21 replies to this topic

[Tigersan]

I was spectating after i died, and some players have some kind of targetting assist, that helps with targetting. The middle circle part of the crosshair sorta snaps to the selected target. I was trying to find that module or pilot skill but I haven't found anything like that...

What is it?

Edited by Tigersan, 25 June 2013 - 03:05 PM.

[Koniving]

You're thinking of something called "Armlock disabled." It is not aim-assisted, it is manually controlled.

You can then use the left CTRL to take control of your secondary (arm) crosshair which is in the shape of a " o " mark.

The + is your torso weapons, the o is your arm weapons.

Displayed here in the very first few seconds.


To select a target (has nothing to do with the arm-aiming) you can press R. Now if you combine using your arms and R, you can have an easier time getting locks on enemies with your LRMs or Streaks.

Edited by Koniving, 25 June 2013 - 03:15 PM.

[Squatchy1390]

That my friend... is weapon convergence. Use the search function to search the forums and you'll find out what it does/ is all about. Should be numerous topics.

[Tigersan]

Scarin, on 25 June 2013 - 03:05 PM, said:

That my friend... is weapon convergence. Use the search function to search the forums and you'll find out what it does/ is all about. Should be numerous topics.

No, no Convergence is not what i was talking about. I'm literally talking about the "o" jumping around to aim the targeted mech before you even aim it manually.

Edited by Tigersan, 25 June 2013 - 03:15 PM.

[Koniving]

Tigersan, on 25 June 2013 - 03:15 PM, said:

No, no Convergence is not what i was talking about. I'm literally talking about the "o" jumping around to aim the targeted mech before you even aim it manually.

Refresh and see the video above.

That, right?

[Tigersan]

Koniving, on 25 June 2013 - 03:04 PM, said:

You're thinking of something called "Armlock disabled." It is not aim-assisted, it is manually controlled.

You can then use the left CTRL to take control of your secondary (arm) crosshair which is in the shape of a " o " mark.

The + is your torso weapons, the o is your arm weapons.

Displayed here in the very first few seconds.


To select a target (has nothing to do with the arm-aiming) you can press R. Now if you combine using your arms and R, you can have an easier time getting locks on enemies with your LRMs or Streaks.

Wait... so people are controlling both crosshairs separately? People actually add more effort to their targeting? i dont get it.

It looks like the crosshair is independent of the torso twisting, making it possible to aim faster.

Edited by Tigersan, 25 June 2013 - 03:24 PM.

[Jedan]

Tigersan, on 25 June 2013 - 03:17 PM, said:

Wait... so people are controlling both crosshairs separately? People actually add more effort to their targeting? i dont get it.

The idea is that your arms have a greater speed and range of motion than the torso, for example you may not be able to raise the torso enough to hit someone above you but you can raise the arms to do it. Its a little complicated I know.

[Tigersan]

Ahh got it now thx.

[B0oN]

Tigersan, on 25 June 2013 - 03:17 PM, said:

Spoiler

Wait... so people are controlling both crosshairs separately? People actually add more effort to their targeting? i dont get it.

It looks like the crosshair is independent of the torso twisting, making it possible to aim faster.

That is indeed coming from separately controlling arms from torso when your armlock is disengaged (look it up under your game options) plus when you have a big engine mounted it enables you to literally "whip" your arms around to target but dragging the torso a bit behind the arm movement because of mass inertia.

[Koniving]

It is a very handy technique that is lost among the new players and especially the PPC+Gauss users, but before those weapons were the big go-to, you could literally use your torso to fire at one thing and your arms to chase off the light that was harassing you without letting up on the main enemy.

For assaults this is a superbly important skill to learn especially if you find your team to be less than reliable or supportive.

From the community fail thread since it's related:

Koniving, on 24 June 2013 - 07:53 AM, said:

Even better are the people that think they know everything, try to tell you how to play, and then are completely dumbfounded and amazed when you start shooting two enemies at the same time and quickly destroy them.

"Dude, don't go out there you don't stand a chance. Go cap."
"Turn around you freakin' moron!"
"We can't afford to lose turn back!"

*Uses torso to shoot one slow enemy with autocannons and uses arms to shoot another faster enemy off to the side. Both die within a second of each other.*

"O_O How'd you do that!?"

"I R "

Edited by Koniving, 25 June 2013 - 04:03 PM.

[Kraven Kor]

Actually, the PPC / Gauss guys can get just as much utility out of this.

Take a Cataphract 1X. PPC's in the arms, Gauss in torso.

Shoot PPC's at guy off to left / right, Gauss at the guy in front of you.

Though generally, focusing one target at a time is optimal. Whether to split your shots or not is just a tactical decision based on the current situation - do you split damage because the shot is available, or do you wait on the perfect shot to hit with all weapons.

I actually suck at this, but have on occasion done the split firing thing to good effect. Probably more luck than skill, beyond the conscious choice to say "Hey, I can shoot this guy with torso guns, and that guy with lasers!" and trying it

That being said... the number of times I have taken out a mech that by rights should have cored me out, due to them having torso lock on and not being able to shoot far enough up, down, left, or right... is shocking.

Spectating is even worse. Watching AC/40 Jagers die to Blackjacks... because they don't know to, or just don't, turn off or toggle arm lock.

It can be challenging though, particularly with oddball slot layouts. Like the Cataphracts that have ballistics on Right Arm and Right Torso only.

I would recommend keeping arm lock off by default, and learning to toggle it as needed when you line up a shot.

[Tigersan]

Hey guys thanks for all the info i really appreciate it!
I'm still a newb and cant understand how people kill me so fast and it takes so much time for me to kill them... lol with Uac5, 3 Med Pulse lasers, Srm6. and LRM20. i guess i need to learn to aim better. lol

Edited by Tigersan, 26 June 2013 - 09:34 PM.

[B0oN]

Tigersan, on 26 June 2013 - 09:33 PM, said:

Hey guys thanks for all the info i really appreciate it!
I'm still a newb and cant understand how people kill me so fast and it takes so much time for me to kill them... lol with Uac5, 3 Med Pulse lasers, Srm6. and LRM20. i guess i need to learn to aim better. lol

Hells, that loadout is not to be trifled with.
Try and master it as it gives you many overlapping fields of fire and effective ranges :

-Start off softening up enemies with that LRM20, maybe tap a few Uac5 rounds in to "knock at the door"
-Try and keep enemies around 150-300 meters, in that zone your loadout is pure devastation as you can bring all weapons to bear ( keep in mind LRM´s hard minimum range of 180 meters, and SRM´s hard maximum range of 270; your mediumpulsers deal damage further out than 180meters, but have dropoff, maybe switch them for medlas and throw in some more heatsinks or ammo or whatever you feel necessary ) and deal horrific damage in a very short amount of time.

No one has perfect aim, but much of it can be made up with experience .

Edited by Rad Hanzo, 26 June 2013 - 10:04 PM.

[Tigersan]

Its the Heavy metal mech, so its heavy and slow 49kph so its only thing I dont like about it... hehe but ill try, it was equipped with gauss instead of UAC5 and med lasers instead pulse ones.

Edited by Tigersan, 26 June 2013 - 10:19 PM.

[B0oN]

Tigersan, on 26 June 2013 - 10:07 PM, said:

Its the Heavy metal mech, so its heavy and slow 49kph so its only thing i dont like about it... hehe but ill try, it was equipped with gauss instead of UAC5 and med lasers instead pulse ones.

The MedLas overlap better with the rest of your loadout, whereas the pulsers are quite close combat knifes.
Evil in unison with them SRM´s and the UAC up close.
LRM for luring them unsuspecting people in^^

[Tigersan]

Thanks for all the tips. I used to play MW2 Mercenaries years ago and i just love this game, when I learned about MWO i was like I just gotta try this! Only thing i was bummed out about that they didnt keep all the mech's and/or changed their names. My fav was always TimberWolf in MW2

Edited by Tigersan, 26 June 2013 - 10:23 PM.

[B0oN]

Rest assured, Tigersan, we shall have Maddogs, Timberwolves and Shadowcats one day ^^

[Tigersan]

Highlander kinda reminds me of Summoner from MW2

Edited by Tigersan, 26 June 2013 - 10:32 PM.

[Koniving]

Tigersan, on 26 June 2013 - 10:07 PM, said:

Its the Heavy metal mech, so its heavy and slow 49kph so its only thing I dont like about it... hehe but ill try, it was equipped with gauss instead of UAC5 and med lasers instead pulse ones.

Mine uses an AC/10 + AC/2, XL 330 engine, 2 ML, 1 flamer (I use it to blind people honestly), and 2 streaks. It's a great brawler and I use it to hunt down enemy PPC stalkers; but first I have to sneak up on them. Soon as you can change the paint color to basic green. This way you can hide it among the other regular highlanders.

People prioritize the Heavy Metal over other highlanders. You do not want to stand out.

(My colors.)


(Pretending to be a normal highlander.)

Edited by Koniving, 26 June 2013 - 11:32 PM.

[Dalziel Hasek Davion]

It's worth noting that some 'Mechs don't benefit from having arm lock off. The Stalker, for example, has no lateral arm movement at all - only up and down. I would normally advocate keeping arm lock switched on for 'Mechs like the Stalker, to improve weapon convergence, because you are not gaining much by unlocking the arms and the torso.

You can always use the left shift key to unlock the arms when you need to hit someone above you, or below. The amount of vertical movement in the Stalker's arms always amazes me and it's great on the Alpine map particularly.