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Please Explain Targeting Priorities


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#21 Abisha

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 10:14 AM

I would diffidently not Ignore Arms when facing a direwolf it's my first priority target they fall off easy and it's a considerable DPS loss for the direwolf.

Also shot of arms of the follow mechs, WHK, Supernova, Nova, Kingcrab.
You won have the battle if they are disarmed.

Edited by Abisha, 26 July 2017 - 10:24 AM.


#22 - World Eater -

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 10:16 AM

Largest to smallest

#23 panzer1b

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 11:41 AM

While there are always exceptions, its generally best to leg light and some fast medium mechs, and against almost everything else fire at the CT simply because most people are going to shoot there and thus your damage gets compounded by anyone else shooting that mechs center of mass. Otherwise, if you have target info and you notice anything low on armor or opened up, shoot that to either kill them outright or at least neuter their offensive capability. Do not ever shoot components that are damaged as the transfer is so pitiful. Ofc if its a destroyed ST and their CT is cherry red, go ahead and shoot the destroyed ST as you only need a tad of damage to kill such a mech, but otherwise avoid destroyed components.



Anyways, as for exceptions to the general rules:

Jenner and lolcust hit their center of mass. Even after the changes to hitboxes these are more or less walking CTs, so you have a good chance of killing them with like 2-3 solid laser burns to the center of mass. Lolcust especially so since its got so little HP that anything more then 30 dmg is gonna hurt nomatter where it hits.

Commando go for center of mass, itll spread the damage nomatter what you do, but he doesnt have enough HP to tank anything with decent DPS or high alfa strike and you have a decent chance of XL killing him if you can pull off a burn on a open ST. Legs are just too hard to hit on the thing.

Nova hit the arms, almost all builds on that rely on boated arm lasers, and with how big the arms are, his firepower goes from very scary to anemic with relatively low alfa strike required per arm.

Shadowcat hit the RT if you have a clean shot, every build that isnt a derpy joke one has the vast majority (or even all) of its primary weapons on the right side, and removing those 2 energy hardpoints leaves it kinda helpless. Its got so little total HP that a single 60+ point laser vomit alfa strike is going to instantly strip the armor off that component and even if it survives the mech is gonna either go cry behind a rock for most of the game or loose that ST the instant a single ML hits him there. The MG version is an exception, at short range his MGs may very well be deadlier then his LPLs/ERLLs so it may be a good idea to hit the LT to take down his short range ability and remove most of what little DPS the energy weapons get.

Hellbringer shoot LT since all laser builds are predominantly left sided and the ECM is also located there. A HBR with no ECM and at most 3 lasers left is basically useless for the rest of the game if it doesnt die on the next shot ofc. Notable exception for the rare dual uac5 build and possibly gauss vomit where you might be better off destroying the RT first if it doesnt have more then 4 cERMLs as a secondary.

Ebon jag always shoot STs if the missile/weapon pods above teh shoulders are present. Its very easy to isolate a torso even if he is doing everything possible to shield the damage when the pod sticks out like that, and removing those pods renders the ebon nothing more then a laughing stock. LT is priority for laser vomit, RT for triple ballistics, anything else is a judgement call although probably you wont see such builds in the game since anyone who plays the ebon (and isnt just derping around with some purely fun build) is either boating energy or uacs or a combo of those 2 with the occasional gauss version.

Dragon always shoot RT if you can. Half teh time he is running an XL engine to get any sort of mobility and firepower out of the mech, and even if he is not, destroying the RT means the primary threat of that ballistic arm is gone and he becomes far less scary to face later on. Notable exception is that one variant that has a ballistic in the LT, but those are incredibly rare so just focus the RT.

Marader shoot the RT on all variants but the 5D. All of them (besides the extremely rarely encountered missile variant) have their main firepower on the right side in the form of 1-3 ballistics with 2 energys in the accompanying arm. Take that away and the most he has left is 2 PPC/LPL (although usually its just 2 MLs), which a far less scary thing to face then a gauss, uac-10 or dual uac/rac5s supported by 2-5 energy weapons. Also, any pure energy builds you might even wanna go for the arms as thats where all but 1 of the lasers are stored.

Marader IIC basically the same as above for the 2 ballistic models, and LT for the energy boat with 9 hardpoints. The scorch is a judgement call depending on build, CT is prolly best since half a scorch is still a grave threat, but if hes wiggling around and refusing to give you that CT then you may as well pick a ST and remove that.

Direwhale shoot the STs if he is making any attempt at shielding the CT. Obviously if the dire is full on potatoing and staring in a single direction shoot the CT to kill asap. But if hes semi competent and trying to shield the CT, fire at the huge bulging STs that arent protected by arms or anything else located near the top of the mech, pop one and hes less less scary then a medium mech.

Kodiak as above, STs are the size of a barn door and removing them is easier then trying to get that CT killshot especially if you have autocannons or SRMs which are going to spread a bit by their nature.

Warhawk shoot the arms on anything but a LRM boat. If hes running the most common ppc boat, shooting off arms makes him a stick, if hes running any other direct fire weapons shooting the arms usually results in ammo loss for what little ballistics are in the RT.

Any mech that has all of its weapon on a side, shoot the weapons side to render him worthless for the rest of the game. Normally pretty easy to see especially in the case of laser boats where the beams are all coming out of one half of the mech and nothing from the other side. Wait patiently if he is shielding during cooldown, and nail the ST when he turns to face you or someone else on the team.

Any mech that has no weapons (or like 1 laser left) should be ignored unless there is nothing else to shoot at. I know its tempting to get that killshot, but zombies can take some time to drop (ive seen good players get their mechs to under 20% before death) and their ability to kill basically doesnt exist anymore so its best to save your precious 60 point alfa for someone that actually threatens you or the team.

If you have a shot at someone's backside and dont have in excess of 50 alfa strike it is probably best to hit a ST and instantly core it out. Loosing a ST from behind is almost guaranteed if you hit with 50+ damage (unless the guy has 20-30 armor on the back which is plain dumb), and its better to neuter someone then gamble for a quick CT killshot, if you dont kill him to teh CT in the first shot you are very unlikely to get a 2nd try, may as well target the ST for near guaranteed neutering.

And ofc any IS heavy mech that is keeping up with or outrunning clan heavys and isnt carrying anemic firepower (15tons of weapons or less) is very likely running XL engine. Pick a ST and shoot it to kill him with alot less damage required compared to CT coring. Its a little hard to judge this in game, but most of the time if a IS heavy is going 80 or more then its a XL engine, if its going 70 or less its almost always LFE (or the rare standard engine nowadays) and thus just focus CT if he isnt deadsiding.

Anyways, thats my 2c, i follow these rules and have a easy time taking people down at least when they run the fairly expected meta builds on common mechs. There will always be other exceptions to the rules but the really important things to remember is to always target open components if possible, and if you have no idea about the enemy mech's loadout or damage state, just fire at the center of mass sicne most people are going to shoot there and you may as well take advantage of it even if the CT shot spreads a little to the STs, and dont fire on anything that is destroyed since the damage transfer is pitiful.

Edited by panzer1b, 26 July 2017 - 11:46 AM.


#24 MischiefSC

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 12:08 PM

As the above post elucidates, target prioritization is a complex decision tree. Here is the short and some version:

1. Always be shooting. You should be closing to your optimal range and shooting as fast as your mech can move. Always be taking shots and damaging the enemy.

2. Kill > cripple > biggest threat for priorities when you have several options.

3. Leg pristine mechs when you can.

4. CT > Leg > ST, if all health is equal.

5. Shoot damaged locations that will remove weapons before you focus on a healthy location.

6. Save teammates whenever you can. Numbers are power.

#25 Abisha

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 12:38 PM

View PostMischiefSC, on 26 July 2017 - 12:08 PM, said:

As the above post elucidates, target prioritization is a complex decision tree. Here is the short and some version:

1. Always be shooting. You should be closing to your optimal range and shooting as fast as your mech can move. Always be taking shots and damaging the enemy.

2. Kill > cripple > biggest threat for priorities when you have several options.

3. Leg pristine mechs when you can.

4. CT > Leg > ST, if all health is equal.

5. Shoot damaged locations that will remove weapons before you focus on a healthy location.

6. Save teammates whenever you can. Numbers are power.


Don't take advise 6 serious always go for the kill even if it kills you. Why if you kill a single enemy your kill deathrate would not suffer if you loss directly after it. Meaning you can only gain more after the first kill.
better to loss the match with 3 kills then win a match with 1 or less kills. also teammates are Replaceable your kill death rate is not.

Edited by Abisha, 26 July 2017 - 12:40 PM.


#26 Khobai

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 12:50 PM

Quote

Avoid arms if possible.


why? if all a mechs weapons are in one arm and you take out that arm, youve just made the mech an easy kill

takes less damage to take off an arm. you take less damage in the process. so why not shoot arms? a lot of time its easier to shoot off an arm than a side torso because the arm will be poking around a corner while the side torso will be at least partially behind cover.

of course it all depends on the mech having most or all of its weapons in one arm like a dragon 5N or something. it depends a lot how the game plays out too. its kindve an on the fly decision.

Edited by Khobai, 26 July 2017 - 12:55 PM.


#27 VonBruinwald

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 01:28 PM

How I target:

Aim CT,
If I can identify the bulk of their fire-power, aim for that component instead.
Once I get targeting data, aim for the weakest component,
If the target is moving too fast to get a good aim on the prior components, legs...

#28 Lostdragon

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 02:02 PM

View PostAbisha, on 26 July 2017 - 10:14 AM, said:

I would diffidently not Ignore Arms when facing a direwolf it's my first priority target they fall off easy and it's a considerable DPS loss for the direwolf.

Also shot of arms of the follow mechs, WHK, Supernova, Nova, Kingcrab.
You won have the battle if they are disarmed.


I would still shoot the ST on a DWF over the arm if they are both at full armor. ST doesn't have that much more health (like 14 more hitpoints if it has 10 rear armor) than the arm and lots of DWFs have ST weapons. If you take out the ST you take out the weapons there and in the arm and you also reduce the DWFs already pitiful agility and speed while crippling its heat efficiency with the remaining weapons. You are now also 50% of the way to killing it through the other ST.

#29 MischiefSC

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 02:09 PM

View PostAbisha, on 26 July 2017 - 12:38 PM, said:


Don't take advise 6 serious always go for the kill even if it kills you. Why if you kill a single enemy your kill deathrate would not suffer if you loss directly after it. Meaning you can only gain more after the first kill.
better to loss the match with 3 kills then win a match with 1 or less kills. also teammates are Replaceable your kill death rate is not.


This advice is why some people have a terrible win/loss rate and say it's the matchmakers fault.

KDR is largely meaningless without a good win/loss. Win/loss is more important than KDR as it identifies how worthwhile you are to your team.

Even for KDR - the less you die, the longer you live to do damage the more total chances you'll have to get kills. Higher win/loss = less dying also = better KDR.

Don't suicide, win more matches, do more damage, get more kills.

#30 LordNothing

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 02:11 PM

just do the thing that costs the enemy the most offensive capability. if a mech is out of armor, but it still has working weapons kill it. it diminishes their capability faster than picking a fresh target. you see a target with an open component, take it out for the same reason. if forced to choose between 2 fresh mech, pick the one with the most dangerous build. squirrels can be dangerous to bigger mechs, but their overall offensive capability is limited. if chasing a squirrel opens your back to a larger mech, dont do it. instead find a wall and take out the bigger mech, and hope someone on your team is good at squirrel hunting.

assuming fresh mech, st, legs, or ct? depends on class. as said above, if its open, take it, otherwise you need to pick your attack point. learn which mechs you are likely to see with an xl engine or weak legs, which are asymetrical builds. targeting data and apparent mech speed are a good indicator of engine type. if xl, clanxl, or lfe, taking out an st will either kill the mech outright or severely cripple it by reducing its speed and giving it heat problems. first leg is always a cripping blow second is a killing blow. back shots are always a first priority if its ever possible.

if going for a two section kill, like racking a mad cat, the first will cripple the mech and it wont hurt you as much while you go for the finishing blow. going legs is a lower priority on larger mechs since the crippling effect wont save you any armor. light mechs where their main armament is speed, the go for the legs. opting for a ct kill means you are going to be exposed to the most damage durring the attack, though sometimes its neccisary. protip, when going for a ct kill, aim for the head. if you miss you hit the ct (unless tbolt or summoner), sometimes you get luckey and get a head shot (aim small miss small) and you will blind them with all the explosions in their face.

Edited by LordNothing, 26 July 2017 - 02:14 PM.


#31 jss78

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 02:16 PM

View PostAbisha, on 26 July 2017 - 12:38 PM, said:

better to loss the match with 3 kills then win a match with 1 or less kills. also teammates are Replaceable your kill death rate is not.


Posted Image

#32 evilauthor

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 02:18 PM

And most important at all, if you have trouble hitting the target at all (because it's a fast light or it's far away or you just have crappy aim), just aim for center of mass as best you can and pray for the best. Attempting to get fancy by targeting specific sections when you have trouble just landing shots just means you're all the more likely to miss entirely.

#33 Aim64C

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 02:30 PM

View PostGrognard1965, on 25 July 2017 - 11:02 PM, said:

Hello,

I'm still a bit hazy on this subject, and I think its holding me back. By targeting priorities, I dont mean which Mech to target in a match, I'm talking about the state of a Mech, and what to aim at, situationally.


A lot of this can boil down to what is practical to shoot at. While shooting mindlessly at a target is ill-advised, it's often times better to shoot when you have the opportunity than to let the opportunity pass while waiting for an ideal shot that is not going to happen.

It's all an individual judgment call.

Quote

As some examples:

1. If a Mech is missing a torso, would it be best to keep plugging away at the weak point, or switch to the other side? I am aware of engine crit sizes (3 on IS XLs, 2 on Clan etc).


Generally speaking, it's better to switch to the other side or to the center torso. In some cases, if I see the mech has lost all but a few small lasers - I'll abandon it as a target to focus on something that still has all of its weapons (and is probably blasting away at my team).

Quote

2. Ive also heard things like damage transfers at half from one destroyed location to an inner location, true? If true, does the damage you applied, or the adjusted half go towards scoring?


That's actually a good question.

I thought it was something like 75% of damage transfers to the interior... but it's water under the bridge.

Quote

3. Machine guns, better to fire at a blown torso to try to transfer crits inward? if that even works... Also, do all machine guns have the same crit rating now that we have "new tech"?


I believe the crit ratings are very similar to each other between the different machine guns. The idea for them was that they were supposed to be very effective at stripping components out of 'mechs with their armor removed while being less effective at dealing raw damage.

Quote

4. At what weight class does one attempt to slash legs vs torso, or is it purely speed based?


I hardly ever shoot at legs. That may be my own error - but most 'mechs accumulate damage on their torso, so it's usually just better to deal with the extra 10-30 points of armor on the torso than to try and blast through minimally damaged legs.

I will sweep a light mech's legs with lasers, a lot of times - or try to aim in on the hip area to catch the CT or its legs.

Generally... I'll aim to take out a side torso. Not only does this tend to force a pilot to protect that side, the side torso is usually easier to hit than the center torso and has less protection. I tend to think about how the damage I'm doing will influence the behavior of the target and impact my team by extension. I tend to figure that cutting off half a 'mechs weapon systems frequently in a match is much better than dumping damage into the center torso and not reducing the number of guns aimed at my team. Even if I don't fully destroy the side torso in the exchange - it tends to make that player fight defensively and cut the incoming fire.

Most mechs can relatively easily shield their center torso - so I tend to figure shots at it as being a secondary priority unless I have a substantial weight/firepower advantage (such as a light or medium mech giving me a good frontal shot I can get good contact time with). A player usually has to present one side torso or the other to fire - and that means hitting it hard will force them to sacrifice or present the other side (and you just lay into that side, as well... so they're boned the next time they present themselves).

I'll cut a mech in half and abandon it to do the same thing to another and let my team finish it off. While a lot of people focus on getting the numerical/tonnage advantage on the opposing team - the side torso is a good target as you get into the higher tiers as it allows you to cut the effective tonnage the opposition has to work with and allows your team to quickly gain the advantage.

Exceptions to this are shots to the back, where I almost always aim for the center torso, unless there's been damage to one of the sides' structure, already.

#34 evilauthor

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 05:27 PM

Some things should be obvious. If the mech is missing one leg and the other leg is stripped of armor and has red internals, going for the remaining leg seems like a no brainer.

Ditto of the CT is open and also red internally.

if you're not sure what to do, you should just aim center of mass/CT by default.

The one thing you shouldn't do is take forever to line up the perfect shot, which I've seen some people try to do. Use advanced zoom on a mech that's already way bigger than their crosshairs in unzoomed vision and wandering their aim point all over the target while NOT FIRING. Meanwhile, they're getting shot to pieces and doing zero damage back.

#35 Abisha

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 08:17 PM

View PostMischiefSC, on 26 July 2017 - 02:09 PM, said:

This advice is why some people have a terrible win/loss rate and say it's the matchmakers fault.

KDR is largely meaningless without a good win/loss. Win/loss is more important than KDR as it identifies how worthwhile you are to your team.

Even for KDR - the less you die, the longer you live to do damage the more total chances you'll have to get kills. Higher win/loss = less dying also = better KDR.

Don't suicide, win more matches, do more damage, get more kills.


Winning a match is meaningless in MWO you only gain a tiny bit of Cbils nothing to write home about. Tell me what use do cbils have when one do have 75 mil? The KDR on the other hand have meaning more kills means you better player simple and it can't be altered easy.

#36 MW Waldorf Statler

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Posted 27 July 2017 - 02:31 AM

im seeing many Mechs twisting by shutdown Mechs ,or run back ...or circle this ...im standing still (not enemy in near) aim and give a headshot with Alpha

#37 Beaching Betty

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Posted 27 July 2017 - 03:47 AM

I usually get ST, cause it has less armor than the CT, if it's an IS mech, pray and hope that he is using an XL, if not, then go for the CT or ST.

One reason why I love the game, I love destroying different component of a mech, like in a brawl, targetting his right arm (If Im talking about Centurion) if hes using AC20 so he lost like 80% of his firepower and only has laser/missile left, I cant really explain it but I just love destroying components.. turns me on.. Especially when you see an enemy has a red cherry cockpit and he stupidly overheated in front of you Posted Image





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