13 replies to this topic

[TopHatCat]

Howdy guys,
This may seem like an odd question but honestly, I can't find anywhere that really explains the mechanics all that well (Curse you wiki!).

So then,
Lets say you have a Centurion, as we know it's left arm is pretty much useless, save for storing ammo or heatsinks. I'm currently running mine without missiles (for now), meaning that both my left arm and left torso are pretty much useless to me.
Due to this fact, to free up some Tonnage for more weapons and such, I reduced the armor on both of these pretty low, making myself much lighter.

My question is, how does this effect me? Is it a viable tactic to lighten your mech if you don't care if that part gets destroyed?
I mean, I'm tempted to reduce it to 0 armor.

So I have afew questions for it;
*Hypothetically, if I never get hit on the left arm, would it effect my over-all armor/"health" at all?
*At 0 armor will it be destroyed in 1 hit or what?
*What happens if that arm gets destroyed?;
*Do other mech parts take explotion damage?,
*Does that ajoining area become more vulnerable to damage?,
*How much does it increase my repair cost by?

Thanks for taking the time to read! Hope someone knows!

[Ewigan]

It works quite well, you could even put all of your weapons in your torso and head and go on a zombie rampage.
Works well with Hunchies and Cents!

[TopHatCat]

Oh my word... "Zombie Rampage" XD That just sounds amazing Ahah!
Sounds like a fun tactic too as I know alot of people seak out the arms believing them to be the main sources of damage..

However still curious about the negatives etc.

[Greyrook]

The internal structure is something like half of the maximum armor of that part or some such. So like, if the max armor on an arm is 40pts, the internal structure will have 20pts, requiring 60 total damage to destroy that part. However, I'm not sure if it's actually half, I'm pretty sure the head has 18 max armor and 18 internals.

I would suggest putting some armor back onto the torso at least. When a component is destroyed, for example your left torso, that component can still be hit and damage dealt to that area is transferred to the center torso, so it essentially doubles the hitbox to your CT.

Also, I'm pretty sure you can't take the armor all the way to 0, it bottoms out at 1 I think.

Edited by Greyrook, 17 December 2012 - 03:21 AM.

[TopHatCat]

(Hmm why doesn't Quote work? Strange.)
Anyway, That's some good info thank you Greyrook, I shall certainly put alittle armor back onto the torso..

I've have managed before to reduce my arm armour all the way to 0 so, Not sure how it works in game, never really noticed.
But I'm pretty sure it's taken afew hits before actually being destroyed which is interesting... Still, not exactly sure how it works (hence the questions), seems like a very unclear topic. But so far the advantage of freeing up a Ton or Two has really benefitted my loadout so quite happy with a limp left arm!

[Riktor Voshek]

It's certainly a valid thing to do if you need to free up tonnage, but the counter point involves looking at the design of that left arm; it's shaped like a shield for a reason

Looking at the Centi from the side, that arm provides cover for your entire torso and your head, so it can be a good strategy to leave the left arm quite well armoured and then use torso twisting to present that arm to the bad guys in a fight between shots. E.g. if you're running toward someone, turn to the right and back between shots so your left arm is facing them. Same if you're running away; turn your torso to the left and that arm will take the hits instead of your back. Doing this will also naturally put your right arm way off on the far side of your mech, protecting a big chunk of your weaponry.

Even more advanced (to the extent I've never even tried it) is to use the freelook camera to get your right arm to point across your cockpit to the left. If you get it right, I believe you can be shooting your target with the right arm, and all he can see of you is the left arm.

[Wrenchfarm]

Voshek has a point. Sometimes those "useless" limbs can come in VERY handy. I try to leave at least some armour in an empty limb to take a few hits.

[Budor]

My CN9-A lives from shielding with the arms and right torso. My YLW keeps the ac20 up as long as possible by shielding with its left arm and torso. I would never strip them. I do not play the other cents anymore.

Edited by Budor, 17 December 2012 - 08:14 AM.

[TopHatCat]

I can see how the Shield is useful now, but still curious about the original questions I asked

It certainly is a nice way to use the arms though, I defo see their usefulness now... But I'm ever so greedy, scrap armor, get more Dakka. Just wondering what happens to said 0 armor parts and what the results in them being destroyed has on the rest of the 'mech.

[Sovery_Simple]

First off, don't run 0 armor in a location, put at least 1 armor there, so when people get a readout on your armor levels, they see those areas as "fully armored" until you take a hit there, as opposed to "oh look this guy is about to lose his left torso because it has no armor"

TopHatCat, on 17 December 2012 - 02:53 AM, said:

So I have afew questions for it;
*Hypothetically, if I never get hit on the left arm, would it effect my over-all armor/"health" at all?
No.

*At 0 armor will it be destroyed in 1 hit or what?
No, you have 0 armor but half of the potential armor as "internal" armor points, the superstructure basically.

*What happens if that arm gets destroyed?;
It falls off, leaving your torso as a direct target.

*Do other mech parts take explotion damage?,
What? Explosion? No.

*Does that ajoining area become more vulnerable to damage?,
No, just gone, literally.

*How much does it increase my repair cost by?
Cost of your internals, and item repair if any are there and were damaged. Endo Steel will make this more expensive.

Thanks for taking the time to read! Hope someone knows!

[Elizander]

Does damage transfer work here? Having no armor in your left torso would mean all damage would be directed to center torso if it gets blown off and you are hit there again.

[80Bit]

In general I think it is more useful to leave the armor on these useless parts, just don't ever repair it. Having extra parts to take damage can be very useful, and armor is typically the #1 repair cost. You get the best of both worlds by leaving these useless parts armored, but not paying to repair them every match.

[TopHatCat]

Awesome thank you Whoops!! That is all brilliant advice and answered all my questions, Thank you!

And yes Elizander it does transfer over, so I'd only reduce the armor on the arms if I were despirate too.

[Konril]

The basic situation with mech parts is as follows.

All mech parts have a structure equal to about half of it's maximum armor, whether you armor it or not. Once the structure hits zero from damage, the part is disabled or "destroyed."

An arm that is disabled or destroyed simply falls off the mech.

A side torso that is destroyed will cause the attached arm to become disabled and fall off the mech. That means you can lose an otherwise undamaged arm if the side torso gets blown through. Once the side torso is gone, any further damage to that part gets transferred to the center torso.

The first leg destroyed halves movement and any additional incoming fire will kill movement almost completely. When both legs are destroyed, the whole mech is killed.

Destroying the center torso or head kills the whole mech instantly.

Therefore, if you need to save some weight in armor then it is safer to take it off of a unused arm than it is to take it off a torso or leg. If there is nothing in the arm, there is no real disadvantage in losing it. On some mechs, these unused arms are useful as disposable shields. But that is a bit dependent on the shape of the mech. The Catapult or Ciciada's "ears" are much less able to shield the rest of the mech than it is with the Centurion, Cataphract, or Awesome.