Greetings, noble MechWarriors! It's almost time for July's first patch to MWO from PGI. Since last year sometime we have been keeping track of the changes to gameplay patch to patch and how we feel about it in a semi-regular column called Patch Review. I usually do a review halfway between one patch and the next, but the fact is we've been really busy at Purvo Actual drilling and training our pilots. As well, I've been very busy with our tabletop games club and that pesky thing called "real-life" - but I thought it remiss of us not to talk about what happened last month. So today, we'll take a brief look at both patches.
I'll be honest - I didn't feel a real impetus to write a review for the first part of the month, and only mildly with the Clan Invasion. There are a few key things I want to point out, however. First, if you need it, take a refresher look at last months' initial patch.
I like the Arrow. I really like the reflective qualities of the paint as well, and I really dig that new feature if it's going to be incorporated elsewhere. Neat effect. Other than that, nothing special with the new Hero or Champion.
Why so many new Trial 'mechs? Is there a way I can hide them from my Mechlab? If not PGI, can you put one in? I already have so many. Which reminds me: how about adding a "Ready Mechs" section of the UI? It's really useful when you have a ton of 'mechs to scroll through, but it was removed with UI 2.0. Bring it back, and let me hide the Trials again.
Ok, now weapon tuning. The biggest issue I have with this points to flaws in PGI's testing and balance limiters. Here we had a bunch of weapons that were complained about IMMEDIATELY after last months' Tournament began. They didn't change it during the Tournament, but did so IMMEDIATELY afterward. So this points to one of two things: PGI caved quickly to pressure, or some developer didn't like something a team was doing. With the amount of weapon tweaks, I would say they caved to the pressure, nerfing a lot of weapons.
Even more ridiculously, they did this RIGHT BEFORE the Clans were introduced with MORE POWERFUL WEAPONS than anything we previously possessed! Overcorrection? Swerve? Fish-tailiing nerfbats are flying, while the Clans were already more powerful out of the gate. Hopefully, they had enough data to tell them where the IS weapons needed to be vs. the Clan weapons that were about to launch. The more grim outlook on this is that their long term plans for balance are haphazard (non-existent?) and based on non-developers ideas, rather than the developer himself.
Well, at least you don't see Streaks orbiting anymore. On to the Clans. I won't have much to say about the individual aspects of the Clan equipment or 'mechs in this post, but rather I will offer a general assessment of the situation. For posterity and completeness:
First of all, new modules. Most of these look good, but we're still testing them. Way better than Weapon Range modules, these look like they are actually worth buying. Radar Deprivation? I'll have 10.
Turrets are now 60 Hit Points, down 40%. Now a base is more readily assaultable, but I wouldn't recommend doing so in a Recon Lance. You'll still need some firepower to put them down quickly, but this feels much better.
UAC's are now worthless unless chained with another weapon. Click every time? Why? Why in the Chancellor's Heart would you do that? Like it wasn't already comically unreliable.
As for the Clan 'mechs: they aren't overpowered. Expect them to come with max armor to protect their (albeit slightly superior) XL engines, and their internal components can be harder to knock out. However, their strength is their weakness: the large number of weapon hardpoints available. Most Clan 'mechs will overheat as soon as given the opportunity, so adapting our tactics has been pretty simple. Learn where the CT hitboxes are on ALL mechs, not just the Clan ones.
Turn to spread the damage out. Don't let them focus all those guns on you. Use LOS to deny LRM attacks, and focus fire the Center Torso to knock out the engine. Don't bother going for the arms or legs while in Lance or Company formation, because we need our shots to kill something vital as soon as possible. Nothing in the leg or arm is going to take it out quicker than knocking out the XL engine, but you can't do that by taking out the left or right sections of the torso. So go for the Center, every time, especially when in formation and a Clan 'mech is called as a target.
That's it for now, and we'll be Johnny On The Spot with our Patch Reviews going forward. So get out there, don't waste money on Weapon Range modules, don't sweat the Clanners and aim for the Center Torso. Happy Hunting, MechWarriors.
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