Okay guys, here's a tough one. Earlier tonight, I was asked to use motion spotters instead of sensor darts with... let's call it fairly valid reasoning (and as much as I was having to doge sniper fire and return shots at the same time, putting out darts was a ***** anyways). However, the Motion Spotter isn't really something I ever put certs into. I see the time to time on the field and I enjoy popping them back into oblivion, but I've never really considered using them myself. I love the fact, personally, that I can light up an entire base with a few quick darts fired, but how does the Motion Spotter hold up for that? Thanks in advance! !Akaran
the motion spotter last longer snipers that stay on the same spot use them so thy can see if somebody is sneaking up to them i can tell u this is not working very well if u sneak slow and sideways up tho them = bang easy kill the motion spotters are only a helping hand if u can place 1 in the center off a base that is under attack keep using the sensor darts and upgrade them fully so u can see cloaked infils when thy are moving if u fire them all in a base thy are even more helpful then the motion spotter u just have to find a engineer to reload the darts
Motion spotter: (Best suited for CQC-medium infils) Pros, Last long, covers a large area, rarely needs to be resupplied, can be used for booby traps. Cons, Must be deployed (cant be fired from range) which makes it less useful for snipers. Sensor darts: (Best suited for medium-long range, but works well in CQC aswell) Pros, Can be fired from afar, can cover massive areas with ammo packs, works in all situations Cons, requires resupply often, large minimap presence If your already heavily invested in one of them then you really shouldnt bother getting the other until such a time that you dont really need certs anymore.
I always use the motion spotter. It's a really nice tool in all those fights that don't move very much, like the fight for a capture point etc. You just place it in some corner (no real need to hide it, 99% of enemies only kill it AFTER the fight is already over) and get a nice overview of where the enemies are and moving + some XP Thing with the darts is, they only last that short and the effect on the map really catches the eye, so enemies actively avoid it. Also the time spent to shoot out new ones makes u probably vulnerably for longer than having to place the spotter once. Only use the dart for applications where you want intel about enemies around a place you can't reach.
I personally prefer sensor darts. If I want to know what's going on 100 meters away, in an area full of enemies or otherwise hard to access, it just takes me a second to send one there. Also lets me lit up a way larger area. With motion spotters in the other hand, you can only reveal what's right around you. Better and for a longer time, yes, but still. That's a decrease in potential range I don't want to have to put up with. Plus people tend to hunt down and destroy these things.
i have both certed out, and i prefer the motion spotter. to know where the ennemy is looking at, is a huge advantage that i don't want to miss. also the spotter provide me a constant information about ennemy movement, while the dart only refreshes every few seconds. PS: And don't forget, your Team will love you, when you detect an ennemy max-crash before it beginns. (Your team need all the time they can get, to prepare for stopping a max-crash) And this is something, that only the motion spotter can do. also the motionspotter is great for setting traps. you can either leave mine near your spotter, or a stalker, to get an easy kill but as said before, the motion spotter is somewhat static. If you are in a battel with fast moving frontlines, or you need to cover a huge area, the dart bekommes more userfriendly annyway, keep in mind you can both at the same time. You can deploy the motionspotter at the sunderer, and take the dart to the frontline. By doing so, the sunderer is less likely to be destroyed by a few LA/Engys, and you can also bring radar support to the frontline.
Sensor darts are the way to go most of time for me. You shoot them ahead of you to scout an area instead of running into a potential death zone to put down your motion spotter clueless of what's going on there. You can also track scattered, hiding and fleeing enemies with them as well. The only times I ever put down a motion spotter is near friendly sunderers, in towers and when the enemy has surrounded my spawn and is camping it a few meters away. but then I immediately switch back to darts after putting down a motions sensor.
The motion spotter is a gimmick for spawn room warriors. It can only be placed under your feet, only one can be deployed at once, it shows up on the map for all your enemies and it can easily be destroyed.
Motion spotter all the way. Sure, darts could tell me on long range if there are enemies, but I don't snipe. I want to know where they are going, looking, etc. Motion spotter does all that, at a comparatively higher range, constantly and for a long time. In any base fight, I don't need to know there's enemies around, that much is a given.
Motion spotter: -Doesn't scan for enemies every 2 sec but keeps them visual all the time -You can see direction enemy is facing -Lasts longer Recon detect device: -Can shoot it anywhere -Can have multiple darts active and you carry 5 when resupplyed -Rarely anyone bothers destroying it I see darts far more effective than motion spotter. Motion spotter is superior when defending a point but darts do just fine in defending too. On the other hand, when you are attacking a point or moving to a specific location spotter is useless which is a huge con while with darts you can just shoot them in direction you are heading and be sure no one is moving there. As for sniping, i think spotter is better but i play really dinamically(usually mid-long range or move with the team) so i need darts. However, i tend to run out of darts often.
Motion spotter > RDD if you are in a squad play situation. The extra information you get on the targets close to your squad really is valuable!! Ideally if you are running two Infils, one can carry spotter and on RDD. The guys with the spotter moves with the squad and keeps up intel close to the squad while the RDD guy tries to give advanced warning by spraying the perimeter with darts (idealy no closer the 40m from the general squad location. You can also give this level of Intel with a single Infiltrator using the xbow with darts. The issue with this is it takes your Infil out of the fight most of the time because of how poor the xbow sensor darts are.
I generally use the motion spotter these days, though I will typically use recon darts on my stalker cloaks since I move around a lot and am not usually hunting lots of targets. Motion spotters not only give you enemy location, but enemy direction. You don't want to walk into the place an enemy is facing as an infil. They also last longer, which is great if I'm hunting as an SMG infil. They also don't appear on the minimap except within a certain distance, so the only people who know I'm around are the ones in my immediate hunting area. If I'm sniping, I want something I don't have to babysit all the time, and the motion spotter lasts quite a while at higher ranks. That being said, radar darts can cover a larger area if you've got an engy or resupply nearby, and with enough of them you also usually figure out which way someone is going. If you need to cover a whole base, radar darts are the way to go, but that's probably all you're going to be doing if you do that. And something the devs probably don't intend, motion spotters have a tiny bit of collision. I have used them to climb up walls before, though you need time and anyone nearby will probably come investigate.
I was sceptical of the motion spotter at first, but now I love them (great recon + cert income). Motion spotters are great for defending an area (like capture points, towers or biolabs) because you can predict the enemies movement all the time. Darts are better for scouting and attacking bases and to quickly cover a very large area. Everything else has already been said.
Infiltrators that are still using darts should uninstall, they are a waste of a slot on the map, just like the hill camping snipers. Infiltrators that hack terminals, put out motion spotters, emp the enemy, and SMG enemies fliping the point, you are awesome. I wish there were more of you.
What about infiltrators that hack terminals, put out recon darts, emp the enemy, and SMG enemies flipping the point, your Highness? Do they get a pass, or should I uninstall right away, my heart filled with shame by your non-existant arguments and glorious generalization? Please, your Magnificence, enlighten me with your knowledge!
I personally use both motion spotter and detect bolts on my squadplay / close range infil loadouts. Detect bolts are not that good, but are enough for an immediate recon over an area (most prople tend to sprint all the time despite having certed the "No-detect" implant... I put motion spotters on targeted buildings ( I choose spots where an EMP will hardly destroy my detector through walls) and fire reocon darts to cover the moves of my squad or extend the effective range of the motion spotter. Sure, I give up my secondary, but when in a squad, I always prioritize intel over killing. Plus, auto scout rifles, SMGS and close range snipers all synergize good with squad gameplay for various ranges... What if i told you... Snipers, if good, will blow your support classes away ? Of course, recon darts are questionable, because of the relatively good perfs of the crossbow detect bolts...
Motion spotter level 5 is absolutely required if you plan to use them at all - aside from that the differences are pretty obvious. Both will do fine in a zerg, with motion spotter probably being more effective in that situation, but if you're competent the differences between them become more pronounced. If you're good enough to reap the benefits I shouldn't need to mention the details, but to put it in simplish terms - if you have some method of keeping what happens over 50m away of minimal concern, then the motion spotter's your lady, if not then the darts are the way to go. I generally only run spotter with stalker, though I'll occasionally use it otherwise provided the situation merits it.
I get more exp from darts, but better intel from spotters. Depending on what I'm trying to accomplish, darts can be better (as somebody pointed out above) because I won't need to be immediately in the area where the enemies are when I shoot them. Something to mention though, the spotter can be used to set up a trap. Sensor + well placed mines will sometimes yield an easy kill. Or simply lingering at a vantage point to where you deployed the sensor. I think it's lame that SoE decided that our darts and sensors should be visible on the minimap in the first place (so much for stealth), but a little creative use and we can actually use it to our advantage.
