Asym, on 26 December 2018 - 07:50 AM, said:
OK, I haven't played full-time in a long while: only events. And, I play a lot of LRM or missile mechs and I comment a lot of Missiles and associated missile game play....
The problem is that when PGI made the time it takes to obtain a target lock longer, they screwed Assault mechs and any other mech attempting to defend against leg hugging MG lights.... Aiming is one thing.....waiting 10 seconds to obtain a lock isn't reasonable... All of those skill points in sensors are a waste of time now???
I've been playing a anti-light MDD quite a bit in this event and I am usually right behind the assaults providing support and I have had a lot of enemy lights attempting to back stab the assaults..... There is nothing wrong with this tactic BUT, even when a dedicated anti-light mech can't target a close in light with the weapons designed to defeat those mechs, PGI has created an OP situation....
At a reasonable distance, "aiming" to target isn't easy because of the speed of the lights.... At "danger close" distances, it's impossible and the assault pilots literally, can't do anything even IF they had anti-light streaks.....
I recommend that PGI "split the difference" in lock times based on distance. Locks at ranges less that 400 meters revert back to the original lock times and anything over 400 meters stays as it is now. If "aiming" is the reason for the change to introduce "skill in use" then, PGI has failed. All they've introduced is an OP situation for lights and completely negated an entire anti-light weapons class's effectiveness (streaks),,,,,, Not because streaks are OP, but because, the lock time is WAY TOO LONG at heavy MG ranges....
For me, it was fun to play in this holiday event and sad, because it's very difficult to use a lot of the mechs I've configured to fight lights.... I've even played lights (which I am terrible at) and it is ridiculously easy to kill assaults now and you can literally "run by" heavy MDD's armed for lights because they canb't lock you fast enough to make a difference !!!
What are your thoughts?
To simplify your life, here's a couple of simple tips.
One: Aim center mass.
The closer to the middle of the target bracket you get, the faster your lock time. If you have it on the edge, you will NEVER complete a lock. That 10 second time to get a lock might not be an exaggeration, I'm not shocked. But that means you're not aiming at the center of the target, the closer you aim to the middle, the faster the lock.
Two: ARMLOCK = OFF.
You can lock with both the + and the o crosshairs regardless of whether your Streaks or LRMs are mounted on the torso, arms or both. Arms track faster than torso. You also torsotwist faster with the armlock off. Thus it makes sense if you have a streak-centric build to keep the armlock OFF.
(You can always turn it on for other mechs or hold shift to put everything center-mass for that big alpha strike or to keep all the direct fire weapons together.)
Three: SRMs in the arms, Streaks in the torso.
(
this doesn't apply in your example of a Mad Dog, buts its a general preference of mine)
Having SRMs in the arms allow you to have an anti-light capable defense and additional punch even in the face of ECM. This also allows you to lead enemy lights and hit them far better than any torso mounted equipment could allow.
(
In your case for the Mad Dog, bring SPL or MPL which are very effective against light mechs and aim for legs).
Four: A TAG and Artemis couldn't hurt.
TAG gives you 25% faster locking time, and negates the penalty of an enemy ECM to normal lock time (its a soft counter).
Artemis gives you 25% faster locking time, and as a bug this applies to the only locking system in the game regardless of whether or not you have LRMs. As such, it applies to streaks with no weight penalty. PGI has shown no interest in fixing this bug and its been around since Artemis was introduced. You may as well use it.
(Fixed in
August apparently, and evidently after they made it give a boost of 50% instead of the original 25%.)
Hope this helps.
Good hunting.
One more tip.
Skill tree > Sensors > Target Decay.
Max out on it, which helps against the Radar Derp users. Yes the actual effect is cut around half against Radar Derp but any help in tracking those pests is help indeed and will help you keep the lock long enough to get the crosshair back in place when they try the circle-around method.
Partial reverse (about 1/3rd to 2/3rds) and turning in the opposite direction to quickly reacquire them when they get behind you also helps immensely.
Edited by Koniving, 26 December 2018 - 09:13 AM.
4
