Mechwarrior Online

Another weekend of win 5 games and win a Thunderbolt and mechbay. Ends tomorrow at 10:00am. If nothing else worth it for selling off and getting the cbills and free mechbay.

Clan mechs were released today, well, if you paid RL money for them that is. Server is up and down, up and down endlessly, so haven't been able to play against them. Sounds like they may be a tad OP from what I'm hearing, but I didn't try them out on test so can't say for sure at this point.

Looks like they also added half tons of ammo, which is really nice to squeeze a few more rounds in your mech when you have that little extra space.

Ha figures, post I can't get in, then finally get in a game. Clan missiles and lasers have different sounds and animations/colors which are nice. After I died I viewed a friendly Clan mech, and dammit, they have a much better UI color IMO (sort of light neon blue) - looks way better and makes the paper doll damage indicator stand out better (unless that's tweaked too, hard to tell). If you want to see the new weapons (Streak 6 anyone? ER Laser with 1780m range? LBX 5 or 20? Oh yes) Smurfy has the info.

MWO:Mechlab

Clan mechs were fun on PTS, hoping they extend some of their weapons mechanics to help creating a better feeling game. Server issues are annoying.

We killed the PTS twice last week, you'd think they'd have extra horsepower available knowing it was going to be bad.

Ok, having played a bunch of games, I'm hating Clan mechs. I'm forced to use my LRM IS mech to even bother with games. I'm used to going toe to toe with ANY mech in the game in my K2 and that just ain't happening anymore. As far as I'm concerned, unless we see some nerfs, PTW is here kids. Enjoy!

I was a founder for this game but never played it past the beta because it was so buggy. Looks like Clan mechs are in now (woo) but you gotta shell $50 to play em? F that ;{

I do however have 20,000 MC from being a founder, what should I drop it on if I'm just starting out?

OneofOne_sl said:

Ok, having played a bunch of games, I'm hating Clan mechs. I'm forced to use my LRM IS mech to even bother with games. I'm used to going toe to toe with ANY mech in the game in my K2 and that just ain't happening anymore. As far as I'm concerned, unless we see some nerfs, PTW is here kids. Enjoy!

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That's disappointing to hear but not that unexpected. Ive been off this game for a while but a friend still plays and hounds me to pick it back up again. Doesnt look like that's happening now. I always thought in the lore that Clan mechs were essentially glass cannons to an extent? Ran extremely hot and little armor to make up for their superior firepower. Are they just not living up to the "glass" part?

Nidhogg_sl said:

I was a founder for this game but never played it past the beta because it was so buggy. Looks like Clan mechs are in now (woo) but you gotta shell $50 to play em? F that ;{

I do however have 20,000 MC from being a founder, what should I drop it on if I'm just starting out?

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My knowledge is a little dated so take it with a grain of salt but I dont think you can ever go wrong with a Firebrand (champ Jagermech). The Shadowhawk 2D2 was one of the most fun mechs I ever played as well.

There are like three good Clan mechs out of the bunch, and their assault mechs suck. If you are having a lot of problems with them, you really need to rethink your tactics.

All of their big weapons spread damage like crazy.

I think they did overall a nice job with them.

Inner Sphere Lights and Assaults (especially the Victor) are still the cream of the crop.

I plan on just saving my MC till October when they release the Timber Wolf for MC. Til then though, should I just stockpile c-bills, buy modules, what is a good starting route?

From what I've read about their weapons and systems it seems they are really going to dominate standing long ranged slugfests except for lrm exchanges. Mobility is going to be key to spreading out their "pulse" based weapon systems. Nearly every IS mech moving sub 100kph is going to want at least one LRM 5 if possible. I've been carrying at least one LRM 10 for the past few months and it's been highly effective for supporting teammates when they catch someone out of position.

Their weapons act very differently. If you get good at torso twisting and sliding damage along multiple components, they aren't that scary. If you stand there facing them trying to get a shot off, they'll light you up.

IS Lights are light years better than Clan Lights though.

Remmy_sl said:

From what I've read about their weapons and systems it seems they are really going to dominate standing long ranged slugfests except for lrm exchanges. Mobility is going to be key to spreading out their "pulse" based weapon systems. Nearly every IS mech moving sub 100kph is going to want at least one LRM 5 if possible. I've been carrying at least one LRM 10 for the past few months and it's been highly effective for supporting teammates when they catch someone out of position.

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Their weapons act very differently. If you get good at torso twisting and sliding damage along multiple components, they aren't that scary. If you stand there facing them trying to get a shot off, they'll light you up.

IS Lights are light years better than Clan Lights though.

Remmy_sl said:

From what I've read about their weapons and systems it seems they are really going to dominate standing long ranged slugfests except for lrm exchanges. Mobility is going to be key to spreading out their "pulse" based weapon systems. Nearly every IS mech moving sub 100kph is going to want at least one LRM 5 if possible. I've been carrying at least one LRM 10 for the past few months and it's been highly effective for supporting teammates when they catch someone out of position.

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Nidhogg_sl said:

I plan on just saving my MC till October when they release the Timber Wolf for MC. Til then though, should I just stockpile c-bills, buy modules, what is a good starting route?

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I'm just stockpiling my c-bills atm. They will eventually (based on past experience) release the clan mechs for c-bills, except for the hero/champ mechs as usual. I've managed to save up $50 million so far and in a couple of months when they release them for c-bills it shoudl be fun.

I need to get in more games to see how things fall out, but statwise I don't see how Inner compete with Clan. For lasers, clan have longer range, lighter weight, and the same heat. Add in that they have the same armour, better double heat sinks (two slots instead of three), and it's an all around advantage for Clans. I have not seen missles or AC specs yet, so no input there.

Well that falls in line with how the Clans were originally introduced into the Battletech lore. Superior tech across the board.

That's really not how it is.

For instance, Clan LRMs in lore could do full damage at any range. Right now they have a 180 min range and eventually will have a scaling damage under 180m. Also the ripple fire mechanic for Clan LRMs makes them more susceptible to AMS.

Also Clan SRMs and SSRMs had longer range than IS...they don't in MW:O. In addition, IS SRMs do .15 more damage per missile.

Clan Lasers have a longer burn time than IS Lasers, meaning it's easier to spread their damage to multiple components.

Clan ER PPC's have the splash mechanic, which depending on where you hit can entirely lose the splash damage.

I can go on and on with the draw backs they put in to keep it balanced.

Not to mention the lack of engine changes, which is huge.

Nidhogg_sl said:

Well that falls in line with how the Clans were originally introduced into the Battletech lore. Superior tech across the board.

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Well I was speaking from the books, the actual tabletop and what not, is not my arena. The fact that they lost at Tukkayid still baffles me.

Consensus is to just collect C-bills till Clan mechs come out for C-bills?

Gorillaz isn't being a 100% truthful, and he's wrong about SSRMS who trade something like a 33% increased range for 10% speed penalty (which is an awesome deal). He mentions the longer laser on-target time, but forgets to mention they do more damage, and have much better range. He mentions you can't change engines, but fails to mention Clan mechs come with XL engines, and they don't blow up when you lose a side torso, which... is kinda nice. Never mind that Clans get a bunch of weapons the IS do not, like SSRM 4's and 6's, which even with a longer cycle time still have a higher DPS than IS SSRM 2's. Half or more of the Clan weps hit further out than IS weps, and likewise retain full damage out to a farther range. It's not insignificant when you can engage your opponent before they can engage you.

He thinks the drawbacks even things out, I disagree. Time will show who was in error, but in the meantime my anecdotal experience is brawling in my IS mech is far more deadly now than it was 2 days ago.

Nidhogg_sl said:

Consensus is to just collect C-bills till Clan mechs come out for C-bills?

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I'm not going to speak for anyone else, but that's my plan. Other than buying mech bays, I have zero interest in spending cash on this game until a real metagame is added, and we get more maps.

Oh, in exchange for yesterday's fiasco, looks like if you log in BEFORE Friday, on Friday you'll get a free mech bay and 24 hours of premium time. So log in bros.

The fact that you can't brawl IS vs Clan - based on the chassis in the game is accurate to the lore. Side torso non-death is the Case system which in the lore vents the internal explosion out and away from the mech. IS tech will catch up assuming the game lasts long enough (which based on the speed clan tech is in it should). You will see Inner sphere tech catch up. Just take this time to enjoy the fact that there is a new dynamic to mech battles.

Do they have clan v IS battles yet? or is there anything in the works to perhaps allow a Clan Star (5mechs) to battle two Innersphere lances (4x2)? Such a situation in the context of game lore would be reasonably accurate assuming the relative tonnage isn't completely lopsided. Innersphere lances would want to use the terrain to negate the range advantage for one, never trade at long range with a clan mech would be kind of a cardinal rule at this stage of game lore.

It appears they really want to progress down the timeline (which should be a bonus to the game and not a flaw in my eyes). If you arn't a battletech junkie, I can see how it can feel unfair. The tech gap should close over time, and the innersphere does eventually get some unique technologies and great chasis.

I'm familiar with the lore, though not a junkie per se. I've read a half dozen novels, played the card game, and played the tabletop game lo those many years ago, so I'm quite aware that upon their initial meeting, Clan mechs were superior in every way. However, since this game choose not to separate the two sides and fight against each other, such as you suggested above (and many others on the forum did - balance better mechs on one side with numbers on the other) you have (I argue) superior mechs fighting alongside inferior mechs, and the the only way to get Clan mechs right now is to pay cash. That makes the game PTW. Now sure, I still kill Clan mechs in my IS mechs - after all skill level and luck varies - but all things being equal, I posit that a match in which 12 Clanners fight 12 IS, the Clanners will win. In a game in which ALL you can do is fight, there has to be some balance, or what's the point?