NEW WEAPON SHOWCASE & REVIEW - MechWarrior Online

[@schattensonner]

MAGs taking 2 slots even more narrows the use down for IS Thunderbolts need a lot more tweaking.. Their only positive is them not having a 0-Dmg-Zone.. They´re Slow, countered easily both by dodging and AMS.. They need HP+(Speed or DMG) buffs to be anything near worth the tonnage. Preferably even make all TBs single High damage missile launchers, where speed and damage oppose each other.. TB5 Low DMG with Higher Speed to TB20 slow, but heavy hitting. Both with buffed HP vs AMS

[@TheRedneckGamer1979]

I have been running 3 LPPC and 3 Magshot on my Urbanmech R63 with pretty good effect Very fun

[@itchymadness3960]

It's a good combo for both IS and clan. I'm running 2 plasma cannons and 8 of the new clan magshot(forgot the name) on meshupishu shadowcat. Close range pop shots from behind buildings and hills is so good.

[@THEGRUMPTRUCK]

The Thunderbolts are based off of the Thunderbolts from Battletech Second Edition, namely the Solaris VII book, and uh..... they are word for word almost the exact same. And they were not very good in there either if the opponent had AMS of any kind. Battletech's description also says they were made to be missile versions of autocannons.

[@Zathul4198]

Part of me wishes they used the actual Thunderbolt mechanic of one similar missile doing that damage, but I know unless they give it borderline immunity to AMS that it would be non-existent

[@ironjavelin7482]

So more velocity?

[@Zathul4198]

@@ironjavelin7482 No, no amount of extra velocity would protect a single missile from the sometimes 1-3+ AMS to a single mech standing in a deathball, even if it was instant lol. Just the state of them now I feel like velocity isn't going to change the fact that they're worse LRMS with half the range that require more tonnage. Sure the LRMs won't spread as badly, but who cares when you have more of them at almost double the range.

[@flakcannon722]

The new ac's shine in comboing with other weapons and matching the speeds or allowing for an extra gun on tight builds.

[@xavier71a]

Another important issue with the magshot is that it's a two slot weapon. So, even if you have a Crael, you can't fill all of your hard points.

[@thegoondockswarcouncil9543]

Biggest plus of the SB gauss is the reduced wind up time. It may seem a small change, but I have found it makes a huge difference. Allows me to hit this pop tarters and peekers and lights zipping across the screen that I would have missed with a gauss. I find this to more than offset the spread (I play mid to close range anyway, where the spread is not so bad).

[@stranger7131]

The reduced charge and cooldown time really just makes it the superior gauss rifle under 500m as the spread is narrow enough for it to not matter much.

[@ratofnihm]

Actually, the best thing about the SBG is that it isn't linked to peeps for HSL like other guass are (except light). You can alpha 2x sbg and 2x hppc together, no ghost heat. I didn't see it mentioned in the video either.

[@stuggaroy]

SBG is the best gauss.

[@SirSquash]

tbolts become much easier to use when you have the *advanced computer + BAP + the target retention skills.* if you toss in a NARC, the TBOLT become pretty decent to use. ive noticed they can hit players behind even tall objects reliably. potentially a very good indirect weapon if they lower the absurd weight of the weapon. 4x tbolt5 weighs 3 tons less than a single tbolt 20 and that makes no sense.

[@TimberWulfIsHere]

So basically throw more tonnage at an already extremely heavy weapon for its damage output and lack of range.

[@stranger7131]

i just tested sensor range in relation to lock-on time on testing ground a 500m target gets locked in within 2 second with direct/indirect LoS from UAV even with 1615 sensor range (max sensor range skill+cyclops quirk+bap+asp) and with 800 sensor range (unskilled quirkless sensor range) of some other mech I tried. I mean it might make it faster for 800m targets? But at those ranges you have to worry about the velocity and obstacles more than lockon time I'd say.

[@zenmanokfine]

Narc wont help TB missiles. read the tool tip ingame

[@kennethfharkin]

@@zenmanokfine This is an interesting issue. When we are told NARC and TAG will not help are they talking only about Missile Spread, or are they also talking about Lock On Time. Frankly Lock On Time is what I am most concerned with and that should be irrespective of the type of missile used.

[@zenmanokfine]

I am guessing the same tbh, the lock-on my be faster with tag but no additional damage via tag guidance I suppose not sure what narc does in the first place as I dont use it.@@kennethfharkin

[@stormthrush37]

Very underwhelmed by the new weapons unfortunately and all three of the MWO streamers I watch seem to feel the same. Silver Bullet and Beam Laser are ok. Kudos to the developers for at least trying in any event and hopefully they'll get buffed in future patches.

[@SteelWolf13]

I fail to see how the meatcickle pulling the trigger in any mech ups the damage from a "qwerk". Hey look! mechwarrior magicly touches the AC trigger in that sweet giggly spot and makes it hit harder.

[@Rabid_Imp]

As others have said another huge hit against the magshot is it takes 2 slots vs the single slot required on clan. so while you can boat them on the few mechs listed, it is not as easy since you need to adjust armor/engine etc...to accommodate the increased size. You need 16 slots on a flea 19 for example.

[@calvin10]

Thunderbolt 20 is just a LBX20 that needs a lock on, and easily counter by ams

[@aaronbosen6743]

No, it's an LBX 20 that almost always misses, has half the range, lower damage,higher heat, slower firing rate, and requires a lock on that will usually be intercepted by terrain long before an AMS even has a chance to engage, at which point it'll usually completely wipe out whatever missiles terrain, invisible walls or the virtually nonexistent fire arc didn't already take out.

[@sovietalex]

Enjoying the AP Gauss & Magshot, but the Thunderbolts aren't as useful to me as MRMs. Quad Plasma Cannon Nova-A seems to work OK.

[@stuggaroy]

The Crael cant use the max amount of magshots. Its all in the arms and it does not have enough slots.

[@jonathonspears7736]

My biggest complains right now in my current testing. - Magshot taking 2 slots instead of one which limits their usage, a lot. - Thunderbolts just being worse LRMs - Proto AC being bad in general. outside of those, I am happy with the new weapons. Loving the Plasma cannon specifically.

[@Kingofdragons117]

At least proto ACs are lore accurate.

[@leifhendricksen2568]

I feel like I am taking crazy pills! Doesn't the Thunderbolt do the same damage as the LRM as far as the system goes? 1 TB missile (a thunderbolt 5 system) = 5 pts of dmg. 5 LRMs (a LRM 5 system) = 5 pts of dmg. But the TB is slower, heavier, more interceptable, and shorter range. WTF?!? Is the only upside less spread on target?

[@Kain_V]

TB5 is guaranteed to cause all damage to one system, not 5. But still dont feel strong enough

[@Buffalen]

Sad that we have plasma cannons but no plasma rifles

[@grayconol]

Urbies are super strong with magshot. R60 used to be one of the worst urbies but now it is a super strong option. Urbies can’t boat magshot super hard but 3-4 is enough to be good and it adds to the poptart ppfld.

[@Kain_V]

SB Gauss has a significantly shorter charge time as well. This option turns the Gauss from a weapon with a charge into a weapon that barely needs a charge. Significant information that is not indicated anywhere, even in this video) Perhaps you didn’t even know, given that you habitually held the charge longer than necessary to fire. An excellent assault weapon. High DPS and still poses a threat in ranged combat

[@MrTBSC]

generally i enjoyed all the new weapons so far, sure they do need some tweaking, but i'm not worried about that. however i think we can agree that especialy the TBM 20 is a bit too much of a tonnageinvestment with how it performs

[@stranger7131]

Well the main excuse as to why the weapons are underpowered is that they don't want a repeat of HAGs. As for the Thunderbolts, the additional excuse is that "they're lockon weapons that doesn't require as much skill" and "the missiles have less spread and goes for the CT more than LRMs could", not like those excuses the bad damage/ton they do you ask me, on top of ignoring torso twisting existing. Still, the Thunderbolts might be the one with the potential to be OP if it were to be buffed. As a weapon that can reliably hit one spot consistently *is* a good weapon in theory.

[@Voidsworn]

I kinda want to see some other variants of existing mechs. On Saran, there is an Adder variant with jumpjets. Imagine that, a jumping snek :)

[@steelshanks1265]

Won't happen. Like a Hunchback with Jump Jets, there's certain Mechs they just won't do this with.

[@merkarion7883]

...Clan Plasma-Cannons normaly make near Zero Damage...but they overheat your Mech extremely fast ...IS Plasma-Rifles are better normaly...they are making the same Dmg as PPC´s and roasting the enemy Mech (Clan´s tried to Copy aned did not get it...of course MWO makes the Clans better)

[@MechEagle]

TB are fun but AMS just destroyed them... At a point you end up having no weapon on you...

[@BassRacerx]

magshot and ap gauss needs more ammo capacity and the mechs that get ammo quirks need ammo quirks for those guns badly. It's hard to have more than 3 or 4 tons of ammo on a light mech and only having 600 damage of ammo kind of puts you at a disadvantage versus a laser build.

[@chronoatog5650]

Most MG ammo quirk mechs in april are getting + MAG/AP ammo in april

[@Alexgamerkid18]

I wonder when they plan to add raplgr aka Rotary Anti-Personnel Light Gauss Rifle, ammo swapping or mortars (Lrms with no homing but aren't targeted by ams). get hits by regular ac-20 laughs in energy beam, gets hit by incendiary ac-20 coughs in shutdown.

[@chronoatog5650]

Issue with the Magshots is anything outside of the Urby/Griffin/Jav and one other just have GOOFY Rof quirks pushing them to be 50-100% Rof, and MG range and MG ammo, but weak CD modifiers beside them. Essentially if it doesn't have 20% CDR your mag shots will do less damage. They're great on heavier lights that can pick up LPPC/H.Gauss/etc but that's it. Light AC's work a bit better then PROTO because of UAC costing 1+T essentially if you can equip 2 LAC5's it will be 1T more then a UAC10 but have the same dps with no jam chance, same with LAC2*2 vs UAC5

[@ShadowCatGambit]

Hey, guys. I just tried out the thunderbolt, and I'm getting very inconsistent weapon behavior. Most of the time, the missiles don't lock on at all, and sometimes they hit the ground before reaching the enemy mech. Does anyone know what's going on?

[@brandonsteinhauer5281]

With enough heat sinks you can just rip 6 beam lasers with ghost heat (GH makes your heat jump to 30%) for a rather long time without staggering them.

[@Arnuld15Governator]

What sound mods is he using? I am looking for new sound mods since the patch broke my previous sound pack I was using.

[@thorveim1174]

gotta say witht eh AP gauss, I fail to see how such a weapon would be any good against infantry if it existed with how SLOWLY it fires

[@jesse0317]

Thanks for the vid, I think I'll just stick to my standard Clan Ultras...

[@BrokenCurtain]

Magshot Crael. Hehehehe. **rubs hands gleefully**

[@LainsWonderland]

Idk how i feel about these new toys like i sorta like the beam laser but clanner mechs still have trash quirks i need to test thunderbolt later but the beam interests me the most for cockpit sniping if i got good at that as its much easyier to line up and melt someones cockpit off before they know wtf is going on

[@justicier10-7]

PGI added the clan plasma cannon before the inner sphere plasma rifle it was based on? What?

[@AccessAccess]

When I tested it, the thunderbolt missles were more dangerous than LRMs due to the narrow missile spread. Especially for the 10's and 5's. LRMs become less viable weapons at the higher skill levels (once you have reached tier 3) but I am getting good use of thunderbolts especially on a poptart type mech like a highlander or griffin. I've been able to core out a lot of opponents who stood out in the open or even assumed they had cover when they actually didn't.

[@maze4184]

the plasma cannons shouldnt go down in heat, but transfer more heat to the enemy

[@Stormbreaker613UA]

Well for me Proto 2s and 4s are ok. But proto 8 is garbage.

[@Wayofswords]

The gauss weapons are sometimes just so annoying and should be rare

[@awesomefatBruceLee]

Really strange that AP Gauss isn't just an HMG with LMG range, feel like that could have been balanced by giving it 0 scatter but a windup time like RACs to emulate a gauss chargeup.

[@itchymadness3960]

Too bad the CRAEL couldnt use proto ac 8's

[@dela4153]

why cant clan have dumb fire missiles that arent bad

[@Naryck]

the month has passed, the changes were made in the recent patch you told you'll make a new review around this time

[@NoGutsNoGalaxy]

Yup. Been taking a break from MWO, played vanilla battletech campaign no mods. Will be back to MWO tmrw nite

[@SandCannon]

Gauss rhymes with mouse. It's a German name.

[@ursulcx299]

I Think the thunderbolt does the same damage as the lrm actually. 5, 10, 15 and 20 respectively, which makes them as they are an objectively worse lrm. The only gain they have is a better grouping of damage but every other aspect is a downgrade. The weapon basically has no place to be right now. The feel isnt too bad but until its buffed its jsut not viable outside of meme. The biggest drawback for me is how insanely gluttonous for weight the weapon is, even the ammo bins have less salvo/ton than other missiles. It makes using the weapon very hard.

[@cheeksakimbo6591]

People asking for canon everything are also asking for through armor critted engine explosions. Doesn't work great in a video game unless you want every match to end in 2 minutes from sniper fire.

[@Veritas.0]

I don't know what you're drawing from but engine explosions were never canon in the original game.

[@cheeksakimbo6591]

@@Veritas.0 In mwo through armor crits on the engine would cause many many self detonations via the engine heat spike. It's already an issue to watch for in normal game if running slightly hot and losing half a clan XL or IS light engine you just pop like it was an IS XL. Hope that clears that up for you, as yeah the tabletop engine explosions are from the extra rules and are silly as all hell. What with tanks going off with more power than artillery hah.

[@lemonsneeker]

This is a perfect, concise example of a strawman argument

[@cheeksakimbo6591]

@@lemonsneeker I mean people beg for canon "xy and z" and that "this is nothing like how it works in tabletop!" on the forums and other places all the time, so why would I leave out the rules that don't work for mwo? Just because you don't like what I picked doesn't make it less of a canon tabletop rule that could be used to make everyone miserable just because it's "canon".

[@lemonsneeker]

@@cheeksakimbo6591 Because you brought up something nobody was saying so that you could argue against that instead of anything that was being said. I don't think I've even seen anyone argue for *that* cannon rule, or that all TT rules should be applied to MWO with 0 consideration for efficacy.

[@Voidsworn]

I was thinking: the Beam Lasers should be able to use Cooldown nodes. Increasing the rate of damage/sec BUT ALSO increasing the heat/sec, as that is effectively what Cooldown nodes do to non-Beam lasers.

[@Timberjac]

The Plasma Cannon can be a lot of fun to use in conjunction with other mechs on the team that also have them installed. About thunder lightning, I have a doubt about how they will be affected by AMS. It's always good that a game that is so old that is stuck in our hearts keeps moving forward, indicating that it will still be alive.

[@kl0wnkiller912]

I have not really done a lot of messing with these weapons but a lot of them seem to me really not be much of a net gain. Lighter, but does less damage, maybe less heat and range so OK you can add one more to your mech but the net result comes out the same... I have been messing with a mech that had 3 AC5s that I now have 4 LAC5 and that does seem to have a benefit but only if chain fired. I have not yet messed with the missiles much but it seems like a similar thing to me with those weapons. At the end of the day you are limited by overheat and space and I really don't see a lot of difference between these new weapons and just being smart about the loadout with the old ones... Also, beam and X-pulse means you have to stand there and take damage while shooting so not really all that smart unless you are a brawler that can stand there and blast. What is that database you used to find mechs by hardpoint?

[@zech007]

Flea 19 with 8 magshots, makes a good leg breaker or shotgun there's quite a bit of spread.

[@DyIIu]

we have a lot of great new weapons but many of them are light with low damage, requiring a lot of hard points. We don't have enough mechs with a lot of hard points

[@DarthWader-u1g]

So far I'm enjoying the thunderbolts, mags and the sb gauss

[@Mr_Fission]

Anyone agree with me that the beam laser should ramp up its damage the longer its held? Giving it a flat damage buff is kind of generic. But if it ramps up the longer the button is held, it'd make a really interesting new playstyle that isn't presently in MWO. You could even develop strategies about "warming up" the weapon for a few seconds, then once it's hot, you poke out from behind cover and do maximum damage in a minimum time. It'd be a fun alternative to making it a generic "xpluse-like" clan equivalent that's simply worse due to the mandatory 5 second cooldown added whenever you depress the trigger. Edit: This video didn't cover the actual core mechanic of the beam laser, which is the cooldown. If you hold the fire button for 5 seconds, the cooldown is 5 seconds. Plus an extra 5 seconds as a flat penalty. If you hold for 10 seconds, the cooldown is 15 seconds. Hold for 15, then its a 20 second cooldown. If you fire again within this 5 second window, even for 0.00001 seconds, it resets the 5 second timer. This means that the most efficient application of the beam laser as currently configured is to wait till it's at zero. Then stare at the target, unmoving and with no torso twist, until your heat is at 99%, then you release the trigger and wait until its penalty bar is back down to zero. This is not a weapon to fire casually or at snap targets for just a split second. If you're not staring at your target for like ten, twenty seconds, then you're not getting max performance out of it. The low damage output is just icing on the cake for how bad this weapon is. The core problem is the 5 second timer that's added every time you depress the trigger.

[@ctakitimu]

That's a cool idea to match the massive increase in heat at later stages. The cooldown is already painfully long

[@jacobwhicker8423]

I thought the main tbolt complaint had to do with locking on and something about not being able to tag

[@larslaufer301]

With the Plasma Cannon, they should reduce the damage and up the heat.

[@ironjavelin7482]

They technically dont need to reduce the damage i tested it and it has a very hard time killing mechs

[@larslaufer301]

@@ironjavelin7482 The plasma cannon isn't about doing damage but a more tactical weapons to unaspectetly up the enemys heat to unconfortable levels.

[@EvelynHyatt-q8d]

Eliezer Bypass

[@PraetorGix]

LOL if ANY of these get a nerf that would completely confirm my increasing belief that these Gulag people have overstayed their welcome. I mean I already think they should go away but this would erase any lingering doubts. And no, beam lasers are not OP. You need to use 6 of them and consequently to eat a lot of ghost heat to make them just fine.

[@camerancole8433]

Thunderbolts look like a blast.

[@perry92964]

reading some comments about the mag shot being two slots as a bad thing, the mag shot is an ac 2 that weighs 1/2 a ton! the is hmg weighs a ton! mag shot is to op

[@joshuadadad5414]

lol.

[@GrayFolxy]

what is the site at 15:30 ? I am thinking about coming back and a mechlab like that would be awsome to redesign my old builds

[@Grimmwoldds]

MechDB. If you watch his videos of gameplay, he puts a build link that uses MechDB in the video description.

[@GrayFolxy]

@@Grimmwoldds didnt really had time to check there but thanks next time I will think about that and thanks for the answer

[@GDLRenoBlade]

I feel Thunderbolts should be 1 single missile and very strong against ams, not weak. Then skip lock on and make it fast dumpfire, so its more like a missile AC20.

[@jalakor]

I’d disagree with that, I think they need a double or triple velocity buff, but at the cost of not arcing almost at all, making them similar to ATMs in that regard. AMS is canonically the counter to them, but I think the velocity buff would help them not be useless against that. Edit: also, I completely disagree on the dumb fire thing, I think that would make them horrible. MRMs fill that role already.

[@foamyesque]

​@@jalakor Their TT variants *are* supposed to be weaker to AMS but they're also supposed to be single missiles doing 5/10/15/20 damage a pop =/

[@THEGRUMPTRUCK]

The earlier versions of The thunderbolt from Mechwarrior games the Arrow IV thunderbolt, are one singular powerful missile largely because they were meant for a mech to be able to bring as close to artillery capability as possible onto the field of battle. They are much different than the thunderbolt missiles here which are from Battletech second edition, and utterly identical to that tabletop version in every way.

[@ctakitimu]

Yeah, have them as a fast single cruise missile. Make the artemis option give it a slight tracking ability so you don't have to take this option

[@mizuvoidmuffin7132]

Fourteen of them on the Warthog - And dangerous indeed!

[@osiris4457]

I would say it is straight up broken.

[@Guardkiller6]

@@osiris4457 its honestly the only mech that can really run these small gauss well

[@chronoatog5650]

@@Guardkiller6 Pir is pretty decent well, especially when it gets the ammo quirks, Pir 1 can shave the head/arm armor and run 10 with 3.5t of ammo with XL170 so going about 140 KPH with speed quirks. PirA will get better with the quirk will prob be 6T of ammo (1200 damage total) with 8 , with 2 T of ammo becoming 800 damage and 3 C-ER smalls/Micro Pulse allowing you to pump 5+20 damage really quickly.

[@stormthrush37]

​@@osiris4457 Watch Baradul's video with exactly that setup. Doesn't look remotely broken, just meh at best.

[@osiris4457]

@@stormthrush37Doing nearly 30 pinpoint damage every 2s in a light is nowhere near meh.

[@SaintAnimus]

MWO is a decade late on these weapons. I would know, I've been asking for all this since then.

[@steelshanks1265]

Well, that's incredibly stupid... They began the game in Universe timeframe in 3049, when NONE of these weapons existed. They then proceeded to continue in universe through the Clan Invasion. Then they lost a ton of players due to idiotic things PGI continuously do... One Mediocre MW5 later... Now, they'll just throw anything at the wall to keep the Players they have, or try and entice new Players, by giving people whatever they want... Hence the New Weapons and Terrible Legendary Mechs... They abandoned the timeline entirely, and have even added Dark Age Variants for some feckin' reason... Great job PGI ( the great job PGI is fueled by 1,000% Sarcasm. I'll never play any PGI game again. )

[@steelshanks1265]

Silver Bullet is the only weapon that isn't Meh... It's all Meh... Except the Beam Laser, which is just incredibly stupid, and not Canon... Can't wait for the Cauldron to break every weapon, making them all OP, or incredibly annoying...

[@stormthrush37]

Having seen the Beam Laser in action doesn't seem OP at all, just another weapon. And who cares if it's canon or not? Major changes have correctly been made to MWO in the name of playability, fun, etc. Tip of the iceberg would be you can't have your engine critted out in MWO. Another would be headshots, you can't aim for headshots in tabletop which makes no sense.

[@steelshanks1265]

@@stormthrush37 Canon is Everything... Not paying attention to Canon destroys everything. Star Wars didn't pay attention to Canon- Dead. Marvel didn't pay attention to Canon- Dead. DC- Dead. Dr. Who- Dead etc. etc. See the issue? Also, it's not OP, just annoying, and the Cauldron will end up making it OP, then nerfing it, over and over again...

[@gerfand]

​@@stormthrush37when their balance is bad because they want to keep the system as closer than they can to table top, I do.

[@Sharkie-0w0]

​@@steelshanks1265 you have it backwards. Not following established cannon isn't why those franchises are "dead". Heck, most people watching the new marvel and DC movies never even picked up a comic! They couldn't care less about them. But you know what does ruin franchises? Corporations who only care about making money and not what they're releasing. So they hire shitty writers who are also rich/have connections and not good writers.And those shitty writers, in turn, don't care about cannon. Among other things. Breaking continuity isn't the cause, it's a symptom. As long as the Devs care about their game (and they obv do cause they just added a new gun to a 10+ yo game), it'll be alright. And just to build up my point: things that break cannon that people absolutely love? Fanfics! That's, like, the whole point of half of them!

[@namkha209]

We've have had Highlanders with 5 jjs and Blood Asps with 7 before, its nothing new.

[@graysonlighthorse101]

I've tried pretty much all of these "new" weapons and for the most part, any "fun" potential was already destroyed with the stupid nerf hammer that has been swinging at a rapid pace again at PGI. The game was a bunch of fun to play around the Halloween time frame. But since all of the nerfs to heat sinks, cool shots, and most mechs getting nerfs to their base heat dissipation capabilities in the nerfs since then, the fun has been removed. Most every mech I played at that point was fun and capable and you could have extended engagements and actually have some nice, fun, battles. Now you get to cook in your mech as the enemy cuts you to pieces without being able to defend yourself thanks to all of the nerfs. They just can't stand letting the game be fun.