Assaults Are On The Fine Line Of Useless
#21
Posted 12 July 2016 - 02:20 AM
Killed 8 of the enemy team without breaking a sweat.
I can't do that in ANY heavy (and frankly I tend to play meds/heavies- and KC isn't THE best assault).
You need positioning and support to succeed- Assaults may not be the most consistent performers, but when they shine, they shine bright. In no other chassis can you so easily turn the balance of a game with a well timed push.
#22
Posted 12 July 2016 - 04:00 AM
#23
Posted 13 July 2016 - 07:54 PM
In an effort to address it though you'd have to consider making some significant changes and in that, it's difficult to devise a system that is both true to the BattleTech / MechWarrior brand and whose mechanics are transparent to players.
PGI have obviously thought about this, my ideas just off the top of my head follow. They all necessarily diverge from traditional mech specs / mechanics though.
1. Buff internal hit points - this is the least intrusive but also arguably only effective in the short term (made obsolete by power creep)
2. Alter the way armour works, making it ablative for example where the first stage is more resistant to damage (ie introducing damage reduction). Ultimately not too different from simply buffing internals (or external armour) and introduces more complex & non-transparent math & potentially introducing balance issues that favour extremes of armour values & corner cases.
3. Always spread internal damage - seems to me (for now) like the best option, it diverges only slightly from the core rules and directly addresses the issue of mechs being cored too frequently / easily, without penalising good play or supporting... lazy / bad play.
Exactly how internal damage should be spread would need to be mathed out. In keeping with the principles of the core rules though it should be a fairly simple system.
You could start out with a principle of simply taking any damage that doesn't outright destroy an internal structure or component and spread half of the damage that a component / limb takes among all adjacent components and continue sharing half of each stage of damage among their adjacent components / limbs.
Edited by Kynesis, 14 July 2016 - 04:39 PM.
#24
Posted 13 July 2016 - 09:20 PM
_edit_ This may even prevent things like PGI going up against 228 and PGI thinking KDKs need massive nerfs or just lights in general, just sayin'.
Edited by 762 NATO, 13 July 2016 - 09:25 PM.
#25
Posted 14 July 2016 - 02:47 AM
Damage Spread would be a much better option...
Damage spread applies to external Armour only.
It is the distribution of damage towards a 'mechs extremities (Head>Centre>Side>Arms/Legs
It's spread is a % based on MechTonnage/10 (35tons=3.5%, 70tons=7%, 100tons=10%)
Examples:
If an Atlas is hit by a 50point alpha in the CT 10% of that damage (5) is transferred to the LT/RT
If an Atlas is hit by a 25point alpha in the LT 10% of that damage (2.5) is transferred to the LA/LL
If it is hit in the Leg that sections receives full damage since there is nowhere for it to propagate to.
If a section lacks armour it still receives internal damage from propagation.
#26
Posted 14 July 2016 - 12:18 PM
Is the Atlas deadly at less than 300 meters.... yes, but the number of engagements under 300 meters where you aren't going to take a ton of focus fire is small. So options are to just hang out while others trade at range and hope for an opening later in the game or lead a push and face tank damage. Either way not a very interesting game for the pilot, and if the enemy is running assaults that can trade at range, well GG.
This is where a player will make an argument about positioning and how good positioning will let you be great in an Atlas every time. Well if you are grouped maybe, but in PUG you will spend most of your time chasing the pack and hoping not to be truly out of position. The problem is some Assaults are much better than others by the fact that when originally modeled their weapons were placed in an area that makes sense for how MWO is played.
The good news is that if PGI wanted to fix it they could. However instead we will just have 4UAC10s high mounted stomping those who play anything else.
#27
Posted 14 July 2016 - 04:49 PM
VonBruinwald, on 14 July 2016 - 02:47 AM, said:
Damage Spread would be a much better option...
While spreading damage internally is less effective (and almost certainly isn't a comprehensive solution), spreading damage over external armour devalues the core gameplay mechanic of targeting locations. It's worth considering (and may ultimately prove necessary) but the spread would have to be fractional to avoid screwing with core gameplay.
#28
Posted 15 July 2016 - 10:53 PM
#29
Posted 16 July 2016 - 01:47 PM
#32
Posted 17 July 2016 - 11:30 AM
assaults are dead? no. they just need the team to perform with them instead of against them.
if a bloody highlander fights some mechs then you better support it instead of running away from the fight.
thats all you need to know when you have one in your team.
results like this can happen quite often then even with a highlander.
the problem with highlanders is that they have a max engine of 325.
even if you put a XL in you cant get much better weaponry in it since all the slots can be filled easily with hard hitting weapons even without XL.
that means: its just slow whatever you do.
that counts for so many assaults and everyone knows it usually.
and still everyone keeps running away from them.
this is the main reason why they die early without beeing a asset to the team. happens in each tier.
Edited by Alienized, 17 July 2016 - 11:34 AM.
#33
Posted 17 July 2016 - 08:54 PM
As one of the first comments mentioned medium boats dish it enough over time to hurt them more than should be needed.
In a heavy which i specialize in its easy life for me as I can take any with damage over 60 and wreck face with any assault.
As someone who isn't an assault pilot thats not so bad for me but shows the imbalance. I should be terrified of them in mediums, worried in heavies and very cautious in lights. There are lots of variables to consider in fighting between different weight classes but they are the big badasses of battletech. I see them and go "Oh easy target, just gotta walk around them and avoid their front. (thats with all classes I might add).
Suggestion: better top speeds OR acceleration. Make them a bit tankier though not unbreakable. (seriously they kill each other waaaaay faster than heavies or mediums do themselves.)
#34
Posted 29 July 2016 - 01:48 PM
The ability to mount enough AC, lasers and who knows what else to kill a medium mech within seconds is the biggest problem.
If we had an energy and recoil system we wouldn't be able to shoot so often and all our mechs would be harder to kill.
#35
Posted 30 July 2016 - 11:21 AM
#36
Posted 31 July 2016 - 01:28 PM
#37
Posted 25 September 2016 - 03:50 PM
There isn't enough room for heat sinks in assault 'mechs, which is a pretty cruel hit to the largest, heaviest, slowest 'mechs in the game.
I think even adding a bonus engine heat sink slot per weight class would be a good measure.
#38
Posted 25 September 2016 - 04:54 PM
#39
Posted 26 September 2016 - 12:59 AM
What?
#40
Posted 26 September 2016 - 12:02 PM
The best counter to the mentioned mech is to avoid, outmaneuver, and swarm it, and thus mechs of a similar movement profile for the tonnage are not desirable.
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