Why do weapon shots that hit the head injure the pilot, even when the head still has armor? I never played the TT, is it also like this or is your pilot only injured once the armor is stripped away and you're hitting internals?
head hits injuring pilots
- Thread starter AC20ToTheFace
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Because a kinetic, explosive or thermal impact doesn't have to penetrate armor to seriously rattle the fleshy bits inside.
And yes, non-penetrating hits will do damage in the TT. Be happy consciousness rolls didn't get imported over.
Because the Pilot is only flesh and blood. The vibrations of an explosion will damge the organs, bones etc...
Think of it this way: the cockpit gets hit and absorbs most of the force, but the pilot (however securely strapped into the 'Mech they are) is going to be jostled around.
Like, wearing a helmet may save your skull from being broken, but it won't necessarily stop your brain from bouncing around inside of it (that's why concussions are a thing).
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You want increase guts on all pilots until they have at least 4 HP.
Cohh almost lost one pilot to head hits because pilot had just 3 HP and took 2 damage from LRM salvos.
Cohh almost lost one pilot to head hits because pilot had just 3 HP and took 2 damage from LRM salvos.
I think it has to do with the violence of the impacts (the simple kinetic energy from shots striking the head) even though it doesn't penetrate armor.
In this game, any head hit will cause injury, a long with torso loss (explosions caused by it), and falling down. All these things are violent events that just put a lot of stress on the pilot.
As for TT, I don't know how that is normally handled.
In this game, any head hit will cause injury, a long with torso loss (explosions caused by it), and falling down. All these things are violent events that just put a lot of stress on the pilot.
As for TT, I don't know how that is normally handled.
I am more ok with head hits jarring my pilot than side torso destruction. That seem a little excessive considering how easy it is to injure pilots through knockdowns.
i was wondering about that.. would a valid mech lance layout of 3 mechs with LRMs and 1 with Lock. be good at killing pilots? Id 3 long lrm a round and just injury the guy outta a mech?
Separate discussion for whether every head hit in a single mech's attack set counts as an injury in another thread. Things may have changed since beta, but I wouldn't be surprised if they capped the amount of damage the pilot could take to 1 from head plinks from a single mech to make sure rookie pilots don't instagib from MG firestarters.
Yeah, pretty much.
Hypothetical brainstorming here...
I also wouldn't doubt if there was some feedback stress from the neurohelmet as well. The MechWarrior is very tied into the mech through that helmet to provide important data (such as balance), along with other important tasks. If the mech's systems are going berserk from heavy impacts scrambling data, I wouldn't doubt if that erratic data wouldn't back feed into the pilot's brain and cause injury in that sense too.
I'll have to look and see if that might be a thing in lore. Seems like something that might be.
Early game, maybe. But once you start encountering OpFor pilots with a higher Guts skill that tactic will be less effective.
thats kinda what i figured.. might be worth tinkering around with on the 1st run though. I can always start over anyway
Sarna FTW!...
"Until a 'Mech has fully adjusted itself to its new master a pilot will often suffer headache-like pain due to electrical feedback from her neurohelmet. Pilots can also suffer feedback from damage taken by their 'Mech during the course of battle, such as feelings of dizziness or headaches." - Sarna.net
Keep in mind, we won't have our choice of weapons systems in the early game. More often than not we'll be outfitting our 'Mechs with whatever we have on hand, and finding enough LRM launchers to keep three LRM boats could prove very difficult.
Its the same as being in a car accident with your seat belt buckled in. You can still get hurt.
I didn't even think about it as suffering feedback damage from the neurohelmet. I guess if most of the sensors are also located on the head of a mech, then getting hit there might feel like getting knocked in the head with a bat and be quite disorienting.
watching Cohh's stream the other day, i saw that between salvage and the store he could have easily done it. But ya.. my play though might not work that way
I thought LRMs had the swarming mechanic, so the head would only be hit if the first hit of the salvo hits the head, if not all the remaining missiles had 0% chance to hit the head. Sure I guess you get a separate chance per LRM launcher, so that might be one perk to going with multiple smaller launchers over one larger launcher.
Looking at the weapons spreadsheet that someone uploaded in another thread, by going with 4xLRM5 vs 1xLRM20 you'll save 2 tons, but generate 6 extra heat per salvo, which is easily offset if you use those 2 tons to add 2 HS. So assuming you have the missile hardpoints, LRM5s might be the way to go for getting head hits and killing pilots.
Also for reference
2xLRM5 vs 1xLRM10 saves 1 ton, equal heat generation
3xLRM5 vs 1xLRM15 saves 1 ton, 3 extra heat generation
2xLRM10 vs 1LRM20 equal tonnage, 6 extra head generation
From what I have seen armor is there to prevent a pilot from doing outright, so as long as you have enough armor you will only take an injury, but once it's gone a successful hit can be lethal (although it's said that a high Gut-skilled pilot has some chance of surviving).