1 reply to this topic

[Kitane]

A one topic in Gameplay Balance discussion gave me an idea about a solution for short range missiles. SSRMs were nerfed to oblivion with the latest guidance change and among SRMs only SRM4 and SRM6 are actually used, SRM2 is next to useless. A weapon that was obviously a very weak weapon even in TT is hard to balance, but PGI already managed to that before.

AC2, the lightest member of a weapon family that used to be a horrible weapon for its damage/weight ratio before PGI gave it current 0.5s recycle time. The AC2 in TT did 10% of dps of AC20. Here it does 80% of the damage, although more distributed.

I propose a similar solution to smaller missile launchers:

SRM6 - cooldown 4.0s, dps 3.0s, 1 heat/second (this is unchanged from current values)
SRM4 - cooldown 2.9s, dps 2.75, 1.03 heat/second
(S)SRM2 - cooldown 1.6s, dps 2.66, 1.25 heat/second

This would enable SRM2 and SSRM2 launchers to produce viable amount of damage and it would be balanced by the requirement to fire more frequently, just like AC2s/AC5s.

A Streakcat would be able to deliver ~16 dps. That looks like a lot at first glance, but it is equal to 4 AC2 Jager, but with even greater damage distribution and a lot smaller range. It would be "fun" troll build that can kill something, but it wouldn't be strong.

The solution would give more options and flavors to missile mechs and it wouldn't be stronger than current mostly SRM6 builds. It would also keep SSRMs in the game before arrival of SSRM4 and SSRM6.

It would be fun.

Edited by Kitane, 06 August 2013 - 07:32 AM.

[Alreech]

I don't think that it's the best solution, because IMHO the AC2/AC5 are still broken.
Yeah, the have a low cooldown, but still a very low damage. They may have a high rate of fire, but because of this the create a lot of heat.

Lower cooldown may be better for SRM Boats, but honestly - need we more boats ?
Many Mechs can only mount one or two missle type weapons, so they can't be converted to SRM Boats.
A better solution would be IMHO to increase the chance for a critical hit, giving the SRM a role as coup de grace weapon.