ECM worth it?

[SpaceCow]

Found a phoenix hawk with ECM. Is it worth using? Or just swap it out for extra heat sinks or armor? thank you

[MonkeyGamesVR]

Did you actualy try it out to see if you can use it for your preferences??

[uni790]

ECM will make lock on missiles spread out more, that's about all it does, so paired with an AMS or three, you can reduce or prevent LRMs damage, how much it's worth is entirely up to you though.

I have one on my King Crab, and one on another mech in my lance, it does help some.

[6Taylor4]

yes it works in its own way, what's preventing you from simply trying it? Remember you're the team leader, you make the decisions and the team looks to you to make good ones; but then they're NPCs, so go for it!

[Chewy102]

Originally posted by uni790:

ECM will make lock on missiles spread out more, that's about all it does, so paired with an AMS or three, you can reduce or prevent LRMs damage, how much it's worth is entirely up to you though.

I have one on my King Crab, and one on another mech in my lance, it does help some.

Am I assuming, or doesn't it also effect the AI's aim making normal shots be spread out more?

Figure if it screws with my vision, it would do the same with the AI.

[SpaceCow]

Originally posted by Chewy102:

Originally posted by uni790:

ECM will make lock on missiles spread out more, that's about all it does, so paired with an AMS or three, you can reduce or prevent LRMs damage, how much it's worth is entirely up to you though.

I have one on my King Crab, and one on another mech in my lance, it does help some.

Am I assuming, or doesn't it also effect the AI's aim making normal shots be spread out more?

Figure if it screws with my vision, it would do the same with the AI.

I'm wondering the same thing. Does it affect all enemy incoming chances to hit?

[Bovril Brigadier]

Originally posted by SpaceCow:

I'm wondering the same thing. Does it affect all enemy incoming chances to hit?

Yes if close enough reduces enemy accuracy.

[Valen]

You can live without it - Not like it is a big deal... Like in MWO. I would rather have extra armor or heat sinks than ECM.

[uni790]

Originally posted by Valen:

You can live without it - Not like it is a big deal... Like in MWO. I would rather have extra armor or heat sinks than ECM.

Well, in MWO it straight up prevents locks, making it far superior over there(or at least it used to) Especially given the LRM spam you get there, lol

[Cockpuncher]

In vanilla only few mech can use ECM, but in late game YAML career I use ECM (1 ton clan version) on nearly every mech. Coupled with AMS it increases survivability and reduces repair costs.

[Miko the Kitsune]

Yes it helps. It reduces enemy shot accuracy and increases missile spread. I use it when available.

[ICE 9]

I wonder if it has any effect on Arrow IV missiles.

I believe it does, but I won't swear on it. I recently ran into an UM-AIV. He was at range at the time I spotted him. I immediately ran for cover but not before he got off an A-IV salvo. Amazingly enough, it missed - I was amazed enough at this, that it had prompted me check all lancemates only to discover that none of them had been hit as well. At the time, If I recall correctly, I was driving either a Cyclops CP-10-Q or CP-S - neither of which had ECM. However, an ASN-DD nearby did have ECM, which is why I suspect that it was this unit that saved me... ...either that or the UM-AIV pilot was a rookie. Usually, once an A-IV has lock, it does not miss, and AMS cannot stop it.

The only way you can defeat an A-IV missile platform is kill it quickly - which is usually not very easy to do, especially at range. The best way to kill it is try to sneak up on in - taking cover wherever you can. Once you get within 300 meter, the A-IV is useless, and the UM-AIV has only an ER Medium laser as secondary.

[uni790]

Originally posted by ICE 9:

I wonder if it has any effect on Arrow IV missiles.

I believe it does, but I won't swear on it. I recently ran into an UM-AIV. He was at range at the time I spotted him. i immediately ran for cover but not before he got off an A-IV salvo. Amazingly enough, it missed. At the time, If I recall correctly, I was driving either a Cyclops CP-10-Q or CP-S - neither of which had ECM. However, an ASN-DD nearby did have ECM, which is why I suspect that it was this unit that saved me... ...either that or the UM-AIV pilot was a rookie. Usually, once an A-IV has lock, it does not miss, and AMS cannot stop it.

The only way you can defeat an A-IV missile platform is kill it quickly - which is usually not very easy to do, especially at range. The best way to kill it is try to sneak up on in - taking cover wherever you can. Once you get within 300 meter, the A-IV is useless, and the UM-AIV has only an ER Medium laser as secondary.

I put 2 arrowIV's on a stalker earlier, and about 1 in 15 or so missed with level 10 missile skills(first time I ever tried them myself, great fun watching mechs melt that fast, lol), no narc or laser pointer though. They probably are effected by ECM though.

Also, the minimum range for the ArrowIV is 200m, so says it's stat card anyways. (with YAML)

[ICE 9]

Originally posted by uni790:

I put 2 arrowIV's on a stalker earlier, and about 1 in 15 or so missed with level 10 missile skills(first time I ever tried them myself, great fun watching mechs melt that fast, lol), no narc or laser pointer though. They probably are effected by ECM though.

Also, the minimum range for the ArrowIV is 200m, so says it's stat card anyways. (with YAML)

Yeah. Now that I think about it, I experimented with a high-speed UM-AIV lance in INSTANT ACTION (4 high-speed UM-AIV's, or 3 high-speed UM-AIV's and one high-speed heavy mech leader), with similar results - an occasional miss. However, I believe these instances were mostly (if not entirely) due to dropped missile lock.

But talk about fun! Imagine what it would be like to run a high-speed UM-AIV wolf-pack, running at 100+ km/hr (you need quirk upgrades and the Clan XXL engine for this). You order them to attack a target, and one by one, your lance-mates fire off AIV's at said target. Your job, mainly, is to keep your Urban Mech lance-mates safe from enemy units. Otherwise, just sit back and watch the enemy units pop!

I never used the Arrow IV in campaign, though, because none of the Arrow IV capable mechs lended themselves to long range, long endurance missions - mainly due to ammo limitations.

...

200m, huh? Wow. I was assuming it was 300m. And all this time, I have been open to AIV fire between 200m and 300m when closing with an Arrow IV equipped enemy unit!!!

Usually, I do not expose myself to AIV fire until I am at least within 400m of said enemy unit - assuming that I could get to within 300m before he could shoot. Of course, I would usually continue to close without thinking about it, to finish him off. So I guess I was actually within 200m before he could shoot - otherwise I would be occasionally dead by now.

...

P.s. If you are wondering how I managed to get quirk upgrades into Instant Action... ...It's easy. Just build the mech and upgrade it during career/campaign and then save the configuration. Just remember to wait for the upgrade to complete 100 or so days after the start of the build, BEFORE you save it. Once it's done, go to Instant Action and click on the mech and search for your mech variant, load the default configuration, then strip the mech and load your new configuration (If your new configuration is not displayed - go back and search SAVED MECHS).

There is no way to view the quirk upgrades in Instant Action, but the upgraded performance should be noticeable during play - especially if you installed the BOOSTED SPEED quirk.

[Insano-Man]

It should also be mentioned that the accuracy debuff is applied to the enemies affected by ECMs, not just fire directed at the ECM user. That means you just need an ECM brawler to close with the enemy for your entire lance to benefit. Very useful in co-op.

In response to Arrow IV accuracy, I've had a much less favorable miss ratio. I'd say about 1 in 4 miss most targets, even in open fields and fair weather. That was against enemies without ECMs, with a personal skill of about 7 in missiles. I personally ditched it for that reason; something that shoots that slow, with that little ammo, should absolutely never miss that much on its own.

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Originally posted by Insano-Man:

It should also be mentioned that the accuracy debuff is applied to the enemies affected by ECMs, not just fire directed at the ECM user. That means you just need an ECM brawler to close with the enemy for your entire lance to benefit. Very useful in co-op.

Personal favorite is full lance LCT-1Vb with ECM, it stacks nicely with them being hard to hit in the first place and their damage avoidance quirk.

Not the fastest way to kill, but it's hilarious taking apart much heavier opposition while they flail around.