77 replies to this topic

[-Vompo-]

I usually have arm lock on. I only turn it off when I need to fire outside of my torso twist range or in some other rare cases.
I am bad at following multiple crosshairs on the screen and that is why I prefer to use arm lock when possible. Another reason for my arm lock use is that most mechs I pilot regularly have little to no firepower on the arms or the arms don't move side to side

[Clownwarlord]

I have been playing since before arm lock so ... I never use it

[MonkeyCheese]

As a founder.... LOL to armlock.

Now carry on pointlessly defending this silly crutch feature.

[jaxjace]

Arm lock isnt even a crutch it makes you worse at the game...

[Mycrus]

Thinking mans shooter... then go implement arm lock...

[Bishop Steiner]

jaxjace, on 17 January 2016 - 11:18 PM, said:

Arm lock isnt even a crutch it makes you worse at the game...

oh it's a big deal for a lot of alpha warriors who apparently cant keep two reticles on the same target........

[Widowmaker1981]

Dont see how people think removing armlock isnt just a nerf for mechs with mixed arm/torso weapons - is it going to affect Banshees? Battlemasters? nope, it is not, because it wont affect their convergence at all. Wouldn't affect Clan mechs much/at all either since they can just remove lower arm actuators if they wish.

Just a nerf for a few mechs that have to use a mix of arm and torso and make those undesirable, and a slight annoyance for mechs with 100% torso weapons in that they have to aim at a trailing crosshair instead of the primary one.

Edited by Widowmaker1981, 18 January 2016 - 01:38 AM.

[That Friggin Spider]

Probably doesn't affect slower mechs as much, but I find the piloting experience vastly different with armlock OFF.

When I have it on, It feels as though the mech is very stiff and my vision doesn't shift as fast or as far when i twist my torso.

Yes, it's kind of a swingy-swaying feeling when it's unlocked, but the range and speed of motion/vision seems greater, and thats really important when situational awareness and speed are the only things keeping you alive

[Mechwarrior1441491]

Don't use armlock. I see how it would be useful. As I'm not an invalid, I'll fire weapons the way a man should.

[RoboPatton]

Sorry, but "always leave arm lock on" is badvice.

[That Friggin Spider]

If anything, I wish I could choose the colour and brightness of the targeting reticles! I'm sure id land more arm shots if i could actually see that tiny circle while i am scambling around at 150kph.


I don't even remember arm-lock being considered a desirable thing before this new era of laser/alpha meta.

Edited by That Friggin Spider, 04 February 2016 - 12:19 AM.

[Mechwarrior1441491]

Taking it off and then realizing where and WHEN armlock is good, through game experience is better. Letting the game do it for you is cheating yourself. That's why I like ballistics. Back in the day, a good AC20 lob over the hill was gold.

[Ratpoison]

It's easy enough to leave armlock toggled off and just hit shift when you need to snap your arms to your torso, but unfortunately it is still a skill that must be learned, and many of the puggies can't be bothered to think that hard.

[That Friggin Spider]

I do have to say though...arm lock, combined with lights like the FS and cheetah, with their 7 or 8 energy hardpoints, has made for a whole new breed of light pilots that don't really know how to dogfight with lights. You recognize them by the way the run up to you, then stop, then shoot, lol.

Pretty deadly if you're sitting still for it, or if you're a timberwolf's ***, but they don't know what to do when you dodge most of the alphas and keep on coming.

[Moldur]

Do people really see armlock as a crutch?

This reminds me of an APB thread long ago where people were talking about how crouching was OP.

[NextGame]

armslock is fine as long as you understand and use the shift key (or wherever you have it mapped) to split off the arm aiming when appropriate

Edited by NextGame, 04 February 2016 - 12:58 AM.

[speleomaniac]

To write something that black and white is wrong.

Armlock or not Armlock, it depends.

You face a Dire Wolf and you want to point all you 8 lasers to him, for all means, armlock.

A pesky light circling you, you try to hit with 8 lasers with armlock, don't remove the armlock and shoot with the arms, especially if you are not using pulse, you can track the lights much better with arms if you have lasers.

Is somebody above or below you, don't use armlock, arms can aim much higher and lower then torso weapons.

You are running a zombie mech, use arm lock otherwise cursor can confuse you and it doesn't bring any benefit that I know.

[AssaultPig]

threads on this topic are always good for a chuckle

on the one hand, people argue that arm lock is a crutch, teaches noobs bad habits, etc. On the other hand, people argue that it's used by elitists to gain an advantage via perfect convergence and so on. Sometimes it's even the same person!

You can't have it both ways gents

Edited by AssaultPig, 04 February 2016 - 03:16 AM.

[TimePeriod]

I use the shift key when I need a decent shot to land. Being able to engage multiple targets at once is always a good idea imo.

[LordNothing]

as stated elsewhere (i think in this very thread) unlocking my arms makes me extremely nauseous (its bad, like running doom on a 16:9 monitor bad).

i think part of the reason it makes me nauseous is i am also a track ir user. unlocking your arms and your view starts chasing that arm reticle. the two rotations mix and my brain expects me to be looking at one spot but im looking elsewhere, and the conflict creates the nausea (its my grey matter's way of saying "wtf?"). you really dont need this feature (keep the arm reticle just dont let the view follow it) when using head tracking and it would be nice to turn it off.

trackir needs a serious bugfix pass, i dont think its been touched since implemented. they need to fix the gain (its a little weak and i cant seem to tweak it in the trackir software for some reason), better integrate things like the adv zoom module, and of course making it completely override all other freelook mechanisms. also trackir needs to be ignored during the startup animation, im tired of seeing my beheaded pilot whin the animated camera angles mix with the trackir movements. you are going to need to fix this stuff before a serious go at occulus tracking.

Edited by LordNothing, 04 February 2016 - 03:45 AM.