43 replies to this topic

[oldradagast]

Looking forward to this change - my 8R will be more durable. Of course, it still has its moments... survived a beating by 2 AC40 jagers (2 separate games the other night), so it will be AWESOME when the hitboxes are finally adjusted to what makes sense.

[Trauglodyte]

There wasn't all that much wrong with the Awesome to begin with. Notice how much easier it is to survive these days not that the game isn't 100% PPCs on everything? Kind of shocking. Anyway, run an ER PPC, 3x Lrg Lasers, and a Streak and you'll be just fine. Ghost heat on the Lrg Lases isn't bad and you can chain them, which you should be doing when you run hot, and run just fine. People need to stop this BS concept that the entire game should cater to your terribad need to push one button for all of your weapons.

[Fuggles]

It would be nice to have the arms make more effective shields and have legs take a tad more damage.

I still believe the biggest problems with the awsome however have to do with the heat system and boating penalties and energy weapons as a whole.

pulse weapons are too hot and too low of range to be primary weapons.
Even sensible mixes of weapons on a 8q results in alpha heat pennalties.
Erppcs are far too hot.

The main problem is that even if energy weapons get an overhaul, and their hitboxes are reworked, the stalker is still going to be better at just about everything an awsome can do, short of maybe the 8r tossing massive numbers of misskes downfield.

[Odanan]

Hans Von Lohman, on 05 November 2013 - 02:12 PM, said:

I have not been to the forums that much in the past week (Batman Arkham Origins is keeping me busy) so I missed this bit of news.

Several mechs are getting a hitbox adjustment pass, starting with the Awesome. Hopefully I will be in my PPC death machine by Thanksgiving.

[/font]

But.. what's wrong with the Atlas?

[Tahribator]

Hitboxes won't change much when the model itself is so big. If they make ST's bigger, it will be like the Thunderbolt where losing ST's is pretty much given. 9M will be unviable with larger XL's.

The only cure for the Awesome shrinking the upper torso.

[Odins Fist]

Unless a miracle happens, the AWESOME is still going to be a bad choice.

[NRP]

Yeah, the only hope is if they give the AWS "Spider" hit boxes.

[Trauglodyte]

It won't ever be top tier like the Highland or Victor but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is a bad choice. Who is in your group and what are they running? what kind of strat are you running? Can you make the **** dance so as to live long enough to burn down others? All of that matters for any mech. The Awesome, due to its size, it just at a much high risk because of its afore mentioned size. But, as a mech and its ability to do damage, it is still just as good as everything else. Unfortunately, you have to play like a Light mech and stay out of LOS.

[N a p e s]

Time to take the good ol' 9M out for some practice runs!

[Odins Fist]

Trauglodyte, on 07 November 2013 - 01:43 PM, said:

It won't ever be top tier like the Highland or Victor but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is a bad choice. Who is in your group and what are they running? what kind of strat are you running? Can you make the **** dance so as to live long enough to burn down others? All of that matters for any mech. The Awesome, due to its size, it just at a much high risk because of its afore mentioned size. But, as a mech and its ability to do damage, it is still just as good as everything else. Unfortunately, you have to play like a Light mech and stay out of LOS.

Yeah I used to run a AWS-9M for fun, but even torso twisting, it is really easy to get hit the the side torsos.

If you CAN'T hit the broad side of a barn, you can still hit the side torso or ct of the Awesome..

I would like the Awesome to get some PGI lovin, I would like to see it a good choice, but sadly when I do see an awesome in a match, all I can think is "Free Candy".. LOL

Side Note: It's still not as bad as when the Atlas-K was a trial mech...

[Trauglodyte]

Oh god, the poor K.

Honestly, I feel like I last longer in my 9M than I do in my D-DC. Could just be perspective but that damned thing falls apart like paper mache'.

[NRP]

Trauglodyte, on 07 November 2013 - 02:41 PM, said:

Oh god, the poor K.

Honestly, I feel like I last longer in my 9M than I do in my D-DC. Could just be perspective but that damned thing falls apart like paper mache'.

You know, I recently finished mastering my Boar's Head, and I got the same feeling. I kept thinking "******* it! I am in a 100T mech, aren't I?"

[Deathlike]

NRP, on 07 November 2013 - 03:54 PM, said:

You know, I recently finished mastering my Boar's Head, and I got the same feeling. I kept thinking "******* it! I am in a 100T mech, aren't I?"

Well, the thing about the BH is that you geninuely don't want to always use the arms to shield yourself, since the majority of your firepower is there.

[Ghogiel]

BJ1 AC20 is ooooollllld. People were using it when the BJ came out. But it became a lot more common right after ghost heat came in. Due to being slightly less likely to get 732'd in 2.4secs from half a click out.

[aniviron]

Tahribator, on 07 November 2013 - 12:30 PM, said:

Hitboxes won't change much when the model itself is so big. If they make ST's bigger, it will be like the Thunderbolt where losing ST's is pretty much given. 9M will be unviable with larger XL's.

The only cure for the Awesome shrinking the upper torso.

Or make the shoulder pads part of the arm like the mechlab shows, and then expand the side torsi to cover some of what is now the center. The side torsi remain the same size relatively, the CT shrinks, the arms grow. Yes, the arms are now more vulnerable, but I will take that over a massive CT/ST weakness anyday.

We'll just have to wait and see if they screw this up or not. I'd like to think that it can't be much worse than it is now, but you never know.

cdlord, on 05 November 2013 - 05:46 PM, said:

3x PPC is just fine.... You aren't supposed to alpha all three all the time. Fire two, then one, then two, cycle. Not a high alpha striker, but a consistent pounder. This is supported by lore and by Stackpole (though dramatized).

It's the way the game is designed; putting damage on one single part of the mech is ALWAYS superior to spreading it out. There are no exceptions. No matter what you hit, it is always always better to do 40 damage to a section and destroy it than to do 10 damage to 4 sections. Doing all your damage to one section either kills outright, removes weapons and heatsinks, or a leg; all three of those outcomes are obviously incredibly beneficial to you. Spreading out your damage just means you're taking more time to eventually destroy one part; but if you're facing someone who doesn't spread out their damage, like an autocannon boat, then they will kill or main your mech long before you even remove their armor.

I suppose you could say alpha vs chain is lazy if every mech were incapable of movement and all that mattered was damage per second, but generally speaking you have small half-second windows when your opponent is facing you and firing or exposed in a bad position to deal your damage to places that matter; during all other times, he is twisting and spreading the damage out.

So no, it's not just because players are lazy that they prefer alpha strikes. It's just better tactics. It means you can hit and then move, instead of having to face your opponent and let him take shots at you. It means you don't spread your damage out as much. Ghost heat was explicitly intended to have this effect of forcing players to chainfire and spread their damage to extend battle durations; unfortunately, it is only effective on lasers, ppcs, and ac20s. So yes, as long as there is ghost heat and that ghost heat does not affect ac2s, 5s, and 10s, energy boats are at a significant disadvantage.

Oh, and you could fire all three at a time just fine in the tabletop. Not indefinitely, but 3-3-2-3-3-2 etc. was heat neutral.

[Deathlike]

Odanan, on 07 November 2013 - 12:14 PM, said:

But.. what's wrong with the Atlas?

Here's a hint: What are the last two hero mechs prior to the Jester?

Second hint: ?????

Third hint: Profit!

That is the reason for looking over the hitboxes.

[Trauglodyte]

Dammit, Death, what was the other hero before the Jester other than the Boar's Head? I'm totally drawing a blank.

[CDLord HHGD]

Trauglodyte, on 08 November 2013 - 08:01 AM, said:

Dammit, Death, what was the other hero before the Jester other than the Boar's Head? I'm totally drawing a blank.

Protector?

[Trauglodyte]

cdlord, on 08 November 2013 - 08:12 AM, said:

Protector?

Gah! That's it. I was trying to think of what the last mech released was before the Phoenix releases and I totally came up short.

[mike29tw]

I doubt it will change anything. Even though it's wearing a thong now, it's still a walking refrigerator.