1 reply to this topic

[Epicedion]

Sheer opinion piece.

1) Reduce pulse laser discharge time to instantaneous, increase the damage falloff beyond normal range (eg, reduce the maximum range), and decrease the recharge rate (eg, lower their sustained rate of fire). Pulse lasers are currently difficult to use because of their range and heat, with only a tiny damage and duration benefit, and at the cost of higher tonnage. I think the ability to do pinpoint damage rather than a smaller damage cluster would help to offset the penalties, and make pulse lasers one of the more viable options for dealing with very fast targets.

2) Reduce LRM lock-on range to around 600m except against targets marked by TAG or NARC. Keep the maximum travel range at 1000m. At the same time, remove the total tracking loss suffered from losing the target, and instead apply a tracking strength penalty or dramatically widen the missile spread when the firing mech can't maintain target lock. I think this would make LRMs more useful as indirect weapons but in more restrictive teamwork-oriented circumstances.

3) Add a lock-on ability to SRMs, making them more like Streak SRMs but without the same insanely tight grouping. Give them limited tracking strength so that a fast mech at longer range has greater opportunity to dodge. Keep the dumbfire ability as it is. I think this would make SRMs somewhat more useful as missiles and less like a hard-to-target ballistic weapon, but largely defeatable by ECM. I think this would also make SRMs more useful at their maximum range.

4) Remove the lock-on from Streak SRMs and instead have them instantly track whatever mech is under the appropriate reticle when they're fired. That is, if you pull the trigger while the reticle is on a mech, the missiles fire and track that target. If you pull the trigger while aiming at nothing, the missiles don't fire. I think this would make SSRMs more useful for combating close-range ECM mechs and easier to use in general, but combined with the SRM changes above would make the decision to use SSRMs versus regular SRMs a little more important with regard to what sort of role a particular loadout is intended to fill.

5) Adjust torso weapon convergence such that all weapons converge on the center of the reticle only within some percentage of the weapon's standard (listed) range. Similarly, do the same with weapons on the same arm (but allow both arms to adjust convergence as normal). Give ER weaponry a greater covergence value than their standard counterparts to compensate. Effectively this would spread damage from torso weapons at at short and extreme ranges (and slightly spread damage from weapons mounted coaxially on the same arm. I think this would add some utility to mixing short, medium, and long range weapons on a mech. For example, torso-mounted large lasers at 90m would undoubtedly be hitting two different sides of the target, while torso-mounted small lasers at the same range would be pinpoint-accurate. This would also add in some extra decision making regarding weapon placement in mechlab as well as enemy targeting, as the more vulnerable arms would house the more precise weapons, and thus make them more of a priority

[Pater Mors]

1) I don't like this one. The beam duration should be shortened but not instant and if anything the ROF should be increased while the heat stays the same. That way you're doing better pinpoint damage and DPS at short range and boating huge numbers of pulses becomes impractical due to heat management. They become a supplementary short range defensive weapon for most mechs (MPL's possibly become better than ML's for Mech's like the Catapult C1 for defence) with the occasional fully DHS kitted mech using them as primary brawling weapons at the cost of range.

2) Not sure I like this either. Lock on range is effected by your targeting computer and sensor suite not the LRM's themselves. The sensor module loses basically all usefulness in this scenario if I am not also carrying NARC, Artemis or TAG. I do like the idea of the LRM spread suffering a penalty if lock is lost though and bombarding an entire area.

3) I don't like this one at all. SRMs should stay as they are with a damage buff to make them better brawling weapons again. As it is, I don't have much difficulty hitting anything going under 100kph with SRM's at any range under 270. Once the HSR is implemented for missiles it will get even easier. Tracking will see the StreakCat become the Ultra-Splat-Cat-Of-Instant-Death.

4) I think SSRM's are also fine as they are (with some tweaks to stop insta-turning and CT damage focus).

5) I agree with this idea in principle as I think one of the biggest problems in MWO at the moment is pinpoint alpha strikes, but perhaps not with the implementation you've described above.