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[Lukoi Banacek]

So after 60+ matches spread across multiple accounts (gotta get those rewards), I got to play several different types of mechs to test out the heat impact to lights, overall heat cap issues and the mobility/brawling intersection I warned about in the first feedback.

Main takeaways so far:

• heat scale cap at 50 is probably too high (and that's from someone who plays alot of high alpha, energy based builds) and PGI needs to redo the heat indicators in the mechlab
  
• mobility buffs at no cost, and no derivation from mechs with engine caps is the wrong approach imo
  
• mobility buffs are not just noticeable, they are very strong on several mechs
  
• most "pet" builds are still very viable, they aren't just top dog in all situations now (and more viability for more types of game play is better imo)

Breaking this down a bit.....



First, the heat indicator isn't helpful. It wasn't great before, but it's definitely not seeming to accurately portray the alpha heat, or dps heat viability of a build at all. Look to smurfy for inspiration PGI, on how to break those two out and do a better job of helping players see their build stats. I had more trouble managing heat in a 1.51 HBR than a 1.17 EBJ, which is the exact opposite of what those numbers should imply.

Second, about that 50-cap for heat...while it does have an impact on the builds, I'm not sure it's getting after what the devs want. While personally I don't dislike high alpha builds, I understand their viewpoint that they need to be broken up or limited a bit to make other playstyles more viable. Not the approach I'd take, but so be it. That being said though, I think 45 is probably closer to the right #. Again, it's hard to tell in 4v4 though, and this PTS really needs to happen with a group size closer to the 12v12's we have in game (my vote is 8v8, a compromise between number of players on PTS and the actual 12v12 conditions the game is typically played at).

Thirdly, I think pure mobility buffs not tied to some other risk/reward consideration for the player isn't the best approach and that feeds into my point about mobility and brawl here in a bit. Do we need to retie the speed of torso twist etc to engine size? It's an option, but if you do that you have to examine if the lore-based engine caps for many mechs (engine capping isn't really being done for balancing reasons) and either allow for faster Stalkers, or give them something like a durability buff to offset their lack of mobility. Frankly, the differentiation might offer up some nice flavor given the vast number of mechs we have.

Regardless, except in a few key cases with super under performers, I think the increased mobility buffs should come at a cost to the player in terms of engine size or skill points (i.e. increase the value of mobility nodes in skill tree for those mechs, especially assaults, but that means players have to invest the SP to get it).

Another reason I want to see an 8v8 PTS is because brawling goes from complete underdog to wildly over the top in 4v4 and there may be problems here we're not seeing because of the limited scale.

One of the principal complaints regarding high alpha builds is that they were pretty durned effective at most engagement ranges, from start to finish, as long as a savvy player was smart about rotating to cover. Brawlers specifically, couldn't counter that, as they were attritted to heavily during their approach. High alpha, energy/GR based builds weren't just blunting a charge, they were winning the fights at close range too.

This PTS-series is a definite move in the right direction to bringing brawling back into viability, but that doesn't mean that long range builds, position play builds etc shouldn't be viable. We're not looking for a pendulum here, we're looking for a more level playing environment.

I'd love to see PGI run an 8v8 because that would give us a much better indicator on whether non-brawlers can do enough damage to win periodically versus a brawler dec, and whether or not brawlers can whether the storm enough to get into range and win the engagement at their preferred range. That's my mobility concern. Fast twisting AS7, KDK, MC2, CP etc are now a much more scary thing to have turn the corner on you if they are piloted by someone with any hint of aggression, which is a good thing imo.

For the PTS thus far I've piloted (so far):

• HLL/MPL/LMG EBJ
  
• HLL/ERML/LMG HBR build
  
• 5MPL Wolfhound
  
• HML/LMG ACH
  
• HGR/LPL/ML AS7
  
• pure brawling TBR (SRM+ERSL)
  
• LBX ANH

Edited by Lukoi Banacek, 25 August 2018 - 05:07 PM.