42 replies to this topic

[Sergeant Random]

Let's do some Math and Smurfy's: Stock Nova Prime:

We have to deal with 6 x 12 = 72 heat (after CERMLas heat nerf)

Stock Nova Prime, before basic skills, has 61.20 heat cap, 3.12 cooling
72 - 61.20 = 10.8 excess heat; 10.8 / 3.12 = 3.46 seconds you have to wait before firing the second arm so you don't shut down.

After basics, 67.32 heat cap, 3.35 cooling; and, with the same math,
72 - 67.32 = 4.68 excess heat; 4.68 / 3.35 = 1.39 seconds to wait before firing the second arm to avoid shutting down.

And my favorite, Elite. 73.44 heat cap, 3.59 cooling; here the math is different
72 - 73.44 = -1.44 (no overheat); 72 / 3.59 = 20.05 seconds to cool down to zero.

The essence of the Nova Prime is Power and Brinkmanship. I like it. Those cooldown quirks in the arms actually help you not overheat.

Homework is OP. PLZ nerf Homework.

If you cant defeat the Mechlab, what can you hope to defeat?

Edit: Sigh. The Google generation of instant gratification is going to have a hard time - but we have to change their habits. Although in their defense, PGI has no in-game explanation of Ghost Heat / Heat Scale.

Edited by Sergeant Random, 24 October 2014 - 09:16 AM.

[oneproduct]

You need to understand that just because a mech can carry 12 energy weapons it doesn't mean it's supposed to work. In TT the nova is also way too hot to fire all its weapons, it's not a bad implementation in MWO that's suddenly changing things.

You also need to realize that 4 ERMLs are about the equivalent to 6 MLs. They do 28 damage instead of 30 for the same 24 heat but they do it at a much greater range and for 2 tons less. Think about that for a second. A nova with 4 ERMLs and 2 DHS is packing the same punch as a hunchback's 6 ML hunch.

And what happens when the hunchback loses his hunch? He loses all his punch. The second set of weapons in the nova allows you to keep fighting at essentially 100% strength even after losing your proverbial hunch. And, if you absolutely need to, you can fire your two hunches 0.5 seconds after each other to get two really big punches really quick.

No mech can fire 12 energy weapons with any sort of consistency and expect to stay cool. The timberwolf can't even fire 5 ERMLs consistently and stay cool. Please think and be reasonable here.

The nova having 12 weapons is so that if he loses one arm he can keep fighting or if he absolutely needs to he can have one high burst of damage (and I don't even necessarily mean 6 and then 6, maybe even 4 and then 4) after which he'll need to chill out a bit.

Edited by oneproduct, 24 October 2014 - 09:13 AM.

[oneproduct]

Nova Prime with 4.08 sustained DPS http://mwo.smurfy-ne...07ad9602f497847

Hunchback-4P with 4.27 sustained DPS http://mwo.smurfy-ne...02e8a515cdd0ba0

They're very close in terms of sustained DPS, but the nova does it from very far away and if he loses one half of his mech he's still able to fight. He trades 9 km/h for JJs. He has worst hitboxes and weapon mounts but that's something that's based on his appearance in the lore which we can't fix.

If you give the hunckback a head and left arm laser (which you can't fire along with the hunch due to ghost heat) so he can still fight after losing his hunch you drop down to 3.90 sustained DPS
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...908da696179a3e3

For the nova you could drop down from 8 ERML to 6 ERML (the ghost heat limit) and reach 4.35 sustained DPS http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c872ae4f0b24d85

However I wouldn't recommend that because once you lose an arm you'll feel a more noticeable drop in power. Also, in many situations firepower is more important than cooling efficiency because you can simply hide behind a building and just wait to cool off most of the time but if you're being pressured having high firepower is useful.

The real problems with the nova are its hitboxes and weapon mounts. Since we can't change that, we could make it better with some ERML quirks, but the point I'm trying to get across to people is that the nova's firepower and heat efficiency are actually fair at the moment. Its problems are not with its weapons. It's on par with the hunchback-4P which is its closest inner sphere equivalent.

Of course since the hunchback-4P is getting some quirks we can give the nova some quirks to match, which they are intending to do when they do the clan quirks, give them time. But I'm just talking about at this very moment it's a close race between them.

Don't bring 12 ERMLs on a nova. Bring 8 and have weapon groups for the following:

3 on left hand
3 on right hand (fire these two together to get the 6 max before ghost heat or just one if you're too hot)

4 on left hand (shooting around left corner of a building and roughly equivalent to 6 IS MLs)
4 on right hand (shooting around right corner of a building and roughly equivalent to 6 IS MLs)

+a group for 2 lasers or a chainfire group if you want for a situation in which 3 lasers would still be too hot

Edited by oneproduct, 24 October 2014 - 10:02 AM.