2 replies to this topic

[Starlynx1]

I know this one may be a tad controversial given it may tamper with certain mech’s “identities”, but I am of the belief that gameplay health (fun, balance, etc.) should come before lore adherence. That said, I do not want to completely strip the mechs of quirks and what makes the mechs special. Instead, I feel that a good way to increase the number of viable builds for particular mechs without stripping their identity is altering the item-specific quirks on mechs. What I mean by this is the quirks applying to a very specific item. For instance; AC-20 Range, C-ER PPC Velocity, Medium Pulse Laser Heat (X-Pulse not included), MRM 10 Velocity, etc. While these are good at giving the mechs their identities and niches, I find they make loadouts/builds for that mech somewhat limiting. Of course, you can choose to not take advantage of the weapon quirks, but then you would not be using your mech to its full strengths.

For an example of what I mean, I will use the Hunchback 4G (Quirks listed here are the ones relevant to the conversation)

• 
  IS AC/20 Cooldown: -25%
  
• 
  IS AC/20 Range: +15%
  
• 
  IS AC/20 Velocity: +20%
  
• 
  Ballistic Cooldown: -15%
  
• 
  Ballistic Range: +15%
  
• 
  Ballistic Velocity: +25%

Now some would argue that the AC/20 quirks should instead be integrated with the ballistic quirks to make things simpler. However, even with the Hunchback 4G having only a singular ballistic slot, making all ballistic weapons have 40% cooldown reduction, +30% range buff, and 45% velocity buff is problematic. For one that almost completely removes the mech's sense of identity as the “medium with big gun”, since any ballistic weapon will yield the same bonuses. Secondly, giving every ballistic weapon all of those buffs will lead to potential balancing issues. Thirdly, it alters the 4G’s role as a close-range brawler which can lead to other IS medium mechs with ballistic quirks (maybe even other ballistic using Hunchbacks) being invalidated due to the 4G simply being better at it.[

Instead, to preserve the mech’s balance, identity, and role, the AC-20 quirks should only be altered instead of removed. So rather than applying only to the AC-20, the quirks also apply to the LBX-20 and UAC-20. That way the Hunchback 4G change does not lead to drastic balancing issues, it keeps its role as a close range brawler, and opening up new opportunities for viable loadouts without sacrificing the original identity of “medium with big gun”.

I know this change is not doable on every mech and the specifics of each mech with these item-specific quirks would have to be addressed case-by-case. That said, I think this would allow for far more viable build options and could even make otherwise useless or bad mechs worthwhile. I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter or perhaps even other mech variants that need this treatment.

Edited by Starlynx1, 05 September 2023 - 04:15 PM.

[Horseman]

In some cases yes, extending the quirks to a certain "family" of weapons might make sense. In others, having gigaquirks for a single specific weapon system is the identity.

In the case of the AC-20s, an unquirked UAC-20 already does 30% more DPS (not to mention 85% more burst) than the standard AC so I don't think it should benefit from AC-20 quirks.

[D V Devnull]

They're going end up designing more Weapon Family Quirks to accommodate this one!

~D. V. "Weapon Family Quirks are how you handle De-Specializing Mechs" Devnull



[Edit by the Post Author to fix a formatting flub-up...]

Edited by D V Devnull, 14 September 2023 - 10:29 AM.