8 replies to this topic

[Oogalook]

I've been playing Locust for a few weeks now, and I see why some pilots play them, and also why everyone hates them and regards them as trash. It's a fun 'mech when you aren't dying instantly, even though you still can't put out almost any damage during a match. I'd find it a sore loss for these to be removed from the game, even though it is, by all accounts, the worst. It has a unique charm and an air of untouched potential.

What's the particular problem? Almost everything, in short. Mostly, you simply never can do as much with 20 tons as you can with more. The locust brings nothing to the table except its adorable design and the chance to test your mettle in an all new and more masochistic way.

To see what could be dealt with in the quirk patch, lets examine the particular problems. I'm limiting this list to issues which are not directly required by game balance, but which still aggravate the heck out of us devoted pilots. I don't suggest that it just get blanket armor or structure buffs, nor that its weapons be suddenly uber-powered to make up for its tiny size. This would be boring, and would result in the advent a tinier, cuter Jenner for the world to hate.

--> Heat Sinks: Without the engine size available to allow the 'mech to pack adequate numbers of internal heat sinks, the player has to cram 3 or more giant double heat sinks into the cramped little frame. Literally half of the 'mech's weight has to be taken up with sinks, if you calculate it out, and it is STILL very possible to overheat it!

--> Cockpit Design: The cockpit's view is badly obstructed by a roll bar for no reason at all, other than the undying botherment of the pilot.

--> Vulnerability of the legs: Without jump jets, the locust has to play incredibly safe to avoid taking massive fall damage to its tiny, lightly-armored legs. It doesn't appear that such damage scales according to actual 'mech tonnage, but instead by weight class. Taking leg damage which wouldn't overly trouble a bigger light 'mech can practically cripple the poor little Locust.

I have some ideas on how to fix this 'mech without simply buffing until it's unrecognizeable. Though not necessarily related directly to the above problems, I think that some sort of special, unique, and otherwise inaccessible perks should be given to the Locust in order to make it continue to stand out from the crowd, but in a new and more positive, more specialized way. I propose that PGI give the 'mech better battlefield utility and a unique feel without directly increasing its defensive or offensive stats by strange, magical fiat.

Implementing any of the following would be amazing. More than one would blow my mind.

-----> 0. Get rid of that big old roll bar: Please, please, please. There is no need for this thing. It just makes the 'mech more of a pain to play, and it doesn't need that at all. Please.

--> 1. Fall damage absorbtion: Make the Locust very resistant to fall damage and to collision damage. Say, reduce fall damage by 50 or 75%. The jet-less 'mech isn't getting back to where it dropped from by any means, but this would give the legs additional longevity without directly buffing their armor or structure.

--> 2. Excuse the 'mech from minimum heat sink requirements: Allow pilots to launch with, say, only 6 or 8 heat sinks on the 'mech. This measure would free up the tonnage AND crit space which is sorely limited in the little 'mech. Perhaps this dispensation could go with a heat efficiency perk, but this would be icing on the cake.

--> 3. Do something neat with all the sensor-looking equipment all over it: One of the neatest features of the Locust's visual design is all the little lenses, antennae, and other doodads along its CT. I suggest these confer some bonus to target info gathering or sensor range, making the 'mech better capable of scout duties without wasting tonnage. The big nodule sticking off the Locust's nose could even be made into a built-in, zero-weight TAG laser. This would make me a happy, happy pilot.

PGI, I dearly hope you carefully avoid using the quirk system to blanket-buff the weaker IS mechs. Please focus on making each one more special, more unique- make every 'mech viable for a different reason. I'm terribly excited for the day of the patch, but I sorely hope that we don't end up with a universal armor or structure buff which does nothing but make the game less internally balanced. The 'mech which has the most individuality to lose is the Locust, since it's currently the one which feels the most unique, though that's for less-than-desirable reasons.

The locust is the best candidate for you to show your game-design prowess, and I hope you take full advantage of this opportunity!

Fellow players, do you agree?

Edited by Oogalook, 12 October 2014 - 08:46 PM.

[FupDup]

In terms of heatsinks, I'd simply prefer that all 10 required base sinks would be allocated inside of the engine, rather than needing to be on the outside. The code already exists to do this in Engines.XML, and one can simply increase the number of heatsinks per engine to 10 and then increase engine tonnage to represent those new sinks. In the end you'd save a lot of critical slots (but the tonnage would be the same).


Change this:

<Module id="3336" name="Engine_XL_190" CType="CEngineStats" faction="InnerSphere">
    <Loc nameTag="@Engine_XL_Fusion_190" descTag="@Engine_XL_Fusion_190_desc" iconTag="StoreIcons\XLEngine.dds" />
    <EngineStats slots="6" sideSlots="3" sidesToDie="1" rating="190" weight="6" heatsinks="7" health="15" />
  </Module>

To this:

  <Module id="3336" name="Engine_XL_190" CType="CEngineStats" faction="InnerSphere">
    <Loc nameTag="@Engine_XL_Fusion_190" descTag="@Engine_XL_Fusion_190_desc" iconTag="StoreIcons\XLEngine.dds" />
    <EngineStats slots="6" sideSlots="3" sidesToDie="1" rating="190" weight="9" heatsinks="10" health="15" />
  </Module>

Edited by FupDup, 12 October 2014 - 08:36 PM.

[Mothykins]

There are so many things that can be done with the locust that i can't help but be disappointed knowing what the 1V is getting.

Leg Internals +100%
Arm Armour +50%
accel 25%
decel 50%
Ballistics range +
Energy weapons range +

And then two ERLL Buffs for some stupid reason. I:

ERLL Beam duration
ERLL RoF


So the all machinegun, one Laser Mech gets turned into... A Single Large Laser sniper?

[Scratx]

Sorry, mate, but the Locust does need straight buffs. I'd love the cockpit deobstruction and in fact most of your suggestions (not excusing the 10 mandatory sinks, a locust with less than 10 sinks wouldn't be able to dissipate heat fast enough anyway)... but the Locust's problems run far deeper than that. It's too fragile, can't pack enough gun and the speed isn't quite enough to save it from incoming fire.

And it doesn't have ECM to give it uber-stealth.

[Oogalook]

Cavale, on 12 October 2014 - 08:48 PM, said:

There are so many things that can be done with the locust that i can't help but be disappointed knowing what the 1V is getting

That is a terrible shame. I am severely disappointed. Where, I would ask, does this info come from? I would love to get some forewarning on the upcoming changes.

Edited by Oogalook, 13 October 2014 - 06:57 AM.

[Scratx]

Oogalook, on 13 October 2014 - 06:56 AM, said:

That is a terrible shame. I am severely disappointed. Where, I would ask, does this info come from? I would love to get some forewarning on the upcoming changes.

Town Hall.

[Roadbuster]

Lower fall damage? YES PLEASE!
Why should you play a fast mech if you have to slow down to 50% to prevent leg damage from running over small hills.

[SeanM]

Giving it turn speed quirks to make it turn on a dime would make it maybe a bit more survivable, along with very little fall damage from leaking from small peaks.

[Roadbuster]

Well, after playing some more with my Locusts...let me ask you something.

Who tries to leg a Locust if you can just core it with less effort?
The leg quirk is meh...