15 replies to this topic

[Aslena]

I realize there are 2 points of view on the missile debate currently and I would appreciate it if you could keep that out of this as I currently want some good advice rather than a bunch of flaming/griping... I have seen people do well in battles the last couple of days with missiles, most people are doing horribly with them however... Me being in that second group. With the current system what is the trick to getting missiles to do some damage. I have tried at range without line of site and my damage is awful, I have tried always having line of site and don't do much of anything either. So... what's the current "trick" to missiles? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

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Tips so far on how to use LRMs more effectivly:
1. Have Artemis and Tag or Narc
2. Use them more like a direct fire weapon making sure to always have line of site
3. Keep targets between 300m and 700m
4. The closer to 300m they are the better the missiles do
5. Have plenty of direct fire weapons do damage while your missiles are firing
6. Get a light mech to tag for you
7. Maintain lock until the missiles hit the target
8. Check target info to make sure your missiles are hitting, if not switch targets or move until they are
 
Thank you all very much I will give it a try 

My personal observation after testing the information given is that you really shouldn't rely a lot on the LRM they don't do much damage but are more of a psychological warfare tactic (makes people duck for cover, and Betty annoys them with a warning message) The thing I seem to get the most real use out of them is on my atlas I have 1 LRM 10 and can shoot those pesky lights as they run past.

Edited by Aslena, 30 May 2013 - 10:41 AM.

[Edustaja]

No trick. They just suck.
Any damage dealt is mostly with lasers or ballistics.

[Dude42]

The trick currently is to not use them, since they are a waste of tonnage.

[ManDaisy]

The best way to do damage with missiles is by carrying artemis and either by having your own tag or some one else tag for you. While tag or (narc becon) wont increase total damage, it will make it a heck of a lot tighter making your missiles count for more. 800 meters is your best bet, as firing them at the 1000 meter range they might not get to the target. 500 meters is ideal. Also, the more lrms you have in the air at once, the more that will break thru an AMS shield. You can dumbfire without a lock on stationary targets.

With a missile boat you can even be effective up to 300 meters, as long as your providing support and not dueling someone. As a missile boat you are the secondary attacker.

Edited by ManDaisy, 29 May 2013 - 11:02 AM.

[Xeno Phalcon]

Yeah missiles are a little silly right now, they are theoreticlly sound but in application fail pretty hard unless you are a fatlas standing around with no AMS and no cover. Iv had countless missiles lobbed at me today on my blackjack and more then once iv been like ERMEHGERD WHERE ARE THEY COMING FROM!? only to have them land harmlessly beside me.

[ManDaisy]

Yes, missile behavior has been changed from chase, to periodic tracking. Theoretically you can dodge them by moving out of the path of missiles right after its very last path adjustment period by changing directions or by jumping.

Edited by ManDaisy, 29 May 2013 - 11:06 AM.

[Aslena]

ManDaisy, on 29 May 2013 - 10:59 AM, said:

The best way to do damage with missiles is by carrying artemis and either by having your own tag or some one else tag for you. While tag or (narc becon) wont increase total damage, it will make it a heck of a lot tighter making your missiles count for more. 800 meters is your best bet, as firing them at the 1000 meter range they might not get to the target. 500 meters is ideal. Also, the more lrms you have in the air at once, the more that will break thru an AMS shield. You can dumbfire without a lock on stationary targets.

With a missile boat you can even be effective up to 300 meters, as long as your providing support and not dueling someone. As a missile boat you are the secondary attacker.

thanks for a real reply Does the NARC beacon make much difference? It seems expensive to me at 4 tons for 12 shots so I haven't tried it yet.

[Mazzyplz]

get a light mech to tag for your missiles, it's the single most broken tactic in the metagame right now.
lights will launch your missiles for you; it's 99% effective in canyon network since people can't climb fast out of those formations

[Koniving]

As someone who has been using missiles pre and post pathing bug, I can tell you that missiles are still quite viable, although now they're not generating 90% center torso damage and not amplifying to around 6 damage per missile against most targets.

They hit light mechs with incredible ease and hit rates of over 50% even without Artemis. You do still require large numbers of missiles (twin 15s minimum) to do any effective damage.

Unlike how most would prefer to use missiles, close range LRMs now behave along the lines of SRMs in the sense that they stay very low and slam directly into an opponent.

LRMs fired at a distance of 750 meters or greater will go skyward to incredible heights (even above the the tallest pillars of Tourmaline Desert), and then slam down at 70, 80, and even 100+ degrees (slamming into their back) depending on conditions and enemy speed. Without the wavy flight patterns of the old LRMs / SRMs, we will continue to see many issues.

Some vids.

Spoiler

Koniving, on 26 May 2013 - 12:19 PM, said:

Pre hotfix.







After hotfix.

Edited by Koniving, 29 May 2013 - 11:26 AM.

[LordBane]

I use a highlander build that has two LRM15 with Artemis on it. Here's the tricks I use that work for me.
1) Don't waste missiles on non-LOS shots. I don't mean don't take shots like that, I just be aware of what's going on and ask yourself how likely will someone still have that mech targeted by the time my missiles get there?

2) Use Artemis for all it's worth. I try to keep my targets between 300m and 700m away, and try to keep LOS with them. Artemis won't affect targets beyond 750m. The closer they are, the less time they have to react to the missiles being fired.

[Aslena]

What I get from all of this is:



1. Have Artemis and Tag or Narc

2. Use them more like a direct fire weapon making sure to always have line of site

3. Keep targets between 300m and 700m

4. The closer to 300m they are the better the missiles do

5. Have plenty of direct fire weapons do damage while your missiles are firing


Thank you all very much I will update my original post and give it a try J

Edited by Aslena, 29 May 2013 - 12:37 PM.

[scJazz]

I am a newb like you. I have for the last 3 weeks only used Mechs that can mount LRMs.

1) All are going to help. 2 of the 3 make things nice. I've made do with NONE or Artemis. Artemis has got to be first choice!

2) Is debatable... yes direct LOS the entire flight time is great. But standing around waiting the entire flight time just so the 6PPC Stalker can pull Alpha, Alpha, BOOM (this is u), Shutdown is unadvisable. Find nice cover... get tone, fire, slip back, slip forward, try for tone again. Something like this at least.

3) Nahhh don't bother... tone... FIRE! Best case... BANG you got him. Worst case... he ducks behind cover... side case which I have repeatedly watched for 3 days now. He ducks cover, breaks lock, and then moves back to exactly where he was when you fired. This means you can re-lock at best. At worst... yeah... he just ate the salvo anyway because backing up 10m breaking lock isn't enough to substantially change the LRM flight path. Anyway you stretch it... Betty is Beyatchin at him!

5) Yeah definitely, LRMBoating in a PuG match with no backup weapons is just insane. Much like I just taught the Atlas who was tossing LRMs at me in my CPLT-A1 Catapult. Once I got under his insane LRM Boat he had 2 Medium Lasers to fire at me... while I spammed him with 4 SSRM2s.

Check your tube count... even if you can fit 90 LRMs, if you only have 30 tubes... whelp not so helpful. My AMS will go nutso shooting down the "three groups", I'll have moved probably breaking lock, and I'll have cover. Never chain fire LRMs, gigantic blob or nuthin! Those long streams of LRMs being fired by the Stalkers and Atlai... yeah... they suck at RobotPewPew! Unless you stand around with no AMS in the Open... in which case... whelp... time for Spectate I suppose.

Edited by scJazz, 29 May 2013 - 03:34 PM.

[Brunor]

Mazzyplz, on 29 May 2013 - 11:20 AM, said:

get a light mech to tag for your missiles, it's the single most broken tactic in the metagame right now.

It is also a tactic imported straight from TT Battletech, where again LRMs were not entirely deadly, but I had fun with them.

[mailin]

A couple of suggestions that haven't been offered yet. 1) maintain lock all the way until the missiles hit. I sometimes see players fire missiles and then switch targets mid-flight. If you do this, your missiles will not hit the target unless he's standing exactly where he was when you lost the lock. 2) Check the paper doll to see if your missiles are hitting. If they aren't, either switch targets or move until they are hitting.

[Edustaja]

A light mech tagging for lrm's is going to have face full of ppc in short order.

[mailin]

Edustaja, on 30 May 2013 - 01:31 AM, said:

A light mech tagging for lrm's is going to have face full of ppc in short order.

meh. If he does he's obviously not very good at his job. I run TAG on my 3L. No worries if you tag whoever is furthest in the back. (Of course this requires sneaking around behind the enemy.)

Edited by mailin, 30 May 2013 - 09:37 AM.