1
Awesome.
People sometimes talk about hardpoint limits as an alternate way of balancing mechs. It's something I'm a big fan of, but we all know that (as presented so far) it's a no-go, because it limits customization.
What if it didn't?
My proposal:
- Remove the current 'Weapon Module' system completely. Instead of weapon modules that apply throughout the entire 'mech, each weapon hardpoint gets its OWN Weapon Module - one Weapon Module per hardpoint. Instead of accessing these through the 'Modules' tab, you simply right-click on the weapon to pick which Module to apply to it, if any.
- Weapon hardpoints are classified into three types per category: Heavy Energy, Light Energy, Omni Energy, Heavy Ballistic, Light Ballistic, Omni Ballistic, LRM, SRM, and Omni Missile.
- These hardpoint types have no effect on restricting what kinds of weapons you can mount! Load up whatever you want; a heavy ballistic mount can hold a machinegun just as easily as a light ballistic mount can hold an AC20.
- However, mounts are limited in what kinds of Weapon Modules can be mounted into them, like so:
* Light Ballistic - Machinegun +50% Range, AC/2 +33% Range, AC/5 +25% Range, Ultra AC/5 +25% Range, AC/2 -50% Heat, AC/5 -20% Heat, AC/2 +25% Cooldown, AC/5 +33% Cooldown, Ultra AC/5 +25% Cooldown, Ultra AC/5 -33% Jam, AC/2 +25% Velocity, AC/5 +33% Velocity, Ultra AC/5 +33% Velocity, Machine Gun +15% Crit Chance. Each Light Ballistic module costs 50,000 C-bills.
* Heavy Ballistic - (Any) +25% Range, (Any) -20% Heat, (Any) -20% Cooldown, Gauss Rifle -25% Charge Time, (Any) +20% Velocity, AC/20 +50% Velocity, LB-10X +15% Crit Chance. Each Heavy Ballistic module costs 100,000 C-bills.
* Light Energy - Small Laser -25% Duration, Medium Laser -25% Duration, Small Pulse Laser -33% Duration, Medium Pulse Laser -33% Duration, Flamer +33% Range, Small Laser +50% Range, Medium Laser +33% Range, Small Pulse Laser +33% Range, Medium Pulse Laser +33% Range, Flamer -50% Heat/+50% Enemy Heat, Small Laser -25% Heat, Medium Laser -33% Heat, Small Pulse Laser -33% Heat, Medium Pulse Laser -40% Heat, Small Laser -33% Cooldown, Medium Laser -25% Cooldown, Small Pulse Laser -33% Cooldown, Medium Pulse Laser -25% Cooldown. Each Light Energy module costs 50,000 C-bills.
* Heavy Energy - (Any Laser) -15% Duration, (Any) +20% Range, (Any) -20% Heat, (Any) -20% Cooldown, PPC -50% Minimum Range, (Any PPC) +33% Velocity. Each Heavy Energy module costs 100,000 C-bills.
* SRM - (Any SRM) +33% Range, (Any SRM) -25% Cooldown, (Any SRM) -20% Heat, (Any SRM) -20% Spread. Each SRM Module costs 50,000 C-bills.
* LRM - (Any LRM) +20% Range, (Any LRM) -15% Cooldown, (Any LRM) -20% Heat, (Any LRM) -20% Spread, (Any LRM) -25% Minimum Range. Each LRM Module costs 50,000 C-bills.
* Omni mounts cannot mount Weapon Modules at all; omnimech technology uses standardized weapon systems.
This helps distinguish mechs like the Awesome (3 Heavy Energy mounts + 4 Light Energy Mounts) from the Battlemaster (1 Heavy Energy mount + 6 Light Energy Mounts), without having to specifically enforce or encourage a particular weapon load.
EDIT for clarification: If you put a Medium Laser into a Heavy Energy Mount, you ONLY have access to the Heavy Energy modules; in order to use Medium Laser-specific weapon modules you must mount it into a Light Energy mount. This is, for example, the difference between Medium Laser +33% Range and (Any) +20% Range.
EDIT 2: The current Mastery bonus (unlocking a single additional Mech/Module slot) would instead simply unlock the ability to purchase and apply Weapon modules for a given chassis.
Edited by Ialdabaoth, 01 October 2015 - 02:04 PM.
