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InnerSphereNews, on 29 January 2021 - 06:29 PM, said:
QUARTER 3 - NEW CONTENT + CONTINUED IMPROVEMENTS
‘Mechs
- Quirks / Set of 8's for Under Performers Pass 1
and the Timber Wolf topic, I tried asking for a section where we could discuss over the changes to some Mech quirks in the vain hope when Quirks pass comes, they might consider what we say.
From recently using 1 and talk about the Clan Timber, let's discuss a IS Heavy the Thunderbolt. I got 'em all even the Hero and loved them when they had their day. They still have tanking potential and LFE may even open up new builds but one thing is a problem. All 4 not counting Top Dog were given 1 or more quirks making one weapon stand above others to be boated. This was fine years ago but not today. Of course you can say ignore them and do what you want but still I think it is time to change some to meet better goals.
Goals of Thunderbolt requirking:
1 - Quirks must allow as much build variety as possible, players find it stale when weapon specific quirks seem to push you towards boating one thing above all others.
2 - Nothing here is intended to make any meta, just to make them worthwhile. Basically aim for middle of the Tier List like should be done when balancing any characters in games with Tier Lists. Based off Grimech's 5 tiers, that means B-Tier performer. Even Meta players prefer finding those builds, not being pushed. Never forget the famous Thunderbolt-9S Scandal.
3 - Bringing back a Mech known for decent performance and frontlining though it may be usable in a couple other roles.
4 - Actually making the Ballistic and Missile slots worth considering instead of being ignored as before, the 5S and 9S had nothing but that will be different now especially with new weapons and quirk types.
So I have come up with my own ideas to put each variant into a few roles player's can choose from and will give general descriptions of these.
TOP DOG - Hero, sometimes the Pay for Brawler
Currently the only one on Grim's with two builds but only one makes it in the Tiers at the A level, the 5ERLL is not Tiered. I look at quirks and remember I used it as a 8MPL brawler back in the day, you may say why since the 5SS was pushed for that but Top Dog allowed 1 additional MPL and those weapon quirks on the 5SS mean little compared to the Structure Quirks the Hero has. I actually kept track of both 5SS and TD MPL Brawl performance as I sued both extensively and they were equal, so much for quirk differences.
I think having so many more Structure Quirks, the generic Range quirks and 9 Energy slots cannot be improved upon but maybe I am wrong. For now I say leave it alone, remember it is bad to make a Pay for Mech so good, P2W is bad.
5SS - The Free Brawler whose Missile slot is ignored
Since this performed even with the Dog, in a Energy build it needs a way to stand out from that besides being the one you can get for free and having 2 less Energy slots. This might mean giving it 3 Torso and 2 Arm Structure quirks similar yet different than the Dogs Torso and Leg ones.
Now the problem, it is the only Thunderbolt with 1 Missile slot, part of this problem will be seen below. I do not know about other players but I see 1 Missile slot, one thing I think of is, "can I take the biggest ****ing Missile weapon possible and use it?" That means LRM20, MRM40, SRM6 and SSRM6 all seen almost never due to 2 things, Spread and Cooldown so either this variant needs generic quirks in those to make Big Missile launchers worth using or this could be a rare exception of making specific quirks for those 4 weapons, I prefer the first option for simplicity.
I am sure people can figure out different Energy builds easy so here is an example of a potential build using the Missile slot with even a AMS though you can replace that for those who do not run one. I used the Missile Launcher with the most tonnage so it can be modified for the other 4 big ones easy and still uses the largest LFE.
5SS Quirks Summary
Structure for 3 Torsos and 2 Arms.
Missile Spread and Cooldown.
Maybe 1 Energy quirk different than Range, Dog has that.
9SE - Jumpbolt
With my new view of the 9S not being so ERPPC focused and 3 Thunderbolts no longer pushing sniping only, I think the 9SE can allow focus on a variety of Long Range Energy builds though could also Brawl with Missiles + Energy and mobility.
The JJs are the big thing here they will be used in one of 3 ways.
A - Meta single JJ for improved turning and clearing low obstacles.
B - Max 4JJs losing 4 tons to gain as much height as possible and reach places other Thunderbotls cannot.
C - Those times you want JJs and have 2-3 tons to fill with nothing else.
Having the second fewest Energy hardpoints makes me want to use big ones (PPCs, LPLs, LLs) more so I could see generic PPC family quirks, maybe minor LPL + LL.
For the Missile side I do not see this as a LRMer due to hardpoint placement, best I could think of is this and I am not impressed so MRMs and SRMs only thus either 1 each generic Energy + Missile or 2 Missile quirks for Missile + Energy Brawling.
This is also the only Thunderbolt with no weapons in the Left Torso so should the Torso structure be kept or more RT focused?
9SE Quirks Summary
Possible change to RT Structure doubled, LT no benefit.
PPC / LPL / LL quirks of some kind TBD.
1 Energy + 1 Missile or 2 Missile quirks for Jump Brawlers.
Before the last 2 I should again mention these are the ones with Ballistics that are not quirked right now. Despite Right Arm placement, I believe they should have something to encourage consideration either for Right side corner poking or just mixed use. Looking at Ballistic weapons, I could see each variant focused on benefiting 1 Ballistic family type.
Machine Guns - I cannot see myself using them, seems they are preferred when 4+ slots are available so I am neutral on quirking MGs.
ACs - possible but with so many other Mechs using standard ACs, maybe use one of the 3 below.
LBX - Combine a Spread reduction with a Missile Crit quirk could make an interesting build using no Energy.
Gauss - No Heavy can fit. Could be quirked for GR or LGR, not a big Gauss user to know how.
UACs - I can see a small generic UAC Jam quirk of 5% for UAC10, UAC5 or even 2UAC2.
RACs - We need more RAC quirked Mechs besides the RFL-8D, question is if this is one of those to consider. Thunderbotls do not strike me as DPS Mechs except Pulse Brawlers.
5S - Jackbolt (Jack or All Trades)
Of the 4 bought for CB, I think this one is best suited to allow players the most build flexibility with all 3 weapon types spread all over and the Missiles in the Left Torso by themselves letting you easily go with MRM60 plus losing no weapon slots like other variants when using MRM60. Only needs generic quirks for all 3 weapon types plus a possible specific minor quirk for UAC / LBX / Gauss.
You can even do a mix of all 3 weapons like this build and swap out the SMR4s for MRM10s or a MRM20 and 1 less ML.
5S Quirks Summary
Keep LT + RT Structure.
Energy quirk.
Missile quirk.
Ballistic quirk.
UAC / LBX / Gauss.
9S - Anti-Missilebolt
No more PPC sniping, get rid of it. Similar to the 5S but with certain differences.
Pro A - 2 More Energy spots.
Pro B - Missile in RT and Ballistic in RA allows Ballistic + Missile only build as side poker if desired.
Pro C - Dual AMS at a time when more players are doing that.
Con A - Shares Missile + Energy in RT making it hard to mount large launchers there and not lose Energy weapons.
Con B - Using Dual AMS means losing 3-4 tons despite more hardpoints than 5S.
Overall it struggles in certain ways compared to a 5S but has its unique strengths that I believe balance out and it can get similar treatment as the 5S.
I would like to see the 5S get 1 specific Ballistic family quirk and the 9S get a different one.
9S Quirks Summary
Keep LT + RT Structure.
Energy quirk.
Missile quirk.
Ballistic quirk.
UAC / LBX / Gauss whichever the 5S did not get.
