EMPing a Walker

[vertomac]

I'm a rather new at commanding and have a question about using EMP strikes on armored units such as walkers, tanks and APCs. If I zoom in on a stopped walker, set the cursor right over the top of it and pop off an EMP, more often than not (to my chagrin) it just moves out of the way. Of course, an orbital strike at this point is futile.
Is this due to server or network lag? Or am I doing something else wrong? Comments/suggestions?
Sometimes it works, but I'm a little puzzled that it doesn't always work.

[sempf]

well if you miss the walker just a little bit it will be able to walk right forward and backward. but he cannot move to the right or left. so you need to hit him directly. i can know it because i mostly just walk away when this happens

[MrReynolds]

+ you get a 2/3 second warning with the noise, and ground erupting..................
I hear the noise in a walker, I run the hell away!!!!

Sometimes I put the cursor just infront of the walker for that very reason.

[sempf]

when standing still,while repairing and other stuff, its handy to go in another view because then you can see the ground move earlier. or do you ment that already and do you mean 2 or 3 seconds

[Erhardt]

Probably not lag. Like sempf said, to the guy in the walker, there's a humming sounds and stuff starts to float up off the ground a second or two before the actual strike comes down.

If the walker pilot is paying attention, he'll start moving because if you're playing Conquest, he knows what's coming next.

Hopefully (for your sake), he's not paying attention and by the time he realized what that faint humming sound is/was, it's too late to do anything about it but jump out and start sprinting for safety on foot, hoping he can make it through the Orbital Strke you just followed up with.

[sempf]

it was not me. it was mrreynolds who said it of the noise. but when the emp miss just a little bit. you will be able to move. only a little bit slower and not be able to steer to the left and right. but over all the only moments you should stop is when your trapped with motion mines or repairing. capping the base is for infanterie not for a walker.

[AllFoamNoBeer]

While on the ground, you hear this long whine before an EMP hits, this applies to Orbital strikes too.

[Wizrdwarts]

It's not that hard to dodge. If you're in an urban environment like Camp G's back area, then you'll be able to predict they're movements easier and get a hit, even with the rocks and sound. (whats with the rocks anyways, I mean, I had a EMP strike on the rooftops, and are the rocks just supposed to magically appear on a roof?

[Avenger_One]

The problem could be this:

If you select emp strike (so that you get a little icon that moves with your cursor) and click, you must realize that the commander map is not flat. What do I mean? Well, really, the only place where the EMP Strike will land exactly where you click is if you click in the center of the screen. Otherwise (due to concavity or something) the EMP Strike will not land where you click - where you 'clicked' will have been distorted to some new location.

In short, if you want to hit that walker, it had better be in the center of your screen or you're going to miss it.

This problem doesn't occur if you right click and select from the drop-down menu. I have no idea why there's a difference.

I hope you understood all that - I can't think of a good way to explain it.

Avenger_One

[Fingulfin]

The problem could be this:

If you select emp strike (so that you get a little icon that moves with your cursor) and click, you must realize that the commander map is not flat. What do I mean? Well, really, the only place where the EMP Strike will land exactly where you click is if you click in the center of the screen. Otherwise (due to concavity or something) the EMP Strike will not land where you click - where you 'clicked' will have been distorted to some new location.

In short, if you want to hit that walker, it had better be in the center of your screen or you're going to miss it.

This problem doesn't occur if you right click and select from the drop-down menu. I have no idea why there's a difference.

I hope you understood all that - I can't think of a good way to explain it.

Avenger_One

Errr... No? It always lands where I put it, never had any problems.

[sempf]

the rocks do magically appear on the roofs. but if a walker pilot keeps moving turning moving backwards its pretty much impossible to kill it because of his unpredictable movements. most people dont realize it and stand still. but then they're easy targets and when you move your a difficult target. so you will probally win. i defeated an enemy walker with supply, drop a few engeniers, and a rosch at once only by moving.

[Salad Snake]

As a CO, you have to watch the walker closely to see when he is busy either negotiating difficult terrain or shoot at entrenched infantry, this is when you EMP+OS.

If you try to do it while the walkers moving, you'll miss 95% of the time. And we all know it's practically useless to OS a walker when it can move away.

[Dtneter]

the emp strike and orbital strike both start at a height of 500m above water level (tested this in my mod with a new type of rocket) and it takes around the 2 and a half second to get down so you either got to respond quickly or your a complete moron.

do what i always do follow the walker with your emp button ready and wait till he stops then immediatly drop it and the orbital after it (only on the place where you dropped it will always fall one on the same spot) within 5 seconds you got a wasted walker.

[Salad Snake]

What I do is I click the emp button (so I get the EMP crosshair), and then use right click for the OS after.

[Erhardt]

The problem could be this:

If you select emp strike (so that you get a little icon that moves with your cursor) and click, you must realize that the commander map is not flat. What do I mean? Well, really, the only place where the EMP Strike will land exactly where you click is if you click in the center of the screen. Otherwise (due to concavity or something) the EMP Strike will not land where you click - where you 'clicked' will have been distorted to some new location.

In short, if you want to hit that walker, it had better be in the center of your screen or you're going to miss it.

This problem doesn't occur if you right click and select from the drop-down menu. I have no idea why there's a difference.

I hope you understood all that - I can't think of a good way to explain it.

Avenger_One

Not sure what you're doing wrong there, unless you're not zooming the map in enough, maybe? You drop the EMP and the very first round of the Orbital with pin-point precision if you want/need, just max zoom the command map (to the point where you're seeing a small section of the map in real-time 3D, as though you were there looking down, or like you were playing an RTS game), place your cursor, and let fly.

If you're zoomed all the way out or at the middle zoom, then map isn't curved or anything like that, it's more... abstracted, and so less accurate. Firing off EMPs and Orbitals when zoomed out like that might do in a pinch, but if optimal placement is desired, it's not the best way to go about it.

Right-clicking a target while the map is zoomed out, however, works just like you said. You've designated a target to be fired on, instead of just giving it the equivalent of "oh... I dunno... drop the ordnance over there abouts..."