There's another thread about LMGs specifcally but I thought it worth rasing this

separatly.

Could the cauldron look at all the 'support' weapons when they get a chance please?
By which I mean the following weapons and what I think are their weaknesses:

MGs - work best when boated to the extreme

Flamers - don't do any damage, need three or more to work properly
Tag - not enough range, almost always better to use an ER laser instead
NARC - really heavy, limited ammo, slow firing
STREAK - heavy, weak, and difficult unless you have at least six of them

I feel that it should be a viable choice to take these instead of other weapons of
the same weight. Currently they are often used in trick builds or as a follow up to
primary weapons.

There's also the issue that some Clan mechs can boat a whole bunch of MGs or
Flamers, which makes up for their weakness, whereas IS mechs don't have that
ability.

I feel that Flamers should do a lot more damage at the expense of maybe a small
reduction in heat generation, that IS MGs should do a bit more damage thanks to
their weight and lack of boatability, that Clan MGs should also do a little more
damage, that Tags should have better range and lighter weight, and that NARCs and
STREAKs should have all their factors buffed a bit because they're so heavy. Note
the emphasis in small buffs, major buffs would definitely throw out balance.

I'm not sure what the knock-on effects of all that would be though, what do others
think?

Edited by Dogstar, 30 June 2021 - 12:59 AM.

#2 Khobai

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Posted 30 June 2021 - 01:22 AM

These are my recommendations:

ISMGs:
ISLMG = increase dps from 0.7 to 0.9
ISMG = increase dps from 1.0 to 1.3
ISHMG = increase dps from 1.5 to 2.0

This helps balance out the IS MGs better and helps make up for the lack of
ballistic hardpoints on IS mechs.

Flamers:
-More damage? I cant think of any other way to buff flamers without completely
overhauling them.

TAG:
-No changes

NARC:
-Increase the base duration of NARC by 30%
-Remove the 15% duration bonus from each enhanced NARC skill node (total of 30%)

This essentially bakes the duration bonus from the skill nodes into the base NARC
so you dont have to waste skill points on NARC. Its bad enough NARC takes up
tonnage it shouldnt eat up your skill points too.

STREAKs/ATMs/LRMs:
-reduce the ecm lockon time penalty from +50% to +25%
-possibly also reduce the global lockon time by .25 seconds
-increase the size of the lockon area back to the size of the red targeting box
-revert the nerfs to clan streaks
-change the streak hit table to hit legs less and CT more (hitting legs 30% of the
time is way too high vs lights)

The biggest issue with streaks and also an issue for homing missiles in general
right now is that it takes way too long to lock-on especially in the presence of
ecm. And the lock-on area is so small now its not intuitive for new players
anymore. Clan streaks also do miserable damage currently which needs to be fixed.
And lastly streaks hit legs too often which screws light mechs more than it should.

New Utility Hardpoint:

New type of hardpoint for utility weapons like TAG/NARC.TAG/NARC can either use a
utility hardpoint or an energy/missile hardpoint respectively. Mechs like the
Raven/Kitfox and other support mechs would get a utility hardpoint so they dont
have to waste energy or missile hardpoints on TAG/NARC.

Edited by Khobai, 30 June 2021 - 01:41 AM.