pred011586

Actually, I don't think they can, if you let go and reload, I think you can still control their aim. Just like the SAAW which keeps the lock on even if you're reloading as long as the target stays in the middle of your screen.

What I'll often do is shoot around corners. Pop out, shoot, make a mental note of where the target is, and get behind cover. From there I guide the rocket to the target from behind cover. Logically it shouldn't work since it's laser guided with a wall in the way, but it does.

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Eroak

You guys know how to shoot guided rockets without triggering the alarm right? Its a tough shot for walkers, but APCs and Tanks often fall to this tactic.

Its called a passive to active missle shot it RL terms but not so in-game. Frist you fire off the rocket/missle bearing off your target about 5-10° on a up angle. Then as your rocket/missle closes in on your target, you drop the targeter onto your target at the last possible moment. This causes the RWS/warning tone to fire before you can react to it by countermeasures or maneuvers. Thus hitting your moving target alomst 100% of the time.

In RL, the missle is fired upon a target onto the strait line with the targeting system off(Passive). As the missle bears in, the targeting system turned(Active) on after 90-95% of the flight time. The missle then picks up the closest target and bears in before the driver/pilot can react. This works best with RADAR systems and some smart LASER systems. Solivets devised this tactic back in the early 70's with less than perfet SAM technology.

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pred011586

It's not easy to judge the distance at which to pull the rockets down onto the target when you first use the rockets. That'd be advice I'd give to someone who's been using them for awhile, rather than someone I'm trying to convert away from Pilum.

Regardless, E's right. That's another simple way to get around the shields of a vehicle. It's not as easy to pull off as simply waiting to pull the trigger, but if you can get good at it, you won't need to wait anymore.

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Lyramion

An armor pilot gets a lock on tone when his name appears in your hud. So even if you don´t fire at him streight you still might make his name pop up and trigger the alarm. take that into consideration.

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Eroak

hence the 5-10° overshoot pending range. The farther out the higher up you need to aim.

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Bladecutter

Are you sure? I'm pretty certain every armor I locked my Pilum on to scare him has put up his shield, and I saw no other engineers looking at him. I doubt that is some sixth sense.

pred011586

The pilum does not cause the lock tone. That's the whole reason it exists. If it caused a lock tone it'd just be a default rocket that's faster but un-guided (read: useless). The advantage the Pilum gives is the lack of a lock tone.

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Mixa

With good audio you can easily hear the "bzoom" when someone fires pilum and I always pop shields the same second.

Otherwise its just pure luck when shield happen to pop when you are about to score that shot, unless some1 changes view through C.

Also I always pop shields with tank when no hostile armor is near but there is change of sneaky Pilium men running around.

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Bladecutter

I guess pure luck is entirely possible, especially the way it always seems to fail me in-game. XD

TheDarkPenguin

If "an armor pilot gets a lock on tone when his name appears in your hud", then why wouldn't it for the Pilium? You get the same name then too?

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pred011586

For the same reason they don't get a beep when you aim your assault rifle at them and get a name. The beep is gun-specific, not in general.

Picture it like this. Guided missiles are laser guided, and the enemy vehicle can detect when the laser guiding the missile is aimed at the vehicle, creating the beep. Pilum's don't have that laser, thus no beep.

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MrJengles

I think in my case that was exactly it, and perhaps for a lot of other people. I didn't like the default engineer weapons, I could of sworn it was doing less damage and every time I ducked those unfriendly shots coming my way, I missed my perfectly aimed shot Well of course since then I realised it's because I can still aim even when I'm not looking at the armor. Once I got the Pilum, I found it oh so much better, joy of joys it would fly "straight(ish)" as you put it XD

If I'm facing some armor, the moment after I fire it's going to look in my direction and start firing. Being able to get out of the way of that is extremely important, I don't want to be in the same spot, I want to get the hell out of there. With the default rockets I'm stuck there aiming it still, even if I do duck and try aiming through solid objects I can't see through. Alright, players can shoot around walls and stuff so perhaps experience makes up for it.

But then you go onto the matter of lock tone and speed. When I'm in armor I love seeing the rockets coming my way instead of some Pilum shot, I get an extra couple of seconds to dodge (which would be hard for them to account for if they can't see me), or to aim and shoot them if they can see me, or even just spin a tank or APC so they hit my front and not my side. If I need to I'll still use the shield as I would against the Pilum. Furthermore, I get the warning tone even if I havn't even seen the enemy.

The speed of the Pilum can become very valuable in managing to hit that side before the enemy turns. As well as doing more damage since it simply kills them faster. The advantage of shooting a larger distance on a map like Suez I wouldn't have thought very useful, at that distance it's easier to dodge, but ok say you still hit it, the enemy doesn't have very far to back out of your range completely and repair safely. Same as a nice/lucky pilum shot at that distance.

I'd like to make some comments so you can see my reasoning on the below:

Adding those thoughts and the way I see it:

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 = less time for shields, hiding weak spots or dodging entirely
+ Hitting sneaky spots (walker vents for instance) is much easier and effective

- Harder to hit moving targets at a large distance
- Must aim where you want to hit

Basic engineer anti armor (aka Mitchell and Sudnik):
+ More accurate than Pilium as you can guide it for large distances where it helps
+ Gets another + for accurate shots as you can pick sweet spots after firing
+ Can be fired around a corner but it is very tricky to do

- 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 = more time for shields, hiding weak spots or dodging entirely
- You can't really move unnoticed to those single hit = kill spots as lock on tone will usually force shields
- For long shots, you either have to continue aiming and remain a target for much longer, or move behind cover while still aiming but unable to see your target
- Also for long shots, it leaves you in the same small area for much longer before you can move to a new position

Mixa

Just noticed that I've had the frikking name wrong all the time (thx to flik) -.-

To the topic: Pilum doesn't hit where you aim at all from long range especially if there is any terrain blocking your target. I've dodged plenty of shots from Pilum while I would have been dead in the seconds if it were guided missiles, though it has happened otherway around too thanks to the warning sound.

Pilum only hits gunship when pilot is really low and shooter gets good aim, while with normal anti armor missiles you can get guided shots on further away gunships that are keeping their movement speed as standard. Buggies are extremely hard to kill with Pilum as shot will bug through and you can't tell if driver is going to dodge until he is on point blank range when you have second to shoot. Standard anti armor missile can be guided a bit.

Sudnik makes lower sound than Pilum and Mitchell makes louder but still Pilum gives louder bass sound that is easy to hear even if you are getting shot at though. And about the reaction, locking sound will most likely make your target paranoid anyway. Or if you are far away you will hit when hes shield are used as he can't tell the direction.

Guiding can be made in a spot where shot from enemy armor is extremely hard, slow speed makes many shots hard though but with Pilum you pretty much can't get aim on it after enemy driver decides to take it behind something.

One more point about the sweet spots, critically damaged armor rarely is easy to hit as he is running, but with standard anti armor you will still score that hit and with Pilum it might just miss depending on your target (walkers are especially hard).

And yeah default rockets kill gunship with one like Pilum shots too, I'm not sure if they do same amount of damage though.

I use Pilum as my main weapon with engineer against armor but other weapons have their times, and usually against bad drivers they work better than Pilum for some reason.

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Bladecutter

I sometimes don't even shoot with the guided rocket, I just sit there and STARE at the armor with it zoomed in on him. It's funny to watch him look around and back up with his shields up.

MDFubar

I almost always use the pilum. It is fire and forget, take aim and fire...then move for another angle. You are more mobile, there is NO locking sound on any target. You can kill gunships, transports, FAV's, people, and anything else....if you practice with it.
I have many times jumped out of a tank and shot down a gunship or an FAV. This is a great weapon if you learn to use it.
You can shoot favs easily, just lead the target. Same with the transports and the gunships. With the transports you can kill the engy's repairing and damage the transport. The gunships and transports never know what hit them unless they see it coming. You can hit long range targets, if you practice.
I like this weapon and you will always find it in my engy kit.

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