23 replies to this topic

[mailin]

Sorry OP. If you drive lights a lot and are not dying due to getting legged first, you're doing something terribly wrong.

First rule of a light driver is never stop moving. Granted there are some out there who use lights to snipe . . . don't even get me started on that topic. But even then, you take a shot and you move.

For the record, I run between 2 and 4 armor on the back of all lights.

It's important to remember that lights are most vulnerable when they are stopped, which is why most enemies will shoot the legs first.

So, either you stopped or moved in a predictable manner, in which case you have no one to blame but yourself, or the enemy got in a lucky shot, which happens sometimes.

How many times has this happened to you and what were the circumstances?

[Not A Real RAbbi]

BlackhawkSC, on 23 January 2016 - 01:11 AM, said:

8 pts rear armor + 22 pts structure = 30 point alpha. That's within very reasonable limits. This is why most experienced pilots don't even bother to put that much rear armor, it doesn't really help when you're piloting it wrong.

Combinations that can do this WITHOUT any critical damage?

2x GAUSS (JM6-anything, WHM-6R and WHM-BW, etc.)
2x AC/20 (KGC-anything, JM6-anything, etc.)
3x PPC/ERPPC/cERPPC (Dire Star, Warhawk, particularly brave TBRs/HBRs/EBJs, some STKs, etc.)

And that's just single-trigger-pull PPFLD. It's also risking a LOT of ghost heat in 2/3 examples above, but for that SWEET FS9 kill, it's TOTES worth it. Firestarters are evil little s**ts. Took FOREVER cutting one down with my 5x LL WHM-6D earlier tonight in a CW drop.

I'm gonna go ahead and echo a LOT of other players above, to the OP, when I say, "KEEP MOVING, A******S!" Sorry. Not to cast doubt on the OP's personality, but rather to invoke the voice of Dark Helmet. Speed is the armor of the light mech. Invoking difficulty for the enemy targeting you, by constantly changing the rate of change in position in three axes, is what keeps a light mech alive and in the game. It's why someone else on this forum hates the 2x ERLL RVN-3L(C) build (and I'm starting to agree, except that it's SO doggone deadly for my T5 alt account). Never stand still. Use pulse lasers and/or SRMs, for short-duration shots and rapid cooldown, and never EVER stop moving. YES, even if you're covering friendly fatties with ECM, you should be moving around them at AT LEAST 7/10 throttle, especially with the shorter 90m ECM radius, if just to spread the electronic love and make yourself the least-attractive target in the bunch.

NEVER EVER EVER move in a straight line. Predictable movement in all three axes, or even two of them, makes you an easy target for an experienced sharpshooter (and doubly so for hitscan weapon users). Think Will Ferrell, "SERPENTINE PATTERN!" Do that.

NEVER EVER EVER EVER show the enemy your back, if you can help it, and if you CAN'T, then DEFINITELY make sure you're constantly altering that rate of change in all three axes.

And you'll still get the occasional one-shot here and there, but it's a GAME and you just gotta keep queueing up. ;-)

[Ragnahawk]

Dude you only need 30 points of damage to kill your firestarter. A light can pack that firepower.

[TercieI]

This game is about positioning and awareness. If you got shot in the back, yours failed. Simple as that. I'm primarily a light pilot, run no more than 4 armor on any back torso ever and I can't remember the last time I got back-shot in a FS9. Also, if you don't like living on the very edge...don't drive lights. Just that simple.