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[arwan]

it may be me but the slow speed and slow tracking of this missile seems to really work against its long range. when fired at an AI it seems exceedingly easy for them to just dodge around them. or shoot them down before they get anywhere near there target. many times i have shot them just to see them completely miss a target that just turns ever so slightly. its like the missile is a car trying to drive on ice. that combined with there effectively slow speed makes me go..."hmm i have 3 pilum launchers thats 9 missiles.. if i launch a volly from half there range. i might give there PD weapons some target practice." i very rarely ever shoot them expecting to hit anything anymore i have relegated them to the role of fighter cover i try and launch them to cover my bombers so the pd wont pay attention to fighters. the only time i launch them anymore expecting to hit anything is against a capital ship that has its shields down and im on top of them.. and even then they can miss due to the pd of most capital ships.

i really think this missile needs something extra to run in its favor. either a change in its ability to track a target (for example) its poor tracking ability at range but once its within say 100 su it switches to a much more accurate targeting computer or some such that doesn't drift as much.

or maybe a straight line speed boost. if its not trying to do a hard turn it could get faster. and on sufficiently hard turns be forced to slow so as to not drift so badly and be able to track the target.

all in all i like the amount of ammo they have and with most missiles had as much or more. just wish that when i hit the fire button i could feel like i did something threatening to another ship with them.

[Dreyven]

Well, they are not that bad
I have to admit, they don't hit very often, but that's not what they are supposed to do (sounds strange (?))
They keep enemies in check, fly around everywhere, pollute the universe, sometimes hit people in the rear or when they vent flux etc
But mostly they are a way of zoning enemies, most fighters and frigates while have to outmaneuver them, which gives you the chance to hit them
that's y you have so many of them... launch 3 at a time etc...
if you have 4 or 5 of those launchers in your fleet that really ads up to alot of missilles flying around

and it's a good way to shoot down some of the retreating ships ^^

[Iscariot]

They're most useful against slower ships with directional shields, since it forces them to face their shields in a particular direction. The effects of pilums aren't easily detected, since usually they just force a shield shift and something else gets the kill, but having been on the receiving end, I can definitely say that they're useful in pressuring a ship.

[MidnightSun]

Yep, I think Pilums are near-useless in terms of doing actual damage except against small ships that lack PD, but they're mainly useful in pressuring enemies to redirect their shield or occupying their PD, giving other ships more of a chance to deal some actual damage.

[Qloos]

Pilums are long range support weapons, nothing more.  The fact that the enemy ship has to fire point defenses and raise shields to deal with this threat is the benefit.  It forces the defending ship to raise it's flux levels while dealing with the assault vessels. 

[Steven Shi]

^ This

It's a support weapon instead of direct assault. You can launch volley after volley across the map and force AI to keep its shield up. Also, every flak round aimed at the missiles is one that's not aimed at you bombers. =)

[arwan]

but.. missiles are not developed to be a decoy. which is what you have all just said as well as me. missiles are supposed to be shot so something goes boom because it hit them. there a reach out and touch someone weapon. and that is supposed to be how they "support" your assault.

if i shoot a weapon and that weapon does no damage.. then in a game such as this.. its no weapon.

[Iscariot]

They're not 'decoys' in that sense-- there's real value in stopping a pilum from hitting, they do a decent amount of damage, objectively speaking. They're just 'support' in the sense that they're not a primary strike weapon. Read the description behind the Longbow support fighter-- it's defined as a support vehicle because of its missiles.

[tinsoldier]

but.. missiles are not developed to be a decoy. which is what you have all just said as well as me. missiles are supposed to be shot so something goes boom because it hit them. there a reach out and touch someone weapon. and that is supposed to be how they "support" your assault.

if i shoot a weapon and that weapon does no damage.. then in a game such as this.. its no weapon.

I agree.

It's annoying that the 'support' they give is raising my flux... when my PD needlessly shoots at pilums flying right by me because I turned 3 degrees.

Let's not forget that they are a 14 OP Medium Missile weapon that some folks are arguing is valuable because people might shoot it down.  (excuse me for being somewhat hyperbolic, Pilums frustrate the hell out of me)

[Iscariot]

You get thirty missiles a rack, I think the spammability and the ability to hit targets from across the map definitely makes them a tactical asset. Sometimes, murdering people isn't about throwing a heavy weapon in their face. Sometimes its about throwing rocks at them, and while they're shaking their fist at you, your friend jams a knife in their kidneys.

[Dreyven]

also... think about who would want to use those LRM's


1. the fragile buffalo MK.II support destroyer...
who can't go into a fight because he lacks shields and get's killed in a matter of second, so it's his way of helping

2. your carriers, because they have to stay farther back, easy targets aswell

3. some of the bigger ships
hunt down a wounded fleeing ship
do something when you are not there because you are so slow... etc

[arwan]

unfortunately the pilum missile itself is so slow that unless your wounded retreating ship is a capital ship it likely wont ever catch up to it. and if it is a capital ship that is crippled and retreating the rest of your fleet is going to be finishing it off likely well before your pilums are of any real threat to it anyway.

[Steven Shi]

Pilum has its uses as long range harassment with potential for high damage if you time you attack right. It's not suppose to be the 'perfect' missile of choice.

It all comes down to play style. Some might switch it for torpedo for that all-or-nothing approach and other will find chipping away at long range to be their thing.

I think Alex has done a good job of have a variety of balanced weapons available to suit all playing style. If you reallllly want a fast, long range, super tracking and one-shot-kill missile then play around with the weapon csv file.   

[MidnightSun]

No, the point is that a Pilum volley does relatively good damage if it actually hits, although it's nothing spectacular. So, it is in the best interest of the target to turn their shield to absorb it, thereby opening themselves up to more damage (or, if you launch two volleys, another set of Pilum missiles). The relative ease with which Pilums can be destroyed is countered by the large rack size, the 3x missiles per volley, and the extremely long range.

[Paul]

Pilums are highly useful as-is, for the reasons people have already stated. I've seen many times a ship get overloaded by other guns and take serious damage or die to pilums, or redirect its shield for pilums and get nailed by something else.

I was playing around exploiting this behavior the other day by making a ship with pilums and AM blasters. Launch some pilums off to the side, which come back around from the rear. Ship turns its shields to block them, fly in and BAM double am blaster to the hull.