9 replies to this topic

[TELEFORCE]

On tabletop, SRMs benefitted from Narcs by increasing the number of missiles hitting the target, much like how Artemis works. Do Narcs actually allow SRMs to maintain a closer flight pattern like Artemis?

[Drollzy]

HI Mate, good question im not too sure... narc helps with the lock on time and spread for streak and LRM. I think the SRM spread is only affected by artemis. I think of the SRM as a shot gun blast.. no artemis and its a sawn off shot gun... Very good question tho... Im leaning towards no it does not help at all..

[Victor Morson]

To be blunt, NARC benefits noone right now. It's very heavy, ammo dependent, hard to hit with and the effect is minimal.

That said, NARC will offer a tracking bonus to Streak SRMs, which fire at random locations anyway. Almost any LRM boat will have Artemis, so it won't work with them. (Yes, it does not work with the one thing every missile boat has.)

If you're looking for an option to boost missile tracking strength (such as in the event Streaks are made useful again), check out TAG instead. TAG works with Artemis; it has grouping bonuses and locking bonuses like NARC, and it only weighs a single ton and has no downside to firing it all of the time if you'd like.

TAG definitely gives a +1 from me as useful gear if you're using missiles. NARC is the weapon I rank below flamer for worst of the worst.

cdrolly, on 15 August 2013 - 10:28 PM, said:

HI Mate, good question im not too sure... narc helps with the lock on time and spread for streak and LRM. I think the SRM spread is only affected by artemis. I think of the SRM as a shot gun blast.. no artemis and its a sawn off shot gun... Very good question tho... Im leaning towards no it does not help at all..

Correct, regular SRMs can only be impacted by Artemis and the number of launcher ports on your 'mech (which makes a huge difference in how they operate). SSRM used to gain a decent benefit from TAG and in theory NARC, if anyone was crazy enough to take it, but now I'm not sure I'd care enough to up the signal strength on a weapon that can randomly decide to keep shooting a crit 'mechs arm instead.

[TELEFORCE]

Well that's pretty disappointing. I hope that changes in the future, since there are a few SRM boats like the Kintaro and the Arctic Wolf, that actually benefit from this combination in the board game.

[BigBadVlad]

I actually like using NARC when I run around in my Commando. Hit someone with a NARC and he's "tagged" or lit up for 30 seconds and I can take off. TAG requires constant line of sight which means I am a target to the enemy.

That said I think there is a mechanic in the game where the NARC beacon stops working before the 30 seconds are up. Not sure if it's as sophisticated as the beacon was on the mechs shoulder and got hit directly by another weapon and has been destroyed or if it's a mech was NARC'ed took X amount of damage and NARC is deemed knocked out.

Problem is I often run into teams that have next to nothing for LRM's which renders the NARC dead weight more or less...

[Victor Morson]

BigBadVlad, on 16 August 2013 - 10:12 AM, said:

I actually like using NARC when I run around in my Commando. Hit someone with a NARC and he's "tagged" or lit up for 30 seconds and I can take off. TAG requires constant line of sight which means I am a target to the enemy.

See, that's kind of nice, but the NARC Beacon + 1 ton of ammo was 20% of your 'mech.

Wasting 20% of your 'mech to have someone remain visible for a scant 30 seconds of indirect fire cannot be recommended. In particular where the Commando dropping a UAV in the area would accomplish much more, with less danger and no downsides aside from the cost.

Edited by Victor Morson, 16 August 2013 - 11:14 PM.

[Frytrixa]

I've made good expiriences with the NARC screwed in my assault brawler mech.

In many cases I have LRM support from my teammates which helps alot pushing forward and keep the track on "runaways"


EDIT: @topic - NARC won't help your SRMs and NARC beacon gets destroyed by other weapons (thats the reason why I try to hit the legs with the NARC).

Edited by Frytrixa, 17 August 2013 - 12:52 AM.

[Victor Morson]

Frytrixa, on 17 August 2013 - 12:16 AM, said:

I've made good expiriences with the NARC screwed in my assault brawler mech.

In many cases I have LRM support from my teammates which helps alot pushing forward and keep the track on "runaways"

It's not worth the 4 tons + ammo to keep track of runaways. Buy a UAV instead. Your NARC isn't giving any serious bonus to LRMs, because everyone runs Artemis.

[TripleEhBeef]

NARC would be very useful if it countered ECM.

Only problem is that the opposite happens right now. Since there's at least one ECM mech per team in every match, making NARC counter ECM's effect on the stuck target would make it much more valuable than it is right now, especially for lights with missile hardpoints, like a certain Raven.

[Victor Morson]

TripleEhBeef, on 17 August 2013 - 07:18 AM, said:

NARC would be very useful if it countered ECM.

Only problem is that the opposite happens right now. Since there's at least one ECM mech per team in every match, making NARC counter ECM's effect on the stuck target would make it much more valuable than it is right now, especially for lights with missile hardpoints, like a certain Raven.

There's tons of potential to fix NARCs. If they worked with Artemis and had a homing effect for all unguided missiles, like we've seen in the past, they might even make LRMs interesting in serious environments.

Barring that, there's also the other pod types. Sure some are a few years off, but they could introduce "experimental" NARC pods with 0 complaints from me. It's begging to be a general-purpose electronic warfare weapon.

Instead, it's heavy and fires a slow moving projectile for almost no benefit that is oddly incompatible with the thing every LRM boat has. It's a quagmire of bad decisions.