Viktor Drake, on 22 May 2017 - 03:09 PM, said:
Its worthless until that extra 5 points of structure is the difference between you being alive and killing stuff or dead and spectating.
IT's actually a quite useful tree, if used intelligently, on mechs it really compliments. HBK-4SP and UM-r60 mate well to it. Certain Atlases. Other mechs, it's really not worth it, because those Nodes make a much more important difference elsewhere (like my LRM MDD or CPLT-C1). Which means it's actually pretty close to where it needs to be.
If it's "too good" it becomes mandatory upgrade for everyone, it it's "not good enough" nobody uses it. The very fact that it's situationally quite useful, and absolutely not worth it in other situations? Is the mark of it being just about where it needs to be.
Survival. Jump Jets and Sensors should be very situational, and so far, I have found them to be exactly that, instead of "must haves". 3/4ish of Operations feel pretty mandatory, and most mechs probably need 1/3 or more to Firepower (mostly for heat gen, IMO), but almost nothing else feels across the board mandatory. Not even mobility (my CPLT-C1 has none opened up, and fulfills it's role fine. My Jester on the other hand, fills a different role, and does benefit from Mobility, though I am still undecided on Jump Jets)
Aggravated Assault Mech, on 22 May 2017 - 03:21 PM, said:
At no point are you ever gaining only five points. Even an unquirked 20t mech is gaining just over 9pts of total frontal CT health and 7pts of ST with full Armor Hardening and Skeletal Density.
I made a spreadsheet for anyone interested in how much they're actually gaining from full armor and structure skills. Just input the value of the quirks for the chassis in question in the appropriate row.
https://docs.google....cvxs/edit#gid=0
And for some mechs, it's still not worth the investment. Other mechs, it absolutely is. Working as intended.