19 replies to this topic

[CarnageINC]

If you see an empty red triangle and your shooting at that target....you are wrong.

This is advice to new players and some pugs.

Once you get used to controlling your mech, upgrade your game play and start locking targets. You should do this every time you see a mech that is not locked already or even better, when your shooting at a target that's locked,you still should be locking it up.

Is it a pain to look down at your R key if your not use to using it...yes. But soon it will be reflex and doesn't impede game play at all. Muscle memory is your friend

Why lock? 3 reasons.

1st. You help your team out by showing them where a target is. The more locks on the battlefield the clearer the enemy placement is to everyone on your team. This is the best intel that you can give your team without actually being on coms with them. This will allow better coordination within your team and give you a higher probability of wining the match.

2nd. Locking up the target your shooting at allows you, as a player, to improve your chances of killing a target or make more XP/cbills. Once your aim becomes good enough to target specific areas of a mech, you can start picking at weak points and breaches of armor. This will allow you to do several things depending upon your current situation.
A. The obvious one is the ability to quickly kill the target. Things like back shots and side torsos of XL engined mechs.
B. The ability to cripple the mech so it become combat ineffective. Weak legs allow you to reduce its mobility, making it easier for others to quickly kill it.
C. Reducing a mechs firepower. Weak arms and side torsos allow you to reduce that mechs firepower if it has any weapons in that area.
D. You get XP and Cbills if you destroy weak areas by component damage/destruction.

3rd. You get XP for spotting assists if someone launches on that target. Who doesn't like more XP?

I may have overlooked some other aspect of locking but those 3 are the most important ones IMO. Nothing but good things happen when locking targets. Locking up targets only helps you, the player, in the long run.

Edited by CarnageINC, 05 March 2014 - 08:26 AM.

[NRP]

Sadly, I see this all the time. Some dude randomly blasting an unlocked target, so he has no idea whatsoever how damaged it is, where it's damaged, or even what weapons it's carrying. Then he gets killed and whines for a Nerf.

[Bloodweaver]

On the other hand, once you reach a higher level of awareness(lol), you will find yourself sometimes intentionally shooting a target while maintaining lock on a completely different target. You may already know the one guy's weak spots and have no need to see his giblets, while wanting to keep an eye on the other guy's health. Or maybe the other guy has some of your friends' LRMs on their way to him and you don't want them to lose lock. Or you know that if your teammates see a Cicada on their radar, they're not going to make a big deal out of helping you out - though if they can see a Jagermech, you can be sure they'll come by. The same applies to loadouts - it's not critical for them to know that a Jager is carrying 2ML, 2AC5, and 2SRM4. They WILL want to know there's a Jager carrying AC40, though.

[Phobic Wraith]

I love that this topic pops up every so often. This is a required skill for any mechwarrior game and especially this game. Locking targets is how you play, and there are very few excuses for not having a target lock while fighting. It's annoying for teammates trying to coordinate and win when you don't lock targets and relay information, but it's downright maddening when your friendly LRM boat can't help out the team because half a dozen pugs are too busy to learn the "R" key. This is a team game. If you're not currently using team based features, start.

EDIT: Grammar...

Edited by Phobic Wraith, 05 March 2014 - 10:19 AM.

[CarnageINC]

Yes this topic does come up once and awhile. And usually when it does its a berating post due to someones frustration. I honestly don't think the older players who don't do this are going to change. They are set in their ways and not many are willing to change.

I'm hoping to reach out to newer players and show them the benifits of target locks. Hopefully some will take heed and we can slowly change the overall culture of the player base.

[TercieI]

This is very true:

Phobic Wraith, on 05 March 2014 - 08:47 AM, said:

I love that this topic pops up every so often. This is a required skill for any mechwarrior game and especially this game. Locking targets is how you play, and there are very few excuses for not having a target lock while fighting. It's annoying for teammates trying to coordinate and win when you don't lock targets and relay information, but it's downright maddening when your friendly LRM boat can't help out the team because half a dozen pugs are too busy to learn the "R" key. This is a team game. if you're not currently sing team based features, start.

But so is this:

Bloodweaver, on 05 March 2014 - 08:38 AM, said:

On the other hand, once you reach a higher level of awareness(lol), you will find yourself sometimes intentionally shooting a target while maintaining lock on a completely different target. You may already know the one guy's weak spots and have no need to see his giblets, while wanting to keep an eye on the other guy's health. Or maybe the other guy has some of your friends' LRMs on their way to him and you don't want them to lose lock. Or you know that if your teammates see a Cicada on their radar, they're not going to make a big deal out of helping you out - though if they can see a Jagermech, you can be sure they'll come by. The same applies to loadouts - it's not critical for them to know that a Jager is carrying 2ML, 2AC5, and 2SRM4. They WILL want to know there's a Jager carrying AC40, though.

I generally side with the "use the sodding R key" POV, but more and more I find myself in situations where I am purposefully not targeting my target because I'm watching another. Almost invariably, I have targeted my target previously and know exactly where I'm shooting, though.

[Koniving]

I saw this very recently.
A player was trying to take the base. There were several empty triangles, each of them belonged to turrets shooting him. He wouldn't target them, instead looking around as if lost. Later, he he finally shot the target and then said "Turrets can't be killed."

Had the person targeted the turret, he'd know that after 2 volleys of 2 AC/5s, it'd be about 50% health since turrets at best guess have something like 40 health. He could have taken out all 3 of the turrets shooting him.

But if you don't target, you don't know.

[AlmightyAeng]

Koniving, on 05 March 2014 - 10:15 AM, said:

I saw this very recently.
A player was trying to take the base. There were several empty triangles, each of them belonged to turrets shooting him. He wouldn't target them, instead looking around as if lost. Later, he he finally shot the target and then said "Turrets can't be killed."

Had the person targeted the turret, he'd know that after 2 volleys of 2 AC/5s, it'd be about 50% health since turrets at best guess have something like 40 health. He could have taken out all 3 of the turrets shooting him.

But if you don't target, you don't know.

Which is odd...I wonder if this is a bug. Was on Terra Therma last night, playing assault, and I shot a turret from 300m away 5 times, full duration, with 8 medium lasers...it didn't die. It WAS unfolded (which should indicate that it wasn't in it's "turtle" mode, right?) I know, off topic...but the person complaining may have had a point.

[SaltBeef]

I am a R key addict it is so easy to hit w/o looking now. I try to lock every time especially when not engaging a target for data hand-off. The R key is your teams friend. You will see a missile icon most of the time after you lock that is your data going to a friendly LRM boat who has engaged the target.

[Koniving]

Ghost Badger, on 05 March 2014 - 11:14 AM, said:

Which is odd...I wonder if this is a bug. Was on Terra Therma last night, playing assault, and I shot a turret from 300m away 5 times, full duration, with 8 medium lasers...it didn't die. It WAS unfolded (which should indicate that it wasn't in it's "turtle" mode, right?) I know, off topic...but the person complaining may have had a point.

Could be a hitbox issue. It's ironic lasers usually always work (but autocannons were iffy). It'd be cool if someone could look into this.

[Amsro]

Make it more accessable. For me that means I have the Select Target bound to my Trigger button.

Rotate through the enemies while on the move to choose which to pick off first.

Edited by Amsro, 05 March 2014 - 11:45 AM.

[Mycrus]

Before the advent of strikes, target info was my favorite module... it quickly gives you where your target is hurt or open so you can focus your strikes there...

[Darth Futuza]

Its so hard to choose which target to lock as a scout mech...choices choices...

[xengk]

[Phobic Wraith]

Darth Futuza, on 05 March 2014 - 07:57 PM, said:

Its so hard to choose which target to lock as a scout mech...choices choices...

Correct me if I'm wrong but, I may have an answer - First, whatever enemy has ECM, Second, the most dangerous enemy and on on down the list.

[xMintaka]

Darth Futuza, on 05 March 2014 - 07:57 PM, said:

Its so hard to choose which target to lock as a scout mech...choices choices...

All of them, in rapid succession. Then the most dangerous and/or ECM equipped mech.

[Mad Porthos]

Koniving, on 05 March 2014 - 10:15 AM, said:

I saw this very recently.
A player was trying to take the base. There were several empty triangles, each of them belonged to turrets shooting him. He wouldn't target them, instead looking around as if lost. Later, he he finally shot the target and then said "Turrets can't be killed."

Had the person targeted the turret, he'd know that after 2 volleys of 2 AC/5s, it'd be about 50% health since turrets at best guess have something like 40 health. He could have taken out all 3 of the turrets shooting him.

But if you don't target, you don't know.

Ghost Badger, on 05 March 2014 - 11:14 AM, said:

Which is odd...I wonder if this is a bug. Was on Terra Therma last night, playing assault, and I shot a turret from 300m away 5 times, full duration, with 8 medium lasers...it didn't die. It WAS unfolded (which should indicate that it wasn't in it's "turtle" mode, right?) I know, off topic...but the person complaining may have had a point.

Hey Koniving and Ghost Badger,
SOMETHING YOU HAVE BOTH MISSED, turrets have 150 health. So 5 volleys of 8 medium lasers (@300m they are doing less than 5... probably 3.8-4 each) or even 10 volleys of 2xAC5 won't knock them out. These 5 volleys should have been close though, could have been you were more like 350m, or in quck shooting to avoid return fire some of your beam duration hit grond or clipped another target. Not a bug really, just informing ya your expectations of their fragility are incorrect.

Edited by Mad Porthos, 06 March 2014 - 11:52 AM.

[Koniving]

Mad Porthos, on 06 March 2014 - 11:41 AM, said:

Hey Koniving and Ghost Badger,
SOMETHING YOU HAVE BOTH MISSED, turrets have 150 health. So 5 volleys of 8 medium lasers (@300m they are doing less than 5... probably 3.8-4 each) or even 10 volleys of 2xAC5 won't knock them out. These 5 volleys should have been close though, could have been you were more like 350m, or in quck shooting to avoid return fire some of your beam duration hit grond or clipped another target. Not a bug really, just informing ya your expectations of their fragility are incorrect.

Recent change then. Because I've had encounters like this where they go down in 5 seconds or less. However, it was before March patch.

[Mad Porthos]

I would point out, after watching that video through to the turret action in crimson straight, that you were never the only one shooting those turrets. Both your own LRM volleys and others were hitting flawlessly, since turrets don't move, PLUS your own and others direct fire was chewing them up. This is one of the cases where an LRM 20 likely really is doing 21 damage, all missiles hitting and those other volleys coming in May be LRM60 volleys even! With a little tag spotting, this has been born out by 4 volleys of Lrm40 finishing a turret... in fact, once you fire, you probably don't even need to worry about lock as they are already following a course that should be perfectly accurate, not like they really need continual tracking to stay accurate at this point, unless you were trying to do something like hit them from over a building using the high arc, break lock then reaquire to make them drop straight down on target technique.

All said a team working together can roll through turrets like grass in a field if they coordinate targeting and destruction of those turrets.

[CarnageINC]

I like how this evolved into a turret discussion

Keep working on those locks guys, only good things happen with them.