11 replies to this topic

[Nothar]

I find it hard to believe inner-sphere assaults have 8 or less energy hard points.
Please just 1 variant with 10+ energy hard-points.
Seriously 7 Atlas variants. And no one ever thought to energy boat one. Or any of those super popular inner-sphere Assaults.
I think the later inner-sphere mechs need to be Re-processed in the balance calculator. Or go into Civil war still very obsolete.

[ScrapIron Prime]

The Atlas was never designed to be an energy boat. Plus, if you energy boated an Atlas, there'd be no use for mechs like the Banshee 3M. The Banshee can heft 7 or 8 energy weapons, it'll fill your needs.

[Erebus Alpha]

ScrapIron Prime, on 06 July 2017 - 05:43 AM, said:

The Atlas was never designed to be an energy boat.

So let's pay our incredibly talented maintenance teams to tear it down to a heap of assorted parts, and reconfigure all of the mech's guts for lasers, lasers, and moar lasers! That's the reason why we have different mech variants, right? And our maintenance teams already do most of this job whenever we switch between standard & endo-steel internals.

Some of the hero variants exist solely because some mechwarrior told their technicians to do exactly this. It's not impossible. It's probably not even that hard.

ScrapIron Prime, on 06 July 2017 - 05:43 AM, said:

Plus, if you energy boated an Atlas, there'd be no use for mechs like the Banshee 3M. The Banshee can heft 7 or 8 energy weapons, it'll fill your needs.

Untrue. If the Atlas had an energy boat option, people would still use the banshee as an energy boat. Why? Because some people like the Banshee more than the Atlas. It's this new thing called PLAYER CHOICE. The only thing at risk is the Banshee's monopolization of high-tonnage IS energy boating, which I do not appreciate at all.

Edited by Falconer Sword, 06 July 2017 - 10:22 AM.

[Vidarion]

So here's a question...

Why?

As in, why do we need an energy boating Atlas? The 'reason' we have different mech variants is that lore contains a bunch of different variants for each mech chassis based on role, manufacturer, House, etc. That was the 'base' reason for different variants. Could PGI make more? Sure. But aside from "cuz I says", what reason is there?

Why are there so few IS assaults with 8 or fewer hardpoints? Because they were traditionally built that way. Could PGI change that? Sure. But again...why? What incentive is there for PGI to do that as opposed to, say, move the timeline forward for more / different weapons? Or model new mechs that aren't in the game at all? Or produce more / better game modes and maps?

If you want to 'boat' energy weapons on an IS assault, you can use a Boar's Head (6 energy hard points) if you have a love affair with the chassis, or you can choose just about any other assault chassis and get at least 1 variant with 6+ energy variants.

If you absolutely need 8 energy hard points, there's the Banshee 3M or 3S and the Battlemaster 3M. But even the Clans don't have a lot of choice about assault chassis with more than 8 energy hard points. There's the KDK-1 (9), KDK-5 (11), MAD IIC (9), EXE-D (10).

I'll be honest though, I don't see a whole lot of KDK-5s out there and (at my pathetic Tier4) not a lot of EXE-Ds. MAD IIC? Sure, but most are Scorches and even when I do see a plain MAD-IIC, it usually only has 6 or fewer weapons.

If you really want an IS assault with more energy hard points, try submitting the suggestion as a new hero mech rather than lamenting about them being 'obsolete'. There has to be support for adding a design...I'm pretty sure there are threads out there for "next / new" hero mechs...maybe suggest it there and put together some fluff around why it was created, etc instead of phrasing it as a complaint (which is what the original post comes across as).

[ScrapIron Prime]

Falconer Sword, on 06 July 2017 - 10:08 AM, said:

Untrue. If the Atlas had an energy boat option, people would still use the banshee as an energy boat. Why? Because some people like the Banshee more than the Atlas. It's this new thing called PLAYER CHOICE. The only thing at risk is the Banshee's monopolization of high-tonnage IS energy boating, which I do not appreciate at all.

Oh, you mean like how the Victor is the ballistic assault mech of choice for the Inner Sphere?

What's that? You haven't SEEN a Victor in months? Or ever? Gosh, that must be because they released more ballistic options for more assault mechs and PLAYER CHOICE killed the entire mech off. And while you might occasionally see an Awesome because of the killer quirks they gave it to keep it alive, not even quirks could keep the Victor in service.

There's a fine line between choice and variety. If you make one chassis do everything, then that's all you'll see in game.

[Nothar]

But really guys boating for the sake of balance is key, So much tonnage yet mindlessly limited. Arming your Mech to the teeth is predominate in all factions. And war-minded. There has to be at least 1 mad ******* in the lore they can generate a hero Mech out of or just another variant. To cater to this huge void of logic in the Inner-sphere Assault play-ability.

[xe N on]

What would you do with more than 8 energy hardpoints? Ok, you could to like 3 LPL + 2 PPCs and 5 MLs for an alpha of 75 damage.

However, you would run quite hot - and energy boating clan assault mechs would be still superior.

IS mechs have one large disadvantage if going energy boating. Their equipment takes much more slots than clan equipment. Clans can equip a lot of more heat sinks than IS even though they use Endo/Ferro and XL-engines.

Just take a look at two 85 ton energy boats:

Marauder-IIC:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...facc6d537a08be4

Battlemaster-3M:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...645ba5096449605

Both have a 300 XL and endo unlocked. But the MAD-IIC has 11 more slots free! And that not even count in 2-slot heatsinks and 1-slot C-ERLL or 2 slot PPCs.

[Nothar]

A bigger LPL/ML follow up IS assualt would be magic, thanks for pointing out how hot it will be but regardless effective when manipulated in the correct play style, exactly like clan counterparts. At the end of the day, build potential is still far more advantageous.14 SPL/SL boat is a real thing across the galactic boarder. Why can't we handle it with our inferior Range, Damage, blantantly stupid hardpoint placement.

And with that said. The laser hard-points would most likely be knee mounted.

Edited by Nothar, 10 July 2017 - 12:35 AM.

[50 50]

The Imp
IMP-4e has 9 energy hard points and one missile point.


http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Imp

Edited by 50 50, 09 July 2017 - 06:52 PM.

[Nothar]

Still only 9.... struggling to wrap my head around it. Good spot 50/50! But its defiantly a clan-tech!!

Edited by Nothar, 10 July 2017 - 12:41 AM.

[Vidarion]

Lore.

Lore.

Lore.

As I mentioned in my earlier reply, if you want this, suggest it as a new hero mech and provide some fluff behind it to "give it a reason" like the ballistic Battlemaster suggestion from The6thMessenger ( https://mwomercs.com...-sentinel-hero/ ).

If writing fluff isn't your thing, that's fine, but don't expect people to support the idea "just because". Give us a reason to support the inclusion of this variant. Maybe it's an old Star League variant unearthed from a lost Star League cache ... maybe it's a Civil War prototype made possible by light lasers / ppcs and the LFE ... Try to imagine the reasons for it within the universe including which House or unit created it and why. Try to imagine its role on the battlefield, etc. Put that together and you'll likely get a ton of support (because the BT community LOVES fluff lore). Without that sort of backstory for it, your suggestion just looks like 'I wants all the lazers on my Atlas because I wants' and that doesn't make anyone think "hmmm, that would be a worthy addition to the game".

[Nothar]

And funny enough nothing exists in the lore. Huge flop.