I don't have a big problem with ECM. My problem with the raven is that it seems to take an inordinate amount of firepower to take down. I suspect that it's a combination of lingering netcode issues with a frustrating hitbox.
The tin-foil hat side of me wonders if there is some sort of bug with the raven's hitboxes that is making them take reduced damage or harder to hit than they should be. If I were a developer, I would be giving the Raven a very serious look because something is wrong.
I've noticed that as well, alpha striking a 3L with 2 ERLLs ten times in a row doesn't always kill it. The only way I can beat them with my 4X is by sniping them when they're fighting someone else.
This is still Beta, so there will be more changes, but you've hit the nail on the head here. There are counters for EVERYTHING. Some loadouts counter others, some team strategies negate the positive aspects of a particular build and map sizes factor into both strategy and tactical planning, if any. It's a great gaming platform but still a work in progress.
I can't blame the 3L any more than the Splatcat or the POPTART. The trick is to figure a counter while enjoying the game.
I play all the "Other" mechs, the Commandos and the Hunchbacks left long after the in-crowd moves on to the next flavor of the week. I die probably more than most others, but I don't take it seriously or personally. It's a challenge to ride the stepchildren!
-ignatz22
Probably in your sights, if not dead already....
Best way to deal with Raven 3L is to learn to lag shoot. This thankfully got a bit easier with the last netcode patch. But once you get the techique down. You will find that they will go down allot easier. Expect them to get gradualyl easier to kill, as more net code patches gets released, including collisions.
As for Splat cats. Easiest way to deal with em, is to simply be aware of you're surroundings and spot them before they get a chance to get close to you.
At around 100m, they will generally not do enough damage to you to instant kill you. so just try and stay at that range, and constantly move around. And try to shoot off the big mickey mouse ears. And youll find that they ait so nasty anymore.
Here's an example of me completely missing the splatterpult coming up behind me. if i had been more aware of **** going on around me. this wouldn't have happened Good thing i had teammates on voice chat
Now if you do have teammates in voice chat with ya. Then that is actually another good tactic. To simple drag a splatterpult around, while you're teammates hammer him to death. Most splatterpult pilots tend to be massive noobs. And usually only focus on one target at a time. Completely ignoring the fact that they are getting blasted to bits by everyone around them.
As for AC20 cats. pretty much same strategy., except that the ac20 cats are even slower, and you have to aim for the torso. Actually. Try aiming for the legs. Most ac20 cat pilots tend to put their ac20 ammo there.
And as for Atlas d-DC.. dunno. I always found them easy to deal with. Mostly just noobs who lack experience with on how to deal with ECM, that have trouble with em.
It was screamed at for being OP. Now, thanks to ECM (a sentence that may never have been uttered up to this point) the once mighty streak cat is stuck packing groceries in some crappy non-famous supermarket, it's once grand dreams of conquest slowly fading into the hollow recesses of its mind.
As for everything else, my 3ppc 5 streak stalker feels pretty cheesy. I sit at the rear of a group, keeping an ear to the ground for the telltale vibrations of an approaching cheese-laden splatt cat, so that I may delicately peel it's ears.
*BLAM!*
"it loves me..."
*BLAM!*
"it loves me not..."
*BLAM!*
"it... Oh. Yay, it loves me!"
Splatt cats are all I really fear in it. I respect ravens; we cheese carriers learn to smell our own. All it takes is one hit from a ppc though, and the menu suddenly contains one poached raven, with HP streak sauce. Mmmmmm.
I play splatcat mostly atm and the two most troublesome mechs for me are phracts and atlas. catapults have a pretty easy CT to hit thanks to their side torsos being difficult to hit, and a phract pilot with decent aim can core an A1 before it does enough damage to core the phract.
Dont normally have the same problem with stalkers or awesomes, i normally regard them as easier targets. Netcode improvments should make the A1 a good counter vs ecm lights as well, I dont rely much on targetting info as it is. I either shoot for a side torso or shoot the bit thats smoking. Thats all the info i need on my target.
Also streakcat got fixed when it no longer defaulted to 100% CT hits (unless you got your arms in the way). I sometimes take ssrm out for a spin and dont normally have much trouble with ECM (1/10 matches have good ecm pilots who actively try to shut down lrm/ssrm as opposed to ecm mechs that just wander around). Atlas can pretty much just shrug off a 6ssrm2 cat now ecm or no where as previously it was a serious threat.
2x AC20 cat solves all of those problems. Ravens usually are 1 shot, splats you HS as they are walking towards you, D-DC you either flank, or HS... and missile boats are OP? I just hide behind a rock until they focus someone else.
Yup. Of all the "cheesy" builds this is the one I'm most likely to use.
Having a well aimed 40 dmg attack every 4 seconds is the easy way to deal with lots of things.
Now when the double AC/20 Jagers start calling...
Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
SplatCats are kind of rare for me lately. They get AC20/Pulse/PPC'd down.
D-DC Atlas - Mean brutes but they're huge, slow targets.
Raven 3L - Wish I was good enough to beat them in my Jenner. I counter them with Medium mechs with big torso twists.
PPC Stalker - This one scares me the most lately - they tend to be well supported by their teammates. You stay at range and splode, or you rush into the trap and splode. They can put an enemy team down 1-2 mechs very early in a match and put them into desperation mode.
SRMs on a maneuverable medium mech such as a centurion work quite well to counter ravens or any other light mech. And of course a well aimed or just lucky alpha from a ppc boat. It doesn't matter whether you hit the back, side (if the light is using an xl engine), head or leg; it's either dead or crippled.
Tikkamasala, on 26 February 2013 - 05:28 PM, said:
SRMs on a maneuverable medium mech such as a centurion work quite well to counter ravens or any other light mech. And of course a well aimed or just lucky alpha from a ppc boat. It doesn't matter whether you hit the back, side (if the light is using an xl engine), head or leg; it's either dead or crippled.
I'm increasingly liking SRMs as a light mech flyswatter. The shotgun effect on those is really nice, and the collision detection seems really generous.
Josef Nader, on 26 February 2013 - 11:07 AM, said:
Counter cheese with more cheese.
ppl tend to make strong mechs to win, and to counter that, ppl do the same, so yeah, ofc..
unless this is a "how to counter cheese with... hacks ? .. "
i doupt a non-cheese could counter a cheese but i would love to see that.. im sure there is, i can survive some of them on non-cheese mechs but ofc tweeked to do some good..
Edited by Psychobunny, 26 February 2013 - 05:47 PM.
As funny as it seems i one time early on in my mechwarrior career was using an lrm commando. It was fun and at one point i would run in the lake in river city, and just lock and shoot those lrms while either running backwards or full tilt forwards, keeping them at the very edge of my screen. That would be a non cheese build that could situationally take down splatapult....
And please don't comment that lrms are useless on a light. I know and it was my only mech at the time....
I recently sold it, but when I had a splatcat it totally owned close range lights of all flavors including the 3L. Damage cone > lag shield.
D-DC is as the OP says a big fat target and anything with long range firepower can take it apart or at least soften it up for the surgical lights to do their thing without too much trouble. Cataphracts are particularly good at this as they mount a lot of long range ballistics.
Most cheesecat drivers aren't particularly good at maneuvering and it has to be pointed right at you to do its thing so just putting a strong alpha on that big cockpit does wonders.
The DDC isn't quite the feared brute that it used to be. It's not really a cheese build, anymore, if you ask me. For such a slow, big, and easy to hit target, ECM doesn't so much as make it overpowered, but patch up a hole in the Atlas' defense. Atlases have always been LRM bait, since they're too slow and ponderous to take cover without getting hit by at least a few missiles.
I'd say a skilled Jenner Pilot is a great counter for a 3L. A well timed 4MLAS + SRM shot shortly thereafter is most devastating when landed. It's still skewed in the 3L's favor, but I hunt/kill them regularly now and I think the whole notion of not backing down/running and having armor opened up quickly rattles the cheese players.
As someone who has played as and against splatcats before it was cool ~ *shades*
They can be countered reliably.
Catapults are easily headshotted, the ears aren't too durable, and if you snipe them in the open, they're toast. I seriously hope PGI doesn't nerf SRMs because of all the QQ'ing on the forums.
This isn't a good counter, but it's a mech I like piloting:
Cicada 3M with 2 PPCs and XL255
If you hit an ECM Raven or ECM Commando with one of the PPCs, you can rob them of their Streaks entirely! Can't counter that disrupt without your ECM module! Well, for four seconds. 1v1 it's a far superior long range mech but in a support role you can do a great job at shutting down D-DCs and at least a passable one at taking pot shots at ECM lights.
1
Jman5, on 26 February 2013 - 02:39 PM, said:
Good thing i had teammates on voice chat
