The amount of head hits is just ridiculous

[FeldTheorie]

My pilots recieve at least 3 head hits per mission, while they score maybe one head hit every other mission.

I just tried finishing "Extraction", and in the first 7 rounds _one_ turret, using indirect fire, scored 5(!) head hits. How is this even possible? Are turrets manned by master-tacticians and master-gunners?

 

[EmptyPepsiCan]

Sounds like you had a streak of particularly bad luck. That or you're being hyperbolic. Either way, my experience has been very different. I seem to take a head hit every 2-3 missions on average and dish them out at about the same rate.

 

[TaurianMerc]

There are currently two long running threads on this subject in the main forum so you may want to take this to one of those

For what it is worth, each shot that hits has a 1% chance to hit the head, LRMs work on a per missile basis but once one hits the head none of the following missiles can. So in each volley you can only suffer one head hit.

 

[FeldTheorie]

For what it is worth, each shot that hits has a 1% chance to hit the head, LRMs work on a per missile basis but once one hits the head none of the following missiles can. So in each volley you can only suffer one head hit.

This seems to go contrary to other information i read here on the subject. Subject was called shots and LRMs. Apparently the hit/miss for a targeted mech part is calculated for the whole salvo for LRMs (not SRMs) and not individual missiles in that salvo. I would have expected LRMs to work consistently in that regard.

 

[Aardcore]

There are currently two long running threads on this subject in the main forum so you may want to take this to one of those

For what it is worth, each shot that hits has a 1% chance to hit the head, LRMs work on a per missile basis but once one hits the head none of the following missiles can. So in each volley you can only suffer one head hit.

In that case, RNG really is the bitch goddess that never disappoints because I have had Locusts, LOCUSTS, consistently run up on me and in the first attack of their first move when they get into range, and it doesn't matter what they're using (machine guns, lasers, missiles) they have almost with 99% certainty injured my pilots.

It's become a habit that if I see one of those little shits, they're the first ones to die. An Atlas could show up and I'd still prioritize the Locust.

I'm almost convinced that if 4 locusts run up on a pilot, that's almost certain death, just based on what I've dealt with in the 140+ hours I've spent so far in this game.

 

[FeldTheorie]

Sounds like you had a streak of particularly bad luck. That or you're being hyperbolic. Either way, my experience has been very different. I seem to take a head hit every 2-3 missions on average and dish them out at about the same rate.

That's not hyperbole, my pilots take head hits every mission, consistently. If that's a streak of bad luck, it's a very long one. One head hit every 2 or 3 missions is what my pilots score, but not what they recieve.

 

[Lawler]

While here are currently several threads on this, previous posts have all been mostly accurate.

Missiles make a “one and done” roll for head hits. Meaning they can only hit the head with one hit and then the rest cluster around that location.

Also, from what I can tell, there can only be one head hit per volley, per mech. Doesn’t matter what a mech lobs at you, he can only ever score one point of pilot damage from just shooting. Torso cleaves and ammo explosions also follow this rule. So the most damage your pilot can sustain in one round is one shot to the head, both side torsos destroyed, an ammo explosion and a fall. Or 5 points of damage. And I’m not convinced that the torso cleaves are counted separately. They might be a single category. Hard to tell since a mech is typically dead long before both torsos are cleaved in the same volley.

That’s just the limits of what can happen. The actual odds of it happening are HEAVILY influenced by the player. The .dll files revealed that targets at lower elevation have a far greater likelihood of taking a head shot. 16% to be exact. That’s 1 in 6 to hit rolls hitting your noodle. That said, I don’t think anyone has been able to establish exactly how indirect fire is calculated from a to hit perspective. It’s likely dependent on relative elevations again, but I don’t think anyone has parsed that out yet.

Don’t fight uphill in the rain. The rain being laser and missile death in this case. Or some anecdote about having the high ground. Whichever you prefer.

 

[Stonepillar]

I can count on one hand the number of missions I did where none of my mechs got hit in the head. I had a scenario where in the 1st round of attack 3 mechs had already been hit in the head. Number of head shot is out of proportion.

 

[EmptyPepsiCan]

As I understand things, every time a weapon hits you (with a regular, as opposed to called/precision shot) there's a 1% chance of a head hit. There might be other variables involved, but let's keep it simple and leave it at that.

I'm not a math guy, but after a bit of Googling it seems that if you get hit 100 times in a mission, which isn't that farfetched, since there are multiple enemies and most have multiple weapons, then there's about a 63% chance of a head hit. Maybe 100 hits is high, but even with 50 that's still a 32% chance.

Factor in confirmation bias - the tendency to notice head hits but not their absence - and I can see how you'd feel like headshots are way too common.

Personally, I expect to have an injury or two in a tough fight, so I have 8 pilots in the rotation. The most I've had down at once is 3.

I think that things are fine. Then again, I haven't gone past 2.5 skull missions, so as the mechs get bigger and the fights get longer maybe things will get worse. I assume the developers are looking at the data there, too, and if it's truly an issue they'll address it.

 

[Phearless]

Maybe not so much head hits, as pilot injuries, in general.
The rate is kind of out-of-control.

It's rare so far, in my campaign, that there aren't at least two of my pilots sidelined at any given time.
I've had to restart a few missions because EVERYONE got hurt in the opening volley.

It's not game-breaking. Just, every now and again, I may have to start all over on a mission I was winning until the AI gave itself a "lucky" shot.

 

[Aardcore]

As I understand things, every time a weapon hits you (with a regular, as opposed to called/precision shot) there's a 1% chance of a head hit. There might be other variables involved, but let's keep it simple and leave it at that.

I'm not a math guy, but after a bit of Googling it seems that if you get hit 100 times in a mission, which isn't that farfetched, since there are multiple enemies and most have multiple weapons, then there's about a 63% chance of a head hit. Maybe 100 hits is high, but even with 50 that's still a 32% chance.

Factor in confirmation bias - the tendency to notice head hits but not their absence - and I can see how you'd feel like headshots are way too common.

Personally, I expect to have an injury or two in a tough fight, so I have 8 pilots in the rotation. The most I've had down at once is 3.

I think that things are fine. Then again, I haven't gone past 2.5 skull missions, so as the mechs get bigger and the fights get longer maybe things will get worse. I assume the developers are looking at the data there, too, and if it's truly an issue they'll address it.

The difficulty of the mission has nothing to do with the amount of variable BS I've seen, and I'm sure others have noticed as well. I'm going to bring it up again that often times it's not even the big mechs that pull this crap, it's the little ones: Locusts, Firestarters, Commandos, Spiders, even the "larger" mechs just a slight tier up from them like Jenners or Cicadas will, without a doubt in their FIRST attack.

Maybe it's just luck (really bad luck, at that...) because I've had not one, but two SRM carriers attack a single one of my mechs, and surprisingly, not a single pilot injury, even after what looked like a Gundam Wing reenactment of missiles that flew out and connected with my mech. But then, just moments later when it's the circulation through the enemy's turn and it's a Spider? BOOM, HEADSHOT.

 

[Phearless]

The difficulty of the mission has nothing to do with the amount of variable BS I've seen, and I'm sure others have noticed as well. I'm going to bring it up again that often times it's not even the big mechs that pull this crap, it's the little ones: Locusts, Firestarters, Commandos, Spiders, even the "larger" mechs just a slight tier up from them like Jenners or Cicadas will, without a doubt in their FIRST attack.

Maybe it's just luck (really bad luck, at that...) because I've had not one, but two SRM carriers attack a single one of my mechs, and surprisingly, not a single pilot injury, even after what looked like a Gundam Wing reenactment of missiles that flew out and connected with my mech. But then, just moments later when it's the circulation through the enemy's turn and it's a Spider? BOOM, HEADSHOT.

SRM Carriers are the bane of my existence.
Every time one of those things shoots at me, I'm just like "please let the missiles stop..... they're not stopping. Oh, for the love of Blake, they're not stopping!"

 

[Lawler]

Even knowing that positioning matters with head shots, RNGesus can be a fickle b!tch sometimes. So I run hardened cockpits on all my drop units. I’ll even wait the day if I have to swap it out to another unit. Risk is a mercenaries stock currency, but why spend it if you don’t have to. Plus I find that, at most a 100m extra sight/sensor range or more morale per turn is nice and all, but not having my 10 gunnery, split fire merc out for a month with injuries is better.

 

[Aardcore]

Even knowing that positioning matters with head shots,

I've stopped counting how many times I've had a pilot injury occur when I clearly saw all the shots land and hit my mech's arm and side torso. Shrapnel? I guess...

I really feel like I should start recording all the battles just to show that that happens.

 

[Lawler]

I've stopped counting how many times I've had a pilot injury occur when I clearly saw all the shots land and hit my mech's arm and side torso. Shrapnel? I guess...

I really feel like I should start recording all the battles just to show that that happens.

Just another reason to run hardened cockpits. I’m not 100%, but I think surrounding yourself in even more metal stops fall damage and torso loss/ammo explosion feedback. Maybe it’s high tech steel made out of pillows.

 

[Aardcore]

^^ Which is a shame considering I love the Comms System cockpit upgrade for all the morale boost, but more and more I'm tempted to fit in the hardened cockpits just to avoid pilot injuries. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Lawler]

^^ Which is a shame considering I love the Comms System cockpit upgrade for all the morale boost, but more and more I'm tempted to fit in the hardened cockpits just to avoid pilot injuries. Decisions, decisions.

Well it’s funny you should mention this. I was thinking the same thing getting ready for work today and it hit me... just add another head slot for sensors!

I need to dive into the code when I get home, but I’m almost positive you can add slots to a mech. What I’d want to do is add another head slot, but somehow lock it for the sensor cockpit upgrades only. Either rangefinders or comms could then take up what would have been the “sensors” critical slot from the old mech record sheets but they couldn’t be used to cheese something else into the head like ammo or a heat sink. You get an extra slot, but you don’t really.

I then went on to think that I could even go so far as to create a specific “standard sensors” placeholder item that I would add to all mechs as stock, but I’m not sure I have it in me to do all that for every chassis. Plus I don’t know how to pack or upload mods to the web in the first place.

 

[FeldTheorie]

Even knowing that positioning matters with head shots, RNGesus can be a fickle b!tch sometimes. So I run hardened cockpits on all my drop units. I’ll even wait the day if I have to swap it out to another unit. Risk is a mercenaries stock currency, but why spend it if you don’t have to. Plus I find that, at most a 100m extra sight/sensor range or more morale per turn is nice and all, but not having my 10 gunnery, split fire merc out for a month with injuries is better.

Yeah, I would really like to run some other head mod too, but hardened cockpits are just too useful with the amount of head hits every mission.

 

[Lawler]

Yeah, I would really like to run some other head mod too, but hardened cockpits are just too useful with the amount of head hits every mission.

I keep seeing this number of head hits thing, but while I’ve had missions where everyone came home injured, it’s usually only 1 point with maybe one pilot with multiple wounds. But that’s only in the meat grinder missions with hundreds of shots being thrown my way. And I keep looking for situations that are obviously out of scope for random and I’m just not seeing it.

What I am seeing is a higher percentage of head hits when I know I’m in a very poor strategic position, like a couple heavies parked on a hill with one or 2 spotters keeping me dialed in. The mechs on the hill WILL punch my ticket, if not kill my pilot. But that’s on me. I’ll reload and find a new approach and usually find a work around. It’s rare that I’m having to brute force my way through a mission and hope RNGesus carried my pilots through to fight another day. I know I’ll probably get a ton of “disagree” clicks, but I’ve only lost 2 pilots in my 600 week campaign and they were both due to incompetence on my part.

 

[EmptyPepsiCan]

Agreed. The more fire you draw the more head hits you'll get. That's why I scout carefully and try my best to destroy the enemy in detail, rather than charging in and getting flanked by reinforcements while I'm engaged.

For example, if the mission overview predicts reinforcements you can assume that there will be some. So rather than heading straight for the objective, I head for the reinforcements and try to destroy first. Ideally, I'll engage them as far as possible from the objective, so as to lower the risk of getting blasted by indirect fire during the fight. If that's not possible then I at least try to use a scout to draw them toward my while I thin them out with LRM fire. A max armor Shadow Hawk that jumps and sensor locks from cover will tend to survive, even if it takes some LRM fire.

I still take some head hits, but rarely more than 1 or 2. I have 8 pilots with at least 4 guts each in my rotation, so they almost never die and I always have enough for a full lance. Head hits are irritating, but they're really not that big a deal if you plan for them.