Stormie, on 25 July 2016 - 03:16 AM, said:
Even if that were the case, which I don't believe, do you want to make an argument for why the Commando and Vindicator aren't already in this position?
That the Vindi and the Phract and others isn't as regularly played isn't because they are bad per say. It's just that newer mechs can do the same thing a little bit better.
A good pilot in a Phract or a Vindi will still get good scores with those mechs, while a bad pilot will get better scores in a Hammer or Marauder because they are more powerful thus more forgiving. That's power creep.
This isn't about a new mech of the same type, in this case a light, being released that's better than the Spider.
This is about new mechs being released that negates all the Spider's strengths. Before the Hawk and the Viper nothing in the game could run as fast while jumping as high as the Spider. And the mechs that could match it in either of those areas were all lights. So at least they had as little armour as the Spider.
Now there are two mediums with medium mechs armour and fire power that can do the same.
Before a Spider had to be cautious about lights just because they could match the Spiders only strength while almost all of them could out gun it.
With two mediums able to do the same the Spider is as outclassed as a three year old in a prize fight.
Let's use the Atlas for an thought experiment. It's main strength is the fact that it can soak more damage than any other mech thanks to its massive armour. Now imagined if a mech was released with that gimmick that it had armour piercing weapons. Suddenly the main strength of Atlas would stop existing. And if the heavy armour was the Atlas only strength then there would no longer be any justification for it to exist. It would be obsolete.
That's what's happening to the Spider.
And I admit to the Commando. At least a couple of its variants is in the same position. though there are still a few that can pack an okay punch for a light. So maybe not all Commando varaints have gone the way of the Dodo.
The highest meta tier Spider has an alpha of 11. That's makes a medium look like an Atlas. No imagine if the Atlas had the speed and agility of a Locus. Not something you'd want to face.
Cept that's what Spider pilots are facing when it comes to the Viper and the Hawk.
You can't out run it and you can out gun it.