19 replies to this topic

[Skyfaller]

Devs,

The UAV is a consumable that costs 40k credits yet even if it spots the entire enemy team it does not reward you 40k credits (or even close to it... the full team I spotted once, 12mechs all hudddled together, gave me 12k).

Furthermore, deploying the UAV entails very high risk to scout mechs as you literally have to deploy it in the midst of the enemy group or it is useless (even with max module upgrades the thing does not last long enough nor has enough detection range to stay in one area and detect/track mechs that were not in its detection range when deployed..aka you cannot use it as a 'early warning' system).

Things that would make the UAV worthwhile for scouts:

EITHER:

I.

1. Deploy it like an SRM missile: You aim and fire it.. the UAV will fly in that direction for 200m then stop in midair, expand its sensors and stay in location reporting.

---This would allow the UAV to be used tactically and to be deployed from a relatively safe distance. Aka you can fire it down an alley in a city map angled slightly up so it will report you whats in the X-section road 200m ahead.

2. Increase amount of drones to 4. You can only have 1 drone active at a time hence firing a 2nd drone de-activates the first.

3. Lower cost of UAV to 20k. (20k because 4 drones would be able to cash in at least that much via detection/assist/spot/etc)

or

II.

1. Decrease UAV cost to 10k (one drone wont cash in this much most of the time)
2. Increase UAV range to 300m min, 400m max (fully upgraded)
3. Deploy it like an SRM missile: You aim and fire it.. the UAV will fly in that direction for 200m then stop in midair, expand its sensors and stay in location reporting.

[Deathlike]

All the UAV needs is to double the base bonus for UAV detection, (from 500 to 1000 C-bills) and that should cover it.

Edited by Deathlike, 11 December 2013 - 09:07 AM.

[Homeless Bill]

UAV needs no help. When used strategically in 12-man matches with LRM coordination, it's often devastating. It's not supposed to give you all your money back.

[Mystere]

Skyfaller, on 11 December 2013 - 07:37 AM, said:

Furthermore, deploying the UAV entails very high risk to scout mechs as you literally have to deploy it in the midst of the enemy group ...

Why not sneakily deploy it behind them instead?

[Deathlike]

Homeless Bill, on 11 December 2013 - 11:49 AM, said:

UAV needs no help. When used strategically in 12-man matches with LRM coordination, it's often devastating. It's not supposed to give you all your money back.

It needs some help, but not a lot.

With that said, I use it primarily to harvest XP for the Spider, because, trolling you that one rare time in a 5V was priceless. Stop trying to carry that hard!!!

Besides... the 5V is a terrible design.

Edited by Deathlike, 11 December 2013 - 11:54 AM.

[Homeless Bill]

Deathlike, on 11 December 2013 - 11:52 AM, said:

It needs some help, but not a lot.

With that said, I use it primarily to harvest XP for the Spider, because, trolling you that one rare time in a 5V was priceless. Stop trying to carry that hard!!!

Besides... the 5V is a terrible design.

Personally, I'd currently rather have my scouts running UAVs than airstrikes and whatnot if I had even a single LRM boat. Aggressive teams don't usually have such a problem with it, but anybody that likes to turtle gets ****** once one of those things is in the sky. It wouldn't break it to get a little boost to something, but I also don't think it's necessary.

There's only so much Villz and I can do against Jager's crew and the ForumWarrior hitsquad =P Whenever I run an assault anymore, I know that it's going to be an ugly fight.

But... but... jumpjets.

[Deathlike]

Homeless Bill, on 11 December 2013 - 01:42 PM, said:

Personally, I'd currently rather have my scouts running UAVs than airstrikes and whatnot if I had even a single LRM boat. Aggressive teams don't usually have such a problem with it, but anybody that likes to turtle gets ****** once one of those things is in the sky. It wouldn't break it to get a little boost to something, but I also don't think it's necessary.

That's kinda all I run on a light. I didn't go that when I was grinding Commandos, but I figure there's no other way to accelerate the Spider grinding process (and it's not that pretty).

It's all about location, location, location...

Quote

There's only so much Villz and I can do against Jager's crew and the ForumWarrior hitsquad =P Whenever I run an assault anymore, I know that it's going to be an ugly fight.

I thought we were just that, FORUMWARRIORS!?!?!?!

Quote

But... but... jumpjets.

I think I can actually write a detailed topic on how bad the 5V is... as it competes with the Lolcust (primarily 1V) for worst mech variant ever.

Edited by Deathlike, 11 December 2013 - 02:44 PM.

[Skyfaller]

I disagree. The UAV should have the same money return as a weapon system. Ergo, any damage enemy mechs take while being spotted by a UAV should give a % of the damage cash to the UAV owner. After all, they wouldn't be hitting or seeing it if it wasn't for the UAV.

WOT uses a scout spotting mechanic that would be useful here: The unit that first detects the enemy unit (not first time in map but detects it from being not seen) gets cash bonus per damage inflicted upon target by units firing beyond their detection range or LOS.

This means if my scout drops a UAV on top of the entire enemy team while my team is still 1km behind me...and the enemy team is lit up..and my team starts firing AC2/PPC/LRM thanks to my spotting info.. then I should be receiving a cash bonus be it because of my own scout mech's sensors or via the UAV itself.

As a scout my potential to do damage is insanely limited. Only jenners can pack the damage needed to fight a bigger mech on its own...but a spider that can barely be armed with a couple of med lasers its idiotic to have me, the scout, spending 40k credits so OTHER people can rake in a hundred thousand creds or more at the end of the map.

[Grrzoot]

nope. I think it's actually in a good place. If any module system gave back enough money that it paid for itself, that would be OP

[Thejuggla]

Homeless Bill, on 11 December 2013 - 11:49 AM, said:

UAV needs no help. When used strategically in 12-man matches with LRM coordination, it's often devastating. It's not supposed to give you all your money back.

Does UAV count as a spotter for Lrms? I always thought they would miss against a target that was spotted with UAV.

[Pyrrho]

Thejuggla, on 11 December 2013 - 05:44 PM, said:

Does UAV count as a spotter for Lrms? I always thought they would miss against a target that was spotted with UAV.

UAV gives you the ability to target what it can see. If you want to shoot LRMs at something seen by a UAV, target it.

[Victor Morson]

UAV is amazing for ranking up 'mechs. It more than justifies the 40k price tag. It farms XP like no other.

[Homeless Bill]

Thejuggla, on 11 December 2013 - 05:44 PM, said:

Does UAV count as a spotter for Lrms? I always thought they would miss against a target that was spotted with UAV.

Yes. That's what it's effective for. People start ******** their pants when LRMs rain down regardless of line-of-sight. They're kind of a pain in the *** to shoot down as well due to convergence on certain 'mechs. UAVs are absolutely invaluable for any team running LRMs.

[Damia Savon]

I would love to run a UAV on my Catapults but the limited range of it makes it useless for the actual missile boat itself. If I could shoot it in a general direction before it activates then I would run it all the time. It would be a good counter measure to ECM since it is limited in duration and can be shot down.

Right now I have to pray someone carries one, like I do on my Raven 3L, and knows when to deploy one..

[Victor Morson]

Homeless Bill, on 11 December 2013 - 07:45 PM, said:

Yes. That's what it's effective for. People start ******** their pants when LRMs rain down regardless of line-of-sight. They're kind of a pain in the *** to shoot down as well due to convergence on certain 'mechs. UAVs are absolutely invaluable for any team running LRMs.

That and countering big ECM bubbles.

Nothing ruins a cluster of DDC's day like getting lit by a UAV in a brawl.

[Monkey Lover]

Victor Morson, on 11 December 2013 - 05:51 PM, said:

UAV is amazing for ranking up 'mechs. It more than justifies the 40k price tag. It farms XP like no other.

I agree the xp return makes it worth using for light mechs. I do like the idea of a mortar or a moveable uav.Its a uav should be able to move.

[Skyfaller]

UAV does not farm xp in any way or form that justifies the 40k cost. It doesn't even gain cbills to justify the cost and risk of using it.

A map where my team lost but I used the UAV to detect half of their team:

Detect 6 mechs = 2k credits, 80 xp.

I assume there is some sort of modifier for a win map that might increase that to ~3 or 4k creds and 100 or 120xp.

However, in comparison, the combat damage my spider did (I barely laser-swiped people running by.. doing less than 100 damage), counting 'assists', 'damage', etc (meaning all weapon-damage related earnings) added up 50k. Out of that 50k, only 2k was from the UAV. I earned a total of 300xp in that map loss.. only 80 of that was from the UAV, the rest was pure combat damage related xp.

The point here is, the scout unit is not being rewarded properly for doing its job. If you want to get cbills and xp you are far better off not bothering to equip the mech with scouting gear and instead just load it for combat.

My spider-D has just one ERLL, a med L and a TAG. It carries, BAP, ECM, sensor x2, target info x2 and UAV. It is mastered. My cbill and xp earnings every map win pale in comparison to the maps I equip this same mech with three med lasers, the best engine (speed!) and pure combat related modules.

So really we have a failure in design (no surprises there) when it comes to the role of the light scout mechs. Damage is the only thing that is truly rewarded.

If all light mechs were given a modifier to their scout-related earnings this would fix the earning issues and give the lights their role niche. The UAV changes I suggest would make the UAV more functional for both lights as a scouting tool and for heavier mechs as a combat tool.

[Deathlike]

Skyfaller, on 12 December 2013 - 08:47 AM, said:

A map where my team lost but I used the UAV to detect half of their team:

Detect 6 mechs = 2k credits, 80 xp.

That's not accurate at all.

Every mech that is detected by the UAV, you gain 500 C-bills, 25XP. It makes no difference between Conquest or Assault AND it makes no difference between winning and losing.

If you're not launching it within 6 or more enemy players, you're wasting it.

According do your faulty "numbers", you only detected 3-4 players, which is poor usage of the device.

This is coming from someone that uses it ALL THE TIME IN A LIGHT MECH.

Edited by Deathlike, 12 December 2013 - 01:09 PM.

[Asmudius Heng]

I do like the idea that you can launch UAVs a little way before they become active. I have not had much success with them but I can see how awesome they are when you work in. Team with LRMs etc. .. Need to test this further though.

It is more difficult to use this item Effectivly in a pug match than other consumables but any teamwork item always is.

[Prezimonto]

All I want is the ability to purchase a 0.5 ton UAV for my mech(or even like ECM only on certain variants like the spider 5V ). It's a scouting tool and all it's doing is acting as a tax on cbills for people playing a scout role effectively. If I could actually dedicate tonnage to them instead of consumable space (and pack a few in) I would be a lot happier with it's position as a primary tool for a play style. Under these conditions these actual scout role designed mechs could pack 2 UAV's (one for tonnage and one for module) but just like spotting every mech in a match can only earn you the bonus once. This would help a LOT with dedicated spotters but giving already pretty bad mechs a real benefit (2 UAV's) and the ability to use one for no cbills every match, which is good.

And make no mistake, I use it constantly and often doubles my XP intake as a scout spider/locust in combination with a tag (meaning I have few weapons otherwise). It allows for XP generation on the scale with someone in a damage based rewards role... however your cbill earnings are terrible.

Edited by Prezimonto, 12 December 2013 - 02:52 PM.