19 replies to this topic

[travelbug]

so i built an ssrm mech and im having some issues with the streaks.
my first issue is that when firing 4 ssrm2's, damage seems to spread all over the target mech. ive used srms before and the splash was never this bad. is this almost random spread of damage with streaks normal? will switching to chainfire make the ssrms target the ct better?

also is damage take of this weapon directional? if i hit the back of a mech will the rear torsos take most of the damage?


tia

[DonGardenio]

From what I read, there's a 15% chance of an SRM hitting any body part or something like that, sans the head. And if you alpha them, they are pretty much guaranteed to spread out all over the place.

I chain fire mine.

[Geek Verve]

DonGardenio, on 31 October 2013 - 06:12 AM, said:

From what I read, there's a 15% chance of an SRM hitting any body part or something like that, sans the head. And if you alpha them, they are pretty much guaranteed to spread out all over the place.

That would make sense. Each missile randomly selects a body part to hit. Not including the head leaves 7 sections, which works out to a little less than 15% chance a particular section will be hit for each missile. I don't know if this is calculated completely separately for each missile or if it is coded such that each missile must strike a different section.

[KrazedOmega]

travelbug, on 31 October 2013 - 01:11 AM, said:

so i built an ssrm mech and im having some issues with the streaks.
my first issue is that when firing 4 ssrm2's, damage seems to spread all over the target mech. ive used srms before and the splash was never this bad. is this almost random spread of damage with streaks normal? will switching to chainfire make the ssrms target the ct better?

also is damage take of this weapon directional? if i hit the back of a mech will the rear torsos take most of the damage?


tia

Streaks were changed a few patches ago to randomly target the entire mech instead of only going for the torso.

Most times now you're more than likely going to blow off a limb before taking out a side or center torso.

[travelbug]

thanks guys and your replies do seem to mirror my experience. when i alpha them they just seem to turn the whole enemy mech yellow. i do end the battle with good damage, but its damage that i feel is so spread out that it has minor effect on anything bigger than a light - and these are 4 streaks. chainfiring does seem to give a bit better ct damage but this could be placebo.

[Buckminster]

There was a post somewhere that described how the flight paths were calculated - I'll see if I can find it.

Edit: Found it. It was in the July 16th patch - here's the notes:

Streak missiles will now target limbs more directly instead of near the joints. There are now 7 distinct locations a streak can target, the locations have been placed in the arms, legs, and left/right/center torso. The current weighting for a mech with all it's components is as follows:

Component %
Left Arm 15
Right Arm 15
Left Leg 15
Right Leg 15
Left Torso 12
Right Torso 12
Center Torso 16
TOTAL 100

As arms become destroyed, the weighting will be rebalanced proportionally. For example, if the right arm and or left arm of a target has been destroyed, the new weighting will be as follows:

Component %
Left Arm 18
{Right Arm} 0
Left Leg 18
Right Leg 18
Left Torso 13.8
Right Torso 13.8
Center Torso 18.4
TOTAL 100

Component %
{Left Arm} 0
{Right Arm} 0
Left Leg 24
Right Leg 24
Left Torso 15.6
Right Torso 15.6
Center Torso 20.8
TOTAL 100

Some other notes on the new streaks:

- Legs that are destroyed will still be targeted by streaks.
- If an arm is initially targeted but is destroyed before the streak connects, it will auto target the neighbouring torso piece instead.

(Edited for formatting. Original post here: http://mwomercs.com/...23-16-jul-2013/)

It doesn't say anywhere if each missile calculates its target independent of the other missiles, or if both missiles of a given launcher target the same spot. From my experience it seems that each missile picks its own target, but that's from first-hand viewing through a 155 kph Locust, so I may be wrong.

Edited by Buckminster, 01 November 2013 - 03:55 AM.

[McQuackers]

Streaks end up being particularly useful against lights, but fairly useless against heavies and assaults.

On the flip side, LRMs do pretty much nothing against lights, but do very well against heavies and assaults.

[Macbrea]

So, the question I have does the directional orientation matter when firing at another Mech?

So, if I fire my 3ssrm2 launchers at the rear of a Locus from my Commando. Will it only hit their front armor or will it spread across their back armor?

[Buckminster]

I think the "Torso" targets will hit the rear if that's the direction the missiles are impacting from. The missiles aren't targeting the armor, they are targeting the inner structure.

Although I do wonder, if you are firing from the right side, and your missile targets the left arm, will it go out of the way to get to that arm or will it impact on the nearest part? I'll have to play with that and see.

So how do you have your Locust loaded? I've been running 4 SSRMs and a SL, but it's only so useful at this point - I had to strip the armor a lot to keep the 190XL in there. Stupid fun, but doesn't last long once the enemy decides to focus on you. I'm trying to stick it out to the point where I have the efficiencies unlocked, but it is a rough grind.

Edited by Buckminster, 01 November 2013 - 10:59 AM.

[travelbug]

do streaks cause camera shake when they hit?

[kevin roshak]

Stupid amounts of shake. It is far to high imo

[Wispsy]

travelbug, on 02 November 2013 - 03:35 AM, said:

do streaks cause camera shake when they hit?

Also they cause lots and lots of smoke, makes it hard to see.


And what you can do to certain mechs (such as the Jenner with its nice upfront cockpit) is aim your launcher at close range so missiles will finish off a cored head before hitting anything else. Just FYI

Edited by Wispsy, 02 November 2013 - 12:16 PM.

[travelbug]

Wispsy, on 02 November 2013 - 12:14 PM, said:

Also they cause lots and lots of smoke, makes it hard to see.


And what you can do to certain mechs (such as the Jenner with its nice upfront cockpit) is aim your launcher at close range so missiles will finish off a cored head before hitting anything else. Just FYI

ty for your tip, o light master.

but i would like to ask, how does this figure out in the computation posted above?. from the looks of that table, it seems like the streaks target components except for the head?

[Wispsy]

travelbug, on 02 November 2013 - 05:57 PM, said:

ty for your tip, o light master.

but i would like to ask, how does this figure out in the computation posted above?. from the looks of that table, it seems like the streaks target components except for the head?

They do, just they hit stuff that gets in the way, so if you can get their head in your ssrms path you can still finish it off. I do not suggest trying to cockpit somebody with full armour using only ssrms though, can be hard work lol. Situational but I have found it can come in handy on occasion, especially on hot maps.

[Bront]

As others have said, Streaks spread out and target different parts of the mech individually. However, to make up for that, they do 2.5 damage per missile compared to 2 for normal SRMs.

They are particularly good for taking out lights (who have little armor anywhere), crit seeking on damaged mechs (they could hit any internal part) fire and forget (since you don't need to aim, you can fire them while aiming another weapon without having to adjust your aim, unlike SRMs), and for general extra damage in close combat (it's a cheap extra punch for not a lot of heat).

[travelbug]

Buckminster, on 01 November 2013 - 03:29 AM, said:

There was a post somewhere that described how the flight paths were calculated - I'll see if I can find it.

Edit: Found it. It was in the July 16th patch - here's the notes:

Streak missiles will now target limbs more directly instead of near the joints. There are now 7 distinct locations a streak can target, the locations have been placed in the arms, legs, and left/right/center torso. The current weighting for a mech with all it's components is as follows:

Component %
Left Arm 15
Right Arm 15
Left Leg 15
Right Leg 15
Left Torso 12
Right Torso 12
Center Torso 16
TOTAL 100

As arms become destroyed, the weighting will be rebalanced proportionally. For example, if the right arm and or left arm of a target has been destroyed, the new weighting will be as follows:

Component %
Left Arm 18
{Right Arm} 0
Left Leg 18
Right Leg 18
Left Torso 13.8
Right Torso 13.8
Center Torso 18.4
TOTAL 100

Component %
{Left Arm} 0
{Right Arm} 0
Left Leg 24
Right Leg 24
Left Torso 15.6
Right Torso 15.6
Center Torso 20.8
TOTAL 100

Some other notes on the new streaks:

- Legs that are destroyed will still be targeted by streaks.
- If an arm is initially targeted but is destroyed before the streak connects, it will auto target the neighbouring torso piece instead.

(Edited for formatting. Original post here: http://mwomercs.com/...23-16-jul-2013/)

It doesn't say anywhere if each missile calculates its target independent of the other missiles, or if both missiles of a given launcher target the same spot. From my experience it seems that each missile picks its own target, but that's from first-hand viewing through a 155 kph Locust, so I may be wrong.

one more question about this, does it matter whether you fire a streak at the back or front, or will it distribute that damage between the back and front ct for example.

[Buckminster]

As I understand it (and this isn't based on something that has been said as much as it is based on my experience with Streaks) the front vs rear damage is all a matter of the direction the missile is coming from when it hits. The missiles don't specifically target the front or the rear - think of it as they target the internal structure, and whether the damage is front or rear is a matter of direction of impact.

So if I fire from the rear, then I hit the rear, unless the target manages to turn 180 degrees before the missiles impact.

Also worth noting, is that missiles fly towards a specific part, but will damage the part they impact. So if I'm firing from the left side, and the missile targets the left torso, there is still a chance that the left arm will get in the way and take the damage first.

[Bhelogan]

Actually, I love the fact that they spread out. I use other weapons on my mechs with streaks to target specific areas when needed, but spreading the damage out as has been stated above tends to inflate the amount of damage you do during the match. The effect of this is that you get more C-Bills both for damage done, and component destructions. This is a win-win for C-Bill grinding.

[Mercules]

I have found Streaks are really useful in groups for chewing off an already injured area. Mech with an open side torso will often take crits from 2+ Streaks firing. Lights tend to take a lot of grazing hits anyway and once through armor it doesn't take much to rip off sections so Streaks tend to mess them up fast. Even so they can also be useful when you are heavily damaged and don't want to peak for very long. You can lock a target someone else has locked, then move just enough out of cover to fire your Streaks and duck back often before they can get shots off on you.

I am very glad they removed the CT seeking nature. They were a bit too good that way, now they are good damage to heat ratio that doesn't core a mech too quickly.

[travelbug]

Bhelogan, on 04 November 2013 - 04:14 AM, said:

Actually, I love the fact that they spread out. I use other weapons on my mechs with streaks to target specific areas when needed, but spreading the damage out as has been stated above tends to inflate the amount of damage you do during the match. The effect of this is that you get more C-Bills both for damage done, and component destructions. This is a win-win for C-Bill grinding.

yup its a good way to farm cbills at the expense of efficiency. when im trying to win the match or trying to fight for my survival, i want as much pinpoint damage as fast and as hard hitting as possible, to bring down enemies the fast - and streaks dont give me that.