







Tuesday, March 20th 2018 @ 10AM – 1PM PST

Patch Number: 1.4.157.0

Patch Size: 230 MB

Please note that due to compression differences the Steam patch size may be larger than the standalone client patch size.





Greetings MechWarriors!





Piranha Game's second original 'Mech, the Sun Spider is here! Those who participated in December's big giveaway event last year, look out! Because you will receive the new original Hero 'Mechs this patch!

We've got some Faction Play changes, as well as 'Mech Quirks, Weapon tuning, including some changes to the Air Strike Consumables, many bug fixes and lastly some improvements to the Special Events system!













You can check out the Countdown post for more details about the Sun Spider as they are released!





Sun Spider also releases with 3 new colours for purchase with MC in-game. Early Adopters of the Sun Spider receive these same colours for free!

























The holiday bonus event Hero Mech's have been released to the players who have participated in the event on December 27th 2017 and now have received the following two new Hero Mechs:





• Roughneck Powerhouse RGH-PH













• Sun Spider Vanguard SNS-VG





Check if you were a December 27th Holiday Event Participant for the eligibility to receive these Heroes here!









Faction Play Changes:

Players will no longer be penalized for breaking Loyalty pledges or Mercenary Contracts.



Contracts will now remain active until manually cancelled, and the cancellation of a Mercenary Contract will not incur a penalty.



As a result, Unit Leaders and members with sufficient permissions can take new Faction Contracts or Loyalist pledges for the Unit at any time.



There are no Desertion phases after breaking Contracts or Loyalty. However, the Loyalist Probationary period starting from the initial pledge remains in place.



Freelancers will now be able to respond to standard Call To Arms. They are no longer restricted to the last-minute Emergency Call To Arms.







Skill Tree changes:

Re-spec/re-equip costs have been removed from Skill Trees.





Changes to Mech Quirks:

Griffin:

GRF-E



- The Sparky has received a light mobility increase

- Energy Heat Gen and Energy Cooldown have been rolled over into universal quirks of the same value. Although this will not result in any change in performance, its intention is to consolidate the listed quirks so that when combined with skills unlocked through the skill tree, the total bonus value is displayed as a singular entry as opposed to two separate entries.

GRF-1N



- Has received a moderate mobility increase

- Existing Missile Cooldown -10% and Energy Cooldown -5% values have been consolidated into a Universal Cooldown -5%

- Has received a new Universal Range +10% quirk

- Has received a new Missile Velocity +10% quirk

GRF-1S



- Has received a moderate mobility increase

- Energy Range 10% quirk converted into a Universal Range +10% quirk





Griffin Design notes: We wanted to provide a light boost to some of the under-performing Griffin Variants to better align them against their alternative variants.





Highlander:

All variants - Mobility has been Lightly increased, Deceleration more then many other attributes





Highlander Design notes: We wanted to nudge the Highlander's mobility values up slightly with a heavier benefit to its decel rate to help its baseline responsiveness.





Banshee:

BNC-3S



- Ballistic cooldown increased to -15% (from -10%)

- Missile cooldown increased to -15% (from -10%)

- Has received a new Weapon Heat Gen -10% quirk

- Has received new Armor quirks across front torso, arms, and leg locations.





Banshee Design notes: Compared to its more mobility based counterparts, the BNC-3S' has lagged a bit behind its alternative variants. As a Banshee Variant that heavily reconfigured the classic mobile configuration into a more traditional Tank / Weapon platform role, we wanted to provide the 'Mech with a bit of an upgrade to better position the 3S into this role.





Atlas:

All Variants



- Base Torso yaw increased by 10°





Atlas Design notes: We want to provide the Atlas with a bit more capabilities to bring its armaments to bear in a brawl.





Black Lanner

All Variants



- Has received a moderate mobility increase





Black Lanner Design notes: While we want the universal +10% range quirk to be central to the Black Lanner's kit, we feel that its previous mobility settings were too dependent on MASC to get the most out of its settings. Which made it awkward to control if MASC was ever destroyed mid-match or when you were waiting on it's cooldown. We have provided it with a baseline boost to give it a bit better control without the reliance on MASC.

Changes to Mech Weapon Values:

Ballistic Changes

Autocannons



- AC/2

Heat reduced to 0.5 (from 0.6)

- AC/5

Heat reduced to 1.4 (from 1.5)

- AC/10

Cooldown reduced to 2.25 (from 2.5)

- LB-2X

Heat reduced to 0.4 (from 0.5)

- LB-10X

Cooldown reduced to 2.25 (from 2.5)

- Clan AC/2

Heat reduced to 0.5 (from 0.6)

- Clan AC/5

Heat reduced to 1.4 (from 1.5)

- Clan AC/10

Cooldown reduced to 2.25 (from 2.5)

- Clan LB-2X

Heat reduced to 0.4 (from 0.5)

- Clan LB-10X

Cooldown reduced to 2.25 (from 2.5)





Autocannon Design notes: We want to slightly improve the heat in the smaller caliber Autocannons to play into and improve their sustained fire niche against the more burst damage Autocannons. Because the current AC / 10 line is already the most favorable Damage Per Heat class of the Autocannons, we have opted instead to give it a slight bump to its DPS to better compensate it for its weight investment.





Gauss Rifles



- Light Gauss Rifle

Range increased to 810 (from 750)

Max Range remains at 1500





Light Gauss Design notes: As mentioned a few months ago, the core balance point of the Gauss rifles will always come down to their damage for heat allowing the weapons to supplement typically hotter armaments. But we do want to angle the Lighter Gauss as a superior alternative to their counterparts when it comes to longer ranged engagements. We are increasing the optimal range of the Light Gauss out to reinforce its niche in long range trading for minimal heat.





Energy Changes

Lasers



- Clan ER Micro Laser

Heat reduced to 1.35 (from 1.5)

- Clan Micro Pulse Laser

Heat reduced to 1.35 (from 1.5)

- Small Laser

Heat reduced to 1.1 (from 1.25)

- Small Pulse Laser

Heat reduced to 1.35 (from 1.5)

- Clan Small Pulse Laser

Heat reduced to 2.05 (from 2.2)

- Clan Heavy Small Laser

Heat reduced to 3.75 (from 4.0)





Energy Design notes: After monitoring the effects of the previous month's energy changes, we feel that the results we were aiming for fell a bit short of what we were intending. So we are further reducing the heat a bit more on many small class lasers to give them a bit more sustainability up close compared to alternative weapon options.





Missile Changes

- Inner Sphere SRM/2 Heat reduced to 1.7 (from 2)





Equipment Changes

- Clan Double Heatsinks:

Health reduced to 4 (from 5)





Clan Double Heat Sink Design Notes: Due to the reduced Critical locations on Clan Double Heatsinks, we have seen a heavy amount of loadouts in the heavy and assault class' lean on heatsink boating as an easy way to supplement the heavy amount of firepower that the Clans can often acquire for minimal tonnage through certain weapon selections. We do not wish to separate the capabilities of heat sinks to the detriment of those clan 'Mechs that occupy the lighter half of their roster which are often restricted more by Tonnage, and not critical space, or those loadouts that rely on heavier payloads such as ballistic or missile weapons. But we do want to target a change that provides heatsink boating loadouts with a bit more natural give and take by making mass heatsink stacking more venerable to attrition through critical hits.





Consumable Changes



- Coolshot 18 (Both c-bill and MC versions of the consumables):

"Coolshot 18" name changed to "Coolshot"

Base Cooling reduced to 14 (from 18)

Final Cooling after all Coolshot skill tree skills taken: 18.2 (from 23.4)





Coolshot Design notes: We feel that the total power gained from coolshots for the amount of skill nodes invested was skewing a bit too high considering the point investment needed to fully unlock. We are reducing the baseline amount to bring the overall coolshot consumable into better alignment with the point investment you spend on upgrading the consumable.





- Airstrike (Both c-bill and MC versions of the consumables):

Number of shells per strike reduced to 6 (from 10)

Duration reduced to 0.6 (from 1)

Lateral Bomb radius increased to 10. (from 7.5)













Airstrike Design notes: When it came to the two types of strike options available, Airstrikes tended to overshadow Artillery strikes due to their ability to accurately arc over cover and deliver their entire payload across a full cluster of Enemy 'Mechs. While arcing over cover and punishing 'Mechs camped immediately behind cover is the cornerstone of the Airstrikes role, its ability to both be buried well out of sight of an opposing force while still being able to successfully hit targets hundreds of meters outside the initial engagement zone is something we wish to curb.

We are going to remove some of its shells and distance to make the consumable focused on breaking targets immediately behind cover. These changes will keep Airstrikes potent against opponents that are hiding immediately behind cover, but will remove the ability for the bombs to carry through to targets hundreds of meters away form the initial bombing area unless the smoke can be successfully placed closer to the initial target.









Steel Spider (Sun Spider Standing Item): 750 MC





Crested Sun (Sun Spider Hanging Item): 500 MC





Extra Range Large Speaker Warhorn (Sun Spider Mounted Item): 750 MC





Sun Spider Walk (Sun Spider Early Adopter Item): 750





Images of cockpit items will be revealed in the Sun Spider's Countdown Post









Sun Spider

Standard Title:

The Spider's Web





Standard Badge:









Collectors Title:

The Manul





Collectors Badge:









Sun Spider Decals:

















Gameplay fixes

Fix for Inconsistent MASC Bonus'



- MASC: mk 2

BoostAccel increased to 2 (from 1.9)

BoostDecel increased to 1.9 (from 1.8)

- MASC: mk 3

DamageMin reduced to 1.26 (from 1.98)

DamageMax reduced to 1.54 (from 2.42)

- MASC: Mk 4

BoostSpeed increased to 0.28 (from 0.17)

BoostAccel increased to 1.85 (from 1.8)

BoostDecel increased to 1.75 (from 1.7)

- MASC: Mk 5

BoostSpeed increased to 0.3 (from 0.2)

BoostAccel increased to 1.8 (from 1.75)

BoostDecel increased to 1.7 (from 1.65)

DamageMin reduced to 3.06 (from 3.24)

- Clan MASC: Mk 1

BoostTurn increased to 0.45

- Clan MASC: Mk 2

BoostSpeed Increased to 0.26 (from 0.23)

BoostTurn Increased to 0.4 (from 0.35)

- Clan MASC: Mk 3

BoostTurn increased to 0.35 (from 0.3)

- Clan MASC: Mk 4

BoostTurn increased to 0.3 (from 0.25)

DamageMax increased to 3.96 (from 3.74)





Weapon fix



- Fixed an issue with the Inner Sphere SRM 2 and Streak SRM 2 launchers in which their heat was incorrectly set to 2. They have been reset to their intended 1.7 heat

Art fixes

Level of details improvements on the following Mechs:



- Assassin

- Atlas

- Huntsman

- Javelin

- Nova Cat

- Osiris

- Supernova

- Uziel

- Viper

Spectator Audio Fix

Spectator will always hear music even once match is complete





Special Events tool fix

KMDD/Kill event requirement now tracks "Kill" stat



Special Events improvements

The following game stats are now available to be used as a special event requirement for future events:



- Scouting

- Hit and Run

- UAV Kill

- UAV Detection

- UAV Locked Damage

- Counter ECM

- Protection Proximity

- Lance in Formation

- AMS Missile Destroyed

- Protected Light

- Protected Medium

- Flanking

- First Capture

- Turret Kill

- Counter ECM Locked Damage





Patch Files (Direct Download)

To make the patching process easier for players with limited download caps, we'll be providing direct download links for the patch file(s) that comprise this patch. This will allow you to download the patch file(s) elsewhere, for manual injection into the MWO patcher through a Patch Cache folder. Aside from allowing you to download the patch file(s) elsewhere, on another connection, there are no additional benefits to performing the patch this way; the patching process itself will be the same.

This direct patch download process will only work for players running the standalone client. It does not apply to players running MWO through Steam.









How to use these patch files • Download the above file(s) • For sake of ease we recommend creating a dedicated folder for the patch file(s), such as 'MWO Patch Cache' • You do not need to unzip or unpack the patch file(s) • Launch the MWO Portal • Select the three horizontal lines in the top left of the Portal Window • Choose the 'Specify Patch File Cache' option • In the field that appears, paste or enter the location in which you saved the patch file(s) and hit OK • For example, C:\Users\<username>\Documents\MWO Patch Cache • Click the blue Patch button • The launcher will now check the Patch Cache folder you defined. If it locates the required patch files, it will unpack and use those files to apply the patch. • Once the patch is complete, launch the game



