
Moving on, i LOVE the new energy draw system. finally this game feels like a proper Battletech first person mech shoot em up. although i participate heavily in all the various metas that have popped up over the years in order to keep me a competent force on the battefield, i rarely use meta builds when dropping in the pug queues as they arent challenging enough, nor are the fun. Sure, a vomit timber can pump out copious amounts of damage, but its not hard to do so. I play this game as a range mixer. i fit SRMs and large lasers, PPCs and small lasers, LRMs and heavy autocannons. I fit my mech to mesh with the team and to be viable at all ranges. Twin ERPPCs and 4 ASRM 4s on a timber? favorite build atm. PPC, LBX5 and an SRM 6 on a summoner? yes please. (quick note, my average damage per match is 500+. while pretty average, i rarely dip under that, and in a game where having 1 PPC and 1 LBX 5 is considered not viable or useful, i think thats pretty impressive)
The new energy draw system meshes perfectly with this sort of gameplay. The kind of gameplay that Mechwarrior is supposed to be played as, for the most part. Sure, 270m pure brawlers are great to have, but only if you have a couple of them. Sure, double ERLL ravens are great at mobile sniping, but only if you have a couple of them. In the lore, 80% of all mechs, vehicles, aerospace, etc were range mixers. A couple potent long range weapons (which were the primary weapons mind you) and a flurry of medium to close range weaponry for defense. Sure, you had your outliers, such as LRM boats, cyclops', awesomes, mad dogs, etc, but they were few and far between for the most part. Sure you had your mega brawlers, such as the Atlas, Hunchback, kodiaks, etc, but they were also few and far between (all this is relative, sometimes atlas' were fielded in largish numbers, but there were always WAY more range mixers than atlas')
The new energy draw system will finally make MWO great again. Now they just gotta change the maps so that they are a bit more accomodating to this new playstyle

PS: Get accustomed to range mixing and going for constant damage builds, rather than alphas. the sooner you get used to this, the harder the switch will be for you meta junkies
