Rhent, on 16 March 2016 - 02:15 PM, said:
The quirks on the archer offensively are:
Arc-2R
Energy Cool Down 5%
Energy Heat 5%
LRM 5/10/15/20 Velocity 10%
LRM 5/10/15/20 Cooldown 15%
Arc-5S
Energy Range 10%
Laser Duration 10%
Arc-5W
LRM 5/10/15/20 Velocity 10%
Arc-T
Missile Heat Generation 5%
Medium Laser Cooldown 5%
Holy UNDERWHELMED Batman. I get it that Russ doesn't like LRM's and that is why he made it the easiest weapon system in the game to miss with and he's also set it where LRM's do less than their base damage. I get those penalties, I think its pure unadulaterated crap by Russes own bigotry, but they are in the game and we are stuck with it. However, the Archer is a LRM boat and frankly with the system that Russ has set up for LRM's only 2 things matter now:
#1. LRM Cool Down
#2. LRM Grouping
The only mech with remotely acceptable quirks for a LRM dedicated boat is the 2R and that is limited to 3 launchers. If they want to do something for the chassis, add a 5% LRM grouping bonus OR make one of the chassis have SRM bonus so the chassis will get some play and people will spend MC on it. The last time I bought a mech pack was the clan mechs. I held off due to ghost heat changes and after seeing how new mechs were being bought in and their chassis problems I took a buyer beware approach. After seeing how bad the archer is quirked, NOPE. I'm buying with C-bills from now on. I won't touch another mech with MC again because PGI is still messing around with quirks it isn't untill cbills that at least there is some stability.
I was hoping for a good LRM mech or at least one of these being a SRM boat (2T - seriously for the CT you put 2 Energy and 1 Missile launcher, why not have 2 energy CT and put that other missile hard spot in a torso so it could be USED), which honestly would have been great from a quirk perspective. But NOPE.
I must say, sadly, that I agree on it's value.
Not going to say don't buy it, because I was pretty sure going in they would be mediocre at best. But still. Underwhelming to put it mildly.
IMO, they totally missed the boat in many areas.
1) How they handled the Missile Doors (or ended up, not handling them)
-It would have been simple enough to code their own hitboxes like Russ intimated on the TH, and then instead of adding ST Structure or Armor Quirks, or damage reduction, simply gave those hitboxes their own HP pool. Thus, open or close, they would absorb "X" dmg, then blow off. And open or closed, one could have shot around them to damage the STs themselves.
2) Hitboxes: We knew they would be BAD.
-Mad Dog STs, Dragon CT. Not rocket science here. So chances are, like other notorious bad Hitbox Mechs (Catapult, etc) Structure quirks would make sense. Especially since in lore the Archer was a mech famed for it's simple ruggedness, that carried near maximum armor. So it should be TOUGH.
3) Hardpoints:
oBVIOUSLY, SOME OF THIS IS MANDATED BY LORE WEAPON LOADOUTS. But seriously, the most Iconic LRM Mech in Battletech, the ARC-2R gets....3 missile hardpoints... and extra lasers? Probably should have had the most total hardpoints (6x LRM to be able to use LRM5s and be at least somewhat useful?) and 4 Medium Lasers, at the expense of the most vanilla offensive quirks (being the Archer is also considered the most vanilla of mechs, offensively). And the pick and choose on several of them is just as bad. Perhaps if they had chosen different variants it might have helped? *Shugs*
Quirks:
As noted, it's a mech famed for it's ruggedness and derided for it's inability to surprise people, offensively. A solid, reliable support mech, nothing more, nothing less.
Not only do the quirks as given NOT promote any offensive roles, but they also do nothing to help with their glaring deficiencies, defensively, etc. Extra agility sounds good except when your hitboxes are so bad you can be hit from any angle, anyhow. Extra structure on the Tempest? Pity it has neither the agility, nor the the geometry, to matter.
Simply put, all ARCs, probably need 20+ Structure to both CT and ST. Go middle of the road on the Agility Quirks.
Offensively? Give the Big Racks on the 2R a tight enough pattern to make it worth taking LRM15s or 20s. On the 5S and 5W, give them similar LRM spread but lighter, and perhaps a small cooldown to SRMs. Tempest has ECM, so lightest offensive quirks of the bunch. And no archer but the 2K/5K of which we did not get, really makes sense to have energy weapon quirks.
Anyhow, not meant to be set in stone number s(don't have time for that ATM) but just as basic ideas of what they coulda/shoulda done.
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