54 replies to this topic

[Skribs]

My current build is a brawler Flame with MLs and a SRM6. I've noticed on Alpine I am pretty slow getting into the brawl, and not very good until I'm there. I can only imagine how a SRM boat Stalker or an Atlas feels on this map. So I have to wonder, are the splatterspecs going to see less use, with people replacing UAC/5s, AC/20, and LB-Xs with Guass rifles, ML boats with a few ERLLs or ERPPCs, and SRMs with LRMs? Or will the majority of these players still try the short range builds and hope for a different map?

[EmperorMyrf]

Maybe a slight decrease in pure short range builds, but I probably wouldn't expect much else. From personal experience I've only been on that map once all day and, assuming even probabilities, there should only be a 1/8 chance of getting alpine peaks.

We might see significantly less brawlers once the desert map hits or even alternates of caustic and alpine, just so that the probability of getting a larger map is noticeably higher

[Stingz]

Alpine is gigantic, even when going 97 k/ph. Short-ranged mechs are easy targets, Long-ranged mechs dominate.

People need to start rounding out their builds, minor things like PPCs and LRM 10-15. AMS is major on Alpine, first shot of the match made me spend 200 AMS ammo from all the LRMs flying by.

Edited by Stingz, 19 February 2013 - 08:23 PM.

[Hex Pallett]

I honestly think that Alpine should scale down for like 10%.

Sure, those early maps are kinda tight, but THIS?

I do like the notion that people would probably start dropping with ballistic/PPC builds instead of all-out brawling machines, but this is a ridiculously large map. You barely have any speed and space to maneuver because honestly, you have no where to run. Now I only dare to drop with my Awesome 8R LRM+SRM hybrid.

[Mazzyplz]

i'm dropping with multirange builds all the time, even when maps were too small.

i use at least 1 er weapon in all my builds, either the LL or PPC / er versions.

[Dr B00t]

dont forget they will be adding 12-man teams...so that gigantic map will seem smaller

[Helsbane]

Given we never know where we're going, having this map in the rotation does force a shift in builds. A fast mech with an LRM launcher or long range energy / ballistic will wear a splatcat down before they can close to effective range. The ability to reach out with at least one weapon system is going to be even more important once the desert map goes live, so we may as well get over the dedicated short range one shotters now.

Personally I think this is the map size they should have gone with originally. We would have seen far fewer Solaris type builds and more of the old BT multi range loadouts.

[Stingz]

Helsbane, on 19 February 2013 - 08:47 PM, said:

Personally I think this is the map size they should have gone with originally. We would have seen far fewer Solaris type builds and more of the old BT multi range loadouts.

All of my Solaris FFA builds have at least 1 (ER)L.Las or LRM-10 to keep the long-ranged campers away. I'm guessing you are talking about the 1 vs 1 arena fights.

[Faydeaway]

I don't have a link but the Devs have stated they're moving away from the small maps and will be focusing on larger maps. I think this is a good thing because people are running these severely lopsided builds (think splatcat) which lend themselves to tight spaces and limited visibility maps.

I think a little mech loadout variety would be good for this game.

[p00k]

Faydeaway, on 19 February 2013 - 08:54 PM, said:

I don't have a link but the Devs have stated they're moving away from the small maps and will be focusing on larger maps. I think this is a good thing because people are running these severely lopsided builds (think splatcat) which lend themselves to tight spaces and limited visibility maps.

I think a little mech loadout variety would be good for this game.

all it means is we'll have more severely lopsisded builds favoring long range instead of short range
rather than brawler ddc's and splatcats, we'll see more rs atlases and llas/ppc stalkers, more poptarts & k2s

even on the smaller maps you'll notice a lot more ranged engagements as people start defaulting to ranged mechs

[Stingz]

p00k, on 19 February 2013 - 09:00 PM, said:

all it means is we'll have more severely lopsisded builds favoring long range instead of short range
rather than brawler ddc's and splatcats, we'll see more rs atlases and llas/ppc stalkers, more poptarts & k2s

even on the smaller maps you'll notice a lot more ranged engagements as people start defaulting to ranged mechs

It's starting to balance out, lots of players using their shiny new Trebuchets, and DDCs make for easy PPC targets.

[Skribs]

I'm trying to think of a new build for my Flame that is a sort of hybrid. Might ignore that ballistic slot entirely or put something light in there so I can get ER LLs or PPCs to have something at long range (2 of course, other 2 would be ML or MPL). Definitely thinking LRM10 instead of SRM6, I'm not hitting much with the SRMs anyway.

My light is definitely replacing the ER LL with an ER PPC.

Edited by Skribs, 19 February 2013 - 10:13 PM.

[Deathlike]

This map (and future maps similar to this) will change the likelihood of facing splattercats and dual AC20 cats and other such creatures. Of course, there's a shot that they'll become smarter and crafty.

So, it's good to see the players evolve with the game... or maybe not.

Darwin will sort them out.

Edited by Deathlike, 19 February 2013 - 10:23 PM.

[PlzDie]

I think that the larger maps is what this game needs to balance it out, How I see it people are going to start building their mechs for mixed range engagements, we will have to, a splatcat, A\C 20 cat or streakcat for example is not going to survive a large map long enough to be viable anymore.

And this is good, I am rethinking all my builds now which are all short range brawlers, more PPC's, LRM's, UAC 5, Gauss rifles and so on.

[darkkterror]

Alpine makes me like my double Gauss Ilya even more. Oh and my RVN-3L, especially since I just unlocked Speed Tweak. My brawler D-DC? Not so much...

[Hex Pallett]

Skribs, on 19 February 2013 - 10:11 PM, said:

I'm trying to think of a new build for my Flame that is a sort of hybrid. Might ignore that ballistic slot entirely or put something light in there so I can get ER LLs or PPCs to have something at long range (2 of course, other 2 would be ML or MPL). Definitely thinking LRM10 instead of SRM6, I'm not hitting much with the SRMs anyway.

Here I got something for ya: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...d35583b4a3bb959

1xERPPC, 2xMPL, 1xLRM10, TAG

[Phoenix Gray]

Helmstif, on 19 February 2013 - 10:40 PM, said:

Here I got something for ya: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...d35583b4a3bb959

1xERPPC, 2xMPL, 1xLRM10, TAG

With the longer ranges you might want to sex up your LRM's with Artemis.

[spatulaodoom]

p00k, on 19 February 2013 - 09:00 PM, said:

all it means is we'll have more severely lopsisded builds favoring long range instead of short range
rather than brawler ddc's and splatcats, we'll see more rs atlases and llas/ppc stalkers, more poptarts & k2s

even on the smaller maps you'll notice a lot more ranged engagements as people start defaulting to ranged mechs

That's only if all the maps are large open maps. If we see a mix of long and short range maps then the builds will sort of even out. Drop in a splat cat and you're basically hoping for one of the smaller maps. Drop in a ppc/lrm mech and you're hoping to stay out in the open. Drop in something that mixes long and short and you'll be good regardless of the map, but not as good as a specialist.

[RavensScar]

I haven't had a game on Alpine yet (patcher problems yesterday) but this is making me a little nervous. I mainly run hunchies (4SP and 4P) with pretty much their stock loadout. It sounds like I'm going to have to expect to completely rebuild them for Alpine and future maps.

Where do chassis designed purely for brawling stand in all this? The hunchie is going to struggle to pack enough long rang weapons and speed to make any real impact in a sniping match. On public games are we going to find teams with their heads in their hands if they drop on Alpine and find they've got a team of hunchies and atlai?

[Adridos]

RavensScar, on 20 February 2013 - 12:03 AM, said:

I haven't had a game on Alpine yet (patcher problems yesterday) but this is making me a little nervous. I mainly run hunchies (4SP and 4P) with pretty much their stock loadout. It sounds like I'm going to have to expect to completely rebuild them for Alpine and future maps.

Pal, I have problems on Alpine with a 90km/h, gauss using Dragon... stock SP and P stand no chance.