16 replies to this topic

[Wolfways]

I wasn't playing in June when LRM damage was reduced to 1.1.
Can someone please tell me why this change was made?

[FupDup]

Actually, 1.1 was an increase over the previous value of 0.9 in May.

[Deathlike]

FupDup, on 18 October 2013 - 05:08 PM, said:

Actually, 1.1 was an increase over the previous value of 0.9 in May.

I think it's related to why it's down that low, down from 1.8 prior to lurmageddon.

[Johnny Reb]

Lrms are fine right now!

[Zordicron]

At some point, the flight path for LRM was altered. They used to be fairly flat, somewhat easy to get behind cover from. many thought too easy, and the dmg was at a fairly high point to counter that idea, so when they hit they did good dmg. Then the trajectory was changed, especially with Artemis. Missiles could now be fired at targets, and the game would compute how high the missiles would have to go to clear the obstruction. So now missiles could arc WAy up and over things.

So then we hard LURMAGGEDON 2. People were getting blown to bits by nearly impossible to escape LRM boats. Even 30M high rocks were no match for LRM's, they dropped straight out of the sky on top of people anyway.

So then rthey hacked dmg. Big time. LRM's were pathetic, so wimpy players would ignore a LRM boat and cross open fields at leisurely paces, stopping to do dances and take naps while being slammed with huge salvos for little dmg.

Tweaking was done to LRM flight paths, groupings altered to try to keep them all from hitting CT so much, trajectory fiddled with to allow 30M tall rocks to provide cover, etc. Dmg was upped slightly. nd then I think slightly again a little later.

And now we have what most would say to be the best balance place LRM have been in a long long time, maybe the best.

And then they will fix HSR, and LRM's will hit like a freegin truck and they will have to start over. Well that last part here is unofficial, but reality is liek many multihit weapons LRM effectiveness varies player to player based on hit detection.

but thats sort of another topic. Basically, LRm's are different then long ago, but better balanced as a whole. Solid for dmg and area control, but not so strong they dictate all movement on the battlefield.

[xe N on]

I sometimes play my Catapult LRM boats as alternative to my K2. LRMs will be more or less balanced if the effectivity of ECM is reduced. LRMs could be a little bit faster and use a more direct flight path if a target is in LoS.

Currently, compared to by K2 my LRM boats score less damage and less kills in average. Nevertheless, they provide nice fire support and - that's the important point - scare lights away.

Edited by xe N on, 18 October 2013 - 11:29 PM.

[Wolfways]

Deathlike, on 18 October 2013 - 05:11 PM, said:

I think it's related to why it's down that low, down from 1.8 prior to lurmageddon.

Yeah i thought i remembered them being at 1.8.
I see a lot of people saying they are balanced now. Personally i think that other than the two days they were OP because they dropped vertically onto mechs they have always been UP. I have a Catapult but don't use it because LRM's are one of the worst weapons in the game. When they hit they do little damage and it's extremely rare to get killed by them.

Well thanks for the replies.

[CravenMadness]

played won lost ratio kills deaths ratio time played
CATAPULT CPLT-A1 1,103 / 612 / 488 / 1.25 / 1,027 / 594 / 1.73 / 4 days 08:14:14

played fired hit accuracy time equipped damage done
LRM 15 1,347 / 771,649 / 238,475 / 30.90% / 5 days 05:50:36 / 221,170
STREAK SRM 2 1,806 / 119,207 / 83,782 / 70.28% / 6 days 22:29:30 / 143,470

This is my A1 build... 2xlrm 15 with arti, 4xssrm 2. Has been almost since I started playing, still run it to this day almost predominately.

Then there's this:
MEDIUM LASER 1,528 / 64,646 / 56,122 / 86.81% / 5 days 15:24:23 / 137,589

nearly the same amount of time mounted, nearly the same number of matches played, only taken about 13% of the shots (from lrm and ssrm combined) about 5% of the hits (from lrm and ssrm combined) and in the end, the damage is almost 1/3 of those two weapon systems combined.

I'd still say lrms are under-powered, easily avoidable, and with far too many hard-counters and reliance on multiple 6m c-bill mods and team mates that might hold a lock for you if they can.

Oh, also don't forget they've taken out splash damage for lrms and streaks since people kept crying about damage transference. And I haven't heard about it coming back at all anytime soon.

Edited by CravenMadness, 19 October 2013 - 06:34 AM.

[Zyllos]

LRMs do need to change a lot.

They shouldn't be shutdown by ECM so hard. LRM launcher sizes need to act in the same way (LRM/5 mainly only hits torso sections while LRM/20 just spreads it's damage and even misses). Needs more focus on accurate deliverance of LRMs to a target with gear but not enough focus so that players by themselves are not worthless.

[Randalf Yorgen]

Wolfways, on 19 October 2013 - 12:28 AM, said:

Yeah i thought i remembered them being at 1.8.
I see a lot of people saying they are balanced now. Personally i think that other than the two days they were OP because they dropped vertically onto mechs they have always been UP. I have a Catapult but don't use it because LRM's are one of the worst weapons in the game. When they hit they do little damage and it's extremely rare to get killed by them.

Well thanks for the replies.

If you have a good supporting team you might want to look at the Stalker that you can put 4x lrm 20's on with 2000+ lrms. Yea your a little slow and a litle thin but with 3 salvos = 240 damage even the biggest Atlas will be scared to stick it's head up inthe open. Needs a Kintaro and a (Dragon, Jenner, Ciccada) for close support but even then the raw Fire Power of that Stalker more than makes up for keeping one or two mechs back in defence.

[MonkeyDCecil]

I just wish their flight speed would be increased. I think their damage and grouping are fine. As for ECM blocking them, get over it PGI will never change it. I am not saying get over ti to be mean, but PGI have said many time that there are no plans to change how ECM works. If they increase LRMs flight speed, then LRMs will be perfect.

[Kitane]

Instead of buffing the missile damage, they should buff the hit registration against fast moving mechs.

I don't want to wipe out a Jenner in the open with 2 40 missile volleys. But I don't want to see that 40 missile volley buffed with Artemis hit a Tagged heavy running at 80km/h and do 1% damage.

LRMs are effective against slow targets regardless of their size, but anything with speed of 75 or higher has to be slowly grinded down with volleys doing only a fraction of their damage.

[Wolfways]

Randalf Yorgen, on 19 October 2013 - 06:59 AM, said:

If you have a good supporting team you might want to look at the Stalker that you can put 4x lrm 20's on with 2000+ lrms. Yea your a little slow and a litle thin but with 3 salvos = 240 damage even the biggest Atlas will be scared to stick it's head up inthe open. Needs a Kintaro and a (Dragon, Jenner, Ciccada) for close support but even then the raw Fire Power of that Stalker more than makes up for keeping one or two mechs back in defence.

I only PUG atm, but i don't see why LRM's should be the only weapon where you need good teamwork to be viable (viable as in as good as other weapons).
The main argument as to why AC's are better than lasers is that they weigh a lot and are ammo dependent. Well so are LRM's, but i think that there's a mindset that wrongfully believes that as missiles lock on they are an easy to use "noob weapon" where you just sit behind a hill and press a button....mostly by those who haven't tried using them.
Plus as you pointed out, to be effective LRM's need to be boated to be useful, making the LRM mech basically a free kill at close range.

[Barantor]

Indirectly fired LRMs (behind a hill, etc) are exactly where they need to be.

The only change I would make would be that direct fire LRMS (when you have line of sight to the target) need to have a flatter trajectory and go a bit faster. The dps should go up if the risk of return fire is there. Artemis helps some and tag helps with targetting, but lobbing lrms into the stratosphere when I am 300m from an atlas I have line of sight on doesn't make any sense. The travel time is too long, and I am better off hoping that a teammate gets a lock for me than risking my own neck.... which to me is pretty dumb.

[RandomLurker]

I'm having amazing results with my BLR-1s. Artemis+Tag make for some really tight groupings on the CT, and a good missile blob will drop the damage of an AC/40 on the target. At 200-500m, it stops heavies and mediums in their tracks. With a couple strong backup weapons to finish off, I rack up a lot of kills. When I don't get swarmed by lights in the first 2 minutes because my team sucks, anyway.

Indirect fire and LRM spamming is not very good, nor should it be. It's way to easy to pull off shots that way, so those shots should not be fully effective. What it's good for is suppression and supplemental damage for your teams brawlers. Having the ability to make anyone duck behind cover at will is a powerful tactic as well.

The only thing I have a problem with is the travel time to max range, which is over 10 seconds. That's way to long to have any chance of hitting something. LRMs are currently, despite the name, a medium-range weapon.

[xe N on]

The problem that LRMs facing currently is the same as laser-builds: the team with the most autocannons wins.

Autocannons need to be nerfed seriously. While my LRM and PPC Cats get between 200-400 damage per match, my K2 with AC gets 400-800. So, there is definitly something wrong.

[Deathlike]

I played 2 games last late night where Lurms blocked the sun and the moon. It was glorious.

Then again, it wouldn't happen if people weren't spotting for the Lurmboats.

Rare moments happen and can work in certain situations.

It's not that generally effective w/o coordination.