Woefully simplistic and completely arbitrary, the current state of the Mech Skill Tree is universally agreed upon to be one of the least polished aspects of the game. Since closed beta it has only undergone a single alteration - the reduction of percentage bonuses awarded from each skill. (Ok, two alterations if you want to include the admission that Pinpoint doesn’t actually do anything…) In the meantime, the Pilot “Skills” menu has gotten more crowded with the inclusion of weapon specific range and rate of fire modules for both Clan and IS, modules to improve consumables, and modules to improve your Mech’s battle-awareness capabilities (sensors).
The Issue: Pilot Skills = Mech Modules
This is a fundamental problem with the current system. It implies that a pilot skill (something that a pilot could theoretically improve through experience or practice) is the same thing as plugging in a new video card to your computer or swapping out fans for liquid cooling. Sure, you can argue that it takes some experience to know how to plug in and install a new video card or heat block, but it is also a well-documented process that anyone with a little time, money, and the ability to read could figure out. A pilot skill should be something that is representative of the pilot’s improved ability piloting Mechs.
A second issue is that the Mech Skill Tree is supposed to represent the pilot’s familiarity with the Mech they have chosen to pilot. It is safe to assume that with increased experience in a specific Mech a pilot would have more experience aiming, maneuvering, and… making the Mech move beyond the previously established mechanical maximums?...
A good example of this is Speed Tweak. Before you have unlocked Speed Tweak, if you put your throttle to maximum it shows 100% and you go a set speed. Once you unlock Speed Tweak, if you put your throttle to maximum it shows 100% and go a different set speed… What happened there? If Speed Tweak is supposed to be a piloting skill representative of familiarity with the Mech, shouldn’t it read 107.5%? Or to make even more sense, the initial, non-Speed Tweaked maximum should have read 92.5%, representing that the machine has the capability to go faster, but you, the pilot, can't handle it. I'd be all for this if you could override this limit and risk your Mech randomly falling over, but this isn't in the game currently.
Previous games like Mech Commander or the BT days, where you were not directly responsible for the details of targeting or movement, represented pilot skill in increased AI competency or numeric values that allowed the Mech move efficiently, target quickly, and improve RNG weapon accuracy.
Summary of Rationale and Conclusions
THE EXISTING SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK FOR MWO
The player is the pilot. I am the pilot. We don’t need a Pilot Skill tree, and we don’t need the Mech Skill Tree to determine the potency of, or the pilot’s familiarity with the mech.
My improved piloting ability is represented in the game through MY IMPROVED PILOTING.
With that cleared up, what do we have left? MECH UPGRADES
Proposed Mech Upgrade Paths
****Disclaimer*****
Obviously the upgrade paths displayed above are a draft, and were created solely on my own opinions with refinement from my friends in C4. I don't claim to know every intricacy in the game, but I feel I am well enough informed to make some suggestions. I welcome questions or concerns in the comments, so long as they are constructive, and will monitor this thread and update with answers as needed.
As previously discussed, these represent physical or software upgrades to each Mech and not piloting efficiencies. It incorporates virtually every ‘skill’ from the Mech Skill Tree as well as every Pilot Skill that can be unlocked with GXP. (Notable exceptions are Enhanced NARC, Cool Shot 9x9 and Cool Boost, which I feel should be removed and their bonus values set as the standard.)
How It Could Work
This concept is universally recognizable to anyone who has played a game with established player ‘Roles’, and that is a term I know I’ve heard Russ mentioned he wanted more of in MWO.
You are awarded a set number of upgrade points acquired through playing the specific Mech variant in much the same way that Mech XP is acquired now. The idea is that you will be given enough points to make it most of the way down two upgrade paths – Offense with most of Defense for instance – but that to do so you would have to forgo access to desired mobility and information bonuses. You’d be tanky and hit harder than others in the same variant built the same way, but you are less maneuverable have less battle awareness when alone. This trade-off is what will create defined roles in MWO.
Using a gated access system, you can invest your points selectively to pick specific upgrades that compliment your build or your role, diversify your build to be a jack of all trades but a master of none, or you can focus your efforts on one path with a smattering of other upgrades from other paths. Access to these tiers would rely both on the number of points invested into the chosen path, as well as how many of the three required variants have invested points to unlock the next tier. (Think the current basic to elite skill access restrictions.) The last tier of each upgrade path should hold the upgrades that are most powerful in order to restrict access on that Mech unless they have invested enough in the path. To reinforce this, reaching the last tier of a path using the minimum point investment will gain you access to ONE of the three ‘Master Upgrades’, while maxing out the path will gain you access to two. The center-most master upgrade is the most in line with that path, while the two that overlap with adjacent paths can be accessed by the respective overlapping path.
Currently, it takes 57,250 Mech Experience points to fully master a Mech and unlock the Master Module slot. Conveniently, a quick starting calculation of a limit to how many upgrades a Mech should be able to hold ended up at 57 Upgrade Hard Points. An easy transition would be to award the maximum of 57 Upgrade Hard Points to anyone with 57,000 or more XP on a given mech. For XP values over that amount, the remaining value could be converted to GXP (at some exchange rate) to be used specifically on that Mech for returning invested Mech Hard Points so you can ‘Re-Upgrade’ your Mech. This would be done using increasingly expensive scaling to a cap (TBD) depending on how many times you reinvent your build. This will help prevent less experienced players from suffering GXP losses they don’t have when they are learning how these skills effect gameplay. GXP currently awarded in game can be used in the same way, but from a central pool you can draw from for all Mechs.
C-Bill costs associated with in-game module purchases may also want to be incorporated somehow, but that is a question for the PGI devs to figure out with respect to the game economy as a whole.
The other benefit of this system that I see is the removal of quirks from the game as we know them. If a Mech is deemed to be an under-performer due to loadout limitations, the variant base values can be modified by PGI and displayed in a clear and comparable way vs other similar Mechs. (Can we get some bar graphs please?) Special variant specific traits, like the Hellslinger's 50% environmental heat transfer could be a unique 'Attribute' to the Mech and displayed with whatever specific functionality upgrades you have unlocked (like seismic sensor). Alternatively, take that 50% heat transfer off the Hellslinger and make it an all new Mech Upgrade node.
Currently Mechs are pigeon-holed into specific loadouts because of their assigned weapon quirks. The Hunchback 4SP should never be run as an LRM boat in the current system, and why would you when you have the 4J sitting there two bays down? The reasoning for such things were pulled from lore, but don't make much sense in a game where you should be given full freedom to build how you want. If you want to encourage a specific loadout in a particular variant, change its stats to make it less capable in the role you don't want it in. Don't give it a LRM buff - give it a mobility nerf. Now it doesn't make sense to build it as a brawler/striker, because it will pale in comparison to others in that role, and rightly so. This will prevent the ridiculous boom and bust in weapon specific quirks we have seen over the years, not to mention make it a lot easier to anticipate how fast that AC10 is going to fly (because it isn't different for every freakin' Mech anymore!)
Build Examples
Using the draft Upgrade Tree linked above, I have compiled a list of 4 examples that can be found below. Hopefully this will demonstrate how this system could be used to further define Mech roles.
Front-Line Pusher:
42 Defense, 2/3 Master
15 Offense, 0/3 Master
Profile: High defense, medium damage sustainability, low mobility, low battlefield awareness
Defense
Arm/Leg Armor 5/5
Arm/Leg Structure 5/5
Side Torso Structure 5/5
Side Torso Armor 5/5
Reduced Crit Chance 5/5
Center Torso Structure 5/5
Center Torso Armor 5/5
AMS Overload 5/5
Glancing Blow 1/1
Improved Gyros 1/1
Offense
Cool Run 5/5
Fast Fire 5/5
Heat Containment 5/5
Back-Line Sniper:
26 Offense, 1/3 Master
26 Mobility, 1/3 Master
5 Infotech, 0/3 Master
Profile: Medium-high offense, medium-high mobility, low defense, low battlefield awareness
Offense
Cool Run 5/5
Fast Fire 5/5
Heat Containment 5/5
Improved Range 5/5
Improved Cooldown 5/5
Pinpoint 1/1
Mobility
Kinetic Burst 5/5
Twist Speed 5/5
Arm Reflex 5/5
Improved Jumpjets 5/5
Speed Tweak 5/5
Shock Absorbance 1/1
Infotech
Target Info Gathering 5/5
Front-Line Striker:
17 Offense, 0/3 Master
30 Mobility, 0/3 Master (One Available Unused)
10 Infotech, 0/3 Master
Profile: Medium offense, high mobility, low defense, medium-low battlefield awareness
Offense
Cool Run 5/5
Fast Fire 5/5
Heat Containment 5/5
Improved Cooldown 2/5
Mobility
Hard Break 5/5
Kinetic Burst 5/5
Anchor Turn 5/5
Twist Speed 5/5
Twist X 5/5
Speed Tweak 5/5
Infotech
Target Info Gathering 5/5
Adv. Seismic Sensor 5/5
Light Scout:
20 Mobility, 0/3 Master
37 Infotech, 1/3 Master
Profile: Low offense, medium mobility, low defense, high battlefield awareness
Mobility
Kinetic Burst 5/5
Twist Speed 5/5
Anchor Turn 5/5
Speed Tweak 5/5
Infotech
Target Info Gathering 5/5
360 Target Retention 5/5
Adv. Target Decay 5/5
Adv. Seismic Sensor 5/5
Capture Accelerator 5/5
Adv. Sensor Range 5/5
Radar Deprivation 5/5
Improved UAV 1/5
Advanced Targeting 1/1
Some Fine Details and Answers to Your Questions (Will be Updated)
Some aspects of this system will need adjustments and refinements. Certain upgrades as I have them won't necessarily work after testing. Others may be reduced or increased in strength. This will all need to undergo balancing against the current Mechs in game to find out where it breaks. Decisions will need to be made: Adjust the paths or adjust the Mechs that break it. I will continue to address questions or concerns posted in response to this thread in this section, assuming I have a good answer - and if the question/concern has merit.
Bye-Bye Weapon Modules:
No more weapon modules needed. You want to upgrade that medium laser range? Go down the Offense path. Obviously this will change how modules will be handled on each Mech, and the quantity of those modules. In a perfect world of my creation, the only modules you would have to equip would be consumables.
Energy Draw:
None exist now, but any implementation of this system should also, obviously, include the energy draw system.
Pinpoint:
This has been suggested by many other people, and in the context of this upgrade system it is even more relevant... Make pinpoint do something, such as allow for weapon convergence at a sighted distance even without weapon lock (ie. how targeting works now.) If you don't have pinpoint, have a cone of fire that your weapons might point in independently of the rest, or just have they fire straight from the Mech as if you were aiming at infinity. The cone of fire option is already implemented to some extent with screen shake while jumpjetting, while the infinity option would still allow skilled players to put damage where they want, but it will be harder for you the wider your Mech is. You could still put damage on target without it, but not specific components at significant range unless you really know your Mech (ooh pilot skill there!). A must-have for snipers, but a not-so-necessary for brawlers. It would also increase the value of scouts and spotters for those without the upgrade.
Access to Current Mech Modules:
The tree mentions Adv. Seismic Sensor in the Infotech path, but I'd suggest it be a tiered access to Seismic Sensor as a whole, as well as other similar Mech Modules. The reason Infotech doesn't exist in the game right now is because you can put Infotech equipment on EVERY MECH, save for equipping ECM. There is NO REASON to be a light spotter in the game when any streakcrow can sub out a SSRM 6 for a NARC and help the whole team out. You have to limit information on the battlefield if you want scouting to mean anything, and you have to provide adequate rewards for doing so.
Closing the Gap: Leveled vs Unleveled
Because the opponents you face are determined by the skill tier system in the game, you could be facing someone in the same Mech with the same loadout as you that is literally better than you in every way. The difference in capability is significant too. By limiting access to every bonus you previously saw under the current skill tree you would be reducing the disparity in power between like Mechs. Now isn't that more fair for new players, and a benefit to new player retention?
Adding New Modules/Upgrades:
Who wants to see Mines? Maybe the ability to call in a squad of elementals? Orbital lasers? All possible under this new system too - as new Master Upgrades. They could take the form of upgrades to provide They would be placed in the path that makes the most sense for the upgrade. Mines - Defense. Elementals - Offense. Orbital Lasers - Infotech. Upgrades can be added to the paths to create interesting effects if the devs so choose... like, high efficiency ammo storage for a 10% ammo capacity boost down the offense path, or refractive paint to help deflect some of the damage from lasers in the defense path.
Edited by EvAbsence, 16 May 2017 - 04:46 PM.