Zhohar

I find it more useful for armor not to ever detect me than my ability to aim my shots a bit more accurately.
Pillum does not cause lock-on tone. That's as simple as it gets.

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Spulat

You're never alive long enough to deal with the Sudnik or Mitchell. It's a big risk to just stand around and guide missiles all day long.

Typically if you can gauge movement well enough at distance, a Pilum shot is no big deal. Just ask the guy who can snipe individuals at distance

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LogicalHarm

Interesting. I should have known this. This is obviously a massive benefit. But as with the TVM if you can guide a rocket in at the last second you can neutralise this drawback.

Re. Spulat: Generally you aren't standing about for long, and the benefit of guided missiles is you can duck behind cover after firing and still get your kill (much easier when another engineer is bring up a red diamond on the armor in question).

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N.B. Forrest

I prefer the Pilum as I find that I'm usually staring down armor and don't have the luxury of standing there to guide my shots - pop up, fire, drop down, and scoot (and ideally have my mines laid in such a way that the armor finds them while trying to maneuver to get me.

There's a YouTube video out there of an absolutely fantastic Pilum gunner - tons of arial shots dropping transports and gunships like crazy.

Razcsak

While I prefer the Pilum on smaller maps, it is possible to use the defaults to shoot around corners. I know I still remember the last time I played Berlin I managed to pop the APC after it had retreated around a corner.

pred011586

I prefer the default rockets. The way I get around the lock town is to aim at the armor I'm going to shoot at but do NOT fire. If the armor moves, look away so the beep stops and it thinks it's safe, then look back at it. Eventually it will pop shields and then you just got to time your shot so that you don't make contact until the shields go down.

The beep lets you know that someone's watching you, it doesn't say from what direction. Also when aiming at a gunship, they get the same beep as if a SAAW is looking at them. There's been many times where I've scared gunships away from my squad's armor by aiming the default rockets at them and let them think they're getting locked on by SAAW.

If your reason for the Pilum is because of fire and forget, I'd like to add that it's not hard to flank armor. If you're popping out of cover to shoot a shot then dive back to cover, then the armor's obviously looking at you. If the armor's close enough to warrant a non-guided rocket, then a.) you shouldn't pop out in it's field of vision, and b.) it should be easy enough to flank.

Default rockets are also good for sniping Rorsches at distance. Some prime examples are the Ruins and Playground Rorsches from Statue in Belgrade, or the Square Rorsche from Outpost. PK Rockets are just as effective, sure, but Engineers don't have PK rockets.

Most of the shortcomings of the default rockets can be negated by smarter play. Where as there's nothing you can do about the shortcomings of the Pilum, besides get closer to the death machine you're trying to take out...

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DrakenViator

~ Draken

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YdoUwant2know

I would, but you are never on anymore

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RoadWarrior

No doubt about this. It is a very important point but like any weapon, if you know how to use it correctly, you can compensate for it. Often I make the tank driver pop his shields pre-maturely, then nail him/her from a hidden position. Sometimes making it hit on a side I am not on, making him/her look the wrong way as their indicater is misleading them. Get them in the back or side with the next shot.

I also run around carrying the machine gun (Reader calls it "the stapler" :-p ) as it doesn't trigger the alarm and switch when it makes sense.

Different characteristics of each weapon provide different options for tactics.

In the spirit of this post, it is really hard to say which is better... both have pro's and con's, it is a question of what you are comfortable with.

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Cavall

Ooookay. So basically the Pilum is good for ambushing and the Defaults are good at distance...

I have to agree with DrBeat and the few others who've posted similar things: your choice should be dependant on the situation. On city armor maps like belgrade, Fall of Berlin, Verdun etc pack the pilum; you can flank and take out enemy armor with ease and yay, get to do your happy dance. Many people, myself included, generally prefer the pilum for its 'FaF' nature, but it seems from these last posts that the defaults are the king of long-shots. In a long-shot situation, it is very very unlikely that the enemy armor will be able to notice your head sticking up or around from cover. Not to mention you can force enemy armor to back off (especially when piloted by skilled or defensive players) just with pestering it with that annoying lock-on tone. I don't have any data to support this, but I believe I've read somewhere else on these forums that the tone sounds even if you don't have ammo, just another perk for the defaults cauz an empty Pilum is just a cool looking piece of metal and plastic...

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Mixa

How I see both weapons:

Pilium:
+ More damage than basic engineer anti armor weapon
+ (-) No locking sound (- because locking sound can scare armor off and force them to use shields)
+ Faster speed
+ Hitting sneaky spots (walker vents for instance) is much easier and effective

- "Hard" to get proper hit
- Only useful against slow ground vehicles
- Shoot sound will still give your shot up if not close enough

Basic engineer anti armor (aka Mitchell and Sudnik):
+ Much more accurate than Pilium as you can guide it
+ Can be used against air vehicles which movement can be predicted
+ Gets another + for accurate shots as you can pick sweet spots

- Slightly smaller damage than Pilum
- (+) that damned lock on tune that isn't easy to get rid off even if aiming up
- Slower flying speed than Pilum's, also launch of anti armor missile is slower and gives smoke trail
- You can't really move unnoticed to those single hit = kill spots as lock on tune will usually force shields

I personally use Pilium on close range armor maps or when against heavy amounts of heavy armor, and basic engineer anti armor when long ranges or when against single armor. Or when I don't pick saaw to counter enemy air (lock on tune can scare them off and you are sure to hit if they dare too aggressive)

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Holy

Personally, I use it because of the very fact that it shoots straight. The extra power is nice, but I really hate guiding my missiles (if the situation calls for it I will jump in with the default).

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Gill

Pilum sniping is luck-based. That gigantic circle is the dispersion radius that the projectile can travel inside.

Basically, thinking of the Pilum as a high-tech bazooka. You use it in CQB for quick shots onto armor at close range.

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Mercenary90

Can the default AT missiles be fired dumb?

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Anospa

"Yes," You have to release the mouse button as soon as you fire and reload. Keep in mind that the EU default AT is 4 separate missiles that converge on the target. Initially, they sometimes don't line up perfectly, so will deviate as they travel towards your target.

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