How the Heat Sinks in MWO work,
according to Bryan Ekman & David Bradley:
"Double heat sinks internal to the engine are set to increase the heat scale by 2 points and provide -0.2 heat/sec cooling. Double heat sinks that you add to your Mech increase the heat scale by 1.4 points and provide -0.14 heat/sec cooling. (For reference, single heat sinks increase the scale by 1 and cool -0.1 heat/sec. The heat scale starts at 30 and is then is increased based on the heat sinks in your Mech.)"
Personally, I would rather see much smaller effects on threshold for both HS types (in additional to changes to the dissipation rate of DHS).
- all SHS: -0.10 heat/second per HS, +0.50 to heat threshold per HS
- all DHS: -0.20 heat/second per HS, +0.25 to heat threshold per HS
Essentially, DHS would provide twice the dissipation, but only half of the (far smaller than is currently the case) increase in threshold when compared to SHS.
Additionally, base heat threshold for each 'Mech (without taking HS into account) could, IMO, be set to (30 + ((tonnage)/100)); the latter term is supposed to build on the idea that more-massive 'Mechs should have a somewhat higher inherent
thermal mass value than less-massive 'Mechs.
As such, the base threshold for a 20-ton 'Mech (e.g.
Flea,
Locust,
Dasher) would be 30.20, while the base threshold for a 65-ton 'Mech (e.g.
Catapult,
Loki) would be 30.65 and the base threshold for a 100-ton 'Mech (e.g.
Atlas,
Daishi) would be 31.00.
The number and type of HS would then modify both the base threshold (with the result being the 'Mech's actual/total heat threshold) and the overall dissipation rate.
Thus:
- a stock AWS-8Q (an 80-ton 'Mech with 28 SHS) would have a heat threshold of 44.80 (from (30 + (80/100) + (0.50 * 28))) and a dissipation rate of 2.8 heat/sec,
- a hypothetical DHS-equipped but otherwise unmodified AWS-8Q (an 80-ton 'Mech with 28 DHS) would have a heat threshold of 37.80 (from (30 + (80/100) + (0.25 * 28))) and a dissipation rate of 5.6 heat/sec,
- a stock AWS-9M (an 80-ton 'Mech with 20 DHS) would have a heat threshold of 35.80 (from (30 + (80/100) + (0.25 * 20))) and a dissipation rate of 4.0 heat/sec,
- a stock CN9-D (a 50-ton 'Mech with 10 SHS) would have would have a heat threshold of 35.50 (from (30 + (50/100) + (0.50 * 10))) and a dissipation rate of 1.0 heat/sec, and
- a hypothetical DHS-equipped but otherwise unmodified CN9-D (a 50-ton 'Mech with 10 DHS) would have would have a heat threshold of 33.00 (from (30 + (50/100) + (0.25 * 10))) and a dissipation rate of 2.0 heat/sec.
As illustrated (moreso by the AWSs than by the CN9s), this would (IMO) create a more tangible trade-off between using one HS type over another (especially when larger numbers of HS are equipped) - SHS would provide a greater boost to threshold (and could thus be of greater utility in preventing self-inflicted heat damage for those (usually "high-alpha") builds that are expected to produce large amounts of heat at once... like the stock AWS-8Q) at the cost of dissipation rate, while DHS provide a greater boost to dissipation rate at the cost of heat threshold (and could thus be of greater utility to those (usually "DPS-oriented") builds that are more-greatly affected by heat generation (and heat dissipation) over time than by sudden heat spikes... like a stock
JM6-DD with its combination of AC/2s and UAC/5s).
In blunter terms (and assuming equal numbers of individual Heat Sinks are installed), it creates the tradeoff of "greater heat-tanking capability with slower cooling" (SHS) versus "lesser heat-tanking capability with faster cooling" (DHS).
Such a system would also, IMO, eliminate the need for the Heat Scaling system (aka "Ghost Heat"), and the implementation of my proposal (were it - or something substantially identical - to be implemented) would ideally occur simultaneously with the removal of the Heat Scaling system.
Thoughts?