27 replies to this topic

[Soy]

** Warning ** huge wall of text talking about previous huge vapid thread concerning hugely disappointing mech as decided by huge scrubs while I plug a truly huge video about my huge cNova... gg

Recap:
In the last thread, I asked the question of what makes the Nova so disrespected. I requested players of all types to give a clear summary of what they liked about it, and what they disliked about it. I posted a video to firewall scrubs and trolls and the thread was very constructive.

The majority opinion seemed to be that the mech is fragile. Of course it is! xD

The obvious question on the surface at that point is, "what can be done to improve the Nova in comparison to ClamTrin / potential unforeseen powercreep [w3 & beyond], and also compared similar mechs/louadouts just in general".

And it's a great question, one that we all generally agreed could be approached critically (scaling) or derpily (quirks). Lets just assume it's the latter and say it's possible that it could see, among others or whatever... Acceleration, Structure, Armor, something like that (the cool idea was one dude sayin why not each variant has one of those above diff etc). I think, going by the general consensus, that's most people would see a visible direct buff that might incentivize them to play the mech or consider it from a more serious/critical viewpoint.

But the deeper question I found myself wondering, is how are people approaching the Nova in terms of playstyle, tactics/strategy, and positioning? Is it a rare playstyle? Is that why it is underrepresented? Is it just not fun throwing a bunch of lasers? *glances at Crow* apparently not, so... whats the dilly forilly? How can people get over this feel of fragility???



External Link to youtube, watch in HD like a pro son WOOO - http://youtu.be/zM7x4W1xr08

Now lemme take a roundabout way to where I'm goin with all this, try and follow please. I know it's hard, like an old grandmother shopping for Groceries, but still.

For a long time I've had people ask me if I stream or show more longplay clips that give a bit more insight into things, and I never thought much of it back in the day. Sniper poptart meta is sniper poptart meta, it's heavy on twitch and situational awareness, but it's completely empty when it comes to tactics and strategy for the most part. Alone, in groups, far away, up close, a snipertart just does work. Fairly simple.

Well, flash forward to now and I've found myself really enjoying the Nova. It's fairly unique - I have to poptart and given the current situation, it's the only one that can get up high and bring actual damage. So I felt comfortable with that from the start. I never played mediums back in the day more than like a dozen in a Sway. There's all these new maps and I'm dealing with new weps mechs everything. It's been an arduous process to shake off a lot of rust (I left at the top of the top and Elo doesn't decay apparently) and there's still layers left (group). What I'm getting at is, for several weeks I was playing the Nova and feeling uncomfortable about having to take certain risks, trying to understand how to brawl, how to close range, how to aim a new weapon, sniffing enemy movement through seismic, creating flanks for myself and only myself (others just ****** blow ur cover in solo), etc. All of these things that add up to what is the most important thing of all - comfort with a mech. And no comfort's not mastery, I have 500 rounds in a Nova and about 4500 in 3D back then. Not same thing.

What I'm talking about is comfort. Understanding. Learning to truly adapt to a different mech takes time, especially one that is not well understood, respected, or considered worth the time. I think it is always a learning process, and people should be looking to improve upon one thing about a mech they are truly working hard on each play session. A new flank spot, a new play against a certain loadout, a new firing combo, everything. Everything.

At the end of the day people are going to be most comfortable or most successful at different things, and that's how it should be. But I refuse to believe all the guys I used to see back in the day that could sling a ML pack at your chest and core you out pretty quickly just stopped playing those mechs entirely or some bull-**** like that. I know some of you are out there and you need to give this mech a look again, especially with Clamengines getting nerfed but the Nova getting buffed soon. And aren't they talking about a 4 v 4 CW mode coming soon?

Nova is life. Nova is love. Nova - Just Do It. Call JG-Novaworth, 877 cbills now.

If you want to show me some of your own secrets, be my guest. Post your best scoreboards. Throw up a smurfy or if you're hashing a build out lets work on it. Give me more anecdotal opinions. Post more concerns and ideas for quirks. Most of all, someone please dominate me in game with a Timber Wolf so I can finally saddle up on the big elephant that's been in my room since I started playing this game again. If anyone has anymore ideas about the Nova, how it'll deal with incoming powercreep, quirks, builds, whatever, I implore you to plox drop it in hurrrr.

Thanks for reading this huge wall of text, if you did, I'm sure you're the type of weirdo who will enjoy a 70 min video of MWO solo win with a weird album that I made playing through it the entire time while PEEFsmash leaves his mic on and yells at random people playing Smite on a different TS over all of it.

TLDR: We should all celebrate underused mechs and raise them up to what they are worthy of being, something to enjoy smashing other mechs in the face with.

Edited by Soy, 16 March 2015 - 01:07 PM.

[Kain Demos]

When you carry in non-meta 'mechs it does grant a certain level of..............satisfaction unlike any other you can get in this game.

The incoming ST penalties will definitely kick it in the nuts though--I lose the STs more than the arms because of the size of those rotary joints, they are just huge and easy to hit. Generally if you lose an arm/ST early on you can still play cautiously and kick in some solid numbers if things go right but additional XL penalties will make it harder to do so.

What I like about the Nova:

Its Glass Cannon playstyle is very exciting and can be very rewarding when you "do things right"
Lots of lasers are fun
Coring huge, powerful 'mechs quickly where you can almost see the "WTF" on their faces is fun
Cosmetic, but I really like the cockpit sounds of the Nova

[ThisMachineKillsFascists]

When i play my highlander all the ppl i play with (except my friends) are asking me why i choose the hgn. Because its not the optiamal mech it needs to suck right? i like to make things work which has a bad reputation because the bad reputation is unjustified in most cases and pretty much black and white thinking. Its need to be at timberwolf level or it sucks. PPl even call the warhawk a bad mech. i could go on. But meh. This community (most of them ) are just followers.

The competetitive scene here with tier one 2,3 tier one build tier 2,3 build did their part either.

Lets all play hellbringers and timberwolfs instead having our unique builds and special loved mechs

Edited by ThisMachineKillsFascists, 16 March 2015 - 01:37 PM.

[Telmasa]

I love my Nova.

Mostly because I take advantage of all those JJ by putting two ERPPCs in the arms (not the shoulders, forget you 'metabuild' people, I like being able to hit UAVs). Being able to take 4 MGs does wonders for keeping light mechs away (as long as you can hit them with an ERPPC or two before they get so close).

I actually like it better than my Stormcrow - mostly because I refuse, with my Stormcrow, to follow the "meta" streak-abuse, or to go full laser-barf.

This might put me at a minority (I'm one of the very few who enjoyed the M3 Lee from WoT, even in the earliest iterations of the game), but there you have it.

[Soy]

I wonder after seeing them start small with the first Clam quirks, if they'll start small with Nova as well. Hmm.

Rather than worrying about the actual quirks themselves, I just hope the XL engine nerf doesn't hit before this mech starts getting checkups, at least not for a more than a patch or two. Or that they aren't just like 1% ams or something.

Btw don't get me wrong I'm just enjoying my robomance with the Nova as long as I can until I gotta start doing Timber 24/7 for srs play... Cherish your infatuations. Cherish them as long as you can!

Edited by Soy, 16 March 2015 - 02:41 PM.

[Mcgral18]

I'm actually starting to get worried about the Nova, after this quirk pass.

The HGN had it's 10% heat quirk removed...which means the Nova may just as well. The current 10% makes the 120% and 150% nerf nerfs bearable...but with those removed, the majority of builds won't be feasible anymore, since they're already a blast furnace.

MGs being rubbish removes those as a serious option.



PGI might just kill the Nova next quirk pass...that would make me sad.

[Soy]

...man...

Why you gotta break my heart like that.

NOVARAVE TIL NERFHAM IN RIVER CITY, NAO

[Soy]

The more I think about it, the more worried I am about what you said Mcgral.

If at the end of the day, this mech receives over the next few patches...

...XL engine ST -20% speed nerf, both prime arms lose that heat gen then it means 10+ more heat generation...

...there's no way something like 2% laser beam range and 1% cooldown is gonna carry this mech into relevancy, if that's all it gets after its next quirking...

I'm a bit concerned. I'd say... maybe 1/10 on my give-a-**** scale.

Edited by Soy, 17 March 2015 - 12:31 AM.

[Spr1ggan]

The Nova needs a buff to prime arm heat gen quirk. It could also do with increased structure and medium laser heat gen and beam duration quirks.

Basically it needs a a lot of ****.

Edited by Spr1ggan, 17 March 2015 - 03:29 AM.

[Tenka]

I can't get this thing to work . I don't know how the player in the video is alpha-ing 12 CSMPL's without overheating, he must have 0 armor and several tonnes of heat sinks or something. For me it immediately goes to 100% heat, shut down + some damage to the CT.

Edited by Tenka, 17 March 2015 - 02:31 AM.

[Spr1ggan]

Tenka, on 17 March 2015 - 02:30 AM, said:

I can't get this thing to work . I don't know how the player in the video is alpha-ing 12 CSMPL's without overheating, he must have 0 armor and several tonnes of heat sinks or something. For me it immediately goes to 100% heat, shut down + some damage to the CT.

He's using 10 CSPL's.

[Soy]

I can't make it more clear that 12 is two too many! xD

[Lily from animove]

You can't make it not fragile, it has 50t hp in a mech with worse hitboxs than a dragon.

Nova is not love and not life, its passion and obsession with a good portion of masochism.

the only issue is the 10SPL config, because being able to throw 144 within 3 seconds is too much overkill. but any oter configuration is very restricted by dps and heat. Which is good, because mechs should not be one button machines as the 10SPL loadout.

And Russ ideas about when losing the ST engine, WOW. bb Nova, thne the mehc is even more doomed to be killed to death. All the already bad clanmechs are then just even more bad and pointless.

seeing what the adder got, I would love to see some agility quirks, like 10% acceleration decelleration, maybe even more. Also reverse speed, since its needed with such size to disappear faster and hide your butt. Also still some HP buffs, I emna If i look at the buffs the other emchs received, WOW + 15structure to Torsi and Arms and +20 structure to the CT is not even too much in comparison.

however the 10SPL config, is kinda op (if you reach that niche), in my opinion. it should not be able to fire them twice in an alpha. maybe increase clan SPL ghostheat penalty to a level where this requires to wait a bit longer than the lasers need to cooldown. But entirely this config is weird its too borderline good at a tiny niche then its suddnely just not suitable anymore outside it. This is not how mechs should be at all. That may be workign for lights with decent speed for entering and exiting the battle.

[Soy]

- At 10 SPL it's 120 damage in 3 seconds, but yeah. I gotcha. However, why is it a one button machine? So the weapons might be simplified to a boxer's punching rhythm, but there's a lot to the movement and trying to soak glassmech correctly, right? Then again those same people would rage about JJ fluttering or whatever, right. I mean, at least I think I'm playing a lot more interactive than most people who just trudge along...

- The shoulder's aren't necessarily easy targets on this mech, but as it relates to Russ talking ST XL derpnerf... if it goes down to 70 something speed tops and reduced reticle rate then it'll be dead in the water. It's already hard enough when you lose half your weapons on an arm to a random potshot early... I dunno, it is concerning though. This mech can't afford to go any slower at all.

Lily from animove, on 17 March 2015 - 03:42 AM, said:

it should not be able to fire them twice in an alpha.

- Why shouldn't the mech be able to fire them twice in an alpha?

Lily from animove, on 17 March 2015 - 03:42 AM, said:

maybe increase clan SPL ghostheat penalty to a level where this requires to wait a bit longer than the lasers need to cooldown.

- You think what I'm showing is justifying a case for increasing cSPL ghost heat? Really???

- Most importantly...

Lily from animove, on 17 March 2015 - 03:42 AM, said:

But entirely this config is weird its too borderline good at a tiny niche then its suddnely just not suitable anymore outside it. This is not how mechs should be at all.

Why? This is a really deep statement you just made. Existential ****. How should mechs be, at all?

I'm honestly curious about these things, go on...

Edited by Soy, 17 March 2015 - 03:57 AM.

[Mcgral18]

Spr1ggan, on 17 March 2015 - 02:01 AM, said:

The Nova needs a buff to prime arm heat gen quirk. It could also do with increased structure and medium laser heat gen and beam duration quirks.

Basically it needs a a lot of ****.

Well, the Prime arms are probably good at 5% each for heat gen. What they need is armour.

Now, the non-Prime arms could certainly use more...but that just leads to Sword and Boarding with the head gen as the shield.

[Soy]

That A LT + B RT for dual shoulder energy is a combo that I think is interesting... but remains to be seen when that **** really hits the shelves so to speak.

But just sayin, quirkin those for something might be interesting..!

ps - see check it... anti-Nova!

Edited by Soy, 17 March 2015 - 04:24 AM.

[Macksheen]

At first I didn't like Novas, but then I was still new-ish.

I came back to them later and they really did well for me - but I was a different player. They helped me even, to aim and focus on components.

I get that they aren't numerically as strong as some - but then again, I hate CTFs ... and like the Novas.

[Mcgral18]

Soy, on 17 March 2015 - 04:20 AM, said:

That A LT + B RT for dual shoulder energy is a combo that I think is interesting... but remains to be seen when that **** really hits the shelves so to speak.

But just sayin, quirkin those for something might be interesting..!

ps - see check it... anti-Nova!

Why not the Nova+?



It can actually mount 10 SPLs, 18 DHS and 3 SRM4s(200 rounds)

Or you can straight up go 10 SPLs and 23 DHS.




Whenever we get the SCR-B, the nova will be very sad.

[Lily from animove]

Soy, on 17 March 2015 - 03:53 AM, said:

- Why shouldn't the mech be able to fire them twice in an alpha?



- You think what I'm showing is justifying a case for increasing cSPL ghost heat? Really???

- Most importantly...


Why? This is a really deep statement you just made. Existential ****. How should mechs be, at all?

I'm honestly curious about these things, go on...

it should nto be able to do so, because its a superpowerful combination, but any other combination, is heavily differing in efficiency. mechs should not and never ever be so much dedicated to a single laodout. They should more smoothly react to small changes in their laodout.

120 damage, can obliterate mechs, take 2 SPL's off, and suddenly its a lot more worse because 2 alpha obliterations is gone,
A small laodout change a big impact in the mechs usability.
Add 2 more SPL's suddenly the two alpha thingy isn't working anymore and the mech is gettign a lot worse, or way harder to handle, because its now much more complex to handleisntead 2x the same button.

But thats caused by the alpha warrior behavior the game has.

And this is off, because small changes should also slightly change a mech and not entirely change what it is.
But small changes should never entirely make or brake a mech.
Someone exchaning 2 lasers for s DHS should get proper heat/damage change, yet it is a huge change in what you can destroy quick, but the heat gain is small, nearly negilable.



And so the only difference between NVA and SCR are the JJ's, but try to run 9 SPL on a SCR, its more nimble, with its speed the survivability in this range with those hitboxes is so superior, it makes you wanna cry.

Edited by Lily from animove, 17 March 2015 - 06:32 AM.

[Soy]

Mcgral18, on 17 March 2015 - 06:24 AM, said:

Lol wtf that looks ridiculoid.

Lily from animove, on 17 March 2015 - 06:28 AM, said:

Add 2 more SPL's suddenly the two alpha thingy isn't working anymore and the mech is gettign a lot worse, or way harder to handle, because its now much more complex to handle isntead 2x the same button.

And this is off, because small changes should also slightly change a mech and not entirely change what it is.
But small changes should never entirely make or brake a mech.
Someone exchaning 2 lasers for s DHS should get proper heat/damage change, yet it is a huge change in what you can destroy quick, but the heat gain is small, nearly negilable.

...but isn't that beautiful? Isn't that what cutting meta is all about? Someone has to do something for people to go "oh thats nice". We don't all just have hive-mind, right..?

Edited by Soy, 17 March 2015 - 06:32 AM.