No replies to this topic

[MischiefSC]

I looked over a few posts on stuff but have tried to keep my perspective clean on the new weapons so I can provide some more useful feedback.

LFE:

These will let you spend some money to get a little bit more tonnage for some of the old STD engine builds. Stalker, Atlas, Crab, King Crab, mechs that were XL suicide will benefit a bit from this. It's not a viable replacement for any of the XL builds, especially laservomit - the need for tonnage and more in engine heatsinks (due to the larger DHS for the IS) still require the suicide ride XL option.

LFE has no real impact on the problems created by CXL engine balance. That is and will continue to be the biggest glaring gap between IS and Clan tech because it magnifies the inherent issues caused by CEndon/FF being 1/2 size and Clan DHS being 33% smaller as well as smaller/lighter Clan weapons. Regardless of weapon balancing that's done or structure quirks for the IS it's never going to come to any real balance as long as this underlying issue is ignored.

LFE is, however, a fun little perk I can buy for my STD engine mechs. It's straight power-creep; however it's power creep in a part of the game that needed it.

RAC:

I get the intent and I approve of the concept. However they are flat out inferior to regular ACs and UACs. I built several mechs using RACs and UACs and the UACs were more effective, significantly so, in every single instance.

For example my Roughneck 1A. Two UAC5s in the RT and I can put in an LFE 290 (for almost 80KPH), 2 MRM10s and plenty of ammo. Two RAC5s and I have to do a STD 250 (less than 70KPH), 2 MRM10s and not enough ammo. The 2xUAC5 version was drastically faster even killing stationary targets in the training ground.

In every single situation I could build, every mech and type, the UAC5 out performed the RAC. The RAC, being larger, eliminates the ability to combine it with the same weapons the UAC5 can in the same space.

Slow jam bar progress by 20% or so. Eliminate the spool up or make it not start filling the bar until the spool up is done. Reduce the heat a bit. It needs some real work to make it viable for the negatives it has.

UACs:

They generate heat for each shot, not for the whole burst. At least the UAC10 did. It's a 2 round burst but it generated 2x the heat of an AC10. Also the ammo thing.

However, they're excellent otherwise. A good compromise.

LBX:

Same problem as all LBX only made worse by the size issues. LBX20 will see less use than small lasers.

MRMs:

I like the concept. Okay with stream fire. They need to cluster tighter though. In all the testing I did SRMs were just flat out superior at killing mechs. Given that MRMs are a range weapon they are not accurate enough to make using them at range viable. They need a *huge* spread reduction if the're stream fired. You want to have them spread like that but be a burst like SRMs? Okay. But both spread AND stream fired? Much like with the RACs it makes them flat out inferior to all the other weapon options for that type. Even LRMs are more useful in the end.

PPCs:

All the new PPCs are worthless. There's no context under which I would take them vs any other weapon choice. Light PPC? So, 5 damage for 5 heat with 90m minimum range, 3 tons, 2 slots? Did you know a Medium Laser is 5 damage for 3.4 heat and 25% faster cooldown? Heavy PPC? 12 damage? So you know 2 Large Lasers are more damage for the same heat, space and tonnage?

There's no sane reason to take any of the new PPCs. Like the regular PPC. Just set all their values to 0 and make them nothing but icons to fill space in the weapon list, they are functionally worthless.

If players only ever had 1 mech they could own at a time and as such couldn't pick a ballistic mech when they wanted PPFLD I can sorta see the logic - you want PPFLD but you're energy hardpoints only. However that's not this game. PPCs need to be useful and viable in their own right relative to both energy and ballistic weapons. If they're not then they're worthless. Which these all are.

ER Medium/Small:

ER Mediums are a maybe. Maybe a 1 second burn instead of 0.9. Or reduced heat. They're close but currently no real reason to pay the heat tax and DPS loss tax. They're in all ways inferior to CERML but they'll have a bit more synergy with LPLs.

ER Smalls are also a maybe. The range is relevant on lighter mechs and the ability to boat the smalls and more DHS or use the weight savings to go LFE instead of XL?

Maybe.

ATMs:

Surprised by the maybe. Stupidly, stupidly destructive in their niche ranges. The minimum range works; IS LRMs have minimum range too and do 1/3rd the damage. I'd say let this fly in live as is. Anyone complaining that it's not good enough is just stupidly spoiled by Clan LRMs. They're significantly better than IS LRMs, which is what they're really competing with.

Heavy Lasers:

LOL. I'm sincere when I ask; is this a joke? There's no context in which the ER lasers are not flat out superior save shooting at point blank on a cold map against a completely stationary target that's a small enough mech you can one-shot kill it. In any and every other context these lasers are utterly worthless compared to pulse and ER for the Clans. Not just a little worthless, completely worthless. I confess they are so terrible, so bad, so rediculous that the very fact they were put on the PTS while this totally bad really makes me question the decision making going on. It's not just 'confusing' but it feels like I'm being trolled.

Heavy MG and rockets:

These are absolute troll weapons that will end Scouting in FW completely. Empty it. In a 4V4 environment the ability to one-shot 2 mechs with your rocket launchers and then be useless (or near useless) is enough to make it unplayable.

Same with the heavy MGs. Nova, 12xCERSML and 4 HMG is just too powerful. Stronger than the 12 CSPLs ever were - up close. In larger matches you can destroy such mechs at range but in scouting?

Just shelve them. There's not a way to make them viable. Rockets, at their core, are a 'troll' weapon - a way to suicide one-shot one or two mechs at the cost of throwing away almost all your firepower. That's going to be bad for the game.

Overall:

I get the concept and I like the basics of most of it. However most of it is, as currently presented, bad. Not something I want in the game, not something I would enjoy and not something that would make me happy to have in the game.

RACs need a significant buff, so do MRMs and LBX. They're flat out inferior to all the other options.

Either make PPCs relevant or leave them out. It's wasted load time, the very fact that the new PPCs exist and increase even by 1/100th of a second the (considerable) time it takes the game to load makes them literally just worsen my game experience. They're so bad I want to report whoever designed them for griefing.

Heavy Lasers are as bad as PPCs, which is to say clearly someone just trying to mock everyone. I'm really trying to be positive and in general I've been happy with the direction of MWO lately. However these are so bad, so incredibly bad, I'm at a loss as to why anyone thought these were a good idea. Selling MWO branded nipple clips in commercials during saturday cartoons is a better idea than these. I'm not even sure what to recommend other than 'throw them out and start over, or just throw them out'.

Heavy MGs and Rockets: These are troll design weapons that are absolutely toxic for gameplay. HMGs invalidate regular MGs and are just too strong and rockets are a suicide rush weapon that's just going to destroy scouting and make everyone who sees them in a game enjoy the game less; they're a mutual-destruction weapon and that's a terrible, terrible, horrible, terrible bad no good shamefully terrible never do it never ever ever don't put it in concept for a MOBA. Kill this idea with fire, remove it and delete the source code.