9 replies to this topic

[Mazikar]

I was reading into lore of equipment and ran into something I had forgotten long ago in the table top version of the game. It has to do with BAP (Beagle Active Probe).

BAP is both good and bad. Its a radar, and in radar their are 2 ways to approach your search, one is "active" radar, you are sending out a pulse of energy and reading what reacts to it... such as a 100 ton hunk of battle mech metal. Or passive radar detection, reading changes in your surroundings and picking up signals such as energy sources, radio transmissions and so on... in one hand you are probing and the other just listening.

BAP is good as in it can detect a powered down mech, and bad that because it is sending out a signal that is easy to trace to anyone that is listening. Sooo.... BAP while being able to "see" past ECM should make the mech a unbelievably easy target. You would never run BAP after you detected the enemy the first time... basically it was used to locate the enemy and it was turned off to make the host survivable.

It would make BAP in the game nearly useless I agree since you can actually see the enemy seconds after you power on but wait... it could still be used and be at least closer to lore if...

Keep BAP the way it is now for how it works against ecm and assisting in targeting with the extra range BUT make the host easy to target even if it has or is covered by ecm while BAP is in active state, while BAP is in passive state allow it to have a larger detection radius but unable to detect a powered down mech or see past ecm and remove any negative effects.

The way I see BAP right now is its one ton of free win sauce, no tactical reality about it, if you have a ton to spare might as well, its all good. It's messing with ECM just a little too much with no hazard.

ECM- in my opinion ECM should require a charge, it should start the match fully charged with a full min of use, once used it should take 2X as long to recharge but be usable at any time (not requiring a full recharge to use after being depleted) this would be a good reason to have more than one ecm mech and get rid of the all the time invisible enemy as long as a ECM mech lives.

just thoughts... discuss... might come up with a better meta than what we have.

[El Bandito]

Lotharian, on 25 December 2014 - 08:13 PM, said:

The way I see BAP right now is its one ton of free win sauce, no tactical reality about it, if you have a ton to spare might as well, its all good. It's messing with ECM just a little too much with no hazard.

If it BAP is a 1 ton free win sauce (IS BAP is 1.5 BTW) then every pilot would equip one. But they don't so either they are all dumb, or something is wrong with your statement.

Instead of having ECM charges, and active/passive phase for BAP--thus making the mechanics more convoluted--I'd prefer PGI simply reverting ECM and BAP to canon function and be done with it.

ECM slows missiles lock, counters Artemis, NARC and BAP. It only halves enemy sensor range. BAP extends sensor range and speeds up target info.

Edited by El Bandito, 25 December 2014 - 08:34 PM.

[Mazikar]

so.... you don't equip bap??? ohhh you are one of those...

[TheSilken]

You kinda make it sound like BAP is a "ping". You know where a submarine (or any other ship) will send out a pulse to detect any nearby subs but gives itself away because of it.

[El Bandito]

Lotharian, on 25 December 2014 - 08:32 PM, said:

so.... you don't equip bap??? ohhh you are one of those...

1. No where in my post I said I do not equip BAP. I use them on my LRM mechs. For DF mechs, I prefer TC.

2. Your posts stink of douchebaggery. I gave my idea on BAP change and you only focus on deriding me.

Edited by El Bandito, 25 December 2014 - 08:41 PM.

[Mazikar]

I love you El Bandito.

TheSilkenPimp, on 25 December 2014 - 08:35 PM, said:

You kinda make it sound like BAP is a "ping". You know where a submarine (or any other ship) will send out a pulse to detect any nearby subs but gives itself away because of it.

That is exactly BAP

[Mazikar]

Nice edits El Bandito, its ok, just looking for some constructive talk, your opinion is as good as mine, just stay away from the bashing.

[Cyborne Elemental]

From what I understood about how BAP works towards ECM, all it did was to alert the Pilot that his C3 network was being jammed, thats it, in TT it never countered an ECM to jam the suite in any way unless I'm mistaken, and was quite the opposite, in where the ECM would shutdown the BAP unit completely.

One interesting thing to note, was that Streaks were still allowed to be fired while under ECm, but their guidance was rendered useless, so they could be fired only as normal SRM's.

Its main function was also to simply identify enemy targets at greater range, and detection of a shutdown or camouflaged mech.

That would make for an interesting feature to distinguish BAP is if you could only see the enemy's weapon loadout and their status if you were equipped with BAP, or until you're within say 180 meters, otherwise all you would get is the paperdoll and the basic Mech class description.

For example if the enemy was an Atlas-K, all you would get is his paperdoll and that he's an "Atlas" unless you had a BAP onboard.

[Flaming oblivion]

E
cm needs adjusting bap is kind of crap over then a heads up someone is 1.5k away that you cant shoot at awesome , And in a IS mechs case its not that useful for the counter ecm because by the time their in range of the counter there near your min range. Bap needs a buff not to turn you into a huge target. Either bap needs a buff or radar dep / ecm need a nerf. LRMS are so close to worthless it isn't funny.

That is all

[mogs01gt]

This issue is how ECM is designed in MWO, not how BAP functions.