704 replies to this topic

[Tahawus]

At work going straight to production would be a meaningful April Fool's prank. With PGI? Par for the course.

Edited by Tahawus, 01 April 2021 - 07:47 PM.

[GaelicWolf]

Great news and so glad to see the separate parties working toward a common goal, the betterment of this franchise.

I REALLY like the direction this is heading and cannot wait for my new computer to arrive to be able to re-login and get back to some hot mech on mech action!

I just wish they had been able to incorporate some more of the Airstrike and Artillery changes that had been thrown around.
What has been done to them IS good, but the discussion of limiting them was IMHO an excellent idea. There have been many matches where it seems that it is a never ending rain of red smoke and death from above.
LRMS I can deal with, Sky-Cancer is harder to handle.

[PocketYoda]

Tahawus, on 01 April 2021 - 07:46 PM, said:

At work going straight to production would be a meaningful April Fool's prank. With PGI? Par for the course.

So instead of teething problems in a PTS we are all Guinea pigs and must deal with all the unfortunate bugs and game issues on live.. I cannot wait..

[Bows3r]

Very excited to see the changes pushed directly to live. Will shake up balance quite a bit for the better which has been long overdue!

Hype!!!

[YUyahoo]

No PTS is a bit of a bummer, but at least the horror of the March patch will be finally undone still and the new changes implemented. I am a little skeptical of the RAC changes as they didn't really address the main issue with RACs...reducing the cockpit shake is a good first step, but the real issue with them is the crazy blinding effect they have (which they shouldn't have...even flamers had this type of effect removed years ago). Otherwise, looking forward to what April will bring us. Thanks Matt and Daeron.

[ScaryMoniker]

Light PPC (IS):
Heat decreased to 4.5 (from 5.0)
Cooldown decreased to 3.0 (from 4)
Velocity increased to 1400 m/s (from 1200)
Minimum range removed.

Light PPC’s at the present, offer nothing more than a lower tonnage, but higher slot and hardpoint count alternative to IS-PPC’s. We want to make them a more diverse weapon system, worth taking of their own right. Thus we have substantially improved their DPS to work better as backup weapons, and also removed their minimum range, As we see it, this will provide a very distinct role for them compared to just worse IS-PPC’s. A slight velocity buff on-top ensures they are still unique from autocannons.


while I like the changes to these I still think a damage increase over medium lasers would make them a better choice for the slot penalty. maybe 6 damage. I liked the damage increase of the March patch, but the cooldown nerf more than all the others was insane.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Honestly, at this point in the game's lifecycle, it makes sense for balance to be controlled by the player base. Just need to ensure PGI and the Cauldron maintain transparency and consider feedback from all corners of the player base, not just comp players.

[WarmasterRaptor]

First time seeing the proposed changes from the Cauldron and I have to say...

Very very VERY interesting changes.

I really want to test these,

Thank you guys!

[MyriadDigits]

First time since Civil War tech was introduced that I've actually felt excited about the content of an MWO update.

[ghostrider]

Objective 1 is to make more weapons viable, these changes seem to fulfill this entirely.
Objective 2 is to increase TTK..yet no changes will be implemented for April as far as i know to the Mech scaling.

So for the period between now and when the scaling happens. the TTK will essentially decrease across the board.

Am i understanding this correctly?

[Heavy Money]

ghostrider, on 01 April 2021 - 08:28 PM, said:

Objective 1 is to make more weapons viable, these changes seem to fulfill this entirely.
Objective 2 is to increase TTK..yet no changes will be implemented for April as far as i know to the Mech scaling.

So for the period between now and when the scaling happens. the TTK will essentially decrease across the board.

Am i understanding this correctly?

Yes. It will decrease in Quickplay matches, but not at higher levels of play where only top weapons were used anyway.
It might be an issue for a bit, but probably won't be the end of the world.

[WarmasterRaptor]

ghostrider, on 01 April 2021 - 08:28 PM, said:

Objective 1 is to make more weapons viable, these changes seem to fulfill this entirely.
Objective 2 is to increase TTK..yet no changes will be implemented for April as far as i know to the Mech scaling.

So for the period between now and when the scaling happens. the TTK will essentially decrease across the board.

Am i understanding this correctly?

The Meta will shake, that's the translation. What was killing you before will still kill you as efficiently after these changes.

[ghostrider]

WarmasterRaptor, on 01 April 2021 - 08:30 PM, said:

The Meta will shake, that's the translation. What was killing you before will still kill you as efficiently after these changes.

Implying that the objective is to standardize TTK across the board, no matter the weapon. Is this the intent?

[ScrapIron Prime]

Lockheed_, on 01 April 2021 - 07:40 PM, said:

It's april first and this sounds too good to be true… hnnNNGg I AM SO CONFLICTED!

Right!?

seriously, tho...

No minimum range on Light PPCs and a faster cool down than medium lasers... which also got buffed? Cool.

And looking forward to the 4 PPC Awesome 8Q.

[James Hawker]

I'm sure I'm going to get meme'd on to hell and back for saying this, but... PGI, please. Stop making life harder on the Clans. ATM damage nerfs? If you're going to make it 2.5 per missile, remove the deadzone or make it 1 damage up to 125 meters, then 2.5, then 2, then 1.5. Why give the IS CASE that costs nothing and weighs nothing but a free crit? Most IS mechs have free crits to spare. The Clans have integrated CASE because they developed that tech, while IS CASE was considered Lostech for the longest time until it was rediscovered and reintegrated.

I'm glad y'all are actually listening, but jesus christ. Don't tell us you're going to balance things out, then completely shaft the Clans again. Our SSRMs fire *slightly* faster than the IS, now. But deal less overall damage, meaning that our more lightly armored mechs have to still rely on hit and run "blow your load and flee" tactics, lest they get overwhelmed. Our missiles are slightly more beefy, but our NARC is less effective per-ton of ammo now compared to the IS. IS PPCs get another buff, while ERPPCs stay the same.

I don't even know anymore, I just had to get it out. We'll see how this goes down the road, and I'm not trying to call out PGI for blatant bias. It just feels hard to not feel like I chose the 'wrong' faction to play. IS drop decks still have 10 tons on the Clan, and now they're getting changes that make them feel more "fair to play" against Clan like the CASE alteration. Maybe I chose my faction wrong.

Edited by James Hawker, 01 April 2021 - 08:51 PM.

[John Bronco]

^ lol

come on dude, ATMs are the most ridiculous weapon in the game, and other clan weapons got a SHITload of buffs

Edited by BlaizerP, 01 April 2021 - 08:54 PM.

[cougurt]

James Hawker, on 01 April 2021 - 08:43 PM, said:

I'm sure I'm going to get meme'd on to hell and back for saying this, but... PGI, please. Stop making life harder on the Clans. ATM damage nerfs? If you're going to make it 2.5 per missile, remove the deadzone or make it 1 damage up to 125 meters, then 2.5, then 2, then 1.5. Why give the IS CASE that costs nothing and weighs nothing but a free crit? Most IS mechs have free crits to spare. The Clans have integrated CASE because they developed that tech, while IS CASE was considered Lostech for the longest time until it was rediscovered and reintegrated.

I'm glad y'all are actually listening, but jesus christ. Don't tell us you're going to balance things out, then completely shaft the Clans again. Our SSRMs fire *slightly* faster than the IS, now. But deal less overall damage, meaning that our more lightly armored mechs have to still rely on hit and run "blow your load and flee" tactics, lest they get overwhelmed. Our missiles are slightly more beefy, but our NARC is less effective per-ton of ammo now compared to the IS. IS PPCs get another buff, while ERPPCs stay the same.

I don't even know anymore, I just had to get it out.

did you not notice the multitude of buffs to other clan weapon systems? if anything clans should be stronger almost across the board. the CERPPC is already a top tier weapon and will likely remain so. ATMs lose a bit of short range damage but don't get shut down as hard by AMS, which should make them a bit less frustrating for both the ATM user and those on the receiving end.

[James Hawker]

BlaizerP, on 01 April 2021 - 08:54 PM, said:

^ lol

come on dude, ATMs are the most ridiculous weapon in the game, and other clan weapons got a SHITload of buffs

cougurt, on 01 April 2021 - 08:56 PM, said:

did you not notice the multitude of buffs to other clan weapon systems? if anything clans should be stronger almost across the board. the CERPPC is already a top tier weapon and will likely remain so. ATMs lose a bit of short range damage but don't get shut down as hard by AMS, which should make them a bit less frustrating for both the ATM user and those on the receiving end.

So did IS weapons. I'm not looking at this in a vacuum, I'm looking at it in perspective of everything combined. IS weapons are getting killier, Clan weapons are getting killier. But Clan mechs are still fragile, and IS mechs aren't. This changes nothing but the TTK. Not to mention, how many Clan mechs have PPC HSL quicks compared to IS? Four PPCs are going to hit harder than two c-ERPPCs any day of the week, and even if a mech can't mount four, they can now do the Vapor Eagle thing *better* than the Veagle on some chassis. Inversely, name one thing the Clan can do better than IS after the patch? We didn't get a HSL adjustment on any weapon other than Micro lasers.

See what I mean, now?

Edited by James Hawker, 01 April 2021 - 08:58 PM.

[dario03]

James Hawker, on 01 April 2021 - 08:43 PM, said:

I'm sure I'm going to get meme'd on to hell and back for saying this, but... PGI, please. Stop making life harder on the Clans. ATM damage nerfs? If you're going to make it 2.5 per missile, remove the deadzone or make it 1 damage up to 125 meters, then 2.5, then 2, then 1.5. Why give the IS CASE that costs nothing and weighs nothing but a free crit? Most IS mechs have free crits to spare. The Clans have integrated CASE because they developed that tech, while IS CASE was considered Lostech for the longest time until it was rediscovered and reintegrated.

I'm glad y'all are actually listening, but jesus christ. Don't tell us you're going to balance things out, then completely shaft the Clans again. Our SSRMs fire *slightly* faster than the IS, now. But deal less overall damage, meaning that our more lightly armored mechs have to still rely on hit and run "blow your load and flee" tactics, lest they get overwhelmed. Our missiles are slightly more beefy, but our NARC is less effective per-ton of ammo now compared to the IS. IS PPCs get another buff, while ERPPCs stay the same.

I don't even know anymore, I just had to get it out. We'll see how this goes down the road, and I'm not trying to call out PGI for blatant bias. It just feels hard to not feel like I chose the 'wrong' faction to play. IS drop decks still have 10 tons on the Clan, and now they're getting changes that make them feel more "fair to play" against Clan like the CASE alteration. Maybe I chose my faction wrong.

ATMs have their close range nerfed but long range buffed. They also have more health on the missiles which means they get more missiles through AMS. So even close range is buffed when shooting a 4ams Corsair.

Clan SSRM, narc, and erppc are lighter than the IS versions.

IS case takes a slot, clan case doesn't cost anything. A lot of IS mechs don't have extra slots, IS ferro/endo/dhs and many weapons all need more slots than clan.

Edited by dario03, 01 April 2021 - 09:02 PM.

[w0qj]

Many thanks to MWO for giving details prior to implementation, so that we can study the implications on our mech!
(Trust that this is not one BIG April's Fool joke!).

Very excited with these proposed changes!

1) Starting to look like the Thunderbolt TDR-10SE with JJ+ECM+MASC (in the Stryker Booster Pack) is starting to look like the Kodiak Spirit Bear 2.0 if you know what I mean... and I'm not complaining!

2) Please add in "hot" texture into the smoke for Artillery Strike & Airstrike, as the smoke is almost invisible in Thermal & Night Vision modes! "Hot" texture just like the "hot smoke" from Caustic Valley, so it can be done!
It's just a matter of editing XML file to make the smoke "hot", so not that hard to implement... please !!