As for PPCs, I think it's likely that we'll see more cERPPCs in the solo queue after this patch, although they're already fairly common. The big problem is going to be timid gameplay and lots of people voting for Frozen City in order to snipe across that river for the 100th time. You can play a Locust and relish in the fact that most enemies won't be able to hit you with PPCs, but it doesn't do you much good if your team is stuck behind cover, trading PPCs while slowly dying. In that scenario, your ability to be last man standing in a Locust is worth f*ck all. Especially in the current state of the game where most matches have 0-2 light mechs. It's not like you can get a wolf pack going.
And also, the increase of LRMs will further disincentivize brawling and flanking. Even fewer people trying to push.
Could be quite boring in the solo queue for a while.
EDIT: I would assume they nerfed AC5s only to deal with the Mauler. I haven't noticed any other mechs perform particularly well with AC5s. Or maybe they predicted the return of the AC5+PPC Banshee? Who knows.
Edited by Tristan Winter, 14 November 2016 - 06:42 AM.