Somewhat curious about whether the builds people are creating currently are tested in game by them as most seem to be ignoring the penalties. Basically PGI have mainly tied the weapon/xp bonuses to having the basic set of 8 omnipods for that chassis but have tied the movement quirks to the torso pods. Those torso bonuses vary hugely from 0% to 25% PER torso. The C has no CT tied bonuses at all the others have accel/decal/turn rate/torso turn rate 15%. A couple of examples with the most popular side torsos the A, which has 2 very useful cockpit level energy slots but no bonuses: The C with its torso chin mounted energy point gains 5 very nicely located energy hardpoints and can do the 5 ERML setup. It becomes totally unbonused however and loses 40% acceleration, 40% deceleration, 30% turn rate and 40% torso turn rate. It also loses 2.5% xp and a 20% MG ROF bonus but those are entirely missable! The Medusa doesn't have a torso mount but can still gain the 4 cockpit height energy mounts, losing in the process 45% acceleration, 45% deceleration, 15% turn rate, 20% torso turn rate, 10% laser range and 5% laser heat gen reduction. Again we don't care about the 2.5% xp really... Possibly its just me but the idea of fighting at short to medium range with minimal bonuses in a mech that survives on its manoeuvrability worries me. FYI the bonuses on the torsos are: VPR-PRIME LT Acceleration: 25% Deceleration: 25% Turn Rate: 10% Torso Turn Rate: 15% VPR-PRIME CT Acceleration: 15% Deceleration: 15% Turn Rate: 15% Torso Turn Rate: 15% VPR-PRIME RT Acceleration: 15% Deceleration: 15% Turn Rate: 10% Torso Turn Rate: 15% VPR-A CT Acceleration: 15% Deceleration: 15% Turn Rate: 15% Torso Turn Rate: 15% VPR-B LT Acceleration: 10% Deceleration: 10% Turn Rate: 5% Torso Turn Rate: 5% VPR-B CT Acceleration: 15% Deceleration: 15% Turn Rate: 15% Torso Turn Rate: 15% VPR-B RT Acceleration: 10% Deceleration 10% Turn Rate: 5% Torso Turn Rate: 5% VPR-C LT Acceleration: 15% Deceleration: 15% Turn Rate: 15% Torso Turn Rate: 15% VPR-C RT Acceleration: 15% Deceleration: 15% Turn Rate: 15% Torso Turn Rate: 15% VPR-D LT Acceleration: 10% Deceleration: 10% Turn Rate: 5% Torso Turn Rate: 5% VPR-D CT Acceleration: 15% Deceleration: 15% Turn Rate: 15% Torso Turn Rate: 15% VPR-D RT Acceleration: 10% Deceleration: 10% Turn Rate: 5% Torso Turn Rate: 5% VPR-M LT Acceleration: 10% Deceleration: 10% Turn Rate: 5% Torso Turn Rate: 5% VPR-M CT Acceleration: 15% Deceleration: 15% Torso Turn Rate: 15% Turn Rate: 15% VPR-M RT Acceleration: 25% Deceleration: 25% Turn Rate: 10% Torso Turn Rate: 15%
Well, you don't always need all the quirks on a mech. For example you get ERLL quirks on a wolfhound, but are you really going to run just ERLLs because they get 15% heat gen reduction instead of 10% on the other energy weapons? The popular pods often are the ones with more hard points, which in return get little to no quirks. However, that does allow them to run more weapons. That's how almost omnipods are/should be balanced. What people find more important in a build is up to them to decide. Testing all builds in game is not at all necessary. Some people (myself included) just like to theorycraft in the event that they might get the build later on, or have a fun idea that other people can then try out.
Coincidentally I alluded to but didn't explicitly say that the mechs also get some of their movement quirks from the Set of 8 bonus, e.g. the C get 10% accel/decal that way.
I understood that, but 10% is a pretty negligible compensation for basically locking yourself into suboptimal builds/allocations.
True but using your example on an unaltered Viper B I can have two cockpit level ER LL's ... and still gain 35% accel/decal, 25% turn rate/torso turn rate and 10% laser range. I do get your point though - we all have different playstyles.
That wasn't in reply to you it was an addition to my first post. You're not talking about losing 10% you're talking about losing up to 45% in total....
Depending on how many of the quirked torsos you replace with damaging torsos. IMO trying to find a balance between what quirks are useful and what builds/allocations are better is optimal. You shouldn't completely disregard quirks, they can make or break a mech's strengths. On the other hand, if you let all your builds be dictated by how to get the optimal quirks you're likely losing out on weapon effectiveness.
I echo Excalibaard's sentiments. Sometimes it's better to go with the quirks, sometimes it's better to ignore them and build a mech that works. Everyone has a different threshold when it comes to "optimal" and "fun". Frankly, if you can make something work in spite of its quirks or lack thereof, all the power to you.
