50 replies to this topic

[IraqiWalker]

Tesunie, on 24 December 2016 - 02:55 PM, said:

Fixed that for you.
Newbs are "newbies". Noobs are... well... something else.

This is a genuinely important distinction.

[Koniving]

InspectorG, on 22 December 2016 - 04:27 PM, said:

I have to disagree.

LRMs dont teach aim, positioning, how to push, how to peek, defensive techniques.

I disagree with your disagreement.

Solid LRM use (not simple spammery but successful use) requires near-perfect positioning and more so, it requires frequent repositioning otherwise you'll wind up as a rather helpless slab of meat being picked apart by the vultures.

While it doesn't require a direct ability to aim, it does allow one to practice the basics of hitting R to target followed by aiming in the direction of the enemy and keeping the reticle in place long enough to lock and until the missiles hit, regardless of whether the target can be directly seen. In cases of long range ECM issues, it requires you to either learn the intricately convoluted "paper paper rock scissors scissors where's the other rock" system PGI invented for countering it OR you must learn to manually aim your missiles in order to hit targets by predicting where they will be when the missile lands. Aiming doesn't get more advanced than that.

Trying to get LRMs to fire over obstacles requires its own form of peeking techniques and very quickly players will learn that while trying to get their shots out they can be one to three-shotted if they aren't careful.

And finally, what drives the necessity of defensive play home better than being swarmed by a light at point blank with minimal ability to retaliate?

Edit: Links added to videos referencing examples of each.

Edited by Koniving, 24 December 2016 - 09:28 PM.

[Leone]

InspectorG, on 22 December 2016 - 04:27 PM, said:

I have to disagree.

LRMs dont teach aim, positioning, how to push, how to peek, defensive techniques.

Like many other, I totally disagree. Long Range Missiles may be easier to learn than other weapon systems but they're also one of the toughest to master because there are so very many things to learn about using them. However, I beleive Koniving and Tesunie have pretty well covered it for here.

~Leone.

[Koniving]

(To give a caveat, it's true LRMs do not teach how to push... But being an easy victim if you don't follow a push will definitely do you in.)

[Leone]

Actually, I've found LRMs to be quite handy during a push, as you can lead in the van while your fresh, tanking hits for the direct fire mechs, and then once your armour's all red or opened, you can hang back and support, letting the direct fire tank for the second half of the push.

Only problem is, with a really aggressive group, the missile delay between lock on and missile travel times can end up missing out on some assists during truly vicious piranha like clean ups.

~Leone

Edited by Leone, 25 December 2016 - 10:41 PM.

[IraqiWalker]

Leone, on 25 December 2016 - 10:40 PM, said:

Only problem is, with a really aggressive group, the missile delay between lock on and missile travel times can end up missing out on some assists during truly vicious piranha like clean ups.

~Leone

I absolutely agree. Pilots that master dumb firing though, will be able to make up for that a bit. Especially on launchers that have open doors, or no doors.

[Jankmon]

As a relatively new player I think including some LRM's into your build can be beneficial. I'm sort of at the point now where I'm playing smarter but when I first started I tended to die quickly because it was tough (for me at least) to have enough patience to hold back until the appropriate time. (When you team is ready to push and the enemy is a bit less concentrated)

What I kind of hit on by accident was to include LRM's, which gave me something to do for that first portion of the match where I was getting killed. I ended up lasting longer, doing more damage, and contributing significantly more to my team. I'm still fairly new but that Orion IIC with 2 LRM 15's and 4 ER LL's was a really good training wheels mech that I still use occasionally.

Making a LRM boat is not a terrible way to just earn some C-bills though, yeah it's basically a newb pulling apart other newbs but it still earns C-bills well for a new player. I have an Archer with as many LRM5's as I could shove on it that does fairly well in a lot of games, especially since people love the damn open maps so much. I would highly recommend saving up enough GXP for the radar deprivation pilot skill though, that is an insane game changer that basically makes LRM boats a joke unless they are piloted by a legit good pilot.

[Tiantara]

- Ebon Jaguar. Great mech with multi-functional bulds. Dakka, LRM, Laser, great low profile, lwer than any other heavy mech, pretty sturdy and easy to play as interceptor, sniper or support. From assault - Mauler, Highlander IIC.
From Heavy - Hellbringer, Warhammer. All that mech pretty friendly for new player.

[Sunstruck]

For IS my recommendation would be Marauders, for clan Ebon Jags.

[InspectorG]

Leone, on 25 December 2016 - 09:02 PM, said:

Like many other, I totally disagree. Long Range Missiles may be easier to learn than other weapon systems but they're also one of the toughest to master because there are so very many things to learn about using them. However, I beleive Koniving and Tesunie have pretty well covered it for here.

~Leone.

Just because they are tough to master doesnt mean mastering them is very beneficial.

In casual play, it supports bad habits. And in Solo during certain hours where i see more LRM boats, lends to teams that have more 'support' lurmers afraid to scratch their paint and few aggressive players willing to advance let alone poke and trade.

i encourage them to use TAG and LRM from 400m away to limit enemy reaction time. they think im crazy.

Instead they LRM from borrowed locks at 1200m away. Once the team is down by 3 mechs a snowball happens and LRMs just cant push back vs a snowball when there are 8 of them and 4 of you.

And in Puglandia, falling back during a push encourages others to do so as well, losing momentum. In my experience, yolo rushed with EVERYONE involved work best. Why? Because Solo Reds rarely know how to coordinate receiving a push, it becomes a confidence game of 'chicken'.

At best, in Puglandia, LRMs are confidence weapons. Not to be used to bolster the user's confidence but to crumple enemy confidence. Cant do that passively unless the enemy is already getting rolled, which creates another learning problem: lrm boats merely getting cleanup vulture kills on a stomp thinking they actually contributed to the main push. That is a bad bias that few can undo.

They think because they got high damage vs a folding team and a kill or two that they carried some weight. Not good and hard to correct .

[DavidStarr]

I think clan mechs are easier to learn with than IS. Timberwolf and Ebon Jaguar were my favorites when I was starting.