Patch Review: Project Phoenix

Locust

Continuing with my tradition of absorbing the content and reviewing the game changes later, today we have the Patch Review for the October 15th patch.  Original Patch Notes are here.  The gist is:  Phoenix Project has gone live, and the Locust is available on the open market.  With all the buildup to this event, how have things changed?

Shadowhawk

Lets get the bits and bobs out of the way first.  There's a new mech skin called Hot Rod, but that's in addition to the Phoenix Project skin on each of the uniques (P).  They added some fun items to hang in your cockpit for Halloween, and it's nice to see the seasonal items.

Light mechs have had some fine tuning done, in terms of maneuverability.  You can see the exact specs in the Patch Notes, but I really just want to talk about the reverse speed increase.  The Commando and Spider can now travel 75% of their top speed in reverse, which greatly expands the capability of the chassis.  This was a needed change, so you have a chance to not instantly explode if you expose yourself to enemy LOS.

Thunderbolt

Impact shake for certain weapons have been reduced.  You won't shake as much when you're being hit with an AC/5, LB10X, Streak SRM2 and SRM4.  Conversely, the AC/20 and AC/10 now cause more impact shake on a hit.  It's minor, but noticeable - AC/20's feel heavier, and AC/5's feel lighter.  It's almost on a scale of some sort...like 2 to 20?  Yeah, good one.

Airstrikes and Artillery Strikes have been made more viable.  I played with a lot of these modules prior to the patch, and I can tell you that it was mostly a waste of time.  The high arrival time and the smoke marker itself tend to ensure no one is ever hit, and if they are it's the equivalent to an AC/10.  Weak.  Now, however...they do 40 damage in one hit.  That's enough to be more useful...if you score a hit, it's going to hurt.

Battlemaster

Yet the meat of this patch was the Phoenix Project.  I was a little concerned that releasing 4 mechs at once would be the thing to start causing balance issues, but no.  It's hard to cheat with the rules of mech design, so when the Phoenix mechs hit the battlefield ... nothing really happened.  There is more variety on the battlefield, better aesthetics to the game to be sure.  It's totally enriched the environment, but as far as anything coming out ahead of anything else...nope.  The environment is stable and balanced.

I look forward to every patch, and though I might not comment or talk about it in the first week...I want to talk about how the changes affect the game we play, rather that spit superflous blurbs on what will be.  I want to focus on what is.  So, join us is discussing the new mechs, gameplay or anything else by clicking on the comments link below.