Fate 6, on 13 September 2015 - 04:34 PM, said:
^
From the balance perspective of premade groups, sensors meant nothing already except for LRMs (and QQ is the only team that ever uses them - we won't if this pass goes through though). Recognizing chassis from sight was the important thing, though the removal of weapon quirks makes it harder to predict loadouts based on chassis.
It's impossible to tell how IS mechs are right now because their weapons are so far behind the Clans. We can look at Clan vs Clan and IS vs IS but that doesn't mean anything in the overall game aside from those very limited CW matchups. As an example, the Grid Iron which was basically a balanced mech everything considered (low alpha, high DPS, high risk, high reward) is now a pretty much pointless mech. Tons of HP on the RT doesn't make up for that fact that you have basically no DPS or alpha power - something anyone who tries to play a non-GI HBK with Guass on live server well knows. Against IS mechs the PTS GI with Guass is alright (it's actually pretty bad) but against Clans it's a joke. The SCR with Gauss is pretty much better in every way.
So, how can we actually test this balance pass?
thats not only an IS vs Clan thingy.
Look If I take a 12 CERML NVA I will get significant quirk penalties. Because I am now using 2x6E arms.
When I use a 8 CERML NVA I can use the 2 3xE arms .
Tbh, this already had balance in its current state on live, because a 12 CERML NVA is a striker with bad sustained firepower, while the 8CERML is less striking but more sustained firepower. It hardly needed any further balance. If anything at all a tiny difference in mobility so that a Less laser config prefers 3E arms over 6E arms and done.
With the new changes this lacks even more balance. Because 12 CERML are way too hot already. Ontop you now get even more mobility penalties choosing this config. And this is where PGI failed to truly analyse what "firepower" means. Firepower is not the amount of Damage peak a mech has, For Energy weapons, and bigger AC's this involves cooling as well. because cooling = ressource for pew pew.
So on the NVA table PGI could have given thie Nova "roles" as balance. 6E arms should get some acceleration and decelleration mobilities, so they push the mech into stirker role. It will be a mech for strike and retreat, mostly poking with the JJ's
The 3E arms should have gotten some HP quirks and twist rates, to support a more skirmish/brawler role, because less lasers and more coolant means more facetime. And facetime means less surviveability. Therefore some twist quirks and HP quirks would support playing this NVA that way.
But simply thinking more Hardpoints = more firepower was not a good judgement. Yes it's true for some mechs But there is still the break even point where more hardpoints = pointless because tonnage and coolant of a mech can not support that many hardpoints. Especially for many lights and mediums this is getting relevant since they are low on tonnage.
And the simple fact that we do not have any heatquirks is saddening me a bit. Because When clanners have more Strike power, IS could have gotten more coolant for sustained power. This would generate no weapon bias, because coolant in general works for all guns (except AC 5's and Gauss). But the previous selected wepaon specific heat quirks did bias to specific wepaons. Generalised heatquirks would create more distuingished behaviors between specific mechs. IS generally would have more "Push and keep firing" behavior and most clanners have more "Stirke and cool down" behavior. But its not IS vs clan exclusive. it could help all mechs with bad hardpoints, because basically every mech with "not enough hardpoints" could without Weapon quirks get an improvement and catch up with one having more hardpoints by shooting longer.
SO instead of:
Engery heat -10%
Make it:
Hheat disspiation +10%
Or for some mechs that exceed the striker role too much by too much coolant give negative quirks like:
heat dissipation -10%
Heat treshold -5
look at the DWF vs WHK, the WHK has all those DHS and only a few Hardpoints (comapred to the DWF) yet it can not strike or sustain firepower as good as the DWF. In fact for the tonnage difference, the WHK is in a pitiful state for what it can deliver.
Same would count for an Atlas. you can put an amazing amount of weapons in the DDC, but this also lacks sustained firepower. And compared to the DWF its still "low firepower". Buff the ATlas coolant in general and it will not bias towards a specific wepaonsystem, so the mix of SRM's big AC's and lasrs works fine. But it helps the atlas to catch up Firepower in an engagement. But to prevent "overquirking" of coolant there should be a limit, at which buffing firepowe stops. And then you focus balance on Durability or mobility.
Weapon buffing quirks were not entirely bad, they were just in some cases not chosen well and overdone.
Or another example:
Take a CMD/MLX vs a FS9/ACH. The FS9/ACH can Strike hard. But with some heat negative heat quirks they can not keep the damage. They are now striker mechs.
While the current CMD/MLX still run hot but have less strike power than the other both. A future coolant quirk could make them sustain this firepower longer. This way they get skirmishers as a role. Which probably, if values are chosen right, is a good thing. Of ocurse not trying to tank and skirmish a big mech with AC's, but as light counter vs light strikers, because the strikers can not properly retreat form the skirmishing lights by mobility but get out dps'd by the skirmisher lights.
Edited by Lily from animove, 14 September 2015 - 01:44 AM.
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