So... is the Gargoyle-E going to get it's overlooked +8 structure quirk to the CT, or not?
And I'm sorry, I myself adore the LGR + PPC builds, but these +2 ER PPC quirks on Gauss based mechs is getting absolutely ridiculous. They shouldn't be so basic or common place. I get the King Crab, sure, it has wonky hitboxes and gawd awful ballistic hardpoints... But the MAD-4L? I've consistently hit over 800 damage in that beast BONE STOCK, and now it's getting a buff?!!!
Gonna sound weird, but I'm not very enthusiastic about that. The -15% Heat Gen quirk was negligible because it's heat efficiency pre-buff was already so damn good that it never feared a Crit Heat warning to begin with; a +10% Cooldown on Gauss? I can support that.
The +2 ER PPC HSL quirk on a mech with -15% Energy Heat, dual gauss, ECM, JJs, and a crap load of armor? That's just obscene. Completely and utterly obscene and as an accomplished and avid MAD-4L pilot I am totally against it. 50 pinpoint damage at 810 meters should be tricky to achieve and weighed down by compromise; like a NSR-9J sporting 3x ER-PPCs & 2x LGRs, and only packing 14 DHS to manage the heat and suffering from a ton of armor stripping. Or a Banshee 3E running 2x LGR & 3x PPCs on hip mounts and coughing up the 810 meter alpha range. Or a MAD-5A packing 2x LGR & 2x HPPCs, and all the crippling circumstances that build requires...
... But just giving it to a mech that was heavily blessed to begin with? Please don't do this. Let the KGC-001 trial it out before you give it to the MAD-4L. The King Crab can use all the help it can get. In my experience, the 4L doesn't need the buff, and the imbalance this is going to bring to the meta once the player base realizes what they have could influence future decisions regarding a +2 ER PPC HSL quirk. Potentially preventing a mech that could REALLY use the buff (Like the KGC-001) from getting the quirk it needs to stand apart.
Just from a math standpoint, you can build a 4L with 2x ER-PPC, 2x GR, 13x DHS, LFE 300, Endo, ECM, 1 JJ, & 5 tons of ammo, and only have to reduce the max armor of the mech by 6 points (just set cockpit to 12; max everywhere else). And you get a mech that (BEFORE Skills) maintains over a 50% Heat Efficiency; can Alpha for 50 pinpoint @ 810 meters 4x in quick succession before hitting crit heat levels (then just shed heat while abusing the not too insignificant ranged firepower of dual Gauss); packs a JJ and ECM; has far from awful hitboxes/hardpoint locations; packs a motherload of armor.
It is so broken. Nothing else can do what it does, nothing else can even get close. It is so incredibly overpowered that I feel dirty thinking about playing my beloved 4L again.
Edited by Clay Endfield, 16 October 2021 - 12:51 AM.