BarHaid, on 27 August 2013 - 11:09 AM, said:
Since this thread is so far afield already, let me ask this: Who here has seen their W/L or K/D ratio climb because of 3PV? Who has been suffering because of it? I my own lowly PUG hell, I have seen ZERO effect. What's your anecdote?
I've been practicing with it quite a bit actually. Can't really have an educated opinion on something if you're not willing to invest effort into educating yourself on it.
Value for assaults is minimal compared to seismic, save for snipers. On my Victor brawlers I use it to get a little more situational awareness when I'm approaching the enemy position for the jump-and-hump.
LRM boats are a whole other matter, being able to stay completely out of LOF and still identify my targets is VERY helpful. For example on Forest Colony you can sit in sniper-proof safety and watch for someone to go water or into a clearing, THEN pop out, target and tag then rain fire. Even more valuable is the loss of disorientation when getting in LRM duels. You know when you're trading LRM fire with another mech? In 3PV you don't suffer from the same blindness that getting LRMed gives you. You can still fully see the orientation of your mech and position of your target. On Frozen City for example my Highlander was trading LRMs with a Stalker. I was in the buildings (south side) he was coming through the middle of the broken dropship. We lit each other up, probably both packing 60 tubes and staggering to avoid ghost heat. He started to back up but was clearly blinded/disoriented by getting hit. He was off target and wasn't actually moving back into cover but since he couldn't see he couldn't tell. I also moved out of his 'tag'. Conversely I could see him clearly and kept my tag on him. I also drifted half-behind cover and took far less damage. I cored him while only taking low to moderate damage.
Sniping assaults/slow heavies it's terribly valuable. Ridge-humping you can see the type and position of your target before you rise as well as who's pointing at you. Corner-leaning there's a trick to it - you move towards the edge then look BACK to shift your 3PV further around the corner. For example if I'm coming up on a corner on my right I look back to my left, swinging my 3PV back to see further around the corner. Trading shots around the rocks on Tourmaline this has proved significant. Takes practice to use though.
Mediums and fast heavies though, that's where the money is. I've taken my 4G hunchie up to almost 2.5 KDR and almost a 2.0 win/loss, up from barely half that on both. The ability to see where the assaults are, the brawlers and snipers, before you get shot is a make or break for a medium. A well designed striker medium is faster and carries almost the same firepower as a heavy but he price is 1/2 the armor. The better situational awareness lets you avoid those sudden, unexpected sniper hits, LRMs and 'walk around a corner into 4 mech' moments that may not kill you right then but leave you so damaged that you're too chewed up to last the fight.
Lights... depends on the goal. Mostly I find it good for scouting. The ability to be completely safe from enemy fire while typing out the composition of the enemy team is invaluable for that - I can spend a full minute or two just counting and identifying enemy mechs and positions and typing it out for my team, absolutely immune to enemy fire. Doesn't matter if they see me - it's good if they do. Drawing 2 or 3 or 4 enemy mechs off to chase my Jenner around while my team takes advantage of the numerical superiority their absence brings is perfect.
Sometimes the 3PV drone draws fire. Not always bad though; on maps with poor visibility (trees on Forest for example) I'm finding people are shooting high or behind when I'm moving thinking that the light is literally directly over my head, which it isn't. Worst case scenario you switch back to 1PV, wait 15 or 20 seconds for their attention to waiver and move on.
I don't fight in 3PV. I pop in and out of it dozens of times in a match. The compass at the top also gives you leg/torso facing information for orientation as well as shows blips for friendly and enemy mechs making up most of what's lost with the minimap being gone. You can also pop back and forth, keeping the 3PVs situational awareness and routinely checking the map.
Most people don't use it because they want to pretend it's not there. They don't want to think of it as useful and since so few people are using it against them they aren't seeing otherwise. As more people take the time to get good at it and people start to see the advantage more and more (when it's used against them) it'll get used more and more. PPC/Gauss snipers were the same way.