So it's time for another one of those huge feature suggestions threads by me, that no one cares to read because TL;DR; where I spent more time writing it, than all of you together reading it, but whatever... I still wonna do this.
The Goal:
What I would like to see is a good way of balancing clan mechs against each other. Because right now we have the problem that 3 chassis (Timberwolf, Stormcrow & Direwolf) are dominating their weight bracket, and each attempt to balance IS mechs against Clan mechs is destined to fail as long as the difference in effectiveness between clan mechs is as huge as it currently is. So they could use Quirks to level the playingfield but in all honesty Quirks are against everything Omnimechs stand for, so there needs to be a different solution.
I'm aware that the proposed changes increase the effectiveness of some clan mechs, and that there needs to be further Clan vs IS balancing after these changes, but if the Clans don't get some Clan vs Clan balancing we will only see Timers, Stormcrows, Direwolves and Hellbringers... And i don't want that.
The Suggestion:
Allow Clan Omnimechs to upgrade/downgrade Ferro Fibrous Armor
Allow Clan Omnimechs to upgrade/downgrade Endo Steel Structure
Allow Clan Omnimechs to upgrade/downgrade one engine rating (read important details below)
Ferro Fibrous & Endo Steel:
The Idea is to let clan Omnimechs select between Standard and Ferro Fibrous Armor and to let them select between Standard Structure and Endo Steel Structure. Compared to IS mechs there are two important things to take into consideration:
Ferro Fibrous and Endo Steel Slots are at a fixed position unlike the IS where the critical slots for them are floating.
The fixed slots may not intervene with future fixed Jump Jet slots of no yet released Omnipods/Variants.
Up- and downgrading works just like with inner sphere mechs, it's just more expensive.
Engine Rating:
The idea is to give every Omnimech one xtra engine rating to upgrade/downgrade to. This other engine size still needs to be a multiple of the mechs weight (like in the TT rulse). The following ruleset is used to determine the upgrade/downgrade engine size.
Engine size needs to be a multiple of the mechs weight
Allow upgrade if such an engine exists (there are no engine ratings > 400)
Allow upgrade if the engine doesn't break the games speed limits ( max speed atm seems to be around 170kph)
Upgrade engine has the same amount of DHS the original had, and surplus engine heat sink slots may not be used (like with the Ice Ferret, which can't use the 2 unused engine heatsink slots)
Allow downgrade if upgrade is not possible
Downgraded engine holds as many heatsinks as the original one or less if it has less internal slots available.
Up- and downgrading doesn't buy you a new engine. Pay e.g. 2M CBills to upgrade your engine from 250 to 300 on a Nova, and 1M Cbills to downgrade your engine from 300 to 250.
List of Omnimechs and available options:
Below is a list of all currently available Omnimechs along with the information where Ferro Fibrous and Endo Steel Slots are found when selected and every fixed equipment including JJ.
Left Torso[3/1]: ES, 2xFF, 2xDHS, (2xJJ)
...would mean that the left torso contains 1xFixed Structure Slot, 2xFixed Armor Slots, 2xFixed Double-Heatsinks and there exists at least one omnipod that has 2 Jump-jets fixed to it. The numbers in [] show the amount of available slots in that location with and without the JJ installed and considering hand and lower arm actuators removed.
Head[0]: Clan Active Probe
Left Arm[8]: FF, ES
Left Torso[0]: ES, 2xFF, 2xDHS, 3xJJ
Centre Torso[0]: XL 175/200, ES, FF
Right Torso[2]: ES, 2xFF, DHS, 3xJJ
Right Arm[8]: ES, FF
Left Leg[1]: ES
Right Leg[1]: ES
Thoughts:
Would give the Mist Lynx some much needed pace at the cost of 2 extra tons for the bigger engine. It's still easy to disarm with limited hardpoint options, so it still won't be OP, but better usable as a true scout mech.
Head[0]: FF
Left Arm[8]: FF, ES
Left Torso[2/1]: 2xES, 2xFF, 2xDHS, (JJ)
Centre Torso[0]: XL 180/210, DHS
Right Torso[5/4]: 3xES, 2xFF, (JJ)
Right Arm[8]: ES, FF
Left Leg[2/0]: (2xJJ)
Right Leg[2/0]: (2xJJ)
Thoughts:
Like with the other clan lights, much needed pace through a bigger engine at the expanse of 3 tons. Speed gain is vital but not enough to make it OP.
Head[0]: FF
Left Arm[9]: FF
Left Torso[5]: ES, 2xFF, DHS
Centre Torso[0]: XL 210/245, ES, Flamer
Right Torso[5]: ES, 2xFF, DHS
Right Arm[9]: FF
Left Leg[0]: 2xES
Right Leg[0]: 2xES
Thoughts:
Again, some much needed speed, but still slow compared to IS lights, so still not OP even with clan tech.
Head[0]: FF
Left Arm[9]: FF
Left Torso[7/4]: ES, 2xFF, (3xJJ)
Centre Torso[1/0]: XL 315/360, ES, (JJ)
Right Torso[7/4]: ES, 2xFF, (3xJJ)
Right Arm[9]: FF
Left Leg[0]: 2xES
Right Leg[0]: 2xES
Thoughts:
Since there is no 405 engine the Ice Ferret would be allowed to downgrade to a 315 engine which gives it another 5.5 tons for weapons without loosing a DHS. It's still limited on hardpoints, still quite quick but the extra weapon tonnage would help it being more dangerous. Still no comparison to the Stormcrow.
Head[1]:
Left Arm[7]: 2xES, FF
Left Torso[2]: 2xES, 2xFF, 2xDHS
Centre Torso[1]: XL 250/300, JJ
Right Torso[2]: 2xES, 2xFF, 2xDHS
Right Arm[7]: ES, 2xFF
Left Leg[0]: 2xJJ
Right Leg[0]: 2xJJ
Thoughts:
The way I designed the Ferro-Fibrous and Endo-Steel slots was to avoid collisions with head and centre mounted hardpoints. The U configuration holds an ECM hardpoint in the head, while the S config holds an AMS hardpoint in the center. The 300 engine rating would help it greatly, because being just as fast as any clan heavy is really hindering the Nova's competitiveness quite a bit. But even with the higher speed, FF and ES it is still squat with low slung arms/hardpoints.
Head[1]:
Left Arm[10]:
Left Torso[6]: ES, 3xFF
Centre Torso[1]: XL 330/385, ES, FF
Right Torso[6]: ES, 3xFF
Right Arm[10]:
Left Leg[0]: 2xES
Right Leg[0]: 2xES
Thoughts:
None would remove the FF and ES from this one, and the bigger engine is just way too heavy to be usable, so this mech wouldn't get any buffs this way, which is what we want really, since the Stormcrow doesn't need any help anyway.
Head[0]: FF
Left Arm[8]: ES, FF
Left Torso[6]: 2xES, 2xFF
Centre Torso[2/1]: (JJ)
Right Torso[6]: XL 300/360, 2xES, 2xFF
Right Arm[7]: 2xES, FF
Left Leg[2/0]: (2xJJ)
Right Leg[2/0]: (2xJJ)
Thoughts:
The higher engine rating of 360 will not help this one but might be fun for some, but Endo-Steel might help a little. There exists a config with 2 energy hardpoints in the center so Endo-steel mustn't be placed there. Also there exists a version with 5 jump-jets. The problem with this chassis is more in terms of hitboxes and less because of bad engine ratings and there isn't much that can be done about that.
Head[1]:
Left Arm[8]: ES, FF
Left Torso[7/5]: ES, 2xFF, (2xJJ)
Centre Torso[1/0]: XL 325/390, ES, (JJ)
Right Torso[8/6]: ES, FF, (2xJJ)
Right Arm[8]: ES, FF
Left Leg[0]: FF, ES
Right Leg[0]: FF, ES
Thoughts:
The higher engine rating won't change anything, but the ability to add Endo-Steel might make this one even better. Maybe too good? I think not, but I'm not competitive enough to be able to really judge this. If PGI decides to introduce A-Pods there would be a problem with ES and FF in the feet.
Head[0]: FF
Left Arm[8]: 2xES, FF
Left Torso[6]: 2xES, 2xFF
Centre Torso[1]: XL 280/350, JJ
Right Torso[6]: 2xES, 2xFF
Right Arm[7]: ES, FF
Left Leg[0]: 2xJJ
Right Leg[0]: 2xJJ
Thoughts:
There is no bigger engine that fits the criteria, and the stepdown to XL 280 probably won't be worth it. Changing FF for ES might help a little, but there is not much the suggested changes do for the Summoner.
Head[0]: FF
Left Arm[9]: FF
Left Torso[7/5]: ES, 2xFF, (2xJJ)
Centre Torso[1/0]: XL 300/375, ES, (JJ)
Right Torso[7/5]: ES, 2xFF, (2xJJ)
Right Arm[9]: FF
Left Leg[0]: 2xES
Right Leg[0]: 2xES
Thoughts:
Does the ability to downgrade the engine for more weapon-weight or the ability to remove FF for more available slots make it even more dangerous? I don't know. What are your thoughts?
Head[0]: FF
Left Arm[9]: FF
Left Torso[7]: ES, 2xFF
Centre Torso[2]: XL 320/400
Right Torso[6]: 2xES, 2xFF
Right Arm[9]: FF
Left Leg[1]: 2xES
Right Leg[1]: 2xES
Thoughts:
Optional Endo-Steel slots go into the feet, which doesn't cause problems unless PGI introduces A-Pods. The smaller engine rating might help a lot, although it makes it rather slow, but 15 tons of engine weight (+4 for engine HS) is quite a bit. Even if the engine downgrade isn't used, the 4 tons for Endo-Steel might help. Certainly won't be OP with these upgrade options.
Head[0]: FF
Left Arm[7]: 2xES, FF
Left Torso[0]: 2xFF, 4xDHS
Centre Torso[2]: XL 255/340
Right Torso[3]: 3xES, 2xFF, DHS
Right Arm[7]: 2xES, FF
Left Leg[0]: DHS
Right Leg[0]: DHS
Thoughts:
Well, the engine downgrade is ridiculous and not feasible with all the DHS blocking critical slots, but the ability to remove Ferro-Fibrous will help a bit. Also the ability to switch over to Endo might help a little.
Head[1]:
Left Arm[7]: ES, FF
Left Torso[0]: 2xES, 2xFF, DHS, (JJ)
Centre Torso[2]: XL 300/400, (JJ)
Right Torso[3]: 2xES, 2xFF, DHS, (JJ)
Right Arm[7]: ES, FF
Left Leg[0]: DHS
Right Leg[0]: ES, FF
Thoughts:
There exist head hardpoints and various hardpoints for the center including ECM, so optional ES or FF may not affect those locations. For a heavy weight penalty people might try to fit it with an XL 400 to make it less of a whale, and while this might be fun, it won't make it better, especially because you can't utilize the engine heat-sink slots. So while the options may be fun, they won't make it better.
Summary:
I believe the above mentioned upgrades would help some of the currently underwhelming clan mechs. Mist Lynx, Kit Fox, Adder & Nova would greatly profit from an upgraded engine. Ice Ferret and maybe Gargoyle would profit from a downgraded engine. The ability to remove Ferro-Fibrous might help the Warhawk. The ability to add or switch to Endo-Steel might help some of the lesser heavies and the Nova. Stormcrow and Direwolf would gain some flexibility but wouldn't become stronger. The only one where i can't predict if it would make it better is the Timberwolf, but i highly doubt it since it's current speed is part of the reason why it's so good I believe. Only those mechs that are still subpar after these changes could receive some Quirks, but I'd rather not see Quirks on Clan-Omnimechs at all.
So... What do you think?
Edited by Myke Pantera, 29 December 2014 - 09:51 AM.
A) as you said this breaks all current balancing with IS which is seriously bad.
you are trying to solve a problem that really doesnt exist. A kitfox should not be competitive against a timberwolf or dire wolf. Its a light. Adders are not great but again a role mech. Novas are very good if played smartly. Not all mechs will be equal.... this is ok.
C) removing the current restrictions to the clan mechs will lead to a pile of very broken builds which no amount of weapon balancing will fix
1
you are trying to solve a problem that really doesnt exist. A kitfox should not be competitive against a timberwolf or dire wolf. Its a light. Adders are not great but again a role mech. Novas are very good if played smartly. Not all mechs will be equal.... this is ok.
