And now, after a year in the game, I add my own advice.
LRMishing: The Art of LRM Skirmishing. I advocate the long-range missile as a front-line weapon, akin to Napoleon's artillery or the Wehrmacht's highly mobile artillery in the Second World War. I argue against LRM boating and exclusive LRMing at maximum range. I argue for LRMing up close and personal, within 250-450 meters where possible. Suicide, you say? No. For many reasons.
These are Chados' PUG-LRMisher Maxims:
1) Thirty tubes. No more, no less. Thirty shall be the number of the counting, and the number counted shall be 30. Forty shalt thou not count, neither count thou twenty, except that thou proceedst directly to THIRTY.
I typically get here with two LRM15 or three LRM10. Why 30? Trial and error leads me to believe that a LRM-30 mech retains maximum flexibility. Twenty tubes or less is largely ineffective unless you're a heavy or assault mech using one rack as an indirect fire solution for when the enemy drops over a ridge or something. A LRM-40+ carrier leads to the issue of boating. I say that boating is a sin for the LRMisher because you need backup weapons. "But Chados," you may say, "what of the A1 Catapult or other mechs that only have missile hardpoints? Aren't they made for boating?" I answer no. The SRM is a key backup weapon. That leads me to:
2) Thou shalt not boat.
I shudder when I see a Vulture or Catapult A1 with nothing but LRM-5s. And every Spider driver in the land jumps for joy when he or she sees it. Clans get away with it because C-LRMs do damage at short range. Inner Sphere pilots are committing short-term suicide by giving up any ability to fight inside 180 meters. The dreaded LRM-5 boat is very popular. And it notches high damage, too. But it also is the most vulnerable, least armed, and requires the most standing still and shooting of all LRM packages. It takes time to pour all those chain-fired LRM-5s on target, and the one dimensional nature of the build is a prime reason why it is so denigrated. Add to this the fact that AMS is a hard counter to the LRM-5. As long as there is at least one AMS on the other side, a LRM-5 chain won't hit jack. Ten of the 15 ALRM-15 salvo WILL hit, however. In Catalina's videos above, showing how advanced target delay works, you can see an AMS-equipped target wholly negating a Griffin carrying 4xLRM-5.
LRMishers are the most hated pilots in the land. The appearance of a Catapult on the field will cause every enemy mech from the Kodiak down to the Commando to drop everything it is doing and every enemy it is facing to pursue the Catapult. Driving the A1 Cat in particular, I have had light mechs mounting ER Large Lasers stalk me relentlessly across the battlefield, ignoring every other threat. They close in for the kill...and then find out I'm packing a Streak-8 with Level 5 range module along with the two Artemis LRM-15s. Surprise! Because I don't boat. They just assume that you do and it can be their undoing.
Boaters can't get in the fight and support assault and heavy mechs on the firing line. If you have credible secondaries, you can engage from brawling distance and support both with LRM salvoes and SRM salvoes together. Only ballistics cause as much fire and cockpit shake. It will give that friendly Atlas or Kodiak a chance to exfiltrate from a bad place while the enemy turns its attention to you. It can change the battle.
3) Thou shalt be mobile.
A LRMisher who is standing still is a dead LRMisher. You need to move, 65-68kph at least. Equip jump jets, because mobility needs to be in all six directions. Escaping over a rise, hiding high in buildings, dropping in behind a bad guy in a firefight to fire with your SRMs or lasers, jets make all of this possible. Standing still and LRMing 600 meters behind the fight is like hanging a neon sign over your head that says "free lunch" for every Stormcrow and Jenner on the map. Move around the edge of the scrum. Fire as you move. Step into the fight and share your armor as needed. Bad guys will shoot at you before they shoot at a Kodiak or Dire Wolf or Atlas. Distract them so your teammates rack up kills.
4) Thou shalt take one for the team.
If you're not measuring your success by assists rather than damage or kills, then you're not a true LRMisher. The point of and goal of LRMing is team support. The LRMisher is the ultimate team player. You depend on your teammates for recon and locks. Pay it forward by putting missiles on their target. Don't ask for locks, you shouldn't need to. Shoot at what they are locking up. Carry UAVs and use them. If you can use TAG and have the energy slot to spare, then pack it. I've given thought to carrying NARC over one of my secondary weapons, even. Also, no LRM is going to have a hit rate higher than about 35%. Too many things cause them to miss. Lost locks, bad terrain, ECM, radar deprivation...LRMs have more hard counters than any other weapon system and aggressive play is mandatory with them. And get used to the fact that your team will hate you and your contributions won't be recognized. That's life with LRMs. They're glad when you're with them, but they'll never tell you.
5) Thy modules and peripherals are all-important.
I carry a LRM range module, a range module for my secondary weapons, radar deprivation, and advanced target decay. I also carry an active probe, and I use Artemis. I carry the LRM range module because in the opening stages of some matches, ringing the enemy's missile alarm will cause them to play cautious and give my team the initiative. Domination on Polar Highlands is the greatest example. The secondary weapons to me are all-important and I want to hit with them as far out as I can. Advanced target decay is a no-brainer, as with it you can hold locks for a time even in an ECM environment and do missile tricks like shooting over or around obstacles. And go Artemis or go home. An Artemis-LRM15 gets locks faster and holds them longer. And if you have a sight lock (you can see the bad guy), it will tighten your groups. The Beagle Active Probe will negate one ECM inside 360 meters and extend your sensor range. Combine it with the Advanced Seismic Sensor and credible secondary weapons like the Streak SRM8 (4xSSRM2), and ECM carriers like the Spider, Commando, Locust PB, and Raven 3L go from hunter to hunted. Artemis helps even SSRMs with lock timing.
LRMishing is fun. It's fast paced, and it's a challenge. Good LRM use is difficult in MWO, especially as you rise in tier and play with better players. But the system is viable if properly used and can be a force multiplier if the pilot isn't hiding at the end of the map. Leave that to the gauss snipers.
Edited by Chados, 05 June 2016 - 10:04 AM.
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Jman5, on 09 January 2016 - 05:55 PM, said:
