228 replies to this topic

[BlightFang]

I hate the feeling of "I have been running for 5 seconds, juking behind various walls, there's no way he can hit me now" and you get insta-gibbed on a location that still has armor from who knows where. Can't wait til they add a rear-view camera module...

[Kurayami]

The only problem i have is hitbox of my raven - no matter where i was shot - it will count as leg damage.

[Wispsy]

Honestly lights feel fairly balanced to me right now. I do not think there is too much PGI could do without making them far too strong. With their speed and maneuverability they can go toe to toe with most mechs, allowing them to take no damage fighting 2 heavy mechs with good aim would be somewhat unreasonable.
The main issue I can see in this thread really is that they do not place well on the scoreboard often. To be fair though the scoring system from the very start has always penalized skilled play and efficient killing. I can get 4 solo kills and win by cap and still place at the bottom of my team, whether I am in a 3D or a Jenner. As a light mech you can also easily get 1000+ damage, you have the speed to get to almost all the kills and as one generally needs to stand close to do damage anyway it is just as easy to aim at side torsos instead of hud/ctrear.
People now just need a little time to learn that as a light mech you do not want to be the target, unless you really know what you are doing. People get caught in small groups and small fights all the time still. As a light you can be there, for the majority of them. In an assault against assault fight the one who gets a light pilot show up to help (unless it is somebody who fully relies on their ssrms) generally wins. In much larger engagements the light mech is often not the first priority target for the enemies heavier mechs, which causes them to leave themselves exposed and light mechs can still put out good damage (except the spider K, no chance, the D is better in every way). Even in massive long range snipeoffs you should never underestimate the power of a well placed distraction or 3 and the maps allow you to close in on enemies no matter where they are (unless they completely abandon all of the bases, at which point you might as well just get on cap) to get a couple of shots and then escape/reposition. You do not need to straight up 1v1 every mech without taking any real damage to be effective (although personally I find that a light mech can indeed 1v1 the majority of mechs without taking too much significant damage) which is what some people here seem to be asking for.


What I will say though is I am unsure why they keep making SSRMs more and more powerful :/ They do rather crazy dps for something that only hits frontct with less then a second(Artemis) to perma lock on and are completely unavoidable (unless the enemy fires them into a rock as you are behind one). This is what really makes life hard for light mechs atm imo. Almost any chassis can fit on a load of weapons at very minimal tonnage with huge amounts of ammo that completely destroy a light mech within 10 seconds as long as they are within 270m. This possibly does not encourage more people to jump in them, as they have not the armour to survive lockon weapons unless they hit every single hit for full damage (which is uncommon in light fights especially as the majority of good light mech pilots prioritize dodging all incoming damage over dealing it so hitting for full damage requires an awful lot more skill then your opponent has). I can understand the need for lock on weapons, however I question making them so strong that an absolute beginner with them on their first day will be more likely to win against somebody who has played over a thousand games yet does not have them in a light v light fight. They are manageable on heavies/assaults only because of the range of medium lasers (it is suicide to click launch with weapons that have less range then medium lasers as a light right now) and their slow speed, however they completely deter any close range harassment unless accompanied by one of the few ECM variants. You may be able to kill SSRM Ravens in your Spider, this is only possible due to a nice amount of luck or a massive difference in skill level. If you are the same skill, the SSRMs win almost every single time. This is what they were designed for perhaps, as a light mech deterrent but still I feel they are a little too good at their job right now.
However, I must add, I am likely biased. I love my Jenner.

Edit: Went way off topic I think from ballistics now hitting lights, final note: you can choose when and where to engage, just do not put yourself infront of their weapons and no problems.


TLDR: Dodge hard. SSRMs suck.

Edited by Wispsy, 22 April 2013 - 12:50 PM.

[ICEFANG13]

Wispsy, on 22 April 2013 - 12:48 PM, said:

TLDR: Dodge hard. SSRMs suck.

Well said Wshipssy

SSRMs are terribly designed, and really, we can dodge shots still, but you have to do it just right. SSRMs will hit you no matter what, and other than ECM (a 100% counter, that's great design), they always will be better than SRMs to be worth their tonnage easily. I mean without ECM countering SSRMs (like it should not), do you really think we'd see any SRMs when SSRM-6 comes out?

Does anyone wonder why missile hardpoints are only SSRMs now when you have a serious mech? Something about them is just wrong.

[hammerreborn]

ICEFANG13, on 22 April 2013 - 06:46 PM, said:

Well said Wshipssy

SSRMs are terribly designed, and really, we can dodge shots still, but you have to do it just right. SSRMs will hit you no matter what, and other than ECM (a 100% counter, that's great design), they always will be better than SRMs to be worth their tonnage easily. I mean without ECM countering SSRMs (like it should not), do you really think we'd see any SRMs when SSRM-6 comes out?

Does anyone wonder why missile hardpoints are only SSRMs now when you have a serious mech? Something about them is just wrong.

Well technically, almost all mechs are just using PPCs/Guass/Streaks for their energy/ballistic/missile slots. The PPCs make it so you can fire the streaks even with ECM, and since they all just hit CT...its just stupid.

[Noob Weapons]

In my opinion they should implement something where the faster you are moving, the more the damage spreads across your mech.

For instance, if a PPC/Gauss hits me in the CT of my jenner, and I'm moving at max speed, the damage should spread and deal 40% to where it hit, and the remaining 60 spread among my side torsos/arms/legs.

This would at least keep lights from getting shot once and dieing instantaneously, while still punishing them by making them take the full damage (instead of dodging a hit that should have hit in the first place).

[Silentium]

Yeah man, I feel pretty boss after melting an ssrm light down to slag with my MLs, but that is a tall order, and not something I can reliably do. Before the missile nerf? Even more difficult. That sustained DPS......it is really formidable. Not looking forward to SSRM6.

[silentD11]

deranda, on 21 April 2013 - 08:57 AM, said:

While it is obviously a good thing for the game as a whole if lights are not artificially hard to kill due to lag, it still begs the question why - according to quite a lot of posts - lights are supposed to require an insame amount of skill to be effective and not just a one-shot-target for our beloved poptarts & co. It's not like you need to be extremely good at the game to contribute to teamfights in a meaningful way when riding a heavy or assault; and nobody is asking for it to be that way. Seems kinda off to me...if a player is that amazing that they can own in a light mech, why would they not put their skill to use in a mech that is inherently good at, you know, getting things done?

I at least don' quite see the point in playing a light if all they are supposed to do is cap a little here and there and being a neglegible annoyance.

I still play lights a lot. When I drop with a 4 man we know we have one dedicated player to cap rush them and break them up a bit. That act right there is good enough and disruptive enough to give us an edge most of the time. Lights are also good at killing off players who try to retreat once they are damaged. Most of the lights in group also don't have that many issues 1v1ing heavier mechs if needed. Lights are a boon for groups using strategy and not just massing up to TDM or sniper war each other, and they can thrown a wrench into those tactics as well. You just have to get over the fact that your rewards won't be that great. But for those of us sitting on a stack of cbills a mile high and more GXP than we know what to do with the lack of rewards hasn't been an issue for a long time.

[Ilwrath]

I am so happy that I am able to completely ignore the "reward" part and just drive what I find fun. I don't give a **** about xp or cbills (though I have accumulated 8 mill over the noob-class weekend) and will cap you if I have too (but not if my team can just kill you).

Try to play for the fun, like before all the ******** console-style reward policy and other crap started to degenerate pc-gaming.

Free to pay games does force you to focus on rewards but only at the start. Drive that Spider if you find it fun. The moment a game start to make you do choices you don't find fun but effective; stop playing that crapgame and spend your time on something that is worth spending time on.