31 replies to this topic

[Dillirium]

Well i guess I made a mistake. I invested into a raven 3L. Upgraded it to max out to give my team the edge and it seems no one utilizes the narcs, ecm, etc... I even had a guy tell me to get rid of BAP? Seems like a waste of the newbie (25 round) c-bills. *sigh*

I do have a question about this mech. It has BAP and guardian ECM. Someone told me to "turn off BAP". I do not know how to do that without taking it out of my loadout via mechlab.

Do BAP and ECM not mix? Why would I want to remove BAP besides recovering tons for other weapons etc...?

[IceSerpent]

Dillirium, on 09 October 2014 - 08:36 AM, said:

Do BAP and ECM not mix? Why would I want to remove BAP besides recovering tons for other weapons etc...?

They don't - one cancels another when mounted on the same mech.

[jozkhan]

It's ok the Raven 3L is a great little mech that you can learn alot of tricks in and be a valuable member of any team with.

Check out the Battlemechs section of the forum under light mechs you will find some good builds for the Raven 3L.

You can use ECM in both counter and disrupt modes and things like Narc and Tag can paint enemy targets for missile locks and earn you some extra cbills too. Not sure you may want everything on it but one or the other is handy.

Edited by jozkhan, 09 October 2014 - 08:40 AM.

[cSand]

Don't listen to the fools, there are plenty of us out here who appreciate a narc. I often will lay down a huge UAV, exposing most of the enemy team, and my LRM boats will ignore it until I tell them what to do. Looking at the radar is tough stuff for some folks.

BAP is great and a useful tool if you can spare the tonnage.

You sound like you are on the right track. Whoever told you to turn of BAP is on drugs cause you can't do that.

@ IceSerpent... doesn't BAP only cancel out enemy ECM when you're close enough? Didn't realize it cancelled your own ECM if you have both...

Keep doing what your doing man, ignoring the ******* is just as much a skill in this game as anything else

Edited by cSand, 09 October 2014 - 08:41 AM.

[Project_Mercy]

Lots of people love NARC. Unfortunately in solo play you don't really get much bonus for NARCing. It helps if you have the improved NARC module slotted, as it increases a lot of the stats on it.


ECM can be toggled between jamming(disrupt) and countering the enemy's ECM. If you get near an enemy ECM mech, you probably want to switch to countering it. You can do this by hitting the "j" button (by default) or the down arrows till you hilight the ECM in your weapons list and hit right CTRL to toggle it.

The 3L is a great mech.

Edited by Wraeththix Constantine, 09 October 2014 - 08:44 AM.

[Mothykins]

Dillirium, on 09 October 2014 - 08:36 AM, said:

Well i guess I made a mistake. I invested into a raven 3L. Upgraded it to max out to give my team the edge and it seems no one utilizes the narcs, ecm, etc... I even had a guy tell me to get rid of BAP? Seems like a waste of the newbie (25 round) c-bills. *sigh*

I do have a question about this mech. It has BAP and guardian ECM. Someone told me to "turn off BAP". I do not know how to do that without taking it out of my loadout via mechlab.

Do BAP and ECM not mix? Why would I want to remove BAP besides recovering tons for other weapons etc...?

The 3L is a great mech, and Narc and ECM are both fantastic. The reason they say to lose BAP is that it's superfluous with ECM; it's major purpose is to counter ECM at close range and give a decrease to your own lockons. If you're not running Ssrms, it's just not worth it for you.

NARC is great if you're with a premade that carries Lrms, or if you get lucky in solo and get paired with lrm boats.

It's not at all a waste. Lots of good builds for it.

[VanillaG]

IceSerpent, on 09 October 2014 - 08:39 AM, said:

They don't - one cancels another when mounted on the same mech.

Incorrect. You still get all of the sensor bonuses from BAP but you lose the ability to cancel ECM on enemy mechs. If you have both BAP and ECM you need to use the Counter mode on ECM to counter enemy ECM.

[Goose]

Cavale, on 09 October 2014 - 08:44 AM, said:

The reason they say to lose BAP is that it's superfluous with ECM …

'Cause sensor range and recon are points of derision amongst the PuGs …

[Mawai]

Raven-3L is a good choice and a popular mech. ECM is invaluable. I think it would be a bug if your own BAP countered your own ECM ... or even if friendly BAP countered your own ECM ... either would be a bug and I would be surprised if they work that way.

Fitting BAP with ECM would have a couple of advantages ... longer sensor range ... reduced lock times and the ability to counter an enemy ECM without switching yours off (assuming it works as expected - someone posted this does not work). Kind of depends on whether you have the tonnage extra for BAP.

2 x ERLL are a popular Raven-3L sniper build.

NARC can be good if there happen to be LRMs on your team AND you can get close enough to use it without getting blown up ... I've tried it on my Jenner with mixed success depending on what my team mates happen to have equipped and how spread out the opposing team might be.

Edited by Mawai, 09 October 2014 - 08:53 AM.

[CDLord HHGD]

My 3L is my go-to light for team drops. I rake in the rewards when properly utilized. I recommend find a team to work with to get the most out of your war chicken.

[IceSerpent]

cSand, on 09 October 2014 - 08:40 AM, said:

@ IceSerpent... doesn't BAP only cancel out enemy ECM when you're close enough? Didn't realize it cancelled your own ECM if you have both...

It's the other way around - your own ECM cancels "counter measure" effect of your BAP.

VanillaG, on 09 October 2014 - 08:50 AM, said:

Incorrect. You still get all of the sensor bonuses from BAP but you lose the ability to cancel ECM on enemy mechs. If you have both BAP and ECM you need to use the Counter mode on ECM to counter enemy ECM.

Yep, much better wording than mine, thanks. I tried to find Command Chair post about this, but my forum-fu is not strong enough apparently.

[Alistair Winter]

Raven 3L is one of the best mechs in the game. But as a new player, it's kind of hard to do well just by NARC, TAG and UAV. And while a lot of people use dual ER LL on the RVN-3L, you're almost always a greater asset to the team if you equip close range weapons and work together with other lights or stick close to your heavy assault mechs and let them take all the attention.

Elo is a real thing, and as a new player you'll get a lot of inexperienced teammates, and you'll often be the only ECM mech. That makes it harder to be useful with NARC/TAG builds or 2xERLL builds.

[Xarian]

The Raven 3L is a fine piece of equipment. Easily in the top 3-5 light mechs, and one of the best mechs in the game. My best suggestion is to go find a group/unit who will appreciate you, and ask them for tips on your gameplay.

[ApolloKaras]

Save yourself the 1.5 tons and remove the bap. If they have ecm (always assume yes) the bap range is useless. Advanced sensor range mod will be a more appropriate fit later when you get the bills and the mechs you want.


Personally I love the 3L

Edited by Saxie, 09 October 2014 - 09:02 AM.

[Hoax415]

Your problem is solo queue.

Try some pick up drops on one of the major VOIP's. You can find their info pretty easily. If you go there and are open to taking advice and learning you'll have more fun and you'll see how strong the 3L is when a team is smart enough to be supported.

But if you are just starting out and playing with other newbs in solo queue. ECM and Narc is just asking too much from them. They can't be bothered with their map let alone the situational awareness to grok the advantages you are giving them.

Double bonus points if they refuse to stand under your ecm cover then ***** about lrms when they die.

[Kiyoshi Amaya]

Don't remove BAP if you can spare the tonnage. It's a really handy bit of kit that's helps with enemy ecm mechs and shows you any shut down enemy mechs in range. I've watched so many team mates walk straight past a shut down enemy because they don't have BAP.

[Voodle]

Hoax415, I think you're being rather pessimistic - I've run my 3L with LL + NARC beacons in lots of pug games and I personally find it's quite often appreciated, especially the effect of ECM can win or lose any game, as long as I'm close to the mechs with the big guns.
Also NARC beacons are hilarious regardless of whether they're useful or not, I tend to get a lot of narc beacon bonuses

If you're bored of the narc beacons (they are heavy), then try out some med lasers and SRMs on it with a big engine, that's supposed to be good fun now they fixed the raven's model.

Now, if you want to experience real frustration, try grinding the 2X or 4X variants to get the 3L elite'd, no quirk buffs yet. I nearly quit the game out of frustration!

[ApolloKaras]

Shrekken, on 09 October 2014 - 09:16 AM, said:

Don't remove BAP if you can spare the tonnage. It's a really handy bit of kit that's helps with enemy ecm mechs and shows you any shut down enemy mechs in range. I've watched so many team mates walk straight past a shut down enemy because they don't have BAP.

BAP doesn't help with enemy ecm unless he's not going to run ecm on his Raven.

Bap does not counter ecm if you are mounting ecm on your mech.

[Almond Brown]

The one thing my 3L gets me is.... more Wins. ECM is your friend and your friends friend.

[terrycloth]

Remove the bap, it's basically useless for you. It doesn't jam enemy ECMs if you have your own ECM and the extra sensor range isn't good for much since you need to get way closer to use NARCs, which are better than trying to stay in line of sight even at 1000m because gauss. Also, hills.

NARC won't be useful every fight. If you don't have LRM boats on your team, don't bother using it. If you NEVER have LRMs on your team, then you probably want to remove it but I still see it be useful most of the time. It's hard to use, though -- it's slow, short range, and is completely cancelled by enemy ECM unless you can land it on all the enemy ECM mechs, which are usually small fast light mechs hiding behind enemies that will crush you if you get too close.

But anyway, with the stock engine or another reasonably small engine you can do ECM + NARC + short range weapons, and then hang out with your heavies and assaults providing ECM cover for them when you're not sneaking over a hill to narc somebody. This leaves you vulnerable to enemy lights, though.