10 bucks per destroyed missile?
Awesome 8R (and Mauler 1R) is quirked for LRM 15, which not only consume ammo like cookies, but also have an inherent spread - personally i got better results with LRM 10 than 15 and even better with LRM 5 as far as damage per area goes
After spending some time trying to make 15's work on a Mauler due to inherent ammo problems (and the fact that it tends to spontaneously explode and is painfully slow), i just went down to 10's but still couldnt get that TAG viably in due to limited energy slots... and i redesigned my Stalker 5M for LRM 5's - i was surprised HOW well 5's worked in terms of "ammo on target location" compared to the bigger ones...
not nearly as high damage numbers but almost every missile landed in a good place on the target mech... and that finally allowed me to carry decent "danger close" weapons
IS LRM 15 and 20 seems pretty much dependent on target marking to be effective - Clan LRM launchers simply dont have that problem, or not as pronounced... they are also smaller and lighter (6 slots/11 tons compared to 5 slots/6 tons) - these factors simplify the whole deal quite a lot
you can not only load up more of them on a Clan mech, but you can also much easier do that carrying respectable direct fire armaments
C-LRM also effectively dont have a minimum range, and their minimum effective for self defense is much, much shorter than IS "hard minimum" - also a great factor in deciding whenever to get face time or not on the field
quirks or no quirks, the weapon system needs to be equally viable without them - because not all mechs that have missile slots also have appropriate quirks for them - they should be the value on top, not the balancing factor
LRM balancing is not really any one specific problem with them... its multiple problems stacking up
im repeating myself again am i... ill go take a break