Nicholas Carlyle, on 24 May 2013 - 11:30 AM, said:
This is why LRM's are always going to be a mess.
First the expectation of bringing extra gear (Good LRM pilots have their own TAG, Artemis and BAP). And a certain expectation of spotting. They are also the only weapon with a warning that gives someone time to avoid or adjust to them.
Then there is the fact that there are two pieces of gear directly created to counter them. AMS and ECM. No other weapons have this issue.
So you almost HAVE to run into an issue where there are instances where LRM's are overpowered.
Basically you have:
1] Base level LRM vs. Mech.
2] Full equip LRM vs. Mech.
3] Base level LRM vs. Mech with AMS
4] Full equip LRM vs Mech with AMS
5] Base level LRM vs. Mech with AMS & ECM
6] Full equip LRM vs Mech with AMS & ECM
Then there are all the variations inbetween, UAV, a Spotter.
Here is a question, if an LRM mech with all of the extra gear he can pack in, plus a UAV goes up against a mech with no AMS, and no ECM.
Should he rock out that mech?
If not, then what does an LRM mech with none of those things do? Roll over and die?
Here is the scenario.
AMS is an ACTIVE defense. It is capable of shooting down X number of missiles per second right?
It is irrelevant if it is an LRM 5, LRM20, or 4 x LRM5's. It may or may not hit up to X number coming at it.
But if you have 2 catapults, one with 6xLRM5's and one with 2 x LRM15's ...we are still talking 30 LRM's per volley.
It can shoot down UP to X number of missiles (can only spit out so many rounds per second)
Or even if you have 60 inbound missiles. It can only shoot down so many per second. That's just physics and math. Launcher really doesn't matter.