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[Spinfusion]

Good Narcing seems to have as outsized an impact on win/loss rate as it has an undersized impact on CBill rewards. This is understandable - Narcing is teamwork, and measuring teamwork is much harder than measuring damage. So please bear in mind that I am talking about winning, not about earning CBills. With that out of the way, I'd like to share my theory on the true purpose of Narcs and LRMs.

LRMs are not an amazing way to deal damage. They are not meta, or at least not very meta. They can be very effective against the Narced assault caught alone in the open. But they can be dodged, shot down, lock broken, or stopped by invincible terrain. They're slow to arrive and mostly miss. They do the precise opposite of pinpoint damage.

Here's how I've seen LRMs used (generalizations ensue):
1. PUGs - spray and pray at half-second locks
2. Group queue - sometimes LRM boats work with dedicated light spotters. This varies from decently to very effective.
3. Competitive play - not present, or 1-2 boats in the back bringing rain.

People have played a tremendous amount of MWO, and have obviously figured out how to use LRMs and Narcs. I am not suggesting I've thought of something new in that domain.

However, I think the CBill reward system's emphasis on direct damage biases the metagame consensus in subtle ways. Everyone agrees that LRMs are not a reliable method of doing direct damage. But that is not their primary purpose.

** Incoming!!!

Every other weapon in MWO is 2-dimensional, meaning it requires a straight line of sight to the target. The LRM is the only artillery piece in the game. And artillery comes in all sizes, from knee mortar to Schwerer Gustav.

The amazing thing about MWO, however, is that an incoming knee mortar round and a 7-ton Schewer Gustav shell sound exactly the same.

The gigantic "Warning: Incoming Missile" LRM prompt has a reliable effect on pilots: it makes them move and seek cover. Doesn't matter whether the "incoming" is an LRM-5 or an LRM-40.

This is the definition of suppressive fire. That role might've once been played by the autocannon, but with laservomit and quirked offense, the suppressive fire concept has given way to peek-poke-roll. But peek-poke-roll depends inherently on cover. And suppressive LRM fire manipulates that cover. Instead of covering in 2 dimensions, now your opponent must cover in 3. This translates directly into a maneuvering and positional advantage for your team.

Only noob LRM boats brave direct fire in an attempt to hold their own locks. But somebody needs to hold locks for them. This argues for front-line mechs to carry Narc. Peek-poke-roll is an armor trade. Peek-poke-Narc-roll means you get a second shot when your enemy bugs out of cover.

This is a nice bonus. Now your LRM boats can bring the rain, terrain permitting. And more importantly, your laservomit infantry can roll forward, spreading out while the enemy hunkers and retreats.

But terrain inevitably intervenes. Some maps are flat, but most have something to put between your LRM boats and the opfor. So it's back to peek-poke-roll.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could fix this problem? Obviously an LRM boat cannot be everywhere. They have a hard enough time walking anywhere. But since the primary purpose of LRM fire is psychological, a boat isn't necessary.

** Narc+LRM is three roles, not two

Here's my proposed LRM-Narc team loadout. At team should have at least 1 of each of the following:
1. An LRM boat, to threaten significant vertical damage and add support fire anywhere on the map
2. A front-line Narc spotter
3. A flanking "knee mortar" harasser LRM mech with an LRM 5, lots of LRM ammo, and the rest direct fire.

Let's demonstrate the strategy with some hypothetical builds:
1. A Stalker LRM boat
2. A spotter Raven or Kitfox ECM+narc mech with jumpjets and maybe TAG
3. A Timberwolf harasser with an LRM 5, lotsa LRM ammo, and an anti-light mech loadout - maybe streaks, or just laser-vomit if skilled.

The Raven flanks right, spots the enemy and starts Narcing. Lasers point both ways, so he doesn't fire his other weapons. Instead, he just calls "barrage" and "cease fire" on targets. He doesn't TAG either, because we don't care about hitting moving targets; we just want the targets to MOVE.

The Timberwolf follows a ways behind the Raven and stays in cover. He fires LRMs from the right flank. He's also the Raven's backup - the Raven can run to him if a light tries to intercept him.

The Stalker hangs back with the main group, launches on command, and drinks coffee.

What's the result? The enemy team is caught in an L-shaped ambush. Continuous harassing LRM fire comes down from their left, and heavy intermittent LRM rain from the front. They can't ignore the "Warning: Incoming Missile" messages, because they're sometimes lethal. But they can't hide either, due to geometry. Nor can they snipe the squirrely Raven or the hunkered-down Timberwolf.

Their left is compressed and rolled back. Alternatively, they counterattack to clear the Raven and Timberwolf, thus exposing themselves to your team's main firing line and splitting their forces. The Timberwolf and Raven simply fade back before the advance, and can even switch to work the other flank.

If you try this, please upload it to Youtube and post it here.