Ok... so much ignorance about the history of LRM nerfs, that I'll mostly address my main point : Lock time nerfs, including both direct and indirect LOS nerfs :
So LRMs started out with an initial lock time of 100 (can I get away with this one ? ), which could be reduced 50% by narcs, and 50% by TAG, which stacked for a total lock time reduction to 25 (100 x 50% x 50% = 25).
That reduction to 25 was available even if someone else was using TAGs and Narcs for you from 1000m away, without you having to use direct LOS.
Although typically any and every direct LOS LRM user would just use his own TAG with no narc available (due to limited missile mounts), with that TAG being the reason for him actively going for direct LOS. And that was enough to reduce the direct LOS lock time to 50 (100 x 50% = 50).
So : The minimum lock time I've been talking about (direct or indirect LOS) was 25, but even without narcs you could and would use your own 1T TAG (or anyone else's TAG) to keep it at 50.
The multiple stacks of LRM nerfs included :
- Reducing the TAG lock time reduction bonus from 50% to 0%.
- Reducing the NARC lock time reduction bonus from 50% to 0%.
- Compensating that 75% universal lock time reduction with a direct-LOS-only 20% reduction : From 100 to 80.
- Increasing indirect LOS lock time : From 110 to... over 1000 ?
So what does that really mean :
If there's an AFK enemy mech standing in the open, that all 12 players from your team including yourself stand 10m around it, that all 12 are using a TAG, release an UAV, and shoot their own Narc into it... The direct LOS lock time is then : 80
That absolute minimum of 80 compares to the 25 you could get before, using indirect LOS, from over 1000m away.
And the extent of that nerf for the minimum short range direct LOS locks is : 80 / 25 = 3.2x longer.
And that 3.2X "increase" for the minimum short range direct LOS lock time, is what PGI is calling "a boost".
Because as for the long range indirect lock time nerfs : They've become impractical by design, which does make a 3.2x nerf kind of look like "a boost"... or more precisely qualifies as "a lesser nerf".
And again the usual notes :
- AMS range has been increased by over 15% : From 165m to 190m.
- LRM20 missile health was reduced by 30% : At which point missiles were exploding all over the cockpit inside the mech, because they couldn't even exit their launch tube (true story, there's probably youtube videos about it).
- To fix the cockpit fireworks, LRM20 missile health was reduced by 20% instead of 30% : So missiles could exit their launch tubes before being shot down.
- The 15% AMS range increase and 20% LRM20 health decrease stack together.
- PGI quadrupled the amount of AMS an IS assault can carry over a Clan assault (because...hello balance patch...).
- Do I need to mention that AMS can shoot missiles through walls ? No, because it's obvious enough that even LRM-haters gave up on denying the fact (for once).
Again, not a single trace of a "boost" anywhere : The only positives are just there to "reduce" (not even compensate) the extent of the nerfs, and once you add a nerf to it's partial compensation, what you get are some "partially reduced nerfs", which still amounts to nerfs.
Anyway on practical terms, that means I've thrown out my 0% lock time reduction TAGs, my average direct lock time has increased from 50 to 80, and Narcs can no longer reduce it down to 25... And that part of the LRM balance patch, is what PGI calls a "direct LOS boost" (PGI has it's own sense of humor), that is meant to compensate for the massive indirect LOS nerfs, and encourage LRM players to go get themselves a slower then ever before direct LOS lock...
I'll skip the part about the direct LOS low arc "boost" being more dangerous to your teammates then to enemy mechs... You can read forum threads here about those teammates complaining about it.
And finally : Stop throwing more empty wind at me, and start throwing me some numbers back instead, because my windmill is about to fly off.
Edited by Humble Dexter, 23 August 2019 - 07:55 AM.