I'm confused ... kind of ... for the past year-ish, you've been telling us pretty much precisely how we should build our IS 'mechs. Now, there are no real quirks, whatever will we do?
Just kidding ... kind of ...
All 55 tonners start with a base sensor range of 700m, which is OK, especially considering BAP will crank that up to 875m. Sparky gets a nerf in this regard, though ... down to 525m ... but that doesn't really change anyone's builds, since that's over the optimal range for every IS laser except ERLL.
Sparky also gets a Target Retention Time nerf (-0.25, compared to +1.0 for pretty much every other IS 55 tonner) and a Target Acquisition Time nerf (+1.25s compared to +0.75s). I'm kind of ambivalent about both of these, since I'm not really a Sparky fan. Probably won't change anyone's builds or behavior, though.
GRF-3M is the only GRF that gets armor and structure buffs (+8 and +11 ... better than any other 55 tonner) ... OK, this one's meant to brawl. Good. That's what it's good at.
GRF-2N, GRF-1N, and GRF-1S are all the same, quirk-wise, which is odd, and kind of sad. I can see giving the GRF-3M a buff over the ECM-equipped and XL-friendly GRF-2N, but the GRF-1N and GRF-1S seem kind of left out in the cold.
How do they feel? I noticed a difference with the reduced skill values, but nothing I couldn't overcome. The new reticule behavior bothers me. Not seeing the red flash when a volley of SRMs hits after I've twisted away is disconcerting. I guess I'll get used to it, but that red flash has been with me for pretty much ever ... it will be sad to see it go.
Looking at the rest of the 55 tonners ...
Spoiler
For IS 'mechs, they all get 700 sensor range, 0.75 Target Acuisition Delay, 1s Target Retention Time, and decent Armor and Structure buffs. All this makes the Sparky, GRF-1N, and GRF-1S all seem like even more poor choices, comparatively.
The only other odd 'mech in the bunch is the WVR-6R (dakka-arm, in the current meta). This 'mech gets a 175m sensor range boost (to 875m), a better Target Acquisition Delay (0.25s) crazy good Target Retention Time (2.25s) and Armor and Structure buffs. The hardpoints still gimp the 'mech though ... without some more energy points, you just can't bring enough punch to justify 55 tons. It could be an interesting heavy scout/LRM skirmisher, but that's hardly a viable role in this game.
Glancing briefly at that other 55 tonner ... it is interesting how the Clan omnipods affect the quirks. It will add a new layer of min-maxing to the game, which should be fun. However, I do not understand the differences between the SCR center torsos ...
SCR Prime and SCR-C get 423m range, 0.45s Acquisition, and 1.7s Retention.
SCR-A and SCR-B get 336m range (nerf), 0.95s Acquisition (nerf), and 0.45s Retention (nerf).
SCR-D gets 350m range (nerf), 0.23s Acquisition (buff), and 1s Retention (nerf).
Since there is nothing to differentiate the CT's from one another, other than quirks, what did the SCR-A and SCR-B do to piss you off?
I find it amusing that you can build a SCR with a 284m Sensor Range and +2.83s Target Acquisition Delay. If you so wished, you could alpha your 13x SPL twice before being able to get target Info.
Anyhow, interesting changes. I look forward to seeing the next iteration (hopefully with weapon and other quirks added in).
Sparky also gets a Target Retention Time nerf (-0.25, compared to +1.0 for pretty much every other IS 55 tonner) and a Target Acquisition Time nerf (+1.25s compared to +0.75s). I'm kind of ambivalent about both of these, since I'm not really a Sparky fan. Probably won't change anyone's builds or behavior, though.
Since Sparky is a classic laserboat these quirks probably hurt him, since lasers rely on locks now and Sparky is worse than other mechs at it.
if this rebalace will go online as it is i will retire my 2 Sparkys. no sense in playing them anymore. the new laser nerfs, no armor buffs and the other nerfs are too much to get them going in a successful way. Sad!
what i dont understand is that all the SDHs are getting armor/structure buffs but only 1 Griffin. the SDHs are generally better with some have more and better energy hardpoints as my GRNs.
...and giving no buffs to the 1N with its tiny 3 laser hp in one arm and its 3 missle hp also makes no sense to me at all. Same for the 1S. they are average now at best but will be scrap in comparison with the other mediums than.
In (parenthesis) are my impressions (bad < neutral < good < excellent < amazing).
Structure Quirks (Excellent):
- Every GRF gets +13 to each leg (excellent)
- Sparky gets +12 to each arm (neutral)
- 1N, 1S get +18 their right arm (good)
- 2N gets +12 to the right arm (neutral)
- 3M gets +18 to CT, +13 to both side torsos, and +12 to both arms (amazing)
Compared to each other, the GRF-3M is the obvious winner, with similar internal structure HP to a pre-quirked Highlander, but none of them really lose.
Compared to other 55 tonners ...
- the GRF gains an average of about 9.6% HP (Excellent ... this is about right);
- KTO gains 7.5% (Excellent ... while they don't have jump jets, they are fairly tanky with STD engines);
- SHD gains 10% (Excellent ... this is about right);
- WVR gains 3% (Bad ... WVR were over-quirked for weapon before, and kind of still are ... not buffing their survivability will hurt them in the long run).
WVR is getting shafted, probably because they are so popular now (similar to how SHD got screwed in the first quirkening).
The real question is, does this bring the GRF (or any IS 55-tonner) up to SCR level? Probably not, but it's closer. If the improvements to SRMs that are also in this PTS make it to live, it will help.
Weapon Quirk and Maneuverability / Agility Quirk analysis to follow.
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