12 replies to this topic

[SafeScanner]

when shooting at a mech where do you like to shoot?

as a light mech player (all hail the locust) i am trying to find the best place to shoot a mech to help the team get a kill while minimising damage back but problems i am encountering,

Torso (core)
if i get behind and damage i find that its not helping because the frontal armor is too thick meaning it like two bricks smacking eachother until one dies or heavly damaged.

arms/shoulder
i find these parts are usally ignored where the thicker core is shot instead which i am finding bizare because the shoulders are more/less weaker and may allow for a quick kill if a xl engine is used or by heat transfer for light engines if the mech is running hot (not sure about heat transfer on clan mechs and clan mech xl engines needing both knocked out to kill it) not to forget ammo detonations

Legs
of a lights/mediums yes it is a viable and effective way for dealing with them but for heavys/assualts its questionable if i should bother 90% of the time

what i want to affect is the ability of mechs not to be left so vunerable after a brawl so if i can criticaly damage a popular part i can sway the battle my favor in critical times if the guys will let me shot them and not suddenly try and swarm/chase me (please do)

[ScrapIron Prime]

Legs are a common place to shave armor. Blast them once and see how red the location turned. If it didn't move much, try a side torso instead.

What's key is knowing the mech silhouette. For example, certain mechs have their heaviest weaponry in one side torso all the time. Study the mechs in Mech DB to know where the hardpoints are, so you'll know which side torso to pop first.

Example... a Vapor Eagle with 2 cERPPC has one in each side torso. A Vapor Eagle with 3 cERPPC has two in the right and one in the left... so shoot the right side first.

Edited by ScrapIron Prime, 08 June 2021 - 09:40 AM.

[SafeScanner]

thanks for the tips/link

learning each mechs Hardpoint locations is gonna be hard challenge

[ScrapIron Prime]

There's a lot to learn, to be sure. (Like knowing where NOT to stand! ) Just remember that people will be targeting YOU the same way, so learn to keep your legs in motion and swivel and twist your torso between shots so the red team doesn't get to hammer the same armor location on you shot after shot!

[SafeScanner]

something for the future, right now i am focused on light gameplay getting round the sides/rear and mastering the art "How not to be seen" exploiting and watching some heavys to check for seismic sensors

if i decide to go into mediums/heavys i'll try to employ such methods(torso twister) i have tried with the spider but with very limited success(the arms drop off fast)

[Leone]

Okay, so, let's talk legs. Now for a heavy or an assualt you might think going torso's the best bet. Go for core, it's the quickest, or maybe you're up against a Timberwolf and it has those easy to target missile shoulders and you know taking both side'll get you a kill.

But sometimes you're up against a torso wiggling stalker boating the lasers and willing to charge and stare you down...

Now against said stalker, they can wiggle their torso all they want, and it wont move the legs which are big and meaty. Also, once you've taken one leg, it's so much easier to dance about them and try for the other. consider, when shooting a mech from behind, they're more apt to turn about if they register a rear armour hit than if they register a side leg shot. Works best when spotting for missiles, which are known to paint the legs. Just fire when the missiles are hitting to hide the extra damage. One issue however is your team may not notice all your hard legwork and add damage to the torso. It happens alot. If you're piling on with the team, shoot where they shoot.

Next, word of warning, figuring which leg is which can be hard at first. My suggestion would be watch for the smoke.

Also, always leg the lights. If you shoot for the hip and miss you're still liable to paint the torso. (When going legs, the hip is the easy option.)

~Leone.

P.S. https://mwomercs.com...g-like-a-light/ key to lights is short engagements once the enemy starts paying attention.

Edited by Leone, 08 June 2021 - 01:35 PM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

I think it's a tough question actually. Dealing damage to any part is generally preferable to not shooting at all, but what you go for can be entirely situational.

If you have the chance, back torso armor is almost certainly a must. Most players have less than 10 points in any of those locations.

Legs are generally the next best option, but this only really helps if you can destroy one leg. If you're shooting the legs but not destroying them, the enemy mech is not losing any combat effectiveness and may be able to kill you pretty easily.

Side torsos, specifically the right torso, is my default aim location on any mech, if I have a chance to aim for a specific part at all. Many IS mechs have their heaviest weapons on the right side and for Clan mechs and other IS mechs, they're generally more balanced so this will take out at least half their firepower normally.

Arms are situational, if you know the loadout and the hardpoints of that mech and it's going to really decrease their effectiveness, it's worth considering, but this is far less common.

Lights have the advantage of being better able to get behind enemies or shoot legs, being much closer to the ground. At the vary least, by hitting them from different directions, you can confuse them or annoy them enough to draw their attention away from your teammates. And of course, if you see cherry red internals, drop everything and aim there!

[Tarl Cabot]

Just remember, if in doubt, shoot the cockpit location.. you may not get a headshot but you would be hitting the CT. No need to try to hit center mass, where on some mechs that CT location may be very thin.

With that said, a player has made a hitbox location, it is only front/rear with very few side/angle views but it goes provide a general idea where the ST ends and the CT begins.

https://mwomercs.com...localization-2/

[justcallme A S H]

As a rule for a light harrasser.

Rear CT - Almost always.


Only times you would not do this is:

• Mech is sideloaded. Some mechs like Dakka Night Gyr can be left-side loaded so taking off the torso nukes the mechs functionality but that is rare and requires some in depth game knowledge.
  
• Legs are already weak. If you have been paying attention and see some damage send a mechs legs from very fresh to red/oj armour quickly/easily, you know they have shaved some armour and it might be faster to leg the mech. If the leg is open then it's equally a safe bet. Most players will have at least 60 leg armour on Heavies and 70+ for Assaults so often legs are not an efficient use of damage.
  
• Arms - Combination of 1 & 2 - if the mechs weapons are all in the arms and the arms are weakened, only then take it off. If fresh do not waste your time. You're better off hitting the rear CT etc.

[RUSTY RASTIL]

As a self-proclaimed pinpoint king, i allways aim for cockpit

[SafeScanner]

Teir 5 battle think i did alright for a one sided fight

220 dmg 2 kills on a win

these combat results are pretty standard for me 100/300 dmg 0/3 kills on a win/loss
i do try and drag out the fights in stealth ecm's to punish the enemy team and pick them off one by one least till they get wise of my divide and conquer tactics managed to pull off 600 dmg game where i sticked a rifleman iic and killed a isolated timberwolf both kills were not easy and took honestly more time than i would of liked

the rifleman kept torso twisting to the point i went to hell with in and took his arms and ran off

the timberwolf was been plain dumb (as nicely as i can put it) he was seperated from the rest of the group trying to hunt me i managed to get behind and get a few shots off before he turned around i was chipping away it him trying to avoid his lasers till i got lucky and got one of his shoulder and then got his other shoulder because i was not making much ground with his ct at that time

after that i took bite outa a heavys left leg before i got caught out(looking at the right spot when i was peeking for my next target) and got legged and died

Edited by SafeScanner, 23 June 2021 - 04:21 PM.

[Unreliable Mercenary]

I usually go for side torsos these days, but I play mediums. Crippling a bigger mechs weapon system makes it easier for the big guys to grind through the CT. I always check the legs first though, if you find someone who skipped leg day its an easy kill.

[martian]

SafeScanner, on 08 June 2021 - 10:16 AM, said:

learning each mechs Hardpoint locations is gonna be hard challenge

Actually, it is not that bad.

Firstly, many 'Mechs are used in MWO only sparingly. Seeing Cougar, Hellspawn or Victor, etc. in the game is a rare thing.

Secondly, many used 'Mechs have only one or two frequently used loadouts: When you see Mad Cat Mk. IIB in the game, then you can be quite sure that it is running ballistic weapons in its arms, etc.