4 replies to this topic

[Strig]

I have a simple suggestion involving ghost-heat that I think would be relatively easy to implement and provide considerable benefit to game play balance and variety.

Make mech model specific ghost-heat adjustments via mech quirks.

This would allow the devs to establish a mech as a superior platform for specific weapons types. This could come in the form of completely eliminating the penalty or (if balance dictates) a percentage/flat reduction in the heat generated.

For example, perhaps the Awesome AWS-8Q, which has nothing but energy hardpoints and comes with 3 PPCs standard, could have a 20% reduction to PPC ghost heat.

This would create interesting options for mechs that might otherwise be deemed inferior to others in their weight class (such as the Awesome from our example) or even other models of the same chasis (such as the Stalker STK-4N which has nothing to recommend it over any other Stalker ... other than being 200k cheaper).

Thoughts?

P.S. Let us assume that Ghost Heat isn't going away ... there are other threads for that rant.

Edited by Strig, 29 October 2013 - 11:32 AM.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

Agreed. Generated heat boosts/penalties are best done with quirks for the different variants.

[Death Mallet]

I think the threshhold for Ghost Heat needs to be a mech quirk.

For instance, for all other mechs, the Ghost Heat limit for PPCs might be 2. But for the Awesome 8Q and 9M it might be 3.

Similarly, the medium laser Ghost Heat threshhold might be lowered to 4. . . but for those mechs with more than 4 medium lasers as stock configuration, that could be a quirk.

[Strig]

@Death Mallet

That is also a good approach to this. Not sure if the current values are hard-coded or not, but I like it. It might be too strong in some situations, but that's why the quirk system is the perfect place for these exceptions ... as the devs can make that call.

Further reduction to ghost heat could also be accomplished via a module which might then be a percentage reduction to all ghost heat (a 10%/20% ghost heat reduction module/advanced module would be worth slotting on specialty mechs)

[TrentTheWanderer]

I'd like to see some 'Mechs get really specific buffs to offset their weaker positions in the Meta. A good example would be a heat reduction of some kind for the Awesome, or perhaps special terrain bonuses for the Dragon to offset the lack of collisions and its massive CT. There are more than a few 'Mechs that don't fare well in competitive play because of a glaring weakness or two that could do to be offset by bonuses or neat perks.