Is chainfiring SRMs, in your opinion, a viable tactic? I don't mean just when you're trying to avoid ghost heat, but when you can fire them all simultaneously without activating ghost heat as well? I guess the same could apply to SSRMs as well.
I've been trying it on one of my heavier mechs, and it seems to be a good method of keeping heat in check, as well as applying pressure on the enemy when I can't get a clean shot to their CT. I still keep a weapon group where I can fire all of my SRMs at once, in case there's an exposed component or its a light or medium that made the mistake of standing still, and I don't chainfire SRMs on my faster hit-and-run mechs, but its been helping me perform with SRMs in prolonged engagements.
I haven't tried it on Streaks, but if Koniving's Flamer/Streak Stalker is anything to go by, its keeps the pressure constantly on the opponent.
Truth be told I find that the hit detection is a LOT better when they are chainfired.
Not to mention you get more spread when you fire more missiles at once than when you fire one at a time.
There's also the rattle and screenshake which disorients the enemy and then thinking about it....why would you not chainfire them other than a quick 'hit and run'?
(or than...? o.o; Sometimes when I re-read a post I wonder if "I can even English.")
Truth be told I find that the hit detection is a LOT better when they are chainfired.
Not to mention you get more spread when you fire more missiles at once than when you fire one at a time.
There's also the rattle and screenshake which disorients the enemy and then thinking about it....why would you not chainfire them or than a quick 'hit and run'?
Kon,
Always a pleasure to read your thoughts re these types of questions. I have a question for you on a similar vein and was thinking of shooting you a PM, but then this post came up and it's kinda related yada yada yada....
So. I'm currently running a TBR build rocking out with twin LBX10's and seem to find I do much better (damage and crits) with them on chain-fire rather than grouped up. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the chance roll for extra crit/damage being combined if I fire them as a pair or maybe it's just average hit detection...
Thoughts?
Toffs
( '-')7
Edit: Happy to post a smurfy-link if you want a look at it, but it's nothing flash.
Truth be told I think we're running into another hit detection issue. I honestly fire my LBXs at the same time just because I never thought about the issue that might come with them. For example the rattle and the ability to fire after I already fired were the only reasons I would chain fire SRMs and back then I had a "fire all" trigger and a "chain fire" trigger. I would switch between depending on my situation. I know I noticed SRMs didn't seem to do as well fired all at once but I didn't go almost pure chainfire until PGI stepped up and said "Our build of the Cry Engine can only handle X explosions at any frame and so any additional explosions are queued in the next and then the next."
From there with further testing, it held true so I went almost pure chainfire.
But now that I think about it, these LBX-20s should be a lot more dangerous than they really are. (2 SRM-6s work reasonably fire. 3 SRM-6s seem to not be as effective).
However if the game had trouble with 20 projectiles at once (two LBX-10s) then the LBX 20 might have been designed differently. Still, there are other factors like ping which also coming into play. If your ping is higher than100, don't lead to hit the enemy. Lead to hit where the enemy will be when you fire + half a second more. In other words lead to hit the air in front of the enemy. You'd be surprised how many hits you'd get, even with IS AC/20s.
Truth be told I think we're running into another hit detection issue. I honestly fire my LBXs at the same time just because I never thought about the issue that might come with them. For example the rattle and the ability to fire after I already fired were the only reasons I would chain fire SRMs and back then I had a "fire all" trigger and a "chain fire" trigger. I would switch between depending on my situation. I know I noticed SRMs didn't seem to do as well fired all at once but I didn't go almost pure chainfire until PGI stepped up and said "Our build of the Cry Engine can only handle X explosions at any frame and so any additional explosions are queued in the next and then the next."
From there with further testing, it held true so I went almost pure chainfire.
But now that I think about it, these LBX-20s should be a lot more dangerous than they really are. (2 SRM-6s work reasonably fire. 3 SRM-6s seem to not be as effective).
However if the game had trouble with 20 projectiles at once (two LBX-10s) then the LBX 20 might have been designed differently. Still, there are other factors like ping which also coming into play. If your ping is higher than100, don't lead to hit the enemy. Lead to hit where the enemy will be when you fire + half a second more. In other words lead to hit the air in front of the enemy. You'd be surprised how many hits you'd get, even with IS AC/20s.
Nice! I have spent many hours and have hundreds-of-thousands of XP for my AC20 BJ. As an Aussie (and having to share my bandwidth with my wife who also plays MW:O) pings are usually around the low 200s. Not too bad for our geographical location and with both of us playing at the same time (as well as me streaming the MechWarrior 2 soundtrack on YouTube.. )
I have found that he majority of my shots land, but I'm just getting better scores on chain fire. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that when I miss (rare I know, but it does happen ) I miss with both LBX's (if grouped) and have to wait for the associated 'cool-down', rather than a quick adjust and follow-up shot with the second if I'm running on chain-fire.
Again. Love your work Kon, see you out there in the stars.
Truth be told I think we're running into another hit detection issue. I honestly fire my LBXs at the same time just because I never thought about the issue that might come with them. For example the rattle and the ability to fire after I already fired were the only reasons I would chain fire SRMs and back then I had a "fire all" trigger and a "chain fire" trigger. I would switch between depending on my situation. I know I noticed SRMs didn't seem to do as well fired all at once but I didn't go almost pure chainfire until PGI stepped up and said "Our build of the Cry Engine can only handle X explosions at any frame and so any additional explosions are queued in the next and then the next."
Cool build I'd like to try it sometime. Your frame rate is really low you might want to lower some settings until you hit a min of 30fps during the biggest of fights.
I persnally prefer chainfiring larger launchers due to the mentioned hitreg issues, but also to conserve ammo. If you have a pair od 2s, you'll often want to alpha them to minimize the risk of your full volley being eaten by AMS systems. Pairs of 4 still work very well in alpha in terms of hitreg, but it is more ammo consuming. Pairs of 6s tend to get very flakey with hitreg in alphas, but how much of that is the actual case, no one truely knows. They also have a slighly narrower spread when used in chainfire then when fired together, so you get a bit more focused damage into certain components.
Hitting with both is still fairly easy in chainfire. The close proximity and fast travel speed make leading into a target and correcting for the second volley easy. It is also much more forgiving on a misfire, as only half of your missiles are lost.
Another thing to consider is that the percieved downtime, where your SRMs are still on cooldown, feels slightly shorter due to the staggered fire, which also percieved by the target as more screenshake with less pause between the impacts.
Cool build I'd like to try it sometime. Your frame rate is really low you might want to lower some settings until you hit a min of 30fps during the biggest of fights.
Thanks.
I usually run 30 frames at all times while recording. However it is fraps, and every now and then fraps needs to finalize one file and start the next (usually every 3.8 gigabytes or every 3 to 4 minutes), it's around those times that it bogs down a little bit. Used to have two video cards so one would record while the other did the game, but the fan on it died and I took it out.
LocationMetaphorical Island somewhere in the Pacific
Posted 28 August 2014 - 07:59 AM
Against a good player its borderline pointless. They will still return fire while you are simply spreading damage out even more than necessary. You are also preventing yourself from shielding. I always fire as much as I can at once so I can turn my mech away to shield damage parts. If I am chaining I have to stare at a target and it gets more time to line up shots on damaged parts.
My SRM kit fox has two fire groups: chain fire and ALL THE MISSLES. On approach, alpha into their back, then circle and chain fire, which keeps them from targeting you effectively. When you're on their back, hit alpha again and send a couple extra missles there.
I've have had a couple 700 damage+ games with this, but I still think the kit fox is too slow to do this build proper justice.
Nay if you have a limited supply of SRMs and pilot a light mech. Spreading damage with a light mech is a bad idea. Chain fire is quite viable though with a bigger mech, both as supressive fire and managing cooling. The shaking screen and smoke is a bonus. Much like chaining balistics.
In my 3L and other mechs that use streaks I always chain fire by default. If I have the mouse button available I will sometimes set up a separate group for alpha strike, but I typically reserve that for the enemy's back.
I love the psych warfare aspect of chain firing missiles.
Is chainfiring SRMs, in your opinion, a viable tactic? I don't mean just when you're trying to avoid ghost heat, but when you can fire them all simultaneously without activating ghost heat as well? I guess the same could apply to SSRMs as well.
I've been trying it on one of my heavier mechs, and it seems to be a good method of keeping heat in check, as well as applying pressure on the enemy when I can't get a clean shot to their CT. I still keep a weapon group where I can fire all of my SRMs at once, in case there's an exposed component or its a light or medium that made the mistake of standing still, and I don't chainfire SRMs on my faster hit-and-run mechs, but its been helping me perform with SRMs in prolonged engagements.
I haven't tried it on Streaks, but if Koniving's Flamer/Streak Stalker is anything to go by, its keeps the pressure constantly on the opponent.
I don't believe in chain firing anything since it goes against the FPS philosophy of exposing the least amount of hittable "character" and getting your shot off as fast as possible and turning away from the enemy.
In this case, I can only see it valid for when your about to overheat and need 1-2 more hits into the enemy and need to kill him, even then, it may be better to shield with opposite side (assuming that side is a shield and still functional) and wait for cool down/alpha
Tried this.. and really liking it! thanks for the tip Knoving! It is also very easy to double tap the group, so it is basically alpha style when you want it.. Finding it is really tightening up the spread for good results.
You are running out of heat capacity
You are fighting a light and are unsure of your aim
You are having hit detection issues while alphaing
You are chasing one guy who is not doing damage back and you do not have to fight other people at the same time
You want to constantly pressure the guy psychologically for some reason.
In all other scenarios you should alpha-torso twist-and get back to cover.
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) I miss with both LBX's (if grouped) and have to wait for the associated 'cool-down', rather than a quick adjust and follow-up shot with the second if I'm running on chain-fire.
