10 replies to this topic

[Asmudius Heng]

So I am a sucker for punishment and am running some LRM builds for the hell of it and slapped on Artemis to my founder cat and took it for a run.

Now i know that Artemis has a better grouping for missiles but only when you have direct LoS, in the heat of battle i can hardly tell though but I assume it is there.

Now the question though, I will often get a lock through terrain then jump to retain LoS and hover til the missiles land or are very close to landing. This allows me to expose myself minimally while making sure i retain target locks.

What I wanted to know is how the improved missile clustering etc works when you have intermittant LoS. Do the missiles tighten up as soon as you regain LoS, are they set form when you fire them from the launcher?

Does anyone have any insights into this?

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

I don't know if LRMs benefit from bonus kit if it applies after launch, or if it only works if you have fired the missiles while the gear applied. The way TAG seems to work suggests that it only applies the bonus while the gear is in play, which would mean that Artemis IV would be more useful if you get direct LoS just before it impacts than it would be if you have LoS when you fire.

I hope someone can give a more definitive answer.

[Asmudius Heng]

This is what I am assuming but yes, would be good if anyone knows for certain.

The trouble with LRMs being so slow is that exposing yourself to fire and hold lock while in LoS is just so dangerous with faster direct fire weapons pumelling you and you cannot evade well without losing the lock.

Firing from cover, then using JJs to get the artemis bonus for actual impact would be good - thats what i am trying to do but do not know if it is making a meaningful difference.

[Hans Von Lohman]

I think the missile hit pattern depends on if you could see the target directly when you fired it, not when it eventually hits.

If you can see your target, you get a tight pattern. If you are firing over a hill at somethng that somebody else can see, then you get the normal pattern, but with Artemis you will still get a bit of a benefit in the fact the lock on takes less time.

[Charons Little Helper]

I believe that there are several points along an LRM's path in which the cluster/path of the missiles change. The more of them that you have LOS sight for (especially near the target) the tighter the pattern will be.

You can see it in testing grounds if you want to. Just aim at a mech 900ish meters away. Fire - and watch the missiles while breaking LOS - then get LOS again. The missile pattern will spread when you lose LOS - then tighten again when you get it. (not instantly in either direction)

So - using your presented strategy, your missiles are probably somewhere between full no LOS spread & Artermis pattern. If you use tag for the last bit - they'll tighten up more & faster.

[xXBagheeraXx]

Best way to get around this is to get los by firing into running brawls, its how I lrm with my cat. THen you are free to tag+los with your artemis lrms while your target is distracted. If he comes for you, use your jj to bug out behind a hill, and he is free to get shot in the rear by whoever he was brawling with. If he ignores you, he dies under a rain of missiles Also if you have other lrm boats on your team, they will sometimes grow a brain and fire at whatever target you are tagging, giving you bonus xp and credits since you are spotting/tagging for them.

Edited by xXBagheeraXx, 11 March 2014 - 12:47 PM.

[Charons Little Helper]

xXBagheeraXx, on 11 March 2014 - 12:47 PM, said:

Best way to get around this is to get los by firing into running brawls, its how I lrm with my cat.

As someone who runs both LRM mechs & brawlers - I can say that this is a great idea if you have both tag & artemis on the target.

Firing indirectly - this is a very bad idea. The spread + losing lock with the missiles only partway there lead to you hitting your teammates in the brawl along with your target.

[Asmudius Heng]

Charons Little Helper, on 11 March 2014 - 01:06 PM, said:

As someone who runs both LRM mechs & brawlers - I can say that this is a great idea if you have both tag & artemis on the target.

Firing indirectly - this is a very bad idea. The spread + losing lock with the missiles only partway there lead to you hitting your teammates in the brawl along with your target.

If a brawl happens i am there to support for sure, this was more for long distance engagements where i do not want to expose myself overly but still want to add my firepower.

So i know that LRMs have a number of 'Ticks' as they fly to adjust angle, are people saying this applies to spread too? OR is spread calculated and adjusted in real time.

Usually i will get a lock and let it fly til it it is about half way to target then i will jump to get sight, tag if possible and feather my JJs til they hit target then drop behind cover.

It seems this should give the LRMs time to improve thier clustering as long as this is calculated on the ticks or in real time then? I will run some tests in the training ground but i find it difficult to determine by sight i must say.

[Charons Little Helper]

Asmudius Heng, on 11 March 2014 - 01:39 PM, said:

So i know that LRMs have a number of 'Ticks' as they fly to adjust angle, are people saying this applies to spread too? OR is spread calculated and adjusted in real time.

The 1st one.

[OznerpaG]

after hating LRMs for so long i'm obsessed with them now - seems like you get a lot more cash earned doing a lot less damage, like you'r 'subsidized' for using LRMs haha. once i found out you can use them for indirect unlocked fire they turned into a blast to play with

but on testing grounds it seems that whatever time in whatever increments of TAG spotting you get on the target, the missile spread tightens more and more with each 'TAG'. it's possible that you could need an 'x' amount of seconds of TAG to make the grouping the maximum tightness, at which time you don't need to TAG anymore and as long as you then hold lock behind cover they all hit in the max grouping

so if you jump and get some TAGs in during LRM flight time, it's very possible each TAG will tighten the grouping more before impact

[A Man In A Can]

JagdFlanker, on 11 March 2014 - 05:01 PM, said:

it's possible that you could need an 'x' amount of seconds of TAG to make the grouping the maximum tightness

Basically this for both TAG and Artemis. The longer you hold the TAG on them, and/or the longer you see them with Artemis while the missiles are in flight, the tighter the grouping gets up to the max it can be or until the volley hits.

NARC grouping bonuses are slightly different. They are always in effect for non-Artemis missiles fired at the NARCed target for the duration of the beacon (soon to be adjusted come next week). These bonuses stack with TAG. Artemis mechs can still fire on NARCed targets (as they are revealed to everyone on the team), but they get no grouping bonuses from the NARC.