When should I use Death From Above?

[Cheese Wheel of Time]

Should I be using it when my mech still has relatively high armor/health so it doesn't die when it lands? Or should I be using it more as a 'Hail Mary' type move when I know my mech is about to die?

[holyburst]

1. When your mech got a good condition of leg & heavy enough DFA damage to finish it.
2. Your mech is too hot to shoot weapon at it / Too weak when fire its weapon to take down opponent, But JJ is mounted.

It's high risk high return action.
In worst scenario, Not only losing one of your mech's leg, But also knockdown.
After that... Enemy have free damage dealing time at certain part.
Elite tagged NPC is smart enough AI, They aim for another leg to finish you...mostly.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1373933940

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1373934537
It was lucky that my highlander's leg is survived after that action.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1377356633
But I lose it once when I try DFA over just small base wall segment.
Ofcourse, Repair bill follow as consequence...

[s†. Chris†opher]

It's more a case of managing your repairs/downtime, if you have another contract in your system, obviously you don't want to have damaged mechs so you can do the next quest asap, but if you are going to travel or repair the mech anyways, why not.

I tend to use DFA more for 'mopping up', once i have the statisitcal advantage and no longer need to rely on my armor for survivabilty i start 'spending' it on DFA.

It's also worth noting that support weapons are added to the attack, so a DFA > MG barrage often results in a hs/crit. (that's if you manage to knock out a part).

[Jaevwyn]

When you have no other option imo

[The Giant Mimir]

DFA is fun, desperate, uneconomical and risky. It should only be attempted by professional mechwarriors in Highlanders against the weakest opponent. It should have a demoralising effect on the enemy - but the game does not model that unfortunately. The only way to make it worse is to install leg mods that boost the damage by +10, and then lose them when your legs are destroyed performing the DFA.

[Gracey Face]

Best use for DFA I have found is popping heavier vehicles rather than wasting time firing at them.

[Sam Look]

When you trying to kill the last mech defending the dropship in a story mission and the fight has descended into pure melee because of the heat and you have one damaged leg so you know your going to fall over when you do it!

[Asmosis]

Originally posted by Shymer:

DFA is fun, desperate, uneconomical and risky. It should only be attempted by professional mechwarriors in Highlanders against the weakest opponent. It should have a demoralising effect on the enemy - but the game does not model that unfortunately. The only way to make it worse is to install leg mods that boost the damage by +10, and then lose them when your legs are destroyed performing the DFA.

If your going to get serious about it, install -30 damage DFA in both legs on a light mech. DFA'ing all day long!