47 replies to this topic

[Warma]

I actually feel this way. To me, absolutely nothing seems overpowered at the moment and only PPC/LPL and the ER energy weapons feel underpowered. The game feels more fun than at any previous instance in time.

If I really wanted to complain about overpowered weapons, SSRM might be a culprit. However, in my experience it seems that an SSRM Cat still loses to a brawler mech of equal weigth (in addition to having less range), so I guess it's fine.

Is there anyone else who is as content?

[Joseph Mallan]

I would be. I agree with you on the present balance. SSRMs are not the boogieman weapon everyone is crying about. They are hitting to tight, but the amount of damage is fine.

[Elepole]

I disagree, i fear no weapon in my Cicada, except for SSRM and Gauss. In the other hand, i think i saw only one PPC user since last patch ...

[Insidious Johnson]

I agree, there are equal chances of CTD, Yellow Hud, Spinning minimap, missing hud, FPS crash, or rainbow minimap. Bug balance has never been better. Normal play has been sufficiently nerfed as to not exist.

Edited by Insidious Johnson, 25 November 2012 - 02:00 PM.

[TexAce]

You should fear something when you pilot a cicada. That's the point.
I like the state too, only PPCs and machine guns could get a boost.

I don't mind streaks. If you have a clever team, they are not that frightening.

Edited by TexAss, 25 November 2012 - 02:01 PM.

[Dr Killinger]

Agreed. I'd say multiple AC/2s shake the cockpit too much, and SSRMs are slightly too powerful when mounted en masse.

[Joseph Mallan]

Elepole, on 25 November 2012 - 01:57 PM, said:

I disagree, i fear no weapon in my Cicada, except for SSRM and Gauss. In the other hand, i think i saw only one PPC user since last patch ...

I have seen several PPCadas and a Jenner or two this week.

[Kaldor]

SSRMs need to be rolled back to pre patch.

Dont get me wrong, I pilot a Jenner and use 2 SSRM2s and 2 MPLs and have been known to fire up the Streakcat on occasion for ***** and grins. The fact they cannot miss, in combination with the increased damage makes them a game deciding factor unless you kill them very quickly.

Everything else looks pretty decent at the moment.

[Warma]

Dr Killinger, on 25 November 2012 - 02:05 PM, said:

Agreed. I'd say multiple AC/2s shake the cockpit too much, and SSRMs are slightly too powerful when mounted en masse.

People say AC2s are good, but every time I've tried them, I haven't been able to achieve anything with them. Sure they shake, but it's damn hard to do consistent damage to moving targets and your alpha is very low.

I've met AC5 4X's and returning their fire is hard, but the damage is spread and brawler mechs beat the 4X too, so I don't mind.

[River McCain]

I do not experience any game problems or bugs so, yes things seem pretty good for balance, Streaks are fine, yes they are deadly when you stack 6 of them, so are a few other weapons when you stack them up.

[Axeman1]

LRM's still useless, uac 5 nerfed, streaks getting a nerf, leaving jenners to rule again, also leaving the only viable builds laser boats, this is balance? Man this game is boned.

[Warma]

Axeman1, on 25 November 2012 - 02:19 PM, said:

LRM's still useless, uac 5 nerfed, streaks getting a nerf, leaving jenners to rule again, also leaving the only viable builds laser boats, this is balance? Man this game is boned.

LRMs are fine but not OP - better than they have ever been. Try playing and you will see that they are boated at the moment with good results. UAC5 was clearly too good, and the 25% jam doesn't lower the dps that much but makes it unreliable and thus not an automatic include. And who said streaks are getting nerfed?

Don't overreact so much and people will perhaps take your opinions seriously.

[Foxwalker]

Personally, I think you are missing the point of the problem with these weapons. SSRMs, AC2s and even to some extent lately, Machine gun mechs. Besides the rocking, I am seeing players use these to exploit an issue with graphics that obscures vision and slows frame rates to a crawl. I don't mind the damage or the fact that they always hit for sSRMs, just the exploitation of the current way it affects graphics and frame rates.

[Kaldor]

Axeman1, on 25 November 2012 - 02:19 PM, said:

LRM's still useless, uac 5 nerfed, streaks getting a nerf, leaving jenners to rule again, also leaving the only viable builds laser boats, this is balance? Man this game is boned.

LRMs could use a slight boost in damage, so I will agree with you on that. They are a team weapon. Yes Artemis helps, but TAG is really the key along with communication with your team members to ensure you are hitting your target.

UAC5 works better without the mini game that was un-jamming one, but still jams far too often. Its better than it was before.

The only people that will be effected by a Streak nerf are no skillers that feel the need to boat them. See StreakCat. They need a nerf and deservedly so.

Lights (Jenners) will rule no more or less than they did before. They are a great mech that when piloted by a competent pilot can do some incredible things. When piloted by noobs, they are just as easy to kill as ever. Bring back collision and you will see this problem go away, forever.

And there are plenty of builds in this game that are very good that are not pure energy.

Knee jerk less, please?

[Shadowsword8]

Warma, on 25 November 2012 - 01:51 PM, said:

Is there anyone else who is as content?

On the contrary, I feel that balance right now is the worst since I started 6-8 weeks ago. SSRM is one thing, but the shaking and smoke produced by autocanons is far more game-breaking, imho. With my Atlas, I'd rather fight another Atlas head-on than a Cataphract. Which is kinda messed up, since the 100-tons mech trade mobility for the right to best (in theory) anything but another assault mech in frontal attack. At least against the Atlas, I can try to focus fire on one specific area. Against a Cataphract, The only thing I see is the targeting bracket, I cant hope to reliably hit something more precise that "somewhere in the torso", and I'll overheat before he does.

Edited by Shadowsword8, 25 November 2012 - 03:13 PM.

[Czardread]

you are quite correct OP. only exploit im seeing now is the streak cats, and unlike the gausscats that came before, they actually have a at least a range limitation. i found a suggestion on the forums to add a cumulative lock on penalty the more streaks you put in a chassis. that would fix the streakcat issue while leaving the non ssrm boaters relatively unaffected. then it would really be just a matter of tweaking the ac's 10 and 20, and the LL other variants and PPC's and the would have a quite balanced game.

[Tuhalu]

Flamers, more than a little useless (always were in tabletop too, but worse than that now). Devs looking to fix.
MGs, more than al ittle useless (far worse than they were in tabletop). Devs looking to fix.
LRMS, slightly too little damage. Going up 0.1 damage per missile in an upcoming patch.
PPC, ER PPC, LL, ER LL, LPL, heat still slightly too high given current heat sinks. No fix incoming.

SSRMs, slightly too much damage. Devs looking to fix.
Small Lasers, rate of fire slightly too high. No fix incoming.
AC/2, rate of fire too high (somewhat mitigated by high heat per shot). No fix incoming.
Ultra AC/5, base rate of fire (before double shot) significantly higher than AC/5. No fix incoming.
Gauss Rifle, doesn't explode yet, slightly too cool compared to other weapons in current heat environment. Exploding to come soon.

The game is more balanced than it used to be, but there is something off on almost every single weapon. Plenty of work left for the designers to do!

Edited by Tuhalu, 25 November 2012 - 03:54 PM.

[GalaxyBluestar]

i think axeman has it spot on but really the detrement effects on gameplay are more than just weapon balancing, i've written in too many forums now about how targetting flicking every second kills lrm lockon's and yes ppcs do splash damage which is wrong and why they aren't powerfull enough. quiet simply i'm too tired to go into details but what axeman said puts a basic highlighter on the weapons which makes this game unbalanced. lasers and streaks for everybody cause other weapons can't be used in lag or don't hit detect properly or rely on a broken radar targeting system to home and lock on or have a poor damage out put anyways!

[MustrumRidcully]

Since the large energy weapons have gotten better with (Engine) Double Heat Sinks, I agree that it has impoved. But there are still too many imbalances.

Not just Streaks or whatever else is the FOTM. Just fundamentally, the system isn't looking great.

For example - low range ballistics are less damage/weight efficient then long range ballistics. That makes no sense, the long range is an advantage for those weapons, they should be (compared to the low range Ballistics) a bit less efficient. ER PPCs, MGs or Flamers still suck big time, and PPCs aren't really good either, but just a bit more useable.

And if the Devs really want to balance SHS vs DHS... They didn't achieve that at all.

Detailed Analysis: http://mwomercs.com/...dhs-with-graphs

Edited by MustrumRidcully, 26 November 2012 - 02:11 AM.

[Daimonos]

As Insidious Johnson points out, crashes and game-breaking bugs are the greatest balance problem right now.

Crashes to desktop, 4fps and black or yellow screen on entry are regular occurrences: I feel that at least one player suffers from one of these in more than half the games I play. Often we'll drop as a 4-man team, one will crash to desktop, and the matchmaker will leave us a person down in a 7v8. I've had the matchmaker serve up quite a few 6v8 matches as well - and that's before players start disconnecting.

Being a person down is more of a handicap than having one fewer streakapult. Weapon balance is imperfect but it's not the biggest problem right now. In order of priority, highest first:

• Fix the many crashes to desktop, black and yellow screens of doom, and the 4fps memory leak.
  
• Reduce the 'lagshield' enjoyed by lights and fast mediums.
  
• Fix the HUD issues that leave players without a map.
  
• Further tweaks to weapon balance.