A little finesse would go a long way in balance changes. Tweaking LRMs from 1.7 to 1.8 is an example of this. Secretly changing their arcs back to resemble more of what they were when they were extremely overpowered is not. Nor is failing to nerf the Streakpult for a few weeks and giving it Beagle at the same time (though I did have a lot of fun with this.) Nor is sticking so rabidly to TT rules that you give new players horrible Trial variants, but then arbitrarily cut down DHS to 1.4 (needs to at least be 1.6) but with all of the costs of TT DHS. ****, at least make them cost 2 slots now instead of 3. Hey, turns out the AWS-9M Trial is crap because the DHS required to make the 3x ERPPC somewhat viable (and still not recommended) is nerfed and it has an XL engine which I don't expect a new player to really understand.
But let's look at the AC/2:
- Low damage
- Fast rate of fire
- High heat
- High impulse
But there was one build that really shines with AC/2s. The CTF-4X running 2xAC/2 2xAC/5s. Spew bullets all over the place and shake screens to stop the enemy from aiming. Use suppressing fire to clear ridges. Deny approaches, especially the arch in Forest Colony. In fact, with a competent pilot, this build can slug it out with Atlases 1v1 and come out on top, albeit severely damaged. But played the way it's meant to be, you support your assaults with screen shaking while doing a respectable amount of damage while they tank for you. The target then needs to make a judgment call, drop the Atlas, or drop the Cataphract screen shaking. If he targets the Cataphract, chance is he misses as he attempts to aim at a new target. It's a great range build if you've got a good field of fire against assaults. The number of Awesomes I've dropped from 500m+ range is impressive because pilots don't know how to react to the shake, so they just lock up instead.
That's why I think we're getting the nerf. Not because it's unbalanced, but because of complaints. Rather than learning how to deal with this build, whose natural predator in the wild is the Streakpult of all things and of which there is no shortage, whining about it achieves far more effective and spectacular results. Unfortunately PGI seems to have developed a conditioned response, acquiescing to the loud voices of pubbies as soon as they are heard.
This is currently the only Mech in the game that can mount a configuration like this and produce a suppression effect. Is it optimal for competitive 8v8? I would like to say it is but in my heart I feel that it isn't. It is the most fun Mech I've ever played. It's not losing any of its damage which is good, but until I see what the changes actually do the ability to effectively suppress targets is out of the game for now. Try it, you still have some hours before the patch. At least having that option for suppression opens up new strategies (for players whom I am assuming have not considered this) in what I expect to be nothing but 8v8 ECM D-DCs or Jenner rushes.