13 replies to this topic

[thobin]

Ok when I watch another player play I see that some have this different target reticle. It is a little circle that follows there target independent of the cross hairs and they still can shoot and hit there target. What is this and how do I get it??


TA

[Buckminster]

Every mech has two reticles - a circle and a cross.

The circle is the reticle for the arms, the cross is the reticle for the torso. If you have a mech which doesn't really have arms (the Ravens and Catapults are two) they're stuck together. There is also an option in the settings screen for "toggle arm lock" (or something like that) that automatically locks the arm and torso reticle together. This torso lock defaults to "on".

It's a mixed bag really - locking them together means that you lose the extra motion the arms allow, but it also means that all of your weapons are always pointing at the same place.

Edited by Buckminster, 20 February 2014 - 06:31 PM.

[Pyro Pete Sanchez]

This is the arm crosshair. If you turn off the "Arm Lock" option in the settings menu, you'll notice that you can move the circle reticle faster than the crosshair (the torso crosshair). This is assuming, of course, that your 'mech has articulated arms. Be careful when using this, though. If you have a weapon group that includes weapons in the arms and torso, they will sometimes go in different directions, if the crosshairs aren't converged yet.

[DerelictTomcat]

Arms... Unlock your arms in the options menu.

EDIT: OK then three posts at the same time...

Edited by DerelictTomcat, 20 February 2014 - 06:32 PM.

[Buckminster]

DerelictTomcat, on 20 February 2014 - 06:31 PM, said:

EDIT: OK then three posts at the same time...

What can you say, we want to be helpful.

[thobin]

Thanks!

TA

[Redshift2k5]

The basics have been covered. I'll just go on to mention that some mechs have full arm articulation and can aim the arms up/down and left/right, while other mechs can only aim up/down with 0 lateral movement.

Different mechs also move their arms at different rates and by different maximum angle.

In your weapon group section of your HUD, bottom right, it separates the arm weapons from the torso weapons and has a small icon to indicate which weapons are for each.

[Koniving]

Some additional information. You can take control of the Arm Reticle at any time while Armlock is off for more precise aiming. This used to be a key game mechanic before the introduction of armlock.

Some examples in videos.

Spoiler

(Adult language is abound.)

Using arms to block autocannons and lasers through CTRL + mouselook.


Old school precision firing using arms.


Semi-recent use. Use 1) To protect weakened side, I twist to keep the weak side to my back and jerk both arms ahead while looking through the 'edge' of the Kintaro's eye (didn't get to use; enemy died before I found him again). 2) To fire LRMs around corners.


Very recent video with lots of random arm use.

Edited by Koniving, 20 February 2014 - 08:09 PM.

[Sam Slade]

always turn am lock off... it's better for tracking targets to hold missile ;ock, tracking speedy targets, snap shots... just better.

If tou need to centre all weapons hold shift to temporarily activate arm lock.

Arm lock is a great thing to see enemies doing.

[ImperialKnight]

I do the opposite, I hold shift when I need the arms unlocked. I find it disorientating when my shots don't go where I'm looking, i.e. centre of the screen. I only release the arms when I need it. Locking arms also helps to keep alphas pintpoint, especially when you have arms and torso weapons.

To each his own

[Alaskan Nobody]

knightsljx, on 21 February 2014 - 07:15 AM, said:

I find it disorientating when my shots don't go where I'm looking

Different minds for different people in effect - that was something I hadn't considered.

[SaltBeef]

I remember when I was arm-lock devirginanized and relieved !! I asked in game." how are you doing that with the reticle? Is that something I have to pay for or what?" I got the Hit alt f4 answer but eventually some one felt sorry for me and directed me to my box of gridsquares. I still HATE the reticle color it needs to be Hemi -orange or R. Petty bright blue anything but the color of dirt it gets lost in every time I am in Caustic, Snow, or out of a thermal mode. Let me change it to the color I want !! You can still let it blink red just a brighter red when it indicates a Target hit.

Edited by SaltBeef, 22 February 2014 - 03:23 AM.

[Koniving]

SaltBeef, on 22 February 2014 - 03:21 AM, said:

Let me change it to the color I want

You know... If you use your driver or your monitor settings to 'tint' the colors of the screen, the reticles will change colors before the background does.

I ran for a while with mine green. It was kinda nice.
...But the grass was purple.

[Koniving]

A really good example using the trial spider where having the arms unlocked allowed me to shoot a Spider while circling where its shots could not focus on me (wasted lasers). Time skipped to shortly before circling the spider.