"Fezzik, tear his arms off."

[xDeityx]

I've noticed more and more people are limbing lately.

I generally only limb on 'mechs that have their firepower focused in the arms like Shadow Cats and Nova Cats, or maybe a Warthog depending on the situation.

When I see people arming Owens and Timbys and Awesomes, I don't see the point as the damage reduction from the missing arm or shoulder pod is only a small portion of the overall DPS, so it's better in my opinion to go for the torsos.

The only thing I can think of is maybe a medium vs. an assault where the medium knows he'll die, but wants to force the assault to go back and sell or live with the reduced DPS.  Or maybe a weaker player vs. a stronger player for the same purpose, but even then you'd think it would be better to just not engage and wait for backup.

It's just too easy to rotate your arm away though, it's the easiest thing on your 'mech to protect with torso twisting other than the rear.  Edit: depends on the mech I suppose.  I just thought about the Mauler's arms.

So what are your thoughts on arming?  If anyone is a big proponent of limbing as a primary strategy, I'd like to know your reasoning.  Because either I'm missing something or you are =D.

[Come and See]

I think it's a viable strategy and to some mech's its just as bad as being blown up. Early game I always try and blow off the main weapons of Uller's and mid-game always convenient to disarm the Scat's and Bushwhacker's. You can still disarm the Hollanders, but it's not as easy anymore.

[=KoS= Eldragon]

I'm a big fan of limbing, be it arms or legs. If a mech has big arms, its my first target. Its not always the best strategy for every situation, but it works.  Sure you can rotate your arms away, but that really only works in "Line Battles". TC mode is more fluid and you find yourself getting attacked from all sides and brawling far more often.

In TC mode putting a mech's CT to almost red and getting yourself killed does not help the team nearly as much as taking off an arm. If I'm playing to win, I'd rather take the arms off 2 mechs and run away than kill 1 mech.

Legging is great if you want to slow someone down. I rarely take it all the way off, usually just enough so I can get away or get outside their weapon's range. e.g. A scat prime is going to have trouble with an LBX bushy at 200 meters. But a Scat prime can easily leg a bushy then keep him at 600 meters. Course if you do that, the bushy pilot is going to cry "NO legging" on chat for the next 10 minutes.

However legging and arming doesn't net you much in points unless you go for the kill. So as a strategy to get to the top of the ladder its not that great. But it does help the team.

[Xesle]

Whenever I'm facing certain targets, such as Shadowcat, Thor, Novacat or A4 equipped Catapult, I'll always try to aim for the arms if the situation permits.  A wise pilot will most likely duck behind cover and/or RTB if he feels he is in danger of losing a limb containing valuable weaponry.  A not-so-wise pilot may be slower to react, and I'll take his arm, putting him down 50% or more of his mech's combat strength and earning me lots of money

and besides, with some assets, like the Novacat A, Novacat D, and Morrigu B, it's just so easy to arm a mech, i don't see why anyone piloting one WOULDN'T go for the arms. 

[xDeityx]

Just to be clear - I am totally in agreement with arming things like Nova Cats which carry 50% of their firepower in their arms, or a Scat A or B which carries almost the entire payload in the left arm.

I'm just trying to understand why 'mechs like my Owens get their arms shot off sometimes...it usually results in me walking away from fights that I shouldn't have. 

Even in a Warthog I've had situations where I would have been toast had the enemy gone for my torso, but they went for my arm instead and I ended up winning because I was able to protect it and forced them to spread the damage around...they effectively wasted all the damage they put into my arm because they didn't even manage to blow it off.  Had they been going for my CT, I wouldn't have been able to spread the damage nearly as effectively.

I see it as a risk vs. reward.  I can blow this guy's arm off, but meanwhile he's chewing at my torso.  In a Nova Cat, the reward is worth it.  In a Mad Cat, I'd rather shoot for his cockpit any day.

[xInVicTuSx]

Having been around since .1 I can tell you arming has really gone in and out of fashion.
.1 was about coring. .2 about arming (or coring with Hgauss), .3 the damage was slowed down enough to where arming would take too long and coring was better.
.4 is about arming again because damage has slowed down again and allowed enough time to make the choice.

You're getting armed in a Owens because people felt too honor bound at the time just to leg you but wanted to do permanent damage, because trying to core an Owens in lighter assets is a waste of time, they will just run.

[Profane Arbiter]

Just to be clear - I am totally in agreement with arming things like Nova Cats which carry 50% of their firepower in their arms, or a Scat A or B which carries almost the entire payload in the left arm.

I'm just trying to understand why 'mechs like my Owens get their arms shot off sometimes...it usually results in me walking away from fights that I shouldn't have. 

I see it as a risk vs. reward.  I can blow this guy's arm off, but meanwhile he's chewing at my torso.  In a Nova Cat, the reward is worth it.  In a Mad Cat, I'd rather shoot for his cockpit any day.

I said as much not long ago. I've noticed a community addiction to taking off components rather than going for center mass whether it's tactically prudent or not.

I believe when I brought it up, the line of thought was "well I just sacrificed my weaker mech to gimp your stronger mech. I'm not sure this thinking really holds water however, epecially since in most cases when it happened to me, I just ran back to base and rebought the same asset.

Again, cost benefit analysis says that he's made one of the classic blunders. The most famous of which is never start a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well known is this: Never go in against a Sicellan when death is on the line!

[Cloudburst]

Honestly, its just pilots that finally understand that YOU actually understand how to pilot a BattleMech and, once the battle is over, they can assume ownership of you and your mech instead of killing you or blowing up your 'mech.

[Buzz_Litebeer]

I honestly don't understand why people don't leg.

I did a test (as dishonorable as I am i guess) to see how easy it is to leg mechs in this game with laser oriented mechs.

Pretty easy.

Biggest single balance flaw in the game, but no one complains because it is so rarely abused.

But what happens when/if serious league play starts and people leg all the time.

if you put in a no legging rule, people will get in trouble for doing it on accident, and why even have legs in the game.

This isn't to bring attention to legging, it is pointing out that people do things sometimes for the... fun of it?

I have armed people just to mess with them, but only when I know I absolutely outclass them in skill.

Other times, if I know I am going to lose a fight, instead of trying to core a mech, I will mouse ear it so that it has to go back to a full bay to reload. 

I do this on a variety of mechs.  But it is aweful easy to arm people in this game, if that is what you are focusing on, and if you get the correct arm (as you say the Shadowcat is an example) you then win by default as they lose the vast majority of DPS.  I have won fights I would lose (say against a Bushwhacker in a Vult E) because I disarmed one arm and then had the ability to whittle down.

As a general strategy?  I dont know if it is a good idea, but it really depends on the situation.  Do you think people are _trying_ to arm mechs that don't need it, or do you think it is by dint of the mech moving and how the pilot is using the mech that they get armed? 

I often get armed by Bushwhacker A mechs, because it is easy to force them to fire on your arms by twisting....



Oh, and also, killing components gives a bonus to money.

[2nd_Avatar]

I'm just trying to understand why 'mechs like my Owens get their arms shot off sometimes...it usually results in me walking away from fights that I shouldn't have. 

I choose to arm certain players in the first contact wave. I figure that if I can remove a small percentage of some aces fire power my team will benefit. Also, I notice that certain players will immediately run away if they are going to loose a few lasers from their Owens. In some cases these are the most lethal players and removing them for a few minutes can really help in the early game.  Sure I could try to go for the kill but some players are so good at evading death that it is well worth taking a limb rather then risk them getting away. The choice of who to arm and when is very situational for me.  You can usually tell if your doing it right if they swear at you in open chat.

[(TLL)Siilk]

The only thing I can think of is maybe a medium vs. an assault where the medium knows he'll die, but wants to force the assault to go back and sell or live with the reduced DPS.  Or maybe a weaker player vs. a stronger player for the same purpose, but even then you'd think it would be better to just not engage and wait for backup.

 Pretty much this. It's not always possible to evade unwinnable combat so, if the enemy have perfect chances to RTB after he finish you off, it's much better to do some irrepairable damage, like destruction of a limb or a pod, than just make his CT yellow knowing that he would be a-ok again after RTB. Same goes for escaping mechs if you cannot leg them or otherwise stop them. And, of course, always finish heavily damaged parts if you engaging already beaten-up mech. Already red arm would drop in a couple of shots giving you a nice advantage almost for free.

[AlfalphaCat]

People arm Owens C because it is the new Uller A.  It is a cheese variant that everyone uses.  I have seen matches where the opposition just spams the crap out of them, and that is the double cheese with a wedge on the side.  Arming it is faster than legging it, I suppose.  I am too dense to think of arming or legging, I suppose I always just think, kill, kill, kill.

[=CJW= Rad Hanzo]

Gentlemen
Upon reading through this I came to the conclusion: you are flogging a dead horse / already talked through topic.

Is there really nothing new, except Fbombers, Leggers and some minor Bugs ?

I on my part just had the fun to witness a many a new player on the weekend, that was way more interesting than talking bout who likes to damage what part of which mech why and when and anyhow and allforitforever.

Btw...being honourbound makes you no less a dangerours warrior

And where are those +3 karma coming......hmmmmm, very strange indeed

[Spooky]

I've noticed more and more people are limbing lately.

I generally only limb on 'mechs that have their firepower focused in the arms like Shadow Cats and Nova Cats, or maybe a Warthog depending on the situation.

When I see people arming Owens and Timbys and Awesomes, I don't see the point as the damage reduction from the missing arm or shoulder pod is only a small portion of the overall DPS, so it's better in my opinion to go for the torsos.

The only thing I can think of is maybe a medium vs. an assault where the medium knows he'll die, but wants to force the assault to go back and sell or live with the reduced DPS.  Or maybe a weaker player vs. a stronger player for the same purpose, but even then you'd think it would be better to just not engage and wait for backup.

Indeed. Aside from the obvious advantages of arming a Novacat, Summoner or Shadow Cat (UAC20 or LBX20 arm) I usually go for any Mech's arms when I know that I can't kill him, either because

• I have to retreat before I could kill him.
• I know he will kill me.
• I know that he will retreat before I can kill him.

This way, if I armed the Mech, I inflicted damage on him, which he can only "repair" by buying a new Mech.

It's just too easy to rotate your arm away though, it's the easiest thing on your 'mech to protect with torso twisting other than the rear.  Edit: depends on the mech I suppose.  I just thought about the Mauler's arms.

Yeah, as you edited, it heavily depends on the mech. Even if you perfectly face your side torso to the enemy, the arm might still be visible in front of your mech.

I honestly don't understand why people don't leg.

I did a test (as dishonorable as I am i guess) to see how easy it is to leg mechs in this game with laser oriented mechs.

Pretty easy.

Biggest single balance flaw in the game, but no one complains because it is so rarely abused.

Yeah, as I have already mentioned in another thread, I think it's flawed to simply make legging a taboo. My suggestion for "balancing legging" would be to make it so part of the damage done to the legs gets diverted to the left or right torso. Since we already have that mechanic for cockpits, why not make it for legs too?

[xInVicTuSx]

Gentlemen
Upon reading through this I came to the conclusion: you are flogging a dead horse / already talked through topic.

Is there really nothing new, except Fbombers, Leggers and some minor Bugs ?

You can always tell the last couple weeks before a release.