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Yeonne Greene, on 17 June 2017 - 08:26 AM, said:
Now do the same with the IS build. You have to fire that LPL right after you fire the ML to synchronize them and they have almost the same time to wait before you can fire again.
You can do, literally, the same exact thing with the Clan lasers. You choose whether you want the burns to end at the same time or whether you want to front-load the damage slightly by initiating the burn at the same time. It's not the end of the world.
Staggering your triggers absolutely does work. We've been doing it since forever in this game. It isn't going to kill you to have to use two triggers to fire a vomit, if you aren't doing so already (and you should have been).
Completely out of sync? You mean 0.16 seconds is out of synch? What have I been doing all my life with my isLPLs having a 0.23 second spread over my isMLs?
Please, don't exaggerate. cERML on group 1, cLPL on group 2. Fire 1, fire 2 ~0.16 seconds later. Tada, synchronization!
I'm thinking even more about the isSPL boats that got their already 2/3 damage reduced by an additional twelfth relative to the cSPL while retaining garbage range and essentially losing the duration advantage they had. The ACH is the hardest hit 'Mech, now having cSPL firepower no better than a Locust, but I'm having an extremely difficult time finding a tear to shed for any other cSPL-wielder when they were out of line and when the superior range and damage of the cERSL beckons.
Brief history:
Mid-2014: Clans come out, ridiculously OP, machine guns get nerfed for #reasons
Late-2014: Minor quirks introduced, mostly structure on special 'Mechs like the HBK and CN9. Clan laser vomit adjusted, PPCs nerfed into the ground for everybody, pulse lasers buffed for everybody
Early 2015: Quirks for days; some genuinely OP IS 'Mechs in here, but most of the quirks focused on specific weapons to make them useful instead of trash (i.e. LCT-1E got 230 m isSL and it was neat but not great)
Mid 2015: Everybody complained about the specific quirks, PGI goes to more general quirks, some OP 'Mechs get reined in, others emerge
Late 2015: Even more general quirks, now with giga-buffed structure! IS laser vomit so strong that it paralyzes any team playing all Clans.
Early 2016: PGI whacks the IS 'Mechs; all energy range and heat quirks top out at 10% now, most duration quirks are removed, and structure is reduced across the board. Twice. Original skill tree gets nerfed for everybody,
Mid 2016: More nerfs to IS mobility, structure, and firepower quirks, mostly to 'Mechs that had already fallen out of favor because IIC 'Mechs had arrived and supplanted them. Rescale comes out and is accompanied by more quirk nerfs.
Late 2016: More nerfs to IS structure and mobility, a few firepower reductions to 'Mechs that had already been replaced by the Night Gyr. KDK loses agility, MAD-IIC comes out and is slightly ludicrous; most balance passes at this point are more even.
Now we're in 2017, and Clans are under the spotlight again.
I would say you are decommisioning 'Mechs prematurely.
The Kodiak is still fearsome, it's just not good at dancing (and apart from the SB, it really shouldn't be). Its long-range alpha is still unmatched by anything other than a MAD-IIC or a DWF, and both of those have inferior hard-point placement among other deficiencies.
The TBR is also still quite good; the new acceleration curves means it can still poke well despite taking longer to reach top speed, because you don't need to reach top speed, just jitter over an edge. It can also still steamroll a target with massive firepower, which is essentially what the brawler builds on it did before; they also never really danced, and if your target managed to side-step your initial attempt that was usually it for that side torso. No net change.
NTG, there was really nothing else they could do to rein it in, except possibly nerfing the velocity on cERPPC. I don't agree with its mobility nerfs, but we'll see.
MAD-IIC, that was stupid. They even whacked the crappy ones, when those needed buffs. Seriously, how often do you see the -B variant in game? Everybody will just flock to the -8 for laser vomit and grab a targeting computer. PGI needs to stop blanket-nerfing a chassis and actually look at which ones are doing well and why.
I do not typically get involved in the Clan vs IS debate. I agree with your early part of the "nerf" timeline up to mid-2016. After that the Clan got just as many and bigger negative adjustments than the IS. So it is not like they have been dodging the nerf hammer until 2017. It started in 2016 and has continued for the last calendar year.
I am not saying the negative adjustments to Clan were not needed for the sake of balance. I am just pointing out that Clan has been taking the brunt of the changes for a year now.
