







Upcoming Patch - Tuesday, September 19th, 2017 @ 10AM – 1PM PDT Patch Number: 1.4.131 Standalone Client Patch Size: ~740 MB Steam Client Patch Size: ~510 MB Please note that due to compression differences the Steam patch size may be larger than the standalone client patch size.

Quick Links

• Clan IIC Heroes • Special Events System • Gameplay



• Conquest • Consumables • Weapons

• Quirks

• Other Gameplay Fixes and Changes



• Faction Play

• New Cockpit Items • New Tech Retrofits • Other Fixes and Changes • Patch Files (Direct Download)

Greetings MechWarriors,

The Clan IIC Hero 'Mechs have arrived, and are now en-route to the MechBays of eligible MechWarriors!

The main feature of this patch is a brand new Special Events system integrated directly into your MechWarrior Online client, supporting both Quick Play and Faction Play Special Events and Conflicts! In addition to providing better support for special per-Faction Conflicts, this feature will serve to make our regular events more 'present' for players across both Quick Play and Faction Play, with progress tracking and criteria/reward information now provided in-game, rather than purely on the website. The majority of Event Rewards will now also be redeemable directly in-game, with an immediate turnaround on the injection of reward items into your account! Certain Event components however, such as Loot Bags, will continue to maintain a presence on the website.

This patch contains a large number of gameplay-related fixes, adjustments, and improvements, including a Quirk pass on 12 'Mechs, balance passes for an array of weapons, balance adjustments for Strategic Strike and Cool Shot Consumables, a 50% decrease to the neutrality duration of Conquest Capture Points, a fix for the Heat Containment Skill Tree Node, and fixes to the UAC double-tap mechanic.

Rounding out the patch we have the addition of Kill Counters to all Objective-based game modes, improvements to the walk and run animation cycles for the Mad Cat MK II chassis, the introduction of Clan Diamond Shark as a playable Faction, fixes for a number of long-standing issues such as random cockpit shake, taking damage while still inside a DropShip, braking when accessing the Scoreboard while Throttle Decay is active, and much more!

Read on for all the details of the September patch and we'll see you on the battlefield!

- The MechWarrior Team

















Store Page

Release Date for MC: March 6th 2018

Clan IIC Hero Variants • Jenner IIC JR7-IIC-FY "Fury" • Hunchback IIC HBK-IIC-DW "Deathwish" • Orion IIC ON1-IIC-SK "Sk ö ll" • Highlander IIC HGN-IIC-KP "Keeper"

Check out the Clan IIC Hero Countdown post here for more images and Quirk information!











The integrated Special Events system is here! In addition to providing better support for special per-Faction Conflicts, this feature will serve to make our regular events more 'present' for players across both Quick Play and Faction Play, with progress tracking and criteria/reward information now provided in-game, rather than purely on the website. The majority of Event Rewards will now also be redeemable directly in-game, with an immediate turnaround on the injection of reward items into your account!

Certain Event components however, such as Loot Bags, will continue to maintain a presence on the website.



Behind the scenes, creating and implementing Events will now be an easier, more rapid process for our Event coordinators, providing them with the tools to kick off 'impulse' style Events more frequently, whether as Daily Challenges or as Special Faction Play Conflicts responding to the latest Main Conflict results.



The Special Events system is a powerful tool for Event staff, but to ensure the system is working as intended we will be gradually easing into the process of running any complex Events and Conflicts using this new system. Once we're confident that the metrics are all working as intended we will work up to running more comprehensive, detailed, and awesome Events!

The main Events Browser seen below is the main screen for reviewing Future, Active, and Recent Events. As you hover over an Event the main Header image will update to provide a basic overview of the event. Clicking an Event entry will take you to a detailed view of that Event, including all its Objectives and Rewards.





The Special Events overlay window can be accessed at any time by clicking the associated icon in your toolbar.





Your progress toward an Objective will be tracked in real-time. Once an Objective has been completed you can redeem the reward, which will then be injected immediately into your account!

Participation in an Event or specific Objectives can be wide open to all players, or more restricted as needed according to criteria such as your Faction Play Career or current Faction allegiance. For example, an Event can be comprised of multiple Objectives applicable only for Faction Loyalists, giving them an opportunity to earn even more Rewards and run more unique Objective requirements befitting their Faction.





Events

These are akin to the Events already run by the PGI Event staff, which until now were only tracked and displayed through the website. With the introduction of this new Special Events feature our Event staff can now create Events that appear directly within the client, offering you real-time tracking of your progress toward completing an objective, more clear conditions for completion, and the ability to redeem and receive your rewards immediately!

Special Conflicts

Special Conflicts are specific Faction vs. Faction Conflicts manually created by the PGI Event staff. These limited-time Special Conflicts can either run separately alongside the ongoing Inner Sphere/Clan Conflict, or can be set as the sole available Conflict. Special Conflicts offer the same objective tracking and reward redemption functionality as standard Events. However, i n addition to standard Objectives, Faction Play Special Conflicts can also utilize Victory and Defeat Rewards. These Objectives will only trigger once the Conflict is complete; depending on the result of the Conflict and your Faction allegiance you may be eligible for receiving an additional result-based Reward. Here are some examples of the types of Special Conflicts you may see in the future:

The Dragon and the Jaguar (Example Conflict) The forces of Clan Smoke Jaguar and House Kurita engage in a Special Conflict over vital border territories. In this example, this Conflict can only be participated in by Smoke Jaguar and Kuritan forces and runs at the same time as the ongoing Inner Sphere/Clan Conflict . This example Conflict would be comprised of a series of unique Objectives, which can be either global (attainable by players of either Faction), Faction-specific (attainable only by one of the two participating Factions), or career-specific (attainable only by Loyalists or Mercenaries) on an individual Objective basis.

The Battle for Luthien (Example Conflict) The forces of the Inner Sphere and Clans converge on a single point: the Kuritan Capital of Luthien. In this example, this Special Conflict pauses the ongoing Inner Sphere/Clan Conflict and becomes the sole battleground on which Faction Play matches are fought. An Event of this scope would typically be comprised of multiple Event components, from the over-arching Inner Sphere/Clan Luthien Event and its Objectives to more general Faction Play Events and Objectives all running at the same time. These large, singular Conflicts can also utilize the unique global, Faction-specific, or career-specific Objective systems mentioned in the above example.

Once active, Special Conflicts will appear within the Faction Play Conflict list in addition to the Special Events window. Clicking the Event Details button for a Special Conflict will bring up the associated details for that Event.





Deadline for Claiming Rewards

Once an Objective condition has been satisfied, whether as an immediate Objective Reward or as a Victory-based Objective (for Faction Play Events), Rewards can be claimed up to a limit of 2 weeks after the Event is over. You must redeem all your available Rewards within 2 weeks of the completion of the Event. Once 2 weeks have passed since the end of an Event you will no longer be able to claim any unclaimed Rewards for which you may have been eligible!





















• Neutral timer has been reduced by 50%.

Design Notes: We feel that the time required to flip a point barely in possession of the opposing team takes too long to make it worthwhile, and reduces the value of building up the capture bar. As a result, we have altered the way in which the 'neutral' time - the middle segment during which the capture bar is not assigned to a Team during capture or re-capture - impacts capture point ownership. This reduction to the duration of that neutral phase will make it easier to flip capture points for those players who go out and attempt to capture a point from the Enemy team. It's important to note that this change only impacts the duration of time over which a capture point remains in its neutral state before changing ownership; it has no impact on the time required for fully capturing a point, which remains the same as before.













Strategic Strikes

• Global Cooldown timer for Strikes has been increased by 7 seconds. When a player has called a Strike, no further Strikes can be called by other players on that Team until the Global Cooldown has expired.

• Bombardment delay increased to ~7 seconds (from ~5 seconds.)

• Skill Tree (Auxiliary): Advanced Salvo Skill Node benefit reduced to 15% (from 25%).

Strike Design Notes: Since the introduction of the Skill Tree we have kept a close eye on the potential power that comes with the Auxiliary Tree. After observing the net output of the Strike Skills over the past few months we have concluded that the primary beneficiary when it comes to physical output as a result of Strike-based Skill investments has been Light and fast Medium 'Mechs who are able to find superior angles for maximizing the impact of Strikes on heavily-clustered opponents. This result aligns with our desires to keep Strikes as an effective tool for area denial and cluster-breaking, in addition to keeping them an effective supplement for 'Mechs maneuverable enough to leverage superior positioning. With that said, there are a number of balance points regarding Strikes that we have attempted to address with the three changes listed above.

• Advanced Salvo Skills providing too much benefit for the relatively minimal Skill Point cost needed to unlock them. • The inability for slower 'Mechs to effectively respond to incoming strikes of which they aware. • The rate at which continual bombardments can strike when stacked back to back.

It should be noted that the increase in bombardment delay will mean that the smoke and Aerospace Bomber effects will be visible for a longer period of time prior to the Strikes occurring.

Cool Shots

• Base Cooldown value for using multiple Cool Shots has been increased to 50 seconds (from 20 seconds).

Cool Shot Design Notes: While the ability to equip an additional Cool Shot Consumable is made possible through investment in the Auxiliary Skill Tree, we have not found the practice of being able to use the two Cool Shots in quick succession to 'burst' down single opponents in a single engagement to be in line with our intent behind enabling pilots to take more than one Cool Shot into battle. As a result, we have opted to greatly increase the Cooldown period before being able to utilize the second Cool Shot. Our intent here is for the second Cool Shot to more commonly enable pilots to retain the opportunity for using what remains an extremely potent Consumable across separate engagements, but to still be vulnerable against continued pressure during prolonged engagements focused against a single opponent.













Light Gauss Rifle • Cooldown reduced to 3.25 (from 3.75).

Heavy Gauss Rifle • Charge-up duration reduced to 0.75 (from 1). • Charge retention duration increased to 1 second (from 0.5 seconds).

Gauss Rifle Design Notes: The primary feature of Gauss resolves around their incredibly high damage-to-heat ratio when compared to other weaponry. When it comes to the Light Gauss Rifle, its longer range, higher projectile velocity, and high damage-to-heat ratio compared to other weapons around its weight bracket remain its primary defining traits. With that said, we do feel that its overall performance could use a bit of a boost, so we are providing it with a bit more DPS, brining it closer into line with the standard Gauss Rifles.

For the Heavy Gauss, we found the usability window to be too narrow for most players without Skill Tree investment, which is something we do not intend to be the case for any weapon. We have therefore increased the window during which you can hold a Heavy Gauss charge before the charge dissipates. In addition to this, we have slightly reduced the time it takes to charge the Heavy Guass down to match that of the Standard. We found the previous charge time to be overly restrictive given that the Heavy Gauss is best intended to be used up close. The previous, full second charge was simply too much of a drawback at its ideal ranges.

Rotary AC 2 • Minimum Heat Scale penalty level increased to 4 (from 3). You can now fire 3 RAC 2's without being penalized by heat scale.

RAC 2 Design Notes: The RAC 2 is filling the niche of a longer ranged, lower heat, higher accuracy version of the RAC, but the overall damage output allowed without incurring penalty was a bit too restrictive. With these changes you can now fire up to 3 RAC 2's without incurring a Heat Scale penalty.

Light Machine Guns (Both IS + Clans) • Spread increased to 0.5 (from 0.2). • Critical Hit bonus reduced to 9x (from 13x).

Light Machine Gun Design Notes: We are currently observing the state of Machine Guns as a whole, but at this time we only see a need for bringing the LMG into better alignment with its standard counterpart. In its previous state the LMG was outclassing the Standard variant even at ranges where we wished for the standard MG to outperform against the LMG. With the weapons being identical in tonnage and critical, we could not have one weapon outperforming the other to such a significant degree. The changes to spread are tuned to where the LMG will still focus their damage on singular locations while within Optimal Range, but will begin to spread to multiple locations when outside their Optimal Range.

In addition to this, their bonus Critical Chances have been redued to ensure that they will not blow out components as easily from outside the Optimal Range of the weapon. We still want the Range of LMG to be its primary feature, but we want their optimal usage to be brought a bit closer to where the Standard and Heavy MGs can better compete, and potentially overcome LMGs dependent on the engagement range.

AC/10 • Heat reduced to 2.75 (from 3).

UAC/10 • Heat reduced to 3.5 (from 4).

Clan UAC/10 • Heat increased to 3.5 (from 3).

AutoCannon Design Notes: While we tested three Heat values on both the IS and Clan versions of the UAC/10 during the Newtech PTS, we determined that the native IS Quirks coupled with the UAC functionality made this too much of a direct upgrade from the standard AC10. Even at the previous Heat settings, the IS UAC/10 is still seen in many cases as a direct upgrade to the standard AC10; we have no intention of further aggravating the viability divide between the two weapons, so we have looked at the full AC10 lineup on both sides of the Faction tech base and have decided to split the difference, bringing both IS and Clan UAC/10s to the same value of 3.5 Heat.

To ensure that this offset on the IS side does not lead to further widening the viability gulf between the Standard AC10 and the UAC/10, we are bringing down the Heat on the AC10 to keep it a cooler-running option when compared to its UAC counterpart. We will be closely evaluating any IS Quirks that further benefit the UAC/10 with this baseline buff to the weapon. Should the IS UAC/10 see too heavy an upward swing as a result of this baseline change, 'Mechs may see future alterations to Quirks that feed into the UAC/10.













Heavy PPC • Cooldown increased to 5 (from 4.5).

Heavy PPC Design Notes: We're happy to see interest in the Heavy PPC, with its 15 pinpoint Damage potential, but we also feel that the solid 15 Damage to a single location with the previous Cooldown veered a little too far into being able to burst DPS that high damage, single location shot when needed. We are therefore bringing the Cooldown up a bit to place it more in line with other high damage, long-range weaponry.













MRMs (all sizes) • Range increased to 550 (from 450). • Velocity increased to 475 (from 425).

MRM Design Notes: With the way that Damage tapers off for non-Missile based weapons, the traditional MRM Range values from the lore were not providing the kind of range that many would classify as 'medium' range in MechWarrior Online. We have therefore increased the base maximum range of the weapon by 100 meters to enable MRMs to trade better at what many would consider medium range. To account for this additional range, we have increased the base Velocity of MRMs to allow slightly better accuracy at longer ranges.

Rocket Launchers (all sizes) • Damage increased to 2 per Missile (from 1.75).

Rocket Launchers Design Notes: With the Minimum Range now ensuring a natural spread, we are increasing the damage to be more in line with their traditional effectiveness once accounting for the doubled Structure and Armor values used in MechWarrior Online. Given the one-shot nature of the weapon we want them to carry a significant punch, but not have it where the only applicable way to use them was purely at point-blank range.













This months 'Mech balance pass includes chassis-wide improvements to the Uziel, Kintaro, Wolverine, and Archer 'Mechs, along with a handful of targeted changes to individual variants.

IS Quirk Changes PDF Clan Quirk Changes PDF

Firestarter • FS9-H has received a new Machine Gun Rate of Fire Quirk. • FS9-S Energy Heat Gen Quirk has been reduced to -5% (from -10%).

Firestarter Design Notes: Like other hardpoint-limited chassis designed around Machine Gun pairs, the FS9-H is receiving a Machine Gun Rate of Fire Quirk in this pass. Post Skill Tree-release we have been keeping a close eye on 'Mechs that, prior to its release, had double-digit Heat Bonuses in place. While we are fine with having such bonuses on underperfoming chassis, or chassis which must accept some drawback or restriction as a trade-off for benefiting from such powerful Heat perks, we feel it is time to bring down a number of these Heat benefits for a handful of top-performing variants.

Wolfound • WLF-2 Energy Heat Gen Quirk has been reduced to -5% (from -10%).

Wolfhound Design Notes: The WLF-2 has received a reduction to its Heat Gen Quirk for the reasons outlined in the Firestarter Design Notes.

Assassin • ASN-21 Missile Velocity Quirk has been removed.

Assassin Design Notes: Reviewing the ASN-21's performance against other 'Mechs within the Medium weight bracket, we feel that it no longer needs its Missile-based offensive Quirk.

Uziel • Moderate Torso Structure Quirks have been added to all variants. • Moderate increase to Mobility for all variants.

Uziel Design Notes: We wanted to provide the Uziel with a moderate buff that moves the chassis into a different niche than what other Inner Sphere 50-tonners currently provide. While we are providing the Uziel with moderate Structure buffs to help with its durability, we are ultimately aiming for the Uziel to play into the role of a mobile harasser to better suit the intent behind which Defiance Industries designed the 'Mech.

Kintaro • Structure Quirks have been replaced with Armor Quirks.

Archer • Structure Quirks have been replaced with Armor Quirks.

Kintaro and Archer Design Notes: Both of these 'Mechs have traditionally been known for their durability; in that spirit we are providing them with a modest boost in that area with a switch to Armor Quirks.

Wolverine • Structure Bonuses have been provided for the Center Torso on multiple variants. • WVR-Q has received additional CT Armor. • WVR-7K has received additional Arm Structure.

Wolverine Design Notes: We are providing the Wolverine with some moderate CT Quirks to help account for an above-average frequency of death incurred from CT destruction.

Dragon • DRG-1C Laser Duration and Energy Range Quirks have been removed.

Dragon Design Notes: Having high mobility, generous durability Quirks, and three types of Energy-based Quirks was a bit on the extreme side for the DRG-1. In the wake of the Skill Tree we have given it a few months to see if its performance would settle into a state that was not operating well outside of the ranges we consider on-target, but it has continued to climb after the release of new tech; this has prompted us to look into making modest reductions to some of its offensive Quirks.

Hunchback IIC • HBK-IIC-A Base Torso Yaw Rate has been reduced to 80 degrees • HBK-IIC-A Base Torso Pitch Angle has been reduced to 20 degrees.

Hunchback IIC Design Notes: The Hunchback IICs performance, particularly in Competitive play, is problematic in the way that it offers many advantages over other 'Mech choices with little in the way of drawbacks. We are further tightening the angles that it can operate within to make it more dependent on team coordination and support, and more vulnerable to isolation or dueling with 'Mechs more mobile than itself.

Mad Dog • MDD-H Right Torso Missile Velocity Quirk has been reduced to 5% (from 10%). • MDD-H Set of 8 Missile Cooldown Quirk has been reduced to 10% (from 20%).

Mad Dog Design Notes: We want the MDD-H variant to have complementary Hardpoints with the MDD-Prime, but its current Quirks are simply superior to its counterpart. After observing its performance over the past month we have decided to bring down its Quirks to be more comparable to the Prime configuration.

Warhawk • WHK-C Energy Heat Gen Quirk has been reduced across the Arm OmniPods. • WHK-C Energy Heat Gen Quirk has been removed from the Set of 8 Bonus. It has instead received a new Pulse Laser Duration Quirk.

Warhawk Design Notes: As mentioned in the Firestarter Design Notes, Energy Heat Gen Quirks have come under increased scrutiny for a number of variants, including the WHK-C. Since one of the Heat Gen Quirks was associated with the Set of 8 Bonuses, we have opted to include a replacement in the form of a more specific Pulse Laser Duration Quirk.

Supernova • SNV-1 Mobility attributes have been reduced.

Supernova Design Notes: The SNV-1 has been skewing above the curve for some time, and is receiving a reduction to its mobility to bring it more in line with other 90-tonners.













• Cockpit Shake: Fixed an issue that could cause the Cockpit to shake unnecessarily. • Command Wheel: Once issued, persistent Commands such as Request Artillery Strike or Move are subsequently replaced with a Remove <Command Name> command in their respective location of the Command Wheel. Issuing the Remove <Command Name> command will remove that Command from the field. This will allow the quick removal of Commands without needing to use the BattleGrid. • Conquest (Faction Play) : Fixed a post-respawn issue that could cause captured points in the upper HUD to appear as owned by the Enemy Team, when they are in fact owned by your Team. • DropShips: 'Mechs can no longer be damaged while they are inside the DropShip.

• DropShips: Fixed an issue where DropShips would not fire on enemy forces within range.

• HUD: The No Cap: Stealth indicator will now appear when trying to capture a beacon or an Incursion Fuel Cell while Stealth Armor is active. • HUD: Kill Counters are now present in all Game Modes. • Mobility: Fixed an issue where accessing the Scoreboard while still trying to accelerate could cause your 'Mech to brake, when Throttle Decay is active. • Skill Tree: The Heat Containment Skill Tree Nodes now effect the total Heat Containment value of the 'Mech, not just its base value. • Ultra AutoCannons: Fixed some consistency issues with the double-tap mechanic. Pressing and holding the fire button will now fire all weapons in a chainfire group and will not trigger double-tap. Pressing the fire button when all weapons are in their Cooldown phase will attempt to double-tap the next UAC in the Weapon Group.





War History





With the addition of a new War History screen inside Faction Play, the complete history of Faction Play Conflict results within a Faction Play Season are now accessible! Through this screen you can keep track of the Clan and Inner Sphere win/loss history for the main ongoing Conflict, and review the results and details for past Faction Play Special Conflicts through the 'Faction Conflicts' tab. Clicking an entry within the War History will present you with additional details regarding that Conflict, such as the Planets under contest during the Conflict.

Clan Diamond Shark

The forces of Clan Diamond Shark have been activated, joining the fight for the Inner Sphere. While they succeeded in defeating Clan Ghost Bear for a Trial Of Possession over the then Ghost Bear-controlled planet of Nyserta, ownership of Nyserta in the 3057 Era falls under the banner of Clan Wolf. With that in mind, and with Strana Mechty as the de facto Capital of Clan Diamond Shark, they have been assigned to the Clan Wolf invasion corridor.





While Clan Diamond Shark do possess distinct Faction Reputation progression paths, and Pilots are able to take Contracts with or pledge Loyalty to these Factions as normal, these Factions are not eligible for claiming territory of their own, nor do they cast a War Planning vote for their own Faction. Any planetary gains or losses these Factions make are done so under the banner of Clan Wolf; any votes cast in the War Planning phase are cast under the banner of Clan Wolf. Clan Diamond Shark do however possess entries within the Faction Summary Leaderboards.















Rocket Girl (Standing Item): 750 MC



Diamond Shark (Warhorn): 750 MC



Diamond Shark (Standing Item): 750 MC



Diamond Shark (Hanging Item): 500 MC



Clan Flashbang Grenade (Clan IIC Hero Standing Item): Not Yet Available (see below)





Regarding the availability of the Clan IIC Heroes 'Flashbang' Grenade Item





Due to a scheduling complication the Flashbang Cockpit Item intended to be released alongside the Clan IIC Heroes has not made it into this patch release. Sincere apologies to all Clan IIC Hero owners for this. The Flashbang Grenade Item will arrive in your accounts no later than our October patch, but is currently expected to be included with any hot-fix following the September patch.

In the meantime, all Clan IIC Hero owners will be receiving the standard Clan Grenade Cockpit Item with this patch for free. This standard Grenade item was originally released as part of our Clan Heroes II preorder.









Grenade (Standing Item): 1 free item to all Clan IIC Hero owners!

The Clan Flashbang Grenade Item will arrive in your accounts no later than the October patch.













As outlined in our July Patch Notes, 'Mechs will undergo gradual retrofit passes to support the visual display of new weaponry. These visual retrofits are being done in stages.

As of this patch, all variants of the following chassis now support the distinct visuals of new weaponry: • Jenner IIC • Hunchback IIC • Orion IIC • Highlander IIC















