49 replies to this topic

[Xeno Phalcon]

Fierostetz, on 11 November 2013 - 12:48 PM, said:

The locust is fine. IF the enemy sees you, you've already lost. Practice not being seen.

About a week back I was on Crimson Straight I fell through one of the holes in the garage roof and landed smack dab in the middle of six assaults/heavies with my locust.



I did actually survive the incident somehow, but felt kind of like will ferrell there.

[Almond Brown]

Stormtempter, on 10 November 2013 - 07:02 AM, said:

Too big, too slow, under armored, undergunned, no ECM or JJ, brittle legs, etc

Locust is designed for fail reconnaissance.

stuff

There is your issue...

Quote

Description

The Locust was one of the most common BattleMechs in existence, having been produced since the design was introduced by Bergan Industries in 2499. The Locust was built exclusively for reconnaissance.

[Trauglodyte]

Cimarb,

I appreciate that you love your Locusts. I've elited out all three chassis and am working to Master them now. But, that doesn't change the fact that they aren't designed/built right. The hit boxes may or may not be too big - it is too hard to tell given that they make up a disproportionate amount of the body. But, that they're short on armor and are too easy to hit makes the damn thing a coffin on legs. And, you can argue that the game has too much or just the right amount of damage output. But, the Locust, in stock form, carried an extreme amount of armor compared to other Light mechs and, given its speed, was pretty sturdy. In MW:O, everyone has 5x the amount of damage output than the stock versions which puts the already sub-armored Locust at an extreme disadvantage. Case in point, I got double legged last night by a Trebby that tossed a double SRM6 and a Large Laser and my legs were only yellow.

The poor mech just isn't built for this game and the weapons that you can carry either put you at an extreme disadvantage due to having to get close (SRMs, Md Lasers, and MGs) or are easily countered (LRMs) or both (Streaks).

[Kunae]

I would like to request my order of locust legs to be sauteed in butter and onions, with a dash of bourbon.

[Kingdom Come]

Yes, I too am finding it almost impossible to pilot of Locust. I am constantly losing my legs despite maximum armor. I rarely get a kill and rarely break a 100 damage. There is no good reason to play this mech other than in Conquest if you don't mind just base capping. You have to avoid most conflicts. Please make this mech viable. Thanks, KC

[Storm Khan]

RamsoPanzer, on 11 November 2013 - 01:43 PM, said:

Give it invisibility. Like harry potter.

That's called giving it an ECM slot isn't it?

Edited by Storm Khan, 12 November 2013 - 04:29 PM.

[Mad Strike]

Stormtempter, on 10 November 2013 - 07:02 AM, said:

Too big, too slow, under armored, undergunned, no ECM or JJ, brittle legs, etc

Locust is designed to fail.

It should be smaller, the 30%ish reduction suggested seems fair. It should be faster, by a good margin above and beyond the spiders and commandos. Not giving it ECM would be acceptable IF it had a better drop height allowance and/or JJs, even one JJ just to soften landings. An additional module slot for all variants to be better support mechs would also be nice. Thinning the leg hitboxes would be welcome as well.

Locust is designed for player who find a way to pilot it better. I get 200-300 dmg and 2-3 kills when i use it. Just practice with it and you´ll see.

Edited by strikebrch, 12 November 2013 - 04:36 PM.

[Mad Strike]

AussieHope, on 17 October 2013 - 01:46 AM, said:

Does anyone find it really annoying that 80% of the locust's height is it's legs, at least 60% of incoming damage seems to be distributed to their legs, yet it only has 16 armour on them?

Sure you can get some nice fire power out of them for their speed, but once you get up speed with an XL 190 you take a lot of leg damage just from running around on the map, then almost all direct damage falls on the already damaged legs and your mech is taken out before you can land more than a couple of shots.

I am really getting sick of receiving one shot leg removals, with no jump jets, no matter how good a pilot you are, you are going to take a few good hits but unlike the commando, which can take a few shots, with the Locust, almost everything falls on one of two leg hit boxes.

Please do something for this little mech, I would suggest tweaking the hit boxes, but if it's going to take damage every time it hits a bump just from running around on the map at 170kms, please re-distribute some armour from the arms and torso to the legs, or better yet let it carry a bit more armour and allocate the extra slots to the legs so we can buff them up and have a sporting chance.

Thanks

Just because theres people that can't pilot a mech doesn't mean is bad. So stop complaining and keep trying you'll see. Just give him one more oportunity ; it works.

Edited by strikebrch, 12 November 2013 - 04:41 PM.

[Storm Khan]

Kingdom Come, on 12 November 2013 - 03:31 PM, said:

Yes, I too am finding it almost impossible to pilot of Locust. I am constantly losing my legs despite maximum armor. I rarely get a kill and rarely break a 100 damage. There is no good reason to play this mech other than in Conquest if you don't mind just base capping. You have to avoid most conflicts. Please make this mech viable. Thanks, KC

The Locust is quite a hard mech to pilot. You have to learn to run away alot, hit & fade alot, almost never hang around and go after strays and loners when the opportunity presents. You have to use harassment and annoyance tactics like base capping to split enemy forces then run when they come after you or hide behind your team mates (both physically and behind their distractions). These are do-able with some luck and good sense on your part but the most annoying variant to master was the 1V. Can't mount any weapons of any use except maybe a single large laser. I ended up mastering that one on Conquest games....sigh. In the process of mastering all three I ended up dying alot too. I only need to take them out to polish now.

PS: my KDR for the locust is 0.8...yeesh.

Edited by Storm Khan, 12 November 2013 - 06:26 PM.

[Mad Strike]

Storm Khan, on 12 November 2013 - 04:45 PM, said:

The Locust is quite a hard mech to pilot. You have to learn to run away alot, hit & fade alot, almost never hang around and go after strays and loners when the opportunity presents. You have to use harassment and annoyance tactics like base capping to split enemy forces then run when they come after you or hide behind your team mates (both physically and behind their distractions). These are do-able with some luck and good sense on your part but the most annoying variant to master was the 1V. Can't mount any weapons of any use except maybe a single large laser. I ended up mastering one that on Conquest games....sigh. In the process of mastering all three I ended up dying alot too. I only need to take them out to polish now.

PS: my KDR for the locust is 0.8...yeesh.

Mine is:

1V : 2.71 .... 19 kills / 7 deads ....W/L 1.88.... 4 machine guns + 1 medium pulse laser.

3M: 1.39 .... 32 kills / 23 deads ...W/L 1.21....2 medium pulse lasers + 2 small pulse lasers + 1 medium laser

3S: 0.69 .... 11 kills / 16 deads ....W/L 0.57.....don't remember this ones loadout

Edited by strikebrch, 12 November 2013 - 05:39 PM.

[Cimarb]

Trauglodyte, on 12 November 2013 - 09:24 AM, said:

Cimarb,

I appreciate that you love your Locusts. I've elited out all three chassis and am working to Master them now. But, that doesn't change the fact that they aren't designed/built right. The hit boxes may or may not be too big - it is too hard to tell given that they make up a disproportionate amount of the body. But, that they're short on armor and are too easy to hit makes the damn thing a coffin on legs. And, you can argue that the game has too much or just the right amount of damage output. But, the Locust, in stock form, carried an extreme amount of armor compared to other Light mechs and, given its speed, was pretty sturdy. In MW:O, everyone has 5x the amount of damage output than the stock versions which puts the already sub-armored Locust at an extreme disadvantage. Case in point, I got double legged last night by a Trebby that tossed a double SRM6 and a Large Laser and my legs were only yellow.

The poor mech just isn't built for this game and the weapons that you can carry either put you at an extreme disadvantage due to having to get close (SRMs, Md Lasers, and MGs) or are easily countered (LRMs) or both (Streaks).

Not everyone was meant to pilot lights. Even with more experience in them, you obviously haven't gotten the hang of it, so it might just not be your cup of tea. I'm the same way with an Atlas and Catapult - I love mechs of all sizes, but I just can't get the feel for those two for some reason.

Kingdom Come, on 12 November 2013 - 03:31 PM, said:

Yes, I too am finding it almost impossible to pilot of Locust. I am constantly losing my legs despite maximum armor. I rarely get a kill and rarely break a 100 damage. There is no good reason to play this mech other than in Conquest if you don't mind just base capping. You have to avoid most conflicts. Please make this mech viable. Thanks, KC

I may cap if it is nearby, but I use it as a harasser more than anything. It's quite fun once you learn not to use it like a (broken) spider.

Storm Khan, on 12 November 2013 - 04:29 PM, said:

That's called giving it an ECM slot isn't it?

YES! That would be joyous!

strikebrch, on 12 November 2013 - 04:34 PM, said:

Locust is designed for player who find a way to pilot it better. I get 200-300 dmg and 2-3 kills when i use it. Just practice with it and you´ll see.

I agree. It's not for everyone, but neither is the Commando, Atlas or any other mech.

[Stormtempter]

Woooo, built for recon! So lets go attack the enemy, wait, can't do that, 'recon'. Lets go cap a point, wait, cant do that, 'recon'. Exactly how much recon is needed on a map that is about 1.5km across, as well as what purpose is there to having a mech in a game designed for combat that is not designed for at least a little combat?

All other lights can do recon just as easily, more so since some are faster, some have ECM and most have JJs. They all also can do a lot more in a fight - which again, is what this game is about.

It's all well and good that in lore they were recon mechs, the cheap disposable TIE fighters of Battletech, but in a competitive game where your modes of play are deathmatch and capture deathmatch that means absolutely nothing.

[Cimarb]

Stormtempter, on 12 November 2013 - 05:45 PM, said:

Woooo, built for recon! So lets go attack the enemy, wait, can't do that, 'recon'. Lets go cap a point, wait, cant do that, 'recon'. Exactly how much recon is needed on a map that is about 1.5km across, as well as what purpose is there to having a mech in a game designed for combat that is not designed for at least a little combat?

All other lights can do recon just as easily, more so since some are faster, some have ECM and most have JJs. They all also can do a lot more in a fight - which again, is what this game is about.

It's all well and good that in lore they were recon mechs, the cheap disposable TIE fighters of Battletech, but in a competitive game where your modes of play are deathmatch and capture deathmatch that means absolutely nothing.

I spot for my team, harass from 1000+ meters, and chase down wounded lights that my team can't keep up with. The Locust works just fine, and I regularly do 150-200+ damage with just my ERLL. Shoot, I have gotten three kills in a single match before, and I suck - you just have to play smart and not brawl.

[Mad Strike]

Cimarb, on 12 November 2013 - 06:31 PM, said:

I spot for my team, harass from 1000+ meters, and chase down wounded lights that my team can't keep up with. The Locust works just fine, and I regularly do 150-200+ damage with just my ERLL. Shoot, I have gotten three kills in a single match before, and I suck - you just have to play smart and not brawl.

Amén!!

[Training Instructor]

If the best thing you can think of do with them is sit back from super long range with ERLL, I've got news for you....

You can do the same thing, but do it a lot better, with a Raven 3L or Cicada 3M.

I'm not a good light pilot, and I've resorted to this ERLL tactic you've described, simply because knife-fighting range is more or less death for the locust if anyone who is SLIGHTLY competent decides it's time for you to die. The Locust works best against a pure lonewolfing completely disorganized opposing team. Because if you're hitting and running, eventually that heavy/assault will just drop out of line of fire of your team's heavies, and wait for you to come back. And then they'll probably kill you.

[aniviron]

The Locust: for those who like Ravens but were put off because the Raven just had too much armor.

[Trauglodyte]

It does continue to amaze me how often I get double legged in an alpha. I was capping a node in a Mordor Conquest game and had a little damage to my legs but still had external armor and a Tbolt came up and pushed one button and simultaneously removed both legs.

I feel like the Headless Horseman but in reverse every game - all hail the Legless Locust.

[Cimarb]

Training Instructor, on 12 November 2013 - 10:34 PM, said:

If the best thing you can think of do with them is sit back from super long range with ERLL, I've got news for you....

You can do the same thing, but do it a lot better, with a Raven 3L or Cicada 3M.

I'm not a good light pilot, and I've resorted to this ERLL tactic you've described, simply because knife-fighting range is more or less death for the locust if anyone who is SLIGHTLY competent decides it's time for you to die. The Locust works best against a pure lonewolfing completely disorganized opposing team. Because if you're hitting and running, eventually that heavy/assault will just drop out of line of fire of your team's heavies, and wait for you to come back. And then they'll probably kill you.

Oddly enough, I don't really care for either of those ostriches. The Locust, Jenner and Spider are the only lights I have enjoyed so far, though I guess that is about half of them now...

Honestly, I am having fun with it whether you like it or not, so I'm not too worried about it. I enjoy peeling individuals off of a group and making them chase me - that is one less person ganging up on others in my team. Being in a locust, they also think I am an easy kill (which is more or less true sometimes, depending on their luck hitting me), so I am great bait.

I only PUG, so that may color my experience quite a bit compared to yours. I have tried the five ML, the one ML+4MG, ML+SSRMs, etc, and none of the other builds is as fun for me as the sniper ERLL build.

[Cimarb]

Cody Furlong, on 13 November 2013 - 01:54 PM, said:

Really, I have to agree with those that say the armor needs to be upped a bit, I myself am growing tired of always starting the match with at least one, if not more body parts in the yellow, simply because the rest of the team didn't feel like going around me, or from just barely grazing up against a rock, or wall or tree. It's ridiculous when you can get 'team killed' simply from backing up into one of your larger team mates while trying to get under cover, or just get run over by them in their haste to suicide rush the enemy.

Just wait until we have collisions back - fun times to be had by all (assaults)!

[Trauglodyte]

Cimarb, on 13 November 2013 - 02:10 PM, said:

Just wait until we have collisions back - fun times to be had by all (assaults)!

I actually thought about that the other night as I got scraped up by an Assault (or earlier this morning when I tried to back up and got boxed in my an Assault). Are we going to fall down every time someone touches us?