4831 replies to this topic

[Tim East]

Guys, guys. I finally bought a Locust 3S! I saw the rocket launchers in the PTS and said to myself; "Tim, you must make a cruise missile." It's gonna put my Jenner IIC to shame. xD

Also planning to SA my PB.

[Burning2nd]

So they nurfed Is small lasers?

Ok well that makes sense...

Ill figure it out thanks guys.. I must have missed that in the patch notes

[Blind Baku]

Burning2nd, on 15 July 2017 - 12:07 AM, said:

So they nurfed Is small lasers?

Ok well that makes sense...

Ill figure it out thanks guys.. I must have missed that in the patch notes

Small PULSE lasers. SL's I don't think have changed

[Ovion]

Blind Baku, on 15 July 2017 - 07:40 AM, said:

Small PULSE lasers. SL's I don't think have changed

Most energy had some changes, to bring everything in line with each other in terms of range, DPS, heat curve, etc.

Part of the big ol' re-balance they're doing ,which honestly overall I think is doing pretty well so far, with only a few missteps.

[Virlutris]

Ovion, on 15 July 2017 - 07:46 AM, said:

Most energy had some changes, to bring everything in line with each other in terms of range, DPS, heat curve, etc.

Part of the big ol' re-balance they're doing ,which honestly overall I think is doing pretty well so far, with only a few missteps.

I'm a little dubious about the degree to which balance is being done by spreadsheet. I'm fine with using numbers to inform decision, but things like heat/damage and dps values don't tell the whole story.

I see that there's thinking going on, I'm just not convinced that all of it is sound.

[Ovion]

Virlutris, on 15 July 2017 - 10:28 AM, said:

I'm a little dubious about the degree to which balance is being done by spreadsheet. I'm fine with using numbers to inform decision, but things like heat/damage and dps values don't tell the whole story.

I see that there's thinking going on, I'm just not convinced that all of it is sound.

But, at least they're trying.
Skill Tree has done alright in making balance better overall so far, so here's hoping, especially with the release of futuretech, it'll all work out for energy weapons, and balance overall.

[Virlutris]

Ovion, on 15 July 2017 - 11:46 AM, said:

But, at least they're trying.
Skill Tree has done alright in making balance better overall so far, so here's hoping, especially with the release of futuretech, it'll all work out for energy weapons, and balance overall.

Note: I'm not coming straight after you here Ovi, I have a starkly different evaluation of recent balance efforts under Chris's leadership and design.

I'm not sold on the notion that simply trying is credit worthy, for PGI, or Chris.

I'm not convinced that Chris has done good work on balance. I'm not sold on what he's done to design systems or implement them, on his reasoning, or any of the other elements of the "why" and "how" to whatever extent we've seen them. I have sharply different opinions on most of his decisions and designs, more ably articulated by others.

I don't see that the skill shrubberies have actually helped balance, so much as it's helped the perception for some players regarding balance. I'm not convinced of the utility, value, or pleasantness of the skill system that Chris designed.

Most of the balance tuning still seems to happen via equipment tuning, mech mobility adjustments, and of course, variant quirks, with the skill shrubberies acccenting or mitigating one thing or another. I'm less dubious about adjustments Chris has made on these, but that's only really an improvement by being less negative.

That's okay, plenty of room for differing valuations. Most of my salt is played out regarding those issues. All I've got left is blunt and strong disagreement.

[Ovion]

It's not a perception of balance here.

Post Skill Tree, there's few to no mechs and variants that are universally *bad*.
Almost everything is viable mech wise at this point - I (and most other people I interact with) have seen, played and theorized out such a huge variety of mechs to before, it's fantastic.

I love not seeing *just* the same 6-8 mechs on the field 80-90% of the time.
There's still a few you'll see more often, but overall, in terms of variety it has been successful.

Yes it needs further tweaking, but definitely in MWO's case, trying is important - leaving it how it was especially was stagnant to say the least.

Not everything has hit the mark sure, but I think the game as a whole feels better atm than it did 6 months ago.

[DrxAbstract]

In other news: Dem IS Small Laser buffs...

[Tim East]

Ovion, on 16 July 2017 - 12:30 AM, said:

It's not a perception of balance here.

Post Skill Tree, there's few to no mechs and variants that are universally *bad*.
Almost everything is viable mech wise at this point - I (and most other people I interact with) have seen, played and theorized out such a huge variety of mechs to before, it's fantastic.

I love not seeing *just* the same 6-8 mechs on the field 80-90% of the time.
There's still a few you'll see more often, but overall, in terms of variety it has been successful.

Yes it needs further tweaking, but definitely in MWO's case, trying is important - leaving it how it was especially was stagnant to say the least.

Not everything has hit the mark sure, but I think the game as a whole feels better atm than it did 6 months ago.

Well, I don't know about universally bad, but as far as seeing the same 6-8 'Mechs on teams pop up continuously, I'm pretty sure that's not fixed. Off the top of my head, MAD, MAD IIC, LCT (what?) KDK, NVA (again, what?) Battlemaster, and both flavors of Orion (yet again, huh?). On the upside, I've been spotting some really neat weirdo builds lately, including a peculiar preponderance of lightning fast SRM zombie Commandos. Those guys are probs getting ready for RLs too.

I think I'm going to change my mind, go out on a limb here, and say that yes, universally bad 'Mechs exist, and they are those that have 2 of each hardpoint, easy to kill geometries, and no good way to get the most out of their tonnage. It's funny, I love Dragons, but apart from go fast, anything they can do a Cataphract can do better. I don't pilot them, but I have no idea what I'd even DO with a Victor. I stopped piloting my Zeuses ages ago. Maybe I'm just dumb, but I sort of find Firestarters to not be very good lately either, which is all kinds of wrong to me considering the era I learned to Locust in.

On the other hand, I do agree that the game feels better than 6 months ago. Except for all my laser-dependent lights and mediums. And the weirdly long amount of time it started taking to load levels. I like that they reigned ECM in? I like some of the new tech? At least a little bit?

Mostly just RLs. PPC variants are going to be cool. MGs getting buffed will be fun, and I might even run my 1V with them. Gauss variants are trash, the light one weighs too much and the heavy one won't fit in anything I want it to. Might try one on my Flame as a joke, that's about it. SA is hilarious, but I heard they set it so friendlies get the blue dorito again, so more useful, less funny. Heavy lasers are everything I dislike about lasers rolled into one weapon system. Long burn time kills them, will be DOA imho. LAMS is the best thing ever, and better still if it's still buggy when mixed with regular AMS. Micro lasers will be fun, but not very good. Definitely going to boat Micro pulses on my Nova. I don't really use LRMs enough to get a good feel for them, but ATMs looked kinda just bad to me after watching my mixed AMS NVA completely ignore a MDD boating them on the test server. MRMs seem kinda cool, but hard to use unless you're close enough that SRMs would be better? That is about all I remember from the test server.

What do you guys think about AC10's gaining GH over 3? A deliberate pre-nerf to one of the stock Annihilators? Unsure if intentional or not, but it made me glad I put off buying the pack so I can... just not buy the pack now.

[IraqiWalker]

I'm probably rebuilding my suicide-mando, which used to be an ECM 2D with 3 SRM6s and almost zero armor. Except this time with RLs.

Edited by IraqiWalker, 17 July 2017 - 07:28 PM.

[stealthraccoon]

IraqiWalker, on 17 July 2017 - 07:28 PM, said:

I'm probably rebuilding my suicide-mando, which used to be an ECM 2D with 3 SRM6s and almost zero armor. Except this time with RLs.

2D with three RL15's was fun - had issues making the stealth armor work but I didn't try very hard. Ran the RL80 LCT a few times, but other than scaring the daylights out of the occasional lone assault, didn't have much success.

I'll be finding many many places to drop a rocket pod in - my 1M darling will probably get a SNPPC and two RL10's.

Edited by stealthraccoon, 17 July 2017 - 09:39 PM.

[AJBennett]

I used Iraqiwalker's LCT-1V build...ROFL that was fun and really ticked the opposing team off. I was everywhere pinging just about every one of them with drive-by strikes from behind, even pulled their spotter Cicada out of position to chase me around the map. Got the "Oh Crap I'm going to die" and "Seriously, I'm going to die" achievements (I think that was the names) but survived the whole match and even got a mech kill out of it.

Edited by AJBennet, 18 July 2017 - 06:57 AM.

[Ertur]

For the 1V I drop a ton of ammo and replace the ML with an MPL. I also don't bother with the DHS upgrade, it's a waste of c-bills on the 1V. If you already spent it, it's gone; but just for anyone else it may be a thing to consider.

I may try an ERML and add back that ammo, though, to see if that works. MPL trades range for more damage (one whole point!!) and shorter burn time (this is, I think, more important). Or drop the MPL for an ERML and 2 heavy MG's. Hmmmmmmm..... that may work.

[Ovion]

You could also go with this: LCT-1V

Edited by Ovion, 18 July 2017 - 02:31 PM.

[Ertur]

Ovion, on 18 July 2017 - 02:31 PM, said:

You could also go with this: LCT-1V

Or a snub-PPC+2ERML in my ECM Spider...

Ok, the new weapons will be fun to figure out.

2xLight PPC in a 3M or 1E could work, I suppose. Bit of a reduction in potential firepower, though.

[Blind Baku]

STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING!
LCT-PB: XL180 + 3DHS + ECM + SPPC

[Tim East]

Ertur, on 18 July 2017 - 02:02 PM, said:

For the 1V I drop a ton of ammo and replace the ML with an MPL. I also don't bother with the DHS upgrade, it's a waste of c-bills on the 1V. If you already spent it, it's gone; but just for anyone else it may be a thing to consider.

Unless you LPL'd it. Or used another goofy big energy weapon in that slot.

[Fox With A Shotgun]

Man, Micro Pulse Lasers are brutal when boated. 12 C-MiPL + 4 C-HMG is really nasty to run into in a match... :/

NVA-PRIME

On the other hand, has anyone tried cramming a SNPPC into a lolcust yet? I'm sad that they didn't model the PPC into the Locust CT mount. It looks like a laser at this time.

[Dino Might]

FINALLY! It can be done...

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...8a2144637d10198

Fox With A Shotgun, on 18 July 2017 - 06:43 PM, said:

Man, Micro Pulse Lasers are brutal when boated. 12 C-MiPL + 4 C-HMG is really nasty to run into in a match... :/

NVA-PRIME

On the other hand, has anyone tried cramming a SNPPC into a lolcust yet? I'm sad that they didn't model the PPC into the Locust CT mount. It looks like a laser at this time.

I'm hoping it looks like a care bear stare when it fires out of the CT.