Just read a bit of another thread on STK-5M builds and missile placement due to tube limits.
Specifically that the torso LRM slots have 6 tubes, so a LRM15 is launching a 6-6-3 pattern (or, as twin launchers, you are launching an LRM-12, LRM-12, LRM-6 combo).
Three questions:
1) Do multiple launchers affect the spread? EG, assume we have 15 tubes per torso. When firing 2 LRM15s at once, does each salvo get the normal LRM spread, or do they spread even more because it's effectively LRM-30?
2) When an LRM15 is limited by tube size, to a 6-6-3 launch, does each 'wave' of that launch get LRM15 spread, or LRM6/3 spread?
3) Does breaking the launch into 6-6-3 affect heat generation at all?
If no answer to this is already known, is there a suggestion for how we could test it?
1) if firing 15 tubes at once the spread is much wider than from firing just 1 LRM5 , where as 3 LRM5 together will have identical spread to 1 LRM15
2) I am pretty sure you get less spread if firing a large launcher out of a small number of tubes, but I have not tested that in a while
3) no, firing in smaller vollys does not affect heat as you are still firing an LRM15 (or at least it never used to, it is easy to test, in testing grounds with the LRM in an arm and another in a torso, the Stalker's arms have 10 tubes on most variants (so it will launch twice 10,5 rather than 3 times 6,6,3), while standing still at 0 heat fire the arm launcher and take note of the heat spike, then wait until you are back at 0 heat switch it to a torso launcher and fire, you should get the same heat spike both times.
Edited by Rogue Jedi, 18 December 2015 - 01:47 PM.
Just read a bit of another thread on STK-5M builds and missile placement due to tube limits.
Specifically that the torso LRM slots have 6 tubes, so a LRM15 is launching a 6-6-3 pattern (or, as twin launchers, you are launching an LRM-12, LRM-12, LRM-6 combo).
Three questions:
1) Do multiple launchers affect the spread? EG, assume we have 15 tubes per torso. When firing 2 LRM15s at once, does each salvo get the normal LRM spread, or do they spread even more because it's effectively LRM-30?
2) When an LRM15 is limited by tube size, to a 6-6-3 launch, does each 'wave' of that launch get LRM15 spread, or LRM6/3 spread?
3) Does breaking the launch into 6-6-3 affect heat generation at all?
If no answer to this is already known, is there a suggestion for how we could test it?
Thanks for any info!
1) This is conditional.
If you have 2 LRM-15s with 15 tubes each, you will effectively have "LRM-30" spread, so to speak.
If one LRM-15 has 15 tubes and the other has 6 tubes, you will have a very different, tighter spread. The second launcher will also take longer to finish spitting missiles, which will take longer before it can 'reload'... it also spreads the heat out making it more tolerable, and doesn't count against a "SPAM" count (ghost heat) if you fire other missiles while it is still firing so long as they don't start firing at the same time (since MWO has a limit of 2 identical launchers fired at once without penalty).
2 10 tube LRM-15s will fire as if LRM-20 first volley, LRM-10 second volley.
It is a fact that they spread more if fired at once.
Now, despite how we say it will have more spread, it doesn't actually have the same spread. (There's been a lot of testing studies into this in a fight to make LRM-20s more useful, as it takes 3 LRM-10s to get the spread of an LRM 20.) Two LRM-10s fired at the same time do not really spread like an LRM-20. They do spread more than if fired back to back, but they do not spread like that. To be as accurate as possible, they spread as if 5 missiles up. If 2 LRM-10s are fired at once, they actually spread more like an LRM-15. Two LRM-15s fire more like an LRM-20. And honestly 2 LRM-5s don't quite spread like that.
2) In general more missiles with fewer tubes will always be 'less spread'. It ALSO means... they will be shot down more easily by anti-missile systems as there's more time to shoot down missiles.
3) Accidentally answered this already.
More specifically: DISCLAIMER I'm too lazy to look up specific heat values!!! These are NOT the heat values.
If your LRM 20 generates 10 heat, then with a 20 tube launcher... Missile launch. BAM 10 heat! Reload.
If your LRM 20 generates 10 heat, then with a 10 tube launcher... Volley launch. Pow, 5 heat. Volley launch. Pow, 5 heat. Reload.
If your LRM 20 generates 10 heat, then with a 5 tube launcher... Volley launch. Pew, 2.5 heat. Volley launch. Pew, 2.5 heat. Volley launch. Pew, 2.5 heat. Volley launch. Pew, 2.5 heat. Reload.
How this applies to the thread I read earlier (and a quickie STK-5M build I posted):
STK-5M, put 2 LRM15's in the torso (6 tube launcher): you are effectively firing an LRM-12 (without about LRM10 or less spread), then another LRM12(10), then an LRM6 (with about a 4 spread) in very quick succession.
Pros: More cockpit shake, more explosion blinding, tighter spread, heat spread out a bit.
Cons: Takes an extra 2 seconds (ish?) per volley, more susceptible to AMS.
Overall, do you feel this is a strong deterrent to using LRM15s (vs 5s and/or 10s) in these torso slots?
One issue for me is, if I use the arms for LRM10s, *and* put my lasers in the arms... I can get 'disarmed' pretty easily.
Why?
It allows you to fire say two LRM 15's in a 6, 6, 3, 6, 6, 3 pattern. So instead of firing 15, then 15 you have an additional 2 seconds of LRMs hitting the intended target before the next reload, with more focusing to one area. It gives you more time on target to get kills also.
when ghost heat was added to the game I was already using this method to focus damage, cause screen shake rage and keep constant pressure on the target. The but is, always watch for AMS. If you see 2 or more, find another target in a different area. Then let them break up so that you only have one AMS at a time to deal with.
Ideally you want to have LRMs firing until the next reload so that you have between .5 and .9 seconds between firing the last LRM and the new chain fired volley.
One interesting note is my 3H stalker has a better KDR and goes against everything said above using 2 LRM 20's and 2 LRM 5's in volley fire most of the time. On my 5M I use 2 LRM 10's and 3 LRM 5's, only in chain fire. With the 5M I also like to be closer to the battle, so I shift from ML's to LRMs from time to time.
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