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[InnerSphereNews]

Upcoming Patch - 13 November 2018 @ 10AM – 1PM PDT

Patch Number: 1.4.188.0

Client Patch Size: 453MB

Direct Download:
http://patcher.mwome...ndPatch_347.zip

http://patcher.mwomercs.com/patch/Production/frontend/FrontendPatch_348.zip

PATCH NOTES FOR NOV 13th

You can check out the Countdown post for more details about the Vapor Eagle as they are released!

Order the Vapor Eagle in the Store page here!

How to Qualify

Countdown to release

'Mech Loadout details

The following new Bolt-Ons have been added to all retrofitted 'Mech chassis:

• Katana - Hand
  
• Katana - Back
  
• Searchlight - Shoulder
  
• Flag - Back
  
• Flag - Shoulder
  

Bolt-on retrofits have been expanded to the following 'Mech chassis:

• Vindicator
  
• Quickdraw
  
• Kintaro
  
• Wolverine
  
• Highlander
  
• Trebuchet
  
• Orion
  
• Warhammer
  
• Champion
  

The following 'Mech chassis have undergone 3060s weapons retrofits:

• Marauder
  
• Phoenix Hawk
  
• Archer

MechCon Virtual Ticket Content Pack owners:

• MechCon 2018 Lanyard Hanging Cockpit Item
  
• MechCon 2018 Blue Mug Standing Cockpit Item
  
• MechCon 2018 Hex Speakers Warhorn Cockpit Item
  

2018 Tournament Supporter Pack owners:

• Cloud
  

Thanksgiving Event Item:

• Battle of Turkeyyid Warhorn
  

Winter 2018 Event Item:

• Nutcracker
  

Weapon Changes

Ballistic weapons

Light Gauss Rifle:

• Ammo per ton increased
  25 Shots per ton (from 20 shots per ton)
  12 Shots per half ton (from 10 shots per half ton)

• Max range increased to 1600 (from 1500)

Missile Weapons

Rocket Launchers:

• Added a 2x crit damage multiplier.

Rocket Launcher Design Notes: Previous Rocket Launcher use often saw them as mass upfront damage weapons to strip large amounts of armor in a single salvo as early as possible within a match. While this use case is all well and good, despite the high upfront damage that can see the armor of even the toughest 'Mechs brought down to critical levels in a single salvo, we often found that even if you take a 'Mech's torso armor into the red in a single volley, this still ends up feeling bad in the larger context of their use because despite a massive damage volley for minimal tonnage investment (that is currently one of the quickest ways available to bring heavily armored targets down into a more vulnerable state), it often felt like the Rocket Launcher users were primarily there to set up kills for teammates rather than reward the Rocket Launcher users themselves. And those that do use them effectively tend to try to use them as quickly as possible to strip armor rather then hold onto them to set up potential kill / maiming shots on exposed locations.

With this in mind, we want to provide Rocket Launchers with a bit more utility for those that do take on the risk of holding onto their rocket salvos to use later in the match. While it still contains the same utility at quickly shredding armor as it does now, we want to further reward holding onto rocket salvos to make mid to late match skill shots on exposed locations or back shots against potentially volatile payloads such as Gauss Rifles or ammo bins more rewarding. This boost will not only boost their damage against critical components, but will also boost their bonus structural damage for successful critical hits. We hope to see this provide a bit more incentive to hold onto rockets into a bit later into the match to use in potential kill / maiming shots, or to punish someone exposing their thinly armored back to the enemy.

SRMs

• SRM 2 (Both Clan and IS versions)
  Heat reduced to 1.6 (from 1.7)

Streak SRMs

• Streak SRM 2 (Both Clan and IS versions)
  Heat reduced to 1.6 (from 1.7)

SRM Design Notes: By design the 2 class SRM launcher's niche is to trade the overall heat efficiency and upfront damage of the larger launchers for shorter cooldowns and tighter missile clustering, however we felt that the previous heat value fell a bit too far behind the curve compared to other launcher sizes even with the recent heat changes. We are making a heat reduction to better boost their short term sustain, although prolonged engagements should still see heavier launchers retain their more long term heat efficient niche.

Mech Quirks

Locust

• Mobility attributes increased across multiple variants
  
• A number of variants have had their quirks adjusted:
  

LCT-1M:

• Energy and Missile Cooldown quirks consolidated into a global Cooldown quirk.
  
• New Target Retention Duration +1 second added.
  

LCT-1V:

• Torso structure quirks converted into armor + 8 quirks.
  

LCT-3M

• AMS Range +10% quirk added.
  

LCT-3S

• Energy and Missile Cooldown quirks consolidated into a global Cooldown quirk.
  
• Missile Heat Gen quirk converted into a global heat gen quirk.
  

LCT-3V

• Machine Gun RoF quirk increased to 25% (from 20%)
  
• New Cooldown -15% quirk added.
  
• Increased Arm armor bonus' up to +4 (from +3)
  
• Increased Leg armor bonus' up to +9 (from +6)
  

Locust design notes: When setting the ceiling on the post engine desync mobility system, the Locust was picked as the mobility ceiling with the unlocking of its full mobility attributes. This was both to preserve what at the time was the peak of mobility with the full investment of the mobility tree, while at the same time sticking to parameters we knew would not disrupt hit registration. After reviewing the results of the recent PTS and taking some extra time to examine internally, we have decided to raise the ceiling on many locust variants past what they have been in the past, focusing mainly on variants that have not been up to par with some of the higher performing variants. Although it should be noted that like all mobility values, they are tuned to come with a distinct give and take between those that forgo investments in the mobility tree, and those that maximize their investments into mobility.

With this ceiling being raised, a number of other high mobility 'Mechs on the lighter side of the tonnage scale will be looking to gain a slight boost to coincide with this raising of the ceiling.

Jenner

JR7-D:

• Missile Cooldown quirks converted to a Universal Cooldown quirk.
  
• Moderate increase to baseline Mobility
  

JR7-F

• Moderate increase to baseline Mobility.
  

JR7-K

• Missile Cooldown quirk converted to a Universal Cooldown quirk.
  
• Moderate increase to baseline mobility
  

Jenner design notes: Among the light roster, the Jenner by design is targeted to contain the highest amount of mobility for the tonnage it occupies at the expense of being generally leaning a bit towards the frail side. We want to play up its ability to act as an agile skirmisher, so in addition to increases to its mobility to coincide with the overall mobility ceiling being raised with the Locust, we are converting the various Cooldown quirks on the D and the K to be universal to further enhance its damage output in short term bursts.

Uziel

• All variants to receive a moderate increase to mobility.
  
• Torso structure bonuses slightly increased.
  

Marauder

MAD-BH2

• Energy Range quirk converted into a Universal Range Quirk.
  
• New IS ER PPC HSL +1 quirk Added
  

Jenner IIC

• All variants to receive a moderate increase in baseline Mobility.

• All variants to receive a light amount of structure quirks in the arms.

JR7-IIC-2

• New ER Laser duration -10% quirk added.
  
• New Missile cooldown -15% quirk added.
  

JR7-IIC-3

• New Pulse Laser Heat Gen -5% quirk added
  
• New Narc Duration +15 second quirk added.
  

Jenner IIC Design notes: In addition to the added mobility, we are providing the 2 and 3 with additional flavor quirks to correspond with their roles in the fiction. In addition to this we will be providing the IIC with a slight boost to its structure values. Although the structure reassignments saw increased global performance in all 'Mechs that where provided it, the JR7-IIC was the only one in which the now more vulnerable arms swung a bit too far from where we wanted to see them given their larger geometric profile compared to the various other 'Mechs that received the rearranged attributes. We wish to provide them with a bit more durability but still remain somewhat vulnerable.

Nova Cat

NCT-Prime

• ER Laser Duration set of 8 quirk removed.
  
• New Clan ER Large Laser HSL +1 set of 8 quirk added in its place
  

NCT-C

• UAC Jam chance set of 8 increased to -10% (from -5%)
  

NCT-D

• Heavy Laser Duration Set of 8 quirk removed.
  
• New Clan Heavy Large Laser HSL +1 quirk added in its place
  
• Ballistic Cooldown set of 8 quirk increased to -15% (from -10%)
  

Nova Cat Design Notes: The HSL quirk is allowing us to inject some of the canon flavor of the Nova Cats back into them through their set of 8 quirks. While looking into providing them with these quirks, we felt that the NCT-D could use a bit of a boost to better compete with the new set of 8's on the various other Nova Cat variants.

Direwolf

DWF-A

• Ballistic cooldown set of 8 quirk increased to -10% (from 5%)
  
• Added Clan Large Pulse laser HSL + 1 quirk.
  

DWF-S, DWF-W

• Negative base armor head quirks removed.

Mobility quirks

With both the overall mobility ceiling being raised, and continuing our Mobility PTS pass, the following 'Mechs will be receiving mobility increases in addition to those listed above:

• Phoenix Hawk
  
• Rifleman
  
• Grasshopper
  
• Black Knight
  
• Banshee
  
• Ice Ferret
  
• Shadow Cat
  
• Warhawk
  

Quirks PDF Details

Trial 'Mechs Update!

Inner Sphere

• LCT-1E(C)
  
• CN9-A(C)
  
• ON1-K(C)
  
• BLR-2C(C)
  
• PNT-10K(C)
  
• KTO-18(C)
  
• CPLT-A1(C)
  
• MAL-MX90(C)
  

Clan

• MLX-Prime(C)
  
• HBK-IIC(C)
  
• HBR-F(C)
  
• KDK-3(C)
  
• ADR-Prime(C)
  
• NVA-S(C)
  
• ON1-IIC-A(C)
  
• HGN-IIC-C(C)
  

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where saving a Champion 'Mech loadout profile and loading it onto a non-Champion variant caused an inability to edit the loadout.
  
• Fixed an issue where the IS PPC HSL quirk affects all IS PPC instead of just affecting the standard PPC.
  
• Notes: We are temporarily converting the AWS-8Qs "IS PPC HSL" quirk into an "IS PPC Family HSL" quirk while we observe the results, this quirk is only being provided on a trial basis.
• Fixed an issue where the Champion 'Mech CHP-INV had Artemis upgrade by default when it only had streak SRM Missiles.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Skill Tree enhancement values that were displayed in the mouse-over 'mech info panel appeared double than the actual value.
  
• Fixed a HUD issue where certain Hero chassis names were not upper case letters.
  
• Fixed a HUD issue where spectating a Hero 'Mech variant get destroyed displayed the incorrect 'Mech name on the HUD.
  

Art Fixes:

• Fixed the issue where all Centurion legs were having visible jitters when walking at slow speed
  
• Fixed a map issue where the Gargoyle GAR-PRIME(I) appeared to have unpainted geometry on the head with all camo patterns
  
• Fixed a map issue where the Solaris City map in cell B4 had a hole by the river channel where 'Mechs could fall into and get stuck
  
• Fixed map issue where the Mining Collective map in cell E4/E5 had 'Mechs get stuck by the pipes.
  
• Fixed a map issue in the Escort Game Mode while on the River City map where the VIP Atlas stopped moving on cells G5/H5
  
• Fixed an issue where the camo spec on the Incubus 'Mech caused it to have white on its legs.
  
• Fixed a sound issue where the Cyclone 'Mech's Subwoofer Warhorn audio had a delay.
  

Patch Files (Direct Download)

To make the patching process easier for players with limited download caps, we'll be providing direct download links for the patch file(s) that comprise this patch. This will allow you to download the patch file(s) elsewhere, for manual injection into the MWO patcher through a Patch Cache folder.

Aside from allowing you to download the patch file(s) elsewhere, on another connection, there are no additional benefits to performing the patch this way; the patching process itself will be the same.

This direct patch download process will only work for players running the standalone client. It does not apply to players running MWO through Steam.

Patch File(s): To be provided on patch day

How to use these patch files

• Download the above file(s)

• For sake of ease we recommend creating a dedicated folder for the patch file(s), such as 'MWO Patch Cache'

• You do not need to unzip or unpack the patch file(s)

• Launch the MWO Portal

• Select the three horizontal lines in the top left of the Portal Window

• Choose the 'Specify Patch File Cache' option

• In the field that appears, paste or enter the location in which you saved the patch file(s) and hit OK

• For example, C:\Users\<username>\Documents\MWO Patch Cache

• Click the blue Patch button

• The launcher will now check the Patch Cache folder you defined. If it locates the required patch files, it will unpack and use those files to apply the patch.

• Once the patch is complete, launch the game

[Domenoth]

Really like some of the HSL additions. Nova Cat needed some better flavor.

[PobbestGob]

looks like a solid patch o7

[Rhialto]

Again another patch and still not fixed:

[Sereglach]

So those "Top Priorities" and "Under the Microscope Items" . . . the broken Heat Containment nodes, Stealth Armor being screwed up due to the functionality depending on heat capacity, and Flamers being utterly broken . . . none of it's been fixed in this patch. That is quite disappointing. I guess people haven't quite figured out just how brokenly powerful Flamers are and that 3-4 Flamers can absolutely stunlock people with no problem. I guess if people haven't figured out to complain about these problems -or abuse, in the case of flamers- en masse, yet, then why address the issue? On well, I guess at least when I play I know I can still stunlock people left and right.

Also, for what is typically the last "big" patch of the year, it feels incredibly light. Is that much of the team devoted to getting MW5 out the door as fast as possible? Hopefully December isn't quite so light on the patch content.

Edited by Sereglach, 09 November 2018 - 11:20 PM.

[PobbestGob]

Sereglach, on 09 November 2018 - 06:05 PM, said:

So those &quot;Top Priorities&quot; and &quot;Under the Microscope Items&quot; . . . the broken Heat Containment nodes, ... etc

this is all true and these things should have been addressed asap. however, credit where its due this is the first patch in ages where none of the changes are objectionable, seems a win to me.

[Alcom Isst]

InnerSphereNews, on 09 November 2018 - 05:34 PM, said:

• Fixed an issue where the IS PPC HSL quirk affects all IS PPC instead of just affecting the standard PPC.
  
• Notes: We are temporarily converting the AWS-8Qs "IS PPC HSL" quirk into an "IS PPC Family HSL" quirk while we observe the results, this quirk is only being provided on a trial basis.

That went from 10 to 0 back to 10 real quick.

[Tarogato]

InnerSphereNews, on 09 November 2018 - 05:34 PM, said:

Quirks PDF Details

lol, why are the clan battlemechs provided in the omnimech quirk format?

Thank you for continuing to provide these sheets, by the way.

[Dungeon 206]

lurms killing the game PGI.
watch the top tier streams and you'll see.

[Pariah Devalis]

Domenoth, on 09 November 2018 - 05:47 PM, said:

Really like some of the HSL additions. Nova Cat needed some better flavor.

A bit sad it wasn't baked in as a base NCT-Prime quirk, and instead is a set of 8 quirk. As a knuckledragger and a wide target, it seems like a rather safe platform to be more forgiving with in regards to quirkage. Or, at the very least, nab some defensive quirks. *shrug*

Still, the 5 ERLLas NCT might be fun, and the NCT-Prime base config of 2x ERPPC and 3x ERLLas could theoretically be pretty potent, if rather hot, assuming the mech can safely expose itself.

Edited by Pariah Devalis, 09 November 2018 - 07:26 PM.

[Y E O N N E]

I would have liked to see more MG RoF for the LCT-3V and 1V and a return of some of the missile cooldown lost with the skill tree introduction on the LCT-3S but, overall?

notbad.jpg

[Monkey Lover]

Rhialto, on 09 November 2018 - 06:02 PM, said:

Again another patch and still not fixed:

Maybe im the only one but i dont care about some shadows. I could list a dozen things to improve over some visuals.

I be happy with about anything, updates dont have to completely stop for 6 months due to mechcon..

Edited by Monkey Lover, 09 November 2018 - 08:35 PM.

[C337Skymaster]

Seems nobody's noticed that we're getting details about the Champion in preparation for the Goshawk.

InnerSphereNews, on 09 November 2018 - 05:34 PM, said:

You can check out the Countdown post for more details about the champion as they are released!



Order the Vapor Eagle in the Store page here!

[BrunoSSace]

Wow nice patch. No nerfs are good nerfs. (Thumbs up for Locus Buff)

[GweNTLeR]

InnerSphereNews, on 09 November 2018 - 05:34 PM, said:

Rocket Launchers:

• Added a 2x crit damage multiplier.

With such a giant SPREAD, they are still more like a waste of tonnage, a crit damage boost wont really change that fact. Have you ever seen top 100 players actually use that stuff? Except for some really specific things, like gaining 20% protection for stalker's arms or kintaro's CT for filling those missile hardpoints.
You want to make them useful? Make them stream launchers like MRM with a much smaller spread - so they could be useful against assaults at least.

Edited by GweNTLeR, 09 November 2018 - 10:28 PM.

[Zephrym]

Thanks for the patch notes.

As mentioned above, there's a typo referring to the champion. Also, the Jenner 11C quirks state "New ER Laser -10% quirk added." Is this range, cooldown or heat gen?

Cheers

Z

[NUMBERZero1032]

What about the Victor mobility buff?

[MarsThunder]

No essential bug fixes again.

[D V Devnull]

Hmmm... This looks like a GOOD Monthly Update Patch to me!

Of note however, we probably don't need to pre-announce the Event Reward Cockpit Items. Those should remain a surprise until the Event itself actually arrives. Our friendly PGI Staff could get away with just saying what Events are coming up

---

Hmm? What's this?

Zephrym, on 09 November 2018 - 11:23 PM, said:

Thanks for the patch notes.

As mentioned above, there's a typo referring to the champion. Also, the Jenner 11C quirks state "New ER Laser -10% quirk added." Is this range, cooldown or heat gen?

Cheers

Z

Huh... Nice catch! Maybe it's supposed to be a mystery, however? We'll find out!

---

Now... as for this...

GweNTLeR, on 09 November 2018 - 10:27 PM, said:

With such a giant SPREAD, they are still more like a waste of tonnage, a crit damage boost wont really change that fact. Have you ever seen top 100 players actually use that stuff? Except for some really specific things, like gaining 20% protection for stalker's arms or kintaro's CT for filling those missile hardpoints.
You want to make them useful? Make them stream launchers like MRM with a much smaller spread - so they could be useful against assaults at least.

Pardon me, but WHAT Range are you trying to say they should have such perfect spread at? There is a REASON that the Spread is set at "4.7" on all Rocket Launchers, and that's to force a player to FIGURE OUT how to get in dangerously close (but more than 50 meters away) to deal optimal damage on one spot. It's literally NOT meant to allow someone to sit back at 350 meters and deal ALL the damage to one single Component on an Enemy Mech. They DESIGNED give-and-take into the Range so a light could NEVER just one-shot anything it wants from behind. The item is meant to be more of a Hit-and-Run Weapon anyway. Plus, Stream Launcher fire takes longer, which would actually cause this weapon a drawback, where it's meant to be fired as a surprise. If you wanted something too easy, then you came to the WRONG place, as this 'MechWarrior/BattleTech'-based game is supposed to require time and thought.

---

And more importantly, this...

Dungeon 206, on 09 November 2018 - 07:03 PM, said:

lurms killing the game PGI.
watch the top tier streams and you'll see.

It's NOT the LRMs that are killing MWO, and it NEVER HAS BEEN by any means. What is INDEED hurting/killing MWO is all the people who FAIL to learn to USE the following things...

• Available cover on the field, as that terrain happens to be there for everyone to UTILIZE and tap into!
  
• AMS, as that's supposed to help further shield against Missiles hitting you... an obvious one. Several people should have these equipped on their Mechs on your Team. If they don't, then they made a BIG mistake, and your Team deserves to get pummeled. You should start yelling at them for missing defensive weaponry.
  
• ECM, either of your own or a Teammate's... STOP FORGETTING about TeamWork already!!!
  
• 60% Radar Deprivation... If you've got this and terrain to duck behind, LRM users are going to have a hard time with getting at you.
  
• Any of a plethora of Long-Range Weaponry, or for that matter ANYTHING you can hit a LRM user with faster than they can ever hit you.

...and then they try to complain about a weapon that DESERVES ZERO Nerfing happening to it. Teams need to learn to function together, regardless of combat style. They should NOT have easy kills on a platter, and/or should also NOT have a game devoid of Fire Support Weaponry. Ballistics and Lasers are NOT everything, and people need to be thoroughly waking up to that. MWO has FOREVER NOT been...

• "Hawken"
  
• "Call Of Duty"
  
• "TitanFall"
  
• "Counter-Strike"
  
• "OverWatch"
  
• "Destiny"
  
• "PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds"

...and it's DEFINITELY about damned time they all realize one thing, that...

This IS "MECHWARRIOR ONLINE"!!!

...and that further of note, NOT everyone in the world has near-perfect aim. The BattleTech Lore makes note of -- and Real Life has -- many aged MechWarriors who were still in service as 'Non-FrontLine Personnel' to their Units/Houses/Clans and such of the kind. They suffer from Various Medical Issues that actively prevent them from brawling, or for that matter doing anything that would require them to have such near-perfect aim. MechWarrior Online is NOT supposed to be designed to shut them out, and the BattleTech Lore even supports positional roles where some sit, pitching past your head at the enemy with LRMs... possibly even ATMs, with the right angles. NOBODY has a right to go tell them to walk away and play Tetris or some such. Learn to work WITH these people, and support them in order to support yourself.

Oh, and one last thing... QUIT TRYING TO RUIN MWO WITH SUCH TOXIC IDEAS AND UNSIGHTLY BEHAVIOR!!! Yes, I really do find it sickening that anyone would push an idea that shuts people out who don't have full access to the usage of all four of their limbs. MWO has already lost too many from its' Player Base, and it needs to NOT lose any more. We need to grow MWO's Player Base back to the kind of sizes it was around 3 Years Ago, so that it can be enjoyable once more!


~Mr. D. V. "Tch... It took me to the end of Page 1 to get a post out about the Latest Update? I'm slow today!" Devnull

[ZortPointNarf]

GweNTLeR, on 09 November 2018 - 10:27 PM, said:

[/b]
With such a giant SPREAD, they are still more like a waste of tonnage, a crit damage boost wont really change that fact. Have you ever seen top 100 players actually use that stuff? Except for some really specific things, like gaining 20% protection for stalker's arms or kintaro's CT for filling those missile hardpoints.
You want to make them useful? Make them stream launchers like MRM with a much smaller spread - so they could be useful against assaults at least.

Do tell, I am am not aware of those buffs? Could you explain how they work, when and on which mechs, or just point me to where I can find the info. This is exactly the kind of min-maxing I like without going towards the high alpha delete-a-mechs builds.

At the risk of looking like a tool, can anyone say what HSL stands for? I at first thought Heavy Small Laser, but that doesn't make sense since it applies to IS mechs too.

A very good patch, really hope to hear about a new map during mech-con. I am a big fan of the farmlands idea that's been on here for ages. Like a grassy polar, maybe with a river gully running diagonally across is. Keep up the good work PGI, and I am very glad they are giving the devs a bit of a rest over the festive season.