short and sweet, mechs are more powerful than their dp suggests due to frequency
perm 132 (Optic) VS 800kgs
typhoon l = 2618
2543
2409
2598
2461
2761
2835
2642
3005
2561
2366
mech = 3672
3574
3565
3654
4009
3720
3617
3676
3980
3668
3259
mech (0 frequency) = 1942
2089
2173
2061
1927
1696
1887
1794
1889
2133
1777
typhoon with mech stats 0 freq
2423
2401
2586
2529
2624
2632
2354
2618
2500
2407
burst
typhoon l = 905
931
906
865
905
919
mech = 1559
1376
1552
1585
1537
1746
mech (0 frequency) = 802
810
806
744
827
824
large typhoon
mech
mech 0 freq
large typhoon
mech
mech 0 freq
perm 132:typhoon l = 2618
mech = 3672
mech (0 frequency) = 1942
typhoon with mech stats (0 freq) = 2507
burst:typhoon l = 905
mech = 1559
mech (0 frequency) = 802
for reference, a mech disk has 685dp (2.06p/2.74c) and a frequency of 2. large typhoons have 700 (1.75p/3.5c) as everyone probably all knows
weapon to weapon, a large mech is usually fairly even with 2 large typhoons, but it will lose to 4 small typhoons and even 4 large beaters with the patch (overfloat + fracture hits). 4 large vs 2 mechs follows the same pattern. this is all assuming your disk doesn't fall off before your teeth (btw the entire outside edge of the mech does damage)
tldr: mechs deal more damage than their dp value suggests
frequency seems to work as a damage multiplier. mechs have a frequency value of 2, and while not close, the difference is very close to a x2 in testing. also note that return damage scored by the target bot's chassis nearly doubled
idk how true the whole 'contact damage thing is, but that really doesn't matter for this test. i suspect there is some validity to it, but it does it in a way that outright multiplies damage. i guess the hypothesis for this would be that the mech is dealing damage twice before the game can output the points pop-up
regardless, dp once again proves itself to being a poor indicator for actual effectiveness. frequency isn't taken into account for DP, and mechs aren't the only weapon with it (imagine if minions had a decent mesh). i suspect that dual minivores will be the best weapon choice in ow4, but that requires further testing
as for tournament limits, i would say a single mech disk is fair for the standard 4 large/6 small meta. dual mechs probably shouldn't be allowed, but a single mech is somewhere in between the overall power gap of 4 large typhoon and 4 smalls depending on the bot type
also also I'm willing to bet that a decent majority of the community unknowingly has the AS balance patch installed, thus rendering all of this non-relevant. ez way to know is to check the description of the default large typhoon.