So.. bought the thing and im struggling to find an effective use for it so far, thought it would be good to take out ESF's..and the damage seems horrible, even while fully charged. Have any of you found a good use for this unique launcher? or should i just cut my loses and go back to the stock RL
DPS is not the Lancers forte, "projectile"-speed is. The Lancer is great for hitting moving targets at range while still being a dumbfire launcher. This comes at a price and that price is low DPS. My personal playstyle is long range, so I find the Lancer a great asset. If you like getting up close and personal, the default launcher will be the better choice.
Use it on retreating vehicles with low armor. Its also good for shooting down bad ESF pilots trying to get away from flak.
Charging every shot its kinda too slow dps , charge 1 ( 3 ammo) then spam the rest of the mags 3 shots . If your target stays , repeat .If he runs spam the whole next mag 6 shots , reload and keep spamming . Still it can feel underwheming if ur trying to solo a tank , most times they will get away or out repair u till your bingo ammo . I guess the same is true for all the launchers but slightly moreso for the lancer .
The lancer has an extremely long range and projectile velocity. It does do slightly less damage than the S1 out to 500m. Two fully charged rear shots will kill a lightning (only sets MBTs on fire, though) out to 500m. It does have damage degration from 501 - 700m. I've been quite happy with the lancer with the changes SOE made since its debut. This weapon will excel in squad use (even better than squad use annhilator spam). The main reason being that the weapon's velocity will allow the user to damage moving targets at nearly vehicle render distance without warning to the vehicle. Dumfire rockets are not likely to hit moving vehicles at the ranges the lancer will. Lockons warn the vehicle for counter measures plus missiles can always detonate by striking the ground, a wall, etc before reaching the target. The Lancer is best used (even solo) for medium to long range vehicular fights. It's not intended to be used against infantry (hence why phoenix was nerfed against infantry). For short range combat against vehicles (or infantry), I'd definately grab the S1 or Decimator.
Ive been using it for a while now and The Lancer is extremely good at med/ long ranges. I have seen more and more Vanu who have started to use this and the results are awesome. Tanks and sundies are being "sniped" at very long ranges, more then they are use to. This is very much a team weapon that in the hands of a good shot and well organized unit, is extremely effective at insane distances. I know people are complaining about it but I could see it getting nerfed. 3 heavies with some ammo can take out anything before it even gets close.
Its completely useless if you solo, beyond pointless. but play in a squad/outfit it shines a bit. Its still very a niche weapon, 8 out of 10 times i prefer the S1 or decimator.
Single fire for maximum DPS. Charge-fire for maximum DPA(mmo). Charge and three single for maximum burst damage. None of these modes will give you outstanding levels of damage compared to other AV weapons, however the versatility is quite nice. Interestingly, single shots on ESF seem to do half the damage per ammo of charged shots, compared to about 1/3-1/4 against armour (I have no hard numbers to hand). This makes snap-shots particularly worthwhile against ESF. Any ESF doing a full rocket barrage can be hit reliably. If you happen to be charged when this happens, you can take nearly half their health off in one go with no warning beyond lockon range. Any ESF that does a low, fast overhead pass will get 2-4 shots in the belly which does not do much damage, but can be enough to let true AA kill it in the small window of opportunity provided. Against libs it becomes worthwhile to charge shots provided they are far enough away to be not actively bombing you personally. They are fairly easy to hit with practice. Against tanks it comes down to having range and the high ground on your side, otherwise default launcher, lockons or decimation are better. At around maximum rendering range, the only way a vehicle can defend against lancer fire is randomly stopping and starting (sudden stops of moving vehicles and pulling away of stationary ones are the main factor in my long-range misses). In summary, it is is a long range, accurate and versatile AV weapon that gives no warning before you open fire. To balance this, it has poor damage compared to other options. Oh, watch out for snipers!
It's pretty darn good now that they removed the COF. The ONLY thing it really needs now is a better selection of optics.
