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Advanced Lrm Use And Function

LRM tutorial

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#1 Gevurah

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 10:37 AM

The purpose of LRMs are widely debated. There's a great post over at raks armory about his disdain for players who ask for locks on LRMs. A significant amount of players also dislike LRMs as a low skill weapon.

http://raksarmory.bl...-lrm-boats.html

What are LRMs? You should probably know this but they are a direct or indirect fire long range missile system allowing fire at extreme distances. LRM volleys do 1 damage per missile. They come in 5/10/15/20 volley launchers. Volleys can be dictated by mech 'tube amount' - some mechs only have 6 tubes so a LRM20 salvo will be broken into 4 separate launches. They can be fired without a lock, but function better when locking. Their ability to fire indirectly and lock on firing make them favored often by new players.

The reality is LRMs serve a need and can be difficult to use. They are an asymmetric weapon in that they allow trading where you can deal damage without taking any (ideally). This makes them overwhelmingly popular for new players and easy to control/use for new players. It reduces the skill curve for a lot of people.

That said, LRMs are not an end all be all weapons system. They function best as part of a coordinated lance-based or company-based effort.

There are two conditions where LRMs are very ineffective:
1) You're the lone LRM boat and you can't really do much with it. A few LRM 10 racks won't make the difference in most cases so you better either have a volume-fire capability (HBK-4J) or a lot of LRM10's (stalker w/ 4 of them). If you are the lone LRM boat with a moderate rate of fire/amount of LRMs outbound then you will simply be an annoyance, nothing more.

2) Too damn many LRM boats. Entire teams of LRM boats frequently lose because there's simply no solution for when the enemy closes the distance. Very few LRM boats bother with secondary weapons (medium lasers, usually) because they eschew them in favor of more ammo.

Optimal use of LRMs:

The prime condition in which LRMs are very effective are when you have 2-3 of them on an entire team and their volume all ranges from 'moderate' to 'high'. This puts a high number of LRMs in flight every time someone breaks cover without your team being forced to rely on just the LRMs.

LRMs have a few really great uses. The first of which, of course, is damage. You're never going to outdamage a direct fire weapons platform of symmetrical power in a straight shooting contest. However if you're dealing with gauss/ppc snipers, there's really nothing better than raining steel on their heads. While you will rarely score huge amounts of kills but will generally damage them or soften them up significantly before your team makes its push.

The second great use is suppression. No one likes hearing 'incoming missile' every time they stick their head around a corner to take a shot or go to move up. Properly positioned, you can ensure that the enemy is stuck in one place, effectively giving a huge boost to your team's ability to maneuver and flank.

The third great use is cockpit shake. An LRM5 boat(a boat is a mech carrying a lot of a single weapon type), such as the Kintaro-18, Catapult A1 or Trebuchet-LG can be a nightmare to deal with because of their higher than average maneuverability coupled with chain fired LRM5 spam which will shake your fillings loose. It makes direct fire targeting difficult at best and impossible at worst.

There are several in game items which help with LRM usage:
- The Target decay module (levels 1 and 2): This module is a must have for LRM usage. It allows you to continue to fire against targets who are out of line of sight by 2.75 and 3.5 seconds respectively.
- Artemis "upgrade": This upgrade can be pricey, requiring new launchers and ammo be purchased that also take up an additional critical slot per unit and weigh one ton more per launcher. That said, it tightens up groups by 30% and improves lock on speed. This makes it worthwhile because your damage will be more focused and you will get locks faster.
- Beagle Active Probe: This module, while not necessary, is useful equipment. It allows a few very important benefits. First, it will identify targets 25% faster for you. This allows you to pick and choose more damaged targets to spread your pain onto. Second, it will extend your sensor range by a whopping 25%. And lastly it will shut down an ECM mech's ECM when they are within range and targeted. This will restore your ability to fire upon your enemy.
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) consumables. These consumables are considered must haves by the competitive crowd and for good reason. A small vehicle will fly up and basically target every enemy within a radius of it as a sort of remote spotter. It works great when the enemy has a ton of ECM and you effectively can't get a lock.
- Narc beacons. Narc missiles are a special missile which when they hit an enemy, allow unrestricted targeting on that enemy for up to 45 seconds (depending on the mechs quirks). They cannot be destroyed for that time. It also speeds up lock time on that target.
- The TAG (target acquisition gear) laser. This is a direct fire laser that makes a perfect complement to most LRM boats. It speeds up lock time, tightens missile spread, and also allows you to disable ECM from a distance.


Counters to LRMs:
Getting under 180m. While Inner Sphere mechs do 0 damage under 180 meters, Clan mechs do increasingly reduced damage as well. So in both cases when fighting against an LRM boat you want to close the distance intelligently and force them to use their underpowered defensive secondary weapons. As an LRM boat your goal is to not get caught alone in such a way, so stay with your unit. Do not stay isolated in the back by yourself or you will die a sad, lonely death.

Radar Deprivation module - cuts their ability to target you as soon as you get out of LOS.
ECM - Prevents targeting within a 180m bubble, disrupts targeting for LRM boat if they are affected by said ECM.

Playing with LRMs:
LRMs require you target an enemy with the R (default targeting) key and fire missiles. Seems simple, right?
There's more to it than that. You need to keep your targeting ON that enemy - they are not fire and forget. They retain their own targeting so long as you are there actively maintaining a lock. If not, they will simply continue along whatever course they were on, usually into bare earth instead of your opponents.

Your goal, as an LRM platform is to play your role - indirect fire support. You *CAN* act in a direct fire mode as well. I generally find that the 400-600m range works best for LRMs. It minimizes 'escape time' for the enemy to crawl behind a rock and evade. Firing at 1000m is almost always a waste given the length of time the missiles are in flight.

Another enemy you are going to face are rapidly dwindling ammo supplies. I've seen guys shoot through 2500 rounds like it's going out of style only to end up with 300 damage for the whole match. That means they're basically pushing a 10% or less hit rate. With a higher hit rate, they could carry less ammo and perhaps better secondaries or heatsinks. I generally find 25%-35% hit rate is about right for LRMs. People aren't stupid - they will hear 'incoming missile' and hide. Your job is to land those missiles before they get a chance to.

Another place people shoot themselves in the foot is when they don't use a mech which is dedicated to LRMs. Specifically chassis with heavy LRM quirks such as the TBT-7M or HBK-4J. These chassis are simply put as purpose built to inflict a lot of pain with LRMs.

On secondaries: I recommend at least two medium lasers, preferably three. Realize if you're doing your job as an LRM boat you will do a good 300-1200 damage to the enemy team and have survived to the end of the match. At this point, a meager 3 medium lasers can be more than enough to finish battered dire wolves or king crabs. Bottom line here is REMAIN useful.

On that note: I remember one game where we were down 2-3 mechs and my wife had exhausted 1600 rounds of ammo on her Stalker. She didn't carry secondaries at that time and instead opted to simply run through the enemy's rear ranks to get their attention. As they all swung around to try to get her wildly weaving around their assaults we pushed an attack from the rear, crushing them handily. She even survived the match, interestingly enough.

So your real course here is:
Pick a mech built for LRM usage.
Position yourself close enough to allies to help and get within 400-600m of the enemy.
Target the enemy
Lock your target
Fire a volley (usually chain fired for maximum shake) often continuously or until you realize you're not hitting.
Hold your own lock until the cursor turns red. To ensure they're hitting. If they are not hitting, cease your fire.
Exhaust your ammo (intelligently) and then move in to engage with secondaries or act as a meat shield. Simply put - remain useful.

Remember - despite the bad rap the LRMs have as an 'easy' weapon - it's up to the user to know how to most effectively get those missiles from point A (your launcher) to point B (the enemy).

Edited by Gevurah, 05 May 2015 - 10:55 AM.


#2 Tahribator

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 11:07 AM

First of all, great post. There are some highly personal points I can dispute, but overall a great guide. Well written. I hope it gets some attention.

View PostGevurah, on 05 May 2015 - 10:37 AM, said:

The purpose of LRMs are widely debated. There's a great post over at raks armory about his disdain for players who ask for locks on LRMs. A significant amount of players also dislike LRMs as a low skill weapon.

http://raksarmory.bl...-lrm-boats.html


My problem is with those who take an LRM boat, fill it with LRMs and then expect their team to do the work of getting targets for them while they sit back, and blame them at the end of the round for their own failures. You should not be going into the fight with the expectation of full support from your team. Instead you should be expecting zero locks (unless dropping with friends) and pick your 'Mechs and builds according to that. I have no problems with LRMs or boaters who know what they're doing. Indirect fire has its place in this game as you pointed out.

Frankly, using LRMs don't teach you or require you to give much thought to combat fundamentals such as trading, peeking, hardpoint placement, targeted aiming and such. But that doesn't mean they can't be used skillfully. I've seen many aggressive and slippery LRM boats who made life a nightmare in matches. It definitely can be played skillfully, but those skills mostly come from the experience of direct weapons.

Edited by Tahribator, 05 May 2015 - 11:07 AM.


#3 Gevurah

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 12:06 PM

Agreed. Honestly everyone should pull their own weight. But that said, I can't dispute your article. You raised some excellent points and in most cases the way LRMs are handled it does seem to be a 'welfare weapon'. Like you do all the heavy lifting, I'll sit back and launch.

I in fact derided the use for quite some time. Simple fact though is I was a terrible LRM player. Until I started playing with my wife, who was new. She didn't just dislike the direct combat but rather also was quite good at launching LRMs. So we started using her strategies and setting up traps where she'd ping away with missiles and then I'd aggro the people trying to get her with my banshee. They'd either switch to me because I was the bigger threat and let her rain missiles as she retreated to 180+m or I'd kill them with impunity as they ignored me (the larger threat at close quarters).

I guess my purpose in this post was to help bring lower skill LRM players to a higher level and I'm glad to see you liked the post. :)

#4 Revorn

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 12:39 PM

Never ever forget to bring your own Tag to the Figth.

Maybe a hard lesson to learn, but you can never be sure, that your Team will get the Locks for ya. Ok maybe in an Premade, but even then. Never forget your own Tag. Imho.


Edit: Tag could be a Narc as well.^^

Edited by Revorn, 05 May 2015 - 12:40 PM.


#5 SnowFox

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 12:44 PM

A good narc'er who can shut down ECM reliably is worth his tonnage in gold to a lrm heavy team.

Ask the MRR :P

#6 Tesunie

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 12:50 PM

As an LRM user, I do prefer to get my own locks when possible. However, at the same time a team that can get and maintain locks (without sacrificing themselves to do so) is a great help. Actually, getting locks is a great help to more than just your LRM users but to the whole team. Information is power, and knowing where your opponents are is very useful information for everyone in your team to have.

#7 Qtvcfr

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 01:34 PM

This is a great post. Contrary to popular belief effective LRMing takes quite a bit of skill, it's just not the same type of skill that sniping/brawling requires. I would like to add a couple of points and reiterate some of the things that have already been mentioned.

1. Select Your Targets: This goes well beyond just pushing 'R'. The juiciest targets for a LRM boat are Heavy/Assault mechs. They have the biggest hitboxes and have the hardest time evading LRMS. Once you get a solid lock on one of these guys you can really get the most out of your missiles. Conversely don't wast missiles on Light mechs unless you've no other options. Not only can they get to cover quickly or break locks, they very often can flat out outrun LRMs. Even if you've got a clean LoS on a Light it's not uncommon for your missiles to land right behind them as they run away. Pick the big fat targets. Those are the ones that typically need the most softening up anyway.

2. Use Your Minimap: Even if you don't have direct LoS on your target the minimap will show you your teammate who does and give you a sense of possible cover your target might seek. If you get a target, but your teammate is well away from it, it's best to just save your missiles since the you'll likely lose the lock before your missiles hit. Look at what's going on in the battle and where both enemies and friendlies are positioned. If you see a friendly Assault/Heavy engaged in a brawl let em rip, that is a solid lock that will probably give you several full salvos of hits.

3. Learn the Maps: Tromping around the testing ground isn't exciting, but it can really help give you a sense of terrain and where enemies can hide.

4. Watch the Crosshairs: When the crosshairs turn Red, you're hitting. If you're pouring missiles into a target and the crosshairs remain yellow they've found cover and you should probably pick a new target.

5. Understand Your Equipment: BAP is awesome, it extends your sensor range, cancels ECM, and reduces the how long you have to wait between targeting an enemy and seeing what it is and how its armor is looking. But it DOES NOT speed up your missile locks. That is a very common misconception.

6. Watch for Friendly TAG/NARC: TAG is represented by a little set of crosshairs next to the target info, and NARC looks like a wifi connection. If you see either of these that means a teammate is trying to help you out. Take full advantage of the bonuses.

And just a few other things that have been mentioned, but need to be emphasized.
  • Buy Target decay asap.
  • Don't stop moving. You'll be left behind and picked apart.
  • Do your best to get your own locks. They tend to be much more reliable than teammates locks.
  • Always, always, always have secondary weapons. I've lost track of the number of pure LRM boats I've killed by just standing in front of them at 30 meters.
  • Bring your own TAG if at all possible. Not only is it great for landing your shots, it's also an excellent money maker. What's better than hitting the enemy? Getting bonus c-bills and xp for hitting the enemy.
Above and beyond anything else the key to really contributing with LRMs is Situational Awareness. Watch how both teams are moving and be aware of all possible targets. It's very easy to get tunnel vision when you've got a solid shot. It happens to even the best players from time to time regardless of loadout. But getting blindsided because you're so fixated on your current target is a very quick way to die.

Glhf all

#8 LMP

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Posted 16 May 2015 - 07:34 PM

If your are running and firing at the same time does it effect the missiles accuracy?

#9 Qtvcfr

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Posted 16 May 2015 - 11:47 PM

As long as you maintain a lock. No. Their speed might however. It is possible for a light to outrun LRMs. Which is why you shouldn't target them.

If you are using Streaks. The SRMs that lock. Then nothing will disrupt them. Not even broken LoS. Only terrain will stop those from hitting.

#10 VorpalAnvil

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Posted 17 May 2015 - 12:06 AM

How To Use LRM's:

Step 1: Join Davion
Step 2: Get your skill level to that of below average in the solo PUG que (180 dmg 2 assists 0 kills )
Step 3: When you get killed (pretty much 60 seconds into any match) always respond with a hearty "Clan OP!!! PGI PLS Nerf!!!" in Allchat
Step 4: ?
Step 5: Profit

#11 Mauadib

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Posted 17 May 2015 - 12:09 AM

Oh my god the parallels between this and any number of artillery threads on WoT's forums is amazing. The responses on both sides of the like/dislike are so similar it's uncanny.

#12 TLX

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Posted 17 May 2015 - 12:13 AM

Good post and helpful for my catapult A1.

Edited by TLX, 17 May 2015 - 12:14 AM.






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