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Public Test Session - Long Range Missile Updates Series
Wednesday January 16th 2:00PM (PDT) - Monday January 21st 12:00 noon (PDT)
Greetings ‘MechWarriors!
Welcome to the Public Test Session for the Long Range Missile Updates series. As we announced at Mech_Con 2018, we have been working internally on overhauling LRM’s current behavior. We will be conducting a Public Test to both smoke test this feature change to ensure that they operate in an active play environment without any adverse effects to game play and take feedback on the impact that this new change will have on the weapon regarding the final tuning prior to release. As always, we want to stress that individual changes within this PTS are set explicitly as testing values for us to monitor and collect data prior to final tuning. We will be closely monitoring the data gathered as well as feedback provided by active testers within the PTS forum*.
The focus of this test will be on an alteration in behavior to LRMs that will change the way that LRMs operate based on if the firer has direct line of sight to the target or not. The core intent behind this change is to move away from weapon tuning that must be balanced to account for both direct and indirect fire collectively. And instead, shift some of the weapons potency away from its indirect fire capabilities while better rewarding its use in more direct fire scenarios.
The key points of this PTS session will be:
- New LRM behavior that will see a shallower angle of attack and boosted performance while firing on targets within direct LOS
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Reductions to baseline LRM attributes
While we will be reducing a number of LRM weapon attributes, the net effect of these changes have been explicitly tuned to produce the following results:
- Net Buffs to LRM performance in direct fire situations
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Nerfs to LRM performance in indirect fire situations
We will elaborate more on this point below. Again, the values provided here are tuned explicitly for testing purposes, and as such, are not final release values. We will be reviewing both PTS data and player feedback from this PTS. Additionally, as mentioned above, one of the primary purposes of this PTS is for performance smoke testing of this new Direct / Indirect fire mode interchangeability. Please report any abnormalities in behavior beyond what is explicitly described as intended behavior below in the PTS forums*.
*PTS forums will open when the PTS is activated.
As usual, this Public Test contains a cloned version of the main player account database. This clone was created on January 14th 6:00 AM UTC. As a result, upon logging into Public Test your account will appear as it did at that time.
- If your account was created after that time you will be unable to access the Long Range Missile Update Public Test.
- If your login credentials were changed after that time you will need to login to this PTS using your original credentials.
- If your account was temporarily suspended at that time please contact moderation@mwomercs.com to resolve the suspension on PTS.
- This PTS build contains much of the content from our December 11th patch, including all of its balance and Quirk adjustments. You can find a rundown on all those changes in our December 11th Patch Notes.
- All Quick Play matches will be 4v4
- Skirmish and Conquest are the only two Game Modes in rotation.
- Solo and Group Queue matches will be supported. However, you will need to Group up in groups of 2 or 4 to find a match.
- The matchmaker will not be in effect (no PSR or Weight Class matching).
- Private Matches will be accessible.
- Faction Play will be accessible, but to help ensure you get matches we recommend you drop QP.
- All PTS accounts will be boosted with MC, C-Bill, and GXP currency and Premium Time to aid with testing.
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Please do not contact Support regarding any PTS questions or feedback. Please direct all PTS-related content to the dedicated Discussion Forum.
New LRM Direct / Indirect fire behavior:
The core change coming with this PTS will be the addition of unique LRM behavior dependent on if a firer has direct line of sight to its target or not at the time the weapon is fired.
Direct line of sight
A much shallower angle of attack for the missile volley resulting in the following benefits over the current implementation:
- Around a 40-45% reduction in time to target.
- Much more per-volley accuracy with the shallower trajectory more reliably hitting a target’s center mass. Which leads to both higher # of missiles hitting its target, and a greater concentration of damage on more centrally located geometry. In testing, this can become as high as a 30% accuracy increase over indirect fire. Although it should be noted that this value is based on averages tested, and will vary depending on spread a target’s geometry.
- Less time for AMS to shot down missile volleys as they approach the target.
- Tuned to reliably be able to fire upon enemies under vertical cover from a distance. Including under the overpasses of Crimson Straight from the Island, as well as the low ground of Rubellite Oasis from various locations.
No direct line of sight:
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Will arc missile fire in the exact way it currently operates on live with the value adjustments described bellow.
LRM Weapon Changes:
LRM 5:
- Spread increased to 4.6 (from 4.2)
- Velocity decreased to 175 (from 190)
- Minimum Heat Penalty Increased to 5 (from 4)
- Heat Penalty increased to 3.4 (from 2.8)
LRM 10:
- Spread increased to 4.6 (from 4.2)
- Velocity decreased to 175 (from 190)
- Minimum Heat Penalty Increased to 4 (from 3)
- Heat Penalty increased to 3.4 (from 2.8)
LRM 15:
- Spread increased to 5.6 (from 5.2)
- Velocity decreased to 175 (from 190)
- Heat Penalty increased to 3.4 (from 2.8)
LRM 20:
- Spread increased to 5.6 (from 5.2)
- Velocity decreased to 175 (from 190)
- Heat Penalty increased to 3.4 (from 2.8)
C-LRM 5:
- Spread increased to 5.0 (from 4.55)
- Velocity decreased to 175 (from 190)
- Minimum Heat Penalty Increased to 5 (from 4)
- Heat Penalty increased to 3.9 (from 3.1)
C-LRM 10:
- Spread increased to 5.0 (from 4.55)
- Velocity decreased to 175 (from 190)
- Minimum Heat Penalty Increased to 4 (from 3)
- Heat Penalty increased to 3.9 (from 3.1)
C-LRM 15:
- Spread increased to 6.0 (from 5.55)
- Velocity decreased to 175 (from 190)
- Heat Penalty increased to 3.9 (from 3.1)
C-LRM 20:
- Spread increased to 6.0 (from 5.55)
- Velocity decreased to 175 (from 190)
- Heat Penalty increased to 3.9 (from 3.1)
We have made the following video to showcase the net effect of these changes compared to how it is currently implemented on live:
For these initial values, we went with values that would result in net buffs in direct fire situations and nerfs in indirect fire. We want to stress again that these values are explicitly for testing purposes, and may change upon final release. We will be reviewing both data acquired through the PTS and player feedback within the PTS forums.
Additional Design notes:
Although not directly related to the LRM trajectory tests, we had internal adjustments to LRM heat scale value changes under investigation at the time the direct to indirect functionality got to a point where we wished to conduct a public test. Because of this, we feel it would be convenient to take the opportunity to test these changes and monitor the data in addition to the trajectory changes rather than simply release them on their own in an upcoming patch. These value changes are being considered in order to add a bit more heat to those that break the heat scale penalties when firing multiple larger launchers at once. With a higher penalty for firing large numbers of launchers, but easing up on the heat scale trigger point for smaller launchers such as LRM 5’s and LRM 10’s. As with everything else within the PTS, these values are tuned explicitly for testing purposes and are not final, and we will be reviewing both data and feedback acquired regarding these individual changes.
We would like to thank all of those that provide us with feedback on this matter. Feel free to continue to provide feedback within the newly opened PTS forum.
Or Direct Download: http://patcher.mwomercs.com/patch/PublicTest/frontend/FrontendPatch_178.zip
