Take Kits when needed or 'in Case'?

[Rudd]

Obviously there are certain kits that a squad cannot do without, AR, Officer, medic.

but what of the others? do you grab them just in case or do you wait until the correct situation is about to happen?

Personally, I have a mix.

LAT and grenadier have a place in my squad 100% of the time just in case as they are good kits that have a range of uses as well as having a large pool to draw from (i.e. I won't be depriving my team) marksman also falls in this category, but I generally don't let my SMs take it since so many have no skill with it.

But kits such as AA, HAT, sniper and Combat engineer have specific uses and if my squad take it without being in the optimal situation for its use, my squad will either make that kit impotent or dead. This deprives the team as these kits are very limited.

e.g. an infantry squad heading for the bunkers on Kashan. Perhaps the squad on the hill could have made better use of the kit?

Ensure you have a supply crate/APC near and you'll be able to pick up any kit you might need. But if squads just take the kits without thinking...then you hamstring squads that need it.

(that is one of the reasons that people should just leave the heli squads instead of going HAT hunting until their chopper respawns)

[Jedimushroom]

So many times I spawn in at the beginning of the round and one of my guys grabs a HAT kit, it really annoys me. I agree with you, LAT and Grenadier are pretty much always useful, but anything else should only be taken if it is needed at the time or you are very likely to run into a target that requires the kit to take down.

Mostly I like to leave HAT and sniper kits to the squads designed to use them, sometimes I take AA on barracuda or similar maps, but I have given up recently due to the fact that it is useless and takes 3 shots to down a huey.

So for the most part I agree with taking the minimum of kits.

[Roborob]

I try not to take important kits without a good sense of the lay of the current battlefield. For example, I don't grab a HAT or Sniper unless I know i could bake good use of them. If I haven't been in a situation on the map where I wish I had a specific kit, I don't grab it.

ALSO NEVER GRAB HAT ON INSURGENT

[Scot]

I agree 100%, don't grab a HAT unless you a) are a dedicated AT Squad, or b) are getting raped by a tank and have no other option except to grab it to get rid of the threat.

Snipers have no place in my squad.

[snooggums]

It depends on the map. If I am an infantry squad and assaulting a flag I will not usually get a HAT or AA at the beginning because more infantry are needed and kits may be lost. If I will be a support squad and assisting with flag caps/defense I will have the specialist kits grabbed so that we will have the ability to neutralize enemy assets from a distance.

Supply crate availability matters too since if there are no forward crates I will want to haul the kit with us if we can get ammo crates on site.

[volks]

One more thing is that people take those kits by joining different named squads.

for example, i see many snipers in Huey or Tank squads. Or many HAT kits in Cobra or ATK huey squads.

That is not fair i think. I usually try to be a recon or sniper squad member but i can't get those kits cuz of some people. Also i never get into inf or another squads with a sniper kit. Scot is right about that.

Beyond all these facts, are there any solutions about using the kits wisely in PR?

[McBumLuv]

It depends. I'll often have a goal in my mind as to what I want to accomplish in my squad. In that case, I'm 90% of the time not fighting on the front lines, but rather doing support roles. In that case, I"ll usually have us grab kits such as AA and HAT preemptively.

For instance, a few nights ago on Muttrah Docks, I had my squad just sit back with the MEC about one flag back from the one we were assaulting/holding as the MEC. We set up and FOB, and defended it from the snipers, APCs and inbound infantry. We ended up destroying 1 APC with our HAT, used the HAT for long-range anti-sniper warfare, and defended from an entire infantry squad, whilst maintaining the spawn point for the entire team.

We ended with a squad KDR of 9-0 and were the best MEC squad. So in this case, my goal in mind was clearly support, and not direct confrontation. Seeing as it was that, taking the kits "in case" was appropriate, since we never expected to get into fighting that we wouldn't lose, and stayed back and kept every kit alive.

Now, when I'm actively capping flags as an SL, I'll request that every keep their own base kits for the most part, because 1) I usually never have a concrete "plan" as an offensive squad , it's all touch and go with only plans made a few steps ahead of me (if you tried planning the match in this case, Murphy's law would get ahead of you ), and 2) We'll often get overrun or lose our kits, so losing a HAT or AA to the enemy is disastrous and unneeded.

[Brummy]

It depends. I'll often have a goal in my mind as to what I want to accomplish in my squad. In that case, I'm 90% of the time not fighting on the front lines, but rather doing support roles. In that case, I"ll usually have us grab kits such as AA and HAT preemptively.

For instance, a few nights ago on Muttrah Docks, I had my squad just sit back with the MEC about one flag back from the one we were assaulting/holding as the MEC. We set up and FOB, and defended it from the snipers, APCs and inbound infantry. We ended up destroying 1 APC with our HAT, used the HAT for long-range anti-sniper warfare, and defended from an entire infantry squad, whilst maintaining the spawn point for the entire team.

We ended with a squad KDR of 9-0 and were the best MEC squad. So in this case, my goal in mind was clearly support, and not direct confrontation. Seeing as it was that, taking the kits "in case" was appropriate, since we never expected to get into fighting that we wouldn't lose, and stayed back and kept every kit alive.

Now, when I'm actively capping flags as an SL, I'll request that every keep their own base kits for the most part, because 1) I usually never have a concrete "plan" as an offensive squad , it's all touch and go with only plans made a few steps ahead of me (if you tried planning the match in this case, Murphy's law would get ahed of you ), and 2) We'll often get overrun or lose our kits, so losing a HAT or AA to the enemy is disastrous and uneeded.

Wait, was that when we had 0 deaths ?

[Masterbake]

Wait, was that when we had 0 deaths ?

Yes, it was when you had a squad KDR of 9/0.

I would say combat engineer isn't normally a kit to be taken by regular squads as there is often a 2man team for that in certain maps. I guess it's okay to take Engy/HAT/AA if, as with other things, there are no dedicated squad already set up for them.

Better to have 2 infantry squads with a HAT each than both kits sitting inside a crate, all lonely.

[Jigsaw]

Agreed 100% Rudd, L-AT will always be in my squad unless it is a pure inf map, grenadier too.

H-AT, AA and combat engi kits are for selecting if the situation demands.

You will never see a sniper in my squad.

Also @Mcluv that was an awesome round

[gazzthompson]

if you "need a kit" its already to late.

[Roborob]

if you "need a kit" its already to late.

Not if you can get it, or the tank (or whatever) is still in the area

[Masterbake]

By "need" I don't think people mean there's 100% chance that it'll be necessary in the next minute, but if there's an angry APC or Tank in the area there's a pretty good chance you'll run into it sometime. If you're on the move it's better to take a free HAT kit and keep going towards your objective than to just sit around until it's safe, or worse be defenseless against it in the open.

[gazzthompson]

Not if you can get it, or the tank (or whatever) is still in the area

of course, but why take the risk of "sh*t tank!!! wheres the nearest box!"

[Roborob]

because its better than "Sh*t tank!!!! **** we already lost the HAT 2 mins ago!"

[Smegburt_funkledink]

You will never see a sniper in my squad.

Lies!



I owned.

[badmojo420]

because its better than "Sh*t tank!!!! **** we already lost the HAT 2 mins ago!"

No, it would be more like "Shit, tank, i'll get a HAT kit, oh shit they've all been issued"

We know what enemy assets we will be facing, i see no problem in securing a means to destroy those assets ahead of time. If you base your game tactics off the possiblity of dying soon, you've already failed imo.

Also, with a HAT or AA the prep time is immense. In some cases if an APC/tank/helo/etc are good at what they do, you'll have a very small window to attack, which is not the time you should start running over to request a kit.

Another question i'd be curious about is the amount of people who run with their specialized weapon drawn and prepped. There's nothing funnier than driving an APC up to infantry and seeing one switch to a HAT, some people would panic, but if you keep th games constraints in mind, you know you have a good 15sec before he becomes a threat.

If you play with me you'll see me 90% of the time with an AA or LAT launcher in my hands. Even if theres no sign of enemy helos/vehicles. It just pays off far too often, a helicopter will come flying up over a hill and before my squad can even report it over voip, my missile is headed towards him. And if you ever get attacked by INF, it takes all of 3-5sec to pull out your rifle.

[Scot]

Agreed 100% Rudd, L-AT will always be in my squad unless it is a pure inf map, grenadier too.

I think it's a viable option to take the LAT kit on purely inf maps, it's a) a great scare tactic and b) a great suppressor and c) it's a rocket resulting in a big explosion, what's not too like?

[McBumLuv]

I think it's a viable option to take the LAT kit on purely inf maps, it's a) a great scare tactic and b) a great suppressor and c) it's a rocket resulting in a big explosion, what's not too like?

Not since 0.86. The radius is unbelievably small. IE, I once failed with the RPG and hit the wall a meter in front of me and I was barely scratched.

[Zrix]

I think it's a viable option to take the LAT kit on purely inf maps, it's a) a great scare tactic and b) a great suppressor and c) it's a rocket resulting in a big explosion, what's not too like?

Also quite useful if you spot a FOB in the open at longer ranges.