32 replies to this topic

[iofhua]

I'm a little pissed right now. I spent a pile of money to upgrade the SRM's on my mech to Streaks because they were advertised as homing missiles. It says in the description that they never miss their target. Researching streaks on the wiki says they have guidance.

There is no guidance. They fly in a flat trajectory. You have to point your crosshair at the target AND have the target locked, or they won't fire.

What I wanted was to lock a target, point where-ever, and have the missiles home in on the target. Guided missiles. Exactly what was written in the product description.

What we have with streaks is you're paying extra tonnage for missiles with a safety mechanism for stupid people. "point this end at the enemy or it won't fire"

[Roughneck45]

For MWO they are lock on missiles, a light mech counter. If you can aim you are best off staying away from lock on weapons.

SSRM's are a separate weapon system, not an upgrade, so you still have the SRM racks in your inventory if you want to switch back, unless you sold them of course.

TBH, what you wanted sounds completely broken to me lol, at least in the context of MWO. More similar to the missiles on Tone in Titanfall, curling them around corners and such.

Edited by Roughneck45, 19 October 2017 - 04:47 AM.

[Odnir]

There is guidance. Streaks always hit unless you fire when you have an object between you and the target. Streaks are the one weapon in my statistics list that has a 100.00% accuracy rate. Not 99.99, or 99, complete 100.00% accuracy. You don't have to point your crosshair at the target at the moment of firing, but you DO have to have the target locked, which means pointing your crosshair at the target to achieve lock, and then maintaining lock by flicking it back over the target every second or two, depending on whether you have any target decay bonuses. But you can flick away from the locked target, fire at something else with another weapon, hit your SSRMs button, and they will fire and home on the original locked target as long as you didn't move your cursor away for so long as to lose lock.

[The Basilisk]

Actually you can point the launchers away from your target....as long as you point your arm reticle every few seconds over your designated target.
If your missiles are in your torso f.e. you still will hit your target.

Also you misunderstood the term "homing" missile.
What you describe is target seeking/fire and forget missile.

A "homing missile" needs a "painted" target to fly to. (this is an actual a problem in air to air combat when distances get to close depending on the type of weapon you are firing)
The guidance system of the missilelaunchers is bound to your arms reticle.

Edited by The Basilisk, 19 October 2017 - 06:42 AM.

[Darrious Quinn]

As John pointed out, Streaks WILL hit as long as there isn't an physical obstruction. Things to know?

1. Streaks will not fire WITHOUT a lock. So if you are standing there randomly shooting missiles.... you're not firing Streaks. They MUST be locked to fire.
2. Streaks will strike the outer most hit locations first. That means arms and legs first, then into the torsos, then CT. Back in the day, Streaks always hit CT, which made them very powerful and often boated. So don't expect to CT targets with Streaks.
3. Streak 4 and 6s will cluster to multiple locations. This means on a STK-6 2 missiles to 3 RANDOM locations. Could all 6 hit the left leg? Yes, but unlikely.
4. You need a lock to fire, but unlike LRMs, you do not need to maintain the lock. Locks goes red, fire and break off and those missile will find their target.
5. They are not Loony Tune Missiles. They will not turn 90 degrees around the corner to follow a target behind a wall. They will try to go through the wall, ALWAYS following the most direct route.... INCLUDING THROUGH YOUR TEAM MATES.

So with all that said, before you keep losing your crap over how they aren't working... go back and double check your loadout. Make sure you actually have the Streaks equipped, and take them into the training grounds to see how they really fly under controlled conditions.

Edited by Darrious Quinn, 19 October 2017 - 08:36 AM.

[Koniving]

TL;DR:
Whatever you're using ain't a streak.
Can't be fired without a lock, period.

This is a streak

They literally can NOT miss (unless they run out of fuel).
Also a streak.

Only being stationary after a glitch, bug or fluke can allow them to miss (as the instant you move they will automatically hit you).
They defy every law of physics (in MWO; actual streaks in Battletech do NOT and are basically a glorified SRM that will NOT fire unless its calculated flight path is guaranteed to hit; it's an ammo saving system, not a magic system in Battletech).

This is how Streaks look when fired. Note, absolutely no streaks are firing without a missile lock. Why? They CANT fire without one.

And these are SRMs.

Lots of difference.

You probably upgraded SRMs to Artemis SRMs... which in Battletech gives them a more advanced guidance system.
....in MWO, all it does is tighten their spread (on SRMs; it does what it should on LRMs).

(Side note: MWO's SRMs have no guidance system. Battletech lore's SRMs do, although it's notably terrible and easy to fool.)

Edited by Koniving, 20 October 2017 - 05:07 AM.

[Vlad Striker]

One more thing - SSRM keep lock after launch even you lose lock by any causes. Ant they hit target.

[iofhua]

John Neil, on 19 October 2017 - 06:16 AM, said:

There is guidance. Streaks always hit unless you fire when you have an object between you and the target. Streaks are the one weapon in my statistics list that has a 100.00% accuracy rate. Not 99.99, or 99, complete 100.00% accuracy. You don't have to point your crosshair at the target at the moment of firing, but you DO have to have the target locked, which means pointing your crosshair at the target to achieve lock, and then maintaining lock by flicking it back over the target every second or two, depending on whether you have any target decay bonuses. But you can flick away from the locked target, fire at something else with another weapon, hit your SSRMs button, and they will fire and home on the original locked target as long as you didn't move your cursor away for so long as to lose lock.

Sorry I haven't been on in a few days.

I did have a target lock. I also have skill points in the sensor tree and have target decay. I can hold lock for a second or two even if the target is outside my field of view.

I absolutely could not fire my streak SRM's at a locked target unless the crosshair was ON the target. I would get a *click* noise if I tried.

Which is why I'm saying they have no guidance. The streak SRM's are a safety lock to ensure you point your streak SRM's at the target before firing. They do not merit the additional tonnage required compared to normal SRM's.

If this is a bug, I would be happy to see it get fixed. But I'm certain that's how it was working when I tried it a few days ago. It pissed me off.

Edited by iofhua, 24 October 2017 - 09:50 AM.

[iofhua]

Darrious Quinn, on 19 October 2017 - 06:44 AM, said:

As John pointed out, Streaks WILL hit as long as there isn't an physical obstruction. Things to know?

1. Streaks will not fire WITHOUT a lock. So if you are standing there randomly shooting missiles.... you're not firing Streaks. They MUST be locked to fire.
2. Streaks will strike the outer most hit locations first. That means arms and legs first, then into the torsos, then CT. Back in the day, Streaks always hit CT, which made them very powerful and often boated. So don't expect to CT targets with Streaks.
3. Streak 4 and 6s will cluster to multiple locations. This means on a STK-6 2 missiles to 3 RANDOM locations. Could all 6 hit the left leg? Yes, but unlikely.
4. You need a lock to fire, but unlike LRMs, you do not need to maintain the lock. Locks goes red, fire and break off and those missile will find their target.
5. They are not Loony Tune Missiles. They will not turn 90 degrees around the corner to follow a target behind a wall. They will try to go through the wall, ALWAYS following the most direct route.... INCLUDING THROUGH YOUR TEAM MATES.

So with all that said, before you keep losing your crap over how they aren't working... go back and double check your loadout. Make sure you actually have the Streaks equipped, and take them into the training grounds to see how they really fly under controlled conditions.

1 - I understand that. I had a target lock.
2 - don't care where they hit, only that they hit the target.
3 - don't care.
4 - that's how I want it to work. Except it didn't.
5 - in order to function as described in #5, they would have to be loony tune missiles. I have target decay. If I lock a target and turn my torso away from it, I still have a target lock. I fully expect them to turn 90 degrees and hit my locked target. But they don't. Which is why I'm pissed. Streak SRM's are supposed to have guidance.

[krevLL]

Are you locked or did you hit R to target the mech? Lock is a red circle that animates over a targeted mech when you hold the reticle over it, target is the red box around the mech that eventually gives you sensor data.

Protip; if you have tonnage for it use a TC mk1 + active probe to stack lock time reductions

Edited by krevLL, 24 October 2017 - 10:00 AM.

[iofhua]

krevLL, on 24 October 2017 - 09:56 AM, said:

Are you locked or did you hit R to target the mech? Lock is a red circle that animates over a targeted mech when you hold the reticle over it, target is the red box around the mech that eventually gives you sensor data.

Yes I pressed R and targeted the mech. It showed up with target data in the little picture with it's health information for each limb displayed.

[krevLL]

Yeah, once you've targeted it, then you can achieve lock by holding the reticle on target until you have the red circle, after that you get a second or two of time you can break reticle contact without losing lock.

[iofhua]

1. I had the target locked.

2. Target lock was not enough. I had to have my cursor (targeting reticle) ON top of the target to fire the streak SRM's. If I moved the reticle off of the target I could not fire my streaks even though I was maintaining a target lock.

If a missile has guidance, it has to home on the target. They need to fire, turn, and hit the enemy. If they are flying in a flat trajectory then they are dumbfire missiles. What I experienced a couple days ago was that streak SRM's are dumbfire missiles with a safety mechanism (requiring a target lock to fire).

krevLL, on 24 October 2017 - 10:01 AM, said:

Yeah, once you've targeted it, then you can achieve lock by holding the reticle on target until you have the red circle, after that you get a second or two of time you can break reticle contact without losing lock.

So you're saying a "target lock" isn't just using sensors to target the enemy, it's targeting the enemy AND putting your reticle on top of the target.

If that's the case that's what tripped me up.

Also I want to say this is absofuckinglutely stupid and I'm never using ****** missiles (streaks) ever again.

[krevLL]

iofhua, on 24 October 2017 - 10:03 AM, said:

Also I want to say this is absofuckinglutely stupid and I'm never using ****** missiles (streaks) ever again.

Now you've got it! If you have tonnage for streaks, replace them with ATMs since they
1) Do focus on legs and CTs
2) Can be dumb fired
3) Have range - not that you should waste them at 600+m, but you can.
4) Are completely OP in a brawl without cover.

That being said, I use SRMs + AIV since they're at least more reliable and good for snapshots.

*EDIT* I wrongfully assumed clantech there, if it's clan then run ATMs. If IS, then SRMs and MRMs.

Edited by krevLL, 24 October 2017 - 10:09 AM.

[Reno Blade]

To be sure this was not missed, locks are limited to a certain arc away from the target.
If your crosshair goes too far away from the locked target, the lock will break and you can no longer fire.

Note: lock = red circle, gaining/losing lock = yellow circle that shrinks/grows
-> you can not fire before the lock on circle is completely red (you gain missile the lock).

Also the angle of that arc was reduced in last patch to reduce the easiness and some ATM missile "curving".

BTW: each missile hit a random section, but never the head. there is no groupig or priorization afaik.

Difference to LRM and ATM: Streaks always hit (they go streight to the target), LRM/ATM have maximum turn rates and are only going in the general direction without locking specific areas of the target.

[Koniving]

I am not sure why people can't get that you said multiple times you had the lock.

Now, to define a Lock, that's when you have the crosshairs on the target and get a NEW crosshair.
Most people just say press R and all that does is select a target. That isn't actually a lock.

Think of missiles in any jet game or virtually any game. Here's an example, anti air missiles in Battlefield 3. Still gotta get the hard lock or it is just wasted, and smarter missiles won't fire without them.

So. They have guidance. Once you get the hard lock the almost literally cannot miss. Just because they won't fire without having the hard lock doesn't mean they don't.

You're looking for Fire and Forget missiles that have a seeking ability, such as heat seekers (technically regular SRMs are supposed to be able to do this but...they don't.)

Edited by Koniving, 24 October 2017 - 10:14 AM.

[iofhua]

Well thanks for the help. I just don't like how they work, as I find placing my crosshair on the enemy to launch a guided munition when I already have the enemy targeted is redundant.

Also, pressing R does relay the enemy location to my team-mates right? Or do I need a hard lock (with crosshair) for that to happen? I just want to know in case I've been doing that wrong up until now too.

[Roland09]

iofhua, on 24 October 2017 - 10:22 AM, said:

Also, pressing R does relay the enemy location to my team-mates right?

Yes.

(Povided you are not caught within an enemy's ECM, but generally, yes.)

Edited by Roland09, 24 October 2017 - 02:40 PM.

[The Basilisk]

Roland09, on 24 October 2017 - 02:39 PM, said:

Yes.

(Povided you are not caught within an enemy's ECM, but generally, yes.)

What actually most likely will be the source of his problems.
He was cought in the direct vicinity of one or more ECM carriers that disabled his sensors and missile lock on systems.

[Snegtag]

I believe there was a change last patch to the threshold of the lock. They made it smaller I think. What could be happening is you is you get the lock and then your reticle moves outside the lock window and you can't fire. If I missed this sorry did you try in the training grounds