67 replies to this topic

[Bob Random]

As the title implies, I would like to understand the obsession that a lot of players have with Jump Jets.

I have played MechWarrior 1-4 and I am an avid FPS player in other games but I am struggling to grasp the focus that is being put on Jump Jets being so powerful.

The first thing I do when I buy a mech is remove the Jump Jets to free up some weight for armor/weapons/heatsinks (i.e. something useful).

Please could someone impart, in a constructive fashion, what I am missing.

Thank you.

[Spooky]

May be you didn't play MW4 that much. Poptarting was a widely used tactic and I guess it was the main use for JJ in MW4.

In MWLL, Jump Jets are even more valuable. You can use them to get up on high ground where enemies won't get you as easily, or even notice you. You can use them to take short cuts on certain maps. You can use them to quickly jump in and out of battles on maps, where the surrounding geometry allows it. Poptarting also exists in MWLL of course. And it plays another important role in close combat. Rather than circling your enemy, or moving back and forth or whatever freedom of movement you have during an engagemnt, you can use your jump jets this way for instance: take a shot at an enemy with a high burst damage weapon, then quickly jump over him in an angle where the enemy needs to take the longest time to turn back to you, denying him the possibility to shoot back at you. Then you exchange shots and do the same thing again basically.

All these things didn't matter as much in MW4, because the weapon balance and map design didn't really allow it or make it viable. In MWLL the story is a lot different and I fully expect it to be similar in MW:O.

Edited by Spooky, 06 June 2012 - 12:53 AM.

[Adept2]

Well, mechs are pretty slow. The primary utility of Jump jets is in allowing more tactical mobility. A 1 vs. 1 duel on flat ground renders jump jets useless. The bigger the melee and the more complex the terrain... many opportunities open up. Inserting into a fight, escaping a fight, getting into an elevated position, or cover that is inaccessible by walking...

[pursang]

Gee, I wonder what's so good about a piece of equiptment that greatly increases your mobility on the battlefield.

[Ettibber]

pursang, on 06 June 2012 - 12:56 AM, said:

Gee, I wonder what's so good about a piece of equiptment that greatly increases your mobility on the battlefield.

oh come on, he's a steiner, we should understand that steiners don't understand tactics.

[Caspanova]

Ettibber, on 06 June 2012 - 12:59 AM, said:

oh come on, he's a steiner, we should understand that steiners don't understand tactics.

Hey! That isn't correct. It is just a lot harder to get much practice when we are stuck in an Atlas all the time!

[Promptus]

Sometimes in TT games the terrain could be a tremendous pain to navigate around.

[Infine]

It's because in those games terrain was quite meh. Still, JJs were useful for poptarting.

MWO looks like it will actually have terrain, and JJs will allow for said terrain abuse.

[neodym]

you can get to everywhere with jump jets,in MW4 I was jumping from roof to roof in big city maps for hours alone,so much fun,
each jump was challenge and if I fallen I could start all over again

that and you can DFA,evade shots and jump snipe

[UnLimiTeD]

Agreed to all of the above; Also agreed that in MW 4 they were pointless, I would prefer quad PPCs, and then wait for a jump sniper.^^
It will really depend on the map geography.

[Nightborn]

As mentioned numerous times, it allows for diversity in combat maneuvers, jumping to a hard to reach place and DFA usage being my favorites

[SgtPaladin]

Bob Random, on 06 June 2012 - 12:44 AM, said:

As the title implies, I would like to understand the obsession that a lot of players have with Jump Jets.

I have played MechWarrior 1-4 and I am an avid FPS player in other games but I am struggling to grasp the focus that is being put on Jump Jets being so powerful.

The first thing I do when I buy a mech is remove the Jump Jets to free up some weight for armor/weapons/heatsinks (i.e. something useful).

Please could someone impart, in a constructive fashion, what I am missing.

Thank you.

what are you guys on?!?!

its the only way to make a mech side step.

in MW2 jump jets = PPC dodge.

in all other mech games, jump jets are an awesome way to dodge LRM's they hit the ground if used just right.

i always had jump jets, never enought to lift the mech but always enougth to dodge out of the way of an alpha strike or missle launch.

that being said it will all depend on how the weapons work in MWO

[Tyra]

DFA.

[Knt Maverick]

in MPBT:Solaris, 8 of us players were gonna play a "Swarm" for fun match... 1 assault, 7 lights... however.. some hot-shot wanna-be decided to drop in as a second Assault mech... i told the rest of my team (now 6 of us).. that the S.O. B was mine...--i was in a Jenner JNR-7F. they were a variant of the Imp. I called him out on a 1v1... .. yeah.. he eventually got the better of me.. but not 2 seconds after i show up in the lobby.. he pops in right behind me... (i had turned his cockpit/head into a lovely blood red, 1 shot later killed him). As we sat there in silence, about 5 mins later, everyone else shows up.. and he started to complain that "someone else was shooting him after i called him out".... and everyone else told him that i was the only one to attack him until he killed me.... ---after realizing he was in the wrong crowd, he left w/o another word.

JJ's are VERY useful... in any terrain.. especially if you're a light mech try'n to keep the bigger guys' target reticles off of you....

i just needed 1 more shot of 2 of my med-lasers and he'd been toast... ugh.. that still gets me..

[Jadel Blade]

Im with the OP I never found much use for them either. Apart from messing around with DFA for a laugh.

I like the concepts described about MWLL though, that sounds pretty fun. Certainly in the books JJ is used effectively. Just didnt ever see it on previous games. I dont count poptarting, thats a close to exploiting as you can get and not something I would ever be interested in doing.

I cant understand previous poster talking about dodging ppc and alpha strikes though. Theres no way that would work unless they completely changed how JJ and for that matter ppc's work. Same with LRMs. JJ doesnt zip you from side to side like an fps or something. Its fairly slow to build up and even then doesnt reach a suitable speed for dodging missiles and laser fire.

[Pvt Dancer]

JJs were alot more important in Table Top than the FPS Mechwarrior games. One of the main advantages was to jump behind a foe, facing his back and unloading on him. In this game, I see Jump Jets as added mobility to avoid terrain that would slow you down going through it (woods and the like), but I don't see it as the end all be all. But since you /can't/ add jump jets to a mech, your somewhat defeating the purpose of having them on the mech you want because they will be rare.

[Chunklets]

people like to fly in there mech too

[Thanassis79]

It is the distance you can put between yourself and the opponent. You can take a long shot at him with LRM's, let him get close, fire with your lasers and jump away to create some distance. Take a long shot at him with LRM's, .... rince and repeat.

[Ratzap]

A lot of this seems to stem from Mechwarrior games, I would disagree with that person saying TT valued them. On lights they let you keep a high mod on whilest getting close but conversely also made it harder to hit someone. Clearing bad terrain? Yeah sure for lighter mechs again but a JJ value of 3 isn't going to do you much good with cliffs and such.
That is the crux of the matter, using JJ in MW games had no impact on accuracy since that all came from the player. TT made using JJ less attractive since your to-hit went in the bin (+3).

I'd rather use run speed to get in the back of an opponent, torso twist means facing their back is irrelevant and if I want melee I sure as hell won't risk a kick (a light falling behind someone is a dead light) - punch has no pilot roll and can hit head.

[LordDeathStrike]

i drive an atlas but i fully support jump capable mechs. nothing is as satisfieing as aiming up at a jumping mech and blowing him to pieces mid air!