35 replies to this topic

[Errinovar]

I was thinking about what a waste of space hand actuators are in this game because they aren't implemented to do anything but take up space. And while I was thinking about this it occurred to me that a majority of clan mechs above light lack hand actuators, whereas hand actuators are very common in IS mechs.
Maybe a minor IS buff could make those hand actuators make a small difference, namely in climbing speed. Allow any mech (clan or IS) that has at least one hand actuator climb as though it were one weight category less to account for the hand assist in climbing steep inclines. Lights would gain the least, maybe a small boost to climb speed, but all the other mechs would benefit in increased agility and overall it would give a small but strategic boost to IS mechs particularly in maps like the canyon or alpine where climbing is pretty common, especially those that can't mount jump jets.

Don't know.. maybe it's a bad idea, but I would like to see that slot account for something other than decoration and I'm pretty sure PGI has no intention of implementing melee weapons like hatchets (hatchetman anyone?) or letting us use them in any meaningful way.

Sorry got a double post.. my bad.

[Revis Volek]

I thought they gave you more motion in your arms?

They dont weigh anything, so why should they be meaningful?

Edited by DarthRevis, 06 October 2015 - 07:36 AM.

[Mcgral18]

They crit pad presently, but that's about it,

LAAs give you actuation, and also crit pad but destruction doesn't stop actuation.

[Kira Onime]

DarthRevis, on 06 October 2015 - 07:36 AM, said:

I thought they gave you more motion in your arms?

They dont weigh anything, so why should they be meaningful?

Lower arm actuator give you arm mobility.
Hand actuators add a hand to the mech and has no mechanic attached to it. It's a cosmetic thing atm.

[Paigan]

Do they swallow critical hits? In TT, they do.
No idea if PGi implemented that, though. I'd guess the answer to that is "lol wut?"

[Death Proof]

I was under the impression the more actuators you have in your arms, the more mobility and range of movement the target reticle for your arm-mounted weapons have. Is that not the case?

[FupDup]

They give slightly bigger arm hitboxes, if you're trying to shield...

Maybe an extra idea could be to reduce screen shake from all sources, because hands are kinda useful for stabilizing and stuff? Combine that with a hill climbing boost (like around 3 degrees extra minimum slowdown angle per hand? Currently each archetype gives you +5 angle (e.g. Large gets +5 over Huge).

[MechPorn]

The can make them so that they can hold weapons and shields. You can adjust the weight of the weapon/shield to determine additional armor/damage that they can absorb/do (Ton of 'Mech/10).

You would not be able to fire any weapons in the arm that the hand is holding an item in. Add a command on the keyboard to drop the item after it used up or damaged.

[Brizna]

I don't really *know* but I think each actuator -be it arm or hand- add some extra arm turning angle.

Apparently they do not, I removed hand actuators in a MLX and there was no effect in the stated arm angle.

Edited by Brizna, 06 October 2015 - 07:57 AM.

[Malcolm Vordermark]

Death Proof, on 06 October 2015 - 07:39 AM, said:

I was under the impression the more actuators you have in your arms, the more mobility and range of movement the target reticle for your arm-mounted weapons have. Is that not the case?

The lower arm actuator adds this. Hand don't do anything in this game besides fill a crit slot.

[Kira Onime]

Brizna, on 06 October 2015 - 07:52 AM, said:

I don't really *know* but I think each actuator -be it arm or hand- add some extra arm turning angle.

Lower arm actuator, LAA, lets your arm move freely around. Hand does nothing but add cosmetic.

[Khobai]

hand actuators should work like one-use missiles where you can launch your hand at an enemy mech and do like 10 damage.

[Death Proof]

Rouken, on 06 October 2015 - 07:53 AM, said:

The lower arm actuator adds this. Hand don't do anything in this game besides fill a crit slot.

F*ck hands then.

They should do more than take up crit space. If they don't add extra mobility to the arms, they should; It's only logical.

[Screech]

Two words: happy ending. Actuators would sell themselves.

[Xoco]

I heard from some sources that they don't actually reduce crits on your equipment. I guess that is pretty old, but is it not the case anymore?

Personally, I just want to get rid of them, or at least make them able to not just look like fists. It looks silly.


I'd be pretty happy if you can give people the finger with it.

[Johnny Z]

Xoco, on 06 October 2015 - 08:21 AM, said:

I heard from some sources that they don't actually reduce crits on your equipment. I guess that is pretty old, but is it not the case anymore?

Personally, I just want to get rid of them, or at least make them able to not just look like fists. It looks silly.


I'd be pretty happy if you can give people the finger with it.

I always thought the hands were for moving supplies and also dropship stowage of the mechs themselves.

[Lostdragon]

Khobai, on 06 October 2015 - 08:04 AM, said:

hand actuators should work like one-use missiles where you can launch your hand at an enemy mech and do like 10 damage.

Wasn't there a cheesey 80's movie about a mecha battle arena where the protagonist won the duel after his mech was mostly destroy by manually triggering an attack just like this?

[Tobias Allardyce]

Lostdragon, on 06 October 2015 - 08:24 AM, said:

Wasn't there a cheesey 80's movie about a mecha battle arena where the protagonist won the duel after his mech was mostly destroy by manually triggering an attack just like this?

Robot Jox!

[Lostdragon]

Tobias Allardyce, on 06 October 2015 - 08:46 AM, said:

Robot Jox!

Yep, that was it! Haven't seen that one in forever.

[Juodas Varnas]

They should allow mechs with hand-actuators to flip the bird.