15 replies to this topic

[Gandalfrockman]

I feel like I am getting the hang of this new iteration of mechwarrior;
BUT I have noticed that the community focus seems to be on the damage dealt statistic.
Is it really that important?
I tend to go for rapid coring, or cockpit shots, ( I'll take an arm or leg off if the target this means I have lower damage done, I usually get 2-3 kills per match, with a few assists thrown in, and some salvage. But I am rarely over 600 damage dealt.

So basically, what I want to know is, Am I doing something wrong by focusing on killing targets rather than uniformly stripping off all their armor and weapons?

[Pariah Devalis]

No, you are not doing it wrong. They are. Anyone who can rub two brain cells together knows it is better to kill a mech with a quick and clean 33 points of damage to the head than waste time and ammo ripping a mech to pieces before killing it. If it makes you feel better, I usually sit at the top one or two on the boards for my team (and sometimes, even higher then a winning enemy team) with an average of around 160 damage per kill, which translates to mostly center torso damage with some wasted hits, or a headshot kill with a 'dirty' kill elsewhere.

Edited by Pariah Devalis, 01 January 2013 - 03:20 PM.

[Fred013]

Target the legs. People strip off the leg armour because noone targets the legs, but blow off a leg and they slow down, blow off another and they die.

[Darwins Dog]

Sounds like you're doing just fine. Cockpit kills get you the most money in salvage bonuses. Getting super high damage numbers means that you're spreading your damage around a lot. You can do 400 damage to an atlas without actually killing it. You can also kill an atlas with under 30 damage.

[Fred013]

Darwins Dog, on 01 January 2013 - 03:21 PM, said:

You can also kill an atlas with under 30 damage.

What?? The cockpit requires 33+. What is this black magic?

[Pariah Devalis]

Maybe against an atlas pilot who shifted armor away from the hard to hit cockpit. I wonder how often people do that, though. I only definitely encountered armor reduction on the head once. Why they did that to a catapult of all mechs is beyond me....

Edited by Pariah Devalis, 01 January 2013 - 03:37 PM.

[Gandalfrockman]

Fred013, on 01 January 2013 - 03:19 PM, said:

Target the legs. People strip off the leg armour because noone targets the legs, but blow off a leg and they slow down, blow off another and they die.

Only problem is that legs are the one target I cant hit consistently.
and its true you can kill an atlas in less than 30 damage, I took one out with 20 something in a game where that was my only kill. I'm guessing somebody was foolish enough to strip armor off their cockpit to save weight.

Thanks for the confirmation that damage done should not be my primary goal. I was a little confused by the obsession over it.

[Pariah Devalis]

You and me, both. It is confusing. As to the legs, I would really consider the scenario first. I rather put four shots to the center torso of a mech and kill it then put four shots into the legs. The legs might be more fragile each, but you still need to break both of them. Last time someone shot at my legs, I shot at their center torso. Guess who died first? A legged mech still has teeth.

[Wrenchfarm]

Going for superfluous glory damage (stripping an unarmed mech's legs, intentionally prolonging a fight, ect) is silly. At the same time, I'm usually not too impressed with someones kill number since its so easy to accidentally be the person to put that last 1 point of damage on a core even if you did nothing else.

When looking at the end of round stats, a mixture of wisdom and judgment is required to see who really contributed. But generally high damage is a good thing. I would rather see teammates mixing it up and hammering other mechs even if they are sloppy shooters than kamikazing to their death, scattering to the wind in fear of the enemy, or dumping all their LRMs into a nearby cliff all game.

[Snib]

Gandalfrockman, on 01 January 2013 - 03:15 PM, said:

community focus seems to be on the damage dealt statistic.

Community focus is also on K/D ratio although assists are rewarded better than kills. So whatever, make your own decisions and run with them.

Pariah Devalis, on 01 January 2013 - 03:56 PM, said:

As to the legs, I would really consider the scenario first. I rather put four shots to the center torso of a mech and kill it then put four shots into the legs. The legs might be more fragile each, but you still need to break both of them.

Sure, but after you took one leg down the enemy's mobility is very limited so the second leg comes easy. Shooting CT destroys most of your salvage so if your focus is c-bills then you'll typically go for cockpit or legs. Depends very much what you and your opponent are piloting though. Little point in legging if it's one assault vs another.

[Pariah Devalis]

Eh. It is a high risk for minimal reward, in my opinion. Unless the enemy mech is moving at 90 KPH or more, it is a reasonably easy target to hit a part consistently. If a mech can put 50 armor on each leg, it has 25 points of internal structure. To burn through both legs will take 150 damage. If a mech has 70 center torso armor possible, it has 35 internal structure. It only takes 105 damage to put it down. That is the difference of three gauss rifle shots. Given two equally armed, equally armored mechs, with equal pilot skill, shooting the legs is a death sentence.

Edited by Pariah Devalis, 01 January 2013 - 04:30 PM.

[Snib]

Pariah Devalis, on 01 January 2013 - 04:20 PM, said:

Eh. It is a high risk for minimal reward, in my opinion. Unless the enemy mech is moving at 90 KPH or more, it is a reasonably easy target to hit a part consistently. If a mech can put 50 armor on each leg, it has 25 points of internal structure. To burn through both legs will take 150 damage. If a mech has 70 center torso armor possible, it has 35 internal structure. It only takes 105 damage to put it down. That is the difference of three gauss rifle shots. Given two equally armed, equally armored mechs, with equal pilot skill, shooting the legs is a death sentence.

That's why I said it depends what everyone is in.

Shooting for legs in a 1v1 brawl between heavier mechs rarely makes sense, I agree, you'll be dead before you can finish the him off. But when you're e.g. fighting a moving light mech then the legs are the biggest hitbox and mobility/lagshield is their best defense, so it is very much a consideration to aim for those even in a 1v1. Of course, you should not be fighting 1v1 anyway if you can help it.

Also for some mechs you'll know from their loadout that their legs will be full of ammo because it's the only place they can put it, so if you can safely go for an ammo explosion then by all means do so.

Finally, it takes max 33 damage to headshot any mech in game, so unless the enemy is one of those mechs with (now) tiny and hard to hit cockpits it always makes sense to try hit them there and you get full salvage, too (the "hacker" cries when you one-shot that 100% health assault are a bonus). But even that depends, e.g. when you're chased by an SRM6 Cat and you have high enough alpha damage then the safer option is often to invest two alpha strikes into shooting both its arms off and then deal with the rest later.

[Ryvucz]

If I get annoyed by an enemy, I tend to kill them slowly.

I'm also psychotic and a little sadistic.

But if I can manage the shot, I do go for the cockpit, given they haven't annoyed me enough to warrant the first sentence.

[Pariah Devalis]

Aye, it does matter on what you are fighting. However, it is almost exclusively a good idea to leg the mech if it is significantly lighter then you, as you would have the armor and firepower advantage in spades. Not to mention demolishing a light mech's lagshield

One fun trick I discovered as a Quad-LLas FLAME pilot is a curious habit catapult pilots tend to have. They just stand there and expect you to fall over, even though you can take a hit or two before suffering internal damage. It is like they are just asking to be headshot immediately by offering their face to you on a silver platter....

[Snib]

Pariah Devalis, on 01 January 2013 - 04:59 PM, said:

Aye, it does matter on what you are fighting. However, it is almost exclusively a good idea to leg the mech if it is significantly lighter then you, as you would have the armor and firepower advantage in spades. Not to mention demolishing a light mech's lagshield

Exactly.

Pariah Devalis, on 01 January 2013 - 04:59 PM, said:

One fun trick I discovered as a Quad-LLas FLAME pilot is a curious habit catapult pilots tend to have. They just stand there and expect you to fall over, even though you can take a hit or two before suffering internal damage. It is like they are just asking to be headshot immediately by offering their face to you on a silver platter....

To be fair it's trivially easy to headshot a catapult, more than any other mech (except lights standing still). Since a Cat has no arms it always needs to point its nose straight at the enemy to fire and even if they just randomly shoot back for CT they'll probably hit the cockpit. That's one of the big advantages of the Streak Cat, with its guided missiles it can torso twist much more effectively and distribute damage while maintaining constant fire.

[Wrenchfarm]

I always give heavy looking Assault builds a tap on the legs to see if they are made of glass. If you see a Stalker or Atlas carrying multiple LRM20s or something similarly bulky, chances are they took the tons they needed from their stems because "nobody shoots at legs."

I do. Me. I'm that guy.

Nothing sweeter than watching a Stalkers internals turn deep red when all the LRM ammo in his legs ignite.