63 replies to this topic

[Xerxys]

Wizard Steve, on 21 November 2012 - 12:35 PM, said:

This game has been all about lasers, missiles and gauss for weeks. It's about time ACs had their 15 minutes of fame.

It's been about missiles and gauss. Lasers are an afterthought for most people simply because they can't fit anything else with the tonnage restraints. Most posts I see anymore are about missiles and ballistic weapons. Lasers have been lost in the wind because they're not efficient weapons. In fact energy weapons in general are crap, and have been since the start. I'm glad the hit box has been fixed and given the AC/2's ROF the damage should have remained where it was. I am happy that ballistics other than the guass are being used now, but to say lasers have been a focused weapon is insane. Most mechs you see boating lasers is because they can't support the weight of other weapons. or don't have the hardpoints.

Edited by Xerxys, 21 November 2012 - 02:43 PM.

[Octantis]

My $.02.

While I dislike the AC2 knock around I only find it annoying. That being said the AC2 punches a lot harder than the AC20. So upgrade AC20 or decrease AC2 I don't know. I'd vote for some of both. My biggest issue and the reason I'm writing this is that when fighting against an AC2 junkie I get the whole cockpit tinting thing. So worse than being shook around I can't see a damn thing as everything is black. Not sure if that is an AC2 thing or a ballistic thing. I just know that once the screen goes black I can't find cover and am minced meat.

4 X AC2 in the arms can have their day. Boating ballistics carries the same risks with Gauss Kittys. Just right now we don't have the tactics built to effectively take them down like we do with other mechs.

I think the tactic eventually against a Cataphract is to leave it alone. It's slower speed will be its biggest weakness. The mediums and lights will dictate the flow of battle and avoid the slow heavies. It's got 20 tons on most med and lights. If you try to stand up against that you are going to have a bad day. Now if an atlas gets cut to ribbons by a 4x AC2 phract in an even fight then there might be problems.

[Taemien]

http://mwomercs.com/...apon-balancing/

They are planning to address many of the issues brought up in this thread. If you think AC2 knock is bad, wait till you see what AC10s and 20s will be doing in the future.

Cataphracts are dangerous because they are new and unknown. Already my team I usually run with has found their weaknesses and shortcomings and are taking advantage of that when we fight them. They go down just like any other mech. Though they can be scary. Its a proper heavy mech. It can load lasers and autocannons and many of them. Some of them even have JJ's.

I went toe to toe with an Awesome in mine yesterday. He had 6 Medium Pulse Lasers. In a little over fifteen seconds, he was toasted, and my paint was scrapped. He went straight at me (max effective range 180 meters for his weapons). I also charged with my cannons and last second jumped. His damage was scattered across my torso and legs, mine was a little more true to his CT. After jumping over him, I pelted him in the back with lasers to make him turn around, once he did, I finished him off with my autocannons.

Some might say that is OP for a heavy to take an assault like that. I say no. It was 70 tons versus 80 tons. I was faster and my loadout was varied and very devastating on a full tilt. I've said this before. Boat lasers if you want to. This isn't MW3 and you will die and die fast if you do so.

Autocannons seem about right now. At least the 5s and 2s. I'll have to try out 10s and 20s to see if they've been adjusted. Though ammo gets taken like crazy. But thats part of the balancing factor. At least when I'm using them, I don't feel helpless against missiles.

[Rofl]

Forget what modern weapons do for unjamming. Forget reality (we have missiles that barely fire 1km accurately in the year 3049, and 200mm cannons that can't fire reliably beyond, what, 600 meters?) Don't base anything in MWO on reality, it will just not make sense.

Instead the basis should be balance. Checks and balances. What is the incentive to take an AC5 over a UAC5? Is the jam in its current state really so bad that it makes you think, "you know, perhaps the standard AC5 is the more reliable way to go." Sure, it's a ton more weight, which is a good balance. It costs more, but I've never been a fan of using the economy to balance gameplay... that leans too closely to Pay2Win, something I'm sure we all want to avoid.

My 2 cents: I see no problem with having some sort of user interaction in the unjamming process. I hope a method can be reached that cannot beaten by a macro, simple in concept yet detrimental to happen in the middle of a firefight. Hell, what about making use of the freelook camera so the player has to focus on a little 'unjam' button and click it once it's in the center of the screen? Just a thought.