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Aurawind, on 03 May 2015 - 07:37 AM, said:
Do you really think 2 hardwired flamers will really make the Firestarter useless? FFS it has 8 energy hardpoints, more than most assaults and heavies, and it has jump jets, and its also really fast. It makes other lights not worth using, just look at the Wolfhound, same tonnage, same max armor, same max engine, 5 or 6 energy hardpoints, but no jump jets, so why would players take a Wolfhound over a Firestarter?. Firestarter definitely needs to be toned down, but not crippled, 2 flamers will not kill it, its a Firestarter FFS! It's supposed to have flamers! Firestarters would then be able to cause some heat issues to other Mechs at the same time still be able to cause damage.
The Wolfie's torso hardpoints are probably a little bit higher mounted, and torso guns can't be shot off like arm guns. The left arm can be stripped of armor without losing hardpoints. One variant has a higher engine cap as well. I don't necessarily expect the Wolfie to overthrow the FS9, but it won't be a bad light either. I'm expecting average at worst and reasonably good (but not optimal/meta) at best. It also might get better quirks, depending on if PGI is merciful or not.
Also keep in mind that we don't just have to worry about inter-light balance, but also the balance of lights compared to the other classes. Even with the FS9 in its current state that people love to complain about, it doesn't really affect the game as much as some of the other dominant mechs (TBR/SCR/DWF/HBR/STK/TDR/GI/etc). We also have the Arctic Cheetah incoming for the Clans, which will give the Firestarter some real competition.
On a side note, the Firestarter initially wasn't even the best light, it was tied with the Jenner. Jenners used to be better at midrange poking/skirmishing due to higher mounts and better torso yaw, while the FS9 was more about close range because its humanoid body shape allows for damage spreading (Jenner is a walking CT). However, after the MG nerf (aka Ember nerf), Firestarter quirks, and Clan laser vomit (huge alphas that annihilate Jenners really fast, FS9 can survive it better), the FS9 took over the light mech scene.
Edited by FupDup, 03 May 2015 - 07:58 AM.
