austforbeer

I've been a big fan of the pulse meter for a while now and I think it gets a very bad rap. I think initially the benefits of using the IDS are more apparent however after consideration I prefer the pulse meter.

I believe that having your squad see right where the enemy is is a huge advantage over just having a blip on your mini map. Not to mention it's mobile and the refresh rate is only a few seconds. I could be wrong but I also believe the range is wider.

Now as a squad leader I could use the OTUS but the refresh on that is VERY slow and it can be far more of a hindrance than anything. The pulse meter on the other hand updates quickly and is accurate.

At the end of the day I really don't think enough people know about the pulse meter or how it works and that's a shame because it really helps squads and teammates.

westyfield

Pulse meter is good when attacking an urban area like Camp Gib. Or if you don't have the IDS, like me.

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Irregular since Sept 15th, 2007

Lorax74

When I play support in a squad that I know will be moving around quickly and not staying stationary for very long I will sometimes equip the pulse meter over the IDS. But honestly, some times I find it just as easy to toss out an IDS, pull out a crate and resupply myself the toss out a new IDS seconds later, rinse and repeat.

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Shurikane

Unless the Otus drone is flying around, I like to have both the IDS and the pulse meter.

With the former, I get the location of an enemy and can make an appropriate approach. With the pulse meter, I can see on which floor he's located. It's very, very helpful in Titan matches since one blip can mean someone is either topside, in a vent, below the vent, or on the ground under the Titan.

If your SL has a drone up, stick your IDS on it. Mobile personal UAV that way.

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Exploding_Silver

IDS on Otus is King !* it moves around with the squad leader



* idea invented by Silver and copyrighted

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sc1ence

The scanner is a great unlock, but it requires you to be a very passive member of a squad if it is out, you can not shoot.

If info is uber important, I will use an ids on an otus and a scanner. Its like a wallhack...

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Augustus Gloop

The scanner is a fun toy when you use Spanky as well, since it more or less instantly locks spanky onto your targets.

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MasterEditorInChief

The thing about the IDS as compared to the pulse scanner is that you can place it somewhere and be somewhere else. For instance, you can defending at the the Central point on Camp Gib. If you place an IDS between central and ruins, you get a visual on people currently attacking central as well as a glance of anyone trying to rush for Ruin. The narrow space forces enemies to bottleneck into that gate when heading into Ruin or EU base. To me, that's where it trumps the pulse scanner. It gives other people on the team a view of what's going on, raising more awareness on the battlefield in the absence of a CO. If a blob of red is approaching a flag you put an IDS on, you may not be able to intercept but another squad can. I also find it useful during sneaking runs towards back flags (most notably Berlin). The pulse meter tells me what's ahead, but the IDS keeps me aware of anyone behind me.

All in all, I liked using the pulse scanner when I first got it. It helped me during flag rushes and the aforementioned sneaking runs. However, when NS came out with the IDS, I found many more uses for it, including Silver's patented "IDS Drone" technique.

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Exploding_Silver

I didnt know that, I will have to try it
I heard you need recon in the squad with netbat unlock to get spanky to work to a reasonable level, is the IDS even better than that ?

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Augustus Gloop

I wasn't clear in my post I think, IDS doesn't help spanky, the pulse meter does. Normally you need to sight on someone long enough to get their diamond to appear for spanky to lock on, might as well just shoot them yourself. If you're SLing with a spanky, having a pulse meter in your hand can be almost as useful as having a gun when you're on the move and don't want to stop to shoot someone.

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Thesleeper01

I tend to always use IDS, if you think someone is around and toss out the IDS you have continued detection even if your dead right after you throw it unlike the pulse meter and the act of useing it means you now have a gun in your hand to fire. I do often do single pings that is drop an IDS look for the enemy and if none are out pick it back up though usualy only if in danger of attak and I dont want to walk around with my supply crate out.

A great advantage of the IDS over the pulse is that you can often from deaths have a few out if you deploy one then die you can deploy a second one and not have the first one disapear for either a while or till destroyed (not sure how it works exactly).

Superfast

If i'm in a experienced squad an otus is gold since they can use it proper, if not the SL is just a bigger target for the enemy (own experince!)! The pulse meter can't outweigh me wearing a proper gun and killing the enemy in my opinion.

The ids is nice for defending flanks or chokepoints.

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Uranium - 235

If you do do this, and you die, be sure you pick up your old kit, or that IDS is going to disappear

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Augustus Gloop

That's true, and something I try to be conscious of, especially on those tight fights in toll station when my mines are keeping the jeep rush down.

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Thesleeper01

I go the opposet way for mines, deploy new ones and pick up the old ones before they disapear if you dont need to die to get them ..... best of both worlds.