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[Arkhubar]

I just wanted to drop by to post something that has been on my mind for some time. I was finally prompted to post something about it when I met someone who was on their third day playing and frustrated. After getting them in vent and hearing their story, I want to propose that the stock variants be looked at and revamped. This will (in my opinion) greatly improve the newcomer experience, as not only will newbies' first mechs be better and more intuitive to upgrade, but as trial mechs are based on stock loadouts, potentially the trial experience is better as well.

The short version is I believe the "power gap" between stock mechs and their customized cousins is way too big in some (possibly most/all) cases, leading to mechs that are inefficient and inhibit new players from contributing to their group. Additionally, having most of the mechs be "good" (not great) from the getgo would make grinding out some of the variants more enjoyable. Lastly, I understand there should be a reason to want to upgrade, so I have tried to avoid significantly altering the C-bill value or recommending upgrades innately on the stock variants. My point is not that upgrading is bad or that there shouldn't be a power gap. I just believe that a "properly upgraded/built mech" is probably around 100% better than a stock mech, and that gap should probably really be 25% to 50% better.

For the in-depth look:

It is my belief that the MechLab, in particular all the options, is a great thing. As someone who loves to tinker and "build characters" in other games, I love it. However, I think it also is the least friendly, least intuitive, and most idosyncratic part of the game. Realistically, new players will have no idea the differences between various options, nor does the game perfectly highlight the advantages and disadvantages. The natural intuition is to buy a mech and then play it stock, and add upgrades and customize it along the way. However, the difference between a stock mech and a customized mech can be quite massive. For example, I'm going to look at the Catapult K2 and a Jenner D.

The stock K2 utilizes 2 Machine Guns, 2 Medium Lasers, 2 PPCs. It features a standard 260 engine, 20 single heat sinks, and 352 armor. I view the purpose of this stock build is to use the mech primarily as a "sniper" rather than as a brawler. CPLT-K2 is the smurfy online Mechlab stock build. Some key statistics:

Armor: 352
Alpha: 10 [0M-90M], 30 [90M-270M], 20[270M-540M] (not perfect values, I know)
Max sustained DPS: 2.49 (again, I understand not a perfect metric)
Cooling Efficiency: 25%
Speed: 64.8 kph

To start, machine guns are worthless right now. Even if they are balanced, you have valuable tonnage used on a mech whose role dictates it should not be within 90M. Second, the PPCs have a hidden minimum range of 90M that the uninitiated are not aware of. This creates a zone at which the stock mech is vulnerable to short range. Lastly, PPCs and two mediums are heat inefficient. This means that an individual spends a lot of time with shiny awesome weapons they can't use fully, or overheat and feel frustrated.

Now, I want to compare this to another K-2 that I put together that follows the earlier constraints: no upgrades, no engine swaps, no significant C-Bill value changes. I have done this because I recognize there has to be a point to upgrading, and I want to preserve the value of customization. Without further ado: CPLT-K2. Key statistics:

Armor: 352
Alpha: 20 [0-450M]
Max sustained DPS: 3.36
Cooling Efficiency: 42%
Speed: 64.8 kph

This build has several advantages over the other. Namely, its DPS is about 35% better, with a better cooling efficiency so the build feels like its weapons are being used. An additional advantage is that adding items and upgrades to the build now makes sense. Adding Doubles, Endo, and Ferro with PPCs and heat sinks can be tricky, since valuable crit slots are occupied that could be utilized for heat sinks. Since it can be hard to figure out optimal builds in mech lab, that is unfortunate. With this build, the upgrade path is simple: add all the upgrades, add to your armor and weapons as you see fit. No removals required.

The build isn't perfect - ideally, one would add DHS and at least Endo. If it were me, I would add Endo, Ferro, 2 MLasers and max the armor. This would result in an additional 20% increase in armor, and at least a 167% (!!!!) improvement in DPS over the stock build. This is without changing the fundamental structure of how the build operates. That means that keeping skill levels equal, a person who has the fully upgraded version probably winds up doing around 3x as much damage (2.67x theoretical damage boost plus doing that damage 1.2x longer) over the course of a match. More likely, a player who has a customized mech outfitted correctly has more experience and the gap in team contribution in the same role widens further.

We'll do one more comparison: Jenner-D. Stock loadout of JR7-D . Key statistics:

Armor: 128
Alpha: 30 [0M-270M]
Max Sustained DPS: 1.61
Cooling Efficiency: 21%
Speed: 113.4kph

I actually like the weapon loadout on this build stock, and I think putting a standard engine on it is the right idea for newcomers. However, with its abysmal heat efficiency, it is another build that has lots of shiny toys a new player can't even use. The 128 armor and 113.4kph speed is also asking to just get wrecked, even with a standard over an XL. The stock build just simply is not representative of what a scout will eventually do. Truthfully, I had trouble getting the build to a better place without utilizing an upgrade. I would argue the Jenner-D might be a good candidate for having the double heatsinks innately - maybe it is just me, but I can't imagine a Jenner build that *doesn't* utilize DHS. I can see reasons why you might stick with a standard and lower armor, I can see reasons why you would use the weapon loadout chosen and 5 JJ's, but not for sticking with single heat sinks. As such, the C-Bill value would have to be increased, but I think most people would agree that they would rather the mech they bought was useful "out of the gate", even if it was more expensive as a result.

I hope this has been a helpful suggestion, or at least gives you some food for thought. Let me know if there is any more information I could give you or due dilligence I could do to help you guys think through the topic. Thanks again for all your hard work, I love the game and I really like the direction you are taking it!