Greetings MechWarriors,

Starting November 4th at 10:30 AM PDT (6:30 PM UTC) the Public Test Server (PTS) will be activated for a new session of the 'Mech Re-Balance Public Test.

The changes featured in this Re-Balance PTS build upon the changes implemented in the last PTS , and are again intended for testing a specific set of isolated changes from what is currently present in the Live environment.

• 'Mechs now possess a Target Profile value that influences the time it takes for it to be targeted.

• Various c hanges to Skill Tree values.

• Increase to Max Range of IS ER Large Laser and IS Large Pulse Laser (this reduces the amount of damage falloff beyond Optimal Range).

• Increase to Max Range of Clan Small and Medium Laser (this reduces the amount of damage falloff beyond Optimal Range)

• Heat Scale for IS Medium Pulse Lasers now matches the Heat Scale behavior for IS Medium Lasers.

• Adjustments to Clan and IS LRM spread values and cooldown rates.

• Boost to IS Single Heat Sink cooling rate.

• Reduction to Clan Double Heat Sink heat capacity.

• Increases to base speed values of Clan and IS SRM's/SSRM's.

• Cooldown period increased for Clan and IS Gauss Rifles.

• Laser range information displayed in the HUD will now properly reflect the focus range.

The exact changes detailed further in this post should not be taken as the entirety of what the final re-balance will entail, nor are the changes listed here necessarily ‘locked in’ for any final release.

The end-goal of these public test sessions are to work toward a complete re-balance of the game’s core combat systems.

This PTS is currently scheduled to run until further notice.

If you have already participated in a previous PTS session and still have the client installed, you will only need to apply the latest patches. Otherwise, accessing the PTS will require that you download and install a separate instance of the MWO client.

The download link for the PTS installer can be found here.

For detailed instructions regarding the installation of the PTS client, please consult the main post for the last PTS.

Please do not submit any support tickets regarding issues with the Re-Balance PTS.







The Focus of this PTS Session

The last PTS session of the Re-Balance spurred a lot of positive feedback and constructive criticism throughout the community, and with that feedback in mind we are continuing to make adjustments to the Re-Balance initiative with this new PTS session.

Moving forward we are still working to address the Inner Sphere/Clan disparity, along with the introduction and adjustment of more generalized re-balance features. As you’ll see in the full details below, we are continuing to enhance the Information Warfare aspect of MWO with the refinement of the Sensor Range system and the introduction of a Target Profile system. This Target Profile system is a numerical value based on the physical size of a ‘Mech, and can affect the speed with which an enemy ‘Mech can acquire Target Information from you. Under this system it will take longer to acquire Target Information from a smaller ‘Mech, compared to the time it will take to acquire information from a larger ‘Mech. While the Target Profile values in this PTS are not drastically different from each other they are noticeable enough to impact gameplay, and do stack with any other variables that affect Targeting Info Gathering behavior, such as ECM.

This PTS also includes an array of per-variant Internal Structure and Armor Quirks intended to increase time-to-kill (TTK) across the board. These changes mean the Atlas is about to become a force to be reckoned with, while most Light ‘Mechs will be able to protect themselves considerably better compared to their current state in the live servers.

Please keep in mind that the values listed here are still being tuned. Even if a set of numbers has not changed from the previous PTS build, it doesn't mean those numbers are exactly where we want them.





Specific Changes in this PTS

Quirks

The only Quirks that are in place for this PTS are related to Sensor Range, Inner Structure, and Armor.



Skill Trees



• Cool Run (Basic): Now increases Heat Dissipation by 2.5% (down from original 7.5% value)

• Kinetic Burst (Basic): Now i ncreases BattleMech acceleration by 7.5% (down from original 22.5% value)

• Twist X (Basic): Now i ncreases the maximum amount a BattleMech can twist its upper torso by 2.5% (down from original 10% value)

• Heat Containment (Basic): Now i ncreases maximum heat threshold before a BattleMech shuts down by 5% (down from original 10% value)

• Hard Brake (Basic): Now i ncreases BattleMech deceleration by 7.5% (down from original 25% value)

• Twist Speed (Basic): Now i ncreases the speed at which a BattleMech can twist its upper torso by 2.5% (down from original 20% value)

• Arm Reflex (Basic): Now i ncreases the speed at which a BattleMech can move its arms by 2.5% (down from original 15% value)

• Anchor Turn (Basic): Now i ncreases the turning speed of a BattleMech by 2.5% (down from original 10% value)

Unlocking all Elite Tier efficiencies still applies the standard x2 multiplier to all Basic Tier efficiencies.

• Quick Ignition (Elite): Unchanged from original value.

• Fast Fire (Elite): Weapon cooldown rate now increased by 2.5% (down from original 5% value)

• Pinpoint (Elite): Unchanged, but this Skill is planned for replacement.

• Speed Tweak (Elite): Unchanged from original value.



Equipment and Weaponry Inner Sphere Single Heat Sinks

• Chassis-equipped Single Heat Sink cooling rate increased to 1.2 (up from 1.1 for previous PTS value).

• Engine-equipped Single Heat Sink cooling rate increased to 1.2 (up from 1.1 for previous PTS value). Clan Double Heat Sinks

• Chassis-equipped Clan Double Heat Sink heat capacity decreased to 1.1 (down from 1.2 for previous PTS value) Inner Sphere Lasers • IS ER Large Laser: Maximum Range increased to 1200m (up from 1080m previous PTS value)

• IS Large Pulse Laser: Maximum Range increased to 730m (up from 584m previous PTS value)

• IS Medium Pulse Laser: Heat Scale now matches that of the IS Medium Laser. 6 IS Medium Pulse Lasers can be fired without incurring a heat penalty.

Clan Lasers

• Clan ER Small Laser: Maximum Range increased to 360m (up from 320m)

• Clan ER Medium Laser: Maximum Range increased to 688 (up from 648)

• Clan Small Pulse Laser: Maximum Range increased to 297m (up from 264m)

• Clan Medium Pulse Laser: Maximum Range increased to 561m (up from 528)

Inner Sphere LRMs

• IS LRM 20: Spread reduced to 6.2m (down from 7.0m)

• IS LRM 20: Cooldown increased to 5.5s (up from 4.75s)

• IS LRM 15: Spread reduced to 5.2m (down from 5.7m)

• IS LRM 15: Cooldown increased to 4.75s (up from 4.25s)

• IS LRM 10: Spread reduced to 4.2m (down from 4.3m)

• IS LRM 10: Cooldown increased to 4.0s (up from 3.75s)

Clan LRMs

• Clan LRM 20: Spread reduced to 6.2m (down from 7.0m)

• Clan LRM 20: Cooldown increased to 6.5s (up from 5.0s)

• Clan LRM 15: Spread reduced to 5.2m (down from 5.7m)

• Clan LRM 15: Cooldown increased to 5.5s (up from 4.5s)

• Clan LRM 10: Spread reduced to 4.2m (down from 4.3m)

• Clan LRM 10: Cooldown increased to 4.5s (up from 4.0s)

All SRMs/SSRMs • All IS and Clan SRMs: Base speed increased to 400m/s (up from 300m/s)

• All IS Streak SRMs: Base speed increased to 250m/s (up from 200m/s)

• All Clan Streak SRMs: Base speed increased to 230m/s (up from 180m/s)

All Gauss Rifles • All IS and Clan Gauss Rifles: Cooldown increased to 5.5s (up from 4.0s)

All AC/2s • All IS and Clan AC/2s: Base heat reduced to 0.8 (down from 1.0)

• All IS And Clan AC/2s: Now have the ability to crit Internals at the same rate as Machine Guns, with a 1.0 DMG multiplier. This means that when an AC/2 does crit it will do 2 additional points of DMG.



Targeting Mechanics 'Mech Target Profiles 'Mechs are now assigned a "Target Profile" value, which is displayed in the 'Mech Stats window with the rest of the core details. This value contributes a period of delay against enemy Target Info Gathering. • 1000: 1 second delay

• 750: 0.75s delay

• 500: 0.5s delay

• 250: 0.25s delay

• 0: 0s delay

Targeting Range Values (HUD) • Aiming at a targeted 'Mech will display the full optimal range of your weapons.

• Aiming at a non-targeted 'Mech will display the reduced optimal range.

• Aiming at anything other than a 'Mech will display the reduced optimal range.



ADDITIONAL INFORMATION • This is just a test. The 'Mech Re-Balance is still a work-in-progress.

• The sole purpose of this PTS session is to test and experiment the specific aspects of the 'Mech Re-Balance listed in the previous section of this post.

• The core build used for this PTS build was derived from the October 20th patch.

• There is currently no set end-time for this PTS session.

• Attempting to access the PTS session prior to October 28th at 3:00 PM PDT (10:00 PM UTC) will result in a 'Servers Undergoing Maintenance' message.

• Your login information for the PTS client will be the same as your Live account login information.

• Any actions you take inside the PTS client, such as spending MC/C-Bills or customizing your 'Mechs, will not carry over to your Live account.

• All PTS accounts will be provided with boosted C-Bill, MC, and GXP values to allow for full testing of any desired builds. Those boosts will be provided in the PTS build only .