20
Wattila, on 08 August 2017 - 05:52 PM, said:
Full survival tree is roughly 15% armor and 30% structure on a heavy, and just the left side is about 12% or so (depends on exact tonnage). Everyone maxes armor on torsos, yet it's deemed acceptable to effectively reduce armor by skipping the survival tree (would you take armor off your mech for a little extra agility or range?). That being said, firepower and survival are both important, the other trees are secondary.
There are three fundamental features for a BattleMech. You need to pick two because, aside from certain variants, it is very difficult to have all three.
Speed
Firepower
Armor/Health
I ranked them above in the order of importance. Speed and agility are life, with Firepower ranking a close second. A competent pilot who invests carefully in speed/agility and firepower can completely overwhelm someone who only has an extra AC/10's worth of armor on his CT.
Another way to look at it is this: Armor is static. Speed and firepower are dynamic. You can use speed and firepower to effect results, but armor just exists in a platonic fashion. When the skill tree initially premiered, I was a firm believer in the Survival Tree, however, I've moved away from that now that I have strong experience with it. The survival bonus is too weak for the points I have to invest.
Look at it this way: I can get most of my speed and agility back by investing in the right side of the Mobility Tree (see video). I buy the right side of the Survival Tree too to pad my Structure (~20% health bonus with ~4% armor bonus and an AMS bonus). I think that both of those investments are worth what I pay in terms of Skill Points. However, to me, the left sides of both trees have too many waste nodes to warrant a full investment in them.
Instead, I invest heavily in the Firepower Tree since there are almost zero waste nodes in it. My combat potential rises strongly as a result. I particularly like the Heat Generation Nodes which help my Mech run cooler. Coupled with Cool Run, these nodes make for a powerful buff!
One other thing to consider: The Survival Tree really doesn't do anything against coordinated firepower from the enemy team. If you are focused, then having an extra 10 or 15 points of CT armor isn't going to save your bacon. You'll have hundreds of points of damage arrowing in on you. Your combat potential really doesn't increase at all with a heavy Survival investment in any of the mainstream game modes as a result of the focus firing.
That being said, if you do a lot of dueling, whether Private Lobbies or Solaris, then the Survival Tree would probably be worth it since there is no coordinated focus fire. In such an environment, it would come down to individual pilot skill, your tankiness, and your dps. It could well be worth sacrificing some dps in favor of that extra armor since 1v1 duels often come down to a single-shot's worth of difference deciding who wins and loses. Your personal skill could accommodate the decreased dps by using your overall armor and structure bonuses to spread damage.
