How do you play a Locust?

5/5,

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I just started leveling locusts and...well, it's not been pretty. The problem is that unlike other light mechs, which can usually take a single hit to the front, the Locust can be brought down by a single shot (not an alpha, but a single shot from 1 weapon) to the center torso. I'm not really sure how to play this thing and succeed.

Granted, it's been a bit since I've played real lights, and the last 150+ mechs I played were Jenners, which could not only take a hit or two, but also had more firepower and jump jets. I don't even remember Commandos being nearly this squishy. So...how do I play these darned things?

 

I don't pilot Locusts yet, but I can give the usual light mech tips.

Rule one, never stop.
Rule two, don't ever stop.
Rule three, DON'T FRIGGING STOP!

The best LCT pilots I've seen will often not start out a strafing run looking at what they want to shoot, and sweeping their view from left to right to catch what will generally be a fast sweep of laser fire. Like any light, distractions are key: move in on people engaged with your teammates, letting them take the focus of your enemies while you pick away with your weapons. If you are teamed up with a Firestarter or Jenner, pair up with them; they generally seem more threatening, and will also pull attention away from you.

The rest is positioning and being unpredictable: don't pop out at the same place repeatedly, don't move in obvious patterns, and if you think you were spotted moving on a trajectory, pull a turn and change where you will approach from next. You can't take a single alpha without regretting it, so you have to play whack-a-mole from the mole's perspective to survive.

Edit: Forgot to mention, master "wobbling" while you run. By that, I mean take very slight left/right turns every step or two. This has two effects, and works well for every fast mech.

Effect one, if an enemy is behind or in front of you, the sudden change will often be enough that a shot they had lined up on you won't make contact. I do this all the time in my lights, and you'd be amazed how many AC/Gauss/PPC/laser shots I see zipping past me as a result.

Effect two, if an enemy is to your side trying to lead you for a shot, the slight turning screws up your trajectory just a little bit, making their shots pass in front of you (and behind you when they try to correct). If you can focus on it, you can also release the W key for fractions of a second, slowing down a few KPH then speeding back up. This makes it a real bitch to lead shots on you, since your movement is always fluctuating.

 

how i play my locust (love them btw) i like the E1 best with 6 spl the locust has superb handelling but if u remain running in between enemy you will get hit and die eventualy. my tacktic is ore sneak up on a fatty and go stand directly behind the direction hes legs are pointing but preferably close to cover so u can scoot of. they often dont react to you fire till you are 2 or 3 alphas in .. if they react and focus you just run of and go bug sommone els (preferably somone who is already engaged (they often wont notise or just dont wont to expose there back to your team mate so you can often kill them real fast) so attack from behind and run of behind cover if they try to engage you and just pick a new victim. ps just by forcing the assaults to turn and try shooting you you dealay them and split the enemy team, this carry's litle risks and is a gr8 benifit to your team

ps i almost always shoot the back center torso
pps if the cover is close enof (less than 200m) pop in and out during shooting your enemy m8 be fassing the other way but i usualy die by the fire of a other guy a did not notice...
ppps sismic sensors are gr8 they tell you if u can run around a corner ore not they realy help if u dont survive a mistake..

as a aded bonus the ppl to the back of the enemy team are quite often ore lrm boots ore criticaly damaged mechs who have started to play more defensivly in the hope not to die so easy pikkings for a sneaky locust.
IMHO the evasive running is a last resort to get out of a bad situation tacktik and not the way to start your attack, it will make ppl focus you more and faster if u just ran inbetween them dogging all there shots..

edit changed V1 to E1, typo...

 

Oh, another tactic, watch for LRM indicators on enemies. When the missiles get close and start hitting, fire off a shot. A lot of people don't notice the laser fire

 

nice sneaky moves you got there

 

o and if u are chased by a light u can outrun most, just run tru the hard of your team preferably from around a corner so the chaissing light dous not know wats w8ting for him, if u want u can start fighting there if he still follows you.

 

1/ NEVER EVER FOR WHATEVER REASON, stop!
2/ Do not stray farther than one grid away from a friendly
3/ Never run straigth towards an enemy
4/ Here comes the fun part
5/ Wait for the brawl to start
6/ Wreak havoc on the enemy. Run around and in the battle, shooting at the center, outliers, whatever comes in your crosshairs,
7/ but
8/ NEVER EVER FOR WHATEVER REASON, stop!

 

Hehe I learned a long time ago that stealth can net you a lot of kills. My Ember and Jenner F have a TON of kills on maps like Tourmaline where I stood behind the entire enemy force and only fired when someone was about to get hit by LRMs. My record was 5 kills before someone turned around and saw me, and I had to scamper away.

The best part is that you can always see them frantically looking for a UAV (which I'll drop behind them too), trying to figure out who's spotting them and how.

 

this is a screen shot from a good locust game of mine using the tactic's i posted in my prev. post was a bit sad i just missed the 1K mark bet still pretty epick

btw no strikes ore other concumables (i never use them accept when i get them in a event for free)

 

You need to remain out of the main fight until the beginning phase is resolved. Then when the focus fire density has dropped you can just wade into combat relying on your tiny size and speed to avoid a vast amount of damage.

The locust is a carrion feeder, you are waiting to finish off wounded or isolated prey then move to the next target.

 

i prefer tiny shark of doom

 

Your two advantages in a Locust are speed and size, ofc ecm in a Pirates Bane but nevermind.

Early game, find the enemy and get that spot/scout bonus. Learn what the enemy lights are as they are your primary threat, secondary is to learn the enemy team loadout overall. Intel, helps you but it is also the best help for your team. Use that speed, zip fast to unexpected locations. A beagle and advanced sensors can shine in a scout.

Mid game, engage where appropriate. Preferably against already engaged foes, be sneaky and always plan that getaway. Others have described good brawl tips.

Late game, chase down those hurt mechs and be the terror plague.

 

I've found that I can actually pilot these things now. I'm not sure if it was getting back into the swing of a light, reading these, or simply that I had bad luck my first couple matches. While I will continue to level them through the module slot (as i do with all my mechs), I don't think I'm going to come back to them. They are too squishy.

I especially have problems with the firepower of the 1V and the 3S (came with the Phoenix pack so those are the ones I went with). Missile slots are hard to boat on a light, and ballistics are automatically machine guns (pun unintended) on a light if used. I've had some success, but I find the Jenner to be much easier to use.

 

Don't get injured with first fights, just scout far away from ennemies, support heavies, look for lone lrm boats..
Just survive for 5 minutes and keep your armor.

Once mechs left are core, flank, hide and hunt.
I don't manage to do that very often ^^

I consider trying "throttle decay" settings. May certainly help for "hit and hide".

 

I finally bought my locusts...it's so fun. Locust before speed tweak:



Locust AFTER speed tweak:

 

Other points which mirror other lights: Situational awareness and map knowledge.

You will live and die based on your ability to spot enemy mechs and anticipate their intentions. Its all snap decisions - you see a banshee ... which way is it facing, is it firing at something, is it a player you've fought against before, whats their armament? I mention Banshees as thats my bug bear.

If you have any doubts disengage and lead them away or hit from another angle. Your escape speed is unparalleled with the insane + acceleration/deceleration quirks. Same for peek/cover moves. No one can do it so well.

Coincidentally if its the Pirates Bane remember that if you don't want to alert people at times be ready to switch to counter. If being tricky approach a victim first with ECM then once they get the warning fade and go to counter... then go back in from another angle. Most will presume you're not within ECM range of them and focus on other targets (suckers!).

Some maps are almost made for locusts, e.g. the Bog. Why would I say that? Well a locust is minute and that map has certain areas (hint go check out the areas with low lying roots) where you can nip through to lose locks or soak damage. HPG - the side ramps under gaps are perfect for locusts. The testing grounds are your friends as you can explore maps with no risk at your leisure.

A personal warning - avoid people carefully sweeping light legs as you have the weakest legs in game (helped with quirk pass 2 a bit). Clan vomit boats are the worst. Also be careful of good gauss pilots as at 2,000+ m/s thats one fast projectile.

 

You mean you should not go mexican standoff with a direwhale using your superior armor and extreme firepower?

 

Lots of good Locust piloting advice in these replies. I would also add that an LCT can be used as an effective sniping mech due to its size, movement performance characteristics, and energy hardpoint locations on the mech relative to the cockpit (less mech exposed when firing). This goes counter to what many pilots above have said regarding not stopping (which I agree with). In comparison to using a Raven for the same task, the LCT pilot must pay close attention to the surrounding enemy units when sniping as a single shot from a long gun can seriously damage it or bring it down. Use sniping sites with good cover and concealment, and be wary of the orientation of your targets relative to your hide site. Take your shots simultaneously with other damage sources that are impacting your target as it's less likely they'll be scanning for you. Once you've been spotted, I find it's best to relocate to another hide site and not risk a single-shot take down. I would also ALWAYS recommend equipping the seismic module and keeping a good eye on the mini-map so as not to be ambushed or snuck up on. Once you start letting the ranged laser fire go, you have to assume that a) an enemy unit has a visual on your fire, and b) an enemy unit has traced it back to your hide site and is either maneuvering on you or directing comrades to your location.

Also with a sniping build, be sure to provide for shorter-range defense with machine guns or small or medium lasers. Always use an ER LLSR as your long gun since they have no minimum range; they can double as self-defense weapons, but they firing cycle time makes them not as useful in that role. I also always have improved versions of the UAV and air strike on board. Depending on the map, I may scout likely enemy routes of advance to drop a UAV before maneuvering to a hide site. Air strikes are great if you encounter light pilots that are stationary or not paying attention; the damage makes them more vulnerable to you should you have to engage them later.

Lastly, if yuor sniping target is within sensor range, ALWAYS lock it with "R". Your teammates will see your lock, and you'll know if the mech is already weak in some area(s) to make your sniping fire more effective.

 

Lots of good info