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 Lynata wrote:

Soladrin wrote:First off, by the point that I can get an ammo explosion there I'm already dead regardless, you know, it being my cockpit or core. Secondly, because I use up ammo rapidly it's already dried up most of the time anyway. Thirdly, I have never had an ammo explosion anyway in the last 3 months, they have become a rare thing the current version, hell, has anyone actually noticed it even still happening?

Don't get me wrong, I'm storing ammo in the head component as well - but it doesn't have anything to do with the loading sequence, just that this area is very rarely hit.

No idea about whether or not ammo explosions have been nerfed, though - this is one of those details that are really hard to spot, I think. The only time I truly noticed it was in a slo-mo gif showing how it looks like...

Ledabot wrote:Dam waste not keeping it their till the end but it would make sense irl since you really wouldn't want to have much more than an ejector seat pushing you out of a cockpit.

That, and it makes sense mechanically. If you imagine the autoloader like a sort of conveyor belt carrying shells and missiles, then obviously its end will be empty first. Basically, the ammunition being loaded is actually from the location nearest to the weapon - but that place simultaneously "restocks" itself from the next component, and all the way to the head.

Yeah pretty much, it's probably just a chain of hoppers.

Also, all that ammo in your cockpit just makes you launch even higher with the ejector seat.

Not sure if it's been nerfed, but like I said- I definitely was killed by an Ammo Explosion my first game out with my shiny new Stalker. Get plonked a little in the sides, and BAM- dead in the first two minutes.

Ammo explosion has been severely nerfed. There is now only a chance of the ammo exploding when it takes critical dmg. Previously, if it took critical damage it went up, and took your mech with it!

There is a 10% chance that a slot goes critical when you get hit with a critical hit, and then, It might not even be the slot with ammo in it. Say you have your side torso get hit with a critical, and you have 1 ton of ammo there. That means the real chance of you going bye bye is really a 0.12% chance assuming that all the slots are taken up. You would end up losing a heat sink or something instead or in the future we could end up taking engine damage too.

So, it's possible to get an AC/20 on a Raven that can go over 100 KPH. There's absolutely no armour, of course, but still...

Also, does anybody actually use Flamers? I don't think I've ever seen them. And I kinda want to put 6 on a Jenner.

I've seen them, but the small fast MG boats seem to be the meta for lights.
Saw a med spouting flamers, but the heat trade off isn't good.

Ledabot wrote:There is a 10% chance that a slot goes critical when you get hit with a critical hit, and then, It might not even be the slot with ammo in it. Say you have your side torso get hit with a critical, and you have 1 ton of ammo there. That means the real chance of you going bye bye is really a 0.12% chance assuming that all the slots are taken up.

Don't you mean 1.2%, or do basic maths fail me now?

Interesting debate about the topic:
http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/122887-ammo-explosions-should-be-more-consistent-but-lower-damage/

Its quite possible that my basic maths is failing. I think I agree that if ammo does explode, you really should die. Its unlikely, and you are a small person in a metal death trap. I can't justify getting out alive, no matter where you supposedly put the ammo.

In the real game, when an ammo explosion happens, all the ammo explodes. Machine gun ammo for example causes 200 damage points to that location, if CASE isnt present it goes to the next location over. Ammo explosions are bad and usually are a game ender without CASE. If I remember right, it skips the armor too and hits straight into the internal structure. So go ahead and store that ammo in the torso.

I have no problem with ammo ending a round. I keep dying to AMS ammo explosions lately as my gauss ammo doesnt explode. I need to remember to swithc that location to the arms. At least if a rifle blows up it only causes 20 points of damage.

Yeah, I agree. In my opinion it could well happen more often than just 10%. The damage is fine - catastrophic is what it should be, and imho people are supposed to spend some thought on where to put their ammo and whether or not to use CASE.

So I haven't had much time to play recently, so I'm definitely out of practice. In my past few games my kill counts have been very low. I played several matches with zero kills, or 1 kill. There was one match in which I got 2 kills. But it seems like my assist count is quite high. Even in matches where my mech gets destroyed, I'm pretty consistently getting 6 to 8 assists.

I'm glad that you get some kind of recognition for assists, but does anyone have any tips on how to increase my kill count? Is this normal? Or should I not be worrying about it and just be glad I'm helping the team somewhat?

What mech are you using? ^

K/D ratio is really just an ego thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm always proud when I score a kill as well or my positive ratio as a whole - that's just basic human psychology, a "virtual penis length comparison" we shouldn't actually be proud of (as it's not really indicative of your skill anyways), but still are. But ultimately, the only thing that truly matters is the team as a whole, and a Catapult LRM-boat with 400 damage on 8 Assists was more important to the match than a lone wolfing Commando with 180 damage and 2 Kills - even when the latter pulled it off alone with no help from anyone else.
Not to mention things like scouting/tagging enemy formations or capping/defending bases, which is not even reflected in the Damage score.

The real challenge is resisting the urge to score kills and do what's tactically the best thing in the respective situation, such as withdrawing to friendly lines, or breaking off to shoo away an enemy before he caps your base. All too often a match is lost because people have their teeth dug in too deep in whatever they're shooting at.

Does anyone want to mech for an hour or two? I need a brake from Rome2.

I still have no idea how the grouping system works. I'm Anvildude in-game, of course. I'll gladly put my admittedly Orky Dakkaphract Punch or my Brawler-Stalker Bellepheron to your use.

I'm EST, and can usually only really play in late evening or occasionally early mornings. (like, normal people/mailman/baker "early", not "Haven't slept all night gamer" early.)

 Deathshead420 wrote:
What mech are you using? ^

I mix it up a good bit. The other day when I was playing I was mostly rolling in a Founder's Hunchback, the Heavy Metal Highlander, and Yen-Lo-Wang.

Thanks for coming to play Lynata, I had a good time.

It was good to play with someone from Dakkadakka finally ...

Gladly - those were a fun couple hours!

Hope we'll get a few more dakkanauts together sometime.

 Lynata wrote:
Gladly - those were a fun couple hours!

Hope we'll get a few more dakkanauts together sometime.

Sounds like a good time! Did you guys use teamspeak or something? I'm hoping MWO will implement voice comms in the game soon. I definitely want to get in on some Dakkacorps action at some point, but it'll probably have to wait until I can get a new computer.

We've been using Mr. Deathhead's TS - or rather, the TS of the unit he usually runs with. Coincidentally, that also meant we were able to get a full lance of 4 pilots together. Nice people, great fun.
We tried to get Anvildude to join, though I guess he didn't catch the forum PM in time. Would indeed be cool if some day we get a Dakka Lance. I'd think we even have enough people for a full company, but time zone differences probably mean that a lot of people play when others are working/sleeping.

MWO has the very aptly named C3 comms, but I suppose one cannot truly call it "integral" as it requires an additional download etc. I too hope that it becomes a fixed part of the client at some point, allowing for instantaneous VoIP coordination with any PUG. It'd probably require two channels: Command (company and lance commanders) and Lance (all members of a single lance), with leaders being able to mute everyone else when they talk and the company commander having a special button to talk to everyone without being talked to themselves. Else I predict chaos!

Yeah, sorry, didn't catch the PM.

EST for me- I'll try to get on late tonight (past 9 or ten) or maybe before 3 tomorrow.

This might be kind of a random question, but is there any downside to using double heat sinks?

They cost a lot of c-bills and due to their size you can't put them in the legs, where you may get bonus cooling from standing in water.

But all in all ... no, they're pretty much a straight upgrade, so much so that I would consider them a must-have for anyone who has the cash. Even if you don't install any additional sinks, the ones you have in the engine will still receive a considerable boost. In fact, a larger boost than any you'd slot on the outside

As Lynata says- the only easier decision is the upgrade to Endo Steel.

The only way that doubles are bad is when you are running a very light mech. When you have a super small engine, you need to make the total 10 heat sinks but if you have to add 4 more doubles, crit slots are lost. You wouldnt be able to get ferro/endo, which you need way more with a 20ton mech.

Who in the name of Kerensky runs a Light 'Mech with a slow engine? May as well punch out right away and save the poor thing for scrappage instead of its precious metal being blown across the map by the first AC20 round it catches.

Its not slow. an 170 engine in a 20 ton mech hits 150 with speed tweak, just like all the other lights.

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=50000&l=f2aa7bdec9a15e22c26ff924716817f7d83c17f2

That very same engine will only get you to 120 on a 25-ton Commando. And 87 on a 35-ton Jenner. With Speed Tweak. Engine efficiency is regulated by a Mech's actual weight, not just the size class. As it should be (realism).

Which is why my JR7-K "Azumi" needs a 280 engine to (nearly) reach the speed you mentioned:
http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=20&l=a917f7810dc6d7056c4e7f1e011ef8330813e883

I didn't know that the as-of-yet unreleased 20-ton Locust is projected to get that fast with such a small engine, though... Neat! I suppose that alleviates its low-tonnage issue somewhat.

PS: Also note that you basically need to add 4 tons in additional heatsinks for that tiny 170 engine as it only comes with 6 pre-installed, but you need to have a minimum of 10.
Still looks like a fun configuration. I think I may actually try one of those.
(probably swapping some ammo for a Beagle Probe tho)

Yea. its a bit of a pain. 25 ton mechs might turn out to be more effective at what they do than 20 ton ones. it just depends on how big the locust turns out to be really.

Yup! Spiders and Commandos are already tough to hit - if a 20-ton Locust is even smaller (which I would expect), he may not hit hard, but he could be quite the nuisance. And fun to play.

It's always a gamble, of course - I have a really hard time fighting those tiny pesks in my Centurion due to their manoeuverability (and I'm saying this whilst my CN9 is rather nimble), but usually it's a whole different story in my Jenner.