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Which is where quirks come in. Why don't we give each chassis a unique "quirk" that lets them stand out from their peers? Something like:
Commando - Reduced sensor detectability and shutdown improvements. Decrease the range that it can be detected by enemies, increase their target info time, speed up targeting decay, and creates a delay between it popping into LOS and an enemy mech acquiring a target, so it can possibly hop from cover to cover without being detected. Further, giving it a faster startup/shutdown sequence and allowing it to maintain targeting while shut down would actually make powering down useful for ambushing and losing enemies.
Spider - Greater Jump Jet power and maneuverability. The Spider basically exists to be annoying and hard to hit, and with its generally poor armament and armor, it needs an edge to be worth it. Spiders should have greater jump power, much faster mid-air turning, and greater lateral speed.
Raven - Vastly Improved Sensors + Armor Reduction. Ravens are supposed to be dedicated ECM mechs that exist to protect their allies and not get into fights. However, the 3L variant is basically the king of solo Light v. Light warfare. To encourage pilots to play their role, Ravens should be given a big boost in sensor efficiency, to counter the Commando's quirks, and allow it to share possible targeting data with allies in range. Basically, if it can be targeted by the Raven, then any allies within 270m not blocked by ECM should be able to target it, even if the Raven isn't currently targeting that mech. This would give Ravens a big incentive to stick with their teams as intended in fluff. To further discourage Light solo play, Ravens should get a max Armor reduction of 2 points per non-head section, giving it a total max armor of 224.
Jenner - Better handling? Having played plenty of Jenner and loved every minute of it spent away from a Raven 3L, I can't really think of anything for it. It has excellent hardpoints and the tonnage to use them, and Jump jets. Its only weakness is the giant CT and lack of ECM.
Flea - SPEED! It's not out yet, but considering that it'll be smaller and weaker than the Commando, I can already tell this mech will be tough to use effectively. Working off the assumption that MASC will be available to all mechs, this thing will need to be silly faster than every other light mech to be worth it. Perhaps you could give it a jump capability without jets?
In addition to these changes, engine speeds should be normalized within each variant, and ECM should be accessible to all variants of an ECM-capable chassis. This would make the current non-ECM variants actually usable.
TL;DR
-Make Commandos better at sneaking and hiding with mild passive ECM effect.
-Improve Spider JJ ability
-Reduce Raven max armor by 16 pts and give it super sensors that can see farther, target faster, and share all of its targeting data with nearby friendlies
-Fast Fleas GO FAAAAST
-Each variant should have the same max engine size.
-Each variant of an ECM mech should be able to carry ECM.
Edited by Kaeb Odellas, 22 March 2013 - 03:37 PM.
