What do you set out to achieve during a game of MWLL?

[SquareSphere }12thVR{]

heh right there with you SB.  but still DAM YOUR HOMING LAZERS!

You're the whole reasons why i'm dreading heavy lasers making it to the mechs .

[Snowball]

heh right there with you SB.  but still DAM YOUR HOMING LAZERS!

You're the whole reasons why i'm dreading heavy lasers making it to the mechs .

Check the H config.  I'm just waiting for the day this makes it in. 

[CHHš Rampage]

To improve. There is lots of room for me to do that.

[MaverickOriginal]

1) Have fun blowing up enemy mechs
2) Coordinate with teammates as much as possible (NARC+Arrows, or multiple Owens B swarms, or 3 Novacat snipers) and FOCUS FIRE
3) Watch for effective enemy strategies and try to counter them

[EagleFire]

1. CRUSH
2. KILL
3. DESTROY

[LordHack]

Objectives (in no particular order):

1.  Ensure Zeh and Buzz have 1 death
2.  Remove HAARP from top of scoreboard
3.  Contribute to making sure Snowball has 0 deaths
4.  Killing Leer in the air or as BA
5.  Otherwise goofing around and trying out lots of different things
6.  Bitch as much as possible about high ping players / lag / server generally
7.  Have less than 2 CDT per game
8.  When all other options are exhausted, just have some fun (life's too short, folks....)

[MercenaryMuffin]

If I'm feeling frisky, I'll be dedicated AA for the round with a RAC2 Partisan

Yeah, like you, I occasionally dedicate an entire round to just playing AA.

And isn't it worth it!   I love that huge sense of satisfaction when, after pounding away at an Aero for minutes with overheating AC2/5s, you finally manage to inflict such damage on them (ie turn their armour a yellowish shade of green) that the pilot decides to fly back to base and get their paint retouched for all of 15 seconds.

Those few seconds while they're not one-shotting your team's light vehicles with Thunderbolts or twin gauss rounds makes the AA role very personally fulfilling. 

In fact, as I undertake the frequent and lengthy drives back to base to re-arm and repair my AA vehicle (assuming I haven't been bombed to oblivion on the way, and have scored enough money from AA hits to afford the necessary repairs) it feels to me just like a lap of honor.

Virt, I'm tellin' ya, you must be bad at AA, because Drego can vouch for me shooting down aero after aero with anti-air assets. It's really not that hard.

[Freakazoid]

When I started in 1.0, I made an effort to be the best, both with a high kill/death ratio, #1 on my team, and my team winning.

Since achieving that multiple times, I've mellowed out. Now I deliberately pick "shitty" tank/mech loadouts and see what happens. Sometimes they're as shitty as I imagined, sometimes I get them to work. Having them work makes me feel pretty good.

[Virt]

Virt, I'm tellin' ya, you must be bad at AA, because Drego can vouch for me shooting down aero after aero with anti-air assets. It's really not that hard.

I was pretty good at AA in other games like BF2020 and DC.    So I think my lack of success in MWLL AA has something to do with server lag and the way the damage indicator (ie puffs of smoke) is out of sync with the server side hit detection.   

The fact that other people report similar difficulties means 'you suck' is unlikely to be answer, or at least, the whole answer.

[MercenaryMuffin]

The issues with hit indication and lag is not the fault of MWLL or the balance inherent to the game. It's an issue with the servers themselves. Fix the lag, and shooting down aircraft becomes easier.

[Virt]

The issues with hit indication and lag is not the fault of MWLL or the balance inherent to the game.

I agree.    I wonder whether the other 19 people in my poll, who want balance tweaked in favour of vehicles, are also principally experiencing problems due to server lag.

[MercenaryMuffin]

I wouldn't doubt it in the least, honestly. In low-population games, lag is minimal, so hitting something moving fast is relatively easy, provided you can lead a target. The lag is a problem in servers with more players. That may very well be the lynch pin in all this.

[Virt]

I'm not sure it's entirely a server lag issue.

A few times now, I've had an aero flying at me straight on for what seemed like 10 seconds.     I've emptied AC2 and AC5 shots into it dead on for the entire time, but it's not been killed.   I've had the same experience with lasers.    The aeros just don't get damaged much.

An aero maintaining a straight and level trajectory towards me, getting hit head on by my AA fire, should be taking damage, even if there is lag.    (The shots will just be hitting sooner than they appear client side.)

That makes me think the aeros are overarmoured or something, even with the lag issues.

[MercenaryMuffin]

I don't think they're over-armored at all. I've shot down plenty of aircraft since 0.3 came out, with every AA variant. Sure, it will take longer to down a Shiva than a Sulla, as it should be, but they are by no means "over armored". An LBX partisan can one-shot a Sulla and two-shot a Shiva. Anything with an AC20 can bring down most aircraft in one shot.
RACs don't have high alpha damage, but they do more damage over time. And most likely, you won't be the only person shooting at an aero. They tend to draw fire from everyone within shooting range.

[KingLeerUK]

Virt, I don't know what to tell you.
 
Last Friday night on Mirage I ran a Partisan B (quad LBX5) and handily knocked 4 Sullas out of the air and 3 Hawkmoths before switching over to another asset.
 
Later on I bought a Huit Prime and trashed a Shiva pilot twice in a row as he was trying to line up on me for a firebomb drop.  About 6 seconds of concentrated fire at his body and he exploded.  You can confirm this in the editor if you like.
 
There are several other assets in the game that are extremely effective at bringing down aeros and VTOLs.  The RAC2 Uziel variant is absolute murder on aerospace when it is crouched.  The same is true for the RAC5/UAC2 Hollander.  Both of these 'Mechs are relatively cheap AND have a +6 degree bonus elevation by default for use against airborne assets.
 
As I have already stated in numerous other places, additional balance to the aerospace role will be done via changes to supporting mechanics like repair cost, repair time, rearmament method, damage reward, redistribution of aero armour values and possibly small weapon modifiers.  We are also introducing new assets that will be specifically used in an anti-air role which should lend themselves to being much easier to balance.  Right now one of our balance challenges is that "AA weapons" can also be used against ground targets.
 
We will get there, you just have to be patient and trust that we know what we are doing.  Creating numerous threads/responses around the topic won't make it any happen any faster.