Jump Jet numbers from the beta

[HonorKnight]

This data is from the backer beta, and may have changed since then:

The distance numbers were produced by standing on perfectly flat ground (a lake) and mapping out every point a 'Mech was capable of jumping to, then calculating how far away those points were and noting the farthest one away. HBS confirmed that jump jets move in a straight line, so pathing is irrelevant, and they also confirmed that dots are 24 meters apart, not 30 as had been widely assumed based on tabletop.

The "heat" numbers shown here (which, to be clear, were not calculated in water) are the heat that would be produced if you jump the max distance possible for that many jump jets. I.e. if you had 5 jump jets but you only jumped 3 dots, you'd only accrue 15 heat, but if you jumped 6 dots in a straight line you'd accrue 30 heat.

The clear takeaway from this is that there is (or at least was in the backer beta) a sizable advantage to having an even number of jump jets. Even jump jets grant substantially more marginal jump distance than odd jump jets, and at less marginal heat cost!

Edit: This is definitely no longer accurate, they changed all this a lot since the beta.

 

[Rabid]

For reference what are the normal move distances for various 'mechs in game?

i.e. how much of a distance boost are you getting, over flat ground, compared to just walking with your mech vs. having max jump jets on the same mech and jumping?

 

[Panpiper]

What is the difference in evasive chevrons between a six dot jump and a seven dot jump? Heat is not the only consideration.

 

[HonorKnight]

For reference what are the normal move distances for various 'mechs in game?

i.e. how much of a distance boost are you getting, over flat ground, compared to just walking with your mech vs. having max jump jets on the same mech and jumping?

Quite a large distance boost, actually:

The difference is such that they can jump not only farther than they can walk, but often farther even than faster 'Mechs can walk. Plus the ability to freely rotate at the destination, which you wouldn't get from walking your maximum distance.

In some cases the space savings on the engine is such that it's more efficient to choose a slower 'Mech loaded out with jump jets than to get a faster 'Mech without jump jets. That was the basis of this post: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...n-assault-mechs-and-not-just-for-dfa.1073708/

 

[Rabid]

Interesting, I did notice from the recent streams that medium 'mechs making normal movements (no JJs or sprint) rarely generated more than 1-2 chevrons due to rough terrain, pathing, and other concerns. I feel like I haven't really seen JJs used well and have been underestimating their usefulness but suddenly I'm intrigued by the possibilities.

What is the difference in evasive chevrons between a six dot jump and a seven dot jump? Heat is not the only consideration.

I'd also be interested to know exactly how chevrons are generated. According to the beta manual using JJs automatically adds 1 chevron over normal movement (presumably this is still correct) but otherwise it's all based on distance.

 

[HonorKnight]

What is the difference in evasive chevrons between a six dot jump and a seven dot jump? Heat is not the only consideration.

In the beta:
You got a minimum of 1 evasive chevron for jumping at all, even to the same spot you started at.
Starting at 70 meters or 2.92 dots (min 2 JJs), this increased to 2 evasive chevrons (or 1 chevron for walking/sprinting this distance)
Starting at 100 meters or 4.17 dots (min 3 JJs), this increased to 3 evasive chevrons (or 2 chevrons for walking/sprinting this distance)
Starting at 130 meters or 5.42 dots (min 4 JJs), this increased to 4 evasive chevrons (or 3 chevrons for walking/sprinting this distance)
Starting at 160 meters or 6.67 dots (min 5 JJs), this increased to 5 evasive chevrons (or 4 chevrons for walking/sprinting this distance)
Starting at 190 meters or 7.92 dots (min 6 JJs), this increased to 6 evasive chevrons (or 5 chevrons for walking/sprinting this distance)
The last breakpoint, 220 meters or 9.17 dots, doesn't matter for jump jets, but it was the breakpoint for 6 chevrons from walking/sprinting.

I won't go into how Angel of Death changed the jump jet requirements, since it got axed.
Also note that from what we've seen in the streamer pre-release beta, evasion stacks are now initially capped at 4 instead of 6, but higher piloting skill can raise this maximum.
And of course if you had the evasive skill, you got one extra free chevron, although this won't exceed your maximum.

The distances for walking/sprinting were always a little fuzzy, since these follow pathing logic even on perfectly flat terrain (as opposed to walking in a straight line). So, for most dots, walking there would cover more distance than jumping there, potentially hitting one of the evasive chevron thresholds that jumping to the same spot would just barely have missed.

 

[Stormforge]

Wait, am I reading that right? For every Jump Jet I add, I can acquire another Evasive Chevron up to the maximum allowed for that pilot? Nice.

 

[Panpiper]

Wait, am I reading that right? For every Jump Jet I add, I can acquire another Evasive Chevron up to the maximum allowed for that pilot? Nice.

Yes, but be aware that jumping generates a HUGE amount of heat, and it is very possible that if you've let heat build up, you won't be able to both jump 'and' fire weapons. I'm not exactly certain of this but I've heard that a seven dot jump generates 37 heat, which is 7 more heat than your standard ten heat sinks can rid you of. So if your mech just has those basic heat sinks, you will 'gain' heat just by jumping without firing anything at all. If the jumping mech is a scout that does target lock instead of firing weapons, it would be fine. Alternatively you could have a mech with say just a ballistic cannon or two (which generate the least heat) and a few extra heat sinks, and you might be able to jump and fire for a fair few turns before hitting your heat threshold.

 

[Stormforge]

Yeah I found out that lesson in the beta with the Spider.

 

[MotoPsycho]

I would be VERY curious how much heat is generated from various distance jumps...by various class JJs.

Is a spider's easy 3-dot jump generating the same heat as an Atlas' difficult 3-dot jump?

 

[HonorKnight]

I would be VERY curious how much heat is generated from various distance jumps...by various class JJs.

Is a spider's easy 3-dot jump generating the same heat as an Atlas' difficult 3-dot jump?

Same heat. Tonnage (or JJ size) didn’t matter in the beta. Engine dictates max jump jets; number of jump jets dictates max jump distance; actual jump distance dictates heat, with nothing but distance factoring in.

 

[Gorski123]

Do we know what the actual heat generation is for jumping in beta 3?