6 replies to this topic

[Darian DelFord]

When are lights going to get some of the love, damn the PPFLD is stronger than its ever been in this game.

Honest questions though, why the heck was radar derp nerfed? Could not figure out how I kept getting tracked until I went in and looked.

[1453 R]

Hey, Darian. Just got back myself. I got no clue when lights are gonna be good. I've tried a couple of times since I got back and it made me sad in the panties.

As for RaDerp, I presume it got nerfed to A.) make RaDerp quirks actually valid, and B.) prevent dropped locks from passing behind a lamp post or such. I know that was an issue before, imagine they finally did something about it. Can't say for sure though, I've been gone longer than you have.

[Vxheous]

Radar dep got nerfed to help LRMs out.

[Heavy Money]

1453 R, on 30 January 2024 - 08:29 PM, said:

As for RaDerp, I presume it got nerfed to A.) make RaDerp quirks actually valid, and B.) prevent dropped locks from passing behind a lamp post or such. I know that was an issue before, imagine they finally did something about it. Can't say for sure though, I've been gone longer than you have.

This is correct. LRM Velocity and arc height was nerfed at the same time. The goal was to make things a bit less tedious, but not make LRMs net more powerful.

As for lights, they are perfectly competitive except for some particularly bad variants, which are still getting worked on. For example, the Osiris just got an overhaul to make it more unique and useful. Before it was just worse than other similar options.

Also note that there's a bunch of new weapons coming in March that will spice things up a lot for lights.

Edited by Heavy Money, 30 January 2024 - 08:59 PM.

[Darian DelFord]

Heavy Money, on 30 January 2024 - 08:57 PM, said:

This is correct. LRM Velocity and arc height was nerfed at the same time. The goal was to make things a bit less tedious, but not make LRMs net more powerful.

As for lights, they are perfectly competitive except for some particularly bad variants, which are still getting worked on. For example, the Osiris just got an overhaul to make it more unique and useful. Before it was just worse than other similar options.

Also note that there's a bunch of new weapons coming in March that will spice things up a lot for lights.

Interesting, LRM's never really bothered me as a light, I could just duck into cover most of the time. I use radar Derp to break the target of a mech that is on me when I try to bootleg a corner or an obstruction and reverse course and come back at him, while they think I am coming out the other side.

I pull this off very quickly, so with it being at 80% now, just makes life as a light a bit more difficult when trying to evade. (Never understood why a 20 ton mech as the same radar signature as a 100 ton mech)

Granted I am a bit rusty so maybe I need to get my legs back, but the amount of PPFLD in this game has absolutely gone through the roof since I last left. We will shall see.

Granted I have not scoured the forums but what weapons are coming down the pipeline to help lights? So far most everything that has been released is not that beneficial for the class for a myriad of reasons. I think the X pulse are the only neat things I have seen, but that requires wayyyyyyy to much face time for my liking.

[1453 R]

Darian DelFord, on 31 January 2024 - 07:35 AM, said:

Interesting, LRM's never really bothered me as a light, I could just duck into cover most of the time. I use radar Derp to break the target of a mech that is on me when I try to bootleg a corner or an obstruction and reverse course and come back at him, while they think I am coming out the other side.

I pull this off very quickly, so with it being at 80% now, just makes life as a light a bit more difficult when trying to evade. (Never understood why a 20 ton mech as the same radar signature as a 100 ton mech)

Granted I am a bit rusty so maybe I need to get my legs back, but the amount of PPFLD in this game has absolutely gone through the roof since I last left. We will shall see.

Granted I have not scoured the forums but what weapons are coming down the pipeline to help lights? So far most everything that has been released is not that beneficial for the class for a myriad of reasons. I think the X pulse are the only neat things I have seen, but that requires wayyyyyyy to much face time for my liking.

In March they're introducing:

IS:
Magshot (half-ton anti-personnel Gauss Rifles)
Light AC/2 and Light AC/5 (lighter autocannons with less range and lower cycle rate)
Thunderbolt 5/10/15/20 (midrange lock-on missile launcher that fires a single Big Wankah of a missile rather than swarms of micromissiles)
Silver Bullet Gauss Rifle (SHOTGAUSS. PULL!)

Clan:
AP Gauss (half-ton anti-personnel Gauss Rifles)
ProtoMech AC/2, AC/4, and AC/8 (essentially being treated as the Clan version of IS Light Autocannons, despite ProtoMechs not existing in MWO. Lightweight autocannons with less range and cycle rate)
Beam Laser (Entirely original, unique-to-MWO weapon which is stated to fire a continuous beam, no cycle rate at all. So MAXIMUM FACE STARE)
Plasma Cannon (Ignoring the tabletop version of Plasma Cannons entirely because PPC-range fireball launchers would make Russ Bullock cry, the MWO version is a lighter cPPC that deals 'minor' heat damage as well as normal damage. So more like a Plasma Rifle than a Plasma Cannon but oh well, plasma rifles are way better than plasma cannons anyways.)

https://mwomercs.com...s-2024-q1-intel

I'm super excited to see if Magshot/AP Gauss provide a new playstyle/build avenue for light 'Mechs. I have no idea what (precisely) the numbers are gonna have to look like for them to be meaningfully distinct from machine guns without overshadowing machine guns entirely, but even just being able to do something non-facestarish with ballistic hardpoints on light 'Mechs is gonna be a game-changer somewhere.

I'm...more dubious on what the Light/Proto ACs are gonna do, given that they have to trade range and cycle rate for weight. I totally get why they need to do that, but I remain unconvinced even the ProtoMech versions will be light enough to be used effectively on light 'Mechs given ammunition requirements. At least, not without Causing Problems on heavier platforms that will just mass boat the damned things because MWO problems. Light/Proto Autocannons are basically an excuse for heavy 'Mechs to get into the Ultraviolet-style massed dakka game.

The Beam Laser is gonna be hilarious (terrible, but also hilarious), Thunderbolts could prove to be real interesting depending on where the final numbers fall out, and supposedly the Silver Bullet will have a way better cycle rate to make up for its shotgun-style cluster munitions, so it'll be kind of a dedicated brawling Gauss Rifle in answer to Clan HAGs. And Plasma Cannons could be the next Noob Breaker if the numbers are even a little overtuned, and a real answer to Snub PPCs on the Clan side. It's gonna be nuts.

Also I recommend trying a BSW-X2 Bushwacker with a LXPL in the schnozz, that 50% reduced laser duration quirk the dumb thing has is hysterical with X-Pulse lasers. You can get the beam duration under one-tenth of a second, it's basically a PPFLD hitscan gun with a 2.4 damage shell. Plays like the classic rotary autocannon Plantsmackers, but without ammo and without any spinup time. Also without three quarters of the damage, but hey. It's bad, mind, especially since you only get the one laser if you go for a large, but it put a smile on my face when I ran it for a few goofy runs.

EDIT: Dunno if you were here when they started these things, but apparently they've replaced Hero 'Mechs with 'Legend' 'Mechs now, as well. Only two and a half light Legends so far (an 'UrbanMech IIC' double pack with two Clan-tech Urbies, and a Viper), but from what I've been able to gather the Legends are distinct from Heroes in being relatively cheap-ish (fifteen dollars), coming with a 'Battle Pass' (eugh) that doesn't act like a battle pass at all and is instead just a big bevy of extra goodies you get by playing the Legend, and also each Legend 'Mech does something super freaking weird. Like, Howl, the 'Legend' Timber Wolf? A.) it's a BattleMech, not an OmniMech, so no Omnipods but you get to swap around its engine and internals, and B.) it has an "ATM Range +80" quirk. Scaleshot, the Viper, looks to still be an OmniMech, but if you keep it in Set of 8 you get double missile ammo for its six(!!!) missile hardpoints and your single one-slot laser hardpoint gets a 70% cooldown reduction. There's a (bad) Goshawk Legend that can be made immune to fall damage, and the new Victor, Li Dok To, has ten energy hardpoints in the right arm and the ability to fire ten IS medium lasers at once in exchange for having spank-all for any other weapons.

These Legend things seem to be whoever the people responsible for further development of MWO are saying "what if we admitted that MWO is a zany arcade shooter game with only a passing resemblance to BT canon and started doing some crazy **** to spice stuff up?" Frankly I approve, even if I figured I was done spending money on MWO forever a good bit ago.

Edited by 1453 R, 31 January 2024 - 08:02 AM.

[Besh]

Darian DelFord, on 30 January 2024 - 08:11 PM, said:

When are lights going to get some of the love, damn the PPFLD is stronger than its ever been in this game.

Honest questions though, why the heck was radar derp nerfed? Could not figure out how I kept getting tracked until I went in and looked.

Welcome back Darian !