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What's The Locust's Place In Mwo


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#41 Alaskan Nobody

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 01:03 PM

View PostModo44, on 15 May 2014 - 12:41 PM, said:

The Locust will get one-shot by anything looking at it, and good players will just fire once instead of chasing it.

True - but that has always been true about the Locust (and most light mechs - but especially the Locust)

#42 MrMasakari

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 01:15 PM

I'm sure the locust with the old Lag shield and hitbox recognition would be recognised as somewhat OP no haha? Its value is somewhat worthless, only thing it has is low profile and speed, unless you get on the right map with decent enough terrain ( and a half decent team aswell) then your pretty much stuffed.

#43 Tiamat of the Sea

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 02:10 PM

The locust is fast and small, and has excellent turning.

I recommend first playing in Commandos before running Locusts, and focusing on your piloting skills- because Commandos are just enough more forgiving of mistakes to let you stay in the game longer, but not so much tougher that you won't always realize you made a mistake.

Practice slaloming and switching directions mid-circle. These two elements of piloting a light 'mech are paramount when driving a locust, as you will often have to change directions without looking where you're going and so you need to know how to time your controls.

Learn the terrain. Nothing will ruin a Locust faster than accidentally slamming into a wall and then holding still while you turn to face away from it. Buildings in MWO are all modular-construction, so if you learn the sizes of the elements used to create that part of the terrain, you can learn to identify in under a second whether you have the right turning rate to circle a given building at full rotation or not, and whether you'll slam into the thing on the other side of the street in the process.

Learn the terrain. Locusts are the best hill climbers out of everything that has no jump jets and because of the way slopes work, Locusts can (while running full blast) ascend slopes that are completely untraversible by anyone else- so long as they are actual slopes and not vertical walls (like the sides of the various adamantium rocks in such maps as Canyon Network). Learn to identify which slopes you can scale on sight by the angle they're placed at, and you can literally climb your way out of someone's crosshairs.

Learn the terrain. Part of piloting a locust (with its amazing torso twist) is knowing where you can run via glances at your minimap, so you don't have to look where you're going and can twist to shoot back at people following you or make amazingly useful strafing runs. You can either do this by memorizing the maps (really really hard if you haven't got an amazing memory) or learning to identify the terrain at a glance so you can turn away from it and still know what you're doing (not as hard as memorizing the map if you haven't got an amazing memory, but still very difficult if you aren't so hot on keeping your focus wide. To understand what I mean, dig around until you find an explanation of 'white dot' and 'black dot' focus on the internet, I'm not so hot at describing that one.)

Stay calm. Even if you've been legged and surrounded by heavies and assaults, your size and the jouncy way your 'mech moves can protect you to a degree. Even if your face is full of flamer exhaust, your minimap and sensors are not being messed with. Even if something is chasing you, you can twist and shoot it, especially if you're slaloming. This is the biggest mistake I see light 'mech pilots make- panicking. If you just ran face-first into the entire enemy team, stopping and backing up will get you killed. To do this, you have to slow down, stop, accelerate in reverse (to a lower top speed) and make your way back out. This is a bad move, don't do it. If you run face first into the enemy team, you have to make a snap judgement- duck through their legs, or veer off. DO NOT STOP AND REVERSE. Ignore the fact that bits of your machine are flying off every which way and focus on using the terrain and your speed to your advantage and shooting back. Because I do this, I have finished an uncountable number of matches with a still-functioning Locust or Commando when stopping and reversing or otherwise panicking (twisting like mad everywhere so I can't see what's going on, making no decision, etc.) would have left me instantly dead.

Learn how to use terrain. I mastered Commandos before the engine rating got boosted and the 'run backwards' buff was put in, even, and it wasn't that hard- a little tedious because of low XP per match (particularly since this was before spotter bonuses), but it wasn't hard. The biggest thing I learned to do was quickly run over the top of a hill- just far enough to see down the far side- and already be turning to run back across the top and out of field of view. Between the fact that I was already leaving as soon as I arrived and the fact that I never looked over the same point on the hill twice in a row, I avoided and survived more shots than most would think a light 'mech has a right to.

Maneuverability, terrain, <color=green>DON'T PANIC</color>. This is how you use a light 'mech. And it takes lots of practice. But if you do it right- well, there's a reason there are still people claiming the Spider's hitboxes are borked.

-QKD-CR0

Edited by Quickdraw Crobat, 15 May 2014 - 02:11 PM.


#44 ReXspec

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 03:17 PM

It's true the locust (by itself) has a significantly higher skill cap then other 'mechs, but when you consider that the locust was designed to work in a pack of other locusts (thereby lowering it's skillcap) then the prospect of being a locust pilot becomes less intimidating if you have a lance worth of locusts accompanying you.

#45 Buckminster

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 05:21 PM

Unfortunately, as long as teams are based on numbers and not tonnage, the prospect of a "Locust Swarm" just isn't going to happen. The max you'll get is three, and the other team is guaranteed to have three lights that are 99% guaranteed to outweigh and outpower them.

#46 Not Bob

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 05:34 PM

As many other people said, the Locust is a very tough mech to master, and it takes a lot of skill to pilot one well. In order to really succeed in it, you need to know the map, and know where all the enemies are. When you engage a target, you want to let something else go in first, whether it is your assaults, or a Jenner, let them go in first, as you have the least amount of armor. You need to know when to strike, and when to just run away.

As for the role of the Locust - Scouting in the first half. Use your speed to sight contact, report it, and get away before anything gets a beat on you. Even if you get missile lock, you're quick enough to get in cover. The second role (which comes in late or mid-match) is to finish, and sneak attack. Attempting to do this in the beginning is an awful idea, as you'll have most the enemy alive, and wanting to kill you. When they see your friendly assaults are hurt rather badly, or are already shooting at them, they won't disengage the big target to go for you (usually, there's the occosional person that loathes light mechs and will try at any cost to kill you.

When you get really good, you can pull these types of games off:Posted Image

Even if your team isn't all that good... sadface.

#47 Skiddlywibble

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 05:59 PM

It's not something that comes up very often, but locusts have incredible pitch. It's the one thing they can legitimately claim to be better at than any other 'mech in the game (trebuchets come close but I think the locusts still have about 5 degrees more). The locust cockpit actually seems designed to accommodate this with its glass top, meaning you can look and aim almost directly above you.

It's just a shame that the locust doesn't have jump jets, it'd be great for near-vertical combat. So far I've only found the quirk useful in really niche situations, but when it works it's pretty funny. Because you're attacking from above the damage indicator doesn't help victims find you, so you'll be able to plug away for a fair while before they cotton on (and when they do you can be gone near instantly).

#48 Alaskan Nobody

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 06:03 PM

View PostSkiddlywibble, on 15 May 2014 - 05:59 PM, said:

...............So far I've only found the quirk useful in really niche situations, but when it works it's pretty funny.........

Example: Fighting assault (or really just about any weight) mechs in Canyon - a lot of them cannot aim high or low enough to hit you when they are close to the walls. :)

Get above (or below - which is really fun when fighting JJers) and enjoy!
(rather like that video of the dual-AMS Locust under the Stalker)

#49 TripleEhBeef

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 07:52 PM

See an assault derping around on its own? Slip behind it and shred his engine with machinegun fire. Quad MGs will bore through rear torso armour and core in a few seconds. See that Hunchie flanking one of your teammates? Run up behind him and bore out his rear hunch armour and weapons in three seconds of fire.

This was my absolute favourite tactic when I gave the 1V a shot. The thing can be a vicious little backstabber, especially since MG hits can be hard to notice in a busy fight.

And it worked. There were a good few games where I downed more than one assault mech.

#50 White Bear 84

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 08:14 PM

Now if MASC was in the game and speed limits were not restricted to 150k...

View PostNot Bob, on 15 May 2014 - 05:34 PM, said:

Posted Image


This inspires me to take my 3M out for a spin tonight.....

#51 Not Bob

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 08:14 PM

Psst. The limit is not 150k, the Locust can go 169 KPH and the commandos can go 171 :)

#52 Ursh

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 10:29 PM

View PostModo44, on 15 May 2014 - 12:41 PM, said:

Any mech can do well when ignored. Any mech can do well when the opponents are worse players. The Locust will get one-shot by anything looking at it, and good players will just fire once instead of chasing it. No amount of skill or patience can get around that. This thing is only good for trolling/finishing, both of which are done better by the Spider.


Exactly. The Locust can be a great spotter/tagger when no one is shooting at it. It can finish off mechs if it has spent the entire match hiding and comes across a severely crippled mech.

#53 LiGhtningFF13

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 10:32 PM

The locust place in MWO? I guess the wrecking yard.

#54 Modo44

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 10:40 PM

View PostShar Wolf, on 15 May 2014 - 01:03 PM, said:

True - but that has always been true about the Locust (and most light mechs - but especially the Locust)

Only the Lolcust. Every other light can be built to survive a 30 alpha to literally any location. The Lolcust can not.

#55 M0rpHeu5

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Posted 16 May 2014 - 07:08 AM

After doing the basics on the 2 laser variants and half elit the 1V my k/D ratio dropped from 1,7 to 1,05

#56 Voivode

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Posted 16 May 2014 - 07:22 AM

The most success I've had in the 1V is with this build. Just sit back and poke people with the ERLL, use your speed to avoid getting overrun by other lights (commandos will still eat you) and stay with the main force. Not getting close to the enemy and using the diminutive size of your mech to your advantage in the ranged game will net you higher damage and more kills.

#57 Bigbacon

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Posted 16 May 2014 - 07:24 AM

you guys all just sound to l33t.

#58 Alaskan Nobody

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Posted 16 May 2014 - 09:37 AM

View PostModo44, on 15 May 2014 - 10:40 PM, said:

Only the Lolcust. Every other light can be built to survive a 30 alpha to literally any location. The Lolcust can not.

Really - try taking a look at the stock armor allocations - and if you are using Smurfy for that, remember to cut them in half.

Edit

Commando? Totally going to survive a 30 point alpha, anywhere
Spider? Good luck
Firestarter? Only with MWO's armor values
Jenner? Similar base armor to the Locust
Raven? See the Firestarter

Edited by Shar Wolf, 16 May 2014 - 09:40 AM.


#59 Modo44

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Posted 16 May 2014 - 09:44 AM

How are we at stock mechs suddenly? Where the **** was that in the original question?

#60 Alaskan Nobody

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Posted 16 May 2014 - 09:48 AM

My point had been comparing the way people perceived mechs - which a lot of came from TT.

IE - anyone who didn't expect the Locust to be a one shot-wonder...... didn't do the research.

Edit: Light mechs have always had low armor - just by dint of their weight - the Locust, as the lightest there is..... was going to have that problem multiplied.

We knew from the day they announced the Locust what it's armor was going to be.

To get upset about how easy they die is.... silly

Edited by Shar Wolf, 16 May 2014 - 09:49 AM.






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