91 replies to this topic

[Brizna]

LRMs are easy to use against newbies, but they are very difficult to use against veterans. You either get yourself a great spotter, in this case he's doing all the work and LRM boat ripping most of the benefit or you use mid range lurming getting your own locks, which is difficult and has plenty drawbacks but offers very nice DPS, albeit unfocused, if you pull it out.

Anti LRM tools:
High Cover
ECM
Radar Deprivation
AMS

PSA: Before you know if enemy team has meaningful LRM capabilities never ever go anywhere lacking good cover. Just keep an eye at the sky, if LURMs don't fly in ~2 minutes, chances are there are none.

Edited by Brizna, 02 December 2021 - 10:23 AM.

[LordNothing]

both ams and lerms casually give away your position. something to keep in mind. i lookl for these things while im squirreling.

[CFC Conky]

LordNothing, on 02 December 2021 - 10:32 AM, said:

both ams and lerms casually give away your position. something to keep in mind. i lookl for these things while im squirreling.

In a pinch you can even 'recon by lurm', blind fire over a hill and look for the ams response.

Good hunting,
CFC Conky

[ThreeStooges]

ScrapIron Prime, on 02 December 2021 - 08:01 AM, said:

And you'll find that many of the "lob lurms from the horizon" players equip NOTHING BUT LRM's (or LRMs and a few token small lasers) on their mech, making them incredibly vulnerable to faster mechs that get in their face and brawl with them. When you've been suffering under LRM fire for a while, jumping someone like that feels goooooood.

I really hate playing a lrm pure build but I've done it mostly during events where there is that very annoying 5000 damage requirement...OR as I've been playing a new cptl-a1 which is the only cptl without an e slot for a tag. Yes, I could put 5ts for narc and 2t for ammo. Even a few token 3-4 smls on a lrm boat is something to defend a lrm mech on. Even though it isn't much damage it is some damage. Most lights will run off to find an easier mech once they figure out that you will die laser-ing them with your smls.

ECM and stealth can be countered but at a cost of a lot of tonnage i'd rather use for ammo,jump jets or other things like a bigger faster engine. Bap 1.5t,narc 3t plus 2t ammo for 36 shots is total of 5t, tc mk comps are ton per mark up to seven. At least uavs only cost a mere 80,000 c-bills and you can easily auto-fill those with an optional 5-6 nodes to max its range and duration. It doesn't do jack for stealth-ed mechs.

I find lrm mechs to be rare when I play as everyone is out trying their new ecm mechs. A lot of guass and ppcs with a few mrm boats. Lrm pretty much removed from use.

[Bassault]

Take cover.

[LordNothing]

CFC Conky, on 02 December 2021 - 10:49 AM, said:

In a pinch you can even 'recon by lurm', blind fire over a hill and look for the ams response.

Good hunting,
CFC Conky

seeing people with a lot of ams will hang with their team to farm score from intercepting lerms, its a good indicator of where the main group is, and if you count ams streams you can kind of make a guestimate of how many. also if the recon seems to indicate that the team is split. it can be used to determine which group is the smaller and thus which to attack. lerm boats themselves should learn how to read ams.

Edited by LordNothing, 02 December 2021 - 04:13 PM.

[John Bronco]

Always be aware of where your nearest cover is, as protection from LRMs and every other damn thing.

[GoodTry]

If it’s any consolation, LRMs really aren’t a problem in the higher tiers. The damage is spread and there are a zillion counters. If I’m in a fast mech I actually love seeing an isolation LRM boat, because all I have to do is get close and it’s free damage — LRMs do no damage (IS) or reduced damage (clan) inside 185M.

Honestly LRMs have nothing on the 50-damage 900m pinpoint alphas flying around all over the place these days. In some mechs, one of those will end your match instantly and there isn’t much you can do about it (except live in fear).

Edited by GoodTry, 02 December 2021 - 09:40 PM.

[Bamboozle Gold]

Maj Destruction, on 02 December 2021 - 01:54 AM, said:

Just about to buy a light with stealth and AMS and run around shooting missiles down for my team....bah.

I would suggest that you do. It's a good antidote for those moments when the LRMs feel too much.

I personally have 4 mechs that I roll out in times of high LRMs. The obvious choice is Kit Fox Purifier (can also do with C-Bill variant) - see: https://mwo.nav-alph...27a08bfc_KFX-PR
Also the Corsair can do a great AMS setup.

The three other are IS stealth mechs (Phoenix Hawk 1B, Thanatos 5S and Cyclops 11P). Stealth armour is not particularly useful in the game for most stuff but it's great at cancelling out the LRM rain. You can run with your stealth off for the most part and then switch it on for when you get sighted by the enemy. Turn it off when you're behind cover cooling off.

Then once the LRM monsoon passes you can go back to playing other stuff.

[Remington1911]

I am a noob as well, and find LRM boats a perversion of the game pure and simple. Just how hard would it be for "them" to have a tube limit of LRM's in the game, and sadly yes the clan weapons should count to that total as well

That said there is no greater joy then to find one of these pukes with nothing but LRM, walk up to them in a Flea and MG their legs off. I also built a very light and VERY fast phoenix hawk with two small PPC's and 4 med las that just love blowing the legs off of missile mechs....you can hear the rage through your internet connection. That or just waddle around in a corsair with 4 AMS and just be an air defense mech.....and that again is not how the game should be played.

I have played the game a great deal in a very short time, and find this to be one of the most broken things in the game, and really bad if they have missions that need missile damage.

[martian]

Remington1911, on 03 December 2021 - 05:01 AM, said:

I am a noob as well, and find LRM boats a perversion of the game pure and simple. Just how hard would it be for "them" to have a tube limit of LRM's in the game, and sadly yes the clan weapons should count to that total as well

That would make matchmaking even more difficult. On top of handling Tiers, premade groups, weight classes, connecting and disconnecting players etc. the matchmaker would have to count weapons and LRMs. Sorry, but that would be hardly doable in a reasonable timeframe.

Remington1911, on 03 December 2021 - 05:01 AM, said:

That said there is no greater joy then to find one of these pukes with nothing but LRM, walk up to them in a Flea and MG their legs off. I also built a very light and VERY fast phoenix hawk with two small PPC's and 4 med las that just love blowing the legs off of missile mechs....you can hear the rage through your internet connection.

See? You have already found one antidote against LRMs.

Remington1911, on 03 December 2021 - 05:01 AM, said:

That or just waddle around in a corsair with 4 AMS and just be an air defense mech.....and that again is not how the game should be played.

First, you do not have to use all four AMS hardpoints when designing the loadout for your Corsair.

Second, one or two AMS is often enough, you just must use terrain and buildings for cover more often.

Remington1911, on 03 December 2021 - 05:01 AM, said:

I have played the game a great deal in a very short time, and find this to be one of the most broken things in the game, and really bad if they have missions that need missile damage.

You seem to be willing to learn and adapt, so I am sure that you will soon find some good ways how to deal with enemy LRMs. I listed a few things that you can do in my post #2.

I might add that LRMs are typically not among the most useful weapons and the higher you move in Tiers, the less LRMs you will see in the game.

[Curccu]

Bamboozle Gold, on 03 December 2021 - 01:12 AM, said:

I would suggest that you do. It's a good antidote for those moments when the LRMs feel too much.

I personally have 4 mechs that I roll out in times of high LRMs. The obvious choice is Kit Fox Purifier (can also do with C-Bill variant) - see: https://mwo.nav-alph...27a08bfc_KFX-PR

If loads of Lurms... maybe some on your side also so maybe join the fun? kfx-pr

[Duke Falcon]

Since this topic is about lurm...
I so far used lots of lurmers but change some of them recently. IS lurms to MRMs.
But also think about change clan lurms to ATMs. Does that worth? I remember ATMs work differently and behave badly in terms of arc and indirect fire. But I want to bring some ATM builds into FP since lurming I found "to safe yet less paid".

[martian]

Duke Falcon, on 03 December 2021 - 10:46 AM, said:

But also think about change clan lurms to ATMs. Does that worth? ...

I do not think so.

To get the most of the ATMs, you have to stay in the optimal range of the ATMs. Essentially, you need some mobile medium (or mobile heavy) 'Mech. Typical Assaults are often too slow and Lights usually do not carry enough tubes.

Usual problem with running LRMs also apply here:

• lots of ECM-equipped 'Mechs
  
• vulnerability to AMS
  
• damage spread across the enemy 'Mech
  
• minimum range

Running ATMs is certainly possible, but it requires a lot of effort and the results are sometimes not worth the hassle.

[ScrapIron Prime]

Optimal range ATM's aren't a magic bullet (or missile in this case). After April's patch, the damage from ATMs range from 1.6 per missile at long range to 2.5 per missile just outside minimum range.

An ATM-6 weighs the same as an LRM-15. The LRM does 15 damage from 180m-900m and trails off to zero at closer than 180m. The ATM does zero from 0m to 120m, 15 damage from 120m to 245m, and tapers off to 9.6 damage from there to 1100m.

So really, an ATM is only better at ranges of 120m to 180m, and below that its much much worse.

The exception is the ATM-12. at 7 tons, it is 2 tons heavier than an LRM-20 and does damage ranging from 19.2 up through 30, meaning its the most bang for a missile hard point if you have the tons and spaces to spare on it.

[Richard Hazen]

I just got to tier 3, I've been using a Huntsman with two LRM 15s and can safely say it's a bit difficult due to the quantity of ECM about. Even if they become visible it takes forever to lock and it's hard to even tag people cause your opposition will be on you in a split second.

Terrain awareness will help as you get more experienced, you'll begin subconsciously think where nearby is good cover, what is tall enough, even a thick tree can mitigate them.

[An6ryMan69]

The best way to learn how to defeat LRMs is to PLAY A DEDICATED LRM BOAT yourself for a while.

Honestly, you'll learn pretty quick what drives an LRM boat pilot crazy, and you will find that learning to use LRM's effectively yourself inherently teaches you how to avoid them as well.

I use LRMS a ton myself, and the only time I have any hassle with other guys LRMS is if some dirty little stealth mech NARC's me in the back, which is often just a death sentence.

Have fun out there!

Edited by An6ryMan69, 03 December 2021 - 12:29 PM.

[Novakaine]

I wonder if that's a murm boat or a lurm boat.
Oh fek nevermind.

[Remington1911]

martian, on 03 December 2021 - 06:16 AM, said:

That would make matchmaking even more difficult. On top of handling Tiers, premade groups, weight classes, connecting and disconnecting players etc. the matchmaker would have to count weapons and LRMs. Sorry, but that would be hardly doable in a reasonable timeframe.



See? You have already found one antidote against LRMs.



First, you do not have to use all four AMS hardpoints when designing the loadout for your Corsair.

Second, one or two AMS is often enough, you just must use terrain and buildings for cover more often.



You seem to be willing to learn and adapt, so I am sure that you will soon find some good ways how to deal with enemy LRMs. I listed a few things that you can do in my post #2.

I might add that LRMs are typically not among the most useful weapons and the higher you move in Tiers, the less LRMs you will see in the game.

I have had that Corsair out and have it run up to 70% heat and almost push that coldshot button from just the laser AMS fire....other players comment on that it just never stops shooting.

I have not been here long enough to get a good idea on the overall health of the game, depth of the player base so my suggestion might be totally off base. Perhaps a greater heat ramp up for shooting all those missiles, that might make people build more well rounded mechs.

Catching those mechs alone is generally a once in a blue moon type deal.

I am just tossing stuff out there, but the quantity of lrm's in some games is just flat stupid, then you get a team that communicates, I have been on the giving end of that, as well as what I think is the taking end, and nothing lasts long....the missiles keep flying till the target is dead, takes cover (hard to do with mechs attacking from different quarters) or vanishes.

[Remington1911]

An6ryMan69, on 03 December 2021 - 12:29 PM, said:

The best way to learn how to defeat LRMs is to PLAY A DEDICATED LRM BOAT yourself for a while.

Honestly, you'll learn pretty quick what drives an LRM boat pilot crazy, and you will find that learning to use LRM's effectively yourself inherently teaches you how to avoid them as well.

I use LRMS a ton myself, and the only time I have any hassle with other guys LRMS is if some dirty little stealth mech NARC's me in the back, which is often just a death sentence.

Have fun out there!

I actually did this, and yes this can be said for specific targets, but there are always someone somewhere that will take a good pounding, then you hear focus Bravo and you can watch the missiles head that way, or Charlie is NARC'ed, and unless he can get to cover he is dead.

It really is just too much and so far this is the only thing that has made me say welp I am dead, what is on my phone.....there is nothing you can do if you are targeted by 2 or more lrm boats.....nothing, they will smoke you. And you know it.