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Light Mechs Should Be Combat Viable Too!


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#61 Trauglodyte

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 07:45 PM

View PostDarian DelFord, on 22 July 2016 - 07:26 PM, said:


That is how they are suppose to be played..... The problem is you still have to get within EXTREME short range to be effective. Lets face it.... any heavy or assault can creme you within 400 meters.

However the rear of the enemy is so buffed with strucuture quirks as well as the agility of most heavies and assaults and its damn near impossible. This is why lights "should" go for the legs. If they try for the rear torso's on a pilot who knows what they are doing they are screwed.

This is how Lights are supposed to play, though. In lore, and I know that bringing that up enrages people, Lights either wolf packed with other Lights OR they teamed up with fast Mediums to take down bigger targets. This isn't rocket science and I know that you know this, D. I've seen you play, both with and against you. Plus, I've seen your videos. Pre-size normalization, Lights could run off solo and pick off Mediums, Heavies, and Assaults. It was easier if they were really bad players and/or if they were especially sluggish mechs without arm mounted weapons. Those days no longer exist. Now, you max out your engine and you play the long game or you will die and have a horrible experience.

Lights need to think of the game now as investing the maximum into a 401k when you start your first job right out of college. It isn't sexy and it is damned boring. But, the game has changed and you're worrying more about finishing the game rather than burning out early.

#62 Steel Claws

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 08:07 PM

I see a lot of pilots still running lights very effectively. Heck I know some that only pilot light mechs period and they still contribute highly to scores - in mechs like spiders or ravens. In tier 1 it is quite often the lights that are the last mechs still alive.

Here's the deal, now you have to drive lights like they are the fragile mechs they are. You can't expect to run through the whole enemy team and barely get a scratch like they used to - which they NEVER should have been able to do. You use the strengths of the light to your advantage. You try to go toe to toe with a heavy or an assault - you SHOULD loose. Is the class still viable, yes.

Edited by Steel Claws, 22 July 2016 - 08:09 PM.


#63 Darian DelFord

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 08:13 PM

View PostTrauglodyte, on 22 July 2016 - 07:45 PM, said:

This is how Lights are supposed to play, though. In lore, and I know that bringing that up enrages people, Lights either wolf packed with other Lights OR they teamed up with fast Mediums to take down bigger targets. This isn't rocket science and I know that you know this, D. I've seen you play, both with and against you. Plus, I've seen your videos. Pre-size normalization, Lights could run off solo and pick off Mediums, Heavies, and Assaults. It was easier if they were really bad players and/or if they were especially sluggish mechs without arm mounted weapons. Those days no longer exist. Now, you max out your engine and you play the long game or you will die and have a horrible experience.

Lights need to think of the game now as investing the maximum into a 401k when you start your first job right out of college. It isn't sexy and it is damned boring. But, the game has changed and you're worrying more about finishing the game rather than burning out early.



I would be happy with just a few things......

Decouple Engine size and agility.... this would bring the heavier mechs down from being dancing ballerinas

Remove some of the strucuture quirks on the assault mechs...... mainly legs.... this is where the light problem really has an issue...

Some modifier based on weight in regards to rewards ;pp

Thats my top three list.

Lights have been directly and in-directly nerfed while the agility and strucutre of assaults and heavies artifically inflated for over a year now.

#64 The Lost Boy

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 08:20 PM

Lights have a role in all modes. They are fast, fragile and some very deadly in the right hands, but unforgiving. They are in a decent spot right now. 3 kills 7 assists 650 damage games in a 3 mpl Pirates Bane bring great satisfaction running around hoping the "one-shot" never lands. Its a different play style, a different game strategy, a different mindset from the other classes. Once you go light you will say A'ight!

#65 Darian DelFord

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 08:23 PM

View PostSteel Claws, on 22 July 2016 - 08:07 PM, said:

Here's the deal, now you have to drive lights like they are the fragile mechs they are. You can't expect to run through the whole enemy team and barely get a scratch like they used to - which they NEVER should have been able to do.



have not been able to do that for about a year now.... least not the Jenner's. locust and maybe Cheetah's about the only ones who could pull that off.

#66 Xyroc

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 08:26 PM

I agree however, the 70 something alpha jenner iic is just ridiculous IMO.

#67 Darian DelFord

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 08:31 PM

View PostXyroc, on 22 July 2016 - 08:26 PM, said:

I agree however, the 70 something alpha jenner iic is just ridiculous IMO.


72 and while potent.... it is literally a one trick pony that is slow... compared to most lights and extremely limited ammo and the easier to hit CT out of every mech in the game. If it sneaks up on you.... well....

#68 Mekwarrior

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 08:43 PM

Also there are now a lot of new streak shadow cats and other new mechs just waiting to destroy any lights within medium range no matter how well they play.

Edited by Mekwarrior, 22 July 2016 - 08:46 PM.


#69 process

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 09:13 PM

Another thing that compounds the problem with lights is the ongoing lack of weapon balance, specifically weapons suitable for light mechs. Machine guns, SRM 2s, small lasers, AC2, flamers, LRM5s -- all but useless in most contexts. I had hoped quirks could help those mechs with low tonnage and hardpoints, but alas.

#70 Trauglodyte

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 10:15 PM

View PostDarian DelFord, on 22 July 2016 - 08:13 PM, said:



I would be happy with just a few things......

Decouple Engine size and agility.... this would bring the heavier mechs down from being dancing ballerinas

Remove some of the strucuture quirks on the assault mechs...... mainly legs.... this is where the light problem really has an issue...

Some modifier based on weight in regards to rewards ;pp

Thats my top three list.

Lights have been directly and in-directly nerfed while the agility and strucutre of assaults and heavies artifically inflated for over a year now.

I agree completely with 2 out of the 3 - I don't know about reducing/removing structure quirks from legs. Then again, I'm not entirely sure why non-JJ capable mechs have leg structure quirks. I get torsos and, to an extent, arms. But, legs never have made sense to me. Still, I'd hate to have the game go into a world where everyone is legging each other. Ya know? Weird slippery slope but I'm not completely against it. Anyway, I know how much you like legging your targets ya cruel *******. :D

#71 sneeking

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 10:23 PM

View PostTrauglodyte, on 22 July 2016 - 07:18 PM, said:

How do you define "viable"? Answering this, individually, will indicate whether what you're actually wanting is balance or complete and total BS.


Currently, the game is about damage. Every mech in the game can deal damage. What most Light ******** are asking for is either the ability to deal more damage or a change so that they take less damage. Sizes of mechs have been balanced out, deal with that and leave the argument alone. At this point, more needs to be added to the game for mechs to accomplish outside of damage and kills. Once that is added to the game, this conversation can be expanded upon. Until that happens, and I keep repeating myself because people don't freaking listen, the onus is on the player base to adapt. Lights don't NEED to rush to the front or go wide around the enemy formation and try to solo rambo slow assaults. Doing that, these days, makes you a freaking bad Light jockey. If you (not you Alistaire) don't understand that, you're bad.


I don't think im after compleat and total BS, some people might be...

Im not Cbill farming im not buying any new mech packs I've just come back to have another look at the game and its progress.

People should read back in this thread about my 2nd light match during this tour of duty and how i felt it went.

From my part i had no issues with a lights overall place in the game, there might however be argument for some individual lights which have been hard done by in the nerf department.

Edited by sneeking, 22 July 2016 - 10:26 PM.


#72 kapusta11

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 10:43 PM

Just who are you trying to convince OP? People who are crying about OP lights yet for some reason have shіtty stats? Good luck with that.

#73 Idealsuspect

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 10:46 PM

NERF ACH PLZ !!!!
( for OP become TOTALLY right ) Posted Image

Edited by Idealsuspect, 22 July 2016 - 10:46 PM.


#74 Weeny Machine

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 10:46 PM

View PostRyllen Kriel, on 22 July 2016 - 03:11 PM, said:

Lights do have viable combat roles...but being small and fast, they are the best mechs for scouting and spotting. Fighting is always an option for light pilots, but don't expect your assaults to fill a scouting role in return.


Yup, scouting and spotting...great combat roles in a TDM game where the action usually happens in the same spots anyway and the maps aren't that big or diverse.

#75 Weeny Machine

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Posted 22 July 2016 - 10:57 PM

View PostKaeb Odellas, on 22 July 2016 - 06:34 PM, said:


No one said anything about a light outgunning a heavier mech. Heavies do and should outgun lights.

Lights should be able to effectively harass heavier enemies by using their speed, agility, and small size to avoid damage while dealing respectable damage of their own. Many lights lost agility and gained in size, making them much easier to hit, Most of them weren't overpowered by any means, and some of them were severely underpowered to begin with. None of them were given anything to compensate.


The problem is that the speed of light mechs is to a large extend negated by the agility of heavies and assaults. Check some of the bloated agility quirks on heavies and you see why it is the most popular class. However, even assaults turn quite fast. A KC can shoot in their rear firing arc in about 1,5 sec.

When a class sacrifices armour, structure, firepower and heat dissipation ability for speed and this is negated mostly, then you know that something is wrong.
Also, lights are less agile than many mechs of heavier classes. Just check the quirks. A light has mostly between 0-15% (mostly near zero) whereas a lot of heavies have 25-45%. Then look at the Viper. A medium mech which has 2 or 3 times the agilitys quirks of a light. Sure, it has similar firepower but let's do not forget that a. it is a medium and b. the huge gap in percentage.

Something is very wrong in the game's system.

You can also see it when you look at the queue length. Players usually gravitate to the class or hero or whatever which is the easiest to play / the most powerful. Lights are, events or not, the class with the lowest % whereas heavies dominate

Edit: Just check out how many lights are in your matches. You will find usually 1-2 light mechs. Anyone who then thinks that the class isn't having problem can't be helped anymore

View PostDarian DelFord, on 22 July 2016 - 07:12 PM, said:



Until he gets within range of a heavy or an assault who knows how to aim and takes out his CT.

There is a reason he runs when any medium or up turns on him.... I know I do the same thing when I play the build he is using right now.

One of the major problems with lights and Jenners... is the re-scale put a large damper on knife fighting.... I have been trying it in my D for the last several days.......... Its almost a lost cause.


Knife-fighting is basically dead. The only light which still can somewhat do it is the ACH because of its ECM. Try that with a Wolfhound or Jenner and you ask for trouble

View PostTrauglodyte, on 22 July 2016 - 07:18 PM, said:

How do you define "viable"? Answering this, individually, will indicate whether what you're actually wanting is balance or complete and total BS.


Currently, the game is about damage. Every mech in the game can deal damage. What most Light ******** are asking for is either the ability to deal more damage or a change so that they take less damage. Sizes of mechs have been balanced out, deal with that and leave the argument alone. At this point, more needs to be added to the game for mechs to accomplish outside of damage and kills. Once that is added to the game, this conversation can be expanded upon. Until that happens, and I keep repeating myself because people don't freaking listen, the onus is on the player base to adapt. Lights don't NEED to rush to the front or go wide around the enemy formation and try to solo rambo slow assaults. Doing that, these days, makes you a freaking bad Light jockey. If you (not you Alistaire) don't understand that, you're bad.

I doubt many will disagree here. However, if you read closely, people complain about the lack of viable combat roles. Scouting and spotting is a joke in this TDM dominated game. Of course people are asking then either to deal more damage or take less so they can be useful in TDM.

And honestly....do you REALLY think that PGI can incorporate a meaningful way or role for lights at this stage. I don't want to be a doomsayer but their work is lacking mostly or just focused to milk some more cash out of the players *cough* decals *cough* caches *cough*

View PostEl Bandito, on 22 July 2016 - 07:32 PM, said:


I play pug matches with my 182 meters optimum range CSPL Nova and my 270 meters max range CSRM6 HBK-IIC-B. And they are pretty damn slow compared to Jenners. I am not complaining cause I know when to engage, and when not to. And if the map is favored towards long range, then that's my own fault for bringing in a brawler--I either bide my time or coordinate a push, then benefit from the chaos that ensues.

I also love to play a Nova with SPLs. However, there is a hell of a difference to play it compared to lights. Your firepower up close is extreme. If you succeed in getting a good position, the target is usually dead. A light doesn't have that firepower and not the heat dissipation to cream a heavy in that short time.

That's why I often play meds these days and not lights btw.

Edited by Bush Hopper, 22 July 2016 - 11:10 PM.


#76 Tarl Cabot

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Posted 23 July 2016 - 12:10 AM

Or remove structural quirks and increase structural/armor from the current 2.0x to 2.5 or 3.0 of the base rate. The IS mechs would still be hurting because all need to run isXL engines for the speed are not able to survive the loss of one side torso, unlike their Clan brethren.

#77 ice trey

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Posted 23 July 2016 - 12:34 AM

Generally, there are three types of light mech in the Battletech setting.

1) Recon: Like you're suggesting. They're for spotting, finding things, and not fighting. They're for getting in and out, ideally not even needing to use their guns. These also don't see a whole lot of use in tabletop because most people don't use the rules that would benefit them.

Examples: Locust, Wasp, Stinger, Spider, Hussar, Ostscout, Raven, Firestarter,

2) Striker: Theese were made for getting into the thick of things, and dishing out a lot of damage, often going well into the redzone for heat, and then getting out again. Lots of heavy, short ranged firepower.

Examples: Commando, Jenner, Javelin, Mongoose...

3) Budget Guns: These are the light mechs that make MWO players say "What the hell were they thinking" because they never have to juggle BV or C-bills once the purchase is made. These are the mechs that do the job of a bigger 'mech, often sacrificing mobility, at a much lower weight and cost.

Examples: Thorn, Valkyrie, Panther, Urbanmech, Wolfhound.

All of these are good ideas for the use of light mechs, but the biggest problem is not that "They can't be combat viable", but rather that PGI has set up MWO in such a way that the only way to earn C-bills, XP, and help the team in a meaningful way is to be a big damage dealer. I disagree that we should be putting lights on equal footing with bigger machines in terms of combat viablility (At least for all chassis around the board), but they should still be given a good reason to exist, and considering how many players gripe and moan about having to play anything that isn't Sisyphus Deathmatch, it can't just be for the sake of capturing a point that nobody cares about and PGI have rendered nigh uncapturable in a reasonable amount of time without an entire lance parked on it, thanks again to the community complaining about a game mode's primary objective not being "Kill'em all". If PGI put greater emphasis on teamwork with their points system, and less on raking in personal kills, lights might be a more viable option, but until they stop the ego-stroking mentality of individual damage = bigger rewards and leaderboards, we're not going to see that.

#78 El Bandito

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Posted 23 July 2016 - 12:57 AM

^
|
|

What he said.



View PostBush Hopper, on 22 July 2016 - 10:57 PM, said:

You can also see it when you look at the queue length. Players usually gravitate to the class or hero or whatever which is the easiest to play / the most powerful. Lights are, events or not, the class with the lowest % whereas heavies dominate


There is no way we can have stable 25% Light queue. If we make Lights just as easy to play as Heavies for the average players, then actual good Light pilots will basically seal club the pug queue with their improved Lights.

Edited by El Bandito, 23 July 2016 - 12:59 AM.


#79 sneeking

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Posted 23 July 2016 - 01:36 AM

I don't wanna go round seal clubbing like the old pree fall dmg days in my srm4 quirked huggin lol.....

But damm those days wer good hahaha

Im looking for other things now but im not sure pgi will deliver.

#80 Moonlight Grimoire

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Posted 23 July 2016 - 02:53 AM

around 14% or so is where we have a healthy light population I would say, bit lower than pre-rescale numbers, but, you still see 2-3 of them on each side which is idea, seeing 0-1 light mech per side kind of sucks for a few reasons. Firstly variety suffers for it, I want to see a variety of mechs running around, hence why I am so strongly for giving mechs under 50 tons a increasing by tonnage under 50 tons a combat multiplier due to they sacrifice more and more to remain viable. It is why I also want there to be a bonus to chassis that are unpopular so people who do run them get a bump further promoting diversity of mechs.

Of course some will likely get upset at people taking sub-par mechs and 'hampering their team' by doing such, but, hey maybe doing that will get PGI to start looking at under preforming mechs in general with more data.

Either way something needs to be done because currently in quick play there is no reason to not take a max tonnage mech outside of lights where you want to take whatever is fastest with the most lasers and ECM and jump jets if possible. I prefer giving under performing mechs as well as lighter than 50 ton mechs a combat bonus. Yes, some will use variants of these mechs or just certain chassis in general to make a mint off of the system, but, that is what using meta heavies and assault mechs does already. More or less, damage plays too big of a role at this time for your rewards, as well as kills, solo kills, brawling, and kill most damage dealt while everything else pays peanuts compared to those. If you want people to do other things than damage farm and kill secure you have to reward other things better, and if you want people to play mechs that can't stick around dumping alphas over and over again you need to give those mechs a bonus to income and match score. Because you can still have an effective role in a match and only do 132 damage, and mechs without the ability to bring ridiculous amounts of hard hitting weapons need to be rewarded for doing what they can do with such a handicap.





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