As an open-beta player, I love MWO with my heart and soul. One thing that has always bothered me was the 100 ton "paper tigers" - i.e a KGC or Stone Rhino with easy to farm and kill side torsos.
When the Fafnir came to MWO, I fell in love with it immediately. People joked about the STs the size of barn doors, but honetly, is there a Tier Level above the FNR-5/5B for an HGauss carrier? ECM, 3-5 energy slots for MPL/ERMeds and of course the little shield arms for the twist.
When the hitbox for the FNR got changed, I was understandably upset as I had purchased (one by one, most at full in-game price) every FNR from the 5E to the 6R to the FNR-W (H) Wrath.
As a mostly Assault/Heavy pilot, when I tried some spicy builds on a KGC, same problem. STs easy to hit, farm and half the 'mech pretty quickly. Arm mounted Dakka doesn't help.
To get to the point, I spent $70 USD eagerly on the Stone Rhino pack, and allthough the SR-3 functions well as an LRM boat, the SR-1 well as a highmount dakka slapbox, etc - Same problem.
Imagine the SRhino was IS, and losing a trade with a swift alpha Lasvom XL check made it drop. LFEs and STDs are all IS wide mechs should be running imo.
So what can be done? What would not make them OP or break the game, yet get more people into the 100 ton slow but deadly arena?
I say quirks. Quirk pass the FNRs with MUCH higher Crit Resist - Akin to the Atlas. SRhinos - Perhaps (and yes I know this is the same as asking that the FNR hitbox patch get rolled back) Bonus Armor +25-30 or again, Crit Resist to the STs. Armor and Structure, actually. Same with the KGCs.
This is not about "I struggle to hit 1k dmg" or "This mech sucks". I love these stompy behemoths and it's really .. REALLY annoying when a Sync drop or a 3-4 stack jumps any of these mechs and simply blasts off the STs in a few seconds.
Ideally, Hitbox and even Model tweaks such as more SRs with SR-6 shield arms, FNRs with much wider and longer shield arms, etc.
But again, a simple quirk pass with CResist or a substantial Armor/Structure bonus the STs.
Headhunters can still click heads, centre mass Lasvom pilots can still go CT, that's fine with me.
But what's the point of learning "the twist" and brawling skills if even with full Torso Yaw, the FNR's cockpit still counts as ST dmg? Or on the SR, those high mounted quad cannons count as ST dmg so - Thoughts? Yes? No? Am I in a dead lobby arguing nonsense?
Post your thoughs on 100 tonners that are way too easy for skilled players to take down.
Maybe that CResist idea would be the easiest and best way to go.
Clan Wolf Loyalist,
FNR and Timby lover - [AMU]Pointman^SF
Remember, these were the old Hitboxes.
https://imgur.com/fGAQ7Jf
Edited by PointmanSF, 29 January 2025 - 07:12 PM.