28 replies to this topic

[Hunka Junk]

Scenario 1:
You pop over a hill and discover 8 of the enemy nestled together in a valley. Do you start mashing R and try to cycle through all 8 repeatedly? Or cycle once and then try to maintain lock on the juiciest target? Or just lock the juiciest?

Scenario 2:
You round a corner and see a direwolf chillin with a wolfhound. Do you quick R the hound and long R the dire? Or do you ignore the hound and maintain lock on the dire? Or do you mash R and continuously bebop between the two?

I'm sure light em up and run away are other possible answers, but I'm asking about the best way to utilize the R button.

[Besh]

Imho:

Scenario1 : Mash R and do your best to leg it/not get hit . In this Scenario, you want to let your Team know that you just ran into a bunch of them, and where .

Scenario 2 : Depends situationally . If you have support close by, let them know theres a 2nd Mech . If you have LRmers in Range, try to find a position where you can shoot/keep lock on one, and the other cant shoot you .

Generally ( in PUGs ), R is as much a tool to show your Team enemy positions/numbers as it is a tool to provide Locks for LRMs . In fact, I kindof NEVER play/position to provide locks for LRMs . In most Situations, LRM Mechs should come down into the fight midrange (400 - 750 mtrs. ) and get their own, hard locks . Relying on Teammates to stick their heads out, and longer LRM travel time, make the hanging back relying on spotters often very ineffective .

Also, them staying behind "safely" to lob LRMs potentially puts the rest of the Team into severe disadvantage due to less Armor/Targets exposed to the enemiy . This can also vary from Situation to Situation though...for instance, if you have an LRM Mech who stands back and rly does effectvie dmg. with its LRMs, AND draws a few enemy Lights on him AND knows how to deal with them...THAT can be very helpfull...

Edited by Besh, 10 July 2016 - 02:59 PM.

[TooDumbToQuit]

Hunka Junk, on 10 July 2016 - 12:40 PM, said:

Scenario 1: You pop over a hill and discover 8 of the enemy nestled together in a valley. Do you start mashing R and try to cycle through all 8 repeatedly? Or cycle once and then try to maintain lock on the juiciest target? Or just lock the juiciest? Scenario 2: You round a corner and see a direwolf chillin with a wolfhound. Do you quick R the hound and long R the dire? Or do you ignore the hound and maintain lock on the dire? Or do you mash R and continuously bebop between the two? I'm sure light em up and run away are other possible answers, but I'm asking about the best way to utilize the R button.

As was said by Besh, you are not there to find locks for others, but it does report to your teammates what/who you just ran into/found.

I would first suggest that you move your target button away from the R button and move it to the "scroll up" on your mouse. One reason being the scenarios you gave. You turned a corner and now you need to move to safety yet still target if possible. So instead of using a finger that should be on a movement button, you are trying to target and move without the use of that finger.

On the other hand, if it is on your mouse like on "scroll up" you can "target" while moving your crosshairs over the target.

If your question is who to target, I'd say save yourself and call out on the comms what you found and if you can target one of them without being killed then even better.

And it also depends on who you are playing with. I've been in games where one of our lights risked himself to Narc several enemy Mechs yet no one ever shot a missile at them. But I recently had a game where a number of other players knew each other and they had a huge amount of LRMS boats. And they used them well so I had no problem taking risk getting and keeping targets for them.

Targeting is very important. But so is using your mic. You do not need a "Gaming Headset". Get any kind of mic. I often use a very old lightweight chat mic.

Teams that talk, even at the beginning on the match, when you are waiting, tend to do better than those that do not

[Gibson Ibanez]

I would quickly cycle the target over every mech I could safely. That runs multiple blips across the mini map and lets your team know there are multiple enemies in that zone. -- Seen it done often by light mech teammates with no voip -- Then follow your instincts from there.

I am a big believer in targeting whatever you are fighting before you attack. You know the crit spots and your team will too when they target it. If your teammates have lrms they can help you survive the fight by bombarding the target locked enemy. I am amazed by how many people I spectate do not target even in 1v1 situations.

[Macbrea]

Actually, the reason for the multiple mashes on first meeting an enemy for a light pilot is the first person to target an enemy get 3000cb scouting bonus. So, if your a scout, you want to spam your R key very quickly to target each of the opponents for the free 36000 cbs. Yes, it is the same thing as speaking on comes and saying, "Enemy, E6....", but it comes with a perk.

[mailin]

Macbrea, on 11 July 2016 - 03:50 AM, said:

Actually, the reason for the multiple mashes on first meeting an enemy for a light pilot is the first person to target an enemy get 3000cb scouting bonus. So, if your a scout, you want to spam your R key very quickly to target each of the opponents for the free 36000 cbs. Yes, it is the same thing as speaking on comes and saying, "Enemy, E6....", but it comes with a perk.

You only get that bonus if a friendly damages the enemy while you have them locked, so spamming the R button doesn't help in this case.

[Raubwurst]

mailin, on 11 July 2016 - 04:14 AM, said:

You only get that bonus if a friendly damages the enemy while you have them locked, so spamming the R button doesn't help in this case.

Wrong. The first one who scouts the enemy get a "Scouting Bonus". Regardless of damage done of teammates.

[p4r4g0n]

If you are the first person to target a specific mech in a match, you get c-bills and xp for scouting. If you are lucky enough to catch a group without being seen, targeting all of them makes a lot of sense.

This reward is only available once per enemy mech per match i.e. max available for the match is 12.

Edited by p4r4g0n, 11 July 2016 - 04:24 AM.

[mailin]

On scenario 1, I would cycle through the targets quickly with the R button to let your friendlies know that there were a lot of enemies there. I would try to lock the priority, but don't hold the lock at the cost of dying.

[Hodor72]

Raubwurst, on 11 July 2016 - 04:20 AM, said:

Wrong. The first one who scouts the enemy get a "Scouting Bonus". Regardless of damage done of teammates.

He is thinking of the spotting bonus.

[Rogue Jedi]

Scenario 1 cycle through them all and if you are confidant no-one has seen you and that you can quickly drop back into cover target the biggest threat. At that time I would usually also put up a UAV

Scenario 2, completely depends on what Mech I am in
If I am in a light or fast Medium and not noticed I would target the wolfhound then quickly switch to the Dire along with a message in VOIP, solid lock on Direwolf along with its letter and grid ref to call down the fury of the teams LRMs assuming we have any, if I am confidant there are few or no LRMs I would drop arty on the Dire, shoot the hound and duck behind cover and try to entice the hound into an ambush.
If in a slow (below 100kph) Mech I would probably target both then pour everything I have into the Dire's rear CT in the hopes of knocking it out, then pray I can take the Wolfhound, and that help comes quick.

[Besh]

Macbrea, on 11 July 2016 - 03:50 AM, said:

Actually, the reason for the multiple mashes on first meeting an enemy for a light pilot is the first person to target an enemy get 3000cb scouting bonus. So, if your a scout, you want to spam your R key very quickly to target each of the opponents for the free 36000 cbs. Yes, it is the same thing as speaking on comes and saying, "Enemy, E6....", but it comes with a perk.

You are wrong in assuming the cb Bonus would be the reason for spamming "R" when spotting a whole Group . I have stated the reason clearly - for people not on comms, its the fastest and imho best way to let your Team know that you spotted a Group, and where . This technique was used in CB already ( way before VOIP, and - iirc - before spotting Bonusses ) and hasnt lost any of its validity, bonus or not .

Edited by Besh, 11 July 2016 - 06:19 AM.

[paws2sky]

Scenario 1
a) If they're looking at me, I'll tap R and retreat. Then on voice, report what I saw. Then I'll try to reposition to keep and eye/lock on them.
If I'm behind them, I'll cycle tagets quickly. Then on voice, report what I saw. If it would be advantageous, I'll pop a UAV. If they're too far for a UAV, I'll pick and lock a high value target.

Scenario 2
Cycle tatgets once, leaving the lock the high value target (based on game mode and apparent damage). Engage or retreat as necessary. Again, whether I'm looking at their front or back matters.

-paws

[Khereg]

I'll go with the "it's situational" group.

One thing I think not everyone realizes - if you top a hill and see 8 opponents with open doritos, all 8 show up on your minimap. However, your teammates can only see the one you have actively targeted.

So, for myself, if I'm not using VOIP I will cycle through the enemy group to show quickly that there are a lot of opponents in one area. Using VOIP (or teamspeak) is usually better for this, however. A quick, "oh crap, they're all in D4!" is much more effective than spamming R. Especially since you don't have to stay exposed to talk to your team. The scouting bonus is nice, but that's not my main motivator.

Otherwise, I generally try to target only the mech I'm shooting at for a couple of reasons:

1) Yes, it will bring the rain if your team is using LRM's.

2) It subtly communicates who you want tour teammates to shoot. Again, VOIP/TS is better for this, but if you aren't using it or worried teammates have you muted, it's another way to convey the information. Once you target a mech long enough to get the paper doll showing the weapon systems, damaged components, etc., your teammates who target that mech also get that information instantly. If helps focus fire at the right points on your opponents.

And focus fire wins games, pure and simple. R is a great tool and I see players not using it all too often.

Hold that lock if you want help. Spam it if you need to need to show where the enemy is concentrated and you don't have VOIP/TS available, but then hold the mech you want your team to target after you make the initial cycle.

[TooDumbToQuit]

What is the difference between spotting and scouting?

With my Kit Foxes I did a lot of it. I remember that if I held a target long enough I'd get a bonus. But not just quickly running through a number of them (I need to go check now, lol).

I would take risks and get and try to hold locks for others. I thought if I kept changing them, then whoever fired the missiles etc at the one I had targeted, maybe just wasted them all because i switched targets.

[Hodor72]

LikeUntoGod, on 11 July 2016 - 02:10 PM, said:

What is the difference between spotting and scouting?

With my Kit Foxes I did a lot of it. I remember that if I held a target long enough I'd get a bonus. But not just quickly running through a number of them (I need to go check now, lol).

I would take risks and get and try to hold locks for others. I thought if I kept changing them, then whoever fired the missiles etc at the one I had targeted, maybe just wasted them all because i switched targets.

If you the first to target an enemy mech you get a scouting bonus.

To get the spotting damage needs to be done by someone else, not sure if it is based on you targeting before the other person shoot or if they have to use your target (fire LRMs with out line of sight).

[Void Angel]

Hunka Junk, on 10 July 2016 - 12:40 PM, said:

Scenario 1:
You pop over a hill and discover 8 of the enemy nestled together in a valley. Do you start mashing R and try to cycle through all 8 repeatedly? Or cycle once and then try to maintain lock on the juiciest target? Or just lock the juiciest?

Scenario 2:
You round a corner and see a direwolf chillin with a wolfhound. Do you quick R the hound and long R the dire? Or do you ignore the hound and maintain lock on the dire? Or do you mash R and continuously bebop between the two?

I'm sure light em up and run away are other possible answers, but I'm asking about the best way to utilize the R button.

For Scenario 1, if you have a lot of enemy targets, it's often best to cycle through them all - just don't keep on mashing that stupid key forever. It's obnoxious, and prevents people from actually using your information; just cycle through the targets to give people a feel for how many there are, and then pick the best target.

In Scenario 2, just paint the dire wolf and run. Assuming you survive, it's better that they know the big threat - after all, if you rounded a corner after someone checked it, would you be more upset that they didn't warn you about the Dire Wolf, or the Wolfhound?

In both cases, however, the best answer is to use your microphone and talk to your team. I understand that not all players may have disposable income, but a $15-$30 headset with a microphone will allow you to make use of the most powerful tactical coordination tool ever given to gamers.

[B L O O D W I T C H]

Scenario 69: Don't press "R", wait until you placed a perfectly timed killshot instead or letting your lurmtard chase your prey back into cover because he simply had to lob a lrm 10 volley (without artemis ofc) into the next best rock/wall/tree/friendly from 995 meter away.

[BaconTWOfourACTUAL]

I would target the one with the least amount of cover for the LRM boats... or the bigger threat if you're not currently in their sight.

Edited by BaconTWOfourACTUAL, 11 July 2016 - 05:11 PM.

[Besh]

Toha Heavy Industries, on 11 July 2016 - 04:11 PM, said:

[...]instead or letting your lurmtard chase your prey back into cover because he simply had to lob a lrm 10 volley (without artemis ofc) into the next best rock/wall/tree/friendly from 995 meter away.

While it would be sad if it was not so funny to watch sometimes, its sadly true way too often .

Edited by Besh, 12 July 2016 - 12:49 AM.