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(Note ALSO: this is not a discussion on ECM's power, or any sort of call to nerf it; though I will be referring to the RVN-3L "Craven" and COM-2D "Trollmando" builds as points of reference.)
As we know, light 'Mechs thrive on exceptional speed; but part of the problem with the current build is that the fastest light 'Mechs cannot reach their true engine caps. This is caused by the netcode cap, which throttles their ER cap to about 8.5.
Partially as a result of this, the Craven and Trollmando are able to dictate engagements: the Spider and Cicada are but 1.27kph faster than the Craven at ER 8.5 exactly, and the Jenner 2.54kph faster at ER 8.57.
Note that the Streak has a 270m range. At exactly 1kph faster, an attempt to disengage from "zero range" to out of Streak range takes 972 seconds exactly: 3600 seconds to go 1000 meters = 3.6 seconds per meter * 270 = 972. For ANY given speed advantage, therefore, we need only divide the speed into 972 to get the maximum time needed to disengage from the Streak.
This works out to 763-ish seconds for the Spider and Cicada, and 381.8 for the Jenner - either of these is basically impossible. 6:21 against 10 damage per 3.5 seconds? Yeah, not happening.
But what happens after netcode uncaps that speed? Well...
Jenner goes up to a peak ER of 9.86, a whole 10/7 over the Craven - ten times the speed advantage, to 25.4kph. The effect predictably changes our disengage time to... 38.2 seconds.
38.2 seconds is still enough time for the Craven to throw at least 9 streak shots, possibly as many as 11 - and we won't get into the feasibility of running XL345 to get that ER 9.86. (It's six tons over XL300, if you'd like.)
The Spider has a theoretical peak ER of 11.33 (say goodbye to the jump jets though: it will cost 4 tons to boost from 240 to XL340.) This gives a 47.05kph advantage - a respectable 20.7 second disengage, and you might only take five or six shots from the Streak.
The Cicada, for its part, can run the XL400 (again, it will cost 4 tons over a 320, leaving a question of where to get this,) for a peak ER of 10: a 28kph advantage, or a 34.7 second disengage.
Yes, you can say that in all of these cases, you can try to use terrain, line of sight breaks, and the like. However, again, the following are true:
-To achieve this costs significant weight... and the benefits are questionable.
-The disengage times are high enough to where a "hell for leather" disengage is still suicide, and the weaving and twisting involved in a "try to shake him" disengage only really delay the inevitable (and in the case of the Jenner, may result in weapon loss.
-This only leaves engagement, which may or may not be better with a fixed netcode; we are still talking channelled hitscans at 150+ kph vs. auto-hit weapons that deal the same peak damage.
Suggested experiments for fixing:
-Lowering the damage a bit - either to 2 (canon,) or 2.2;
-Raising the recycle to 4 or 4.5;
-Cause the firing unit to lose Streak solution after each attack.
Any or all of these are aimed at giving non-Streak Hero lights a bit more survivability against Streak Heroes, and increasing the skill cap of the Streak - while allowing skilled Streak Heroes to still have an advantage that offsets their being slower (beyond being able to use Streaks and deny defence against them, of course.)
Thoughts, questions, accusations of insanity?
