C337Skymaster, on 15 October 2021 - 05:40 PM, said:
The IS big laser HSL quirks are very important. IS Large Lasers have problems with scaling up on assault builds due to slot and ghost heat limits. So energy heavy IS assaults end up with extremely lackluster alphas and sustained damage compared to equivalent ballistic loadouts. Their performance ratios are WAY off compared to smaller mechs.
Think about it. An IS Heavy laservomit mech is going to alpha 4LL+4ERML. An IS assault laservomit mech is going to alpha....4LL+4ERML because they don't have more hardpoints (unlike clan) and the HSL was already being hit by the heavy mech version. Whereas, for ballistic builds, heavy mechs are running something like 2 5's and a 10. Assaults are running 2 10's and 2 5's. Neither are hitting ghost heat. Because of this, IS assault energy boats are just kind of crap. How often do you see 90-100 ton energy boats? There are several, but they are just bad and not worth playing.
Giving them HSL bonuses increases their alpha damage without giving them any more dps. Its a relatively small bonus. For 6 large lasers, firing 5 then 1 instead of 4 then 2 is not a huge bonus. For 8LL, 5 then 3 instead of 4 then 4...its really not a big deal.
Also, 6 large lasers and 8 large lasers are not good builds. Nobody plays these right now because they are just weak. (Not to be confused with 6ERLL, but that's a whole different game.) Even with these bonuses, they are likely to remain pretty lackluster compared to 4 LB10X or 2UAC10+2UAC5 builds, which operate in the same range bracket and have vastly more damage output.
Also also, lasers are not pinpoint damage.
You can see more info about these IS laser scaling issues (including dps comparisons, etc) in my giant Marauder II post. There's a section on the weapon scaling stuff if you scroll down a bit.
Edited by Heavy Money, 15 October 2021 - 08:32 PM.