chevy42083, on 23 June 2020 - 06:19 AM, said:
1. Seems like any missiles are pretty pointless, other than aggravation.... they simply spread damage too much. I tried a Streak cat and was eaten alive. They were ALL tore up, but no components destroyed. MAYBE getting in your face means the missile spread is smaller?
SRMs (which OP was talking about) and Streaks (which you were talking about) are very different.
SRMs fire at the crosshair, but Streaks lock individual missiles onto random components of the enemy mech. This makes them semi-useful against lights and some of the more fragile mediums, but basically useless against more durable enemy mechs.
Streaks also work differently from LRMs and ATMs, both of which fire at the center of mass of your locked target.
Now, the reason actual SRMs are used is because they're more efficient than ballistics on damage for tons and more efficient than energy weapons on damage for heat. Depending on the build, you may be boating "normal" launchers or fewer but with Artemis (which reduces the spread of your missiles by 30% when in LOS)
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I don't know the mechanics... not sure on hit/box vs visuals here. Do they hit as if they came out of your mech's actual missile pods, or do they hit where your cross-hair is... or in between.. I don't know.
It's a combination.
* They lauch
from the missile pods
* Their trajectory goes
towards where your crosshair was when you fired (whether that was the enemy mech or the ground behind them
This is why hardpoint convergence can be important - a tight cluster of SRMs packed tight together is undeniably better than a wide spread.
If you want a guide to mech hitboxes, see
https://mwomercs.com...localization-2/
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2. Solaris builds are DEFINITELY different than a traditional battle build. I've found I can't possibly take the same build into both, with the exception of a FEW energy builds. My big hitters and fun mechs for 12v12 have been flops in Solaris. Simply put, you are looking for fast DPS, no excess ammo, no excess heat, and usually nothing long range.
Pretty much. There are some long range builds boating RACs or AC2s and some pulsevomit builds but it all boils down to being efficient in tearing your opponent a new one.
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You can't handle overheating... so you need to value heatsinks over weapons at times (you need a solid 30sec of damage, not a strong alpha and retreat... there is no one else to occupy the enemies attention).
Mostly correct. You can't overgun your mechs, but you need to minmax your heat production versus cooling to something that can deliver damage fast enough to kill your opponent before he can do the same to you.
Boom-and-zoom builds are viable on light mechs / fast mediums, but they're rather more difficult to operate.
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AMS, ECM, and lots of other gadgets are USUALLY pointless, unless you drop against a particular individual that they counter (ECM vs s-srm).
Yup. In fact, the jamming effect from ECM can betray your position from further away than footstep sounds can (this does make a difference in close quarters combat, eg on Liao Jungle or Ishiyama Caves)
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3. I am no expert... not really great at the game in any mode, but that's my observation. I'm there as a punching bag until I learn more, and tweak my mech after each build. Did I have a LOT of ammo left over, drop some. Did I overheat? Find a way to get more heatsinks, or drop to a cooler weapon. Did the rotary AC never wind up quick enough? Swap it for something else.
Pretty much. Eventually you'll be min-maxing to beat more optimized enemy builds, but until then this is a reasonable approach. Eventually you'll probably have a few dedicated Solaris mechs to work with.
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4. I somehow annihilated a couple opponents in my first 4 matches... and then have barely won since then. I assume its a combination of player skill (since there is no skill leveling in solaris) and mech build. Some guys have been tweaking for arena combat and have builds dialed in.
That, and population is low in the mode outside of the first 2-3 weeks of a seson. During the kick-off events, you tend to see a lot more players and thus the matchmaker actually
has players to pick from rather than toss together the only two players who queued.