BF2, comes with your choice of noob-cannon!

[GatorDawg]

Perhaps it's just the servers I'm playing on, but has anyone else noticed a recent, and rather dramatic increase in the number of ATs using their rocket launchers as anti-personnel weapons? In about the last week, I can't count the number of times I've seen AT guys running around engaging infantry with rocket launchers.

It's a little annoying to line up on a guy and pick your shot only to see him launch a rocket at you, then *BOOM* dead. But, hey, it's in the game and it works, so more power to them I say. The only problem I see is, I think the people who do this are largely fooling themselves. While in a one-on-one situation, you've definitely got the one-shot-one-kill advantage, over the course of a round it's gotta be very, very difficult to rack up kills this way.

If you take into account the very limited amount of rockets you have before you need to find more ammo and the re-load time of the weapon, the ultra-slow rate of fire, and how long it usually takes for your rocket to actually reach your victim from your firing position, it must be very difficult not to suck with this weapon when using it against infantry.

I.e. - During the course of a round, in the time you spend re-loading, finding ammo, being dead etc, another class being used by a player that isn't even as good as you will probably have racked up an extra dozen kills or so.

I've been seeing this happen so much lately that I've started to keep track of the names of people who are doing it, and I have been checking their scores at the end of rounds. They are ALWAYS near the bottom when it comes to kills. So, what's the attraction? Are people just blinded by the one-shot-one-kill thing and just not see that, overall, it's a very ineffective strategy? Or, are a lot of people just playing AT because they enjoy the class and if they run into inf. they figure their launcher is more effective than the carbine?

[pqlamz]

its effective enough to make you cry about it

[imported_Soda]

My guess would be they play AT because they can take out vehicles. But they use their rocket launchers for infantry because sometimes it's a lot easier and faster to kill the guy with your rocket than 20 rounds of your smg.

[tripleplay369]

its effective enough to make you cry about it

That was a worthless post.

But on-topic, I don't mind the AT rockets that much because the only time it does any significant damage is if it hits/comes extremely close to you. After they fire the rocket, they are easy to finish off too.

[[i]_Bleed_to_Death]

It's actually very true that their gun is less effective than the missiles at almost any range.

[Scoobing]

Insurgency forces often use RPG's to take out Infantry IRL.

[Stalingraduate]

As someone who plays AT a lot, I'll just state that I have used the SRAW on infantry.

There are reasons for this:

1. It's fast and accurate. I've used it to snipe people before.

2. It's a one-shot kill.

3. Sometimes there isn't time to switch to another weapon.

Most of the time, I use the DAO-12 to kill infantry, but if I see the right shot, I'll use the SRAW to knock them down.

[cgN-Grizz]

i yell at people when they do this to me... but then i just get the AT kit and do it back to them. so its all good

[Remy X.O.]

Why are you complaining if theyre still at the bottom of the list? Sometimes using the rocket is way better than using that cheap SMG especially at long ranges. And to get hose long range rocket shots you need skill so no noob can just go out and do that. When i mean you need skill i mean gettin infantry on a flat ground where you need to aim high then aim it to their feet.

[vulcan]

My guess would be they play AT because they can take out vehicles. But they use their rocket launchers for infantry because sometimes it's a lot easier and faster to kill the guy with your rocket than 20 rounds of your smg.

The AT weapon does have better accuracy at a distance and if you're currently using it anyway, it's better to use that than switch to another and risk getting killed in the .3 second switchover.

[Version2]

I play as AT and will only ever fire my rocket at either, an enemy who has caught me off guard, or a large concentration of enemies as AT don t have grenades.

[GatorDawg]

Why are you complaining if theyre still at the bottom of the list? Sometimes using the rocket is way better than using that cheap SMG especially at long ranges. And to get hose long range rocket shots you need skill so no noob can just go out and do that. When i mean you need skill i mean gettin infantry on a flat ground where you need to aim high then aim it to their feet.

Who was complaining about anything? Did you read where I said:

But, hey, it's in the game and it works, so more power to them I say.

I was asking a question. I was curious why there seems to be such an increase in this technique lately when it seems to be so ineffective.

As far as I can tell, there are only two reasons why people would adopt such behavior: 1) They think it's an effective killing method. 2) They don't necessarily think it's very effective, but for whatever reason they want to play AT and believe the launcher to at least be more effective than their main gun.

In both cases I question the veracity of this. In the case of number 1, it's just not very effective at all for the reasons stated in my previous post. As for number two, it seems odd to me that ATs would be willing to waste their limited ammo shooting at inf. when there is armor about. I mean, I can't count the number of times on Karkand some AT guy launched a good three rockets at me trying to kill me, only to have an APC roll into the area. I mean, I've seen many an AT guy attempt to hunt me down with the launcher while i was on foot. If I was playing AT and felt my odds of being victorious in a 1-on-1 with inf was limited, I'd spot the inf., move on and leave the inf. to someone else. If I want to kill inf. I'll take a different class. My job as AT is clear out vehicles for the team. I can't do that effectively if I'm engaging every inf. that I come across and I compromise the team's ability.

Anyway, with the sudden increased popularity of this, it *seems* like people are doing it because they feel it is effective for killing inf. And, it's just not. At least not from what I have seen. It might *seem* like it, because you can take out inf. with one single shot... but over the course of a map, you'd be much more effective playing as another class. So, I'm curious as to whether or not there's something I missed and what the thoughts of others might be on this.

Nobody is crying about anything, nobody is complaining about anything.

[alecs36]

Well here's somthing you can try- get on top of a building and snipe their arses off

I just got the game and will be hitting up some server later today or tommorow.

[GatorDawg]

its effective enough to make you cry about it

Ooooh, someone sounds a little self-conscious about their chosen method of play and abilities.

[GatorDawg]

Well here's somthing you can try- get on top of a building and snipe their arses off

I just got the game and will be hitting up some server later today or tommorow.

Oh, it's usually not a problem killing them. That's why I asked the question: What's the attraction?

I'd say that in a typical ten face-offs with someone shooting at me with a launcher, it plays out like this:

1 time - They kill me outright, I'm dead, they win.
1 time - They kill me, but I manage to pump so many bullets into them before their rocket gets to me that two seconds after I die, I get a kill damage assist, because someone else has seen them and taken away their remaining one or two bars of health.
1 time - I kill them while their rocket is making it's way toward me, but they hit and kill me as well.
2 times - Their rocket gets to me, but doesn't quite hit on target. They take away a good chunk of my health. But I still kill them without dieing.
2 times - They miss completely and I kill them during the reload
3 times - I just kill them before they can get an accurate shot off.

I mean, in the time it take to raise that thing to your eye alone, I'm sure most decent players could unload at least half a clip into your chest. Unless you, as an AT, sees the the enemy first, I can't see how you don't expect the odds of you winding up dead to be enormous. And, even if you do see him first, the odds still have to be pretty good.