Would like to get better at using the Phobos Mine Launcher

[Subarco]

I did a little search to if there was any guides to using this gun, but I am either blind or there isn't much on how to use this gun effectively. My goal is try to use this not as a mere placement on the odd weapon slot, but somewhat offensively.


So what I know so far:
Basically everything from the wiki (although I'm not sure if I should trust the numbers 100%?). I also did a couple rough tests and found that there seems to be a set distance (which I assume is the 200 meters) in which the mine deploys. It's the same horizontal distance regardless of how high or low you aim. Also, it seems to either go through or do minimal damage to ship if it hits before arming. If it hits the ground before arming, the mine is destroyed with no explosions. It may have a chance to cause 5 stacks of fire when it hits.


Questions I have:
First, how do you aim and place the mines?

Does anyone know the exact degree of the arc this gun has?
Horizontal and upwards arc seems to be decent, but it doesn't have much of a downward arc.

What is the radius of the detonation and the trigger range?
The wiki says the AoE is 3.5 (meters I assume) radius. However, when it triggers, I notice almost all the components on the ship gets hit. Unless the 3.5 meters is really the trigger radius, the AoE definitely seems much much bigger.

Best ships to use it on?
I played around with it on the Squid. One strategy I have right now is to use carronades to pop balloons, lay a few mines above the ship so the mines detonates as the enemy ship tries to rise. Other good ships to put it on?

Best ammo types for it?
Lesmok really increases the range of this mine, (rough testing shows almost double). Charged and bursts would be good I think. Lochnager I imagine would be perfect if you are sure you can hit the target. Any other good choices?

Anything else I should know about the gun?

Thanks!

[Imagine]

Lesmok is rather pointless. You gain very little value out of managing to shoot it further. Burst ammo for more aoe damage and loch for a whooping amount of damage are more preferable, just be careful with Loch because if you're flying forwards and shooting the mines in front of you, you're going to have a very bad day.

[Captain Smollett]

The mine deploys after 3 seconds which is 165 meters using regular ammunition.

Unfortunately I can't find the gun arc info anywhere, if anyone has it I'd be curious to know myself.

Aiming mines can be assisted by looking at the bars on the gun itself.  One of the lower lines aligns with the altitude the mine will deploy at using regular ammunition and one of the line aligns with the altitude lesmok shots deploy at.

Aoe range is 5 meters.  Trigger range is impact.

Junkers uses mines the best imho though it has uses in spires and sometimes squid and galleon rear guns.

All your ammo types work well on it, the only one you missed is incendiary to increase the chance of fire stacks.  Burst is best for laying mine fields (as it increases chance of chain reactions) and lochnagar mines are devistating though you break your gun to shoot them and they have reduced aoe.  Lesmok increases the range by 70% (so almost double is accurate).

You should check out some competitive matches that BFS played in recently.  There one of few teams to leverage mines successfully as an offensive weapon in competitive play.

[Captain Smollett]

Lesmok is rather pointless. You gain very little value out of managing to shoot it further.

I'll have to disagree on this one.  When mining offensively, switching between lesmok rounds and alternate ammunition let you adjust the range of your shot enabling you to more easily plant a mine in the path of a moving enemy.

[Subarco]

Thanks for the quick replies! Where can I find gameplay of BFS matches? And why the Junker? Is it because of ability to place mines from the front and sides?

[N-Sunderland]

http://youtu.be/bhuAWUmhTIA

That's BFS's most recent competitive match.

The Junker has several qualities that make it a great mining ship. One advantage comes from its gun setup, which allows it to get two mine launchers on one target in addition to a third gun, like a carronade or a gat. Despite that, you still have room for a regular brawl side opposite that, giving you something to fall back on if they get in close. Its high turning speed is also good for reorienting for the mine gunners/gungineers and also for switching sides.

[Captain Smollett]

You can probably find bfs matches mixed in with matches recorded on http://www.twitch.tv/gunsoficarus
and
http://www.twitch.tv/cesports

The Junker has 5 gun slots so you can afford to dedicate 2-3 gun slots for mines while still leaving other slots available for different weaponry and very quick acceleration so you can change your engage distance quickly to get your mine launcher/s in their ideal range and hold them there.

edit - ninja'd by Sunder again

[HamsterIV]

To use mines effectively the captain and the gunner have to be very in sync. The mine launcher has the smallest effective range of any gun in the game, and the captain needs to park the ship in that range to be effective. The gunners need to feed the captain targeting information "too far," "too close," "too high," and "too low."

I find the best ship to use mines with is a squid. Make both the front and side gun mounts mine launchers, and make the rear something you can support an ally with if the enemy gets too close to use mines. The mine launcher has a very wide turning arc and both the side and front guns can overlap easily. The best ammunition for mines is burst since it increases the blast radius and increases the chance of a multi mine explosion. Lesmok is also useful if you have a gunner that can swap between burst and lesmok as range changes.

As for shooting a mine launcher, the mine only does max damage if it deploys before impact. If it hits without exploding, you are too close and need to tell your captain to back off. At optimal range do not shoot directly at the target, but shoot in the direction it is traveling. If the ship is stationery shoot so that the mine passes as close to without hitting the enemy ship's hull as you can. If you do this right the mine will deploy for 1/2 a second then explode. If you have multiple mines in the area they too will go off and you get a cascading effect that either cripples a ship or destroys it outright.

A dense mine field can one shot a galleon from full health. It takes a long time to set one up and a lot can go wrong in the mean time. Usually one mine hit will put an enemy ship into repair mode. While the enemy crew is busy fixing things and not shooting you, the mining ship can adjust range and dump enough mines to setup an instant kill. If during this time the target's friend shows up the mining squid will have to break contact. Breaking contact with a brawler is easy, dump mines and fly backward. If the brawler strikes a mine they go into defensive mode and become your new victim. It is harder with sniper ships because they usually can't be suckered into your mine field.

If the enemy team decides to 1v1 a mine squid the squid will eventually win. If they decide to 2v1 the squid will hopefully be able to disengage and hurt one of the ships. If they decide to 2v1 the squid's ally the squid has to choose between using the one non mine launcher to support the ally or risk friendly fire by dumping mines into a furball.

[Zenark]

You must fly on Spud Nick's or Pieman's mining Junkers or my Mining Squid. The best way to get better is obviously with practice.

Lesmok, if using mines offensively, is a must have! Bring three range changing ammo types. I use Lesmok for long ranges, Charged for medium, and Incendiary for very short ranges. With lesmok, the mine will deploy slightly under your reticle while with incendiary, it'll drop like a depth charge so you have to aim higher than with the other ammo types. Don't aim directly at your target unless you're sure of range, instead, aim in front of them if they're going forward (obviously) and aim for their sides of they're moving slowly. If it deploys close enough, it'll still detonate, and if it doesn't, they'll still have less room to move in.

As you get better, you'll be able to deploy mines directly above or below a ship, quickly changing thier altitude. Putting a ship near the ground and placing mines above her is a great way to lock someone down or slam then back to the ground.

Combine the mine's awesome armor stripping abilities with an explosive weapon and you've got a very unusual, incredibly annoying strategy.

[dragonmere]

Unfortunately I can't find the gun arc info anywhere, if anyone has it I'd be curious to know myself.

Pitch Degrees :-45 to 15
Yaw Degrees : -60 to 60

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly confident in those numbers.

[Subarco]

Thanks guys for all the help! I'm a lot better at shooting mines now. I can pretty much hit every other shot if I'm in effective range. My main thing to practice is to position the ship into effective range as a pilot. It's easy to do so in practice, but doing it in the heat of combat is another story.

[NoWuffo]

Now the true test at becoming a mine gunner is by setting up a defensive mine field, like the bully boys demonstrated against the wolvies. The Rhinos also had luck with it, but their mine placements weren't as tight as the BFS. Definitely study their play and learn from them.

BFS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhuAWUmhTIA&list=SPXy5l_wXGi3hlm71mRb-qQnhVYvo-0vPH&index=1
(seriously, the first engagement will make you smile!)
SIR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCBdBykturs

[Sprayer]

Don't need no dense minefield when a single mine is enough to block them. (10:17-10:50; 13:07; 19:07-19:12)
All ammotypes but lesmok deploy on the same height when you are facing the gun 0° vertically, ammo that reduces projectile speed - incendiary (, greased, heatsink; never use those with minelauncher though) deploys the mine higher when you shoot downwards and lower when you shoot upwards. That difference is barely noticeable though, so the only ammo type for which you have to actually include the difference in height into your extrapolation should be lesmok.

[Spud Nick]

You can use mines more aggressively and fly around your target. Launch mines in front of them or behind them so that they deploy right next to the enemy ship. That way the pilot has no time to react and will run into your mines.