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Hi everyone.

Been having some fun looking at the new weapons and trying out various loadouts.
Overall I am liking the addition of new weapons and the different sound effects are nice.
I'm not going to discuss balance aspects in the raw numbers here, this thread is more about where I feel there could be some improvements is in the way we use some of the weapons so they are not simply copies of existing ones and I only have a few suggestions.

I'm going to start with the IS weapons.

MRMs
I rather like the way the MRMs eject from the launcher first before the missiles actually ignite.
There was some discussion about whether this was a bug or not, but I felt this gave the weapon a unique feel and therefore a unique way it will be used.
What it could use is a bit more visual emphasis that this is what is happening so we actually see the cloud of missiles eject then the burst of flame and smoke as they ignite and stream off.
(Personal note to turn up the graphic settings and give it another go)
Otherwise, a nice addition to the line of missile weapons.

Rocket Launchers
As one shot wonders they are very hit and miss.
They also fire as a 'splat' effect which, quite frankly, the IS has plenty of if we consider that SRMs, LRMs and the LBx all have that same method of firing.
Given the Rocket Launchers are single shot, I feel they might get a bit more longevity and a different method of use as a ripple fire weapon.
That is, treat them more like a Rocket Launcher 1 with X tubes so while we hold the trigger it fires one rocket at a time until all the tubes are empty but we have the option to release the trigger and not fire all of them.


For the Clans:

Heavy Lasers
When I brought the values on the different lasers down to their Damage per second (DPS) and Heat per second (HPS), there is very little difference between these weapons.
(Heat or Damage/{Duration+Cooldown})
Right at the moment, the heavy lasers don't really offer anything different to the other lasers in their use and there is the opportunity to change their function here so they do fit a different role.
I would like to see them become true beam weapons.
The Pulse Lasers Pulse.
The ER lasers have a limited beam duration.
Why not make the Heavy Lasers use a continuous beam?
That is, the beam fires for as long as we hold the trigger.
This is as simple as changing the numbers on the weapons and removing cool down value.
For example:

The Heavy Large laser at the moment has the following values:
Damage 16
Heat 17
Cooldown 6
Duration (as of the 30th) 1.55
The DPS therefore works out as 16/(6+1.55) or 2.12dps
The HPS therefore works out as 17/(6+1.55) or 2.25hps

So what if the weapon instead had a minimum duration, for the sake of this discussion lets say 1 second, but no cooldown.
A single pull of the trigger would do 2.12 damage and 2.25 heat over that duration. But if we held the trigger that damage and heat keeps mounting up for as long as we can keep the target in the crosshairs and manage the heat.

A true continuous beam weapon.

Maybe some of the numbers could be tweaked and adjusted, perhaps the weapon might have a 'Jam Chance' similar to the RACs. But that would give the heavy lasers a unique feel and place in the arsenal.

ATMs
Similar to the laser range of weapons, the ATMs feel like a mix or copy of some of the other systems and we have the opportunity to have them function in a different way and therefore fill a different role.
Instead of the lock on mechanic of the Streaks and LRMs or the Fire and Forget nature of the SRMs, what if the ATM used a guided system.
That is, even after the missiles have been fired they move to the point of the targeting crosshair.
Given the ATM was not going to have the optional ammo swapping, I always pictured these as some form of multistage missile that would fire in a straight trajectory.

Turning the ATMs into a guided missile would give them a very unique feel and a different use.
Not only that, but as a weapon that then requires you to face your target to guide the missiles, it comes with the inherent risk of not being able to spread your damage. That seems like a fair compromise for being able to direct where the damage will go (barring your enemy twisting of course) but also removing the minimum range requirement due to the weapon also using the ripple fire.

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Had another go after the last patch.
Not seeing a great difference with the ATMs or Heavy lasers to be honest and feel it would be better if those two weapons found their own place with a different mechanic.
They are just too similar to the existing weapons.

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Of all the weapons, finding the Heavy Lasers the hardest to justify using over the other weapons.
Think the ATMs could change, pretty happy with the MRMs... Rocket Launchers might be more useful with a different firing method.
But the heavy lasers.
Just not different enough and trying to tweak the numbers a little here and a little there doesn't really make them any different.

Could we at least try them as a continual beam weapon?