[jiveTurkey]

Hi, this is my first post here and I wish to post something I haven't seen posted anywhere; how to effectively use a rocket launcher / panzershreck in Medal of Honor: Spearhead.

The rocket launcer is a very interesting weapon that gets very mixed reactions from different players. In MOHAA, the rocket launcher was ridiculously easy to use and as a result the reputation of the weapon was diminished greatly. With the Spearhead expansion, the rocket launcher is a completely different weapon that actually requires a degree of strategy and skill to use effectively.

Here are the changes made to rockets in the Spearhead expansion.

- you walk slower while carrying a rocket now

- The most noticeable and realistic change is that you can no longer shoot while moving. This COMPLETELY changes the way you must use a rocket to succeed in the game. Not only can you not shoot while moving, but once you do stop to take a shot, there is an additional delay for the scope to get in the right spot.

- It used to be that if you were at 100 health, you could shoot someone at relatively close range and not die. This has been almost completely eliminated. The range from which you can safely shoot someone seems to be increased a bit.

- This seems to be more of a glitch than anything else, but it has effects on rocket users. There are lots of areas on the new maps where rockets do no damage at all. There is a strategy with rockets wehre you aim for the ground around the target instead of the target itself. There are numerous patches of land where rockets seem to go right through the ground without doing any damage to surrounding targets. The most noticeable areas I've found are the hilly areas of Untersuiite(sp) and the railroad tracks of Holland. There are other areas though.

- the only beneficial change to rockets is their slightly improved accuracy.


BASIC STRATEGIES

1. The most obvious strategy. Aim for the ground or walls around your target instead of the target directly. If a target is moving, try to lead him with a shot at the ground in the direction he is walking in. It is very hard to hit a target directly with a rocket.

2. Find high ground and try to stay there. It is very hard to kill someone who is on significantly higher ground than you are. When you are

3. A new strategy needs to be adopted due to the "no shooting while moving" change. You must now act almost like a sniper does. Movements must be carefully chosen and limited. You can no longer run around the map like a maniac pointing the launcher at anything that moves. This doesnt mean you can safely camp though. When you shoot a rocket, everyone on the map probably knows where you are due to the loud noise it makes as well as the trail the rocket leaves.

4. Kill your target with the first shot! If you do not kill your target with your first shot, most likely you are dead. Reloading takes way too long AND since you will most likely be dancing around avoiding bullets while you are reloading, it is very unlikely that you will survive since at some point you HAVE to stop moving to take another shot.

5. If you are able to sneak up on someone from behind in close range, DO NOT use your rocket to kill him. Pull out your pistol and save yourself from a suicide kill.

6. Do not be afraid to make the suicide kill in close range IF you need to. If you are right next to someone and he is pumping you full of bullets, stop and shoot directly at your feet. You wont get a frag, but the point is to be the one with the most frags at the end, and by killing yourself along with the target, you prevent him from adding to his frag count. If you are in this situation, there is NO way you can escape any other way so this is the last resort option.

7. Be very careful shooting at people who are in windows. You will most likely need to target the person directly since the nearest wall behind them is too far away, and if you target the window sill below or above them it almost never kills them. Find some cover, pull out a nade, and get them out of their foxhole.

8. Respect servers that say "No Rockets" in the title. You are only going to upset people by using them there. But remember, if the admin or title of the server does not specify, then you have EVERY RIGHT to use rockets. If other players dont like it, THEY can leave the server.

9. Be prepared to die alot while using a rocket. You ill very rarely come out of a FFA with a 30/5 kill/die ratio. The fact is, despite using an effective strategy, it is not that hard to kill someone using a rocket. Couple this with the fact that you may have a few suicide kills, and your death count will definately rise.

10. I prefer the allied rocket launcher over the axis panzershreck. The view on the panzershreck is horribly obstructed by that big metal thing on top of it. This makes shooting even harder with the new Spearhead changes.


DEALING WITH PROBLEM PLAYERS

Occasionally, some inexperienced Spearhead players will not like the fact that you are using a rocket. They may even call you very bad names. Realize that they may be new to Spearhead and they may not know about the way rockets have been balanced now. Calmly explain to them how rockets have changed and they may change their tone. If they dont, then they are just born whiners who are probably not very good to begin with. I was once on a server and this one player was calling me every name in the book for using rockets. He did not realize the changes that have come about, and when I told him, he tried using a rocket and completely agreed with me.


That's it I think....