7 replies to this topic

[Supermagicman]

Been playing for a little over a month now and I've noticed something: shoulder fired weapons have a huge advantage over arm fired. It's why the majority of mechs played in matches are either Jagr's, Cats or Stalkers. Heck, some of the matches I'm in half the mechs on my team are Jagr's. I've tried playing mech's with arm fired weapons, it's an exercise in futility, spend most of my time shooting into the dirt. Maybe I'm missing something.

[Lyrik]

Do you have Arm Lock disabled? ;-)

Shoulder Weapons can fire over obstacles, that is their advantage.

Arm Weapons can fire in different arcs than torso mounted weapons, so you could fire at two targets simultaneously. Or you can fire at targets below or above your mech.

[Robin Wolf]

Disable arm lock, learn to use arm-mounted weapons. When you do it, you'll find that arm-mounted weapons can be perhaps the best thing after sliced bread

[Ravaana]

Personally, I prefer my arm weapons. And once you have gotten used to the different Mechs, and firing arcs, when arm lock is disabled I think you will too.

It took me about a month or so, once I disabled the arm locks, to get used to the new style of game play. But, the ability to fire at different angles or off to the side to continue hitting that light mech that is just out of my front arc is wonderful. And I use it, religiously, on my lights for strafing runs. Or to make sure that my small lasers are hitting the precise spots that I want them to.

The shoulder weapons, though, can be far more powerful in other situations.

Happy hunting, Mech Warrior

[Itsalrightwithme]

Supermagicman, on 09 September 2013 - 03:19 AM, said:

Been playing for a little over a month now and I've noticed something: shoulder fired weapons have a huge advantage over arm fired. It's why the majority of mechs played in matches are either Jagr's, Cats or Stalkers. Heck, some of the matches I'm in half the mechs on my team are Jagr's. I've tried playing mech's with arm fired weapons, it's an exercise in futility, spend most of my time shooting into the dirt. Maybe I'm missing something.

You have to learn each mech (and mech variant)'s geometry. Cataphract arms are slung very low. Jager arms are mounted above the cockpit line. Atlas arms aren't low by absolute measure, but they are well below your cockpit. Stalker arms are slightly above the cockpit line.

When brawling, it is a great advantage to have truly actuated arms. They move a lot faster than your torso can turn. That's why a Victor with AC20 in the arm is very deadly even as a fast mech tries to circle it. In my opinion everybody should learn how to use their arms effectively. There are cases where it may be better to use arm lock so that your torso and arm weapons point and hit the same location. A great example is the 3xuAC5 Ilya Muromets.

Continue to learn the intricate art of mechwarrior, young padawan .... !

[Victor Morson]

I think he means high mounted guns which, indeed, are always preferable when possible. Unfortunately most build with good high mounts are also terrible in other ways.

[Supermagicman]

I do mean "high mounted" weapons. I've played multiple mechs off all sizes, arms unlocked, there's just no contest between high mounted and low arm mounted mechs. My Jagr can articulate up/down just as well as arms can and rotate just as quickly. Put him in a situation where he's playing peekaboo over a hill and he dominates any mech with arm mounted weapons.

[Pastor Priest]

Supermagicman, on 09 September 2013 - 08:32 AM, said:

I do mean "high mounted" weapons. I've played multiple mechs off all sizes, arms unlocked, there's just no contest between high mounted and low arm mounted mechs. My Jagr can articulate up/down just as well as arms can and rotate just as quickly. Put him in a situation where he's playing peekaboo over a hill and he dominates any mech with arm mounted weapons.

And that is exactly what the Jager excels at: using high mount ballistics to fire from cover. It's original intent was ranged direct fire support. However, against a good light pilot, or even a fast medium, you lack of lateral arm movement can put you at a disadvantage. The benefits of actuated vs. non-actuated arms just comes down to how you want to play the mech. Brawlers and light hunters benefit from sidewaysarm movement, and fire support enjoys high mounted weaponry.