No replies to this topic

[Tor6]

Comedy option: Make PPCs do a small amount of splash dmg in a very small radius which detracts from the power of the shot if the splash encompasses additional components.

Before you break out the torches and pitchforks hear me out on this.

Background: The PPC in tabletop does pinpoint dmg to a component that it hits, just like most weapons. However, we already have the precedent that lasers in this game spread damage and most people seem to feel ok about that. It changes things up a bit while still sticking with the feel of tabletop for the most part (ie mechs take dmg to more than just their CT due to pilot skill).

The problem with current PPCs: High heat isn't really a problem because massed PPCs produce enough pinpoint dmg to cripple or kill enemy mechs before they can respond in kind unless they are also packing PPCs. It produces a metagame whereby precision weapons with small windows of engagement severely outclass spread dmg weapons like lasers and missiles. The normal culprits (ballistics) don't have this problem as bad because they are typically heavier and ammo dependent which prevents mechs of all weight ranges from mounting them en-mass. However most mechs have numerous energy hardpoints and heat when combined with jumpjets, mobility, or high armor makes up for having to shut down sometimes.

Problem #2: Massed PPC sniper fire makes running a smaller mech suicidal against competent opponents because many can die in 1 alpha to the side torso. With state rewind this is rather easy to do, and no one likes feeling like they must rely on the skill of their opponent to determine if they die in one shot. Most other weapons, be they missiles, lasers, or lrms, can be dodged or their dmg mitigated by the light/medium mech. Not so with PPCs. They either hit and cause massive pinpoint dmg due to the enemy's skill, or they miss. There is little beyond hiding from them that the person being shot at can do to mitigate their dmg.

Possible suggested solution: Change PPCs so that they have a small impact radius in which they do their dmg. And I mean small, not this 6 meter blast radius that missiles got. By dictating that the PPC does its damage in even a .5/.75 or 1 meter blast diameter, with a minimum damage value done to the point of impact, and the rest spread amongst the rest of the components hit, you can tone down its pinpoint dmg slightly without changing the value of damage done. If you said that say, the pinpoint dmg could never fall below 7 dmg, with the remaining 3 dmg spread amongst the other sections hit you would still have a useful weapon with long range and high pinpoint dmg, but it would no longer be the game-breaking terror that it currently is.

Why this would help the problem: Smaller mechs would take less precision dmg, meaning that mediums and smaller mechs would not violently explode in one shot. Because their components are very close together, an alpha of 4 PPCs now might do 28 dmg to a side torso, and spread the other 12 dmg amongst the CT and arm. Larger mechs like the atlas might still take full or nearly full dmg from PPCs because their components are larger and more spread out, which means that this would only be a nerf to dmg against them if the person shooting almost misses the component that they are aiming for. A clean hit center torso would do full dmg to it, while a near-hit will spread 30% dmg to the side torso or so. This rewards good players for their skillful aim while sort of but not really punishing those who aren't quite as good shots.

Damage 'bleed' from a shot which hits the side torso and does dmg to the arm would give pilots who are twisting to spread dmg a feeling of actually having some say in how/where they take dmg, rather than simply hoping that the PPC user misses.

Possible problems: Since the weapon would have a small splash radius (think somewhere between .25 and .5 meters), it would still work with full effect against large targets and legs of light mechs much of the time. Might not be a sufficient nerf to combat PPC boating.
This also punishes mechs with large sections like the jenner while spreading more of the dmg around mechs like the spider which have many sections close together.

Heads may need to be exempt from everything except pinpoint dmg and take full pinpoint dmg if hit because otherwise they could just be splashed to death.

Final thoughts: This is more of a thought exercise than anything else. It would be nice if the PPC could find a balance without changing things around too much. However, thinking about it, Mechwarrior 2 did have PPCs do splash dmg, so there is a precedent for it. By limiting splash to a small radius and ensuring that splash never takes up more than say 30% of the weapons dmg, you can ensure that the PPC remains -mostly- a pinpoint weapon that is good for snipers, while making it not as ideal for boating. A good weapon to have a few of, but not something you want to use exclusively.

Numbers can always be adjusted, but what do folks think about something like this?