All Categories

***NERF ROCKET MORTARS*** - REBALANCE THE GAME

***NERF ROCKET MORTARS*** - REBALANCE THE GAME

Search
Jul 18, 2022, 11:4407/18/22
07/18/22
0

***NERF ROCKET MORTARS*** - REBALANCE THE GAME

Mortars have now officially become a serious balance problem.  It has been a growing trend each week for weaker players to spawn upgraded Mechs (Arachnos, Panther, Redox) with 24 Energy just to attack with 2x Rocket Mortars.

1.  When losing the game to a Rocket Mortar (RM) Player, the MVP Award Podium shows a large gap between the 1st place Mech showering the field with Rocket Mortars and any other Mech in play.  Usually a 1st place RM Player has 15 to 25 kills while a Mech in 2nd Place will register a total of 6 to 8 kills.  This is a 9 to 17 difference between 1st to 2nd place proving that RMs are causing an imbalane.

2.  Rocket Mortars (RM) are supposed to soften up targets by damaging opposing Mechs and reducing HP, not obliterate 3 to 4 players of a 5-member team on the field each volley.  RMs (lvl 12) have a 14.5 sec reload speed. In a 3 min game (180 secs), this means that RMs (lvl 12) are launched 12 times.  At 53,000 to 60,000 Damage per volley that is a mind-boggling 636,000 to 720,000 Damage per game dispersed across the field of play.  

3.  RMs are dominating the field of play regardless of which map players are on and what tactic an oppposing player uses.  Open-Air Maps where opposing Mechs are especially vulnerable allow for RM Mechs to simply sit back behind a barrier with zero exposure  and launch a volley with no risk or consequence to the safety of their position. 

Consequences

  • Newer and Underdevloped Players are turned away from wanting to play, so the growth rate of players wanting to play on a regular basis decreases.  
  • Daily Players invested in the game become Casual Players.  Casual players become infrequent players.  So on and so forth.
  • Novice Players are turning to RMs, instead of developing other weapons and strategies.

TickleMeElmo:  I've been playing since Feb 2020.  I have spent considerable money and many hours a day playing the game to upgrade and stay within GrandMaster to Master League during the weekly tournaments.  You may have seen me in 5x5, 2x2, or Tournament Play.

Views
115
Comments
42
Comments
Jul 18, 2022, 14:4507/18/22
02/25/22
42

I agreed.  The new Aegis is pretty useless.   The Aegis is weak, slow, with no firepower and... the ability is a "joke".

An experenced RM red will use the 2nd RM to kill the Aegis. 

I have the Aegis but I never use it and I do not think I will level it (except that when i have extra resources or when an event is running.)

As we already have the "Aegis" , I will suggest to turn the ability to flare decoy with cooldown = 10 seconds.  And there shall be 2 or 3 charges. The ability is to neutralise the RM or Jav or DL.  

Otherwise please change the Aegis to a white mech.


Jul 19, 2022, 22:4107/19/22
06/06/22
4

I have seen them 1 shot 3 heavy mechs at spawn with two 12 mortars that did 105,000 damage each.

I'm too the point of not playing tournament anymore and if there is a mortar player in regular game play i leave the match because what's the point. 

Most of the maps don't have very good cover and the ones that do, it;s not very large.

Mortars have a way to high of damage to reload time. the railgun has a 29.4 base reload time, mortars 14.5. 


FlooCommunity Manager
Jul 20, 2022, 15:1907/20/22
02/04/22
641

Thank you very much for your comments on the topic, guys! I will be forwarding your feedback about the artillery to the team 👌

Jul 21, 2022, 22:5307/21/22
Jul 21, 2022, 23:03(edited)
06/20/22
384
Floo

Thank you very much for your comments on the topic, guys! I will be forwarding your feedback about the artillery to the team 👌

You know who it is that said Aegis wouldn't do a thing about rocket mortars? It was a great big chunk of community members and do you know why? Because rocket mortars are stupidly overpowered. And that's not some buzzword I'm throwing around. And I know you know the community largely considers them overpowered. And that's for a reason. Because it's just a fact. In your Aegis spotlight you had a whole bit about how proper balance works and it has to do with advantages and drawbacks. But it isn't applied in game. Rocket mortar has no drawbacks with a maxed out legendary radius implant. It can get kills and involves virtually zero risk. There's the mechanic of being seen which you can use to sneak up on a rocket mortars user but they can also take advantage of it to avoid being seen and getting hit by other rocket mortars users and people with javelin racks and seen by any bots. But that isn't the real problem. Evidently using the weapon is supposed to involve little risk. The problem, and I mean the really big problem, is how rewarding it is to use it. It gets kill counts on par with carbine and arc torrent. Those are brawling weapons. You're essentially getting killcounts of brawling weapons with out the risk of brawling. Risk and reward is an advantage and drawback pair you have to balance properly to maintain proper balance. And proper balance of risk and reward means something which involves so little risk should not be so rewarding. Oh and on top of having the killing capabilities of brawling weapons it gives increased kill score too. How stupid is that? Rocket mortars campers dominate tournaments to this day because of your clueless, improper balance design. And I had to say that as harshly as I did because anybody who knows anything about video games and has been playing them a long time knows that proper risk and reward balance is the best way to make the game fun for everyone with every type of play style.

Jul 21, 2022, 23:1007/21/22
Jul 21, 2022, 23:11(edited)
06/20/22
384

Perhaps rocket mortars wouldn't be broken in the first place had plarium bothered to subject the pilots feature to rigorous testing but it really looks like you didn't. They only let the youtube partners play with it for a day before launching it in the game. And I can't imagine plarium playtested it at all. In fact, I've always wondered if anyone at plarium even plays this game at all. It's really looking like you don't.

Jul 22, 2022, 01:4107/22/22
02/25/22
42

A simple way is to increase the time to hit a target by 50% to 100% such that our Mechs have time to escape.

Jul 22, 2022, 15:4107/22/22
06/20/22
384

In case you didn't know, rocket mortars with increased radius can hit players under the arches on two arches. Literally the only cover on the whole map before the radius implant invalidated it. Now you can't escape rocket mortars. You would know this if you played. The fact that so far you've refused to nerf it make no sense at all.

Jul 24, 2022, 15:5807/24/22
Jul 25, 2022, 06:30(edited)
07/24/22
6

I know everyone hates getting obliterated by the morters, including me when I was a noob. But you know what? They're actually one of the reasons I got addicted to the game. I wanted to be that guy rainin' sweet death down on the battlefield from the heavens, with super OP pilot implants so that no one can escape, ha ha ha! They are brilliant.

Magazine power is misleading. Unless the radiuses of each shell overlap like they do exactly where you target, the chances of the whole magazine affecting one player is low. And at midgame hanger powers (3000ish), they do their job and actually don't kill with one volley. But if you want to mitigate further, I wouldn't totally nerf them. I would give some kind of penalty, such as firing a mortor immediately relays your position to the whole battlefield for a couple seconds so you become a target. Everyone kind of knows where you are anyway when they see the mortors flying through the air from a bunker somewhere. But this will allow folks to target them. I think what you'd get is what I often see - the morterers on both teams quickly elminating each other and then getting on to the rest of the game.

Jul 25, 2022, 00:3807/25/22
12/07/21
25
Floo

Thank you very much for your comments on the topic, guys! I will be forwarding your feedback about the artillery to the team 👌

Any updates ?  It seems like all you guys say is you will bring the issues to your teams and where are the updates ???

Seriously if you are just a messenger, why do we need you here ??

We are here because we the players have issues we need help and support ?

This goes the same with your in-game support system, why do you guys put AI bots who give automatic answers and call them supports ?  All they ever give are the same crap answers and nothing ever gets addressed ??  


Learn to do some customer services Plarium !! 

Jul 25, 2022, 15:0407/25/22
06/20/22
384
MechPlayGood

I know everyone hates getting obliterated by the morters, including me when I was a noob. But you know what? They're actually one of the reasons I got addicted to the game. I wanted to be that guy rainin' sweet death down on the battlefield from the heavens, with super OP pilot implants so that no one can escape, ha ha ha! They are brilliant.

Magazine power is misleading. Unless the radiuses of each shell overlap like they do exactly where you target, the chances of the whole magazine affecting one player is low. And at midgame hanger powers (3000ish), they do their job and actually don't kill with one volley. But if you want to mitigate further, I wouldn't totally nerf them. I would give some kind of penalty, such as firing a mortor immediately relays your position to the whole battlefield for a couple seconds so you become a target. Everyone kind of knows where you are anyway when they see the mortors flying through the air from a bunker somewhere. But this will allow folks to target them. I think what you'd get is what I often see - the morterers on both teams quickly elminating each other and then getting on to the rest of the game.

There's already ways to hide and find and target them. The problem is getting to them. This was always stupidly difficult. But it's even more stupidly difficult with the pilots. Speaking of pilots, the radius implants make it so there isn't a lick of skill needed to make good use of them.

Jul 25, 2022, 15:1307/25/22
06/20/22
384
WTVUA

Any updates ?  It seems like all you guys say is you will bring the issues to your teams and where are the updates ???

Seriously if you are just a messenger, why do we need you here ??

We are here because we the players have issues we need help and support ?

This goes the same with your in-game support system, why do you guys put AI bots who give automatic answers and call them supports ?  All they ever give are the same crap answers and nothing ever gets addressed ??  


Learn to do some customer services Plarium !! 

If they don't give automatic answers they will give a bog standard copy/paste response, often it will ignore the issue at hand. You have to make them show you they understand what it is you're contacting them about.

Jul 29, 2022, 13:4107/29/22
11/17/21
15

I think they should make the 12's into 16's and add a power shift. The 12's could scale down a bit is all.  Even if it's a bigger area and less damage would be fine. 

The big mechs should be able to pack that kind of a punch, but when you got a Killshot running around with them its a bit much for a mid mech range. At least I think so. 

Aug 2, 2022, 12:2308/02/22
Aug 2, 2022, 12:23(edited)
08/02/22
2

I agree with what's being said. RMs are insanely powerful and I enjoy using them too. What I hate is some players with RMs blasting away and going undetected for a whole freaking game. Opposing players with RMs can still be killed if they get detected in the first place. Previously even if hidden behind barriers they used to pop up once in a while and it was still ok. Recently they just never show up. Taking a faster mech and trying to get to them is useless. Just turns the whole game around. Not fun! 

Aug 3, 2022, 15:3008/03/22
12/09/21
63

Said it before ill say it again, LEAVE RMs ALONE. If you want to nerf RMs then what about rail guns and other snipers hmm? What about shotguns hm?

Your inability to run from a mortar strike before it gets to you is a YOU problem. If i get killed by mortars then so be it, id rather be killed by them than someone with dual max rail guns.

You are free to dislike an aspect of the game all you want, but NOT at the risk of ruining the entire balance of it AS A WHOLE.

Aug 3, 2022, 21:5908/03/22
02/26/22
5

The main thing they need to do is to add a limit of ten seconds or so, before RM players can fire their first volley of the game.

They're not too hard to avoid once the game has started, the issue is players firing a volley into the spawn in the first three seconds, obliterating everyone who hasn't had time to move out of the way.


I've also been killed a bunch of times by RMs when the rounds just started landing with no warning they were incoming.

Aug 4, 2022, 15:1608/04/22
06/20/22
384
CJC

Said it before ill say it again, LEAVE RMs ALONE. If you want to nerf RMs then what about rail guns and other snipers hmm? What about shotguns hm?

Your inability to run from a mortar strike before it gets to you is a YOU problem. If i get killed by mortars then so be it, id rather be killed by them than someone with dual max rail guns.

You are free to dislike an aspect of the game all you want, but NOT at the risk of ruining the entire balance of it AS A WHOLE.

"Your inability to run from a martar strike is a you problem." Bullshit. Most of the cover that used to work is rendered useless by the size of the radius now, and only a select few mechs can actually outrun the volleys to avoid enough damage. Mechs that already had to rely on backing up to tank the damage usually won't be killed but they have more than half their health nixed.

And how is NERFing the rocket mortars gonna ruin the balance of the game? As far as I can tell, they're already doing that themselves. You need to have something prepared specifically to take out rocket mortars users. And a lot of the time, when you're closing in on the mortars users, you'll just get frozen or system crashed and be eliminated instead.

And why not NERF the snipers? I'll tell you why. Because you actually have to let yourself be seen to hit your target and you have to aim accurately. It takes several times more skill to make use of snipers than it does rocket mortars and infinitely more risk. If you'd rather be killed by rocket mortars than that, you're crazy. Shotguns, what's their problem?

Aug 4, 2022, 17:5408/04/22
06/25/22
2

Nerf RM right now,thats 

Aug 4, 2022, 17:5508/04/22
04/08/22
5

I'm on the fence with this one. There are some maps where mortars are rendered entirely useless, but yes they shine in open air maps. 

Part of the problem is teamwork, or the lack thereof. If they've got a Mortar Mech with a bodyguard, yeah it's really hard to take that guy out. Or if you're sorted into a group of YOLO players who don't care about the success of the team, it's going to be hard for you to coordinate to take out a mortar player. 

But having played with mortars, it's a gamble. I've had plenty of shots come up completely empty. The slow reload and minimum range definitely leave you vulnerable. 

What *would* fix things is better matchmaking. If you're getting new players sorted into matches with mechs with 24 energy and double 12 mortars, that's a problem. I have no idea how matchmaking works here (or if there is any whatsoever), but matches should be restricted into power bands. 

I know I've looked at Tournament high ranking players before who had like 3 mechs, two of which had no weapons and were low ranked and then one monster mech. I'm assuming that a dodge to get around some sort of matchmaking, but I don't know for sure. 

Proper communication would make a difference as well. Pings help, but aren't always enough. 


Aug 5, 2022, 07:3908/05/22
11/07/21
3
BigStupidFun

I'm on the fence with this one. There are some maps where mortars are rendered entirely useless, but yes they shine in open air maps. 

Part of the problem is teamwork, or the lack thereof. If they've got a Mortar Mech with a bodyguard, yeah it's really hard to take that guy out. Or if you're sorted into a group of YOLO players who don't care about the success of the team, it's going to be hard for you to coordinate to take out a mortar player. 

But having played with mortars, it's a gamble. I've had plenty of shots come up completely empty. The slow reload and minimum range definitely leave you vulnerable. 

What *would* fix things is better matchmaking. If you're getting new players sorted into matches with mechs with 24 energy and double 12 mortars, that's a problem. I have no idea how matchmaking works here (or if there is any whatsoever), but matches should be restricted into power bands. 

I know I've looked at Tournament high ranking players before who had like 3 mechs, two of which had no weapons and were low ranked and then one monster mech. I'm assuming that a dodge to get around some sort of matchmaking, but I don't know for sure. 

Proper communication would make a difference as well. Pings help, but aren't always enough. 


Teamwork only works when you are playing with other players, not bots. This only exasperates the problem when older players leave due to the way certain aspects are meticulously implemented and others seem to be an afterthought. One of the major problems with RM's is that targets can often be aquired "blindly" without being in view of a teammate or bot. I have been in battles where I am with bots and two or three players on the opposition simply launching mortars. 

Aug 5, 2022, 08:5208/05/22
07/16/22
6

Every time we only hear that the information was passed on to the developers. But nothing changes, and these crooked developers only think. Artillery is simply incredibly infuriating, as are the pigs that play on them.