Heatseakers or ImRecs? An analysis of missiles

I'd agree with wedge about the DF missles. One of the little joys I pulled from the wing commander 1 series was hitting a Jalthi with a DF !(but even that didnt kill them sometimes!) THe real test is hitting a salthi with one (usually only works when they are going ater the Claw at some point, they pretty much ignore you)

C-ya
 
Originally posted by Wedge009
Tracker MIRV - they're actually four full FFs strapped together. They are good against corvettes if there are no other enemies near it.
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I love those little bastards. The only fighter in WC:p that I really enjoyed flying was the Wasp.
 
Originally posted by Wedge009
I don't like the HS in WCP as they don't re-acquire lock, and they're weaker than the Enhanced IRs which come later. Still, I suppose they're useful in the earlier missions (and are better than nothing).
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Um... hate to burst your bubble... but no HS in any game re-aquires a lock.

As such, the IR is the weakest missile of the bunch... it has the biggest computer, and the least room for a decent warhead. But it's still a damn good missile. According to the Prophecy manual, it really only does more damage in its enhanced form. And even then, the difference isn't too great (520 for the E ImRec, 400 for the Heatseeker).
 
Originally posted by Saturnyne


Um... hate to burst your bubble... but no HS in any game re-aquires a lock.

As such, the IR is the weakest missile of the bunch... it has the biggest computer, and the least room for a decent warhead. But it's still a damn good missile. According to the Prophecy manual, it really only does more damage in its enhanced form. And even then, the difference isn't too great (520 for the E ImRec, 400 for the Heatseeker).
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i thought that the FF missile did the least damage due to all the equipment on board for tracking IFF's taking up warhead space?
 
All the missiles are useful, in some situations.

For a massive firefight, you can't do too much better than the FoFs or the Tracker MIRV. Fire off a couple of those babies, and you'll suddenly have about three or four targets left. Very useful in Secret Ops, when the Nephilim attempt to overwhelm you with massive swarms of fighters and every NAV point is a battle of attrition.

HS missiles aren't as useful in Prophecy, but they work real good on those annoyingly fast Squids. When their petals come back out, the missiles catch up. In WC4, they worked great for that Black Lance base infiltration mission where you had to kill the Dragons running for the jump point.

I still like the IRs, though...most bang for your buck, and they packed a decent punch.

My all time favorite is Rockets, though. Yeah, rockets. Nothing like charging into a Devil Ray and hitting the missile button like mad, and watching his front armor vanish.
 
I'm really split between the IR and the Swarmer. I mean, obviously both are excellent, I suppose for me it just depends on what I'm fighting. (Sometimes you need all the fire-power of the Swarmer, but most of the time those IR's will take care of just about anything your spending them on.)
 
I always use the IR, especially the ELRIR, over the Swarmers. Swarmers take too long to lock on and their range aint so great, it does look pretty cool when you fire them though. They would be better if they locked onto several enemies at once instead of one.
 
Originally posted by Oggy


i thought that the FF missile did the least damage due to all the equipment on board for tracking IFF's taking up warhead space?
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You're right, FoF missiles are weaker than both IR and HS.
 
Originally posted by Saturnyne
Um... hate to burst your bubble... but no HS in any game re-aquires a lock.
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And what a bubble it was, oh, I'm so devastated. ;) I didn't think they re-acquired lock either, but the manuals of earlier games claimed they did, and I remember people claiming that they saw reacquisition as well.

Originally posted by Saturnyne
520 for the E ImRec, 400 for the Heatseeker
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Which is why the Spiculum ELRIR or Artemis is your best friend. :)

Originally posted by Nep Parth
For a massive firefight, you can't do too much better than the FoFs or the Tracker MIRV. Fire off a couple of those babies, and you'll suddenly have about three or four targets left.
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Not for me, especially since FFs are so weak and Trackers tend to go after only one or two targets.

Originally posted by Nep Parth
HS missiles aren't as useful in Prophecy, but they work real good on those annoyingly fast Squids.
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Good point, especially when they first show up and you're still in a Tigershark or whatever.

Originally posted by Ringtail
Swarmers take too long to lock on and their range ain't so great... they would be better if they locked onto several enemies at once instead of one.
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True about the lack of range - sometimes I could take the target out with guns before it finishes lock. But there's no sense in having the Swarmers track several targets - I don't think the individual missiles are that strong. Strength in numbers and all that (hence 'swarmer').
 
Originally posted by Wedge009
And what a bubble it was, oh, I'm so devastated. ;) I didn't think they re-acquired lock either, but the manuals of earlier games claimed they did, and I remember people claiming that they saw reacquisition as well.
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Hehehehehehe. I am Saturnyne, destroyer of bubbles!

I have never seen a heatseeker re-acquire a target. They don't turn quickly enough. Once they lose a lock, they just kind of fly in a line until their propellant runs out. At least, in my experience.
 
It annoys me that Confed can construct a sophisticated weapon like the IR and yet cannot construct an all aspect heat seeker. Such weapons have existed since the late twentieth century. Furthermore if FF missiles can re-acquire a new target, shouldn't HS be able to do the same thing? Or is it an intentionally dumb missile?

Somebody mentioned shooting rockets in a head to head pass. Everytime I tried that the other guy shot down my missiles :mad:
 
an all aspect HS would be nice BUT it will have to lock on a fighter's whole heat signature, meaning, if the fighter changed its heat signature, the missile will lose its lock, unless the opponent remodulates his shields to be 100% effective against explosive weapons, which brings me to.......... bloody hell, i'm ranting
 
Besides, an all aspect heat seeker would just be an imrec with a longer lock time, which wouldn't have apealed from a game design point of view.

Best, Raptor
 
If your that great a fan of the Swarmer missile types just create a cluster bomb with DFs and extended-burn Mosquito RPs...

as for HS, the only good use Ive found for them (the Bug's burn, sit, spin, burn flying sorta limits their usefulness) is tailing close and just keep em on standby, hear tone and ram it up a tailpipe.
 
Originally posted by Saturnyne


Hehehehehehe. I am Saturnyne, destroyer of bubbles!

I have never seen a heatseeker re-acquire a target. They don't turn quickly enough. Once they lose a lock, they just kind of fly in a line until their propellant runs out. At least, in my experience.
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The Heatseeker will lock onto the nearest target within its field of vision if it loses lock. This can be a chaff pod/decoy, an enemy ship, or a friendly ship, but the new target must be in front of the missile to be locked.

As for strategies, my own preference in WC1/2/3/4, where missiles can kill lighter ships in one hit, is to use missiles to shoot down one of the enemy ships to even the odds at the beginning of the fight--dogfighting against three Darkets instead of four can often make the difference in whether I am blown up or not.
 
Originally posted by Ijuin

The Heatseeker will lock onto the nearest target within its field of vision if it loses lock. This can be a chaff pod/decoy, an enemy ship, or a friendly ship, but the new target must be in front of the missile to be locked.

As for strategies, my own preference in WC1/2/3/4, where missiles can kill lighter ships in one hit, is to use missiles to shoot down one of the enemy ships to even the odds at the beginning of the fight--dogfighting against three Darkets instead of four can often make the difference in whether I am blown up or not.
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Everyone has a strategy, but I use a different one. I save my missiles to the moment I really need them. If things get hot when I´m dogfighting several fighters using guns only, I´d fire a couple of ImRecs to improve my odds...
About the missiles killing lighter ships in one hit, it does not happen in WC1/3/4, though I´ve busted some Sartha in WC2 with one missile. For instance, WC1 missiles do very little damage.
My favorite missile is the Swarmer, and I really like that FoF cluster in WCP. But I´d fly every mission with my everyday Image Recognition warheads...
 
Originally posted by Starkey


Everyone has a strategy, but I use a different one. I save my missiles to the moment I really need them. If things get hot when I´m dogfighting several fighters using guns only, I´d fire a couple of ImRecs to improve my odds...
About the missiles killing lighter ships in one hit, it does not happen in WC1/3/4, though I´ve busted some Sartha in WC2 with one missile. For instance, WC1 missiles do very little damage.
My favorite missile is the Swarmer, and I really like that FoF cluster in WCP. But I´d fly every mission with my everyday Image Recognition warheads...
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In WC4, at any level below crazy/nightmare, an IR missile can take out any fighter or bomber, even a Longbow, Avenger, or Dragon. In WC3 I have also been able to take out Darkets and Dralthis with a single IR hit at levels below crazy/nightmare.
 
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