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Pro Training Wheels: Abusing Arm Lock


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#61 RazorbeastFXK3

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Posted 04 November 2013 - 02:11 PM

I started playing Mechwarrior through Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries then graduated to Mechwarrior 3 then Mechwarrior 3 Online. I kind of liked how in MW3 you had the option for a Targeting Computer which took up a slot and added a tiny green circle which pinpointed a single bodypart on your opponent's mech.

It would adjust itself according to your movement and your opponent's movement so you knew where to aim your weapons to get a better chance at hitting your desired target.

The thing I miss is being able to just press the right-mouse button to cycle to the next weapon group. You only had one reticule and it would automatically adjust to whatever weapon you currently had selected. So if a target was in range it would turn green and if it was too far away it'd turn another color (at least I think that's how it worked.. been a while since I last played MW3.)

If you had weapons on your arms, they'd lock to your reticule whether you were on freelook or locked to your hud. One arm wouldn't cross over too far in front of you so you couldn't shoot your other arm off/damage yourself. If you were just using torso weapons the arms would disengage until you had a weapon mounted in one of the arms selected.

Found this video which shows in MW3 when you were walking/running the pov would bounce a bit.



More movement examples from MW3


Off topic: The missiles.. I noticed watching a few MWO videos the missiles automatically arc upward over the terrain to reach the target where in MW3 you had to adjust your aim to avoid having your missiles slam into the terrain.

Edited by RazorbeastFXK3, 04 November 2013 - 02:17 PM.


#62 n r g

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Posted 18 May 2014 - 08:52 PM

View PostVictor Morson, on 25 July 2013 - 02:54 PM, said:

Hey everybody, this short tutorial's purpose is to explain how to maximize the use of the Arm Lock system that is currently in the game. While it was intended to help newbies learn to pilot their 'mechs, it's become a highly powerful tool of snipers everywhere and utterly obliterates the need to worry about arm/torso guns in most situations.

So check it out. If you're not sure what Arm Lock is, it is a toggle in your options that link your arm and torso guns together. It is the sole reason that terror builds like the Cataphract 3D and Highlander 732 are so brutally accurate.

So without further ado:

Step 1 - Pick a Style

You have two styles to use Arm Lock seriously with. The first is to disable it in the options menu, and to utilize the default toggle press & hold key of L SHIFT to toggle it back on. This is the most common method.

The alternate style would be to leave it on in the options, and press and hold L SHIFT to enable arms, opposed to disabling them. Either style is equally effective and is a pilot preference.

Step 2 - Pick a 'Mech

You're going to want to exploit the maximum potential of this, so you'll want a 'mech with it's big guns split between the arms and torso, in particular on 'mechs with lower arm actuators. Thus I'd recommend a Highlander, Cataphract, Victor or the like running both arm & torso guns.

Step 3 - Pick a Target!

Now, you're in drop and you want to get a quick, accurate shot at someone. Simply move your arm target over what you want to shoot, enable Arm Lock and you will now snap into alignment!

If you aim too far from the torso reticule, they will "meet in the middle" and snap together at a different point, so try not to over extend. Small shifts, however, always favor where you're pointing the arm. The defensive ability of the fast torso twists is dubious at best because of this, at least!

In Conclusion

With a little practice, you'll be able to poptart with the best of them, because the instant you release your jump jets you can press shift on your target and send all of your arm & torso guns flying into a single location on the enemy 'mech!

As a result you only really want to put guns on the arms that you might use in an infight (and thus not want to align). Past that, it makes no difference as you can negate all disadvantages with a single press of the button.

So if you've always wondered how those big split-location 'mechs manage to obliterate you in a single shot.. this would be it. Now perhaps you can at least turn the tables!


Arm lock FTW

#63 SnagaDance

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Posted 19 May 2014 - 01:23 AM

Holy graverobbing threadomancy batman!

(at least it was for an insightful comment) :)

Like mine! :(

#64 TVMA Doc

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Posted 30 May 2014 - 09:38 AM

View PostFire and Salt, on 26 July 2013 - 05:57 AM, said:

I disagree with the word 'abusing'

Give me 1 logical reason where my super high tech walking robot cannot be made to point its arms in the same direction as its torso.

Because the mech doesn't have the ability to instantly swivel the torso as fast as the arms, yet abuse of the "turn arm lock off/on" feature suddenly allows the user to snap the torso around as fast as they can move their arms.

If you haven't noticed, there is a lag designed into the torso more so than the arms. This is an exploit that allows the torso to track faster than is intended.

#65 TVMA Doc

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Posted 30 May 2014 - 09:44 AM

View PostRoland, on 26 July 2013 - 01:10 PM, said:

It's kind of too bad that PGI effectively nerfed their own dual-reticle system, which was actually a pretty awesome implementation of the arm and torso weapons.

I suspect that they didn't intend for good players to just start using it for the advantage it conveys. It was originally designed for new players to prevent them getting confused and shooting their weapons down into the ground (which did in fact happen, all the freaking time... it was so painful to watch).

I'm kind of suspecting that next week we're gonna find that they're planning on putting 3PV into the same games as 1st person view players. While supposedly designed for new players to help them understand what is happening, all of the best players are going to immediately use it because it will convey a huge advantage and will become effectively required for competitive play, just as it was in non FFP games in Mechawarrior 4.

It could be "fixed" by not allowing the system to instantly snap the arms or torso into place when activated. For example, if my guns are not converged, pushing the button to turn on torso lock moves the arms at the natural movement speed for the arms and moves the torso at the natural movement speed of the torso. In other words, it would end up doing pretty much the same as not activating/deactivating the system.

I also disagree with it not being an exploit. Exploits don't just involve using outside software, they involve abusing a system for a completely unintended advantage. I see this as an exploit. It was clearly not intended to allow for faster than possible movement of a mech's torso.

#66 Kin3ticX

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Posted 30 May 2014 - 03:51 PM

View PostTVMA Doc, on 30 May 2014 - 09:38 AM, said:

Because the mech doesn't have the ability to instantly swivel the torso as fast as the arms, yet abuse of the "turn arm lock off/on" feature suddenly allows the user to snap the torso around as fast as they can move their arms.

If you haven't noticed, there is a lag designed into the torso more so than the arms. This is an exploit that allows the torso to track faster than is intended.


Well I had no idea this existed.

Edit: I went into the testing grounds and determined this all to be a myth. It takes about 3 seconds for a 733C to twist end to end with a STD 295. No matter how I jacked with the shift key, it still took the same time.

Edited by Kin3ticX, 30 May 2014 - 04:39 PM.


#67 MechWarrior5152251

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Posted 31 May 2014 - 03:46 PM

The "Noobs" are the ones that don't have it set locked on default. Anyone that knows what they are doing uses the shift key to unlock the arms when they need to shoot at UFOs or targets under foot, unless they are actively using arm weapons while facing away from fire.





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