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I'm currently grinding Warhawks and while it's not as great as I'd thought... it's enlightening. However, this issue started with the Maddog... this lingers more on the Warhawk... and the Direwolf. This issue doesn't seem readily apparent to everyone, so I'll try to keep it to KISS (Keep It Simple Silly) standards so even the layman can understand.
Since I like doing article in "3s", the trend will continue.
1) Basics 101 - Can you believe it's not butter?
2) Mechs - It's not a shopping list.
3) The Problem and Solution - The damn thing didn't come with a manual!
1) Basics 101 - I <3 BJs and you should too! Oh wait...
I should start that this document will come with resources and links as necessary, so let's just start with this document that came around the Clan Wave 1 Mech Pack...
http://mwomercs.com/...specifications/
It's straight forward and simple right? Probably not. Let's go over 3 things you need to know...
I) No lower arm actuators = No arm articulation going left to right
IS mechs like the BJ, Jagermech, Jenner/Raven, and Stalker teach you is that arm articulation is disabled on them. However, the tradeoff is that they get higher mounted arms, allowing to shoot over virtually most obstructions that are in front of them.
With respect to Clan Mechs, this is virtually never the case. The weapons in your arms are generally mounted at or below the cockpit level. There is rarely a benefit in this scenario to have no arm actuators at all. Stock mech builds like the Warhawk-Prime or even Direwolf-Prime would naturally feel like an inferior mech... but usually that is offset by using large weapons like ERPPCs or Gauss (or any other large Clan ballistic not named MG)... which the rule requires that the lower arm actuators are removed.
In terms of mechlabbing design.. if you can put the large ballistic or ERPPC in the torsos, you can avoid this and obtain the benefits of arm articulation as necessary.
So, I've been saying you SHOULD have one lower arm actuator enabled.... here's why...
II) 1 lower arm actuator = 10 Degrees of Arm Articulation (the Highlander-733C and Victor-9B/9S rule)
As long as you have one lower arm actuator enabled, you get a small modicum/bit of arm articulation. If you liked the Victor or Highlander for that AC20 arm (that was useful once upon a time), then you should understand the value of this.
For Clan designs, the use of CASE "everywhere" allows your arm to contain all the ammo for a weapon... particularly ballistics. Sometimes isolating all the ammo there is a "good enough" buffer, instead of making other sections of mech vulnerable to ammo explosions (especially the side torsos). So, if you have a ballistic arm on a mech, this is the most practical use or application of this behavior... keeping the other arm for full arm articulation. It is actually practical in combat to use the "ballistic arm side" as a shield as a means to keep
Any sort of arm articulation helps missiles.. particular of the lock on variety like LRMs and Streaks. Having it enabled is crucial to directing missiles to a target instead of having to stare at it like what Catapults or Stalkers have to do.
Having this actuator is generally is the most useful as designed... especially when they are also factored into the crit table. Instead of the standard 2 crits that arms always use, there's now 3 in total (with 10 health each) which helps for equipment buffering in that arm that uses it.
Essentially.. there's generally no reason to remove this unless you need the extra crit for DHS or ammo. At the very least, you need just one lower actuator to be effective more often than not. So, it's a great way of trying to make the most of a Clan Mech if you understand how to build it.
I would like to point out there are odd exceptions to this rule... particularly the Centurion-AH and Yen Lo Wang. It's the only mech that honestly doesn't follow the Highlander/Victor rule.... just something to think out.
This is a buildup to the next actuator... Does it live up to being useful?
III) Hand Actuator - "Look Ma, No Hands" is always applicable
This actuator builds upon the lower arm actuator... and requires the existence that bit before this is even an option. So, is it worth it? It's questionable at best.
One of the things this bit does is allows for an additional part of the mech to be added... the hand. AFAIK, this is used for stuff on TT and frankly for the purposes of MWO, it doesn't do anything of great value... which is all that matters.
For certain mechs, it adds a nice looking hand model to it. This adds to the hitboxes to the mech. In general, this is not a bad thing.... but for something like the Maddog, it can actually extend the arm hitboxes a lot more and make it easier to hit. So, this is not ideal if you're trying to limit exposure or damage to an arm. However, this is GREAT if you have a shield side... making asymmetrical builds more practical.
The "obvious" benefit of crit buffering is not as useful here if the tradeoff is actually increasing the hitbox significantly. The better use here though is in lieu of removing the lower arm actuator, this can be removed first if you need the crit for DHS or ammo. it's not that much of a loss.
What is cool though is that by PGI's own design, this allows for optimal placement of large weaponry (assuming it is just 1 large weapon) into the hand actuator. If you take a look at the ballistic Stormcrow-C's Left Arm or the Gargoyle-Prime's arm (either one), you'll see how this works nicely in terms of artwork. However, it's the (firing) location is important ultimately and not so much of the aesthetics (unless you care about that more...)
I would like to have a word about 2 Lower Arm Actuators though..
IV) 2 Lower Arm Actuators - Full Arm Articulation (Bonuses) - Spread Your
Depending on your build, this is very useful. The Hunchback, Griffin, and Wolverine have exceptional torso twists... but they are accentuated with ridiculously large arm articulation. The same is true for the Kitfox and Adder, which kind of goes under-reported.
I don't think this is mandatory, but whenever you can do it, you can do a lot more crazy and useful freelook shooting if you know how to maximize this. Some mechs get the basic 20 degrees articulation like the Mist Lynx, Summoner, or even Gargoyle... but other higher tier mechs like the Stormcrow and Timberwolf get a bigger bonus. So, it's one of those things that it dependent on chassis and need.
Do you need that kind of arm articulation? I sure like it... but currently the Warhawk and Direwolf as currently constituted cannot even use 2 Lower Arm Actuators... so let us look at the mechs themselves....
2) Mechs - I'd like my mechs to raise their arms...
So, here's a list of all clan mechs so far (only 13) and I'll provide links to their TRO through solaris7/skunkworks. I make no claims that these are entirely accurate and I'd like to think this info is correct so if corrections and additions need to be made, please contact those responsible on their website and hopefully that will help out the game (it's a great reference and I refer to them religiously like smurfy or sarna).
Kitfox: http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=674
There's a few oddities and discrepancies. While it will be discussed in the later section about solutions to be consistent, it will be self evident here.
1) KFX-Prime - The rule for actuator removal is in play here due in part of the ballistic arm. However, they are active once removed. So... you would think that would set the standard right (the Prime variant dictating actuator usage)? The next example is the actual problem...
2) KFX-S - There is no rule for actuator removal here, but the option to add the lower arm+hand actuator isn't there. Why is that? I understand the TRO doesn't have it enabled, but why can't the omnipod use it? It should be disabled naturally as a stock build, but enabled through customization (within the rules). So... this will be the beginning.
Note that the hand actuator is available, thus it being available elsewhere else as applicable - the Kitfox-S Right Arm omnipod doesn't follow it.. and such discrepancies will continue to follow elsewhere.
Adder: http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=621
1) ADR-Prime - When not using the ERPPCs, you get full arm+hand actuators. Everything else is consistent though
Mist Lynx: http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=653
1) MLX-Prime - No issues/inconsistencies here.
Ice Ferret: http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=603
I) IFR-Prime - No issues/inconsistencies here. All variants have hand+arm actuators when the appropriate large weapons are removed.
Nova: http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=623
1) NVA-Prime - No issues/inconsistencies here.
Stormcrow - http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=587
1) SCR-Prime - No issues/inconsistencies here.
Maddog - http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=593
1) MDD-Prime - The only issue is that it doesn't have the hand actuator options unless you are running the MDD-B...
2) MDD-B - This is the only source of arm omnipods that can carry a hand actuator. I would hazard to say that this is a bad precedent, but the hand actuator isn't that valuable... but if you really needed it (for whatever reason), all you get are energy options with it (and a negative energy quirk with the 3E Right Arm).
I reported a bug that relates to this, and while it has gone answered by PGI support, this gets worse a bit here...
Summoner - http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=670
1) SMN-Prime - This is one of the few number of clan mechs that has no hand actuator due to having literally just gun arms. While this isn't a bad thing (all we should care about is the lower arm actuator), it's worth a mental note. Without the arm actuator options, this mech would be atrocious.
Fortunately, this mech and variants are consistent on the rule.
Timberwolf - http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=595
1) TBR-Prime - Like the Summoner, the arms are literally gun arms... so no issues here.
Hellbringer - http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=666
1) HBR-Prime - While it is consistent, the HBR-C that we do not have has actual hand actuators. I don't think this is a serious problem, but technically this mech should have "arms" by definition. One wonders what the arms will look like (as long as it isn't like the Maddog, we're OK). No issues otherwise, but worth noting.
Gargoyle - http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=588
1) GAR-Prime - This follows the standard practice of having arm and hand actuators when large ballistics are involved. HOWEVER, there is one variant that doesn't follow this...
2) GAR-C - The large Gargoyle-C Right Arm does not follow this rule at all. Why this is the case is anyone's guess. The energy weapons simple "circle" around the lower parts of the arm... so there's no rhyme or reason for this omission.
Warhawk - http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=620
1) WHK-Prime - This mech is the beginning of the end for consistency. This particular variant has ZERO access to arm actuators when the ERPPCs are removed. Why is that? Did we all of a sudden change the ruleset?
2) WHK-A - Based on the TRO, it SHOULD have an arm actuator on the left arm as the rules suggest that is there... but yet this is completely MIA. I've put in a support post (no ticket, but does anyone @ PGI think this issue to be serious? I don't know and it's not apparent nor obvious at the moment).
3) WHK-B - There's nothing technically wrong with the variant (outside of the actuator rule) and happens to be the ONLY source of a working/available arm actuator for the right arm.
Inevitably, this is one of two mechs that doesn't have full arm articulation (2 Lower Arm Actuators) due to oversight or whatever. How is the Wubhawk supposed to be great if you can't give it full wub articulation? Again, the lower arm actuator SHOULD be available regardless of variant.
Direwolf - http://www.solaris7....Info.asp?ID=590
1) DWF-Prime - Just based on most bases, the Direwolf isn't really a platform for arm articulation if we go by the stock mechs. However, there NOT even an option for arm articulation unless we get it from the DWF-A's Right Arm...
2) DWF-A - This is the currently the ONLY source of arm articulation. Why have we changed the rules here?
If we look at the full arm articulation value for the Direwolf, it should be "exceptional" except we only know the mech to be the "face of doom" when you look at it long enough. While I doubt arm articulation would magically make the mech more powerful, it is non-existent under someone's random ruleset. If we wanted full arm articulation, the "Prometheus" variant would have to be released as that "should" contain the appropriate omnipods although the in-game data doesn't support a 3E side torso (yet). Still, this is a massive oversight for the largest mech. Why even advertise a 30 degree arm articulation WHEN YOU HAVE NO ACCESS TO IT?
Solutions? Perhaps.
3) The Problem and Solution - When you write design documents, make it freaking clear.
There should be a simple ruleset that applies here, but it isn't the case. So, there are only a few ideas that come to mind, and understand there are pros and cons... but for the sake of consistency, this (some option) has to be implemented.
I) Always Have Lower Arm Actuators (Hand Actuators technically optional)
Regardless of the variant and omnipod combinations, all clan mechs should have Lower Arm Actuators available. It's that simple. The Hand Actuator issue feels like an optional subset that can be used for balance considerations, but if a variant has it in the TRO (Maddog-B and Hellbringer-C), then ALL variants should have access to it (assuming you aren't fielding weapons that remove them naturally). The obvious example of the Kitfox and Gargoyle comes to mind as there are current violations of it (Kitfox-S and Gargoyle-C).
It's pretty straight forward and simple. No nerf there and all buffs across the board. This allows the Warhawk and Direwolf to not be dependent on omnipods that ONLY provide said functionality.
II) "Follow The Prime" or "Locked in Actuators"
The rule is this... if the Primary variant allows for the arm actuator, then all subsequent variants will have it AT MINIMUM. When it doesn't have that arm actuator, then all subsequent variants will NOT have it AT MINIMUM. It will follow TRO as necessary.
The idea is based on the weird/odd system of omnimech rules (like locked equipment and such), so I'm not fond of it.
It can be a direct nerf to some mechs, particularly the Summoner. The Direwolf currently follows this... and to a lesser extent the Warhawk (of course, it's missing an arm actuator that should be there, so that's that).
The Summoner suffers the most because it genuinely makes that 1E PPC or 1B arm locked in to not having a lower arm actuator (although the ballistic arm on its own will most likely never need to use said actuator unless it's an MG...). The value of arm articulation changes the perception of a omnipod greatly. The most obvious example would be the Warhawk.
The Warhawk-Prime's Left Arm is technically functionally the same as the Warhawk-A's Left Arm, except that the left arm should have a lower arm actuator. While this might be good for PGI in terms of giving you "another purchasing decision", it's not good design. Certain bad mechs/omnipods would effectively made worse and most of the good mechs honestly won't be negatively affected by much.
For instance, the Timberwolf has 2E laser arms generally while the Timberwolf-D has an ERPPC arm (which implies no lower arm actuator naturally). That's really much of a negative in the traditional way.
The Nova-A has 1E arms... both with ERPPCs. What would even be the goal of said 1E arms when you have 1E side torso options available?
In any case, the overall net change is a nerf... hurting more mechs than it should and thus should not be considered even though it is on the table "as an idea".
Hopefully, this article should help remind you to use said arm actuators and for PGI to get their story straight on this.
While this may seem like oversight, we are 8-months old past the release of the original Clan Pack... so this warrants a discussion. I don't think I may be perfectly right in my stance, but I believe that things that don't get talked about SHOULD be part of a greater discussion.
To end this post... let's go back to what I said about Warhawks... Wubhawks gotta wub... and they need a freaking whole lot more arm articulation to go wubbin' everything. The Direwolf has that full wub potential too.... and yet it doesn't even have the option to use 30 degrees of epic wub. That is disappointing...
Edited by Deathlike, 11 February 2015 - 01:52 PM.
