10 replies to this topic

[Duatam]

How do I see which UAV is friendly and which enemy? I often see these drones moving around and when I try to shoot them nothing happens. They seem to be sometimes following friendly mechs. Why are some drones following friendly mechs? I tried to look it up but couldn't find any answers. Here are my guesses:

1) If you have UAV selected as one of your module slots, then everyone will see the UAV following you until you deploy it

2) When you select 3rd person view, it deploys a drone that follows you in the camera position, for realism reason.

In either case, how do I differentiate this strange UAV that follows own troops from the enemy UAV?

Edited by Duatam, 04 September 2016 - 06:01 PM.

[Kaptain]

The 3rd person view camera drone is different than a UAV. UAVs are seen as white dots (esp in heat vision mode) high up in the sky. Friendlies have a blue arrow while enemies are not identified with a color or arrow. Hope that makes sense

[Void Angel]

Yes, the drones you see following people around are the Third Person View drones, part of the drawbacks built into the TPV system - it's a long story, but PGI needed a way to let some players who just weren't getting it learn to pilot their 'mechs, while still making sure Third Person (with its ability to see over hills and around corners) wouldn't be a viable way to play at higher levels of skill. A good choice, as that would have unfavorably impacted the flavor of the game. Hit F4 by default to activate Third Person, but be warned: it's a handicap. The reason you are seeing it is because of the Challenge Event going on right now - you should check it out, as a lot of MC is on the table, if in small and sometimes inconvenient chunks.

On a related note, always check for events when you log in, particularly when it's getting close to the weekend.

For the actual UAV consumable, you'll see them floating in the sky - if you're paying attention, you can see them shoot up from the launching 'mech. Your team's UAVs will be blue on your map and have a target identifier on your HUD (that's the screen,) much like your teammates. Enemy UAVs are difficult to detect on the map (works like detecting an ECM 'mech with sensors,) but can be easily seen in most environments (use heat vision on foggy maps like Viridian Bog) - and will typically have no identifier on your HUD. Shoot down any UAVs you can see that are not identified as your own.

Well done paying attention to the drones and trying to act on what you saw. It shows you're thinking about the game and how it operates - keep on doing that, and you'll go far.

Edited by Void Angel, 04 September 2016 - 06:35 PM.

[Boulangerie]

Enemy UAVs will pop up in heavily contested areas of play. They will go straight up from an enemy mech to 150m into the air. They do not move once launched. They cannot be targeted unless a friendly mech with BAP/CAP is nearby, at which point they will get a targeting box similar to a mech. When targetable, they will also appear on the minimap. When you hover your weapons reticule over the UAV, pay attention to the distance indicator. It will go from infinity symbol (max distance probably since you are aiming into the air) to a finite distance, at which point you should fire. They have 10HP i believe so it might take a couple shots depending on your distance. You get a reward for shooting them down, and it denies the opposing team a valuable resource, since it is allowing them to target all of your team within the UAVs range.

Friendly UAVs will allow you to target enemy mechs in range, even when they are out of Line of Sight. You can get targeting info and lock LRMs this way as well. You can also now see their direction of movement. Friendly UAVs will appear on the minimap with a squareish UAV symbol. They also have a blue box around them the same as friendly mechs.

It's not uncommon to see a UAV popped into the air from both sides once each team gets into position, and then another once brawling starts in the game. Sometimes a friendly will also drop one if your team is being flanked, or they are about to die.

UAVs are an equippeable consumeable item that costs 50k 40k cbills, but it can net you a good amount of XP in return and offset some of the costs through UAV targeting bonuses, if it isn't shot down right away.

The small drone you see for players in 3rd person view is never more than a few meters off the ground, and should be used instead to identify players positions when they would normally be above cover, but you are unable to cause the drone any harm.

edit: thanks spike

Edited by Boulangerie, 05 September 2016 - 11:01 AM.

[Void Angel]

Actually, since UAVs use the same rules as ECM, you can sometimes see them if you're just far enough away - but generally you will not.

[Rogue Jedi]

Unless it changed very recently enemy UAVs can only be targeted if an Active Probe is in range, for the sake of targeting they are treated as shut down Mechs

[Spike Brave]

Boulangerie, on 04 September 2016 - 07:25 PM, said:

Enemy UAVs will pop up in heavily contested areas of play. They will go straight up from an enemy mech to 150m into the air. They do not move once launched. They cannot be targeted unless a friendly mech with BAP/CAP is nearby, at which point they will get a targeting box similar to a mech. When targetable, they will also appear on the minimap. When you hover your weapons reticule over the UAV, pay attention to the distance indicator. It will go from infinity symbol (max distance probably since you are aiming into the air) to a finite distance, at which point you should fire. They have 10HP i believe so it might take a couple shots depending on your distance. You get a reward for shooting them down, and it denies the opposing team a valuable resource, since it is allowing them to target all of your team within the UAVs range.

Friendly UAVs will allow you to target enemy mechs in range, even when they are out of Line of Sight. You can get targeting info and lock LRMs this way as well. You can also now see their direction of movement. Friendly UAVs will appear on the minimap with a squareish UAV symbol. They also have a blue box around them the same as friendly mechs.

It's not uncommon to see a UAV popped into the air from both sides once each team gets into position, and then another once brawling starts in the game. Sometimes a friendly will also drop one if your team is being flanked, or they are about to die.

UAVs are an equippeable consumeable item that costs 50k cbills, but it can net you a good amount of XP in return and offset some of the costs through UAV targeting bonuses, if it isn't shot down right away.

The small drone you see for players in 3rd person view is never more than a few meters off the ground, and should be used instead to identify players positions when they would normally be above cover, but you are unable to cause the drone any harm.

This post is great. Nice write up. Just wanted to add two things. The price is 40k or 15 MC for the pay version. I wouldn't buy them with MC. Also while you can't damage an enemy 3 pv drone, you can target them with artillery/air strikes. Some goes for the UAV. These can be great ways to get a strike to land where you want if you don't have LOS to the area.

[Tier5 Kerensky]

Yes, I have cap on many mechs and they are targetable, except you have to go back a little to actually be able to look so high.

And yes they seem to disapear soon if you go too far. The range to target powered down mech is 150m for clan active probe, I'm not really sure if they disapear from so short range.

[TooDumbToQuit]

I can just image if someone was trying to shoot the 3rd person "firefly" off of someone, lol.

[Duatam]

Thanks for the great replies guys! It's finally clear to me now.

LikeUntoGod, on 05 September 2016 - 07:44 AM, said:

I can just image if someone was trying to shoot the 3rd person "firefly" off of someone, lol.

I was doing exactly this, and many times I've been on voice chat saying "enemy UAV" when in fact I was just looking at friendly 3rd person camera drone.

Edited by Duatam, 05 September 2016 - 08:28 AM.

[Jingseng]

The same way you tell if anything is on your team versus not on your team: Is there a blue triangle above it?

Something on your team (MCV, Mech, UAV, etc.) will always have a blue arrow above it (might be offset or distorted if using adv zoom). Always.

Something NOT on your team (etc.) will NOT have a blue arrow above it. It might have a red arrow, or it might have plain nothing (ecm, shut down, out of range for example).

If you want to work on reflex shots or long distance sniping, taking down UAVs, etc. Look for the blue arrow. But again, beware that in Adv. Zoom (4x +) the blue arrow (and red arrow, when present) can appear pretty far away from the mech it is indicating (but red brackets will be on the enemy mech if you lock on... another good reason to get in the habit of locking onto whatever you intend to kill, when possible)