I’m SP dropping for the first time today and it works well. I’m not sure how to feel about it entirely, but it seems like an exploit that the developers have decided to do nothing about. I don’t think I should feel bad about trying to win rewards in a somewhat dishonest way because the fault really lies within the game itself. Im actually of the opinion that it’s foolish to play the tournaments without SP dropping at the moment. I’m sort of at a disadvantage anyway because I’m relying on a maxed out Tengu with Revoker to dominate and gain rewards and it’s fairly easy to be taken out by early game p2w players. Lots of Seekers, Eclipse and Surge with Revokers on players with 2-5000 sp. That’s the other thing… I’m using about 2200 SP and I’ve been matched up to players with about 5,500 which is quite the disadvantage for me.
Seems like a controversial topic that has been an issue for years now. Any thoughts?
Hi @sweet-pea.... It's terrible I think with everything that they doing now is to destroy the game... I mean every time that you playing and you loose it's fucked up.... Even in the new mode. I did everything I could to have the best weapons and mechs in the new mode, sometimes I can't get even close in the middle to earn the goodies. It's no fun anymore.... 😭 And after 5 tickets you have to pay a-coins so that you can't spare your coins and that you have to buy new ones....
@zilverdolk It’s strange how the showdown game mode has changed for me more recently. I’m not sure if it’s like this for anyone else, but up until yesterday gaining the rewards has been painfully easy for me. Out of nowhere the matchmaking became very difficult, I couldn’t even get to the premium mod parts I became accustomed to obtaining. I’m not sure what changed so abruptly, but I have to agree with you that the matchmaking is designed for p2w players to become even stronger, which makes a lot of sense based on how these games usually operate. Now all of the dominate players will become more dominate once they max out all of their mods and the players that lag behind will become motivated to buy meta to compete. It seems like they were ironing out the kinks for the last week or so and now it’s working the way it was suppose to.
hi @sweet-pea, Yeah I know what you mean. I believe one of the issue is the in-game match making. There are times I get literally one shotted by, as you mentioned Seekers, Eclipse and Surge with decked out Revokers. (is there a good counter to Revoker?)
So everyone is aware, SP dropping is a tactic where players intentionally lower their "Squad Power" (SP) to gain an advantage in matchmaking, particularly in tournaments. This involves strategically using weaker mechs or weapons in their hangar to face opponents with lower SP.
I do have a preset with lower SP for tournaments. My intention is to meet people and bots at similar level. Because if I go full force, I'm at the lower end of the high tier, and I just become target practice.
I hope the dev team addresses the Match Making, or even create a scale approach where it helps balances the match. @whisper, @t_t , @tak , @666-striker , @zilverdolk what do you guys think?
@varz I’ve been slowly figuring it out and I’m starting to see the benefit to doing something similar to what you’re doing. Lowering the SP without dropping too far, just making it more realistic to play at a level that I’m comfortable with. I can max out my builds and it makes it very challenging for me. If I just drop it to about half, maybe I can have the best of both worlds. Remain somewhat competitive while balancing the game play to a more realistic level of matchmaking for my hangar and my ability.
@varz Well, as someone who has not low but not particularly high SP, it becomes difficult to compete sometimes in tournaments. So I tend to avoid 5v5T. I think it is a bit more even in FFA..
I agree that this is something developers need to address... The tournament matchmaking is terrible, and if you win a few games, it becomes significantly more difficult to compete...
For Revokers, I'm not sure of a counter. I would imagine a mech that stuns enemies would be a good counter; however, you better make sure you can finish them before they unleash their magnetic destruction😱
@varz I've never sp dropped, so I wouldn't know for sure. I frequently play against opponents with nearly double my hanger power (11k-13k opponents to my 6.5k-7.5k hangers), and I've kinda gotten used to it lol. But then again, I'm not f2p, so I've got Surge, Eclipse, and Lacewing.
To my knowledge, matchmaking is based on two things; sp and win streak. The more you win in a row (and higher overall win rate), the harder opponents. Same with sp; obviously higher is harder opponents. I can't think of a great way to get rid of sp dropping as a mechanic unless they implement some feature where your highest power mech can't be more than 50% above your lowest or something... idk.
Revoker really have no counter other than more revokers or storm racks I think. Surge, Eclipse, Hemlock, Zephyr, and Deathwalker are the only really "revoker counters" I can think of, and maybe Lacewing (since you can't get hit) or Nomad (60% damage reduction after dashing).
@whisper Some helpful information here, thank you. I think you’re right in saying that Storm Rack is probably the most viable counter to Revoker.
I’d like to add that it’s not advisable to use Guardian System Crash to counter anything with Revoker because it actually speeds up the rate of fire temporarily. Definitely the last thing you want if you’re in a Guardian that’s for sure.
@sweet-pea and @whisper it would be cool if there is a weapon that can snare or freeze them in motion. One of the way to get around Revoker to keep distance.
@varz Weapons really need some more variety than just dealing damage. How about one that it's last shot is a small healing shot (like Salvor but way less healing)? What about one that can shoot through walls at close ranges (15m or less)? Maybe one that speeds up allies? I'd love some variety.
@whisper I love coming up with creative ideas like this and I wish they would take input from players and make it a reality.
This is all new to me lol. Thank you ALL for the insight on sp dropping. It's always mentioned on world chat and I was completely clueless what it was nor have I ever asked but it's good to know. I don't think I've ever done that but now that I can see the picture I understand it better from the begining of the 1st match down to the next few where I get absolutely railed. I'm guessing the dev team would probably dive into this issue if a good amount of players requested something to be done about this. Maybe we can put in tickets and address our concerns. Quick question. I probably should stop upgrading just to keep it balanced like Sweet Pea mentioned so maybe would it be a better to have like a couple strong mechs and the rest pretty decent?
Revokers! Again I started playing in Jan but in my opinion those are some nasty weapons if used right with eclipse, surge, nomad and probably a few others. I agree with Tak on slowing them down and smoking them before the effect wears off.
@t_t It’s sad that this known exploit has been brought to the attention of the developers for over 3 years now and they refuse to address the issue.
I think you have the idea when it comes to so dropping. A few strong mechs and 3 disposables to lower the sp.
@sweet-pea Dang! More than 3yrs and dev team has done nothing! That's wild. I wonder why they're not addressing this. So a couple of strong mechs and the rest are weaker. I guess I've somewhat sp dropped but that's always been my hanger. What are your thoughts on p2w? Just wondering. Anyone can chime in on this.
@t_t As far as I know… SP dropping is only good for tournament because the matchmaking is based on SP. CPC and 5v5 matchmaking is based on your inventory power. I’m not sure about showdown.
I think p2w is a totally fine and acceptable way to play the game. The developers have to get paid and I’m sure they do work hard to maintain and innovate. Does it reflect on the skill level of the player? Sometimes, sometimes players rely heavily on meta to make themselves relevant. I think it reflects well on f2p players when they do play decently… players take notice because they know it takes more skill, just no way around it.
It makes it very frustrating for those who elect to play for free, but that just comes with the territory. It does feel like I’m playing with a butter knife in some matches, it becomes very defeating. I’ve come to the conclusion, like so many things in life, everything is relative. If you push hard and buy all the latest items then they will provide you with the competition that matches. Playing for free is more gratifying for me and the game is about the journey not the destination.
Someday I’ll acquire top tier meta, if I continue to play and develop better discipline to save acorns. Until then, I’ll just have good games and bad games, learn to accept getting owned by whales and p2w.