19 replies to this topic

[Judas Augustine]

Greetings, fellow Mechwarriors. I am not necessarily a new player, but I am certainly no grizzled veteran either. I have about 14000 GXP saved up, and I'm about ready to spend it.

For anyone who has used the following modules:

Is the Capture Accelerator worth investing in? I pilot lights only secondarily. (I normally pilots Mediums and Heavies, but this module appears to be quite useful.)

If not so, then would the Seismic Sensor be worth the investment?

I'm basically looking for a good module or two that I can get plenty of use out of across many different mechs, namely Lights, Mediums, and to a lesser extent, Heavies. The Target Decay module also looks very tempting...

Also, is there anything else I need to know before I spend my hard-earned GXP?

Thanks in advance,
J. Augustine.

[MavRCK]

Read my tier list

[RLBell]

Seismic is so useful! Seismic can tell you if a mech is running away, or running to friends. About the only time you will not want to run with the seismic module is if the mech is boating LRM's, has only one slot and you can put the target decay module in. Increased sensor range is good, too. I move my increased sensor range and seismic modules from mech to mech.

Advanced zoom is an acquired taste. It can help you score head shots at three to four hundred meters, but the graininess is off putting. It is a cheap module, so the worst that happens is that you are out a million c-bills when you sell it.

I do not use consumables, but the UAV might be interesting. However, I have only seen one.

[Judas Augustine]

MavRCK, on 15 June 2013 - 04:25 PM, said:

Read my tier list

Done! I PUG exclusively. But I wonder how much a difference the Capture Accelerator can make? I can imagine it being very useful in Conquest.

RLBell, on 15 June 2013 - 04:33 PM, said:

Seismic is so useful! Seismic can tell you if a mech is running away, or running to friends. About the only time you will not want to run with the seismic module is if the mech is boating LRM's, has only one slot and you can put the target decay module in. Increased sensor range is good, too. I move my increased sensor range and seismic modules from mech to mech.

Advanced zoom is an acquired taste. It can help you score head shots at three to four hundred meters, but the graininess is off putting. It is a cheap module, so the worst that happens is that you are out a million c-bills when you sell it.

I do not use consumables, but the UAV might be interesting. However, I have only seen one.

As stated above, (and I forgot to mention this in the OP) I PUG exclusively. UAVs are nice, but I haven't had one do anything match-saving or anything. I pilot Catapults, Trebuchets, and Commandos, so I guess the Target Decay module would be best. But the Seismic Sensor I've heard, doesn't work well with Lights?

[Genewen]

Seismic currently is a totally OP module and should be first choice for anyone. It is however something that is being looked in to nerf, since it enables you to spot anything moving withing 400m - and that is just too powerful.

[Judas Augustine]

Genewen, on 15 June 2013 - 05:08 PM, said:

Seismic currently is a totally OP module and should be first choice for anyone. It is however something that is being looked in to nerf, since it enables you to spot anything moving withing 400m - and that is just too powerful.

That's why I hesitate to buy the Seismic Module. I'm afraid it's going to get nerfed into the ground and become a waste of GXP.

[aniviron]

If I were you, I would wait. Seismic is really the only thing worth buying right now, but it is apparently about to get looked at by the balance team. If it's still really good after they balance, then buy it. Otherwise, wait until the next OP module comes out so you can enjoy it while it's still new.

[Krazy Kat]

Advanced sensor range is helpful, especially on the large maps. Nice to know where that sniper is at. I don't do LRM's, but sometimes I target a mech way in the distance and my team starts firing missiles at him. Or they start moving in that direction because they have no other targets.

[Shalune]

Seismic and Cap Accelerator are the two most useful modules right now, and are useful across almost all mech types. Target Decay and UAV are also incredibly powerful, but almost exclusively for LRM mechs or spotters for LRMs. But ultimately modules are almost all very small incremental changes that are not going to make or break a match. They are also very expensive, so ultimately they're probably best left until you have all the major mechs and engines you want. Seismic is the only real exception to modules having very limited effects, which is why it's going to be addressed.

[Timuroslav]

Seismic Sensor is getting Nerfed within a Month
Wait and see what happens to it first. It is an upgradable Module
The developers said that they intend on slowly decreasing its effective range until they're comfortable with it. Also they plan on making lights mechs less noticable and smaller on the radar ping, if not nearly invisible.
Wait and see on the Seismic Sensor

the Capture Accelerator is good because it STACKS with other Capture accelerators, so if you have 2 of them on an enemy base it's like having another person standing on the base with you.
Also because it visually makes the base tick Faster, Teams are more likely to panic and peel off the front lines to book it to your position. It basically, gives you map control. Especially, when your assault lance got wiped out and you have to win by capping. My Fight Group Agrees, that IT IS the PUG Stomper Module if you play smartly with it.

Advanced Sensor Range Helps your team. Here's how.
it gives your radar range extra 100-200 Meters meaning your radar will ping things in the Fog that you haven't seen yet.and if you target with R, it will be shared data among your team, helping your Artillery Mechs find their marks. It also enhances radar decay since the enemy mechs Affectively have to move out of their OWN radar and weapon range to escape your own missile locks.

Sensor Decay is mainly an Missile Mech's best friend but only when in concert with Advanced Sensor Range, it helps you to know where mechs went under cover so you can maintain a data stream longer, it won't stop Missiles from hitting obstacles, but it will let you know where the enemy is.

Target Retention used to be amazing, but with the 400 meter range of Seismic Sensor it became obsolete because Seismic Sensor works 360 degrees around the mech. What it does it Maintains and holds onto radar locks within 100 meter radius of you. This is great for Assaults, Brawlers, and Streak users, who are having trouble maintaining missile locks. But, again it was rendered obsolete with the soon to be nerfed Seismic Sensor.

Target Info Gathering is the Module that increases the Speed at which you gather the Targeted mechs weapon load out. For Assaults and Light Mechs in my opinion who are required to figure out the enemy's load in order to survive or to do their job well. The speed is bearly noticable and it varies mech to mech as well as Line of Sight, so it's up to you. I use it on my Assaults all the time though.
(Currently I use Advanced Sensor Range Target Info Gathering and Seismic Sensor on my Assault since I'm not fast enough to cap, otherwise Cap Accelerator on everything else)

Advanced Zoom has not been fixed yet, it does not actually, zoom in it just enlarges pixels on your screen. Until they fix it for the Ballistic Mechs and Flat Trajectory Direct Fire mechs it's ignorable and laughable really. They said they were going to fix it, but it's Been Backlisted, stalled, and wait listed FOREVER

By the Way... My Target Info Gathering Win loss Ratio is 500 to 464 so if that says anything about that module.

Edited by Timuroslav, 16 June 2013 - 11:39 AM.

[Hammerhai]

When playing lights on conquest Cap Accel is worthwhile.

As you are not primarily a light driver I would suggest sensor range increase and the module that reveals the enemy loadout quickly.

[Victor Morson]

The Good:

Seismic Sensors - Worth a max upgrade, absolutely vital and top-tier for early warnings, covering pathways, and not getting snuck up on in general.

Capture Accelerator - Everyone that can should be running this. Even if you're in assault and don't cap much, sometimes it turns into a cap race and this module makes the difference.

UAV - This is mostly good if you are into fast missile boats or competitive 8-man. It's great to have one of these in the main body, but not everyone would want to carry one. Highly specialized gear that can make for powerful area denial with LRMs.

Target Decay - Worth the advanced upgrades if you are using LRMs.

Coolant 9 by 9 - Only the 9 by 9 is worthwhile. Never pay per-shot MC. Never bother with the 6.

The Bad:

360 Target Retention - Some people have reason for it in lone wolf games but not very useful if you're sticking with your team. Not enough to justify the slot anyway, in particular with Seismic still tracking rough positions.

Adv Sensor Range - It's nice to have that extra range, but you'll never need it. You shouldn't be firing LRMs on 1000m shots anyway, let alone greater. Unnecessary but kind of a luxury.

Target Info Gathering - Maybe on one scout. One scout. It's not worth it for anyone else; handy as it is the only vital info is which areas of the armor are critical; loadout info is not worth sac'ing a module slot over. There are worse modules but this one is overrated.

The Ugly:

Zoom Module - The way it works just makes a blurry mess in a tiny window. Entirely worthless.

Artillery & Airstrikes - Lightly damaging "grenades" that have long fuses with a tiny blast radius and can teleport to locations. The "Pinpoint Upgrades" make them worse, because you will never ever hit with them then. Absolutely horrendous, and they don't even look flashy to boot. No strategic value. Some comedy value.

Edited by Victor Morson, 16 June 2013 - 11:39 PM.

[mailin]

Seeing that you most pilot heavies and mediums the cap accelerator would be a questionable purchase. I say questionable, because it is the single most important for a light to have, and the least important for an assault to have. Your mechs of choice fall in the middle ground. I would probably also choose to wait and see what they do to seismic. If you run brawler builds, seismic can be very helpful to let you know which way that pesky light is running. If you do lrms or long range, then something more along the lines of target decay, target info gathering or sensor range could be more useful.

[John Mechlane]

My 3 modules are:
Adv. Seismic
- no doubt the best module in the game. Will be nerfed in the near future, but they have to stomp it in the ground, and sh*t on it, to make it obsolete. In the current state....don't leave home without it! It almost feels like cheating lol.
Sensor range - no explanation needed. For scouts, snipers, and LRMs....and everyone inbetween.
Target info gathering - most people don't find use for it. In some situations it takes forever to get the info on the enemy mech. Info like his left torso is red, so shoot that on the friggin XL jagermech. That extra second can, and will save your life.

Modules i see as usefull:
Cap accelerator - It can be usefull on assault, but clearly made for conquest. If capping is your style, it's a must-have.
Target decay - clearly for LRM junkies, and/or spotters. It's to give you that extra second after the enemy disappeard behind that friggin rock.

What You should stay away from:
Advanced zoom - could be one of the best modules, if it worked as intended. The devs are forcing picture-in-picture mode, but the engine can't handle it. We have to wait until they fix it. (you'd think that a useless,broken module would be a bigger concern....NOPE!)

I don't have experience with the other modules....so i'm just gonna shut up now.

Edited by JaniTheWeedman, 17 June 2013 - 02:20 PM.

[DEMAX51]

Seismic is awesome - It should still be useful even after it gets nerfed, so I would still recommend it.

Advance sensor range is good for LRM boats, and Lights that use Streaks or who are spotters for LRM boats. Advance Target Decay is also good for LRM boats.

Target Info Gathering is good if you use a laser or ballistic build - especially on Lights. Knowing where to shoot the enemy quickly is a pretty big benefit for the skirmisher-type builds, such as 6 medium laser Jenners (I've gotten a whole lot of component destructions and kills from using this module, and I don't think it's overrated at all).

Cap accel is never a bad choice, but it's more of a team-based upgrade. If you only ever PUG, I would chose something that benefits you personally a bit more.

If you use high-alpha builds, or builds that have quick firing cycles where you generate heat quickly, you can never really go wrong with a coolshot 9 by 9.

[NinetyProof]

Lots of good lists and mostly of them are correct ...

Under-rated: Target Info

People that don't have this on their "must have" are generally *bad* pilots and frankly their entire list is suspect. If your job is to kill enemy mechs, then you should be targetting those mechs and then you should be seeing what is damage and then you should be aiming for the damaged area.

Standard Mech the priority is, for now:
Seismic -> Target Info -> Cool Shot -> Target Decay -> Cap Accel -> Sensor Range

Rarely will that list change. Exception? your in the role of scout, Cap Accellerator jumps up to #2. If you have a *cool* build, then Cool Shot might not be needed. If your an LRM boat, Target Decay moves up in priority. Etc, etc. Generally though, those 4 in that order.

[Stoicblitzer]

currently seismic. if it gets the nerf bat, then i like sensor range and target decay.

Edited by Stoicblitzer, 17 June 2013 - 01:01 PM.

[Konril]

My current pilot module statistics:


Sensor Range is the first module I actually bought. Personally, I don't regret it one bit. The reason isn't so obvious, though.



Frozen City, with it's limited visibility is one my most successful maps. While at the same time, the same Frozen City Night is tied with River City as one of my worst maps. The beagle active probe and advanced sensor module each add 200m to the default 800m range of your targeting radar. Together and that 800m targeting range can be extended to 1200m. So I have found on certain maps where visibility is bad, whether it's because of the snowstorm, really low light, or the default green paint blending in really well with the green environment, that the 1200m radar can spot mechs better than your eyes can. Although there are other environments where it just doesn't matter as much.

The Target Decay Module has been a lot of fun, but I haven't been convinced it's been doing all that much except helping earn C-bills when I have an LRM chucking ally. When a target gets out of range, enters an ECM field, or otherwise ducks behind cover, the target lock is retained for 2 seconds before it's lost. the Advanced Target Decay module will extend that time to 3.5 seconds. This can be really good for LRM users. That's 1.5 more seconds of LRM tracking than without. Considering it can take anywhere from 2 to 8 seconds for a salvo of LRMS to even reach the target, it's pretty big.

But the catch here is that targeting for LRMs is dependent on the spotter. If the spotter loses or switches targets, the LRM boat also loses tracking instantly. So having the decay module on the LRM boat only helps when the LRM boat is direct firing.

I have only bought the basic level of Seismic Sensors so far. But I can see how people can see it as overpowered. It is just really good at letting you know where all the mechs are close to you even if you can't see them because of a hill or building, or when the enemy is behind you. Getting surprised by a Jenner or Commando that got behind enemy lines just won't happen when Seismic Sensors come into play.

The 360 Targeting Module (or Back Facing Target Retention) is something I bought just before seismic sensors were released. It was helpful when fighting fast light opponents before I could save up again for the Seismic Sensors, but honestly the Seismic Sensors have rendered it somewhat obsolete. Honestly, I'm kind of kicking myself for not waiting to buy the seismics properly. Well, time may reverse my opinion depending on how they get adjusted.

The Artillery Strike has only been on my mechs so long because I never removed it after trying it. Most of these permanent modules are really expensive in both C-bills and GXP, so saving up for what I do have has taken quite some time. But i found the artillery strike modules completely useless.

The UAV, however, has been a treat. For the 45 seconds it is active, it will target every enemy in its range and send that targeting data to all your allies (except those jammed by ECM). That makes it really useful as a distress flare. If you get caught in an enemy light wolfpack or a brawl against two or more opponents, firing the UAV will let your whole team know it very quickly.

[Xeno Phalcon]

JaniTheWeedman, on 17 June 2013 - 07:33 AM, said:

Adv. Seismic
- no doubt the best module in the game. Will be nerfed in the near future, but they have to stomp it in the ground, and sh*t on it, to make it obsolete. In the current state....don't leave home without it! It almost feels like cheating lol.

Its kind of like fighting in hockey, everyone knows its dirty and dosn't belong in the game but they like it anyways.

[Genewen]

This thread is about which modules are recommendable and which are not. Take your hate and carry it to the respective feedback thread, it does not belong here.