7 replies to this topic

[Waylander40K]

Personally, I now find ECM in about the right place in terms of gameplay balance.

However; seeing an Atlas DC in just about every match, is dull.

Plz; for the sake of a little variation make ECM available on just a few more mechs!!

For example on a less loved/played chassis like an Awesome (might then make the effort to master them).

[Ensaine]

Umm... no... we've plenty of Mechs with ECM .... do NOT need more ......

[Vermaxx]

How about a heavy class mech with ecm, so we can stop the discrimination?

[Alex Warden]

i could see one variant of either quickdraw or griffin in that role... but yea,basically we have enough ecm mechs currently. we have THREE lightmechs with ecm, which alone is enough we have the DDC,which i hope to become more of a Commander´s Mech in the future and we have the Cicada... i´d rather see one of the Cents with ECM, but what ever...

so basically we have 4 actual scouts plus a possible commanders assault (if the command console ever becomes what it could be). think that´s okay

Edited by Alex Warden, 05 September 2013 - 11:32 PM.

[Victor Morson]

We should have one heavy and one medium with ECM, in particular if they are otherwise lackluster variants.

It's got to be rare. It has to have trade-offs. But we do need a couple more.

[FlipOver]

Waylander40K, on 05 September 2013 - 08:19 AM, said:

However; seeing an Atlas DC in just about every match, is dull. [...]

You do know the D-DC is one of the most versatile Mech around regarding weapons, don't you?
Add to that the constant nerf to weapons and people tend to buy and keep an AS7-D-DC because they will always find a good fit to it no matter how many weapons get nerfed.
Plus, with all that armour it is a wall with cannons on it, hence a max speed of around 62kph (with the max engine available), the slow torso movement speed, the low arm up/down degree inclination, etc.

Yeah people go for those for the ECM BUT also for the versatility and heavy armor, but they have lots of draw-backs, now the Heavies don't have as much...

Victor Morson, on 05 September 2013 - 11:35 PM, said:

We should have one heavy and one medium with ECM, in particular if they are otherwise lackluster variants.

It's got to be rare. It has to have trade-offs. But we do need a couple more.

You have the CICADA CDA-3M as a medium with ECM.
Adding it to another med would make it less rare.
Adding it to a heavy would also make it less rare.
As it is atm is fine. And we'll see what will happen when Clan ECM comes to play.

Edit:
The mechs with ECM are COM-2D, RVN-3L as the lights; CDA-3M as the medium, AS7-D-DC as the assault.

Their roles are:
COM-2D; RVN-3L; CDA-3M - Scout/light defense-attack assist
AS7-D-DC - Heavy defense

As it is, the ECM is well distributed and we don't need more Mechs with it for now.

Edited by flipover, 06 September 2013 - 01:41 AM.

[Goose Igaly]

I have to disagree with the OP. ECM, if anything, is over-utilized at the moment. That aside, consider why each of the varioius chasis do and do not have ECM.

Lights: These guys are designed for scouting, recon, intel, harrassment, and picking off stragglers. ECM on a couple of chasis in this class can help them in their role. And, due to advantages in various varients, if you have two scouts, only 1 need run the ECM module.

Cicada: Fully capable of sliding into the scouting role, this little guy can also serve to blanket some of your faster moving mechs as they move about the field. Their heightened armor over the lights gives them more survivability on the front line if they are used in this role.

DDC: The Atlas chasis is for assaulting, is the largest (and often slowest) guy on the field, and is capable of utilizing the Command Module (if its purpose is ever coded). With that said, it makes perfect sense that one of these varients carry an ECM. As an Assualt mech at 100 tons, they also have the availble space/tonnage to equip one.

I have to admit that I, too, am growing tired of seeing entire lances made up of DDCs, but I also have to admit that my lance will drop in full DDCs just to have some fun. The main problem is that there are only a few pilots experienced enough to pilot light mechs effectively and thus PUG drops often feel the need to drop in the biggest mech they can to survive. Take it from one that knows, my DDC is the mech I'm most comfortable in.

With that said, you also have to keep in mind the roles of the different varients and how those roles are performed in 12v12. Currently in 12s I'm seeing a lot of tonnage, as in entire teams rolling Assualt class. Looking forward, tonnage limits will help to alleviate the appearance of multiple DDCs in a single match. With tonnage limits it will be a great sacrifice on the entire team to bring more than 1 Atlas to the field and, depending on the teams style and makeup, that Atlas may not even carry ECM. It will be at this time that your Lights will become invaluable as scouts, running about the map gathering intel on the enemy movements. Chances will be that they may be the only ones on the field with ECM.

Now, I know that this doesn't help the 12-man PUG situation, but the game cannot be balanced on the random environment of the PUG drop. And....I had more that I wanted to discuss, but I'm at work and my brain just lost the thought. Ask any questions and I'll follow up with responses.

[Rayspace]

Well to be fair to the tabletop players. ECM was a piece of equipment. It could be fitted to any mech, just like a gun or missile launcher. Having specific mechs only able to use it while allowing full weapons/other customization seems a bit silly to me. Some mechs are so strapped for tonnage with their weapons mix that taking an ECM is the equivalent of choosing it over say an AMS system. Some mechs may be "fitted" with ECM but that does not mean that a retrofit wasn't possible. These people are the ultimate scavengers, recyclers, and bubblegum and bailing wire repairmen. Saying they could not retrofit a mech when they can rebuild them from the ground up with the right parts is laughable.