Hello HBS devs. Have been playing the public test beta over the long weekend (after googling "what is AAR?").
So here is my 5-days-later After Action Report on the skill changes, & how they affect my evasion-based playstyle.
(I didn't jump onto the "Bulwark-Bandwagon", as many others seem to have done. ~ I tried it out & it worked well, but just found it less fun.)
I used a post-campaign save file (full argo, maxed skills); mid-campaign (pre-Liberation: Smithon); & new game (skipped prologue). Played through a whole bunch of different missions on each one, to get a solid feel before posting here.
All opinions here are mine alone, based on my own ingame testing & observations, & are not from any "on paper" theory-crafting.
## Quick summary of my general playstyle (up to this skills beta), for reference:
(Please skip to next ## for the start of the skills analysis, if this section is not relevant to the reader.)
Heavy use of sprinting &/or JJ (installed on every mech), to maintain decent levels of evasion;
Use of cover & LoS-blocking terrain features, to limit / control the damage dealt to each squad member;
Ability to effectively engage targets at any distance in any environment, from melee to long range;
Multi-Target, Evasive Movement, & Breaching Shot are common skills in the squad;
Mechs are heavily armoured (90-95%+), with a few rare exceptions.
I use a variable mix of weapons & mechwarriors to suit the available mechs / pilots & current mission.
But by endgame (in 1.1) it settles into: at least one Skirmisher, usually with 1 Flanker, 1 Lancer (or 2nd Skirmisher), plus a Striker for the LRM boat (if used). For some missions I swap in a Melee-spec'd pilot & mech, or extra Master Tactician.
(& just in case it matters to anyone reading: I have been playing on & off since v1.0 launched, with over 400 hours logged. Love this game.)
Mechs used for these tests:
Post game: King Crabs (5 different versions) / Highlanders (3 ver) / Stalker (LRM60) / "that" Atlas (Melee+DFA).
Mid game: A mix of the "best" available, from 50t (Hunchback) to 75t (Orion). Some customisation.
Early game: Mostly starter mechs, with only a few quick tweaks here & there.
## Sensor Lock (easy one first):
Adding the PPC accuracy debuff is an interesting twist, & gives it a bit more battlefield utility on the player side. Didn't use it much in post-campaign, but in early game it definitely gave my melee Spider something more useful to do while stalking its next victim from the shadows. (It had a nasty bite, now it has a sting too.)
Effect on the AI:
Ohhh boy, when they start spamming sensor lock along with multiple PPC shots from beyond sensor range, you really notice the debuff stacking up! Turned one 5-skull mission into a rather tense & drawn-out battle of attrition (4 vs 8x Assault).
I am sorely tempted to install extra targeting systems (or ammo) in some ammo-based mech loadouts to compensate, for certain missions.
My Verdict:
Overall, I think it fits well. Two thumbs up.
## Sure Footed:
A brief comparison table of Evasion gained per movement type, between 1.1 (Evasive Movement) and 1.2 public test beta (Sure Footed).
Measured using furthest possible distance over open terrain, & with max JJs. *=Entrenched.
Post-game 100t (King Crab), L10 pilot skill:
Ver. ~ Walk ~ JJ ~ Sprint (+road)
1.1 EM ~ 2 ~ 4 ~ 5 (6)
1.2 SF ~ 2* ~ 3 ~ 4 (5)
Mid-game 50t (Hunchback), L10 pilot skill:
1.1 EM ~ 3 ~ 5 ~ 6 (6)
1.2 SF ~ 3* ~ 4 ~ 5 (6)
Light mechs seem barely affected, & were usually capped at 4 anyway (or 5 with a decent Pilot).
This change has me puzzled. It seems a -17% to -25% evasion nerf to high-mobility play, & resulted in noticeably more damage received due to the increased hits taken, as the bonus only applies when walking. Lighter mechs are less affected, with Assault class seemingly hit the hardest.
My repair bills went up, & even Mediums felt the pinch (no +defence gyros available to offset the missing evasion when jumping / sprinting). I had to boost the armour on a few mechs that were not quite at 100% to partially compensate for the extra hits.
Stability damage bleeds off naturally as mechs move anyway ~ the further you move the more is removed ~ so SF is almost working against itself. The piloting tree also gives +2 max evasion in total, but SF actually discourages moving fast enough to make use of them.
Stability damage is slightly more of an issue for me in v1.2 beta than it was in v1.1, as I mostly run or jump to move but now take more hits while doing so. So this change actually made it worse for me (from "not a real issue" to "minor irritation" ~ not a problem, but still worth mentioning).
Walking is the last movement choice for me, usually only done when absolutely necessary / reasonably safe, so SF currently offers almost zero benefit, & therefore very little reason for me to bother taking it (other than for Ace Pilot). Any other tier 1 skill would be a better choice in its place. Even v1.1 Bulwark had a solid niche role in my high-evasion playstyle (as an Anchor to pivot my formation around).
Maybe I'm missing some key thing about SF, but I really couldn't find any useful way to include it in my lineup whatsoever.
Though it would maybe suit slower-paced playstyles more than it suits mine.
Effect on the AI:
They seem to really love it! XD
Plodding along at walking speed firing potshots is their thing anyway, so Assault mechs with this skill become nigh-on immune to all but the most heavy missile (&etc!) de-stability barrages. Some simply refuse to fall (unless kneecapped), & heroically die on their feet.
Bless 'em for trying ~ they shall be noted with full honours in my commanders log.
My Verdict:
Sadly this change gets a big thumbs down. I feel the 1.1 update balanced stability rather nicely, & Sure Footed seems a bit too much when stacked on top in its current form (both for the player & the AI).
Also, I want to "Run and Jump", not "Walk or Die".
Some relevant quotes from the OP, & my direct responses:
~ "We’ve been gradually trying to address the knockdown meta ..." ~ Great, but does it require nerfing evasion-based playstyles to finish that goal?
~ "The problem with Evasive Move is that it was so rarely relevant. <snip> With a slower ‘Mech, you weren’t ever getting enough evasion out of this for it to feel worthwhile." ~ I strongly disagree! Gaining 33% extra bonus evasion per jump is a pretty big deal for an Assault mech (4 vs 3 eva). However, if you really don't think that feels worthwhile enough, then maybe it needed a buff instead. ~ As it is kinda pointless to nerf something (apparently) already considered weak, so just adding "Entrenched when walking" to EM without nerfing the jump & sprint evasion bonus would have been a better change (imho).
~ "Personally, I’m a fan of leaving well enough alone, and for abilities that were essentially working as expected, resisting the urge to tinker with them is a virtue." ~ Me too, it is a good design philosophy. I think Evasive Movement does exactly that & is an ideal fit for my playstyle. ~ But what I personally got from playing this skills beta is a disappointed feeling that it has been nerfed only because somebody else felt it did not suit their playstyle well enough, & who believes that trudging slowly through battles is The Right Way for everybody else to play too. (I do NOT believe that was the intent behind this change, it is simply how I'm feeling as a result. I'd rather give my mechwarriors a mouldy Cabbage than Sure Footed.)
++ THE suggestion ++ (it is the only one in this entire report):
Keep Evasive Movement for tier 1, but ADD the "Entrenched when walking" to Ace Pilot instead:
~ Evasion playstyles would not be needlessly nerfed in the process;
~ AI would still field 2 in 8 of their Master & Elite AI mechs with added Entrenched for extra flavour;
~ Ace Pilot would become a more enticing option for the player (it is good, but a bit lack-lustre vs the other tier 2 skills).
## Bulwark:
I was sceptical going in to the public test, as this appeared at first glance to have been hit awfully hard by a rather large sackful of nerf-hammers.
The pitchfork was at the ready.
However, after testing it out very thoroughly, I'm veering the other way instead. This is why:
~ Firstly, Guarded now stacks with Cover, meaning up to 75% DR total.
Nice buff right here, & this was very helpful to endure the "sensor lock & PPC spamfest" mentioned above (I forgot to add something about the Sure Footed (Ace) & Bulwark'd King Crab with max armour & plenty of buddies blocking the way to those PPC mechs. Well, things sure got messy in that furball).
~ Secondly, you can get the full bonus even if your mech moved / jumped / sprinted this turn.
So no more playing "sitting duck" just to activate it for "free". Aaand it can now stack with Evasion too. Mhmmm, thank you HBS!
~ Downside: Only by using Vigilance can a mech brace and shoot in same turn now.
Well, it did need a bit of a nerf (or moving to tier 2).
Effect on the AI:
Not much of a difference compared to v1.1, to be honest. Some mechs had a DR bonus some of the time, & some did not, the details of "who" & "when" & "how much" just varied a bit.
Breaching Multi Shot resolves that situation equally well, in both v1.1 and v1.2. (Yay!)
My Verdict:
Is it less powerful than old 1.1 Bulwark? ~ Yes.
Is it nerfed into oblivion? ~ Not at all.
This also gets a thumbs up, & the pitchfork is back in the shed.
## Coolant Flush:
Oh my, certainly an interesting idea. Tried it out quite a bit in the mid & post game runs (maybe once per planet).
My "Pew Pew" Hunchback loved it for desert missions (6ML+4MG), & was probably the best use I found for it. Used once (maybe twice) per battle to turn the tide at a critical point.
Potentially OP in skirmish (is there any real downside to it in this mode?).
Unfeasible to use in early-mid campaign, & still not really worth it even with a maxed-out Argo: ~6 days in the medbay per activation, vs 1-2 days to repair some shutdown damage. ~17 days per use with only basic Argo facilities (guts 8).
That being said, there are a few campaign missions where it might actually come in useful, with a very specialised mech build & high-end medbay: the Lunar / Mars / Desert type missions, & the spats with Victoria spring to mind.
Effect on the AI:
Did not notice them using it (they may have), though multiple mechs did overheat themselves repeatedly (& who probably wished their pilot DID know it ~ Awesomes are funny like that).
My Verdict:
Thumbs sideways ~ I'm on the fence with this one. Was pretty fun to play with, I admit. But:
~ An in-battle skill you pay heavily for outside the battle? Probably not for me, thanks.
~ I'd rather just have the mech shutdown for a turn instead, & be able to pick another tier 2 skill to use at the same time. (Besides, the med-techs are already treating flash-blindness, tinnitus, whiplash, & concussion injuries: I see no urgent need to add toxic chemical burns to their workload too.)
~ Also, the "Precision Alpha Strike to enemy CT, & repeat" meta is already pretty strong before including CF into it.
(& I do hope the synergy with hardened cockpit mods is a bug or simple oversight, otherwise it seems an alpha-strikers wet dream to gloriously blamcannon-rampage through the campaign balance.)
## Some final thoughts:
Getting maxed 6 evasion chevrons on a Full lance of King Crabs was not easy in v1.1, & it felt like a flipping Achievement when you managed to use it in a real battle:
I cannot be the only player to Thoroughly Enjoy thundering an entire lance of Assault mechs down a road at breakneck speed, staggered file with the KaliYama 20s up front, right into the heart of the enemy formation; dodging through a hail of enemy fire like Agent Smith / Neo from the Matrix; then jumping into flanking positions before unleashing a Firestorm of Oblivion upon the doomed enemy at close range. Good times... (Sadly nerfed in the beta.)
& Yang thought Princess Crazy's piloting was "rather aggressive" ~ Hah! She doesn't Jump.
Given the increased use of Brace & Vigilance to offset the bonus Evasion mechs no longer gain when travelling via sprint or jump: it appears Bulwark is actually a far better choice for me than Sure Footed is: Evasive Movement > Bulwark (either) > Sensor Lock > a mouldy Cabbage > Sure Footed.
I would still rather jump & brace for 3 eva and 50% DR (75% with cover), or vigilance & sprint for 4-5 eva & 50%(75%) DR, than trudge around at walking speed (2 eva, 25%(50%)DR) while taking more hits but with less stability damage received.
Armour is a critical resource, as damage to it cannot be "walked off" in battle.
I mainlined Skirmishers (& Flankers) in v1.1, but in this public test beta I'm favouring Lancers (& Vanguard) instead.
Which strikes me as a rather curious result, for a gameplay change partially aimed at reducing the (apparent) prevalence of the Bulwark meta among the community, to instead push an Evasion player such as myself towards using it much more often.
Thanks for reading, & keep up the good work! (I'm looking forward to playing Flashpoint.)
P.S. I think this Dev Diary format & public skills beta are both excellent ideas, & would like to see more of them in the future.
