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Re-balanced and Expanded Weapons

[Feb. 13th, 2025:]

*Whispers of a possible update echo eerily across the galaxy...*

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**Major update!! (Apr. 27th, 2024)**

RBEW has been updated with a re-balance of all weapons introduced in DLC 6 (Solaris Showdown); the addition of many new weapons; and a significant number of balance changes.

Notable updates include:
1) The addition of NINETEEN (19) new weapons
2) A re-balance of the share values of ALL weapons (including those added in DLC 6)
3) GREATLY improved Binary Laser and Burst-Fire Rifle performance
4) Added/enhanced visuals for ALL lasers. (Lasers now emit particles with the same colour as their beam upon hit on hard surfaces; fading to a reddish colour (to simulate metal particles) at the end of their lifetime)
5) The fixing of multiple (all) mistakes and oversights included in the weapons added in DLC 6
6) Improved performance of HSMs. (Reduced tonnage; improved seeker weighting (resulting in better performance); and increased range)
7) Re-worked/improved Bludgeon- and Bludgeon Burst-Fire AC performance (due to the addition of RF ACs)

Also, due to certain weapons that were added, the Binary Laser, PPC-X, and all RF ACs have had their DLC 6 requirements removed; thus, they are included in this mod for everyone to be able to use.

Please see the respective Weapons Information and Overview Sheets for information on the behaviour and intended use of all newly created weapons, as well as the respective Data Sheets for statistics on each weapon and how they perform. (Both document types are listed below in their own sections.)

For a comprehensive overview of all changes made, please see the Changelog. (There have been many in this update.) Find it here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Nfgisk0zw1lJ_v-1HPG-63F4Vol1hghkb1S9jr-lcEo/edit?usp=sharing

Please enjoy!! :)

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Note:

This is a reduced-size description due to the character limit for Steam mods. (See the full description here: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/744 .)

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Summary:

This mod re-balances weapons to be as evenly performing as possible; fixes mistakes and bugs within the vanilla game; generally enhances weapon potency and performance; and adds new weapons that fill specific and unique combat roles not covered in the vanilla game.

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Scope of Mod:

The mod is intended to be used both standalone (without any other mods), or with YAML.

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On Game Balance:

Weapons have been balanced to generally have lower heat; higher DPS (damage-per-second); and have higher precision than in vanilla MechWarrior 5; all while ensuring that the weapons do not perform beyond their intended purpose, nor overly powerfully. Original weapons have been added and balanced in the same fashion, and have been made to fill-in distinct – and sometimes unique – combat roles, while intending to not be overbearing nor superfluous. This re-balancing has been done while not altering how the game is normally played (not going beyond the game’s intended combat design), which results in making engagements more satisfying, as well as reducing needless time-to-kill/uneventful combat (though not overly-aggressively so). (Keep in mind that CPU opponents possess the same weapon balance changes; making them more potent – but not overpowered – as well!)

Mistakes and bugs within the vanilla game have also been fixed in this mod. There are many of them, and some of them can be quite problematic; affecting both gameplay and visuals significantly.

Lastly, Projectile-Based Machine Guns (MGs) have been included for those that wish to use projectile-based variants of MGs for a different and more engaging experience with said weapons. (A more powerful computer may be required.)

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On Visual Enhancements:

This mod has light-to-moderate visual effects enhancements. Care has been taken to make them conform closely to how the vanilla game appears, while evening-out and enhancing their effects for minimal-to-no performance impact. Some visual enhancements are intended to act as a “next-gen”/current-gen upgrade; keeping in line with current advancements in computer hardware compared to when the game was first released (in 2019).

Various custom VFX have been created for “Expanded” weapons; including those that have appeared in MechWarrior Online/BattleTech. Some of these are highly extensive, which results in some more-impressive-looking visuals for the game’s visual design (without intending to be overbearing).

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Conclusion/In Closing:

This mod has (obviously) been an *incredible* amount of work; taking OVER A THOUSAND HOURS to do, and multiple revisions – all done by me. I have learned various aspects of Unreal Engine; made many visual effects that didn’t exist in the vanilla game; and have spent hours upon hours fixing and theory-crafting the balance of weapons to make them as good as possible. (This does not include all of the time taken to make detailed descriptions and data available for public consumption.)

It brings me great pleasure to be able to share this mod with those that appreciate it, and I hope that you can get a lot of enjoyment out of this mod, should you choose to use it.

Take care! :)

- Masters

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Weapon Data:

Data can be found for each section of the mod/weapon type (Autocannons, Energy Weapons, and et cetera) at the hyperlinks to their respective Google Sheets spreadsheets, provided below:

Autocannons (+MGs): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AYYMCUON5Ac-qn4dNwpy4aIq_4nBAERtDNQWtUs68jk/edit?usp=sharing
Energy Weapons: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oS5JymNIb5NEV9PLgCUS-fczoWsdO-5OFBRBIFQE9xk/edit?usp=sharing
Missiles: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n1lY7RnbRMtXEWeUtRtZvZUCHVllb6d_cxDKUtc_WuA/edit?usp=sharing
Projectile-Based Machine Guns:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kwQsuPqLVptTRGfXqyEB_WzQK964OLieyIvG9Od4tDw/edit?usp=sharing
Rifles: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15wnfo6qGpX4vGBimZySxsWf4rYRTfi45bUrQtx5YkEg/edit?usp=sharing

These documents are critical in understanding the metrics of a given weapon. They contain all critical data, as well as relevant ancillary data. They have a large wealth of data within them for each weapon, and they are the basis for how all balancing and extraneous considerations are made. They are the soul of this mod.

Note that all Melee Weapons have also been included, with their adjustments being the simple change of making their cooldowns half as long as vanilla.

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Weapon Overviews/Information:

Overviews and information can be found for each section of the mod/weapon type at the hyperlinks to their respective Google Docs information sheets, provided below:

Autocannons (+MGs): https://docs.google.com/document/d/17UAerxRFQZBZk3NeznhR3g6Wx_v03_DiY0VRjWflpA8/edit?usp=sharing
Energy Weapons: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w-RsqUDRPJq0G6VLgdyF8NzcY91ym2Vt5b1rRuAh69U/edit?usp=sharing
Missiles: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wUMklPwebytLGSizE4A0bDTIlemlXUUQhvZi0A7ZgkI/edit?usp=sharing
Projectile-Based Machine Guns: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1doqxtk8q3rS_T7l8VEuuPSotJWf0_X-V8nR8clW8hSA/edit?usp=sharing
Rifles: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18tTaajZoG22noCZfbSZdrUQL327tvWwfd0WLBuHIGWU/edit?usp=sharing

These documents contain detailed information on the behaviour of a given weapon; a weapon system's use-case; and the concept behind individual weapon families. They can be a great asset for those that want to learn more about a weapon's intended usage, as well as how it functions – beyond simply a weapon's data/metrics.

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I have made many other mods for MW5! See my Workshop files for more. :)

I also now have a Ko-fi! Contribute here if you’d like to: https://ko-fi.com/altamasters1011 :)