Before heading into the wall of text, I just want to make it clear that what follows is not QQ, but simply my assessment after a weekend with a lot of CW drops. So here goes.
I think the latest balance pass, combined with the previous tonnage limits (i.e. 240 Clan v 250 IS) created as close to an ideal balance as I'd ever seen in CW. There was still enough room for the Clans to use those areas where they still held an advantage (mid-range alphas, higher mobility, prevalence of jump jets, very light SRM launchers, etc.) in order to extract a victory.
The increase in tonnage, however, has helped IS far more than the Clans because the selection of *viable* clan Omnimechs is much smaller. Theoretically, all that clans have to do in order to match the IS tonnage curve for a drop, is pick something 5 tons lighter than what an IS drop deck would field. However, in practice, the Clan lineup is full of holes with respect to OmniMechs (the IIc BattleMechs might offer some additional flexibility there, but they are still not sufficiently widespread) that offer viable tonnage. Here's a quick and dirty rundown of some of what I've seen IS field and what the 5 tons lighter option for the Clan OmniMech would be:
Atlas/King Crab 100 tons vs. Executioner 95 tons --> Executioner has only
25 tons of pod space available... the 12 SPL thing aside, Clans can legitimately run equally hard-hitting loadouts in Ebon Jags, which are smaller, faster, and less likely to draw to attention during initial stages of a fight. Combined with the Atlas's extraordinary durability and the Clans' heavily nerfed heat capacity, it is very doubtful to me that a Clan 12-man can successfully stop a push by an equally-skilled IS 12-man running 100 tonners, with a single wave of mechs.
Banshee 95 tons vs. Highlander IIc 90 tons --> I know I said only OmniMechs, but Clans don't have a 90 ton OmniMech. Anyways, not sure about this matchup (i don't own either of these), but hardpoint-count wise they're about even, so it comes down to the Banshee's durability and quirks versus the Highlander's lighter and longer-ranged weapons and XL viability
Mauler 90 tons vs. Warhawk 85 tons --> the Mauler's durability, heavy dakka and missile loadouts, combined with the ease with which Warhawks get their STs blown out make this a stomp even in a one-one situation, never mind a coordinated battle
Battlemaster/Stalker 85 tons vs. Gargoyle 80 tons --> roflmao. End of assessment.
Zeus 80 tons vs. Timberwolf 75 tons --> I expect the TW to win most of these engagements, even as heavily nerfed as it currently is. Tier 1 comp might no longer exclusively consist of TWs and DWs, but, when push comes to shove, the TW is still king.
Marauder 75 tons vs. Summoner 70 tons --> As tanky as the Summoner is, the Marauder is tankier still, and outguns the OmniMech by a wide margin.
Grasshopper/Cataphract 70 tons vs. Ebon Jaguar/Hellbringer 65 tons --> Can go either way, depending on engagement range. Ebon and Hellbringer have the upper hand if they can force a mid-range fight due to heavier alphas. Grasshopper has range advantage thanks to quirks. The Cataphract will simply outlast the Ebon Jag at close range, where it cannot get behind cover. Hellbringer might still have the upper hand over the 'Phract thanks to XL engine.
Thunderbolt/Catapult/Jagermech 65 tons vs. MadDog 60 tons --> I think the SplatDog should have the upper hand at close range over the Catapult and the Jagermech. TDR will, in all likelihood, wreck the MDD, unless ambushed from behind.
Dragon 60 tons vs. Stormcrow 55 tons --> The Stormcrow should still have the upper hand.
Wolverine/Griffin/Shadowhawk 55 tons vs. Nova 50 tons --> The Nova's pitifully low speed puts it at a disavantage as all three IS chassis can go faster and seize the initiative. The Hunchback IIc appears to be a beast, but, again, is not sufficiently widespread for its presence to be counted on.
Hunchback/Enforcer/Centurion 50 tons vs. Shadowcat 45 tons --> Maybe it's just me, but with its higher speed, MASC, and copious jumpjet quantity, I feel confident taking on any of the Spheroid designs in my Shadowcat.
Blackjack 45 tons vs. ??? --> The BJ-1X is currently a Tier 1 Mech, while the Clans have no 40 tonner, so the next lighter OmniMech option would be the 35-ton Adder. Dunno how many people would want to be the Clan pilot in that matchup.
Lights - not going into them. They are an important part of the deck, but if you end up counting on them to carry the match, something has either gone horribly wrong, or the match is a 40-40 nail biter, where pilot skill, will to win, and ability to avoid mistakes will be the deciding factor. The Clans' lack of a 20-tonner, does, however, put them at a disadvantage should they attempt to gamble by front-loading their tonnage as much as possible.
I've also intentionally skipped over Direwolves due to the fact that bringing large numbers of them into the field generally makes no more sense than it did to bring large numbers of Atlases and King Crabs for IS, when IS tonnage limit was 250.
So where does this leave us?
PUGs still die in droves due to inexperience and poor loadouts. If the tonnage increase was meant to help them, I'd say it failed. The higher tonnages only mean that, in a largely PUG environment, good pilots will have an easier time getting their 2.5k, 3k, 3.5k, etc. tags. Will CW's apex predators hit 5.5k or even 6k? I, myself, had my three 2500+ dmg matches in two days, despite having previously struggled to even come close to 2k; I know I didn't somehow just "git gud".
What troubles me, however, is this. I have dropped with premades from several units over the weekend, since the tonnage increase, and was lucky enough to encounter several other large groups, on both offense and defense. The tonnage increase has been a powerful buff for IS organized groups. Demonstrably weaker units have been able to hold a solid line until the final wave and slightly weaker units have been able to handily overcome stronger units. Where skill levels are comparable, the Clans got slaughtered, despite people bringing their A-game.
I also dropped as CGB against a Wolf planet, in a match with mostly PUGs on both sides. Two things struck me: the first was how painfully green so many pilots were. The second was how much faster Clan mechs seemed to go down than what I'd gotten used to.
To my mind, the simple fact of the matter is that, as things stand, there are huge gaps in the Clan lineup with respect to 'mech viability, and that a Clan first wave is likely to be 100-200 tons lighter than the opposing IS wave. The next one probably will too. We laugh when thinking about the Steiner scout lance, but the whole matter stops being funny when you're actually dropping against one in a pitched battle.
That being said, I don't think that unnerfing Clan tech is necessarily the answer. Yes, this whole thing could be addressed by raising Ghost heat threshold on Clan Large Lasers to 3 and undoing their range nerfs, buffing Clan DH capacity and ERPPC speed, and unlocking internals, which would likely bring balance back to CW. However, this would happen at the cost of, IMO, breaking the balance in regular queue. The previous status quo with the Clan 240 tons vs. IS 250 tons, wasn't perfect, but the gap felt closer than at any other point in the past.
Again, this is not QQ; I played IS almost exclusively
before the latest balance pass and remember all too well what it felt like to be greeted by a wall of yellow light and gauss rounds whenever I pushed through a chokepoint, or to have JJ-equipped Clan mechs push straight into our line and overwhelm us with superior firepower.
All it did was force me to harden up, to learn, and to try to get better. I'm also heading to Steiner in a couple of days and will take no small measure of enjoyment in introducing Atlases and King Crabs to my Marauders, should the Clans not be enough of a challenge. And I expect that when (not if) I run into KCom, they will still wipe the floor with me, tonnage disparaties and tech base nerfs be dammned.
Edited by habu86, 22 December 2015 - 08:47 PM.
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Doomerang, on 17 December 2015 - 02:12 PM, said:
