Khobai, on 20 March 2019 - 10:14 PM, said:
To be fair the linebacker is hardly representative of most heavies though. In fact its an oddity. It doesnt have the tonnage that a regular clan heavy does so of course it has to rely on lighter tonnage weapons like SRMs.
Would linebackers still use SRMs if they had the tonnage to use better weapons? Nope. Thats why you dont see Ebon Jaguars using SRMs for example. The Ebon Jaguar is the same exact tonnage as the Linebacker, it has missile omnipods too, but people dont put SRMs on it because it has the tonnage for heavier weapons. The only other heavy you see people put SRMs on regularly is the Orion IIC because its 3M 2E 1B hardpoints essentially force it to use SRMs. Theres not really any better options for those M hardpoints.
The linebacker is another case of a mech being forced to use SRMs because it HAS TO. Again just because youre forced to take a weapon doesnt necessarily mean that weapon is good. It just means its the least worst of the options available to you. SRMs are mostly a compromise weapon, you take them because you have to take them due to tonnage or hardpoint limits, not because theyre your #1 weapon pick. There are way better weapons than SRMs.
You almost never see SRMs on clan heavies and assaults. If you do its only on purpose-built brawlers like the Orion or Scorch which have hardpoints that dont make sense for anything BUT SRMs. Nobody puts SRMs on scorch because they WANT TO, they put SRMs on Scorch because they HAVE TO. Theyre the least bad option for those M hardpoints. And Orion/Scorch arnt really dominating the meta last I checked. They certainly arnt overperforming compared to Hellbringers or MadcatMK2s.
Once again SRMs didnt need to be nerfed. Theres absolutely no evidence that SRMs were overperforming at all.
LBKs would still be strongest with a 77 pt alpha, 21 DPS, running nearly 100kph and armor quirks.
Yes, without question.
Do you think nobody has EBJs or TBRs or the rest?
Scorch has energy hardpoints. Did you know that? However taking the bigger ballistics and the high alpha, reasonable heat SRMs punches better. If a Scorch has more free tonnage people would take bigger missiles - not lasers.
That you don't understand that the SRM side of an Orion is the dangerous bit is part of why you don't get this conversation. MKIIs don't run SRMs because they fill another role and they're not the best choice for Clans in that tonnage range for brawling.
Clans run less SRMs than IS because Clans tend to have better range loadout options and are squishy.
You just don't seem to get this at all. No, SRMs were not over performing, they were in a good place and doing a good job of it. Nobody good at this game would say SRMs and MRMs are bad. If a team/players prefer range trade then they'd likely use them less. I play with the most successful brawl players in the game though. Hands down. If you tried to tell them SRMs and MRMs are bad they'd laugh at you. You pur MLs on a Roughneck because you have the E hardpoints. No serious Roughneck pilot wouldn't gleefully trade the Es for Ms, save on the A2.
The only reason the LBK is an exception is because it's got speed, armor quirks and missile hardpoints. You can deck an LBK out for energy. It's a waste though because for brawl, the splat is better. The Splat TBR was the best brawler for Clans until its mobility went to ****. Even over the MPL boat one, even with CMPLs were strong.
A 70+ damage heat manageable alpha with a DPS close to 20 generally beats the ballistic options, save on 1lthe biggest assaults - mostly due to mobility. Give me a 100 ton Clan mech with armor quirks, decent mobility and 8 energy, 8 ballistic and 8 missile hardpoint variants. You'd have an energy one for trading, ignore the ballistic (unless its got higher mounts or perks vs KDK3 and Ultraviolet) and the missile one would be the optimal brawler.
Because for brawling SRMs and in FW MRMs on certain setups are ideal over all other options. We have Jags, 3B Roughnecks, Shads, Fafnirs, ballistic and energy options along the spectrum. Best brawlers tend to be mixed ballistic (often MG/hmg if you've got a lot of B slots) and missiles.