32 replies to this topic

[CyborgDragon]

Right now I think it is pretty safe to say that this new module system is here for good, but it can create more of a reason to use weapon modules (if they weren't so expensive anyway). But currently aside from the Enhanced Narc and AMS Overload they're pretty stale, I'd really like to have the option to choose between different modules that would change the way you play your build. So I'm going to put forth a few suggestions that have been floating around in my head. I'm too lazy to number crunch, but here's some general ideas:

General Modules
This is what the 'Range Increase' modules would fall under, an overall buff (e.g. range) with a trade off (e.g. heat).
Suggestions:

Heat Nullification
Compatible weapons: All IS/Clan Lasers/Pulses, ACs, and Missiles
Upgrade: Decreases heat generated by #
Trade off: Decreases range by # meters
Notes: Essentially the opposite of the range module we currently have. A bit more situational, but could be useful in some builds.

Extended Ammunition Stores
Compatible weapons: All IS/Clan ammunition-fed weapons and equipment
Upgrade: Increases ammo per ton for the selected weapon by #%
Trade off: Increases ammo explosion chance and damage by the same %

Rapid Fire
Compatible weapons: All IS/Clan Lasers/Pulses, Missiles, ACs, UACs, and LB-Xs
Upgrade: Increases rate of fire by # seconds
Trade off: Spoiler'd for tidiness~

Spoiler

• Lasers/Pulses = increased heat generated by #
  
• Autocannons/LB-Xs = range decreased by # meters
  
• Ultra Autocannons = jam duration increased by # seconds
  
• SRMs = increases spread by #
  
• SSRMs/LRMs = increases lock on time by # seconds

Specialised Modules
Modules dedicated to a single weapon system or group, like the AMS Overload and Enhanced Narc.
Suggestions:

Focus Lens
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Pulse Lasers
Upgrade: Decreases burn time by # seconds
Trade off: Increases heat generated by #
Notes: The heat generated would be a lot less than the existing range module. Having one Large Pulse or 1-2 Small/Medium Pulses barely makes a change, but after that it starts becoming more noticeable.

PPC Override
Compatible weapons: IS PPC
Upgrade: Allows full damage under minimum range (90m)
Trade off: Firing at anything below 90m causes internal damage to PPC-housing component.
Notes: For the last-ditch effort to neutralise an enemy. This gives the pilot a build choice: ER-PPC but high heat, or PPC w/ module but risks damage.

Guidance TAG
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan TAG
Upgrade: TAG Laser can manually guide LRMs up to max TAG range
Trade off: I was unsure about this one... can't break ECM? Decreases TAG range?
Notes: LRMs can't precisely follow the TAG, so no snap turns or flinging them around at odd angles.

Burst Autocannon
Compatible weapons: IS AC/2, AC/5, UAC/5, AC/10, AC/20
Upgrade: Significantly increase range by # meters; slightly decrease heat generated by #
Trade off: Converts slug ammo to burst ammo.
Notes: One of the few balance suggestions I have never agreed with is changing IS ACs to burst-fire. I understand why people want this, but in my opinion IS brawlers need that pin-point hit of an AC/10 or /20. HOWEVER I'm completely for the option for IS to have burst-fire. I know of a few dedicated IS pilots who want it, and it can be useful for particular builds. So this module can provide some more build diversity, which is never a bad thing.
EDIT: as a second thought, I'd also support IS being changed to burst-fire if we got a module like this, but converts back to what we have now.

Beam Control
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Lasers (excludes Pulses)
Upgrade: Allows the duration of the beam to be cut off early.
Trade off: None
Notes: The firing button will now need to be held for the length of the duration, releasing the button ends the laser early. (I guess this should really be an overall feature rather than a module, but I'm just throwing it out there...)

Improved Scattershot
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan LB-X ACs
Upgrade: Tightens the spread of the cluster munition.
Trade off: None (or maybe a VERY slight reload duration increase)

NARC IFF Scrambler
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan NARC
Upgrade: Target hit displays as hostile to the target's allies
Trade off: Increased reload duration by # seconds, decreased target acquisition duration by # seconds
Notes: Can co-exist with 'Enhanced NARC'.

Spoiler

How to identify scrambled allies:

• When targeted can not be locked on to by friendly LRMs/SSRMs
  
• When targeted no target information appears regardless of LoS
  
• NARC icon above red target square retains team blue/lance green colour

Improved Burst
Compatible weapons: All Clan ACs/UACs
Upgrade: Decreases burst duration by #%
Trade off: Decreases range by # meters

Unguided SSRMs
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Streak SRMs
Upgrade: Enables dumb-fire when no locks exist
Trade off: None (Not directly from the module, the downside is it still uses the cooldown duration of the Streak launcher. So C-SRM6 = 4 second reload, C-SSRM6 = 7 second reload even if dumb-fired)

Enhanced Gauss
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Gauss Rifle
Upgrade: Decreases charge duration by # seconds; increases hold time by # seconds
Trade off: Reload duration increased by # seconds equal to charge reduction; increases Gauss explosion chance by #%

Enhanced Machine Guns
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Machine Guns
Upgrade: Increases rate of fire by #%; slightly increases damage vs armor by #%
Trade off: None

High Velocity SRMs
Compatible weapons: IS/CLAN SRMs (excludes Streaks)
Upgrade: Significantly increases missile velocity by # m/s; decreases spread by #%; slightly increases damage by #
Trade off: SRM packs are now ripple-fire
Notes: Fires like C-LRMs in a stream so AMS can more easily counter it, plus you now can't fire and twist away immediately to do full damage. Can be further upgraded with Artemis as per usual.

------

So these were some ideas, I might add some more later. Feedback and additional ideas are more than welcome

Edited by CyborgDragon, 14 August 2014 - 08:46 PM.

[CyborgDragon]

Bump for added 'Beam Control' and 'Improved Scattershot'.

[MasterBLB]

Well,truth be told your modules are similar in usefulness to these PGI has introduced.
Look here for examples of some really nice weapon modules:
http://mwomercs.com/...es-propositions

[CyborgDragon]

MasterBLB, on 13 August 2014 - 10:05 PM, said:

I'd really like to see more modules like this added, some that are straight upgrades and some that change the behavior of a weapon. So many new ways to build

[Kiiyor]

I like the idea of these, mainly because I think we need to get away from modules offering range advantages only.

I'd like to see some modules that offer large changes - i.e:

Brawler MLAS:
Cooldown reduced by 10%, range reduced by 15%.

Focused optics:
MLAS range increased by 15%, damage reduced by 5%.

Diffuse optics:
Damage increased by 10% in optimal range, max range reduced by 50% after optimal.

Experimental optics:
Damage increased by 15% when heat neutral, reduces to -20% at 80% heat.

If it didn't break everything again, maybe autocannons and missiles could have modules that decrease range and increase splash damage. Or for missiles, decrease damage and increase tracking strength.

PPC's could have modules that decrease damage, but increase hud short out effects and ECM disabling exponentially, or maybe we could have a PPC module that makes them snub-nose.

Modules are supposed to be end game content, let's jazz them up!

[CyborgDragon]

Kiiyor, on 13 August 2014 - 10:27 PM, said:

Modules are supposed to be end game content, let's jazz them up!

^^^ 1,000 times this!

Really loving those ideas too

[Wolfways]

I'll take anything that reduces heat generation

[MasterBLB]

CyborgDragon, on 13 August 2014 - 10:14 PM, said:

I'd really like to see more modules like this added, some that are straight upgrades and some that change the behavior of a weapon. So many new ways to build

Yepp,that was my goal while designing them
2nd one was they should be at least 2 nice-to-have weapon modules per weapon,so when it'll come to choose 2/3 of them there should be no easy choice,but variety ^^

Edited by MasterBLB, 14 August 2014 - 12:27 AM.

[CyborgDragon]

Added four new module ideas to the OP: Extended Ammuntion Stores (General), NARC IFF Scrambler (Spec.), Improved Burst (Spec.), Unguided SSRMs (Spec.)

Spoiler

Extended Ammunition Stores
Compatible weapons: All IS/Clan ammunition-fed weapons and equipment
Upgrade: Increases ammo per ton for the selected weapon by #%
Trade off: Increases ammo explosion chance and damage by the same %

NARC IFF Scrambler
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan NARC
Upgrade: Target hit displays as hostile to the target's allies
Trade off: Increased reload duration by # seconds, decreased target acquisition duration by # seconds
Notes: Can co-exist with 'Enhanced NARC'.

Spoiler

How to identify scrambled allies:

• When targeted can not be locked on to by friendly LRMs/SSRMs
  
• When targeted no target information appears regardless of LoS
  
• NARC icon above red target square retains team blue/lance green colour

Improved Burst
Compatible weapons: All Clan ACs/UACs
Upgrade: Decreases burst duration by #%
Trade off: Decreases range by # meters

Unguided SSRMs
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Streak SRMs
Upgrade: Enables dumb-fire when no locks exist
Trade off: None (Not directly from the module, the downside is it still uses the cooldown duration of the Streak launcher. So C-SRM6 = 4 second reload, C-SSRM6 = 7 second reload even if dumb-fired)

[HlynkaCG]

Personally I think burst fire should be a feature specific to UACs. That said, how about some autocannon modules representing alternate ammo types. for instance...

AP Sabot rounds
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Autocannons and Ultra Autocannons
Upgrade: Projectile speed +20%, Range +10%
Trade off: -20% Damage vs Internal structure
Notes:


High explosive rounds
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Autocannons and Ultra Autocannons
Upgrade: Splash Damage, increased chance to crit
Trade off: Projectile speed -20%


Sub-calibre rounds
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Autocannons and Ultra Autocannons
Upgrade: Rate of fire increased by 15%
Trade off: Range -20%

[Broskadamus]

HlynkaCG, on 14 August 2014 - 01:54 AM, said:

Personally I think burst fire should be a feature specific to UACs. That said, how about some autocannon modules representing alternate ammo types. for instance...

AP Sabot rounds
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Autocannons and Ultra Autocannons
Upgrade: Projectile speed +20%, Range +10%
Trade off: -20% Damage vs Internal structure
Notes:


High explosive rounds
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Autocannons and Ultra Autocannons
Upgrade: Splash Damage, increased chance to crit
Trade off: Projectile speed -20%


Sub-calibre rounds
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Autocannons and Ultra Autocannons
Upgrade: Rate of fire increased by 15%
Trade off: Range -20%

This is something I've been waiting for, I'd love to see varied ammunition types.

I'd also like to see the modules lend themselves to more customization as noted in the OP. In addition, I would specifically like to see more play style changing modules. Specifically the PPC Override as I know we've discussed this one to death haha.

[CyborgDragon]

Broskadamus, on 14 August 2014 - 04:36 AM, said:

I'd also like to see the modules lend themselves to more customization as noted in the OP. In addition, I would specifically like to see more play style changing modules. Specifically the PPC Override as I know we've discussed this one to death haha.

I would totally use PPC Override on my 3 PPC Awesome... already have a big neon 'shoot me' sign on my CT, might as well go out in style

Also I added a new one just for you

Spoiler

Enhanced Gauss
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Gauss Rifle
Upgrade: Decreases charge duration by # seconds; increases hold time by # seconds
Trade off: Reload duration increased by # seconds equal to charge reduction; increases Gauss explosion chance by #%

[Broskadamus]

CyborgDragon, on 14 August 2014 - 04:58 AM, said:

I would totally use PPC Override on my 3 PPC Awesome... already have a big neon 'shoot me' sign on my CT, might as well go out in style

Also I added a new one just for you

Spoiler

Enhanced Gauss
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Gauss Rifle
Upgrade: Decreases charge duration by # seconds; increases hold time by # seconds
Trade off: Reload duration increased by # seconds equal to charge reduction; increases Gauss explosion chance by #%

You shouldn't have! This is the greatest gift a gauss man could ask for haha.

[CyborgDragon]

Some new modules added: Rapid Fire (General), Enhanced Machine Guns (Spec.), High Velocity SRMs (Spec.)

Spoiler

Rapid Fire
Compatible weapons: All IS/Clan Lasers/Pulses, Missiles, ACs, UACs, and LB-Xs
Upgrade: Increases rate of fire by # seconds
Trade off: Spoiler'd for tidiness~

Spoiler

• Lasers/Pulses = increased heat generated by #
  
• Autocannons/LB-Xs = range decreased by # meters
  
• Ultra Autocannons = jam duration increased by # seconds
  
• SRMs = increases spread by #
  
• SSRMs/LRMs = increases lock on time by # seconds

Enhanced Machine Guns
Compatible weapons: IS/Clan Machine Guns
Upgrade: Increases rate of fire by #%; slightly increases damage vs armor by #%
Trade off: None

High Velocity SRMs
Compatible weapons: IS/CLAN SRMs (excludes Streaks)
Upgrade: Significantly increases missile velocity by # m/s; decreases spread by #%; slightly increases damage by #
Trade off: SRM packs are now ripple-fire
Notes: Fires like C-LRMs in a stream so AMS can more easily counter it, plus you now can't fire and twist away immediately to do full damage. Can be further upgraded with Artemis as per usual.

[Ryvucz]

LRM still needs a range modifier module like all the other weapons.

[CyborgDragon]

Ryvucz, on 14 August 2014 - 08:54 PM, said:

^This

Yup, I can't see why it doesn't already

[Ryvucz]

CyborgDragon, on 14 August 2014 - 08:59 PM, said:

Yup, I can't see why it doesn't already

Pretty sure people will cry that it's OP, like it always has been since they added screen shake in Beta.

[CyborgDragon]

Ryvucz, on 14 August 2014 - 09:10 PM, said:

Pretty sure people will cry that it's OP, like it always has been since they added screen shake in Beta.

haha probably extra 10-20m range OP!!!

[Reno Blade]

Some nice ideas here.

For AC burst:
e.g. burst fire 5 shells of Clan UAC20 with 0.12 sec delay between each bullet and IS AC20 with 4 shells and 0.10 sec delay between each bullet.

Modules of IS could decrease the time to 0.6 seconds while Clan modules only to 0.10 seconds or something.

No pinpoint one-shell ACs anymore, but a "balanced" difference that still gives spread and prevents fast (light/medium) mechs to be cripple in a single bullet hit.

[CyborgDragon]

Reno Blade, on 15 August 2014 - 05:59 AM, said:

good shtuff

This I can get behind

Edited by CyborgDragon, 15 August 2014 - 06:41 AM.