99 replies to this topic

[Krivvan]

El Bandito, on 24 March 2018 - 03:40 AM, said:

What do you see in Scouting? SSRMs! And more SSRMs!

I have actually yet to see SSRMs in scouting all day.

[El Bandito]

Krivvan, on 24 March 2018 - 05:42 AM, said:

I have actually yet to see SSRMs in scouting all day.

I have seen them plenty. Streak Huntsman and Streak Crows facing Streak Bushies.

[ThreeStooges]

AMS is just like lrms. Very situational at best. Useful when you have pugs smart enough to make use of it and some thing you wish everyone had during events as events bring out the lrm and atms. I find I use at least 2 tons minimal when I bring ams. Laser ams is simply too risky especially when your mech only has energy weapons and lams uses heat per shot. It's not a giant heat spike like a ppc but under heavy rain aka lots of missiles the heat adds up fast. Lucky you can turn it on and off manually.

The most ams ammo i've burned is 5000 when running an ams build during an event with 900 ams destroyed at end of match screen on alpine.

[Asym]

AMS is a LRM Vaccine. Just like a healthcare vaccine, AMS is a "herd" cure more than a individual cure as alluded to earlier in this thread.

If you don't mount one or can't mount one, you diminish the herd's ability to repel. Now, that infers that you stick together and act as a team................good luck with that. One day, PGI will un-nerf LRM's and then, let's see you not take an AMS...

[Krivvan]

El Bandito, on 24 March 2018 - 05:47 AM, said:

I have seen them plenty. Streak Huntsman and Streak Crows facing Streak Bushies.

Sounds like terrible picks on both sides then.

Asym, on 24 March 2018 - 05:49 AM, said:

let's see you not take an AMS...

Most good streamers don't take an AMS so....I guess there is a lot of seeing people not take AMS

Edited by Krivvan, 24 March 2018 - 05:51 AM.

[El Bandito]

Krivvan, on 24 March 2018 - 05:50 AM, said:

Sounds like terrible picks on both sides then.

They care about damage padding, for the event.

[Angel of Annihilation]

The problem with AMS is that it only has situational use. If no one is firing LRMs or ATMs at you then it is just wasted weight, weight you could have used for extra DHS, armor, ammo or even weapons, none of which are limited by being only of situational use.

For myself if I have all other priorities handled on my build such as heat management, firepower, ammo capacity, etc, then yeah I love to have AMS on my mechs, however there only only very, very few mechs/builds I own that can manage to get every other priority satisfied and still allow for the slots/tonnage required for AMS.

[Simbacca]

I run AMS on all my InnerSphere builds - due to doctrine. A combined 3 AMS will defeat a LRM20 attack from my experience. And that is without the AMS buff in the skill tree.

Yes, AMS is situational, but for every missile that does not hit your mech - means that much more survivability on the battlefield.

I have been in a few matches were the sky was blotted out by LRMs that I ran out of AMS ammo before the timer hit 10 minutes. For me, I always assign 1 ton of AMS ammo per AMS (the exception is my Hunchback-4P which has 1.5 tons - but only due to having nothing else to fill that 1/2 ton).

Edited by Simbacca, 24 March 2018 - 09:56 AM.

[Fleeb the Mad]

Since the advent of ATMs I've found AMS has more utility.

In the higher tiers LRMs were uncommon enough that it usually didn't warrant the tonnage investment. Due to their firing arcs ATMs are being used more at mid and short range in situations where getting to cover is not possible. AMS doesn't shoot them all down but it's a solid form of reliable damage reduction, particularly on a slow chassis that can't peek-a-boo and has to stay exposed to deal damage.

[FireStoat]

If there's an event going on and it can be completed with Quickdrops, AND it's the weekend - I will cheerfully gear up my Pakhet Huntsman with 2 laser ams and some weapons and stand next to my team Annihilator or similar sluggish assault with a smile on my face. Well, unless the assault player is a complete potato and there's a better assault to stand next to. Lurmageddon on event weekends are the real deal at all hours of the day.

Edit - I'll toss on Streak 6 x3 and lasers while doing the above for bonus points in gunning down roaming fish that want a bite of the Charlie lance. The lulz flow.

Edited by FireStoat, 24 March 2018 - 11:54 AM.

[Brain Cancer]

AMS becomes more useful as there's more useful missile systems on the field it can effectively engage. That is, low velocity, medium-to-long range weapons.

That's ATMs and LRMs, because MRMs travel too fast and in huge numbers, and SRM/Streaks are fired too close to effectively engage AMS for significant damage.

You want to see more AMS on the field, LRMs would have to be good. And add reflective/reactive armor to give other weapon types defensive options.

(Why, you say? Because if every weapon type has defensive options, players will adjust their builds according to meta- and yes, I know Omnis can't mount the different armor types...but can swap weapons effectively enough if need be.)

Edited by Brain Cancer, 24 March 2018 - 12:00 PM.

[jss78]

I agree LRM's can generally be avoided otherwise.

I still like to run it, because it'll also protect that team mate of mine who's not doing a great job at avoiding LRM's.

In that "armour tonnage saved vs. AMS tonnage" math, it ultimately doesn't matter if my AMS is saving my own armour or my team mate's.

Maybe this is play style specific. I tend to play ~medium speed mediums and heavies a lot, and I stick close to my teams' assaults. Gives my AMS fair amount of opportunities to shoot down missiles aimed not only at me, but also other friendlies.

[panzer1b]

Its extremely situational, but if your team is getting pelted by LRMs it will cut a huge amount of that out of the picture. The problem, and the main reason i dont use AMS on any mech that doesnt have a unique situation (~1.5-2t free but no slots to fit weapons or DHS), is that missiles are so rarely useful that its not worth taking even a single DHS out of your mech to mount it.

Now i do see the benefit of bringing it on well known missile maps like polar, but outside of faction, there is no way at all to determine what map you will drop on, and thus id rather take my chances (and even on polar i do have some cover assuming no narc). Even on faction, id need multiple variants of the same mech to have 1 with AMS and 1 without, and i sure as hell aint bringing a 100% dedicated AMS mech like the cutefox since i need to be able to actually hurt the enemy (ive learned many times over i cant rely on my team, so i need to be the one doing all the dmg).

Other then that, just learn to use cover and not walk out into the open like a potato. LRMs are very easy to counter, and even ATMs are insanely situational and easy to counter, just avoid the 120-300m death zone and you will do fine even if they hit you with a ATM-48.

[Vonbach]

Better to have and not need then need and not have.

[Krivvan]

Vonbach, on 24 March 2018 - 12:53 PM, said:

Better to have and not need then need and not have.

Not true if there's a cost associated with having it. Especially since, again, you never actually need AMS.

Edited by Krivvan, 24 March 2018 - 01:30 PM.

[Kubernetes]

I've actually started putting AMS on my 1st/2nd wave faction mechs. People seem to love LRMs and ATMs in faction, even more than in QP. If I could just get the rest of my unit to follow we'd be totally immune to that nonsense.

[knight-of-ni]

AMS?
I prefer to use rocks & buildings, but to each his own.

[Vonbach]

Krivvan, on 24 March 2018 - 01:30 PM, said:

Not true if there's a cost associated with having it. Especially since, again, you never actually need AMS.

AMS helps out you team. Thats what they're for.

[LT. HARDCASE]

If I was going to run AMS, it would be in consideration of the occasional ATM boat, and not at all with LRM coverage in mind.

[VitriolicViolet]

I always run AMS i think i have only 8 mechs or so without it (Including the X5 i dont know why they didnt give it the option)
not for myself so much as the team, the amount of players ive seen react poorly and start flailing as opposed to twisting and firing is large.

I think its worth it for the most part the only time i dont take it is if im straining a build already and cant push it further. Also twin or more AMS mechs are fun when theres missiles, its pretty enjoyable to totally deny damage from a portion of the team. That twin AMS Wolfhound is awesome, 30% range quirk is it? it was even better when it came with 20% firerate as well.

In fact more AMS quirks! give the Crab back its range boost, and do something for the Black Knight, since re-size its been bad especially compared to the variants given all the armor quirks.

Edited by VitriolicViolet, 24 March 2018 - 02:35 PM.