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Lore-wise, HAGs function similarily to LB-X Autocannons, as they shoot a number of lightly-damaging projectiles that in total sum deal a lot of spread damage. The difference between LB-X and HAG is that HAG is able to be fired effectively on much longer ranges, meaning that you can sandpaper enemy's armor on longer ranges, but just like LB-Xs, HAGs are almost unable to deal all their 20, 30 or 40 to a single component. But last few patches made HAGs bid away this balancing rule, and right now if you stand still, move slowly and walking pace or even if you move at your max speed (if you are in a slow and big assault mech, which is the biggest concern), enemy with HAG can launch ALL 4 to 8 pellets in a single component with little to no effort, dealing 20 to 40 damage to one location at ANY range.
Not a single other weapon system in MWO is able to do even half of such damage to single component at ranges longer than 300 meters. MRM launchers have 550 meters range, but they have a very slow velocity and also a HUGE spread, making targeting single components almost impossible if you are not staying up close to your enemy. AC20, which deal same total damage as HAG20, has 3 times less optimal range, and the most damaging sinle-shot weapon, Heavy Gauss Rifle, only have 220 optimal range, even with it's uniquely long max range, and it pays more than enough for it's damage and relatively long range with weight and size.
Piloting slower but tankier mechs became not viable at all, because you either hide behind cover (in a frickin Atlas, you hide in an Atlas) or you get double HAG40 shots in your shoulder and now you dont have right torso. Tankier but slower mechs like Atlas, Fafnir, DIre Wolf, Warhawk, Orion (which ironically does get this issue adressed a bit in upcoming patch, but only for himself) and some other mechs lose their side torsos with no chance to retaliate or even dodge the shot from HAG. The reduction of burst RoF did not make the weapon less accurate at longer ranges, as long as your target is an assasult or larger heavy mech.
I suggest instead of removing spread entirely, like the upcoming patch is about to do (which i find just ridiculously wrong) to decrese the time between shots in burst to the release numbers, but make the HAG20 have spread of 0.4 (LB5-X Autocannon spread), HAG30 have 0.6 spread and HAG40 have 0.8 spread (just barely lower than LB10-X AC spread). This will make HAGs WAY less sniper friendly, and larger assault mechs will now have a chance to at least come close to enemy, instead of just having one component at a time shot-off by 40-damage pinpoint weapon from 1000 meters away, with no chance to retaliate/dodge.
Edited by JumpingHunter, 18 November 2023 - 02:37 AM.
