38 replies to this topic

[SteelBruiser]

I've been playing since mid January. I only have 27 headshots. Most were acheived with my Warhammer 6D with either a 5 ERLL build with adv zoom and ERLL range 5 mod or a 3 LPL/4ML build and LPL range 5 mod. My main targets have been the Atlas, Kodiak, King Crab, Rifleman, Cataphract with the majority being the Kodiak. I don't go head hunting specifically, but I do watch for the opportunity. Several are from extreme range where they didn't realize I was out there yet. Others are in closer where I've forced them into shutdown for overheating.

An important part of the headshot is your mouse sensitivity. If it's too high you won't get a clean shot. Go to the test maps and practice on the various mechs there.

And as someone already mentioned, it will be harder to get the headshots once you move up in Tiers. It will be harder to find players that aren't constantly moving or twisting right after they shoot. And the matches generally run at a much faster pace. You'll be more concerned with surviving than collecting head shots. So if want that achievement, go for it now.

[Bud Crue]

Go to training grounds and practice there. Obviously not battlefield conditions, but you will at least learn where the cp is on most of the mechs and realize just how difficult it is to get a HS. That said there are only three mechs I have found that it is worth actively aiming for the cp: Dragon, Griffin and Wolverine.

Dragon is the best because all you are trying to do is sort of skim the top of the mech. Taller mechs work the best because you want to skim the top of the CT and if you are able to angle the shot down a bit then the risk of missing is nil...a miss to the cp being a hit on the CT so no harm.

Shape of the Griffin's and Wolverine's "face" makes the CP essentially a bulls eye style target. If you are at moderate range and the target is twisted toward you while running (or standing still!) you have a good chance of nailing the cp.

For the record, I learned about the Dragon's cp vulnerability by nailing one by accident, and then repeating it (also by accident). But after trying to do it on purpose (about a hundred times), Now I can do it fairly often (relatively speaking) -if I can get one positioned right.
The other two I learned about by being repeatedly nailed, and then giving it a shot myself. It is still super hard, but just not as impossible feeling as with other mechs. Now, when I run any of the mechs I mentioned above I always wobble my torso when running across open ground just to try to minimize the chance of getting nailed.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

First off, if you want to get more headshots (but arent very good at getting them), bring improved artillery and a lot of hit-scan weapons like laser vomit.

Step 1: Wait for a cluster of mechs, and drop an arty on them!
Step 2: cycle through the targets and look for mechs already damaged in the head (because arty will splash some damage on the head).
Step 3: mechs that are opened up into internals in the head are prime pickings! Shoot your hit-scan weapons towards center mass and them aim up! You will hit center torso- and if your lucky, graze the headshot... If not, thats ok- since you went for center core anyway! If your doing this with say, 3x LPL + say 5 ML... You might just kill your target with a tick of burn to the head!

[Rogue Jedi]

SteelBruiser, on 17 June 2016 - 06:41 AM, said:

I've been playing since mid January. I only have 27 headshots.

I have been playing since August 2012 and since the achievements system went in in 2014 I have got 3 head shots.
"only" 27 in 5-6 months is amazing, well done.

[Exadron]

Gather round all, since I have not seen the way posted I shall post it. If all you seek is the headshot achievement this will show you how to get it.

I present to you a build passed down by The B33f
Which I've gracefully nicknamed:
The Limburger Nova.

Step 1: Buy the Nova.
Step 2: Put 6 flamers on one hand. Put 6 small pulse lasers on the other.
Step 3: Vote for the hot map.
Step 4: Slink yourself into combat behind everyone else.
Step 6: Find an opportunity to cause an enemy to overheat.
Step 7: Aim carefully directly at smallest Center Cockpit window or the left eye if its an Atlas.
Step 8: Shoot small pulse lasers.
Step 9: Wipe a tear from your eye as you rejoice from the sheer beauty of 1 shotting a 99% health overheated Mech.

[Rogue Jedi]

Exadron, on 09 June 2017 - 04:48 AM, said:

I present to you a build passed down by The B33f

for instruction from the master himself

[Kaethir]

Tamerlin's hitbox localization thread has already been mentioned a couple of times.

Study that, go to the training grounds and try to learn where the cockpit locations are by shooting for them.

Then, aim for those locations and hope for some luck.

Practice, practice, practice.

[Ruccus]

Exadron, on 09 June 2017 - 04:48 AM, said:

Gather round all, since I have not seen the way posted I shall post it. If all you seek is the headshot achievement this will show you how to get it.

I present to you a build passed down by The B33f
Which I've gracefully nicknamed:
The Limburger Nova.

Step 1: Buy the Nova.
Step 2: Put 6 flamers on one hand. Put 6 small pulse lasers on the other.
Step 3: Vote for the hot map.
Step 4: Slink yourself into combat behind everyone else.
Step 6: Find an opportunity to cause an enemy to overheat.
Step 7: Aim carefully directly at smallest Center Cockpit window or the left eye if its an Atlas.
Step 8: Shoot small pulse lasers.
Step 9: Wipe a tear from your eye as you rejoice from the sheer beauty of 1 shotting a 99% health overheated Mech.

I stupidly got myself caught by an 'Overheat Nova' a grand total of once (yesterday), in a Blackjack BJ-2. Luckily because of the brawling nature of my build and the Blackjack's structure quirks I'd put a lot of nodes into survivability so all I got was a red cockpit.

I'm thinking with the skill tree those "guaranteed 1 shots" aren't going to be so guaranteed.

[Khereg]

Leaving aside whether or not it makes sense to actively try for headshots (let's just say you want to and that's reason enough), here's some ideas of how to do it better.

1. Learn where the head actually is on each mech. It's not always intuitive. For certain older IS chassis you can practice hitting heads in the testing grounds. Someone else in this thread already pointed to the hitbox diagrams - memorize them.

2. Use the right weapons. You need to put a lot of damage in a very small space. Generally this means pinpoint damage weapons like gauss, PPC's, and IS AC's. Small pulse lasers can also do well, especially on a shutdown target. The flamer Nova is a favorite because it can overheat a target at close range and make it easy pickings for the 6 small pulse's in the other arm. However, this build requires a bit of finesse and skill to use well. May not be suitable for beginners.

Missiles, lasers, and clan AC's are terrible for headshots (small pulse lasers excluded). IS ballistics can be good (e.g. the venerable AC40 boomjager), but the projectile drop can make anything but a gauss difficult to aim at longer ranges.

3. Always aim for the head. With pinpoint weapons, get in the habit of shooting in the vicinity of the head any time you can. The downside is if you miss, you have a much better chance of missing entirely, but if you hit, you'll occasionally get lucky and take the head. If you don't care about win/loss or your personal stats, go for it.

4. Practice, practice, practice. Seriously, you're going to have to git gud at aiming, which means a lot of time in the testing grounds and in the game settings to get your mouse sensitivity just right. You should be able to poptart a headshot on a stationary target at 400+m fairly consistently if you want to make significant progress.

Now go forth and mine the salt.

Edited by Khereg, 19 June 2017 - 10:39 AM.

[Kaethir]

FYI... with the energy rebalance 6 SPL will no longer 1-shot a cockpit. they only do 4 damage now, x6 = 24, not enough to kill a max-HP head.

[Amatsukaze]

I think with the new patch headhsots aren't possible on a Disco anymore. I had a SNV last night I ran into that was disco. Hit him 4 times in the head with MPLs & no damage showed on the paperdoll so I took his legs.

[aGentleWarrior]

Usually i also do not aim for the cockpit... even if you hit the right spot it might be protected by the lag shield...

But once i played my Direwolf on River City, looked between buildings to snipe with my dualgaus, and BAM.

YOU HAVE BEEN DESTROYED

Some lucky guy placed a headshot with ... a GAUS from at least 1200m ...

[justcallme A S H]

LikeUntoGod, on 16 June 2016 - 08:47 PM, said:

Since I've never died from a head shot, it is the first place i cut armor if needed.

Depends players you are against. In lower Tiers and solo QP - I would not be worried.

But in Group Q - you get a Div A comp team, you could end up in a world of pain in an Assault/Hvy mech. Med/Light less so because you're usually moving faster.

mailin, on 16 June 2016 - 09:24 PM, said:

I typically run between 4 and 6 points on cockpit armor. In nearly 4 years of playing I've only been headshotted half a dozen times (if that).

I've been headshotted `25-30 times roughly since Nov 15 when I kicked off playing.

Most of them have been in a BLR, worst head hitbox, ever. Then the HBR, another shocker of a mech for it.

I never run anything but full armour these days. But then in comp that stuff happens, or when in Group Q - so yeah, I don't skimp for those reasons and it's saved me many times now where I've had a cherry head

Edited by justcallme A S H, 26 June 2017 - 11:53 PM.

[Burning2nd]

let me put it to you realistically

Ive got 10,4** kills

46 headshots,

and those are real headshots.. NOT AFK cheat's

Its hard

[Burning2nd]

Incase thats hard to read... Ive got ten and half thousand kills

10,500 kills....

46 headshots..

you do the math
(been here since beta)

[General Solo]

I got 131

Edit: Regarding headshots, I have good luck against the catapult and Kodiak

Edited by OZHomerOZ, 29 June 2017 - 06:29 AM.

[Grayseven]

Every head shot but the first was luck. I have 4. The first was an Atlas standing still, 2 and 3 were snapshots with Dual AC20's on Locusts and the last was a Shadow Cat that crested a ridge and stopped in front of the same AC20's. In 1230 matches played. And I'm pretty sure I qualify as an average skilled player.

I have seen some of the better streamers aim high on the CT at long range and sometimes bang home a head shot. If they don't, it's still a torso shot of some sort.

[Khereg]

Amatsukaze, on 26 June 2017 - 12:53 PM, said:

I think with the new patch headhsots aren't possible on a Disco anymore. I had a SNV last night I ran into that was disco. Hit him 4 times in the head with MPLs & no damage showed on the paperdoll so I took his legs.

There's a known issue with DC'ed mechs where the hitboxes don't register properly. The head is just shifted a bit, so when you hit it, you actually miss and in some cases the damage doesn't register.

Here's a funny video from nearly 2 years ago illustrating the issue:

Edited by Khereg, 30 June 2017 - 01:27 PM.

[Mazzyplz]

==================================================
if you really want to get headshots now, you can equip erppc, get advanced zoom - and shoot at people in mid range with the zoom to kill them. usually you want to target mechs that think they can tank your shots.
don't use the zoom to snipe. use the zoom at 680-840 meters and aim for their head.
this works against brawler atlases that are spearheading a push, depending on how much they twist torso, also vs other huge mechs
==================================================
when the game was slower and i was more skilled, a couple years ago, i could hit the atlas on the left eye as it moved around with chain fire pulses, in a brawl.
i could try to do that but im not as good as i was, it seems impossible to do now both because i suck now and because the game was a bit slower, you lived for longer in close beta because damage was not coming out so fast from the weapons, cooldown took days and if i had 3LPL i could get kind of a good fire rate going for the time.