Okay really quick here's a fix that I thought of, based on the TT mention and toying around with cluster hits.
LRM5s have all 5 missiles go for one body part. (5 damage tries for one spot per launcher.)
LRM10s have half the salvo target one body part and the other half target another. (5 damage tries for one spot per half salvo per launcher.)
LRM15s have a third of the missiles target one of three body parts per salvo (5 damage tries per body part for 3 body parts per salvo per launcher.)
LRM20s have each salvo target four body parts and subdivide the salvo into fourths.
That is for the IS.
Now, give missiles a decent arc at short range and a strong arc (come almost straight down) at 660 meters.
(Note, cannot address firing rate without causing issues for head launchers, so a possible thought is to have smaller launchers arc less and larger launchers arc more, so big launchers would be better suited for indirect fire than smaller launchers. Another alternative is to give bigger launchers faster missiles to make up for the slower rate though explaining it may be difficult.)
Clans. Missiles are to target individual bones (except head) at random or lot in groups of 2 or 3 per salvo per launcher. Would prefer them to target individually however.
Remove minimum range degradation altogether.
Reduce missile arc at all ranges by 15%, making Clan LRMs more direct fire yet still capable of indirect fire. This will make them a more Clan personified weapon.
Ultimately, the difference between IS and Clan is that IS forces ( of a singular allegiance) are trained to work together, and their LRMs are also described in the 1980s as launching in a ballistic angle. Clans in the same source expressly state they are fired directly at their targets and optional rules exist to exclude indirect fire from Clans completely. Clan mentality in combat rewards personal glory before all except the honor of their Clan, and as such teamwork is not meant to be on their forefront thought.
Moldur, on 20 August 2016 - 09:30 AM, said:
The fact that LRM-5s are superior basically favors mechs that are meant to be LRM platforms over random mechs that happen to be able to cram in some LRM-15s or 20s.
The largers LRMs are a downgrade from LRM-5s because large lrms are the only option that mechs without a lot of missile hardpoints have. This makes having more missile hardpoints worth something.
A mech with 2 missile hardpoints is not meant to be as good at firing LRMs as a mech with 4 or 6 missile hardpoints.
Currently LRM-15s and 20s are absolutely wasteful in most cases. A buff is not unwarranted, but being able to boat many LRM-5s should still be much more favorable.
Issue is boating 4 LRM5s is only 8 tons vs 1 LRM20 at 10 tons, plus LRM5's faster firing rate, tighter grouping and lower heat per missile.
Edited by Koniving, 20 August 2016 - 11:11 AM.