ECM in 1.7

[commuterzombie]

So I've dusted off the Raven and tried it out on a 3 skull Battle mission (starts at 4:30 in the vid below). Whilst I have only played one mission with it so far the AI handled the ECM field in a much better fashion than previously.

AI mechs would aggressively sprint into the ECM field to get shots for their friends. Unfortunately they also did this when they had no friends left but that one Catapult was already pretty screwed at that stage. Video if you want to see things in action:

And if you want to see how the AI used to handle ECM:

It's definitely an improvement, how are you finding ECM now?

 

[Zarax999]

Canonically it was abandoned because of short range and the reappearance of more efficient SL era equipment.

 

[$ilent_$trider]

Yeah, I was playing just fine o September 9 and then realized that the AI was reserving actions when I was using the Raven, which surprised me and then I saw there was an update.
While I agree that the exploit can be too strong (specially if you are not fighting assault Mechs), now the raven is useless UNLESS you are doing some escort mission and you want to give extra protection to the escort.

You are better off now playing with a beefier Mech, instead of a 35 ton wimp.

 

[commuterzombie]

Alright, another couple of missions with the Raven in the can and I've a better understanding of what the AI can do to counter ECM:

• An opfor mech can sprint/jump into the bubble
• An opfor mech with sensor lock can lock a mech in the bubble even if that mech has not moved yet
• EDIT: Opfor mechs can reserve when you have a mech with ECM on the field. Sometimes they wait for you to reserve and then reserve down as well, sometimes they reserve down before you have even had the opportunity to activate one of your mechs.

I am feeling that having the Raven and 3 short range mechs is a decent option now. You encourage the opfor to sprint in and then melee/SRM/ML them to death. Rinse and repeat!

You can see the AI employing those tactics in the second mission of this vid (from the Double Agent Flashpoint, so spoiler warning):

That starts at 27:55

I am very happy with the changes so far.

 

[commuterzombie]

Oh, I've just found an ECM component in my current career. I've kitted out an Orion with it, 2 SRM 6s (+4 damage) and 4 MLs with a variety of +s.

It will be interesting to see how having a 75 ton mech with loads of armour and plenty of short range punch generating the ECM changes the balance of things. I'll report back with my findings.

 

[commuterzombie]

The AI is also capable of reserving before you've had the opportunity to activate one of your mechs (seen shortly after 25:00 in this video). I'll update my notes above accordingly.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

I’ve not experienced the AI reserving but look forward to it occurring, especially when I am in the process of doing so myself.

 

[stjobe]

I feel I can use my Raven again - the AI can (and does!) both use reserve as well as agressively seeking out ECM carriers now. It will take som re-thinking of proper ECM use, but it's so much better than the reserve-to-last-phase-and-win "tactics" that existed prior to this patch.

First mission with a Raven after the patch, hit reserve by force of habit, and the AI reserved with me all the way down to phase 1 :thumbsup:

 

[gh0s7]

Considering I'm about to start the Prototype FP in my new Career run (with Ironman), these indications regarding ECM and A.I. are much appreciated! :thumbs-up emoji:

EDIT: And, FWIW, the A.I. does play a bit more against ECM; the last mission of that FP, where the player has a Raven on his lance, as I found the two Trenchbuckets and LRM Carrier reserving along with me until Phase 1. Although, by the middle of the fight, I did notice that, sometimes when I reserved, whatever units were left either moved towards me or play Guarded. (the Locusts from the reinforcement lance breaching the ECM zone one at a time did force me to change targets and go melee due to 3 or 4 evasion chevrons).

It's progress, definitely. Now I hope the vehicle with ECM (Packrat) will come out a bit more; pre-1.7, I only remember seeing that vehicle on an optional mission in "One Man's Trash".

 

[Lighthorseman]

When did the AI develop the ability to sensor lock and reveal mechs under ECM cloak? The AI reserves all the time now but this is the first time I have encountered this ability.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

It might be solely triggered by the Raven’s ECM, because I’ve not noticed it at all and I don’t employ ECM in my current Career Mode.

 

[Lighthorseman]

The AI ability to reserves is triggered after you reserve down while cloaked by ECM. The mission I just finished had a light mech sensor locking my mechs under ECM in initiative 4 before I had a chance to do anything. Might be headed back to my jump cavalry lance. I found an ECM in the Victoria store and put it in my Atlas, now I think about it the atlas was sensor locked yesterday while cloaked too

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Excellent. If ECM can trigger the AI to reserve, then perhaps down the road my own habit of reserving past the AI will in and of itself, trigger the AI to keep pace with me. I’d like that a lot. : )

 

[Lighthorseman]

When the AI can reserve, it turns a what can already be an unforgiving game into pure murder. Especially with the new contract types where it is theoretically possible for the AI to have 16 mechs on the map at once. As a slide option possibly but not as part of the default settings.

 

[Zarax999]

The new AI tactic of focus firing on your weakest mech is also a major pain.

 

[commuterzombie]

So finally got to try out my Orion with an ECM module and it worked pretty well. Interestingly I believe that if you move one unit (not reserving it) the AI does not reserve.

Near the end of this mission I was able to move and brace/shoot/sensor lock with my Orion, still retaining a single ECM charge and as I had activated a unit the AI did not reserve any of theirs. Their units lacked the ability to sensor lock, and (possibly because of the terrain, possibly because of their AI 'roles') they did not jump/sprint in to the bubble to remove the stealth charges.

Instead the AI was only able to brace in their usual initiative slot, leaving me free to clean them up with my remaining three mechs in phase 1. You can see that behaviour best at around 35:00 minutes in to the above video.

Separately, has anyone seen any issue with the missile defence portion of ECM? You see the icon next to your cursor when moving in to an ECM field, but I don't see that status icon when right-clicking my mechs. Hard to say if it's working or not at the moment.

The new AI tactic of focus firing on your weakest mech is also a major pain.

Yep, the AI's single-minded devotion to hounding your wounded mechs is really painful. I've had to jump and hide some of my guys and even eject them from time to time to prevent a pilot/mech loss. People were complaining that the vanilla game was too easy though!

 

[Timaeus]

The new AI tactic of focus firing on your weakest mech is also a major pain.

ehhh...wasn't this already in game? I definitely recall having a a few units get focused down because they were currently the weakest in my forces.

 

[$ilent_$trider]

Separately, has anyone seen any issue with the missile defence portion of ECM? You see the icon next to your cursor when moving in to an ECM field, but I don't see that status icon when right-clicking my mechs. Hard to say if it's working or not at the moment.

Just to confirm, even if there's an enemy unit inside your ECM bubble, you should be protected from indirect LRM fire, right?
If the answer should be yes, then no, right now the missile defense portion of the ECM is not working as intended, but hey, they fixed the echo sound bug of the ECM,

 

[commuterzombie]

Just to confirm, even if there's an enemy unit inside your ECM bubble, you should be protected from indirect LRM fire, right?
If the answer should be yes, then no, right now the missile defense portion of the ECM is not working as intended, but hey, they fixed the echo sound bug of the ECM,

I believe that so long as you are not Sensor Locked, you should benefit from the missile defence bonus (even if you have no ECM charges). It's been a little while since I read the ECM text though so I am not 100% on that.

 

[$ilent_$trider]

One thing that bummed me out though, was when I found an ECM equipment for sale on the Black Market. I put it on my black knight and I was thinking that it would add up with the cloak charges on the Raven, alas, it does not.
I did have two cloaked mechs anyway and could try to split the group, but it is not worth it. So now, the raven just stays there in case I find a mission with tonnage restrictions.

Edit: @commuterzombie you may be up to something, it could have been the fact that I was sensor locked, I'll try and pay more attention next time.

The thing is, before, my ideal lance, would be 4 mech warriors with Bulwark ability, one with Sensor Lock ability (and Master Tactician), at least 2 with Breaching Shot and maybe one with Coolant Vent if I was running a particular hot mech.
Now, I'm running 3 pilots with Master Tactician and one with Breaching Shot and just try to jump behind the enemy mechs and OSK on the Center Torso or try a decapitation if it's a particular chassis that I want.