Void Angel, on 14 December 2016 - 06:10 PM, said:
Reminds me of this:
Yup.
I've also commonly seen:
Defenders rush forward to engage the OpFor. Lance of lights runs around the defenders, then rear-cores the Atlas before anyone knows what's happening. Attackers win.
Defenders cry, "This mode sucks!"
>.<
Attackers and defenders engage each other. VIP takes a left, wanders off, with 2-3 defenders riding shotgun. Remaining defenders push right in to the attackers, who turtle up and trade. They're winning the trades (outnumbering the defenders by a couple to start) then defenders start backing off - that happens naturally, as they're losing trades and people try to get some relief. Attackers completely, totally and utterly forget the VIP exists, seeing their opponents giving ground, and advance...
Except the defenders are moving back, the attackers pursuing them are moving AWAY from the VIP. Defenders win.
Attackers: "Defenders always win this!"
>.<
My last match, we're roughly even on kills, I died early and am spectating a Marauder IIC. River City, Escort (attackers). Enemy VIP has entered the water from the airfield side, heading to the upper city. My spectatee is overlooking his rear, 200m away from him and elevated. During the time the 48kph Atlas walks across the water, up onto the land on the other side, and along the cliffs to the upper city, MAD-IIC takes zero shots to the exposed rear of the AS7, instead spraying fire over whichever other enemy mechs he can see. He could have killed the AS7 himself several times over, but no... Instead, he fires ineffectually at everything else.
He started 200m away from the enemy AS7's rear! The whole time, straight shot at rear CT. Doesn't take ONE shot at him.
*cries*
Complaints aside, after a dozen more Escort matches, this is quickly becoming a favourite of mine. Now, to be clear, it definitely needs tuning:
1) I think the Atlas needs a bit more speed and less armor (so there's less time to kill him, but he requires less damage to be destroyed) because 48kph following an extremely erratic path is aggravating. Just give him Speed Tweak at least >.<
2) I think the Atlas needs a substantial turn speed quirk buff. This, because his stock 300STD is giving him a painfully slow turning speed, and that is relevant because in tight areas his pathing gets screwed up. For example, exiting the middle of the tunnel in Crimson Strait - if he avoids a player and runs into one of the two corners at the exit, he turns 90 degrees to get out, but then accelerates while turning and can't turn fast enough to avoid getting caught in the other corner. Back and forth. Faster turning wouldn't impact combat much at all, but it would help his pathfinding algorithms work better.
I recently lost a match because the Atlas got hung up there and couldn't get to the dropship.
3) You really ought to know if you're attacking or defending on the intro scoreboard screen, before the match actually starts.