapult A1 - Tier 3 Support

Missile Weapon Heat Gen -10%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +10%

[Russ Bullock]

Hunchback 4P - Tier 3 Skirmisher

Additional Armor (RT) +18
Additional Structure (RT) +12
Medium Laser Cooldown +7.5%
Energy Weapon Cooldown +7.5%
Medium Laser Duration -7.5%
Laser Weapon Duration -7.5%
Energy Weapon Heat Gen -10%

[Russ Bullock]

Some were asking about how we define Brawler, Skirmisher, Support. Basically the title defines what weapons we quirk.

Role Quirk Definition

A role determines the optional setting for a mech to perform at it’s said maximum performance level. Roles are defined as:

Brawler - Short
Energy (Heat Generation, Cooldown, Duration)

• 
  Small Laser
  
• 
  Small Pulse
  
• 
  Flamer

Ballistic (Heat Generation, Cooldown, Range, Velocity)

• 
  Machine Guns
  
• 
  AC/20
  
• 
  LB-10-X

Missile (Heat Generation, Cooldown, Range, Velocity, Spread)

• 
  Streak /2
  
• 
  SRM/2
  
• 
  SRM/4
  
• 
  SRM/6

Skirmisher - Med
Energy (Heat Generation, Cooldown, Duration)

• 
  Medium Laser
  
• 
  Large Laser
  
• 
  Medium Pulse
  
• 
  Large Pulse

Ballistic (Heat Generation, Cooldown, Range, Velocity)

• 
  UAC/5
  
• 
  AC/10

Support - Long
Energy (Heat Generation, Cooldown, Duration)

• 
  PPC
  
• 
  ERPPC
  
• 
  ERLarge Laser

Ballistic (Heat Generation, Cooldown, Range, Velocity)

• 
  AC/2
  
• 
  AC/5
  
• 
  Guass

Missile (Heat Generation, Cooldown, Velocity, Spread)

• 
  LRM/5
  
• 
  LRM/10
  
• 
  LRM/15
  
• 
  LRM/20

When you are dealing with this many mechs it is important to work off of some sort of base rule set - as we grow this point forward we may see more individuality beyond these three categories.