Chris Lowrey, on 08 June 2018 - 10:58 AM, said:
[color=#FFA500]Clan Gauss Rifles[/color]
The 3 less tons needed to equip Clan Gauss rifles need to come with meaningful give and take compared to their heavier IS equivalents. Off of two clan Gauss rifles, the 6 saved tons over their IS counterparts is often plenty of tonnage to compliment the weapons with payloads that their IS counterparts are often strapped to compete with. This will be adjusted to offer fairer give and take between the two tech base's rifles.
[color=#FFA500]Option 1:[/color]
- Upfront damage reduced to something more in-line for the tonnage invested in the weapon, Other attributes adjusted to keep the same current DPS.
This seems like a pretty good option, but I have some additional thoughts that I think should happen if this is implemented:
- The explosion damage and low hitpoints of the cGR make it risky to carry. If the damage is lowered to IS levels based on tonnage and slots, then it should be at least as hard to destroy.
- Since damage is being adjusted, so should the number of rounds per ton of ammo to maintain total damage parity.
Chris Lowrey, on 08 June 2018 - 10:58 AM, said:
[color=#FFA500]Option 2:[/color]
- The Clan Gauss rifle is given a recoil effect similar to, but not as intense as, the Heavy Gauss rifle. No other attributes are changed.
This is actually my favorite option and seems the least disruptive way to ensure cGR can be used as they have been, but takes away pinpoint alpha potential when combined with lasers.
Chris Lowrey, on 08 June 2018 - 10:58 AM, said:
[color=#FFA500]Option 3:[/color]
- The Clan Gauss Rifle and all Clan Large Class Lasers are linked into the same heat penalty group.
I don’t like heat penalty groups so this is my least favorite option (see below laser option 2). I’m also concerned that the option to fire 6 cERM + 2cGR at the same time for a 72pt pinpoint alpha with a decent range of 400m would then have to be adjusted later.
Chris Lowrey, on 08 June 2018 - 10:58 AM, said:
[color=#FFA500]Clan Lasers:[/color]
The upfront damage of Clan lasers, and the ease of access the clans have at supplementing their fire with heavy upfront damage, at decent ranges, for minimal tonnage directly contributes not just to those Alpha's at the top, but a general lopsidedness in most build performance throughout the entire clan / IS lineup and often sees the Clan 'Mechs with access to a large number of energy hard points consistently outperform equivalent 'Mechs on the IS side. While the popular adage sees the belief that only a handful of 'mechs consist as "problem" 'Mechs, the reality is that as a whole, the overall performance of even an average clan 'Mech can put up are often consistently higher then what the average IS 'Mech can put up provided they have access to a certain number of energy hardpoints. This will be a change that is targeted to either raise the skill cap needed to utilized mass Clan laser fire, or will be reduced to a level that does not completely overshadow the IS equivalent weapons.
[color=#FFA500]Option 1:[/color]
- Upfront damage is reduced to IS equivalent levels. Superior range values are kept.
- Instead of superior upfront damage, we can reduce the cool-downs, heat, and other attributes to move the natural boosted per-turn damage that the Clan weapons are historically known for in the fiction, as a higher rate of fire leaving them overall where they are now, but shifting the added damage perks away from Boosted Alpha strikes and more towards higher overall DPS. Keeping closer alpha damage
This is my prefered option. In fact, this actually is a change I would potentially go for anyway!
- Depending on the tuning, this could actually make lasers a viable option in Solaris
- Boosts the variety of weapons clan light mechs can make use of without overheating
- My one concern is how pulse lasers will be adjusted to maintain their place as the “DPS laser.” They’d likely need to be adjusted up to justify their higher tonnage.
Chris Lowrey, on 08 June 2018 - 10:58 AM, said:
[color=#FFA500]Option 2:[/color]
- Clan Laser's heat scale triggers set to 30 damage caps similar to their IS counterparts. All other weapon attributes remain unaffected.
- This will keep the superior damage for the weapons as it is now, but mass lasers will come with a higher skill ceiling in order to effectively utilize the entire payload in combat.
Here are my beefs with ghost heat:
- It adds fake difficulty to the game. It may take skill to properly group your weapons so you can ride the ghost heat margin as closely as possible, but a clever mouse or key macro can do that same thing. Thus, new MWO players, or simply players switching from IS to Clan for the first time will be at a disadvantage for no reason other than a damage nerf mechanic.
- If you’re not macro’ing, hitting your next group fire button .1 seconds too early can shut down your mech and end your match. Not. Fun.
- Default clan mech builds will be plagued by this mechanic making new players much more likely to have a bad time if they pick to play a clan mech first
Edited by RelativeQuanta, 16 June 2018 - 05:59 AM.