Quirk Testing Impressions - Input Welcome!

But even before those quirks, an 8x or 9X MLas build runs way too hot for a beginner and this build quickly becomes an exercise in frustration.

I've played with it a bit (not enough yet as I've been all about the TDRs recently), but I find the quirks don't really do too much to improve an already deadly build. The 12.5% decrease in cooldown is great, as a DPS increase always helps. The 20% velocity increase is nice, but I've never found the AC5s to be too slow, while The 12.5% bonus to range doesn't really make a huge impact either. Taken together they do push out the useable range a bit, but they are not really a game changer like what you're seeing with the Tier 5 quirks.

 

Gauss for a new player with the charging mechanics?

 

Oh I haven't played with Gauss since they put that in. I was speaking of my early experience.

 

Here is my secret Stalker 4N tech.
https://www.mechspecs.com/threads/stk-4n-36-and-single-4x-llas-xl275.7578/
Not optimal, but silly fun.

 

Also Stalker 3H with 4 LPL is pretty amazing with its quirks

 

Queue Eff Tee.

It's even harder to have patience on a large map when your allies are holding back and camping. I've always thought of any type of shooter game in the terms of predators vs prey. For example, in BF4, I was the #1 player with shotguns for about 2-3 months in the US (got to...want to say #3 or 4 in the world?) based on that idea. You see it in shooters all the time: players pick up sniper rifles and camp corners, waiting for people to come to them. Then, a coordinated rush happens (or a very aggressive player), and you see 5-10 people get wiped out in a matter of seconds as enemies push through them. I tend to be an aggressive player, which helps and hurts my mechs. In my Jenners/Ember, I'm pretty good at finding the exact moment that a pilot panics as I get in their face, usually when they either walk backwards and twitch a lot, or flat out turn and run. In my DWF, it gets me killed a lot but I generally take someone with me.

The problem I have with hanging back (and my SRM builds and lights have to, if the team camps) is that I know how it's going to end 90% of the time: the team will get hit head-on by the other team, who is more aggressive, and backpedal trying to find cover, splitting themselves up in the process (which is exactly what prey behavior is). Meanwhile, those of us who can then get aggressive in infighting mechs get slaughtered when our backup evaporates, then the predators pick off the isolated members of the herd before swallowing the rest up for good measure.

Tourmaline is infamous in my mind for this "tactic", and I despise getting stuck on the prey side of things. Because, in the end, I'm the man with the shotgun who wants to do this

 

Yes, as I said some posts ago, it's the best LPL stalker in my opinion, even better then the quirk'd one, heat gen. decrease is too important, on 4 LPL that's 12,5% decrease each, it's a lot.

What bugs me off is I'd need endo steel to min-max it, and it's always an hard decision to put endo on a stalker.

 

However.....

Can I just point out that relying on the quirk lists leads you into errors as the BNC-3M range quirk really is a bonus not a penalty so it gets :

Large Pulse Heat Generation -15%
Large Pulse Laser Range +15%
Laser Duration -10%

You're welcome.

 

Having great fun with this build now:



Quirks:
ER-Large Duration-20%
ER-Large Cooldown+20%
ER-Large Heat Generation-20%

The funny thing about it: Everybody thinks that your primary weapon is on the RA/shooting it off first, until they realize that you have only PewPews!

Next gonna test this:



Quirks:
AC/2 Cooldown+25%
AC/2 Heat Generation-25%
ER-LL Heat Generation-25%
ER-LL Cooldown+25%
ER-LL Duration-25%Laser Weapon Cooldown-12.5%

If Triple AC2 is still tooo hot, i'll trade the 3rd for a 2nd ERLL:

 

My analysis of the quirks generally: they have made the game harder for newcomers. The players who are decent to good pilots are now even better. The new players still run off alone, can't aim, use bad builds and don't know how to use even those to their full potential.

On the fun side for me, I really notice a difference in my Locust 3M. I was good at surviving in it before and now my damage has gone way up.

 

I haven't had much playtime, but in the threads leading up to quirks, I remember voicing this as one of my fears. That said, if MWO ever needed a REAL tutorial system that explained things like these (not to mention a better UI that showed the perks in a more obvious manner for newbies), it was right now.

 

Well, except for super-jump-jet-in-air-turn-as-fast-as-a-light.... but we can't have it all back.

 

Pssshhhaww... balance.

 

Not sure I accept that. I accept the lack of knowledge argument but then they'll be fighting other people of their own ELO. Theres also a huge bonus for them -most mechs they start in now can be stunningly effective. No more do they spend their cadet bonus on a first mech ... and then find its a lemon. Now they can just come to a site like mech specs and find a good fit for that mech.

 

1) The following statement derived from in-depth experience in the group queue (mostly 8-12 man drops).

I'm not having too much fun in the new quirked world of MWO. The TTK is significantly lower for lights, but clans are OP as they always were. That's because the TTK is higher for clans (magic hit boxes, high speeds). Yeah thing like the 5SS are a novelty but I don't fell more competent to kill a stormcrow in it, especially if it can dictate range, which is almost always the case.
I'm curious to see a new after-quirk Tier list and another 6-hours Clan vs IS matchmaker-mod for statistical purposes. My guess is that the commandos are still T5, the Oxide will have reached T1 and the Huginn Tier 3 or 2, while the Spiders remain where there are now. And locusts, yeah. Well.

Gonna switch to Clan mechs exclusively in the long run because I don't see true attempts to balance things here. A DW or 90kp/h-Timberwolf with a 80-point alpha and an explosion-safe XL engine and 4500 dps is still going to devastate any IS mech. I'm saying this because Russ has already stated that clans will get Quirks too, so apart from insane low TTK things will probably remain usual business.

Hey maybe I just suck. I see you guys posting results like 1000dmg games in Firestartes, I just can't do it anymore. Frustration is taking over.

 

Try playing an Ice Ferret if you think that.

In fairness I'm seeing the same mechs on the clan side that do well but the lack of variety is stunning.

 

I think my whining can be summarized like this:

To what extent does better dps overcome missing tonnage, missing JJ or unfortunate hit boxes?

PS my frustration level seems to be LRM related. I just bought a kit fox and equipped it with 3 ams and ECM

 

Unfortunately the Matchmaker isn't very selective with the Elo ranks. Having grind few new accounts it is true the level is overall lower, but not so much. Might depends on the time of the day.
Anyway, true story, last week I met a new player asking for help on the French sub-section of the official forum, I proposed him to add me ingame and join me on TS to discuss the game. I didn't kept records of how long it took, but I'm pretty sure we spend more than an hour to simply cover basic aspects of the game. I haven't even fully explained the quirk system to him, yet.
Anyway, the following day I log on, jump on the solo queue and I see him on the other team. I'm not a top-player, but I have reasons to believe my Elo is high enough a fresh cadet should never run into me.
And if you want to know the end of the story, it ends badly: he was on a trial BlackJack, I was on a dakka Dragon. At long range.

edit: what I wanted to say with this story (more than MM not being very selecctive with Elo), why I agree with SirBurntChicken about the game made harder for new comers, is there is already A LOT of complex game mechanics, not very newb friendly: ECM (and how to counter), ghost heat,... now quirks.

Yep.

 

That sounds more like a faulty cadet/elo mechanic though.

 

Just for the record ... 4 x 1,000+ matches this afternoon in IS mechs....

Fuck the clans - who needs them?

(*riding the wave of euphoria and smugness*)