51 replies to this topic

[Night Thastus]

In the heat of battle, the calculations you make in your head are a little intense.

I started writing a 1 page explanation of how I do that, but the formatting in these forums sucks. Perhaps I'll do it some other time.

[John Stryker]

I just nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[KodiakGW]

Damaged mechs: If I get target info before firing, I always shoot at the most damaged leg or torso.

Fresh mechs or no target info:
Lights - Legs. Need to stop the laggy buggards in their tracks.
Mediums - Center torso for the most part.
Clan Heavies - Center torso for the most part.
IS Heavies - Side torso if I think it is an XL build (lots of weapons or very fast). Otherwise, center torso.
Assaults - Hit the legs with an alpha. If armor turns red, then legs. Otherwise, center torso. Not many IS assault pilots use XL engines. But, I've recently killed a Stalker and Atlas by side torso shots based on target info saying it was damaged. Two mechs you normally don't see with XL engines.

[Moldur]

Undamaged or lightly damaged, I will attempt to hit their CT.

If there is a clan mech with both side torsos about to go, I'll aim for those.

Certain mechs like the hellbringer, I will try to blow their Left torso if it is greatly more damaged than their CT because it houses ECM and a majority of their weapons. Very asymmetric mechs in general I'll try to get their ST or arm that houses most of their weapons.

[Papapeshu]

Ok ya got me.
I confess to focusing on CT on pretty much everything!

Obviously if I notice stripped/smoking components I'll happily amputate them.
The only components I try not to shoot are the arms, (unless stripped), as I don't want to waste ammo/heat that can be delivered at full damage to a CT.

[Fobhopper]

I aim for center-mass, and then try to compensate for torso twisting. But if I see on the paper doll that certain parts of the mech are much more damage, I will focus fire on that first. Unless I am fighting a HBK, then you ALWAYS aim for the ST first to take out whatever big weapons it has. You just got to know your target.
If you are fighting a timberwolf, you aren't going to aim for the arms (which are pretty small in comparison), you aim for the chest and head. If you see an atlas, you be your ass I am going to focus fire on the head. If you see a raven/jenner, you aim for the legs as best you can while trying to angle for the torso.

you just aim for the most effective point on a mech. If its fast, you disable its legs, if its slow, KO it in the head/chest. If the arms are heavily damage, knock them out first before you try and finish them off. Its just simple common sense.

KodiakGW, on 29 July 2015 - 12:20 PM, said:

Damaged mechs: If I get target info before firing, I always shoot at the most damaged leg or torso.

Fresh mechs or no target info:
Lights - Legs. Need to stop the laggy buggards in their tracks.
Mediums - Center torso for the most part.
Clan Heavies - Center torso for the most part.
IS Heavies - Side torso if I think it is an XL build (lots of weapons or very fast). Otherwise, center torso.
Assaults - Hit the legs with an alpha. If armor turns red, then legs. Otherwise, center torso. Not many IS assault pilots use XL engines. But, I've recently killed a Stalker and Atlas by side torso shots based on target info saying it was damaged. Two mechs you normally don't see with XL engines.

The atlas you dropped was probably the BH (boars head), it comes with a 400XL engine, and is the only atlas you would ever (reasonably) run an XL engine. As for the Stalker with an XL, he was either really stupid or you possibly got a chain reaction kill by hitting ammo and damage transferring over to the CT.

Edited by Fobhopper, 29 July 2015 - 01:53 PM.

[Lily from animove]

CoolLew, on 29 July 2015 - 05:55 AM, said:

Questions guys-
Veterans, when y'all are in the chaos of battle, do you take the time to shoot at arms and such, or do you just shoot for center mass?

90% of the time yes, except you have target info exposing a valuable component being easy to take out.
ST's on IS XL mechs cna be interesting, yet if the pilot twists this torso away you eiter have to go for CT or the entire other ST, which cna then just be worse than directly going CT. So yes most of the time ots abour CT sniping. Or shootign at the visible head, which on many mechs is the CT. so its "upper edge shooting"

Edited by Lily from animove, 29 July 2015 - 01:56 PM.

[Skave]

My Nova goes sleepy when I'm happy triggering, so I'm alway taking time before shooting.

If I got target info I try to destroy some component.

If I can backstab -> CT

If not, it's mostly depend on the target, some mech got very obvious thing to destroy

"Ear" of the timberwolf, big gun in the right torso of the atlas, ECM of the hellbringer, the most certainly XL engine of the jaggermech, leg of light, part with weapon on the asymmetrical mech, arm of catapult, etc...

[bad arcade kitty]

i spray and pray for the gods of random aimed my streaks well

[Lanzman]

Still being pretty new at this, I go for center mass with any non-missile weapon. UNLESS I am in a position where the bad guy is engaged with someone else or otherwise unaware of me, then I take the time to target a side torso.

[Khereg]

CoolLew, on 29 July 2015 - 05:55 AM, said:

Questions guys-
Veterans, when y'all are in the chaos of battle, do you take the time to shoot at arms and such, or do you just shoot for center mass?

Fresh mech, or one I haven't got target info for, either COM or a side torso if it's an IS variant I suspect is running an XL (e.g. dual gauss Jager). Live and learn. Learn and live.

edited to add: with experience, you'll learn specific builds and vulnerabilities. Laser vomit EBJ or HBR? take the left torso. Wubbolt? right torso all but neuters him. With time, you'll learn all the builds and the specific vulnerable locations that will make them ineffective in the fight. DWF? get the CT. Even without the target info, you'll know where to shoot.

Edited by Khereg, 29 July 2015 - 07:17 PM.

[Dino Might]

I never bother with arms.
If I can spot a damaged torso or leg, I will go for that first.
If no info known and can't decipher from the smoke, I generally go for CT when playing peekaboo.
When in a light going to harpoon a Dire Wolf or something else big and slow, if alone, I sneak up behind and saw off one leg. Then it's easier to stay behind the firing arc and take the other.

It's all situational, but you can generally come up with a "best to shoot this mech here in if I don't have any other info," for just about everything.

Direwolf face to face with you? Shoot out one of its side torsos
Hellbringer face to face with you? Shoot out its left torso
Any light anywhere anytime? Shoot out its legs (frequently I get lazy and go center mass if I suspect my team has been doing the same)
Timberwolf? Get behind it or get dead. If face to face, I'll usually center mass it hoping that someone else has done so or will be doing so soon.

So, you can see, my tactics change depending on what I'm fighting.
In the heat of the moment, sometimes all this goes out the window, but having this stuff figured out beforehand makes it more likely that most of the time, I will follow these for a general improvement in killing ability.

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

lights: legs

dragons,hunchbacks and centurions,right side torso

otherwise centre mass

[Dino Might]

Also, if you want to CT core a torso twisting mech, shoot it in the junk. That counts as part of the CT, and the only way to shield it is by turning the whole mech away from you.

[purplewasabi]

Yes if it leads to a killing blow. If not, I'll focus on dismemberment/disarming, going after their weapon systems and such.

[Sereglach]

There is a plethora of good information in this thread, throughout a number of the posts, on good concepts of where to go for and what to aim at.

One highly important facet that I'd like to add into it is learning mech loadouts. Besides learning chassis tonnage and the tonnage of weapons (which can quickly tell you if an IS mech is carrying an XL, if you have target info), the vital parts of various mechs are not quite what you'd expect in some cases. Take the time to learn where the hardpoints are on the mechs, at least as a generalization (some chassis can be quite diverse). If you cannot get targeting info, and you don't see anything smoking, then you'll have pretty good ideas of where to shoot.

A few examples of note (quick analyses that you can make even without target info):

-Jenner and Raven torsos are actually pretty easy to hit (especially CT on the Jenner and any torso on a Raven) with hit-scan weapons (lasers, mg's, flamers); while attempting to disarm them is quite difficult (very tiny arms). Thusly, you don't necessarily need to sweep the legs, unless it's a good pilot and proving difficult to hit; and never bother to try to disarm them.

-Wolverines, King Crabs, Panthers, and Dragons are examples of mechs that will be more prone to protecting the right side of their mech, because that is where most of their hardpoints are located. A King Crab that has heavy ballistics AND heavy energy/missiles is probably running an XL, and the side torsos can be reasonably easy to hit (especially from the side).

-With Griffons, pay attention to where the shoulder mounted missile rack is. Whichever side that missile rack is on is going to be more valuable. If it's the 2N, with ECM, you'll pretty much know it right away because of the racks on both shoulders (in that case aim for the left, which is where the ECM is; and they often carry XL's, anyway). If it has no missile rack, then it's probably a Sparky, in which case just aim for the side torsos, in general . . . its a completely symmetrical mech and may or may not have XL.

-For an Atlas, look at whether it's firing off missiles, or ballistics, or both. Missiles are on its left, and ballistics are on its right. If it's firing any sort of heavy ballistics, you're going to want to prioritize that side: A pinpoint AC/20 is far more dangerous than 3xSRM4s/6s (about 26 and 36 damage, respectively) scattered across your mech. However, an AS7/S will often forsake the ballistics to carry 4xSRM4s/6s and 3xLLs, forsaking the ballistics . . . in that case you want to prioritize those missiles, quickly (because you can take out one of the lasers, as well, in the process).

-If a Centurion is using ballistics, then aim for the right side. If it has no ballistics, then aim for the legs, because it's probably a zombie; and -if they're a good pilot- whittling it down through the torsos will probably take a while.

-Quickly legging any zombie mech (a mech with a STD engine and CT and/or HD energy hardpoints) is one of the best ways to kill it, because it renders most of its damage spreading and shielding useless. Spider 5V's, Centurions (especially the A), Grasshoppers, even some Firestarters (FS9-A Example . . . K also works similar), and others can zombie at least reasonably well.

Those are just a few examples. Most of it you'll pick up over time. Outside of that, I say again, there's been a lot of good information provided throughout the thread. Make note of a lot of the generalizations, because they'll become invaluable. However, don't expect to learn/internalize that kind of stuff over night. Especially once you get to where you're learning specific builds, calculating tonnage, and figuring what kind of engine an IS mech has . . . within the first few seconds of looking at it's target info.

Eventually, your mind will start working in a fashion similar to this:
1. Look at chassis and identify via silhouette.
2. Mentally know where hardpoints are while locking target (if possible).
3. On-spot physical examination to see if there are any smoking parts you should shoot at right away.
4. If target lock is not possible, quickly assessing the best place to shoot the mech based upon weight class, chassis, and apparent payload.
5. Aiming at most vital areas of mech based upon target information, or inherent knowledge, and opening fire with as precise of shots as possible.

Also, most importantly, don't get too trigger happy. We all get overzealous at times and will force a shut-down. However, taking the time to aim and place your shots wisely is far more effective than just putting damage on targets. As previously stated, this game is a thinking man's shooter (even if it's still not quite what many of us dream of for a MechWarrior game).

[Void Angel]

CoolLew, on 29 July 2015 - 05:55 AM, said:

Questions guys-
Veterans, when y'all are in the chaos of battle, do you take the time to shoot at arms and such, or do you just shoot for center mass?

Sereglach and others have covered this, but I'll throw my hat into the ring: it depends.

If I haven't positively identified the enemy's build/chassis, I'm probably going to plaster the CT - it's less likely to miss, and in a PuG match it's the location most likely to take damage. If I have identified a weakness in the enemy 'mech, on the other hand, I'll go for that. And of course certain chassis spread damage very well, and are hard to kill with torso damage at all (Centurions and Thunderbolts, for example.) You have to learn how 'mech builds work in order to get a feel for where to shoot people.

Taking off the side torsos of Warhawks and Dire Wolves, for example, is a great way to cripple and kill them - they've likely been spreading damage to those side torsos anyway, and taking out their side torso and arm drastically cuts down on their firepower. Certain Centurion builds, on the other hand, are notoriously hard to kill via torso destruction due to the chassis' architecture, and some players (particularly playing long-range 'mechs) will skimp on their leg armor, intending to fight from behind cover - those guys, you want to leg. But the quickest way to kill any enemy is to put your fire where your teammates are putting theirs - to include shooting at the same enemy, not just the same component.

In a nutshell, learn the builds and 'mechs over time as you play, focus on previously damaged and/or weakly armored components first, and always coordinate fire.

Edited by Void Angel, 29 July 2015 - 09:18 PM.

[Alianton]

To be honest? Now I'm starting to aim for legs. Unless I can sneak behind them (or i can see on the paper doll that some parts are damaged), aim legs. People tend to put ammo and less armor on the legs. I just shoot them with whatever and it'll be quite good. I've had a game in my 2srm6 hbk where i killed 3 mechs just by going for their legs

[AssaultPig]

in 'the heat of battle' my first volley usually goes to center of mass, unless for some reason I know in advance the guy has a soft leg or something.

by the second volley you should be able to target and identify anything damaged though

[Mazzyplz]

only shoot ct on a mech that you're trying to discourage from engaging during hill hump, or you make a gratuitous shot or the mech is fresh and you are brawling it, you can go for the ct kill if they are fresh since some loadouts can still kill you with half a body or even as a stick

for everything else shoot sidetorso or leg depending on the size

or identify the dangerous weapon arm in case of dragon/cent/etc