10414 replies to this topic

[Tesunie]

Rogue Jedi, on 20 January 2017 - 09:28 AM, said:

150 team damage sounds bad but many of us have had games, like that time in a Run Hot or Die tournoument match when I dropped arty on the enemy location at the same time as our drop caller ordered everyone to push, I finished the game with 3 kills, unfortunately the enemy team all survived the match.

As for 300 damage against just a Light Mech, that sounds a bit suspicious, yes a 35 ton Mech does have enough armor and structure to survive that much damage but it certainly should not have much if any armor left and would most likely have destroyed componants

I did that again (twice!) last night with my unit. Placed a strike in the middle of the enemy, only to see a teammate in a Night Gyr fall down from a cliff above and right into the smoke. End of match, another 100+ team damage (but no penalty that time). Then, in the second match, I drop a strike near an enemy Nova high up between two buildings near the center of Mining Colony. No allies where near him or behind him... Another 100+ team damage! (I don't even... Starting to wonder why I even bring those anymore...)


As for causing 300 damage to a single light mech... It happened. I'm not joking. It was the only target I shot at, I wasted tons of ammo from my 2 AC2, 2 AC5 and 2 PPC King Crab on the single mech. I didn't even penetrate it's armor and it's structure was pristine. I died with all that damage at the end of match score, enemy team wiped out, and only one assist (meaning I only hit that light mech). I also had it happen when I've used SRMs before against a target, same end results. Enough end of match damage dealt to kill an assault mech, one assist, and my target was a light mech.

I will remark, this was some time ago, like when FW first game out time frame... I can't say I've seen it repeated in some time. But the simple fact that it's happened to me not even once but several times in the past...

[DavidStarr]

Tesunie, on 20 January 2017 - 10:02 AM, said:

Look at the merc progression line. I do believe that there are mechbays to be found as the rewards. I'd have to boot up my game to find out where exactly to locate it, but it's either in or near where the loyalist progression is...

Found it, thanks. That's 1 or 2 mechbays period (depending on how much one is willing to play), not 1 or 2 per faction. So not a great deal but worth going through it once.

[Tesunie]

DavidStarr, on 20 January 2017 - 02:09 PM, said:

Found it, thanks. That's 1 or 2 mechbays period (depending on how much one is willing to play), not 1 or 2 per faction. So not a great deal but worth going through it once.

Go through the merc enough to get those mechbays (at least one), then cycle through each faction enough to get the rank 2 mechbays (eventually).

They made it a lot harder to change loyalist factions, but in my opinion for the better. However, they may have made it a bit too easy for mercs to change, but I'm uncertain on how I feel about that part...


Just remember, as a merc go where the money is. Pick a side of the conflict and see which one offers the best contract rates. As a merc, you gain merc points and it doesn't matter which faction you specifically pick as you gain those points.

[Nightwulf26]

can any one tel me the Download speed of the client?

thank you

[Koniving]

Depends on a lot of things.
Internet. Location. Etc.
The client is usually pretty fast. Though I prefer to use the Steam version instead.

[Guile Votoms]

When the new skill system is added, will we also receive experience refunds for mechs we sold or used as trials?

[Tesunie]

Guile Votoms, on 22 January 2017 - 07:12 PM, said:

When the new skill system is added, will we also receive experience refunds for mechs we sold or used as trials?

Any mech that has spent experience on any skills we know will get that experience changed to legacy GXP.

Any experience not spent yet... We just don't know. I would imagine that PGI would reimburse some of that somehow... But I can't say for certain.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

Also, keep in mind the new skill tree system is first showing up on the Private Test Server. So we will have adequate time to take a look at it and figure out if we will get screwed in certain aspects. In which case, we can possibly petition PGI to fix any inequities.

I should also mention the fact that the new system is showing up under the PTS highly implies that replacement of the current system is not a forgone conclusion. I say this based on the fact that the majority of concepts in PTS do not see the light of day in the actual game.

That said, I look forward to the new system. If done correctly I think it could be a very good thing, plus a lot of us are just plain bored with the game.

[Insufferable Smartypants]

What is that little red tower icon near my crosshair? It's definitely not an A, but it kind of looks like one. The Alpha, Bravo etc target indicators are a different font.

Seriously, I see it pop up from time to time and its driving me crazy.

[DavidStarr]

It's an arrow. It's pointing to something. You can find out what by following it.
... or at least I think so

[Rogue Jedi]

I am pretty sure that is to tell you you cannot currently see your target because it is hidden by your advanced zoom window

[DavidStarr]

How does Artemis actually work? There doesn't seem to be any visual clue to its activation. Does it turn on-off immediately, or with a delay? Do I need to see the whole target for it to work? The target's shoulder or head? Three pixels of the target's arm?..

Edited by DavidStarr, 24 January 2017 - 09:59 AM.

[Tesunie]

Jack J Hunter, on 24 January 2017 - 02:19 AM, said:

What is that little red tower icon near my crosshair? It's definitely not an A, but it kind of looks like one. The Alpha, Bravo etc target indicators are a different font.

Seriously, I see it pop up from time to time and its driving me crazy.

Okay, from what I can gather from the picture, I think someone used the command wheel to say "Help!". If that is the case, than it could be an indicator from that (I still can't seem to get that command wheel thingy to work).

Beyond that... No idea. All I can see from this screenshot is that the A or arrow or whatever it happens to be, does seem to be directly in line with an enemy target from your minimap. So best I can say is it is most likely related to that...

DavidStarr, on 24 January 2017 - 09:59 AM, said:

How does Artemis actually work? There doesn't seem to be any visual clue to its activation. Does it turn on-off immediately, or with a delay? Do I need to see the whole target for it to work? The target's shoulder or head? Three pixels of the target's arm?..

Last I knew, Artemis has several affects that each depend upon specific conditions.
- It always increases lock on speeds from what I can tell, rather you have line of sight or not.
- Depending upon the point within it's flight path, LRMs will track better and have more turning points if you can see your target. LRMs have set spots in it's flight path that it is permitted to change direction (tracking), Artemis adds in additional points in that path where it can change it's direction, but only if you can see the target when the LRM is at one of those "additional points". Otherwise it will not.
- The direct line of sight needs to be enough of the mech to be able to get a target lock. For some reason, that seems to be a variable portion I can't describe. I've had it where I could see most all of an enemy mech before except for their very center from a cable, and I couldn't get a lock. Other times, I see just a shoulder and I've got the lock. If you wouldn't be able to lock them on your own (for any reason), than Artemis wont take affect. (TAG is a little better in this regards, as in if you can hit the 2 pixels sticking out of a corner, you can get your own lock then and have all the benefits of TAG. A bit more defined when it's taking affect, but at the same time a bit more work too.)
- Artemis is naturally always on and as soon as it can take affect, than it does.

[Tier5 Kerensky]

Jack J Hunter, on 24 January 2017 - 02:19 AM, said:

What is that little red tower icon near my crosshair? It's definitely not an A, but it kind of looks like one. The Alpha, Bravo etc target indicators are a different font.

Seriously, I see it pop up from time to time and its driving me crazy.

OK I figured it out. It's enemy that's in the area of advanced zoom, that you have not targetted.

Edited by Teer Kerensky, 24 January 2017 - 01:43 PM.

[Tesunie]

Teer Kerensky, on 24 January 2017 - 01:30 PM, said:

If I would have to bet on it, I would think it's untargetted enemy.

So the verdict is in. The experts... Don't exactly know what it is at this time.

All we know is it's related to the enemy somehow. Maybe... THEY ARE HACKING YOUR HUD! OH NO!
(I couldn't resist.)

[Jingseng]

Jack J Hunter, on 24 January 2017 - 02:19 AM, said:

What is that little red tower icon near my crosshair? It's definitely not an A, but it kind of looks like one. The Alpha, Bravo etc target indicators are a different font.

Seriously, I see it pop up from time to time and its driving me crazy.

It means:
1) Red - it is an enemy target
2) Weird A - someone on your team has it targeted (this has been my experience in game, and is confirmed by your pic - you do not have LOS on the target, therefore for it to show up, someone else must)

[DavidStarr]

Tesunie, on 24 January 2017 - 11:15 AM, said:

- The direct line of sight needs to be enough of the mech to be able to get a target lock. For some reason, that seems to be a variable portion I can't describe.

So for LRMs, the usefulness of Artemis is debatable, it seems to me? TAG is a bit harder to use, and more work, but it's more reliable and at least you can tell if it works or not. And it's just one ton and one slot.
I'm only speaking about the missile spread effect, and tag also counters ECM which never hurts.

[Tesunie]

DavidStarr, on 24 January 2017 - 11:31 PM, said:

So for LRMs, the usefulness of Artemis is debatable, it seems to me? TAG is a bit harder to use, and more work, but it's more reliable and at least you can tell if it works or not. And it's just one ton and one slot.
I'm only speaking about the missile spread effect, and tag also counters ECM which never hurts.

I believe (as you have said yourself, it's hard to tell) that as long as you had line of sight on the last missile course correction, that Artemis will still tighten the spread for you. Same with TAG, if the affects are on the target at the missiles last course correction, than it will have that tighter spread.

For the most part, TAG and Artemis bonuses stack on each other, so when in doubt and if you can... Why not both?

Of course, I say that with the concept that you'll be using your LRMs mostly with line of sight. If you have taken LRMs as a primarily indirect means of attack for your mech, and don't intend to use LRMs when in direct line of sight, than... Bypass the upgrades all together. I have many mechs without Artemis or TAG that utilize LRMs. Then again, those designs have only a small amount of LRMs, and are used only while moving into position most times...

AKA: Depends upon what you are wishing and expecting to get out of those LRMs... (If you have only SSRMs... ALWAYS TAKE THE ARTEMIS! Faster lock on times, no added weight. Free upgrade (as far as weight and crit slots goes).)


PS: It also depends upon the size of your LRM launchers. Boating just LRM5 launchers? Not worth the weight. Got some LRM15-20s? Probably should have Artemis at that point. LRM10s? They are the odd ones, and can work well with as well as without Artemis.

Edited by Tesunie, 24 January 2017 - 11:38 PM.

[DavidStarr]

Tesunie, on 24 January 2017 - 11:36 PM, said:

Of course, I say that with the concept that you'll be using your LRMs mostly with line of sight. If you have taken LRMs as a primarily indirect means of attack for your mech, and don't intend to use LRMs when in direct line of sight, than... Bypass the upgrades all together.

I perfectly understand what you're saying, and it makes a lot of sense. But I'm of a different mind, actually.
Let's first consider a pure LRM platform with no direct fire weaponry or very little of it. I say take TAG, Artemis, or both. Reasoning:
1. You can probably spare the tonnage and the slots, and still retain enough ammo.
2. Having one or both of Artemis / TAG will force you to maintain line of sight on the enemy. Doing that will provide one more mech for the enemy to shoot at, so you will share your armor and distract the enemy from your teammates. Any shot fired at you is a shot not fired at your teammates, so as long as you hide in time and live long enough, it's all good.
3. You will deal less spread damage and kill the enemies faster. Killing enemies faster is always a big contributor to your chance of victory.

Now let's consider a hybrid mech - one that has LRMs for long to mid-range fire support, and has a significant array of direct fire weaponry as well (usually fit for short to mid range engagements). I'd say that a hybrid mech is one that has 30%-60% of its firepower in missiles.
1. Such mechs usually don't have much tonnage to spare. They have somewhere between little LRM ammo and not-too-much LRM ammo, and may be starving on slots, too. Taking Artemis will tax them too much more often than not. TAG is more affordable, but you may still be better off just taking one more ton of LRM ammo. Or one more ton of ballistic ammo if the primary weapon is dakka, for example.
2. If you take TAG, you have to manage at least 3 weapon groups which may be inconvenient (it is for me, even though I have a gaming keyboard with extra configurable buttons, and I'm using a macro to toggle TAG on/off so that I don't have to keep the button pressed).
3. The LRM firepower of such mechs is not huge, hence enhancing the missile spread will not result in much shorter time to kill (it's a percentage gain).

So my point is, while hybrid boats will naturally have enemies in their line of sight often, which means that Artemis will naturally work, it will not grant as big a benefit as it would to a dedicated LRM platform.

Thoughts?..

Edited by DavidStarr, 25 January 2017 - 12:06 AM.

[Tier5 Kerensky]

For real LRM boats with little or no other weapons, I think best way to play, is minimize your exposure.

You can't take damage on your allies behalf. If they take more damage than what their class brings to the table as armor, that's because what they do, not what you don't do.

Majority of mechs shoot their payload fast and then hide to weapon cooldown and possibly heat cool off. LRMs always take longer time, just to get lock. If you expose yourself you just donate your armor to the enemy. It's up to other brawlers to sync their peek-a-boo routine together.

If it's a close game, the LRM boat's armor will be needed in end game, one way or another it usually gets used.

So, specially for heavies with many missile hardpoints, where you should use the lowest rated tubes for tightest spead which allows you to fill your tonnage with tubes and missiles, using artemis might not be worth it. It's a lot of extra baggage and your chances of using it is less. Tag on the other hand, is fairly light. You can use it when you have a chance, if you can't, it won't matter much.


Artemis might be better with low amount of missile hardpoints, mixed builds and smaller faster mechs specially with ECM.