Mawai, on 15 August 2016 - 11:09 AM, said:
I agree that balance isn't too bad at the moment. However, need to keep in mind that this balance includes the sets of IS quirks ... so the clan weapons still probably have an edge at the moment.
Addressing the OPs comments, I've played both IS and clan though not much FW. Not long ago, there was a large complaint that IS ERLL were OP in FW when combined with IS range quirks ... so all the IS range quirks were nerfed leaving a maximum of 10% on some mechs. Since then, there haven't been the usual loud complaints associated with a general imbalance.
As for range/burn time/damage ... clan weapons still deliver a higher alpha. For lasers these require a longer burn time on target. Against slower or stationary mechs this makes them very effective. The extreme long range of clan ERLL makes them semi-useful for long range poking ... but I personally don't use them since I don't like the long burn times. On the other hand, the clan LPL has range, damage and shorter burn time making it a more flexible and popular choice. Finally, the clan ERML is still one of the best weapons in the game for the mix of damage, range, weight and slots.
Anyway, in my opinion and experience, the overall balance isn't too bad. Clan weapons still have an edge over IS in general that is compensated for by IS quirks.
What does need addressing in my opinion are the outlier mechs ... if you take a look at the leaderboard events then it is clear that certain mechs achieve a significantly higher average score than others in their weight class. Since these numbers are accumulated over the top 75 pilots for each mech and the leaderboard tallies the ten best results for each pilot ... the numbers then indicate the best achievable result range for that particular mech over a wide range of players.
Based on the current average numbers from the assault event. The Kodiak is OP being more than 15% better than any other assault (3500 vs 3050 for Direwolf which is second) and MORE than 50% better than the lowest ranking assault (Victor at 2125).
Victor, Highlander and Zeus need a buff and the Kodiak needs a significant nerf,
Yes, Clans deliver a high alpha, but when that damage is easier to spread, it really negates that advantage. Case in point, Autocannons.
IS ACs are heavier and have shorter range, but are actually more accurate at longer ranges due to them firing a single slug. Clan ACs (Yes, including UACs) may have a longer range, but are less accurate at range due to Burst-fire, which once again, negates the range advantage. It's like comparing an IS AC10 and an IS LB10X AC. Sure, the LB10X has a longer range, but due to spread it is less accurate over that range.
It is a similar situation with Lasers. Clan lasers have greater range, but the increased duration means that it is easier to mitigate damage. This pretty much makes the range increase pointless, since if you want to be efficient you have to be able to focus your damage, which is significantly harder with Clan lasers.
Clan missiles also get the shaft as well. Thanks to Stream-fire, Clan LRMS are actually easier for AMS to destroy, and Clan SSRMs are only really useful on a few chassis. Clan SRMs are powerful, but once again require a specialised chassis to really work with. For example, Above someone mentioned the Jenner IIC was one of the best Clan Lights. It really is not due to the rescale and the fact that the thing is pretty much a quirkless CT on legs. I would much rather take an SRM24 Adder over a Jenner IIC any day.
As for your ponit about the Kodiak leaderboard, how much do you want to bet that most if not all of the players on it are using Kodiak 3s?
5
