51 replies to this topic

[NecessaryWeevil]

Hi all,

Long-time dabbler returning after a long absence. Reading the patch notes I see that they've nerfed the indirect fire function of the game's only indirect fire weapon, and changed it from a poor direct-fire weapon into a slight-less-poor direct-fire weapon.

Do people still use LRMs or do others feel this way?

Thanks!

[Dee Eight]

If you have line of sight when you engage with LRMs, they assume a lower arc flight path, lock faster, have more velocity and less spread. If you don't, they still follow a high arc indirect path with slower locking, less velocity and more spread. Also the time to lock a target depends now on the distance to the target with LRMs.

[FRAGTAST1C]

People always use LRMs. Some do it badly and on bad mechs. I've seen a couple of people running XL LRM Mauler with LMGs and XL LRM Fafnir with LMGs.

If you play LRMs actively by getting your own locks instead of hanging back and letting others get you the targets, then LRMs are ok. They aren't great compared to other missile systems like ATMs and MRMs. But they are decent if you get your own locks.

[Monkey Lover]

Get your own locks and they work well. Stand in the back they don't work as well.

Personally I think they're they best they have ever been. Just in time for the game to shut down.

[Vellron2005]

LRM's per-se are not bad, they are somewhat more useful in direct and under-cover fire now.. Although the lock-on arc has been annihilated, it's like holding lasers on target now..

The problem however is that ECM and AMS have been buffed to absurd levels, so its very difficult to get a lock and keep it. And even when you manage to fire, there's usually some 4AMS monstrosity that completely eats your LRM80 volley up.

So overall - playing LRMs now is a pain.. it can be done, but it's not play, it's work. Worst LRM experience since the game's existence.

[Prototelis]

Vellron2005, on 15 November 2019 - 12:16 AM, said:

it's like holding lasers on target now..

lol, not even close.

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The problem however is that ECM and AMS have been buffed to absurd levels, so its very difficult to get a lock and keep it.

LOS + tag. Target something else if you can't get through AMS.

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And even when you manage to fire, there's usually some 4AMS monstrosity that completely eats your LRM80 volley up.

fake news.

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So overall - playing LRMs now is a pain.. it can be done, but it's not play, it's work. Worst LRM experience since the game's existence.

LRMs are the easiest to use they've ever been.

[Moochachoo]

IMO LRM is a pretty weak direct fire missile system if you intend to use it that way, if you play clans ATM has better risk vs rewards.

LRM damage isn’t great unless you really boat a lot of them, or if there are other teammates that adds to your volley.

i had a game where I blew 2 tons of LRM ammo, with 2xLRM15 targeting a hellbringer mech, I brought him down to the red, but I ran out of ammo before I could get the kill, soo, not great. If I had ATM, I would of shredded him.

Edited by Moochachoo, 15 November 2019 - 07:53 AM.

[Novakaine]

[Prototelis]

Interesting self portrait.

[Sneaky Ohgoorchik]

Its terrible at the moment. Well, at least I do believe that it is way worse than it used to be. I know some people believe that its possible to use lrms in short range, but the variable arc of missile flight will screw your shots. No pinpoint damage. Well, lights everywhere. The long range fire is basically the same, but meta puts counters against lrms. This counters are great in battle too. Ecm mechs, ams mechs everywhere,

I believe you still can do some damage, but only if you have good missile hardpoints X lrm skills X lrm quirks. The weapon itself has no use outside of such setup.

[PhoenixFire55]

Basically what others have said ... Use them like you use any other mid-range weapon and they are great. Try to hide in the back and lob them indirectly and they are bad. Treat indirect fire as a nice bonus but no more than that and you'll be perfectly fine.

[Bud Crue]

Sneaky Ohgoorchik, on 15 November 2019 - 08:31 AM, said:

Its terrible at the moment. Well, at least I do believe that it is way worse than it used to be. I know some people believe that its possible to use lrms in short range, but the variable arc of missile flight will screw your shots. No pinpoint damage. Well, lights everywhere. The long range fire is basically the same, but meta puts counters against lrms. This counters are great in battle too. Ecm mechs, ams mechs everywhere,

I believe you still can do some damage, but only if you have good missile hardpoints X lrm skills X lrm quirks. The weapon itself has no use outside of such setup.

Hold up. Are you saying there was a time in the game, or some special LRMing technique that once allowed LRMs to provide “pinpoint damage”? Please give some details here.

[Dimento Graven]

LRMs/ATMs/SSRMs - are all computer guided admissions of "I can't aim by myself".

They rely on 'borrowed skill' and the blessings of RNGesus.

Edited by Dimento Graven, 15 November 2019 - 09:37 AM.

[John Bronco]

They're still very powerful on a coordinated team. But if you have any aiming skill whatsoever, you're better off with other weapons.

[A1Ste4kSauce]

They're garbage. They were situational before (getting a brawling map with a lrm boat), but now they absolutely suck. For direct fire, you're better off using ATMs for clan or MRMs for IS. And for indirect, that lock time, not worth it. Every time I got tired of playing lights constantly, I'd love to hop into my lrm70 highlander 2c and just go total lrm mode, just for a change of pace. Those days of easy 1000K+ damage are gone (you can still do it in a lrm boat, but you gotta do more than just sitting in the back using locks). Pretty much people moaned and whined because they hated getting lrmed into the ground by a guy they couldn't see. I admit, it sucked dueling and getting f**ked by a massive lrm barrage, but other than that, if you used cover it was easy to avoid. It was also a godsend to have that sort of firepower on your team, as an outrider light, I loved our lrmers. I also loved running a 3 ams Uller, the salt.

But yeah, don't touch them now. Just use laser vomit and nascar. Gonna actually hop on and play again later, just to see if the game has gotten fun since a few months ago. MWO got really boring for me.

Edited by A1Ste4kSauce, 15 November 2019 - 10:44 AM.

[K O Z A K]

Much better than before when using own locks, worse than before when using others locks, still hilariously powerful in idf with many boats with couple spotters combination

[ShiverMeRivets]

LRMs can deal a lot of damage. The easiest way to get 1000 damage match is to bring a massive LRM boat and not be an idiot (and a bit of luck).
However, most of this damage is just unnecessary armor stripping, instead of destroying components. Still, this helps your team to finish off stripped mechs and at least some minor fraction of this damage does randomly hit something important. So with LRMs it is “go big or bust” - if you just want to put one LRM10 on your laser boat, don’t bother. On the other hand, when you boat LRMs build your mech to be fast enough to keep up with your team, move quickly into cover when needed and move into direct-fire positions to get your own locks and a flat flight trajectory with LOS.

ECM is very common now due to the increase over time of the number of available ECM mech variants. TAG defeats ECM (PPC also, but this trick is not common), and active probes help too.

Massed AMS is a myth. Sure, a Corsair 7A can nullify a medium sized LRM boat, but bigger volleys do get through. Triple and quadruple AMS mechs are extremely rare, and even if they happen to drop against you, they can’t defend all of their team - lurm someone else instead. One or two AMS is likely the max you have to go through, and another reason to go for max volley size builds.

[Kroete]

Dimento Graven, on 15 November 2019 - 09:36 AM, said:

LRMs/ATMs/SSRMs - are all computer guided admissions of "I can't aim by myself".

They rely on 'borrowed skill' and the blessings of RNGesus.

Direct lrms are nerfed, ecm and ams are buffed and you are still moaning about a bad weapon?
Getting killed by them now must be realy humiliating it seems...

Edited by Kroete, 15 November 2019 - 01:04 PM.

[Dimento Graven]

Kroete, on 15 November 2019 - 01:03 PM, said:

Direct lrms are nerfed, ecm and ams are buffed and you are still moaning about a bad weapon?
Getting killed by them now must be realy humiliating it seems...

Shaming users of computer guided weaponry is what I do.

You come into what is supposed to be a skills based PvP competition, and then take weapons that 'borrow' skill from other players and RNGesus, and are primarily played by people who typically play in an anti-team manner, won't move with the team or share armor when its necessary.

Yes, I hope my statements make those people feel bad about using them and encourage them to learn how to aim by themselves...

[loresucks]

LRMs are easier to use than ever before with a few rules:
1) Boat the crap out of them.
2) Don't put them on a mech that weighs more than 55 tons.
3) Bring a TAG.
4) Be able to move at least 80 kph.
5) Fire from 250 - 600 m.
6) Watch your reticle to see if you are doing damage. If you are, keep shooting. If not, change to another target.

I've had multiple 1000 DMG games with 8+ components destroyed and 4 - 5 Kills or KMDDs (max was 1600 DMG, 5 kills) in a Hunchback IIC-B with 4 LRM15's and a TAG - something like this: https://mech.nav-alp...1cc4_HBK-IIC-B.

Get the standard missile skill nodes + velocity, max manuverability, all of the sensor nodes for target decay, and carry a pair of UAVs and a pair of cool shots. Don't let the team rotate away from you, and your goal should be to run out of missiles. If you fire ~3000 of them and can't get 1K DMG, see a doctor.