55 replies to this topic

[Isolani]

I play my ARC-5W with 5 X LRM5 and 4 X SRM4 with an XL325. I have tried all SRMs and all LRMs, I just like the hybrid best, you always have something to shoot people with.

Not sure why you say the hybrid build is boring, SRM brawling in an ARC with an XL engine is kinda risky. I think most people use a smaller STD engine for that build, but I like the extra speed from the XL. My 5W stats aren't as good as El Bandito, but in my defense, I don't play any other dedicated LRM mechs so I am not particularly good with LRMs...still have managed a 1.73 K/D and 1.68 W/L with ARC-5W after 99 games though. Better than I do with a lot of mechs that are considered better.

LRMs work a lot of times in solo queue...no matter how bad tier 1's say they are. I'm sure they are bad in tier 1 competitive play, but that isn't solo queue. There have only been a couple matches where my LRMs were almost completely shutdown by the other random pug playing well together with ECM and/or AMS. And even if I do get completely shutdown, I just go brawl with SRMs instead...though I tend to not survive the match in that case.

[Appogee]

I was planning on going the splat route with that Mech.

[El Bandito]

Isolani, on 27 September 2016 - 11:45 PM, said:

I play my ARC-5W with 5 X LRM5 and 4 X SRM4 with an XL325. I have tried all SRMs and all LRMs, I just like the hybrid best, you always have something to shoot people with.

Not sure why you say the hybrid build is boring, SRM brawling in an ARC with an XL engine is kinda risky. I think most people use a smaller STD engine for that build, but I like the extra speed from the XL. My 5W stats aren't as good as El Bandito, but in my defense, I don't play any other dedicated LRM mechs so I am not particularly good with LRMs...still have managed a 1.73 K/D and 1.68 W/L with ARC-5W after 99 games though. Better than I do with a lot of mechs that are considered better.

Nice score with your 5W. When I said hybrid build is boring, I meant that most 5W players use hybrid builds due to its range flexibility, thus minimizing risk of getting shut down from unfavorable range. Going all LRMs or all SRMs means a lot more risk for the pilot.

Sjorpha, on 27 September 2016 - 10:47 PM, said:

Are you sure the accuracy stats are calculated per missile though?

Could be that it's by volley, so that if one missile from a lrm 20 salvo hits, then that's counted as a hit.

I did a calculation on my weapon stats page, and the missile count was undoubtedly from individual missiles, rather than volleys.

Appogee, on 27 September 2016 - 11:03 PM, said:

Remote-locked pure LRM5 spamming earns top spot on leaderboard... It's a sad day to realise this is what the game has become.

No offense to El Bandito. He is just playing the game the way it is made.

It is not easy to be consistent in winning the matches and getting such a high hit percentage with LRMs alone. Learning to call the drops and utilizing teamwork in solo-q matches so that LRMs will have enough impact takes skill on its own. Brainless lurming will not work that well.

Edited by El Bandito, 28 September 2016 - 02:14 AM.

[The6thMessenger]

Lol, 9 LRMs. You lucky... , I wish i have the same friends as you. xD

I'd go for a hybrid build though, but i guess that's all you need in puglandia.

[Isolani]

El Bandito, on 28 September 2016 - 01:48 AM, said:

Nice score with your 5W. When I said hybrid build is boring, I meant that most 5W players use hybrid builds due to its range flexibility, thus minimizing risk of getting shut down from unfavorable range. Going all LRMs or all SRMs means a lot more risk for the pilot.

Yeah, that is true. I have tried all SRM and all LRM with it, but I didn't like either one. Both require more teamwork than I generally find in solo queue, and I'm not on voice to try and coordinate anything.

Edit: Also, I am not convinced that the weapon stats page is correct about anything. I've played 100 games in my 5W, almost all of them with some LRM5's, and the weapon stats page says I have only played 27 matches with LRM5's with a 40% hit rate.

Most of the stats just look wrong to me.

Edited by Isolani, 28 September 2016 - 02:31 AM.

[El Bandito]

Isolani, on 28 September 2016 - 02:21 AM, said:

Yeah, that is true. I have tried all SRM and all LRM with it, but I didn't like either one. Both require more teamwork than I generally find in solo queue, and I'm not on voice to try and coordinate anything.

Edit: Also, I am not convinced that the weapon stats page is correct about anything. I've played 100 games in my 5W, almost all of them with some LRM5's, and the weapon stats page says I have only played 27 matches with LRM5's with a 40% hit rate.

Most of the stats just look wrong to me.

The "matches played" stats is very bugged. Weapon fired amount and hit % are pretty reliable. So you can still count on it on certain stats.

[Bishop Steiner]

Coralld, on 27 September 2016 - 02:11 PM, said:

Using my phone.

Yeah, it is safer and I guess boring to some. But I must admit, I get my jollies when an enemy thinks I'm a pure LRM build and moves in for what they think is an easy kill, then I vomit rockets all over their face and proceed to squeal with joy as they try to escape.

personally I find sticking 16 SRMs into a Light mechs grill that THINKS it's coming after a LRMboat the opposite of boring. Locust disintegration FTW!! And since I'm usually chaining, I'm really only at a loss compared to 8 LRM5 when I want to groupfire.

I'm just hoping the PTS changes on LRMs go live, because that will bring my archers back out fast.

[Jackal Noble]

See, I just wish I could explode in a porcupine of missiles when I die with an exorbitant amount missiles like I usually have on me when I'm killed

Edited by JackalBeast, 28 September 2016 - 07:16 PM.

[Dee Eight]

I initially tried the 5W as an SRM boat (aside from a single LRM10) and didn't have much fun or success with it. Went to a hybrid with the LRM10, quad LRM5s and quad SRM4s. 11 tons of LRMs, 6 tons of SRMs. Much fun has been had with it.

[chucklesMuch]

Does anybody else start considering LRM boats after reading multiple El Bandito posts? The enthusiasm for Archers in El Bandito threads is so nearly compelling ...just stopped myself buying an arc-5w last night!

[Dee Eight]

I just modded my 5W... traded the LRM10 and 1 ton of ammo for another LRM5, BAP, and upgrading the engine to a 300XL to stuff in another DHS. With the endo steel and virtually maxed armor I have every crit slot filled. Using both sizes of coolshots (although I rarely overheat it except when mixed-range brawling), advanced sensor range, lrm5 cooldown and range modules. When I unlock the master slot I'll add the advanced target decay. I just chain fire the LRMs and group the SRMs. I also have a seperate group that's three of the LRM5s together if I need to hit things around a lot of AMS. I had someone in a Jenner IIC built as an LRM boat with six C-LRM10s find out the hard way that I packed SRMs as well when he thought he'd get under 180 and that I'd try backing away from him doing no damage with my LRMs. Instead I charged him and cored him out in two volleys.

Edited by Dee Eight, 30 September 2016 - 12:35 AM.

[El Bandito]

Dee Eight, on 30 September 2016 - 12:21 AM, said:

I just modded my 5W... traded the LRM10 and 1 ton of ammo for another LRM5, BAP, and upgrading the engine to a 300XL to stuff in another DHS. With the endo steel and virtually maxed armor I have every crit slot filled. Using both sizes of coolshots (although I rarely overheat it except when mixed-range brawling), advanced sensor range, lrm5 cooldown and range modules. When I unlock the master slot I'll add the advanced target decay. I just chain fire the LRMs and group the SRMs. I also have a seperate group that's three of the LRM5s together if I need to hit things around a lot of AMS. I had someone in a Jenner IIC built as an LRM boat with six C-LRM10s find out the hard way that I packed SRMs as well when he thought he'd get under 180 and that I'd try backing away from him doing no damage with my LRMs. Instead I charged him and cored him out in two volleys.

From my experience, the Advanced Target Decay module is way more useful than Advanced Sensor module, on any mechs packing LRMs. So I would suggest you to prioritize mounting the ATD module. I have BAP on my build so Advanced Sensor is not necessary.

chucklesMuch, on 29 September 2016 - 09:39 PM, said:

Does anybody else start considering LRM boats after reading multiple El Bandito posts? The enthusiasm for Archers in El Bandito threads is so nearly compelling ...just stopped myself buying an arc-5w last night!

TBF, Archer is not for everyone. It takes a certain kind of pilot to be an Archer Lurmer. Not every pilot can handle it. Some crack. They can't take it. They walk away and give up on Archers/LRMs forever.

Which kind of pilot are you, I wonder. There are still 7 hours left until the discount on Heavy mechs ends.

Edited by El Bandito, 30 September 2016 - 03:40 AM.

[Tristan Winter]

For so long, people have doubted that LRMs work against good players. I've been saying this for years now. It doesn't work against the real cream of the crop, elite competitive players, sure. It doesn't work against really well organised teams, usually. But against 99% of the MWO population, LRMs are hideously effective. You will have some critical fails now and then, but on average, LRMs are a great weapon.

And I wouldn't say they are OP. They are situationally OP. And relative to the amount of skill required to use them, they are definitely overpowered. I would definitely consider them crutches and easy mode. Obviously, it requires a bit of tactical savvy and situational awareness to use them at Tier 1, but most Tier 1 players have a little bit of that anyway.

Guided missiles need to be redesigned. Boring to play, boring to face. No aiming skills required, due to the extremely easy mode missile lock mechanism.

[The Amazing Atomic Spaniel]

chucklesMuch, on 29 September 2016 - 09:39 PM, said:

Does anybody else start considering LRM boats after reading multiple El Bandito posts? The enthusiasm for Archers in El Bandito threads is so nearly compelling ...just stopped myself buying an arc-5w last night!

Go on, you know you want to...

After seeing El Bandit's post, I've dug my 5W out from the back of the garage where it was hidden behind the bins and covered in cobwebs. I've set it up with XL300, 5LRM5 and 4SRM4. Not elited it yet so it's running a bit hot. Still very situational to use - one match I can get three kills, then the next we drop on Mining Colony and I know in advance I'm going to get flattened without being able to do much.

It's a funny mech to use with the cockpit being so low. A Vulture can just peek it's cockpit over a ridge and get a lock. By the time I do it in the 5W I'm often getting pelted with auto cannon shells. Ho hum.

Nevertheless, LRMs are still great fun to use. Getting into a good firing position and overcoming the various countermeasures is still one of the more challenging aspects of the game.

[El Bandito]

The Amazing Atomic Spaniel, on 30 September 2016 - 05:40 AM, said:

It's a funny mech to use with the cockpit being so low. A Vulture can just peek it's cockpit over a ridge and get a lock. By the time I do it in the 5W I'm often getting pelted with auto cannon shells. Ho hum.

Nevertheless, LRMs are still great fun to use. Getting into a good firing position and overcoming the various countermeasures is still one of the more challenging aspects of the game.

You are absolutely correct. With the Archer's cockpit and hitboxes as bad as they are, one must learn proper positioning to make it shine, and that takes some time. I put almost all of my armor in the front torsi section, due to the Archer taking lots of hits even before it can see the enemy.

[Tier5 Kerensky]

I bought it from last hour of sales. Haven't yet played it as I have no IS weapons or other tech to load it with and I'm completely broke from buying it. Lucky it at least has some kind of XL engine stock.

I'm thinking of making it as fast as possible in the end, I really like with Mad Dog's the ability to move well around to try and hit enemies from the side where they can't hide behind walls and such. Friendlies rarely try to flank so you are on your own there.(my experience in/with tier 3)


And yeah the target decay has to be first module to have on any LRM boat, unless you haven't unlocked it yet or don't have the C-Bils to buy one.

Edited by Teer5, 30 September 2016 - 10:09 PM.

[The Amazing Atomic Spaniel]

Yep, I've found speed to be absoloutley essential for effective lurming. Getting into the right position to negate cover and reduce flight time makes a big difference. I sometimes run a Hunchback 4SP as a fast missile boat with 2 x LRM10, 4 ML and TAG - and a big XL engine so it goes about 95 kph and can reposition very quickly. The classic assult mech boat with 4 LRM20 can spend most of the match waddling around trying to get into position while contributing little.

[Dee Eight]

The hunchie 4J makes a better LRM mech. For starters its quirked for LRM10s already. Combined 20% missile and 15% LRM10 specific cooldown of 35% which is 5% better than the 4SP's 30% missile cooldown as well as having a missile heat generation -10% quirk.

[El Bandito]

Teer5, on 30 September 2016 - 09:45 PM, said:

I bought it from last hour of sales. Haven't yet played it as I have no IS weapons or other tech to load it with and I'm completely broke from buying it. Lucky it at least has some kind of XL engine stock.

I'm thinking of making it as fast as possible in the end, I really like with Mad Dog's the ability to move well around to try and hit enemies from the side where they can't hide behind walls and such. Friendlies rarely try to flank so you are on your own there.(my experience in/with tier 3)

And yeah the target decay has to be first module to have on any LRM boat, unless you haven't unlocked it yet or don't have the C-Bils to buy one.

Good job buying one! I too have come to the conclusion that max engine is better for the Archer, after all. With 340 XL, you should have no problem getting into position. You are gonna sacrifice a couple of DHS, but I believe the extra speed can make up for it, compared to my original build.

Anyhoo, here is a video of a couple of matches I had with the 5W. Just to give you an idea of my experience with the mech.

[The Amazing Atomic Spaniel]

Dee Eight, on 01 October 2016 - 02:56 AM, said:

The hunchie 4J makes a better LRM mech. For starters its quirked for LRM10s already. Combined 20% missile and 15% LRM10 specific cooldown of 35% which is 5% better than the 4SP's 30% missile cooldown as well as having a missile heat generation -10% quirk.

I own and have used both. I think the 4SP is better overall because with the present quirks it has very strong structure buffs compared to the 4J and running an XL in a Hunchie is asking for trouble. It trades a small reduction in throw weight for much greater toughness. Check the numbers!

Edited by The Amazing Atomic Spaniel, 01 October 2016 - 07:16 AM.