34 replies to this topic

[Shalune]

Elizander, on 09 May 2015 - 04:33 PM, said:

Unless you are the artemis/tag type that can fire in the open, they are too situational.

LRMs are always too situational. They are objectively bad, and worse than most alternatives.

Here's the thing: in public matches that doesn't matter.

In public matches you get a mix of less than ideal player skill, mech builds, lack of communication and coordination mean that playing well in a mech optimized for any role can be effective. By "optimized" I don't mean 'competitive' or 'meta.' I mean you fine tune your mech towards a single purpose.

I love LRM mechs. And I know I'm not the only person that's carried games in them. Learn the ins and outs and you can do as well as most other mechs. The only thing that will be lacking is the consistency of competitive builds.

[loopala]

lrmishing mechs is were i find my lrm mechs or an assault with single lrm10 or 15. lrms are much more then sitting back and getting locks.

in this vid i got luckly in a pug match and was teamed up with 3 good players. 2 rvns and a jager.

[TLX]

loopala, on 10 May 2015 - 07:37 PM, said:

lrmishing mechs is were i find my lrm mechs or an assault with single lrm10 or 15. lrms are much more then sitting back and getting locks.

in this vid i got luckly in a pug match and was teamed up with 3 good players. 2 rvns and a jager.

Good to know that there are good Catapult comrades

[TLX]

Shalune, on 10 May 2015 - 06:01 PM, said:

I love LRM mechs. And I know I'm not the only person that's carried games in them. Learn the ins and outs and you can do as well as most other mechs. The only thing that will be lacking is the consistency of competitive builds.

I like LRM mechs toó,since in my laptop some of the FPS starting to fall.

Edited by TLX, 10 May 2015 - 08:00 PM.

[mailin]

I think the difference between a lrm boat and a lrm-based mech is that the boat has only lrms. Depending on a single weapon, unless you're a light, is always a bad idea, add to this the minimum range requirement and reliance on ammo, and it's all kinds of bad.

However, a lrm-heavy mech with backup weapons in the right hands can be an absolute game changer. Let the nay sayers say nay all they want. Are they a new player weapon? Maybe. Not if the player doesn't remember to press R to get his locks. Then they're just wasted tonnage and wasted heat. There are a lot of people here who say that using lrms teaches you bad habits. While this may initially be true if you want to get better at using them, you will learn good habits. Things like fire control, sticking with your team, prioritizing your targets, locking targets, the list goes on and on.

And let's face it, getting better with your weapons is what contributes to the fun factor of this game.

[TLX]

mailin, on 12 May 2015 - 12:33 AM, said:

I think the difference between a lrm boat and a lrm-based mech is that the boat has only lrms. Depending on a single weapon, unless you're a light, is always a bad idea, add to this the minimum range requirement and reliance on ammo, and it's all kinds of bad.

However, a lrm-heavy mech with backup weapons in the right hands can be an absolute game changer. Let the nay sayers say nay all they want. Are they a new player weapon? Maybe. Not if the player doesn't remember to press R to get his locks. Then they're just wasted tonnage and wasted heat. There are a lot of people here who say that using lrms teaches you bad habits. While this may initially be true if you want to get better at using them, you will learn good habits. Things like fire control, sticking with your team, prioritizing your targets, locking targets, the list goes on and on.

And let's face it, getting better with your weapons is what contributes to the fun factor of this game.

Oops,i thought lrm boat mech was bad speaked,i mean something about sea ship. This is the cause i edited the op post. Ahhh my bad english...

Edited by TLX, 12 May 2015 - 03:49 AM.

[purplewasabi]

I use the BLR-1S with 3 medium lasers as backup. Its the only mech I have that use LRMs and I like it. I prefer to engage between 300-500m with TAG as it keeps the game fast paced. I can also use my medium lasers. I use a XL335 engine, bit low on ammo but it allows me to re-position quickly.

My daily is the Atlas, and I welcome the support of LRM based mechs when I brawl. I like fighting in the shade

Edited by purplewasabi, 12 May 2015 - 04:00 AM.

[Sahrang]

lrm's are for cowards

[TLX]

Sahrang, on 20 May 2015 - 02:29 AM, said:

lrm's are for cowards

Someone was killed by lrms and start raging

[Hit the Deck]

LRMs mechs are great team supporters. I guess the majority already know what LRMs can and suppose to do in MWO so I don't need to touch that again. BTW, several LRM mechs are outright dangerous (deadly) though, like the HBK-4J.

As a team support player, it's important that one should avoid taking damage and getting killed while at the same time be able to deliver constant damage and support fire.

[TVMA Doc]

Rogue Jedi, on 10 May 2015 - 12:04 AM, said:

my opinion is that LRMs have there place,

if you pull the correct map and have a spotter, or are able to get your own locks with your own TAG and mount Artemus they can be very effective, but in the same way that a single brawler on a team of long range Mechs will be useless for much of the match there will be times where you cannot get locks so end up doing little or no damage.

if the enemy know how to avoid LRMs and if a map has a lot of cover you are unlikely to do much damage, however you can still be of use to the team by suppressing the enemy, nothing convinces an enemy to hide behind cover like getting an incoming missiles warning every time they poke there head out.

maps where LRMs are harder to use successfully include River City, Terra Therma and Crimson Strait due to the abundance of high structures to hide behind.

the best maps for LRMs are Caustic vally, Alpine Peaks and Forrest Colony due to large open spaces.

I agree with most of the opinions posted here. LRMs have their role, but are very limited-not unlike most other weapons. If you can't get a lock, you won't get as many hits as dumbfiring only works if you're great at leading and the target doesn't change direction, etc. Then again, you can't hit with AC fire/energy weapons if the target it behind obstruction...

Aside from those times when you run into a ton of coordinated missile boats with spotters, LRMs often work as more of a psychological weapon.. They are great for herding enemy mechs/splitting the force-or at least the attention. It works best against newer players who don't realize how little damage a few isolated LRM vollies actually cause, but there's nothing like turning a two lance rush into a trio of mechs advancing when the "incoming missile" warnings appear. Think crowd control.

[Chuck Jager]

Like an electrical outlet, if a mech has an open slot it "may" not be a good idea to stick lrms in it if you do not know what you are doing

Good rules of thumb for LRMs

• More than 2 per team is detrimental if both teams are evenly matched.
  
• They are still useable with mass ECM, but at this time it may be better to ditch multiple 5s for a few 10-15s with artemis because you may be required to get your own own locks and TTK is short and less face time equals a longer life
  
• Target retention module is very necessary even at 6mil, because 1 lock is almost always 1 salvo on target. This module is probably the highest damage output contributing add-on available. You may be surprised at how well seismic sensor helps too, because many lights will see you as an easy potential target and you do not want to turn the corner and find a surprise foe inside your damage radius.
  
• LRM mechs need to be close enough to the front (225-450m approx) to get their fire on target while the front line is taking damage. They also need to present a body in front of the enemy to help spread the damage and take advantage of artemis. So learning your mechs movement strengths and weaknesses is really important
  
• The spread of clan lrms seems to have better hit reg because the servers do not have to try and register all damage at once. This benefit seems to outweighs the AMS susceptibility that was implemented as a balance measure for their lower weight
  
• Because of the low weight, clan mechs may find they potentially work better as secondary weapons. A mixed loadout pilot may trap themselves from doing well with either because the targeting, positioning and firing skills are very different than direct fire weapons.
  
  
  Note: I have seen some very skilled pilots use the worse "non-meta" mixed load out builds very effectively in higher ELO group Q. This takes "a ton" more skill and experience to be done consistently.

Very important!

The extra 30% in game damage may not reflect an added contribution to the match or individual skill. Same can be true for other types of farming, but human nature and path of least resistance seems to apply more to LRMs.
With the amount of ECM if somebody wants to farm with LRMs and little effort they may be less useful than a stock IS light mech with a std engine (ok maybe equal to some urbies)

and in the end,
For the love of all that is good, lrms are worse than the proverbial "t*t* on a bull" when put on an Atlas, Dwolf, Crab, Hellbringer, Timber Wolf, Thunderbolt or the "good" Stalkers compared to what those mechs can really do. Yes you may still get good results, but many a pro athlete could have become an excellent accountant or nurse too (not ditching on good accountants or nurses).

Edited by Chuck YeaGurr, 22 May 2015 - 01:22 PM.

[Johny Rocket]

Go 55t and mix lrm5s-lrm10s with ERLL or LPL. There is no reason to run a defensive weapon when you can run an evenly matched 2nd group that allows you to switch roles when lrms aren't working.

Excellent support sniper build. No ammo in the legs because all the leg shooting snipers. Point is use the 97.2 kph to not get hit much. This build has the 2x Elite Bonus. Lrm and ER T5 cooldown module, advanced zoom,
Excellent harasser.

Edited by Tractor Joe, 24 May 2015 - 04:53 AM.

[Tim East]

I like them. They tend to be easy meat on the enemy team for the most part, and when they're on my team they can throw distraction at whomever I happen to be killing at any given moment. The only time they make me sad is when ours get smote by hunter-killers, which if I'm doing what I'm supposed to be should not happen very often.

[Hayashi]

Since the thread hasn't died yet I should probably add something.

Suppressive fire and whatnot is a different ballgame, but if you're trying to deal damage you should not be 500m away from target. LRMs have two optimal ranges depending on terrain - 220m-250m as bracket 1, and 320-350m as bracket 2. The closer bracket is unavoidable, the further one can be but has a higher fire arc once you pass the magical 300m threshold. Use 320 if an obstacle is in between and 220 if you are in open field. As far as possible try to be in the open.

The thing about LRM boats that hide is that LRM boats are normally heavies or assaults as anything lighter can't carry enough to really be worth it. Heavies/assaults have heavy/assault class armor. If you don't ever show your face, other mechs will take the beating on your behalf, die, and then 12 40% enemy mechs will come for you.

The exception to this rule is firing under low ceilings, like Crimson Strait tunnel and HPG Manifold basement. There, only 180m-199m will hit, everything else will hit the ceiling. Ideally you don't want to fight there, but if your team is moving there, join them and fire under range constraints. It'll be far better than standing outside the entrance screaming 'I'm an LRM Boat'.

Edited by Hayashi, 28 May 2015 - 08:29 PM.