When should i lockdown (prowler)

I've certed heavily into my tank and im owning with it but i'm struggling deciding when to use my ability

when there's a light assault just lock down and it'll scare him away

When you think your enemy is a poor shot and you feel like giving him a sporting chance

Whenever you see a scythe flying behind you.

You should do it when you see a liberator on the horizon and you are way behind friendly lines. Or when you just feel lonely and want someone to drop pod on top of you with a fun gift.

Use it together with a ap main gun and a halberd against vanguards since well you dont rly want to be close to vanguards anyways with the whole shield nonsens. But if there is any esf's / infantry / other tanks close to you DONT USE IT!!!!!!!!!!.


altho i have most fun in my prowler rolling Ap + Vulcan and fire suppresion instead of lockdown since lockdown dosent fit the prowler in the first place .

To be more direct on this.

Never lock down unless your timer is up for getting another one AND you have the vehicle resources to get another. The only somewhat viable times to lockdown are wasted due to infantry rendering distance issues anyway.

What?
Is it really THAT bad?

I use when I have a hight and cover advantage, I like to find mountains or large hills to scale, then setup behind a rock that leaves just my gun exposed, make sure to check behind you often to avoid C4 monkeys. The other day I was scaling a cliff when I found a straight 30 degree angle slope, I drove down it carefuly and when I was about to fall of I deployed and it ended up sticking me to rhe wall like a spider, I was awesome

The beauty of the lockdown is being able to fire artilary like barrages from insane distances with sniper like accuracy, find a smart position and let the 60+ kill streaks roll in.

Do not deploy when facing another tank head on, only ever deploy when you have not been seen first.

Mainly becuse SoE thought it was a fantastic idea to give the fastest tank with close quarters Es wep the ability to stand still

Even if, i've leveled it up pretty hard and the reload time is tiny

The only situation i've used it correctly was deploying behind enemy lines

Im not very good at sniper tanking

Use it whenever another tank can't get to your rear by the time the fight is over, see too many prowler drivers attempt to back up away from my charging vangaurd and i just laugh, your tank is faster, just not going backwards, and with the extra survivability of a vangaurd, sometimes i won't even shoot back at these guys unless i'm in that i can't miss range, you're much better off just locking down in these situations and making me hit my shield before i get too close.

If anything lockdown seems like its more of an issue with infantry, lock-ons and even dumbfires would make your life hell being unable to move quickly.

[quote="IamDH, post: 2117025, member: 1540Im not very good at sniper tanking [/quote]

Perhaps you just need some practice, you dont have to be sniper distance though, just need good hight and cover advantage.

Necessary conditions for a safe lockdown:
- no way for enemy infantry to get close to you
- right next to cover, if you start taking hits, by the time you've unscrewed yourself from the ground your tank is almost always in critical condition
- if you're fighting MBTs at medium range: only when you can take the enemy by surprise, locking down when you've already been spotted is suicidal, especially against magriders with manned sarons

At long to very long range, it's almost always safe, unless there are AV turrets or lancers in the area.
Works against hoverpodders that are deep in your territory pretty well, but only if they're not interested in you.

PS: I have lockdown maxed out on my prowler

Either when you flank your enemy, or at long range.

I use lockdown mainly on. Base farming (duh), when at range (camping hills etc, Lockdown with reload certs will make hitting tanks at any range much easier, and you can pound them a lot faster so they go down pretty quick (and or panic and run away) when you come up against a feeble tank (Lightnings drop within a few seconds when you've got reload speed certed) When you want to pick off air it's also very effective, it makes shooting down ESFs a breeze with a slight bit of leading with the x-hair.

Never use it against. Infantry when they're close by (once one guy hits you, they all start catching on and aiming their rockets at you), Harrassers, MBT if they have any sort of flank on you (Front Armor cert is a good armor choice imo so anything from the side and back will hurt a lot).

People play differently so don't always agree, but those are just a few things I can think of for when I'll often lockdown, the rest is just common sense. If you want to kill something and feel you're safe, just use it, it turns you into a 2 man tank destroyer xD

I use it when attacking from long to extreme distance from a defensive or flanking position. The higher rate of fire and increased projectile speed are best used from a safe position, it wont save you if you're flanked by a vanguard or magrider at mid to close range. Just remember that bolting yourself to the ground in a fluid close range situation is usually a death sentence unless you're extremely experienced with the tools at hand.

Deploy is great when running HE and going up against infantry only that don't have too many heavies or LA's with C4. It is pretty good when running AP and fighting a mag that is dodging your shots at that perfect distance where they can dodge you, but you can't really dodge them.

Any other time it's really only really good for ambushing so that you can plaster the back of some tank/vehicle (vanguards more then mags generally.) Or wailing on an enemy lib or galaxy that has decided to stand still right in your crosshairs.

When should you lock down? When I am sneaking up behind you with my C4 or when I am flying in low with my Breakers aimed at your prowlers rear quadrant...

No seriously. Don't ever lock down... Lock ons, ESF's, LA's, Engi AT turrets, flanking enemies aka Lolling harassers etc. Even when you spot an enemy at long range and you lock down to snipe him it's a gamble because an ESF can easily drop down from nowhere and murder you no problem...

Lock down on a tank in this game is just a stupid idea.