273 replies to this topic

[Kumakichi]

Davers, on 16 April 2013 - 08:24 PM, said:

Almost makes you miss the LRM days, doesn't it?

Why don't you just swap out your mechs load out and join them until there is some more balancing done?

A fair suggestion. Changes coming why pound your head against a wall. Besides it would be good practice if your aim isn't good.

[Ialti]

Klaus, on 16 April 2013 - 11:27 PM, said:

They need to add cross hair shaking or do something ASAP.

I bought 3 highlanders right away, and right away started poptarting.

I don't have a problem with playing it, but it's just ruining the game.

Then stop being part of the problem.

[Ngamok]

As noted in other threads, poptarts should have reduced accuracy when jumping and jumpjets should be producing heat.

Because of the heat produced by jump jet activation and limited on-board fuel, jump jets can only maintain thrust for a few seconds. A far cry from flight, jump jets nevertheless allow a 'Mech to make short leaps sufficient enough to outmaneuver 'Mechs not similarly equipped or bypass obstacles and unfavorable terrain^[2][1]. Care must be taken when jumping, however, as jumping causes heat buildup with even the shortest jump generating more heat than running, and damage to a 'Mech's gyro or leg actuators and joints can cause a 'Mech to fumble upon landing^[4]. Owing to the inability of liquids to be compressed, submerged jump jets cannot be used lest the extreme pressure rupture the jet's casing

Attacks by a Jumping 'Mech

Jumping makes a 'Mech harder to hit, but the accuracy of weapons fitted to the jumping 'Mech is also adversely affected^[4]. In addition to standard weapons fire, a 'Mech with jump jets can perform a combat maneuver known as Death from Above, which involves it jumping into the air and attempting to land on an opponent. A successful DFA has the potential to crush an opposing 'Mech's head, but the maneuver risks damage to one's own 'Mech even if the attack is successful^[5]. Another attack that has been known to be performed using jump jets nicknamed the "I Am Jade Falcon" maneuver uses the jets in a 'Mech's legs to torch an adjacent hostile

Edited by Ngamok, 17 April 2013 - 12:25 PM.

[Ialti]

Ranek Blackstone, on 17 April 2013 - 12:20 PM, said:

My DPS phracts have similar alphas to the poptarts, plus I have a better rate of fire and JJs to help out. You can almost hear the "aw crud" when they realize my entire alpha strike is ready a full second before theirs is.

Am I the only highlander pilot out there who doesn't poptart?

[WardenWolf]

tuokaerf, on 16 April 2013 - 08:24 PM, said:

How would you fix it?

A combination of things:

1) Fix ECM. Allow targeting with LRMs at range again, etc.

2) Upgrade NARC. I haven't played with it since the patch, but what it needs to do is let a scout get up close and drop a beacon on a mech, then bail out and have that beacon be able to let LRMs target a mech and bring indirect missiles. This will help counter mechs hiding behind a ridge - the LRMs should go *over* it when used with indirect fire like that.

3) Remove the Coolant module. This has allowed excess boating of energy weapons like PPCs.

4) Fix the heat scale. Consider side-effects as heat rises (loss of accuracy, slower movement, etc) and/or reducing the heat cap (maybe don't have double heatsinks increase the heat cap as much, etc). Again, this will help deal with boating of PPCs and especially ERPPCs.

5) Buff missile damage. I would put it back at 1 and 2 (LRM and SRM) but without splash damage, and see how it goes from there.

[Ngamok]

Ialti, on 17 April 2013 - 12:24 PM, said:

Am I the only highlander pilot out there who doesn't poptart?

No, I don't do it either.

[Teralitha]

tuokaerf, on 16 April 2013 - 08:24 PM, said:

How would you fix it?

The answer so simple its mind boggling why they havent done it.

Remove double heat sinks.

[Caervyn]

QQ. A couple of things from a noob.
-Learn to target the Right Torso a little better on the highlanders. (Know your enemy)
-If you sit back and let them poptart spam you, they're going to kill you. Get in close, get that armor down, and get the hell away. (Use the enemy's weaknesses)
-Slow brawlers are going to suffer, so use cover. (Use the enemy's weaknesses)
"I'm going to quit because my (%mech%) isn't OP anymore". Did you maybe think that you're playing in an artificially high ELO against players much better than yourself? Maybe they've done what you haven't and adapted to the new game mechanic? (Learn from YOUR weaknesses)
Variables, ladies, variables. Things change for better or worse, learn to adapt. (Read the situation and win).



Anyways, get off the forum and get back ingame. Get a cicada 2a with 6MLs and go wreck some fatties that can't hit you back. <3

Shop Smart, Shop S-Mart.

[Zyllos]

Taemien, on 17 April 2013 - 12:04 PM, said:

No you just need to learn to pilot a mech in combat. You're using the wrong mindset for combat if you're getting cored outright. Sorry your opponents are simply better than you.

Actually, I am not sure where I said I get "cored" outright. But I do have the same complaint that those who do get cored have.

Quote

One example when not to use Alpha Strike? When I have Autocannons or Lasers equipped with those weapons. I don't bother using PPC/Gauss only boats. If you boat weapons you are gimping yourself. I use AC5s, Medium Lasers, and SRMs normally (usually medium lasers grouped with something else). And they have much faster than 4s cooldowns. My DPS isn't cut, but you know what? How much DPS do you do when dead? I can tell you, its Zero.

So, when someone is doing pin-point damage against you, do you torso twist away or just take it? Because your statement seems to insinuate that you just take it or else you would have some DPS decrease due to having mixed weaponry that you can not pin-point all the damage onto a single point.

I do agree with you, you deal zero damage when dead. But I really don't think that was a point of argument.

Quote

If your builds can't take on boats, then you have a problem. Either you didn't build your mech properly, don't know how to use it effectively, or both. Get your unit to help you, if they can't help, find another unit to help.

Hate to tell you all this, but you all aren't god's gift to mechwarrior. The problem isn't the weapons. The problem is you.

I don't think it's the fact that my build can/can't take on boats is the argument here. Honestly, what build could not take on a boat? I guess maybe all Machine Guns, but that should be about it.

But the argument was never against boating, it's against weapon convergence that is pin-point accurate across all locations.

Edited by Zyllos, 17 April 2013 - 12:59 PM.

[aniviron]

I'm not a horrible player. I know how to shoot poptarts. But here's why the game revolves around poptarts now:



This is my fully armored awesome after two shots from 700m. 60 seconds into the game, and I am essentially already dead. No other style of play is so heavily rewarded right now. Jump-sniping gives you high-damage, high-precision, long range, and low retaliation probability. Heck, unlike just boating PPCs, it's even a pretty good build close up.

[Dreamslave]

This just doesn't feel like a mech game right now. If the enemy team has 3+ snipers (which literally happens every single game now in 4 mans and pugs), then it just feels like we are derpy infantry. Our mechs don't last long at all under this concentrated pinpoint damage. The moment anybody peaks out or tries to move, it's WWI all over again. Trench warfare is the name of the game now and it just isn't fun.

[Mesosaurus]

PGI always make rapid changes and forces the game swinging far left and right. Can't they just make minor chances and test them before moving on. WHAT THE EFF IS INTERNAL TESTING DOING?

[Baozi]

Normally I'd be able to just adapt my play style but right now it's damn hard to play as a brawler. Every match I'm in, my entire team huddles up on a cliff and spends the entire match plinking away at the enemy team, which is also humping a hill of some sort.

Even if I go to flank the enemy I get torn to shreds in my Atlas, because I am the only unit standing in front of them, and thus even my "mighty" frontal armor turns to red with just the first salvo.

It's frustrating.

[PaladinXIII]

Mesosaurus, on 17 April 2013 - 01:55 PM, said:

PGI always make rapid changes and forces the game swinging far left and right. Can't they just make minor chances and test them before moving on. WHAT THE EFF IS INTERNAL TESTING DOING?

I wouldn't be so fast to blame this on PGI entirely. Most online games have both the actual game and a beta version, since we are the beta version they implement changes left and then drastically right because it is more noticeable for the players and then they can scale back until they reach the sweet spot, while they are doing that we need to be giving feedback to make better improvements. As far as Internal Testing goes, I'm sure that they are doing their job but they do not have enough people to make accurate results quickly, which is why we play as beta players. I'm sure that when they test and release these mechs they test the stock loadouts and maybe some minor variations, I doubt that they foresaw the rise of PPC stalkers, AC/40 boats, poptarts, and other cheese builds when they first introduced these mechs.

With that being said I do think PGI might need to slow down the development of new mechs until we can workout something long-term and viable to the situation at hand.

The short-term solution to the poptart problem is simple: public shaming...by blowing off their limbs. Even if they are on your own team, just remember its a penalty to kill a teammate, but there is nothing said about gimping them

Edited by PaladinXIII, 18 April 2013 - 07:13 AM.

[PaladinXIII]

Dreamslave, on 17 April 2013 - 01:23 PM, said:

it's WWI all over again. Trench warfare is the name of the game now and it just isn't fun.

LRMaggedon (or the period right before ECM was introduced) was more like WWI, as long as you stayed in a trench or behind a hill you were safe. This is would be like that except now the Germans have jet packs and pazers(or in our case, jump jets, PPCs and GR slugs) to shoot us while in our trenchs.

[WardenWolf]

Teralitha, on 17 April 2013 - 12:32 PM, said:

The answer so simple its mind boggling why they havent done it. Remove double heat sinks.

You don't even have to remove them: the increased dissipation over time is not the problem, but the increased capacity for heat is. And actually, this applied less to pop-tarting and more to the 5-6 LLaser/PPC Stalkers. Pop-tarting, even with 2-3 PPCs, would be doable heat-wise with less cooling... they'd just have to go longer between poping up.

[Roland]

aniviron, on 17 April 2013 - 01:13 PM, said:

I'm not a horrible player. I know how to shoot poptarts. But here's why the game revolves around poptarts now:



This is my fully armored awesome after two shots from 700m. 60 seconds into the game, and I am essentially already dead. No other style of play is so heavily rewarded right now. Jump-sniping gives you high-damage, high-precision, long range, and low retaliation probability. Heck, unlike just boating PPCs, it's even a pretty good build close up.

Just so ya know, that mech is nowhere near "already dead".

You have ALL of your armor, basically.

Sure, if you just waddle towards the enemy like an *****, staring directly at him, then you'll probably die in a few more hits... but that's why you're supposed to actually turn and twist your mech to make them hit the good panels.

[Eternal Hunter]

Seem like there's less poptarting in conquest, can't win by just plonking from a trench.

Edited by Eternal Hunter, 17 April 2013 - 04:15 PM.

[Mesosaurus]

Roland, on 17 April 2013 - 04:03 PM, said:

Just so ya know, that mech is nowhere near "already dead".

You have ALL of your armor, basically.

Sure, if you just waddle towards the enemy like an *****, staring directly at him, then you'll probably die in a few more hits... but that's why you're supposed to actually turn and twist your mech to make them hit the good panels.

Dood what are you talking about, He one medium laser away from getting his head popped. His armor already took over 60% damage. He probably has about another 25 armor then his internals are exposed.

[Roland]

Mesosaurus, on 17 April 2013 - 04:19 PM, said:

Dood what are you talking about, He one medium laser away from getting his head popped. His armor already took over 60% damage. He probably has about another 25 armor then his internals are exposed.

Your head only starts out with 33 health total, anyway, so ya.. if someone hits his head again,he may die (although his head isn't deep red yet).. although not to a medium laser. It's still gonna take a solid hit to finish it off, but a solid hit to the head can finish a FRESH mech off, so whatever.

And no, he hasn't lost 60% of his armor.. he lost 60% of his armor on his CT. There is a really, really huge difference between those two situations.

His huge arms and side torsos are totally fresh, which means he can soak damage with them.

When I am killed through my CT cleanly, it means that I made a terrible mistake and played like a fool (and it happens). But it was generally MY fault... especially if I got in a situation like the pilot here did, where there was a point at which he was able to disengage and wasn't just killed instantly from massed fire.

At this point, he needs to not simply face his CT at the enemy for any extended period of time. He needs to soak damage, which is a staple skill of mechwarrior.