58 replies to this topic

[Tiger Shark]

It seems that a larger percentage of the Assaults and Heavies in the game now are pack on the LRMs. Usually just have a couple of lasers as backup or a couple of ERPPCs / Large Lasers for longer range work.
This means that assaults are no longer front of the line or more and more common, sitting in the back of the line. More than a few matches have ended with assaults with 95% health while the rest of the team got decimated, then the the inevitable back up while keeping 4 enemy mechs at over 180 meters which never ends well.
So if you are piloting one of these very heavy LRM mechs, let the rest of the team know you are LRM boating, and plan on sitting back at the beginning of the match so we know what to expect.

Even better, if there is a way for us to read out friendly mech load outs.

[Sephlock]

How about you take a tag laser and spot for us instead ?

[Liege]

Sephlock, on 26 May 2013 - 09:44 PM, said:

How about you take a tag laser and spot for us instead ?

I can't tell you how much i want to dislike this. where's that damn button? He's not bitching at you or saying don't do it.. just let him know, as the majority of players will follow an atlas thinking it is going to be the meat shield. And I'll happily tag for you.... if you tell me you have LRM's.


edit: ...and then i see the winky face...

Edited by Liege, 26 May 2013 - 11:15 PM.

[Th0rsten]

I can understand him. While I am not one of the persons that goes apeshit when an assault prefers to give fire support from the second line knowing that your atlas won't be at the front and sponging the damage is something you want to know so you can adapt.

[Sephlock]

Liege, on 26 May 2013 - 11:14 PM, said:

I can't tell you how much i want to dislike this. where's that damn button? He's not bitching at you or saying don't do it.. just let him know, as the majority of players will follow an atlas thinking it is going to be the meat shield. And I'll happily tag for you.... if you tell me you have LRM's.


edit: ...and then i see the winky face...

.

And hey, if you stand behind me as I LRM, you'll be protecting me as I perform my very important role! YAY!

[Polarice]

I still find my assaults squishy in the front line. not much speed makes a magnet for ppcs :-)

[Sephlock]

As an aside, we'd be happy to run smaller lrm boats if you guys would keep a lock for longer than JUUUUUUUUUUUST long enough to give us false hope but not nearly long enough for us to even reliably get a lock, let alone reliably hit what we're shooting at.

As it is, we have to get the most out of every volley, and that means more/bigger launchers.

And yes, that means its on you to walk out into the open and stare down the enemies, so we don't have to! And you'll get sweet spotter cbill bonuses for it!

Everybody wins!

.

[Lan]

This is one of the reasons my brawler Atlas are fitted with BAP, advanced sensor and target delay modules so the LRM boats can share the target longer. Plus it helps me to find out loadout and weak spots faster (or as fast as) then the opponents. Also always helpful to know where the disappearing mech was heading. Course, now with seismic modules in...

[Wormrex]

I do believe assaults has enough hard points to tag for themselves.

LRM minimum range IS 180m. not 1000m. Last I checked Medium lasers has a max range of 270m.

Engaging long range does not mean you are going to stand beyond reach of lending more than missiles to your team, and it certainly does NOT mean you can sit back so very far away, in fact so far you don't even know if your missiles are hitting rock or not.

Move up with the group, You ARE an assault class, Your presence IS going to draw off some fire no matter where you are.

Yes it would be good to know if your assaults are going to use you as bait. Who do you think would be next in line after you use your buddies as bait. Personally I do not find it a very wise tactic.

[Herodes]

As a Stalker pilot, when using LRMs, I prefer to swim with the team and shoot the the bad guys at 300-400m or so with LOS and Artemis and have some ML and my team to fend off annoying squirrels that would otherwise ****** for lunch. More often than not, I go down and die in the process though. Even in a crowd, you can be just as alone as behind the front lines sometimes.

[Sephlock]

Lan, on 27 May 2013 - 04:13 AM, said:

This is one of the reasons my brawler Atlas are fitted with BAP, advanced sensor and target delay modules so the LRM boats can share the target longer. Plus it helps me to find out loadout and weak spots faster (or as fast as) then the opponents. Also always helpful to know where the disappearing mech was heading. Course, now with seismic modules in...

Wait, you can do that?

Wormrex, on 27 May 2013 - 04:31 AM, said:

I do believe assaults has enough hard points to tag for themselves.

LRM minimum range IS 180m. not 1000m. Last I checked Medium lasers has a max range of 270m.

Engaging long range does not mean you are going to stand beyond reach of lending more than missiles to your team, and it certainly does NOT mean you can sit back so very far away, in fact so far you don't even know if your missiles are hitting rock or not.

Of course not! You can tell if your missiles are hitting rock by checking to see if your reticule turns red, silly .

Quote

Move up with the group, You ARE an assault class, Your presence IS going to draw off some fire no matter where you are.

Yes it would be good to know if your assaults are going to use you as bait. Who do you think would be next in line after you use your buddies as bait. Personally I do not find it a very wise tactic.

When pugging, using your teammates as bait is pretty much the default. Hell, during my entire INSERT NAME OF GAME THAT IS UNJUSTLY POOPED UPON HERE career, I've kept one particular gaming buddy close in part because he makes the perfect bait.

[Tiger Shark]

Definitely appreciate the assault pilots in the LRM boats that keep close and shoot LRMs 300-400 meter range. Soak up some damage and actually land some LRMs.
The problem with some of the assaults sitting at the edge of LRM range is that the missiles don't hit that much. Especially if they are shooting at light mechs. Last match had a D-DC with 150 damage LRMing from the back. It was the only mech with ECM too.

A few things can help this in solo play:
1. Read out of load out for friendly mech just like enemy mechs. Team mates can then make educated guesses on what the roles are.
2. During loading screen before mech start sequence you can declare your role, ie sniper / LRM / Brawler.
3. When you build the mech in mech lab, you can name or select the role you want displayed to friendly units.
4. And of course, built in voice chat.

[Stoicblitzer]

self-entitled LRM D-DCs complaining about people not holding locks in a game where brawling is dead.

[mack sabbath]

Tiger Shark, on 27 May 2013 - 03:47 PM, said:

Definitely appreciate the assault pilots in the LRM boats that keep close and shoot LRMs 300-400 meter range. Soak up some damage and actually land some LRMs.
The problem with some of the assaults sitting at the edge of LRM range is that the missiles don't hit that much. Especially if they are shooting at light mechs. Last match had a D-DC with 150 damage LRMing from the back. It was the only mech with ECM too.

A few things can help this in solo play:
1. Read out of load out for friendly mech just like enemy mechs. Team mates can then make educated guesses on what the roles are.
2. During loading screen before mech start sequence you can declare your role, ie sniper / LRM / Brawler.
3. When you build the mech in mech lab, you can name or select the role you want displayed to friendly units.
4. And of course, built in voice chat.

#2 You left out Striker, otherwise I think this could be groundwork for a better playing experience overall.

[Barberian]

One of my mechs is a LRM Atlas. I usually get 2-5 kills per match with it. My LRM Atlas does have it's own TAG and BAP. Having my own TAG is great, unless the target is not in LOS. A spotter of any kind with a TAG really helps the whole team win. It's not about my k/d ratio. I just like to win, as most people do. I have another Atlas that is a brawler because many people know me by my LRM's and hunt me down. I'm, lets just say "well loved" by some people.

I often alternate with in light mech with TAG, to spot for other people. Give some, take some.

I rarely stay up with the pack in my LRM boat because when I do, I die quickly. Rarely does anybody help me out with the ankle biters. I often turn the tide on a battle because I can do a couple things. Concentrated DPS and take out a mech over the hill when no one else will poke their heads up. Scatter fire, where I keep changing targets keeping the enemy pinned down. A lot of people are afraid of LRM's raining down on them.

I do fail miserably some times, but those times it really doesn't matter which Atlas I bring. Wrong place, wrong time.

Lets face it... PUGs suck for teamwork, and I do try to work as a team until I know it's every man for himself.

[Tiger Shark]

Totally agree Barberian.
Just had a great experience running my dual AC20 Catapault in a PUG match with a LRM boat D-DC on the desert map.
The D-DC just hung out slightly behind me, so LRMs are always locked, and provided 2 targets.
The D-DC provided cover fire so I could get in range while evading PPC fire from rock to rock, by the time I closed, the target would have gotten softened by the LRMs and I'd finish it off with the AC20s.
When LRM is done well, is it incredibly effective, and makes every team mate's job easier.

[t9nv3]

My problem with the Atlas LRM boat is that most of the people I see running this build dont seem to undertstnad how to play it. They hide outside of an area where the engagement is happening. Position themselves in a spot where their LRM cant hit anything. Let their temmates die. Repeat. In the right hands this build could work nicely, but in my expereince this is rarely the case.

[Tiger Shark]

With the new patch increasing LRM damage from 0.9 to 1.1 if this will get worse in terms of assaults hanging out in the back.

[Sephlock]

Tiger Shark, on 04 June 2013 - 02:56 PM, said:

With the new patch increasing LRM damage from 0.9 to 1.1

Now lets count the seconds before they get nerfed again!

[Revorn]

I have no Problem with Assaults carriing LRMs and Boat them, but plz take an TAG with you. Its not so cool, to be an Med mech with the only Tag in the Team, while 3 Assaults filed up with LRMs have no TAG.