Feedback on weapons, should some of them be buffed?

[Nisharu]

I will speak of my own experience, and try to put some reasons behind my thoughs.
I played through the whole game using srm 4\6, m lasers and LRMS, and started using AC\20 on >80t mechs. I tried to use PPC, L laser or any AC below 20, but those just felt inferior to weapons listed before.
So here's what i feel about every(if i don't forget something) weapon in the game:

1. M laser: is very good. 2,5 damage per heat(DHP) and 25 damage per ton(DPT). There are some downsides, such as mediocre range and 0 stab damage, but it's still the best weapon in Energy category, and probably one of the best weapons in the game.

2. L Laser: 1,34 DPH and 8 DPT. This one is actually pretty much the worst wp in the game. the only upside for this one would be it's good range(range is important i know, but not so much as heat management imo).

3. PPC: 1,25 DPH and 7,14 DPT. It's below mediocre, but not terrible. It has some stab damage going for it, and outstanding range, well and -5% hit acc, which is minor, but it's not nothing.

4. AC/2: 5 DPH and 4,16 DPT. Ok it's range is huge, and 5 stab damage might just be what you need to knock down a mech, but i still feel like it weights too much for what it's doing.

5. AC/5: 4,5 DPH and 5,63 DPT. Better than AC/2, and is basically a superior version of a PPC. I'd say it's pretty decent.

6. AC/10: 4 DPH and 5 DPT. Straight downgrade from AC/5. Decent stab damage and good range. Probably still better than PPC.

7. AC/20: 4 DPH and 7,14 DPT. Best AC weapon you can get, pretty good overall because of huge focused damage. Well, probaly isn't that good untill you get to assault mechs. Lacks the range of it's predecessors, and 5 ammo per stack it pretty low, but the upside(s) outweight the downsides.

8. SRM 2 is meh

9. SRM 4: 4 DPH and 16 DPT. This thing is pretty good if you have only one slot left, or you can put missile weapon in the head, otherwise use SRM 6.

10. SRM 6 3,42 DPH and 16 DPT. It's somewhere there with m lasers and AC/20's. SRM 6 is a great choice if you want to deal substantial mid-range dmg along with some stab dmg. Also the fact that damage is spread between 6 missiles is a curse and a blessing for it. Misses are not so devastating(unless you miss all of them ofc), but when you call a shot you might(and will) hit some other part once-twice.

11. LRM 20 4,44 DPH and 8 DPT. This kind of weapons is your best choice, if you want to fill a stability bar to full it one salvo. LRM 5 and 10 are you early game choices, while 20 and 15 are mid-late game ones. LRMs have amazing range, and don't require LOS(though still better if you have it) to shoot. Their stab damage and huge amout of chance to hit rolls make them the best weapon to get triple salvage through knockdown/headshot cheese. The huge downside though is the way they spread the damage all over the mech, even if you use a called shot.

Supports are there to support, and their range makes them pretty bad unless you use melee(which is pretty bad), but if you do get to shoot exposed mech part which has some explosive ammo in it with MG, you won't be dissapointed(well, probably).

So what i would change:
1. L Laser
40 damage
20 heat
3 tonns
Also ER version should have same heat generation

2. PPC
55 damage
25 heat
25 stab damage
6 tonns
-2 acc on hit, stacking debuff up to -6(you can "refresh" it every turn or just fire 3 at the same time).

3. AC/2&AC/5
-2 tonn to it's current weight

4. AC/10
-3 tonns

5. AC/20
-1 tonn? hmm

6. Also M Pulse should probably not be a downgrade from M Laser
35 damage
15 heat
1 tonn
and slightly more range should probably be enough.

M Laser, SRMs and LRMs are imo in a fine spot right now.
And Flamers shoud probably deal 10(15) instead of 5(10).
These changes would also mean that almost every mech's basic loadout should be reworked a little, but i think it would be worth it in the end.

 

[Lawler]

There are already half a dozen or so rebalance mods out there on various modding sites.

If none of them suit your fancy, make a copy of the weapons folder and save it someplace safe. Then edit the weapon .json files as you see fit with notepad++ and copy paste them back to the original game folder, overwriting the old files. Make a backup of the old files if you want to save some time should you want to undo them later. Play with your new fancy hardware.

The reason I don’t suggest saving a copy of the originals and then altering the files in the folder is that game updates tend to set all files back to their original settings. So if you notice a patch came through, you can simply copy/paste your settings again. You can also “verify” your files through steam to reset your game to default setting, but this take a bit longer than just copy/pasting the originals back in if that’s all you changed.

You can also set up a MODS folder in the game files that patches won’t touch and put your modes files there, but you’ll then have to modify the csv file to point to your mods folder to pull data from and that’s VERY easy to screw up.

 

[Nisharu]

Ok, i had no idea that there are mods for this game, thx for telling me that.
Though i think it would still be nice if the actual game would be pretty balanced itself.

 

[Lawler]

Ok, i had no idea that there are mods for this game, thx for telling me that.
Though i think it would still be nice if the actual game would be pretty balanced itself.

They weapons are balance from certain perspectives. They key one right now being overall damage per heat. Some are far more efficient than others, though. The medium laser basically being king in this department. Autocannon damage is massively boosted in this iteration to account for their weight and ammo reliance, but most energy weapons come very close to the same weight if you also add enough heat sinks to make them heat neutral. It’s basically about what chassis hard points you have available and how aggressive you want to be with your damage profile compared to your heat index.