Large pulse lasers need to calm down

[Arghy]

Really just any mech with large amounts of PPCs/LBL/LPL are just murder. I have no idea how to balance it but novacat atm is just a beast that rivals the huit in its glory. Its extremely fast and mobile and armed with weapons that can dearm any mech in 6 seconds while slaughtering BA's.

You cant nerf pure energy mechs because theres some mech designs which are honestly pure energy weapons like the nova with its 12 MBL's and the novacat. The awesome is actually very well balanced as its heat curve is high and its relatively slow. When mechlab comes out i dont see why everyone wouldent slap LPL/LBL's on everything and just turn the game into 5 second matches of who shoots the other guys weapons off first. I honestly dont remember the novacat having 4 PPC's but then again only MW2-4 to go by but it was very nice in those games because it could fit a max of 3 PPC's but it had awesome heat and speed.

I was playing sandblasted on MWLL-TX tonight and my thanatos lost literally all its weapons in 6 seconds(thanks snowball)--i fired my heavy gauss once and before it could cycle i lost everything. I then took a novacat out and promptly destroyed a vulture C in 11 seconds and a mauler prime in 14 seconds and went on to one shotting a random BA on the ground.

I personally think the novacat would still be worth it if it lost an energy slot and gained a HS. I think LPL's should have a large cost increase or a range reduction so the IS version would be 500m with less heat and the ERLPL would have 700m with absurd heat and cost. The novacats strengths are its speed and mobility coupled with its energy weapons rather then its fire power.

[(TLL)Dymlos2003]

Snowball loves  those Novacats

I always thought Novacats had a heat problem in CBT but I'm not so sure... 

[Snowball]

who, me?   

The thing about the Novacat is that it's a double-edged sword; while it is excellent at delicately ripping off body parts, it is extremely vulnerable to the same treatment.  All its firepower is concentrated on its arms, and removal of even one arm normally halves its capabilities.  Also, besides the Heat Sinks and Eoptics, the Novacat has no equipment; no GECM, no Active Probes, no AMS, no nothing.  This has a larger impact then you might think, as in games with more players, the amount of missiles flying around can shred a Novacat in seconds, and the amount of brawlers that slip by your radar can ruin your day.

Arghy, I think the key thing was that our game was so small (10 players I think?), which gives less of a chance of things that can easily counter a Novacat.  Air units, Missile boats, Long toms, and Mechs that are also very good at limbing can all have a field day against Novacats, but relatively none of those showed up in our game.

A minor re-balance might be beneficial, but it's by no means an invincible Mech.

[(TLL)Dymlos2003]

It also has really weak armor...

[Snowball]

It also has really weak armor...

I know 

[Nitro_R]

Hi Arghy,

I was playing with you today, it just seemed like the rest of our team was just running straight into Snowball and his team alone.  I had the hardest time trying to keep everyone together.  With a more co-ordinated team we would definitely do fine against Snowball's 6LBL Novacat.

I was always able to run in and pick off one of his arms rendering him an easy target.
Novacats are very vulnerable against LRMs and fast mechs that run in and blow their arms off.

Though they are very powerful, you can even use Flamer BAs to keep Novacats heated up so that other people can take out its arms.
It just takes teamwork.

I do find that the Novacat is a little fast, though.  Could use a bit of a speed nerf though.  It is a pretty heavy mech.
Novacat needs a speed nerf while the Madcat needs a speed buff.

Many of those 43 kills he got in that game were attributed to Neuro-Something running in alone and dying with an Osiris then ejecting....

Anyway, I had a blast playing with Arghy and Snowball on Sandblasted this evening.

[Profane Arbiter]

The Novas are fine as is. They are powerful but as Snowball pointed out, vulnerable as well, and they don't come cheap. While an Awesome packs less firepower, it's also less expensive, heavier with presumably more armor, typically manages its heat better, and spreads its weapons out in a more balanced manner across its body.

If anything, I think the LPL's could use a bit of a boost.

[~SJ~ Blhurr]

And only goes to 700 while the Ncat goes to 800!  It's amazing how many targets fall in that range!

[ARES]

I agree on the idea that the Novacat could use a little speed nerv while buffing the Madcat is a nice thing. If a rememver the Madcat moves 5/8 in CBT. Can anyone tell me the Novacat speed in CBT ? Is it 4/6 or 3/5 ?

[Askis]

It also has really weak armor...

I know 

Like two firebombs putting it in orange?

[SquareSphere }12thVR{]

What a lot of these guys said, LRMs and fast mech really do a number on the NC.  Personally, I just break out the Tom it one likes to run around with it's radar on

[=KoS=Zeus]

The Nova Cat is a 4/6 movement 70 tonner. That means it should move equivalently to the speed of a Warhammer (64kph), while the Madcat and Vulture should be going upwards of 86kph.

[Arghy]

Oh yeah the novacat is by no means unbalanced its just the weapon systems. If ECM dident get removed from most of the mechs i'd agree its lack of any options would kill it but i was surprised to see most mechs lost their ECM putting them in the same boat. The threat of missiles also isent so strong so you can now group your AMS like we did last night. We had 4 mechs with a thanny out front who lost his AMS, the other 3 mechs grouped their AMS to protect him.

Things may be fine now but when mechlab comes out its going to be a balancing nightmare unless theres strict rules on hard points. I'm not sure if the direwolf is ever going to be added but if it is you'll have 7-8 LBL settups that will utterly destroy opposing mechs. I remember pulse lasers from the books being about the same as a normal laser except it just fired multiple times in its cycle. Maybe increasing its pulse per cycle and giving it a longer cycle? atleast for large pulse lasers. You'd keep the same lethality but you would give opposing mechs a chance to act before they lost all their weapons.

Btw the new mech animations are fapping AMAZING--the vultures sway brings back so many memorys of MW4 hahaha.

[Redvan]

nova has weak armor?  My thanny B doesn't think so   of course, I always aim for the head, so perhaps just its head is hyper armored...  i'll have to start legging...  unless its a...  HOVER CAT!




I dont use nova simply because it appears too easy... but that's just me.

[(TLL)Siilk]

The Nova Cat is a 4/6 movement 70 tonner. That means it should move equivalently to the speed of a Warhammer (64kph), while the Madcat and Vulture should be going upwards of 86kph.

 Yeah, Vulture and Timber moves like a slugs now. They could use some speed boost.