Headshot Ace

Consistently; Jenner, Blackjack, Catapult, Atlas.

 

I love stuff like this cuz for me, it starts at one point which is quite obvious in nature (pointing out 15 internal armor in head) then it goes into something wildly fascinating as a result.

I'm uploading a video that begins innocuously enough, but soon turns into something altogether... more menacing and subtle in nature, I think. Unless I'm the only one whos retarded and doesn't "get it" but, w/e. Suffice to say, I'll post a thread in User Video section in a couple hours and we can discuss it there.

It gives 100% proof of 15 internal head, for the record, but that's not the 'bigger' point.

 

Thanks, I've heard a lot of numbers bandied about. I'll link to your video the next time I have to argue the finer points of head armoring.

 

I've been reading lots and lots of threads on main forums past 30 mins, and I cannot for the life of me understand what is going on in the footage I just recorded. It seems like I'm completely missing something.

When I post this vid we can discuss all this head armor stuff and various other shit; I'll have thread w/ vid up in 2 hours and some threads cited as reference, etc.

 

I have a question that hasn't been addressed here, if anyone knows the answer...

So 33 points will destroy a fully-armoured head outright. However, if you go through the head armour and into the internals without destroying them (e.g. 19-32 damage assuming full armour), is there a chance to score a kill anyway by critting a vital component, i.e. the cockpit slot or the two life support slots? Or by critting for extra damage?

That would explain Warchanter's screenshot.

 

I've critted ammo in the head of an Atlas with an LBX10, and lost the kill. It was basically {Enemy Name} Killed {Enemy Name}. Confused the hell out of my opponent since he thought he had somehow overheated or something.

 

Threads up:

http://www.mechspecs.com/forum/index.php?topic=3814.0

 

Just by the way:

Last nite the matchmaker put me & JM (the guy that killed me in the screen shot) on the same team, so I got to watch him on spectator cam and it was pretty much what you would think - JM6-S, Dual gauss with like 70 rounds, no other weapons of any kind and expanded zoom module... and he did nothing but zoom & try to take headshots, that was his sole focus. He came out of it with like 300-350 dmg and 3 kills... so yeah he is that good - in that mech at least that's the only thing he tries to do and he does it well...

Gotta admire the singular focus on maintaining his role if nothing else, you know??...

 

Double gauss seems like a waste to head shot with. 33 is the magic number, not 30. Most people, unless they are shorting their head armor, would require two double shots. This is why the 2 PPC + Gauss was the best for it, as it hit 35.

 

[quote author=FuzzyBunny link=topic=3782.msg23428#msg23428 date=1380303915]Double gauss seems like a waste to head shot with. 33 is the magic number, not 30. Most people, unless they are shorting their head armor, would require two double shots. This is why the 2 PPC + Gauss was the best for it, as it hit 35.[/quote]

See, he gets it; it's not rocket science.

 

Apparently tho via crits(?), 30 is enough at times... but the whole PPC/Gauss combo shift being motivated by being good enough to one shot people brings up another question I have for Soy and that is:

Why - if 33+ is the magic number - were you rockin the 3PPC Phract for so long? Just a better competitive package or what? Like why not go 2PPC and AC/10 and lighten your tonnage and keep your 30 alpha? I'm not saying the 2 PPC/Gauss doesn't make sense, yeah I get that... but when 3 PPC's were nice nobody around here was all about carrying a Gauss with 2PPC's because it could one shot someone... all of the sudden now the big deal is that it can throw 35 instead of 30?? If 35 was all that, then it would've certainly been rockin at the levels you play at well before the meta change, right?

It's just a bit of a mixed message to me bud, I dunno...

 

Tonight, I've been headshoted TWICE IN A ROW!
I know Hunchies are easily headshoted, but meeeh!


(no screenshot for the first game, but it was the same)

 

The reason you run the 3 PPC phract build is because of maneuverability and sustained damage. In really competitive environments while head shots happen most deaths are caused by focus firing at the CT of the enemy. In those environments you don't try for the head shot because you are wasting time. If you and your team are lining up properly and focusing properly you burn down an atlas in like 5 seconds. You start getting hotshots trying to head shot at that time starts to get worse and worse as pilots are normally actively trying to spread damage.

I'm not saying head shots don't happen, and can happen, both in competitive play and PUG. What I am saying is that is not the norm because it is WAY easier and more productive to just focus the enemy down through the CT then take shots that can more easily be spread around.

There are a couple head shot aces out there for sure, but I'm more scared of the focused team then the head shot specialist.

 

Watched your video Soy, interesting stuff, and thanks for taking the time to edit and post it. The Cent hitbox issue (or whatever you want to call it) has been around at least since when the Training Grounds were released when I noticed through testing similar to yours.

 

On epikt's headshot, getting an AC20 headshot after 2:05 in the round on Alpine peaks is rather odd.

I have resurected my K2 Gausapult after the Gauss changes and have had quite a bit of fun with it albeit in PUG matches. As long as I can hang back and play the sniper role and I don't get rushed by lights I put out quite a bit of dammage over the round. Considering the easily hit CT of the Catapult, keeping out of the brawl increases the survivability of the mech. Out of all the matches I've played in it, (15-20 in that build) i have gotten 2 head shots, even when aiming at it. 99% of the shots end up on the CT. So, at least for me, headshots are pure luck.

 

I try to employ the same tactics when using the K2 2xgauss setup...but I tend to have good success with getting hits on the head. Using the ADV zoom module really ups the ante for headshots. Have you / are you using the zoom module since the changes that were made to it?

 

Yes I have been. The AZ module is great now. As a traditional brawler, I guess I need more headshot practice.

 

The oddest was it's an atlas, so only one AC. The guy had a lucky crit in addition to his lucky shot...

 

That's an easy question to answer, which FuzzyBunny did perfectly already but I'll go ahead:

Approaching a game like this, and designing a mech and a playstyle, centered around something like headshots is completely absurd. Headshots are opportunistic in nature - they aren't something to go seek out while sacrificing everything else.

Trip PPC was the shit before ghost heat - that's why Gauss took the place of 3/4 PPC heavies and 4-5 PPC assaults.

Nobody goes around doing nothing but head shots, cuz if they did, they wouldn't be successful most of the time.

It's like if I said "the Death Star sir, whats our plan of attack?" and you go "well, we could have Luke Skywalker fly in and he'll put a perfect shot down a tube and blow it up in 1 shot." and I go "...uhhh, who the fuck is Luke Skywalker, there's nobody here named that."

Unless you are GOD of MWO you can't dictate head shots at every whim. So why design a mech specifically tailored to some sort of unachievable playstyle. I get that you can sit around with adv. zoom and stuff like gauss or ac/20s and LOOK for these opportunities, but it's difficult to force them. Competitive play you can't really force that type of shit, if it's 12 man shit or a solo tournament shit, positioning, playing clutch, and taking opportunities is more important than sacrificing all that stuff to create a headshot chance.

That's why trip PPC was something I used, cuz the ease of use regarding aiming focus for shooting gave your brain time to juggle other equally important shit like positioning info spotting targeting calling syncing etc. You pick a spot, you hit it, rinse repeat thru poptarts and snapshots. Trying to just go "oh well I'll just headshot him" is hardcore as hell. I've done it some in Quad PPC 3D n dual ppc/gauss, but that's still opportunistic shit and not something to solely focus on doing in rounds.

So yes, you answered your own question with 'is it a better competitive package or what' for a while, it was, for me personally. Remember, lots of other ppl were using AC/20 Boomers or 4PPC 3Ds/assaults there for a while that still did straight headshots. Trip PPC was more about shoulder and chest coring, in sync dump style ala group focus. Btw Trip PPC is still a legit build, just, nerfed. And as far as dual PPC + AC/10, shhh...

ps - also, the arms race that went on for the first half of this year illustrates this jump in frontloaded damage and then back down thru the nerfs. remember man, there was a time when a 6 ppc stalker was a trollolol build and not some min/maxed turret lord to be feared... trip ppc to quad ppc to ppc gauss to current stuff, in the form of a CTF-3D, illustrates this bell curve over time of frontloaded pinpoint dmg as it relates to meta

 

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=69&l=0d814632789d4a39b9c2b0e98eec92e3d34c8531

Shhhhh indeed....