14 replies to this topic

[Wildstreak]

While going through videos to upload from the LC event I found one I saved due to discussion in it. After dying, I noticed a LRMing Catapult would:
1 - Lock target,
2 - Flip his crosshair up just before firing.
Now I had seen this in some other matches that event, not behavior I had seen before or heard discussed here. After saying nothing in other matches, I spoke up here and another player said this was helpful to avoid having missiles hit terrain in front of you when firing.

Personally I am not sure how helpful it is. This is not MW2 where you lock-on then flip up to change the arc of straight firing LRMs, in MW2 you retained lock-on for quite a bit even after moving the crosshair off target. In MWO you move the crosshair off target, you lose lock-on quicker.

So how many others have seen this and thoughts on this 'thing' some LRMers are doing lately.

[Athom83]

It only has minor benefits, but in certain situations you can increase the number of missiles that doesn't hit that wall 50m in front of you by 25%.

[Nunya Biznez]

Missiles that fire from a low starting point (ie... low slung arms) may not have enough time to rise over an obstacle before hitting it. Flipping up just before firing can give you the clearance you need since you're pointing more "up"

[El Bandito]

Flipping especially helps arm mounted missiles, as they are usually low mounted but has higher response. So rule of thumb is, unless you have nothing blocking your target, always flip your cursor.

It is one easy way to tell experienced lurmer from a novice one. Another way is positioning.

Edited by El Bandito, 11 April 2017 - 06:57 PM.

[Vellron2005]

Basically, the higher you point your tubes, the higher the arc in which your missiles travel. This will on many occasions let you shoot over obstacles you could not normally clear..

This higher arc is also very very useful for lurming a target that's bellow you, and close to a wall.. You wanna have your missiles travel almost completely vertically just before they are hitting the target. This is much more difficult to avoid, since they fall like rain, and no mech has an umbrella unless AMS is installed..

This also works for shooting LRM's from behind corners..

Simply stand in full cover but near a corner. Lock your target, and quickly snap your tubes / cursor at the empty space to your side. The missiles will clear the corner, than "bend" into your target. This way, you can LRM someone who's behind a corner while you are in full cover - note that you have to be really close to the corner to have your missiles not hit the corner itself..

The art of "LRM bending" is a skill not easily learned, so keep in mind that if you are to slow about it, you will lose lock, and if you are not properly positioned, you will waste ammo and only hit terrain.

It takes a bit of practice to do this..

Both tactics are most effective when in close to medium range to your target.

Warning: Knowing these skills will instantly identify you as a LRM lover.. along with all the shame (shame! shame! shame!) that comes with that in this game..

People will still say you have no skill because skill is not needed to play a LRM boat..

Edited by Vellron2005, 12 April 2017 - 02:12 AM.

[Shifty McSwift]

And having lower missile points on a clan mech allows you to freefire them at close target much easier, without having to flick down.

[Appogee]

Interesting. I've been playing for 5 years and did not know the 'firing around corners' trick.

Vellron2005, on 12 April 2017 - 02:02 AM, said:

Warning: Knowing these skills will instantly identify you as a LRM lover.. along with all the shame (shame! shame! shame!) that comes with that in this game.

That's why I'm not concerned to have not known

[Mole]

I've done this before. It is useful in some situations. You don't need to do it all the time though.

[Dee Eight]

Also with either streaks or LRMS...its useful to unlock the arms as the crosshairs follow the arm aim...and you can establish locks outside your torso pitch/twist range. Again, useful for hitting targets above or below you. Combine with the cockpit free-look toggle to see past the weapon console. Its possible for example, to stand at the top of the I8 I9 area mountain on alpine with an archer, and hit targets at the base of the mountain that way, and be virtually immune to return fire from them.

Also if firing on the move, you can lock and shoot LRMs and Streaks backwards to an extent if you have enough combined torso/arm twist range. Nothing surprises a lot of players more than when the guy in the archer they're chasing is still hurling missiles back at them. My ARC-5S in particular with the arm and torso skill unlocks can cover an arc of nearly 156 degrees to either side. A griffin 2N without skill unlocks has 171.5 degees of firing arc to achieve missile locks, to either side. So with the skill unlocks there isn't anywhere your enemy can be in relation to your direction of travel that you cannot swing the crosshairs to achieve a lock other than significantly higher/lower elevation and danger close horizontally.

Edited by Dee Eight, 12 April 2017 - 08:41 AM.

[Kaeb Odellas]

For torso mounted launchers, you can angle your torso up or to the side and use free look to hold the lock with your arm reticle.

[TercieI]

El Bandito, on 11 April 2017 - 06:56 PM, said:

It is one easy way to tell experienced lurmer from a novice one. Another way is positioning.

Another is the glass-eyed drooling.

LRMing causes brain damage, kids.

[FuhNuGi]

Someplace in the forums is a helpful video for aspiring LRM users (the guys that want to use them well, not the 900m wannabe damage hoses). Was it Cathy that did it... don't remember at the moment

"Missile Bending" or "crosshair flipping" is something I use regularly.

An example is Frozen City. I can stand behind a tall building, safe from incoming direct fire... I achieve my lock and quickly torso twist to launch around the side of the covering structure, pivoting back to maintain lock... red cursor flashes... repeat or reposition.

Bending can also used for the higher arc over low cover... although this does contribute to a slightly higher arc (useful for a target in weak cover like... say a gully on Polar Highlands), it does not seem to significantly raise the flight arc.


LRMs can be used well.... Bending is one of the useful skills you can pickup to make LRMs a useful system.

[Lykaon]

Wildstreak, on 11 April 2017 - 12:33 PM, said:

While going through videos to upload from the LC event I found one I saved due to discussion in it. After dying, I noticed a LRMing Catapult would:
1 - Lock target,
2 - Flip his crosshair up just before firing.
Now I had seen this in some other matches that event, not behavior I had seen before or heard discussed here. After saying nothing in other matches, I spoke up here and another player said this was helpful to avoid having missiles hit terrain in front of you when firing.

Personally I am not sure how helpful it is. This is not MW2 where you lock-on then flip up to change the arc of straight firing LRMs, in MW2 you retained lock-on for quite a bit even after moving the crosshair off target. In MWO you move the crosshair off target, you lose lock-on quicker.

So how many others have seen this and thoughts on this 'thing' some LRMers are doing lately.

When a pilot pitches their targeting reticule radically upward the mech's arms and torso pitch upward as well. This has the obvious effect of altering the angle of launch for the salvo and can help when firing over tall obstructions.

Since the arm reticule has a quicker reaction time than the torso aiming point (that follows the arm aiming point) and the arm aiming point tends to have a significantly wider range of motions the arm mounted launchers are easier to use this technique with than torso mounted launchers that are slower to respond to pitching and have a more restricted range of motion.

Another interesting technique I observed was a Night Gyr pilot using a (D) model with (Prime) left and right torso pods.

The weapons were (if I recall)

2 x ALRM15s
TAG
2 x Lrg Pulse
ER-PPC

The interesting technique was this pilot was on the regular firing on two targets at once.

One target was the LRM target using the arm aiming point for locks

Second target was aiming off the fixed torso aiming point. (2 large pulse and the PPC)

[Dee Eight]

Lykaon, on 12 April 2017 - 01:33 PM, said:

The interesting technique was this pilot was on the regular firing on two targets at once.

One target was the LRM target using the arm aiming point for locks

Second target was aiming off the fixed torso aiming point. (2 large pulse and the PPC)

I've done that with both LRMs and Streaks equipped mechs.

[Vellron2005]

Appogee, on 12 April 2017 - 02:10 AM, said:

Interesting. I've been playing for 5 years and did not know the 'firing around corners' trick.



That's why I'm not concerned to have not known

The more you know ;-)