9 replies to this topic

[MechWarrior3671771]

I'm unclear on exactly when my team missile boats pick up my targeting info? I run around pressing "R" and get the following, usually in order if I close with the target

1) Red dot that says enemy mech detected, often with a hill blocking line of sight

2) with line of sight, a red box reticle on the target

3) shortly after that, a wireframe display of target in upper right corner of my HUD

At what point are my team's mechs getting enough info to launch missiles effectively?

[Brizna]

1: You can select any mech you have on visual contact if it's not covered with an enemy ECM.

2: In general allies can launch missiles on any target you have selected, that is 1 mech since you can't have more than 1 selected at any given time.

ECM: Allies won't be able to get your targeting data if either you or them are under enemy ECMs (low signal message) if it's you who is under enemy ECM no one on your team will get the data, if it's some of your allies only those under it will be prevented your targeting information.

Radar Decay: On top by default you will lose a target 2 seconds after you lose visual contact with it, but that time lapse is affected by two modules: Radar Deprivation reduces the time to lsoe target by 2 seconds, and Target Decay increases it by an small ammount depending on its level.

New target: Also if you lock another target allies lose lock immediately, so don't swap locks if you see the missile incoming icon on your target until missiles hit.

TAG: Can be used on any enemy mech you can see, it makes acquiring lock faster and allows locking mech protected by ECM if the mech carrying the TAG isn't under an enemy ECM.

NARC: NARC will make an enemy mech targetable by your whole team regardless of anyone seeing it or even targeting it, only if the NARCed mech gets under friendly (to him) ECM will the NARC become inactive, it won't be gone though, if it leaves the protective bubble NARC start working again. Also a mech carrying ECM hit by NARC will have its ECM disabled for the duration, making them a priority target for NARC launchers, since not only does the mech become vulnerable to missiles but the whole enemy team loses ECM protection.

RELATED NOTE: As you can see having a target radioed to an LRM mech implies the spotter is on enemy visual. Do not play an LRM from behind a hill 900 meter away, stick to a second line with your team and try to get your own targets as much as possible, light mechs giving targets too long tend to get killed.

Edited by Brizna, 09 January 2015 - 07:01 AM.

[Skarlock]

Short answer, less than 1 second after you hit R and get the red box around an enemy. Long answer below.

First, your entire team may be completely devoid of LRMS, never assume that someone is taking them. Second, they have to be within 1000m of the target (some mechs get bonuses and some people take modules to extend the range a bit further). Third, I would say in less than 1 second of hitting R and getting the red box around an enemy, your teammates will get it. Lastly, keep in mind they have to achieve a lock FIRST, and then fire, and then the missiles have to actually arrive, assuming they don't hit some obstruction and explode before hitting the target.

Needless to say there's a lot of things that could cause your lock to not generate incoming missiles. Most commonly the missile boat is either out of range, or targeting something else, or attempting to evade a light mech shooting it in the back, etc. Also be aware mechs under ECM will take forever for a lock to generate for your team, and without a counter it will be at least several seconds before the firing can begin. A TAG laser on targets under ECM will help here, as will a beagle probe if you're very close to the target, or setting your own ECM if you have it, to jam the enemy ECM.

[o0Marduk0o]

Try to avoid TAG, when spotting, because enemies will see where you are, when they follow the laser to it's starting point.
Only use TAG, when nobody is looking at you or no other enemy mechs are around.

[MechWarrior3671771]

Thanks. One more - I'm in a Raven 3L with ECM. When on ECM duty I'm expected to hang with the main body and try to keep as many of them covered by ECM as possible, right? Play conservative, keep the ECM field up?

[Brizna]

Fenrisulvyn, on 09 January 2015 - 07:29 AM, said:

Thanks. One more - I'm in a Raven 3L with ECM. When on ECM duty I'm expected to hang with the main body and try to keep as many of them covered by ECM as possible, right? Play conservative, keep the ECM field up?

That depends on circumstances. If team already has a heavy ECM (atlas DDC or hellbringer) you should go spot, else you should hang with the team until the you asses whether enemy team is LRM heavy or not or the melee starts.

[Rogue Jedi]

Fenrisulvyn, on 09 January 2015 - 07:29 AM, said:

Thanks. One more - I'm in a Raven 3L with ECM. When on ECM duty I'm expected to hang with the main body and try to keep as many of them covered by ECM as possible, right? Play conservative, keep the ECM field up?

there are 3 common ways to play an ECM Mech,

ECM Sheild
you can as you said try to keep as many Mechs as possible under ECM, you can be extremely helpful to your group without ever firing a shot.
A Kit Fox with the ECM + 3 AMS is probably the best Mech for this role, although any ECM mech can do it

ECM Scout
you can run ahead (but not too far) and try to locate the enemy, then provide locks for the team, when you start reciving attention then return to the group and take on the ECM sheild role, any of the Light/Medium ECM mechs can do that role, although the Spider does it best.

ECM Sniper
hide under ECM, well away from the main force and shoot at enemy Mechs with (ER)PPCs or ERLL, this can get you far higher score than the other roles but also denys the team of your firepower and ECM when they need it so may reduce the teams chances of winning, a Raven will oftern take this role.

[mailin]

I will use either my Spider 5D or my Raven 3L for the scouting role for lrms. On my Raven I have 2 mlas, tag and streaks. If my team has either a DDC, Hellbringer or Kit Fox I will usually type something in team chat that I am going spotting for lrms. If I don't have another ECM on my team, STAY WITH THE FATTIES. Give them ECM cover so that they don't get lurmed to death before firing a shot.

Also, I have a UAV equipped in all of my mechs.

When spotting for lrms, you want to be behind the enemy and standing still. That's right, I said standing still. There is a MUCH greater chance of being spotted when you're moving, so pick a spot and stay there for as long as you can. DO NOT FIRE ON YOUR TARGETS!! Doing so will give away your position. Keep a single target locked for as long as you can. Let the lrm boats do their job. While you're doing this, listen for footfalls. If you hear something turn around. Also monitor your ECM indicator and your minimap.

One more thing, if you want, it's okay to type in team chat "Target A is good for lrms" or something along those lines.

Spotting is a very dangerous job, but well worth it if you have lrm boats that know what they are doing.

Edited by mailin, 10 January 2015 - 01:09 AM.

[Madcap72]

Easiest way to do it, is make friends online or get buddies to play with you and coordinate over teamspeak. WORLD of differance!

[Moarginplz]

First of all, props for trying to contribute to your team. It drives me up the wall when I see people avoiding any sort of teamwork when that's what wins matches more than anything else.

The Spider 5D and Raven 3L are the best spotting/scouting mechs in the game, so you're off to a good start with the 3L. Just make sure you're rolling with a couple of LRM boats when you bring a mech built to spot, it sucks when you're solo dropping the public queue, and nobody has any LRM's to take advantage of those locks.

The key to success as a dedicated missile spotter is to not get noticed. A firestarter or some sort of sniper can kill you rather quickly in a raven, so if they don't know you're around, so much the better. This means not just having ECM, but staying outside of 200m from the enemy, so you don't disrupt their sensors. Smart players will start looking for you the instant they get low signal. I favor the narc beacon over tag, simply because you can shoot somebody with it and get out of there. You have to hold a tag laser over a target for the LRM mechs to gain the bonus, or to cancel enemy ECM. Even though it's difficult to hit with a narc beacon, and tag is lighter and has a longer range, I get killed using tag more often than I do using narc. Also, don't worry about your damage or kills if you're the spotter. Spotters who shoot the enemy get noticed, and then they don't do a lot of spotting anymore. I've had games where I finished with under 10 damage, but the enemy got completely wrecked, because my team's missile boats had locks the whole time, and nobody knew where I was.

Just make sure you hit the enemy ECM mechs first if you're using the narc beacon, as their ECM will prevent your narc beacon from transmitting to your team. Plus, LRM boats love raining on Hellbringers and Atlas DDC's.

Final tip, the improved narc module is worth its weight in gold to dedicated LRM spotters. The module speeds up the beacon's flight speed, making it easier to hit with, and it increases the duration the beacon transmits for. This means more time for missile boats to make it rain.