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[InnerSphereNews]

Greetings MechWarriors,

UPDATE: Phase 2 of the Re-Balance PTS has ended! We will be running another phase of the Re-Balance PTS soon!

Starting October 14th at 3:00 PM PDT (10:00 PM UTC) the Public Test Server (PTS) will be activated for a new phase of the 'Mech Re-Balance Public Test session.

This Phase of the Re-Balance PTS is intended for testing a specific set of isolated changes from what is currently present in the Live environment:

• Overall increase to the Health value for all Equipment and Weapons.
• Reduction in the Maximum Range for all Clan Lasers.
• Adjustments to I.S. and Clan Heat Sink values.
• Change to fundamental ECM behavior, including effective radius.
• Adjustments to Information Warfare mechanics such as Sensor Range, target acquisition rates, information sharing, and reticle/targeting behavior.
• For the purposes of this test phase, all 'Mech and Weapon Quirks have been removed.

The exact changes detailed further in this post should not be taken as the entirety of what the final re-balance will entail, nor are the changes listed here necessarily ‘locked in’ for any final release.
The end-goal of these public test sessions are to work toward a complete re-balance of the game’s core combat systems.

This PTS Phase is scheduled to run until further notice, and will be followed up with additional phases to allow for adjustments based on your feedback and new changes.

If you have already participated in a previous PTS session and still have the client installed, you will only need to apply the latest patches. Otherwise, accessing the PTS will require that you download and install a separate instance of the MWO client.

The download link for the PTS installer can be found here.

The Focus of this Test Phase

The first component of this test phase covers the implementation of certain ‘Information Warfare’ technologies and gameplay mechanics, such as how your weaponry and your targeting HUD react to your target state, the range at which you can acquire targeting data from enemy ‘Mechs, how targeting data is shared with your allies, and the overall implementation of ECM.

The most significant change to the Information Warfare components featured in this test phase concerns the implementation of ECM.
On the current Live server environment, ECM provides an ‘always-on’ bubble of protection from enemy target-lock for any ally ‘Mech within its 180m radius. The only way for an opponent to override that protection is to counter it with a TAG laser, NARC beacon, PPC charge, BAP coverage, or with an ECM suite in 'Counter' mode.
The implementation of ECM during this testing phase differs from that current system in two significant ways:

1) The radius of ECM protection has been decreased from 180m to 90m.
2) ECM no longer prevents target-lock altogether; it simply delays the time it takes for an enemy to achieve target-lock on a 'Mech within ECM radius.

TAG, NARC, BAP, PPC's, and an ECM suit in 'Counter' mode can still be used as ECM-counters; they will simply negate the targeting delay enforced by ECM coverage.

The second component of this test phase covers some of the initial steps that we are taking toward bridging the technology gap that exists between Inner Sphere and Clan ‘Mechs. Heat efficiency is one of the biggest disparities between Inner Sphere and Clan tech, and is one of two aspects covered in this test phase. The second concerns the extremely long range of Clan Lasers relative to their Inner Sphere counterparts.
Those changes, detailed below, are just the first of many that will be coming down the line in future PTS sessions.

What we hope to achieve with this test phase is for you to try out the outlined changes and provide constructive feedback regarding how these changes feel in a match and whether they affect your personal play style.

Please keep in mind that all of the changes listed below are a ‘first pass’ set of values, and adjustments can be made as needed in any increment. The changes featured in this PTS phase are not going to end up on the Live production server any time soon!
For now, we simply want you to experience these changes, test the values, and monitor our progress as we work toward our goals of a) re-balancing the ‘Mechs across the board, and b) effectively integrating Information and Role-based Warfare mechanics into MechWarrior Online.

Specific Changes

Quirks

• For the purposes of this test phase, all existing Quirks from the Live environment have been removed.
• The only Quirks that are in place for this test phase are related to Sensor Range.

Modules

• The number and type of Modules in this Phase are the same as what is currently present in the Live environment. The changes made to available Module slots and types that were seen during the first Re-Balance PTS are not present in this phase.

ECM

• ECM radius has been decreased to 90m (down from 180m).
• ECM no longer prevents lock-on for 'Mechs within the radius. It only delays the amount of time it takes to achieve lock-on by 3 seconds.
• The target-lock delay provided from ECM can still be overridden by TAG, NARC, BAP, PPC's, and ECM suites set to 'Counter' mode.

Equipment and Weaponry

Equipment/Weapon Health

• The Health of all Equipment and Weapons has been increased to 15 (up from 10).

Inner Sphere Single Heat Sinks

• Chassis-equipped Single Heat Sink cooling rate increased to 1.1 (up from 1).
• Engine-equipped Single Heat Sink cooling rate increased to 1.1 (up from 1).
• Chassis-equipped Single Heat Sink heat capacity increased to 1.1 (up from 1).

Inner Sphere Double Heat Sinks

• Chassis-equipped Double Heat Sink heat capacity increased to 1.5 (up from 1.4).

Clan Double Heat Sinks

• Chassis-equipped Clan Double Heat Sink cooling rate increased to 0.15 (up from 0.14).
• Chassis-equipped Clan Double Heat Sink heat capacity decreased to 1.2 (down from 1.4)

Clan Laser Maximum Ranges

• Maximum Ranges for all Clan Lasers have been reduced by 40%.

Targeting Mechanics

Weapon and targeting reticle mechanics when target is not locked

• The targeting reticle will no longer flash when a hit is detected on a ‘Mech that is not target-locked.
• Lasers will not do full damage when striking a ‘Mech that is not target-locked from a range greater than 60% of the Laser’s Optimal Range.
• The original post text here referred to "...60% of the Laser's Maximum Range", which was not correct.

Reticle mechanics when target is locked

• The targeting reticle will now change color and shape when a hit is detected on a ‘Mech that is target-locked.

Sensor Range

All ‘Mechs start with a baseline Sensor Range of 500m. Through the application of Sensor Range Quirks on a per-variant basis, individual variants can receive an increase to their baseline Sensor Range.

Post-Quirk Sensor Ranges will generally fall into the value regions listed below, according to weight class:

• Light ‘Mechs: ~900m Sensor Range.
• Medium ‘Mechs: ~800m Sensor Range.
• Heavy ‘Mechs: ~700-750m Sensor Range.
• Assault ‘Mechs: ~500-650m Sensor Range.

Target Acquisition Rate

• The Target Acquisition Rate for all ‘Mechs during this test phase is 0 seconds.
• Target Acquisition Rate can be quirked on a per-variant level, but there are no Target Acquisition Rate Quirks in place for this test phase.
• Target Acquisition Rates are affected by ECM.
• The Target Acquisition Delay caused by ECM for all ‘Mechs during this test phase is 3 seconds.

Target Information Sharing

• Target information sharing is now based on the distance between the target and the first teammate, then from the distance of that teammate to all other teammates.

PTS CLIENT INSTALLATION STEPS

• Download and run the PTS installer (if a previous install of the PTS Client is not already present on your system).
• Run the MechWarriorOnline.exe, located in your C:\Program Files (x86)\MWO Public Test\MechWarrior Online\Bin32 folder (default install location).
• Click the Patch button.
• Accept the Terms of Use.
• The PTS Client will then proceed to download the MWO install base, which is roughly 7 GB in size.
• Once the Install Base has been downloaded and installed the launcher will then download and apply any necessary patches.
• Once the patches are downloaded and installed, you should now have access to the Play button.
• Click Play!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This is just a test. The 'Mech Re-Balance is still a work-in-progress.
• The core build used for this PTS build was derived from the September 22nd patch. As a result, this PTS build does not include any of the content, fixes, or changes released in the October 6th patch.
• There is currently no set end-time for this PTS session.
• Attempting to access the PTS session prior to October 14th at 3:00 PM PDT (10:00 PM UTC) will result in a 'Servers Undergoing Maintenance' message.
• The sole purpose of this PTS session is to test and experiment the specific aspects of the 'Mech Re-Balance listed in the previous section of this post.
• Solo and Group queue match services will be available through the PTS client during this PTS session.
• Community Warfare will be available through the PTS client during this PTS session.
• The standard Live client will continue to function as normal.
• Your login information for the PTS client will be the same as your Live account login information.
• Any actions you take inside the PTS client, such as spending MC/C-Bills or customizing your 'Mechs, will not carry over to your Live account.
• All PTS accounts will be provided with boosted C-Bill, MC, and GXP values to allow for full testing of any desired builds. Those boosts will be provided in the PTS build only.
• The account that is used for your access to the PTS client is a 'snapshot' of your standard Live account. Any changes you make to your Live account while we are running the PTS session may not necessarily carry over to your PTS 'snapshot' account.

To help prevent any confusion with the Live environment, all general discussion of the Re-Balance PTS session should go into the Re-Balance Feedback sub-forum.

Please direct all chassis-specific discussion of this phase into the associated sub-forum for that chassis.

All previous Feedback posted during Phase 1 has been moved into their associated archive sections (both general and chassis-specific).

We request that you please only use the Re-Balance forum for constructive feedback and discussion of the Re-Balance PTS.

Please do not submit any support tickets regarding issues with the Re-Balance PTS.

Download link for the Public Test Server installer!

Discuss the Re-Balance and post your feedback in the Re-Balance and Chassis sub-forums!

[Tennex]

Quote

• Light ‘Mechs: ~900m Sensor Range.
  
• Medium ‘Mechs: ~800m Sensor Range.
  
• Heavy ‘Mechs: ~700-750m Sensor Range.
  
• Assault ‘Mechs: ~500-650m Sensor Range.

So light mechs will be the only mechs capable of running LRMs at its intended range now?
I mean when you think about it, assaults with LRMs will literally get out ranged by clan medium lasers.

I like this iteration of information warfare much better than the last one. But you guys have GOT to find a way to decouple missile lock from information warfare. Because everytime you guys try to tinker visual targeting range based on class. Or target acquisition time based on class, LRM gets hurt.

I think everybody already knows my stance on using Radar as a balance point. (light mechs longer radar range etc.) That way, missiles wont be hurt.

Quote

• Reduction in the Maximum Range for all Clan Lasers.

Thats really awesome, considering lasers are almost all I see on clan builds. (though 40% nerf sounds a bit excessive at least on paper)

Clan weaponry never went through those years of extensive Laser vs. Ballistics vs. Missile power level balance Innersphere had. Probably because balance between clan weapons are hard to test in a public environment, with Innersphere weapons in the mix.

Though with the buff to Clan UAC recently, and now the nerf to clan lasers. Its definatley nice to see them try to put all clan weapons on the same level.



Some of these changes, are the hidden and unintuitive rules. They are convoluted and make things confusing for even veteran players while adding very questionable gameplay impact

• Sensor bubble delay based on distence between relay points. Sounds good in theory, but really how much gameplay impact will it add? Just seems convoluted to me without bringing much to table
  
• Reduced damage, at X range, for laser weapons, without target info. Like how many conditions are there for that rule? How much more convoluted and unintuitive can it be? Shall we add, "on a farm, firing at a barn" as a qualifier also?
  
• Clan weapon gets reduced LONG range. All lasers follow the rule of long range = 2x optimal range. This is an exception rule and that complicates things doesn't add much that reducing clan optimal range couldn't have done. Plus there is no great way to display those stat changes in game.

All in all really excited to test out most of these changes. ECM change is refreshing and will actually play like lore now. No longer ruining all missiles like an omni cloak. Though i wish they would have tested the mechanic change, without the range nerf.

Edited by Tennex, 14 October 2015 - 05:06 AM.

[Jack Shayu Walker]

"40% range reduction to all (including small) clan lasers"
o.o *begins sharpening pitchfork*

First of all this is way too heavy handed in general, 40% is going overboard, but I can understand the sentiment to nerf clan meds and large pulse. What I can't understand is clan small lasers having their max range reduced to 240m. That's only 40 meters more than their optimal range, and that is a HUGE drop off.

If you want to make this change PGI then you need to give Clan smalls, and IS smalls (they need this too), a 25% increase to their optimal range. From there you can scale the clan smalls max range off of their new optimal range; that'd be an optimal (and max) range of 250m (300m) on cERSL and 206.5 (247.5) on cSPL. IS small lasers would, in turn have optimal (and max) ranges as follows: IS SL 168.75 (337.5), and IS SPL 137.5 (275).

Edited by Jack Shayu Walker, 13 October 2015 - 06:16 PM.

[Sug]

InnerSphereNews, on 13 October 2015 - 05:14 PM, said:

• Lasers will not do full damage when striking a ‘Mech that is not target-locked from a range greater than 60% of the Laser’s Maximum Range.

Interesting.

[Trevor Belmont]

So can the mech carrying the ECM still get locked on?

[Tennex]

Quote

• Lasers will not do full damage when striking a ‘Mech that is not target-locked from a range greater than 60% of the Laser’s Maximum Range.

Sug, on 13 October 2015 - 05:36 PM, said:

Interesting.

Innersphere Lasers were in a really good place though. This will hurt IS laser. when the issue was mostly Clan Laserbarf.

More hidden rules, more hidden rules

Edited by Tennex, 13 October 2015 - 06:21 PM.

[AEgg]

Tennex, on 13 October 2015 - 05:18 PM, said:

So light mechs will be the only mechs capable of running LRMs effectively now?
-snip-

Firing LRMs at above 500m is a waste of ammo, so no.

Edit: And yeah, clan small lasers really didn't need a 40% penalty. Assuming you're running through a group of mechs and don't have time to lock, that makes the cSPL effective range 60m.

Edited by AEgg, 13 October 2015 - 05:43 PM.

[Jman5]

Nice, I can't wait to test this stuff out.

A few initial thoughts:

The target sharing system sounds interesting. I hope this will allow players to sneak around more without being lit up the moment someone spots them.

I'm worried about the reticule color change. I use that a lot for catching when I'm hitting an invisible wall or unrendered structure.

The sensor ranges for lights and mediums seem too high. They'll get crazy range when you combine things like BAP, Targeting computer, and/or sensor range module. What about 800, 700, 600, 500?

Edited by Jman5, 13 October 2015 - 05:45 PM.

[Goose]

[Y E O N N E]

Guys, they said 40% reduction to MAX RANGE on Clan lasers. That means you can hit things only 486 meters away for minimum damage as opposed to 810, but you still do full damage at 405 meters.

[Kael Posavatz]

Dear PGI.

In the event that you are reading this, a few questions.

First
As stated this test server is nerfing the Clans' lasers' maximum range by 40%. Are you also nerfing the Clans' lasers optimum range by 40%?

I ask because the rule on beams has been that maximum range is 2x optimum range, and there
is no indication here that suggests that mechanic is being...altered.



Second:
Doing away with quirks, the Maximum range values for all beam weapons break down as follows, quiaff?

IS Small 270m Clan ER Small 240m
IS Medium 540m Clan ER Medium 486m
IS Large 900m Clan ER Large 888m
IS ER Large 1350m
IS Small pulse 220m Clan Small Pulse 198m
IS Med Pulse 440m Clan Med Pulse 396m
IS Lg Pulse 730m Clan Lg Pulse 720m


Third,
Can someone check my math on this? Given the engagement envelopes, if I am in an assault mech, will I be able to shoot a clan ER Large laser at a target within its optimal range, and not do max damage because my mech's sensors are so myopic that they cannot see the Fatlas more than half a klick away?

Edited by Kael 17, 13 October 2015 - 06:14 PM.

[Tennex]

Yeonne Greene, on 13 October 2015 - 05:47 PM, said:

Guys, they said 40% reduction to MAX RANGE on Clan lasers. That means you can hit things only 486 meters away for minimum damage as opposed to 810, but you still do full damage at 405 meters.

Not a fan of all these hidden rules. They're just going to make it complicated to balance for themselves

FFS just be consistent and lower the range of clan lasers by 10% period or soemthing

The target acquisition relay based on distence, and then again based on distence. Its way too confusing

Edited by Tennex, 13 October 2015 - 05:53 PM.

[Sug]

Tennex, on 13 October 2015 - 05:38 PM, said:

Innersphere Lasers were in a really good place though. This will hurt IS laser. when the issue was mostly Clan Laserbarf.

How will it hurt IS lasers? It only reduces your damage on unlocked targets beyond optimal range.

[3xnihilo]

~Reduction in the Maximum Range for all Clan Lasers.~

I wonder if this means that Damage drop off will be steeper or if it also means a reduction in the full damage range as well?

[Wintersdark]

Tennex, on 13 October 2015 - 05:18 PM, said:

So light mechs will be the only mechs capable of running LRMs effectively now?

No, because you can share targeting data. You're part of a team, remember? On the other hand, see: ECM nerf, so you can ALWAYS lock onto someone you can get targeting data for. ECM is no longer a binary LRM blockcocker.

Quote

I like this iteration of information warfare much better than the last one. But you guys have GOT to find a way to decouple missile lock from information warfare. Because everytime you guys try to tinker visual targeting range based on class. Or target acquisition time based on class, LRM gets hurt.

LRM's certainly don't get hurt in this test.

Quote

Thats really awesome, considering lasers are almost all I see on clan builds. (though 40% nerf sounds a bit excessive at least on paper)

I haven't checked the numbers, but I'm really concerned that Clan EXTENDED RANGE lasers are going to have bizarrely short ranges. I do understand the need for Clan laser nerfs, but a 40% range nerf seems really odd. I'd have sooner seen IS ER lasers added, or something else.

[EAP10]

Interesting. I'll have to play this week to see the changes to TTK. Who knows, these possible changes may be better for the game, with the current meta.

[Dagorlad13]

Seriously, can we execute these traitorous Clan engineers who keep purposely sabotaging the effectiveness of our weaponry and equipment in order to give our Inner Sphere enemies an advantage, already?

Edited by IronClaws, 13 October 2015 - 05:54 PM.

[Wintersdark]

Jman5, on 13 October 2015 - 05:44 PM, said:

The sensor ranges for lights and mediums seem too high. They'll get crazy range when you combine things like BAP, Targeting computer, and/or sensor range module. What about 800, 700, 600, 500?

Base sensor range right now is 850m.

[El Bandito]

Quote

The Health of all Equipment and Weapons has been increased to 15 (up from 10).

Even Gauss?

Definitely gonna hop on to the PTS soon.

Edited by El Bandito, 13 October 2015 - 06:52 PM.

[Tennex]

Wintersdark, on 13 October 2015 - 05:51 PM, said:

No, because you can share targeting data. You're part of a team, remember? On the other hand, see: ECM nerf, so you can ALWAYS lock onto someone you can get targeting data for. ECM is no longer a binary LRM blockcocker.

LRM's certainly don't get hurt in this test.

I haven't checked the numbers, but I'm really concerned that Clan EXTENDED RANGE lasers are going to have bizarrely short ranges. I do understand the need for Clan laser nerfs, but a 40% range nerf seems really odd. I'd have sooner seen IS ER lasers added, or something else.

It certainly does hurt LRMs. All time for acquired data is being penalized based on range from your relay points