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[InnerSphereNews]

Tuesday, February 20th 2018 @ 10AM – 1PM PST

Patch Number: 1.4.150.0

Standalone Client Patch Size: 109 MB

Steam Client Patch Size: 247 MB

Please note that due to compression differences the Steam patch size may be larger than the standalone client patch size.

Greetings MechWarriors, and Happy Lunar New Year!

The Black Lanner is here! This is the second 55 Ton Clan 'Mech to join the game! It also gives players a second option when maxing out tonnage in Scouting mode which recently had its max tonnage raised from 50 to 55 tons. The Black Lanner content is also now available in-game.

The Standard versions of the Customer Rewards Program are coming to the Gift Store along with a refresh of the in-game Trial 'Mech selection. A new auto-ban system is in place to deter disruptive players and our latest tuning values to quirks, weapons, and skills. Finally some Bug Fixes and Improvements to round out this patch.

Look forward to seeing you on the battlefield!

-The MechWarrior Team

Store Page

MC Release Date: July 3rd, 2018

C-Bill Release Date: August 7th, 2018

You can check out the Countdown post for more details about the Black Lanner as they are released

The Black Lanner also brings with it 3 new Colours for purchase with MC in-game. Early Adopters of a Black Lanner receive these colours for free.

Standard Versions of 2017 Customer Rewards Program Variants in the gift store

• UrbanMech UM-R68
• Griffin GRF-5M
• Kit Fox KFX-G
• Linebacker LBK-H
• Victor VTR-9A1

Trial 'Mechs have been updated to the following Selection:

IS

• Jenner JR7-F(C)
  
• Griffin GRF-1S(C)
  
• Catapult CPLT-A1(C)
  
• Zeus ZEU-6T(C)
  
• Panther PNT-10K(C)
  
• Blackjack BJ-1(C)
  
• Dragon DRG-5N(C)
  
• King Crab KGC-000B(C)
  

Clan

• Mist Lynx MLX-Prime(C)
  
• Shadow Cat SHC-Prime(C)
  
• Orion IIC ON1-IIC-A(C)
  
• Warhawk WHK-C(C)
  
• Arctic Cheetah ACH-Prime(C)
  
• Stormcrow SCR-Prime(C)
  
• Timber Wolf TBR-C(C)
  
• Highlander IIC HGN-IIC-C(C)
  

Auto Ban System

• New system implemented to auto-ban disruptive players

Rate of Heat Loss Quirks:

All Rate of Heat Loss quirks have been replaced with "Heat Dissipation" quirks.

Final Values of the Rate of Heat Loss quirks have been normalized dependent on engine availability.

- 13%

- Locust - all variants

- Urbanmech - all variants

- Piranha - all variants

- Mist Lynx - all variants

- Kit Fox - all variants

- Cougar - all variants

- 10%

- Commando - COM-2D

- Adder - all variants

- 7.5%

- Commando - COM-1B, COM-1D, COM-3A, COM-TDK

- Blackjack - BJ-1, BJ-1DC, BJ-2,BJ-3, BJ-A

- Vindicator - VND-1R, VND-1X

Rate of Heat Loss Design notes: It was brought to our attention that the previous "Rate of Heat Loss" quirk designed to offset the forced external heat sinks of lower engine capped 'Mechs was bugged and was not properly functioning. We have decided to shift these quirks over to the functional "Heat Dissipation" quirk in order to provide the intended boost to 'Mechs with a sub 250 engine class cap, while also consolidating the bonus into the same quirk provided by the skill tree. This means that the total bonus for both the native quirk plus skill tree investments is displayed as a singular value, and no longer tracking through two separate quirk entries.

As part of the shift from the non-functional "Rate of Heat Loss" to the functional "Heat Dissipation" enhancement, we have reviewed and normalized the enhancement to reach a common baseline dissipation rate for 'Mechs that are receiving this corrective enhancement.

Mobility Skill Tree:

Torso Speed Node:

- Increase the bonus value for Heavy and Assault Nodes to 4% per node (from 3.5% per node.)

Torso Speed Design Notes: We are increasing the benefit gained from torso speed skill nodes to be consistent with the bonus provided by Medium 'Mech nodes. While only a small enhancement at this time, we are closely observing the mobility tree for possible future changes.

Energy:

- ER Micro Laser

- Heat reduced to 1.5 (from 1.7)

- Micro Pulse Laser

- Heat reduced to 1.5 (from 1.7)

- Small Laser

- Heat reduced to 1.25 (from 1.5)

- Small Pulse Laser

- Heat reduced to 1.5 (from 1.7)

- C-ER Small Laser

- Cooldown increased to 3.5 (from 3.2)

- C-Small Pulse Laser

- Heat reduced to 2.2 (from 2.4)

- Heavy Small Laser

- Heat reduced to 4 (from 4.25) (this was previously noted as heat reduced to 4.25(from 4.5) due to a typo)

Energy Design Notes: Given the short engagement range with Small and Micro Lasers, we want to provide them with more sustainability once you do close the distance and are engaged at close range with the weapons. The one exception to this is the Clan ER Small Laser. This weapon historically functions more like an IS standard Medium Laser for half the tonnage instead of any direct comparison to the rest of the small laser family. While we are not going to remove this property of the weapon at this time, we will be bringing the cooldown of the weapon up to match the IS Standard Medium Laser.

Missiles:

- Streak Missiles (All launchers.)

- Increased the frequency of torso based locations being targeted by the streak missiles as opposed to arms and legs.

Streak Design notes: The previous location tracking on streaks saw them biasing Arm and Leg locations over torso based locations. This often resulted in Streaks being highly efficient at seeking out Leg based locations on lighter 'Mechs, often destroying Leg locations in only a handful of volleys, while on heavier 'Mechs the Arm and Leg Bias saw streaks often seek out locations that were rarely targeted through conventional means. This change is designed to level out the location-based distribution to be much more evenly distributed between the missiles seeking torso based locations as opposed to Arm and Leg based Locations. This will result in more fairly distributed damage for lighter 'Mechs reducing the number of missiles that seek out leg based locations while increasing the Streak Launchers utility against Heavier 'Mechs by seeing an increased frequency in which they will naturally target torso based locations.

- MRM 30

- Heat increased to 9.5 (from 9)

MRM Design notes: We feel that the combination of relative tonnage efficiency, natural heat, and ability to fire up to 60 damage volleys without penalty have skewed the 30's just a bit above the rest of the MRM line up. We are providing it with a 5% increase in heat to provide it with a bit more give and take when compared to alternative MRM launcher types.

'Mech Quirks:

Rifleman:

- RFL-3N:

- Energy Range +10% quirk converted into a Universal Weapon Range +10% quirk

- RLF-3C:

- Ballistic Range +10% quirk converted into a Universal Weapon Range +10% quirk

- RLF-5D:

- Energy Range +10% quirk converted into a Universal Weapon Range +10% quirk

- PPC Heat Gen quirk increased to -10% (from -5%)

- Legend Killer

- Ballistic and Energy -10% quirks converted into a singular Universal Weapon Cooldown Quirk -10%

Rifleman Design Notes: When it came to the RFL-3N and RFL-3C, we wanted to provide a slight boost to their ability to trade at range with their entire load-out provided the 'Mechs overall fragility as a ranged support 'Mech. Because the 5D already was provided with a range quirk that covered its entire load-out, we wanted to provide it with a slight boost to its PPC sustainability, while also consolidating its range quirk into a universal range quirk so that they are not tallied as two separate entries when factoring in any skill point investment into range boosts.

At this time, we feel the Legend Killer did not need any additional help provided its natural structure boosts, but we have decided to consolidate its separate Ballistic and Energy Cooldown quirks into a universal quirk so that they are not counted as separate entries in the enhancement list when factoring in any skill point investments into cooldown improvements.

JagerMech:

- JM6-A

- Ballistic Range +10% quirk converted into a Universal Weapon Range +10% quirk

- JM6-DD

- Ballistic Range +10% quirk converted into a Universal Weapon Range +10% quirk

- JM6-S

- New Universal Weapon Range +10% quirk added

- Fire Brand

- New Universal Weapon Range +10% quirk added

Jagermech Design Notes. Like the Rifleman, we wanted to give a bit of a range boost to the Jagermech to play into its ranged support role. We have consolidated the range quirk in the A and the DD to be universal, while the S and Firebrand will be getting a new Universal Range quirk.

Thanatos:

- All variants: Torso Structure bonus' converted to Armor Bonus.

- Armor bonus value slightly increased from previous settings.

Thanatos Design Notes: We want to provide the Thanatos line with a slight boost to its overall survivability.

Victor:

- VTR-9B

- New Universal Weapon cooldown -10% quirk added

- Existing Ballistic cooldown -5% quirk removed

- VTR-9K

- New Universal Weapon cooldown -10% quirk added

- Existing Ballistic and Energy Cooldown -5% quirk removed.

Victor Design Notes: We wanted to provide a small boost to a pair of under-performing Victor Chassis to nudge them up when compared to alternative Victor Chassis'

Nest (Black Lanner Standing Item): 750 MC

Bird Pendant (Black Lanner Hanging Item): 500 MC

Cuckoo (Black Lanner Mounted Item): 750 MC

Lanner Falcon (Black Lanner Early Adopter Item): 750 MC

BLACK LANNER: Titles and Badges

STANDARD TITLE:

The Lanner

BADGE:

COLLECTORS TITLE:

The Raptor

COLLECTORS BADGE:

Black Lanner Decals:

"Falcon Strike" and "Falcon Head"

Art Fixes

• Rubellite Oasis - bad weapon collision on a lot of man-made objects
  
• Alpine Peak Grid G14 - Blinking light seen floating in the sky
  
• Escort - Alpine Peaks - VIP 'Mech gets stuck at K9/J9 against a mountain
  
• Viridian Bog - Cell E6 'Mech can get stuck
  

Server Improvements

• Some minor logging improvements to track down some overflow messages on the server
  
• Increased the buffer size for our client connections to reduce the number of dropped packets
  
• NEW Optimized queries on the friends table to address some slowdown warnings for users with very large friend/block lists
  
• These changes will have no discernible effect on the client, except that if they rarely get a mysterious "Unknown Failure" or another similar kind of error in the frontend, it should happen less often
  

Patch Files (Direct Download)

To make the patching process easier for players with limited download caps, we'll be providing direct download links for the patch file(s) that comprise this patch. This will allow you to download the patch file(s) elsewhere, for manual injection into the MWO patcher through a Patch Cache folder.

Aside from allowing you to download the patch file(s) elsewhere, on another connection, there are no additional benefits to performing the patch this way; the patching process itself will be the same.

This direct patch download process will only work for players running the standalone client. It does not apply to players running MWO through Steam.

Patch File(s): http://patcher.mwomercs.com/patch/Production/frontend/FrontendPatch_324.zip (link will be active at Patch Day)

How to use these patch files

• Download the above file(s)

• For sake of ease we recommend creating a dedicated folder for the patch file(s), such as 'MWO Patch Cache'

• You do not need to unzip or unpack the patch file(s)

• Launch the MWO Portal

• Select the three horizontal lines in the top left of the Portal Window

• Choose the 'Specify Patch File Cache' option

• In the field that appears, paste or enter the location in which you saved the patch file(s) and hit OK

• For example, C:\Users\<username>\Documents\MWO Patch Cache

• Click the blue Patch button

• The launcher will now check the Patch Cache folder you defined. If it locates the required patch files, it will unpack and use those files to apply the patch.

• Once the patch is complete, launch the game

[Zookeeper Dan]

Yay Thanatos! The armor quirks were much needed

[- World Eater -]

What circumstances trigger an auto-ban? Also, you may want to edit "Bundle of Piranhas" under new cockpit items.

[Nightbird]

Thanks for listening to the community and implementing the much needed balance changes!

[naterist]

wait wait wait. so, in regards to the mrm changes, your saying easily throwing out 60 pts of damage via a weapon system that consistently spreads its damage is to high? boy, oh boy do i have some hellbringer and ebon jaguar builds to show you guys.

Edited by naterist, 16 February 2018 - 04:26 PM.

[Matt Newman]

Re Auto-Ban System
The purpose of the system to specifically to address brand new accounts created for the purpose of Team killing.

[Rick Windwalker]

any contend incoming or is it still fighting more mechs (okok....nice mechs) in dead and boring arenas?

where is all the BATTLETECH from the books/techreadouts/novels?

Edited by Rick Windwalker, 16 February 2018 - 04:34 PM.

[a s s a i L]

When will invisible terrain hit boxes be fixed ?

[shameless]

You guys think ONLY 2 of the Victors are underperforming.....

That's the best damn joke I've heard this year. The last time I saw a Victor, I was piloting it because i lost a bet...

[Stealth 1S1K]

Matt Newman, on 16 February 2018 - 04:26 PM, said:

Re Auto-Ban System
The purpose of the system to specifically to address brand new accounts created for the purpose of Team killing.

Interesting but most of those griefers enjoy killing the high tier rather than new T5 so how do we remove them from the community

[denAirwalkerrr]

Wowee another 5 mechs got quarter of buffs they needed to become viable.

Edited by denAirwalkerrr, 16 February 2018 - 04:41 PM.

[Navid A1]

My take on those changes:

• lasers: meh... losers remain losers. whats 0.2 point of less heat? (even with 10 weapons, thats 2 less... lol)... DAMAGE is the name of the game PGI

• Streak component priority adjustments: as a light pilot I say: YES, YES, YES, YES!!!

• MRM30: 5 mechs with 20% cooldown quirks (not kidding on this one, go check) were good with MRM30... so.... LETS NERF MRM30!!!!!!... see?, THAT is the problem PGI.

Quote

MRM Design notes: We feel that the combination of relative tonnage efficiency, natural heat, and ability to fire up to 60 damage volleys without penalty have skewed the 30's just a bit above the rest of the MRM line up. We are providing it with a 5% increase in heat to provide it with a bit more give and take when compared to alternative MRM launcher types.

NO... Go check the quirks on QKD-IV4, CPLT-C4, TBT-7M and see for yourself (they all have 20% CD quirk btw).

MRM30 was being used since its the largest MRM with faster cooldown. (MRM 40 is the only one with the slowest CD, by a big margin)

Edited by Navid A1, 16 February 2018 - 04:48 PM.

[shopsmart]

As a piranha player, I like the laser changes. I will tip my hat to keeping the cER Sm L in line with Med L of IS. That makes sense and agree with that sentiment. Just slightly less range, but med L power.

[Sereglach]

I realize Paul wants to take balance in small bits, but this seems like the extreme of tiniest bite-sized adjustments that could be made at one time. PGI should certainly be able to both pull in top performing weapons that need nerfs as well as buff the lowest performing weapons that need buffs, at the same time . . . even if you only want to do one weapon category (energy, missile, and ballistic) at once. I guess it's at least some balance, but I was hoping incremental changes meant a larger amount of incremental changes each patch.

Oh well, I guess we'll take what we can get for now and keep an eye out as the patches come.

Also, in response to the desire to do things in bite sized chunks, here's a bite-sized plan to fix Flamers that I'd cordially request PGI to implement in some form:
First Patch - Reduce heat damage to 2.0
Second Patch - Disable all exponential scaling and the "fire window" mechanics that came with Flamergeddon
Third Patch - Return Flamers to the 0.8 DPS they possessed before Flamergeddon
Fourth Patch and forward - Tune numbers as necessary, likely arriving at 1.0 DPS, 1.0 HPS, and 1.5 HDPS.

Or, you know, you could just do it all at once. Either way, please give Flamers the fix they deserve and was promised back in 2013. Please.

[Rydiak Randborir]

If only Nightstars all had armor quirks... (Only the -9J does)

[denAirwalkerrr]

Rydiak, on 16 February 2018 - 04:43 PM, said:

If only Nightstars all had armor quirks... (Only the -9J does)

They aren't underperforming enough. And it's hard to gather stats on mechs nobody plays lol

Edited by denAirwalkerrr, 16 February 2018 - 04:50 PM.

[Nema Nabojiv]

Feedback on changes:

1. I welcome Thanatos buffs. Can we have the same for Nova Cats? They are far worse than thannies hitbox-wise and need ST and arms armor buffs.

2. Frozen City Domination is still one sided despite spawn location changes. Grim Plexus Domination is still one sided and there's still no changes.

3. Glad to see nothing major been nerfed.

4. Glad to see new trial mechs.

5. As streak-boat user I feel streaks are weak as they are and ANOTHER NERF of their efficiency against their main targets is HIGHLY UNNECESSARY.

6. Also, MRM 30? Are they really that OP to get a nerf? They are hot as they are, rollback plz.

Edited by Nema Nabojiv, 16 February 2018 - 04:53 PM.

[D V Devnull]

Matt Newman, on 16 February 2018 - 04:26 PM, said:

Re Auto-Ban System
The purpose of the system to specifically to address brand new accounts created for the purpose of Team killing.

Sounds like a good plan, but PLEASE keep a close eye on it so that something unexpected won't happen from it's actions? The last time I saw a company implement ANY kind of Auto-Ban System, they didn't watch it and their implementation ran amok in the extreme.

Stealth 1S1K, on 16 February 2018 - 04:32 PM, said:

Interesting but most of those griefers enjoy killing the high tier rather than new T5 so how do we remove them from the community

Pardon me, but how would a New Account go around Team-Killing people up in the 'Tier 1' PSR Zone???


~D. V. "Getting a little curious about this as well..." Devnull

[Jay Leon Hart]

InnerSphereNews, on 16 February 2018 - 04:04 PM, said:

'Mech Quirks:



Rifleman:


- RFL-3N:
- Energy Range +10% quirk converted into a Universal Weapon Range +10% quirk
- RLF-3C:
- Ballistic Range +10% quirk converted into a Universal Weapon Range +10% quirk
- RLF-5D:
- Energy Range +10% quirk converted into a Universal Weapon Range +10% quirk
- PPC Heat Gen quirk increased to -10% (from -5%)
- Legend Killer
- Ballistic and Energy -10% quirks converted into a singular Universal Weapon Cooldown Quirk -10%

Rifleman Design Notes: When it came to the RFL-3N and RFL-3C, we wanted to provide a slight boost to their ability to trade at range with their entire load-out provided the 'Mechs overall fragility as a ranged support 'Mech. Because the 5D already was provided with a range quirk that covered its entire load-out, we wanted to provide it with a slight boost to its PPC sustainability, while also consolidating its range quirk into a universal range quirk so that they are not tallied as two separate entries when factoring in any skill point investment into range boosts.


At this time, we feel the Legend Killer did not need any additional help provided its natural structure boosts, but we have decided to consolidate its separate Ballistic and Energy Cooldown quirks into a universal quirk so that they are not counted as separate entries in the enhancement list when factoring in any skill point investments into cooldown improvements.

Groovy!

[MechLord71]

Apologies up front if this is a silly question, but are the standard variants of the loyalty mechs that will be in the gift store only available for MC or MC AND C-bills? Thanks!