Upcoming Patch - Tuesday Apr2nd @ 10AM – 1PM PDT
Patch Number: 1.2.217
Change Log:
UPDATE
Greetings MechWarriors.
April's coming, and I don't care what they say about April showers, because we're raining it down for you right now! Who wants to wait for May?! April is a very exciting month for us with new features and content... We have a new map variant, a new Hero Mech, and a brand new Chassis that you've all been piping up about... No need to keep this information buried, so let's get digging ;-)
We'll start with just a little tease about our latest Hero Mech, the Raven-NMr... looks like you'll be getting your Death from Above earlier than expected! More on that later… heheheh. We’ve poured over your feedback regarding the new Consumables system recently introduced, and some balancing changes have been made to improve the new Modules’ fit into the current State of the Game. We’ve also made some tweaks to a few other things here and there… like Ballistics Balancing, Energy Weapon Heat, Variant-Specific Tuning, Missile Damage, Host State Rewind, Elo Rankings, DHS, FFA, Founder’s Mechs, Jump Jets, Matchmaking, …
Read on for the rest of the tuning and fixes included in the latest patch. It’s a Deusey!
See you on the battlefield
The MW:O Team.
New Content:
New Map
Caustic Valley: Smoggy Night
Our favorite Industrial Mining Facility hasn’t really been paying attention to Air Quality Reports lately. With the local microclimate stuck in a Thermal Inversion, dense clouds of Corrosive Sulfuric Acid drift through the battlefield. Don’t dally, because even the toughest Mech Armor will corrode once this acid vapor begins to dissolve your Mech alive! “Time to fight” has taken on a whole new meaning as a slow but steady Damage-over-Time effect will drain 1pt of health per minute from any exposed armor or internal component.
Better get moving, especially since those nice, long views you’re used to during the day are now just a foggy, ferroglass-dissolving haze. Thermal Vision is the only way to cut through, as the clouds scatter the UV light used for your Mech’s Night Vision active illumination systems. Keep your eyes peeled for sneaky ECM Mechs skittering around your flank, but watch out: The goggles, they do nothing!
Speaking of ECM Mechs…
New Hero Mech
“The NeverMore” RVN-NMr
Mounting a massive Vox 280XL Engine, 3 Jump Jets putting those wings to good use, and loaded with the latest high-tech equipment, this chick will leave any Information Warfare specialist drooling... ECM? Oh yeah. BAP? Sure, why not? TAG? You’re It. Endosteel? DHS? FFA? Psh, of course! 4 Missile Tubes and 4 Energy Hardpoints? Well... okay, if you insist :-D Oh wait, you still want that 30% C-bill boost, huh? Well, I just asked Paul about it and he said we couldn't do it this time. Good thing nobody listens to him, huh?
- RVN-NMr
- Base Mech: Raven
- Tonnage: 35
- Engine: 280 XL
- Max Engine Rating: 300 (for now…)
- Top Speed: 133.7 kph
- Torso Twist: 120 degrees to each side
- Armor: 215 points Ferro-Fibrous
- Weapons & Equipment:
- Left Arm: 2 Small Laser
- Left Torso: 2 SSRM 2
- Right Torso: TAG, Beagle Active Probe, Guardian ECM
- Right Arm: Medium Laser
- Hardpoints:
- Left Arm: 2 Energy
- Left Torso: 2 Missile
- Right Torso: 1 Energy
- Right Arm: 1 Energy
- Internal Structure: Endo-Steel
- Heat Sinks: 10 Double
- Jump Jets: 3/3
- ECM Capable?: Yes
- Module Slots: 2
- 30% C-Bill Bonus
New Consumable Modules:
Jump Tank 25
- Only one of these can be equipped on a BattleMech at a time.
- Consumed upon use.
- Costs 3,000 CBills.
- When used, it replenishes 25% of your JumpJet Fuel
Jump Tank 50
- Only one of these can be equipped on a BattleMech at a time.
- Cannot be equipped on a BattleMech that has a Jump Tank 100 equipped.
- Consumed upon use.
- Costs 15,000 CBills.
- When used, it replenishes 50% of your JumpJet Fuel
- Can be upgraded to a Jump Tank 75 by unlocking a 15,000 GXP Pilot Tree
Jump Tank 100
- Only one of these can be equipped on a BattleMech at a time.
- Consumed upon use.
- Costs 5MC.
- When used, it replenishes 100% of your JumpJet Fuel
JumpJet Skating
- Tapping the Spacebar repeatedly will now allow your Mech to “skate” laterally around the ground at medium/high speed. This can be an effective way to cross long expanses and get yourself out of direct fire faster than ever. Pressing and holding the Spacebar will launch your Mech up into the air as normal. We will be tracking the Community’s usage of this feature very carefully for internal review.
Added Bitchin’ Betty Dialogue
- Added dialogue for receiving damage to your Mech (“Warning: Damage Detected”), Receiving Fall Damage (“Warning: Leg Damaged”), and Conquest Objective ownership (“Warning: Enemy Is Capturing a Resource Collector”)
Gameplay Adjustments
JagerMech Variant Balancing Quirks
- JM6-S: Moved 1 Energy Hardpoint from each Side Torso to CT
- JM6-DD: Added 1 Ballistic Hardpoint to each Arm.
- JM6-A: Torso twist angle increased by 10 degrees to each side. Torso Twist Speed increased by 22%
Catapult Variant Balancing Quirks
- CPLT-A1: 1 Missile Hardpoint added to each Arm to compensate for lack of backup weapons; Torso Twist Angle and Speed increased by 10% after internal testers’ review
- CPLT-K2: “Energy Pod Doors” now implemented similarly to the Missile Bay Doors of the Catapults and Centurions, toggled by the “/” key (backslash)
- All Catapults: Missile Bay Doors now provide 25% Damage Resistance when closed, but receiving fire from the front will cause Through-Armor-Criticals on the Arms when doors are open.
Cataphract Variant Quirks
- All Cataphract Variants: Arm Movement decreased by 25% to circumvent an unresolved clipping issue until fixed in a future patch.
Hunchback Balancing Quirks
- HBK-4G: Added 1 more Ballistic Hardpoint in RT
- HBK-4J: Merged the two separate 10-tube launchers into a single 20-tube launcher. Removed 1 missile Hardpoint.
- HBK-4SP: Added 2 Missile Hardpoints to each Side Torso
Raven Balancing Quirks
- All Ravens: After careful review of telemetry data in conjunction with the effects of Host State Rewind, we have rolled-back the hitbox adjustments introduced last patch.
Founders Mechs
- All Founders Mechs had their Damage Resistance reduced from 10% to 5%.
Guardian ECM Adjustments
- ECM health reduced to 1pt.
- A Pilot Tree Skill can now be unlocked for 25,000GXP that will increase the effective range of ECM in Disrupt mode by 25%, and increase the range of Counter Mode by 30%
Ferro Fiberous Armor Adjustments
- FFA now provides a 12.5% Damage Resistance, in addition to its weight savings.
Beagle Active Probe
- BAP has been temporarily removed from the game pending internal review of its intended function and effectiveness against ECM.
Ballistics Balancing
- AC/5: Cooldown Time increased to 1.85 sec
- AC/2: Ammo per ton decreased by 15% in lieu of high accuracy provided by the extreme projectile velocity
- Gauss Rifle: Added a minimum range of 60m (2 hexes, for all you TT fans out there… as if you didn’t know, already). Gauss Rifle slugs now carry a 5% chance of causing Through-Armor Damage
PPC/ERPPC Adjustments
- EMP Effect: The ability of PPCs to disable enemy ECM for 4 seconds is now being expanded to disable functionality of the BattleGrid and all HUD elements for 5.5 seconds, requiring Players to become more reliant on their physical Cockpit displays to maintain situational awareness,.
- Heat: After careful review of telemetry data gathered over the last weeks, and reading massive Forum Feedback regarding excessive Alpha Strikes, the Heat Reductions applied to the PPC and ERPPC are being rolled back: The weapons will now generate 10 and 15 heat, respectively.
LRM/SRM Damage
- After thorough review, LRM and SRM Damage and Splash Damage reinstated to previous (pre-hotfix) levels
- Ammo/ton reduced by 15%
Machine Guns/Flamers
- When firing on an unarmored component, MGs and Flamers now inflict Critical Hits on Engines and Internal Structures at the same rate as if deployed against weapons and equipment.
Double Heatsinks
- All DHS will now dissipate the same amount of heat, regardless of their location.
- A Double Heatsink will now increase your Mech’s Heat Capacity by 2, and dissipate 0.14 heat per second.
MatchMaking
- The introduction of the Elo Ranking system is allowing us to place 8-man Premade Teams back into the general Matchmaking Queue.
- Users will no longer have to specify group size when creating a group.
Front End/Bug Fixes
- Host state rewinding is now implemented for SRMs
- A bug was fixed that allowed friendly AMS to continue functioning in the presence of an enemy ECM field; this will no longer happen
- Elo Rankings will now count all Disconnects as a Mission Loss.
- Fixed bug regarding the TeamKilling of Disconnected Mechs; full C-Bill and XP rewards should now be issued for kills and component destructions.
- Jump Jets: JJ’s were creating too much initial lift and vertical thrust, this has been rebalanced.
- Ammo Explosions: A bug was preventing Ammo Explosions from counting as a Kill for the Mech that destroyed the ammo; therefore Ammo Explosions have been removed from the game until this is fixed.
- Ballistics Convergence: Mech Arms were converging faster than intended because the "Pin Point" Pilot Tree Skill was active on all Mechs, regardless of earning the skill. This Bonus has been removed form the game until testers can find a balanced implementation.
Maps
- Improved, Additional Weather Effects in Frozen City Day.
- Tweaks to River City Night Lighting (brighter skyline, reduced surface radiance)
We hope you’re excited as we are, and we look forward to seeing you on the battlefield!
-The MechWarrior® Online™ Moderation Team of Hooligans and Pranksters.
Happy April Fools Day!
(now with updated poll!)
Edited by Prosperity Park, 15 May 2013 - 01:59 PM.