How to target with heavy AT weapons in vet or expert mode

[Njayjay 10]

Hi, like the title says, how do you target tanks without the visual aids? I right click and hit tab etc but see no box around the target. Do these weapons not display the boxes in real life (javelin or SMAW)? Or am I missing something?

[jakerod 254]

The Javelin can lock on but it is a bit harder. I think you just have to have the cross-hair right on it and maybe right click and hold as you fire the missile. But it is possible to lock. The SMAW, as far as I am aware, is not able to lock no matter what.

[Steakslim 1]

javelin should lock on, however in veteran you may not get a visual aid. You'll simply have to assume it is locked on and hope there are no other vehicles in the area that'll break that lock if it's moving. That or use a more direct fire method, can't really say since I don't use the jav all the much, but it's the only AT weapon that does lock on for the BluFor side. Smaw does not lock on to targets, instead you basically have to make an educated guess on the distance, which isn't hard since the rocket doesn't arc too much, even at 400m.

[Lhowon 10]

Yes it removes the lock-on HUD element, but the lock is still there, you just can't see it. If you want to target a vehicle with the Javelin in my experience all you have to do is put your sights (when looking through the optics) over the vehicle - it will always target the one the crosshair is over. If there's only one vehicle in the general area you can probably just fire without aiming, as it will have locked onto that vehicle. It's just with multiple vehicles that you have to be more careful.

At least that's how I think it works.

A bit off-topic sorry but I don't want to start a new thread - does anyone know how to get the Refleks rocket on the T-90 working in Vet/Expert?

There's no visual lock and I can't manual get a lock by right-clicking, but when I put the sights over an enemy tank (in the same way as the Javelin) and fire the rocket just flies into the ground. It also doesn't seem to follow the sights at all. The only way I can get it to hit the tank is by aiming some way above the tank to compensate for drop, which suggests it isn't guided at all. But I thought it was a guided rocket, at least in the same way as a TOW if not fire-and-forget. And even if it isn't surely you should be able to jsut aim at the tank and have it fly straight...

[=7Cav=Mustang 10]

I'm wondering how the javelin and tow launchers lock on in expert mode as well. I've tried holding down the right mouse button and pressing tab, but it always seems to fly off target after hitting about 1km.

Before you say 1km is the operational range, I was able to engage and destroy a target at 1800 meters in veteran mode once i did get a lock.

It also seems that in expert mode the javelin fires in a direct attack mode, not top-down attack.

It's so frustrating that there are all these nuances that we have to figure out when BIS can just tell us how to use the flipping things in the first place =)

Mustang

[JuggernautOfWar 1]

In ArmA 2 OA will there be a proper Javelin targeting system? If the developers need to see how it works they should download America's Army: Overmatch. I've looked through the optics before and that's as accurate as I've yet seen in a computer game.

[Lhowon 10]

The thing is BI haven't done proper targeting like that for anything in the game - so I think the general feeling is if they do it for one weapon they'd do it for everything, and we haven't seen any sign of that happening.

There's a glimmer of hope in OA with the IHADS system they're apparently going to add, but it remains to be seen whether this will be much of a change to the targeting system as it is.

I really want this sort of thing too, but I wouldn't hold your breath :)

[Simon C 0]

I'm wondering how the javelin and tow launchers lock on in expert mode as well. I've tried holding down the right mouse button and pressing tab, but it always seems to fly off target after hitting about 1km.

Before you say 1km is the operational range, I was able to engage and destroy a target at 1800 meters in veteran mode once i did get a lock.

It also seems that in expert mode the javelin fires in a direct attack mode, not top-down attack.

It's so frustrating that there are all these nuances that we have to figure out when BIS can just tell us how to use the flipping things in the first place =)

Mustang

Javelin is just by pointing the crosshairs in the reticle at the target, zooming in on it as necessary and holding down the Right Mouse button for a second or so. Then you fire, and boom. :)

TOW just goes wherever you point, it follows the crosshairs, even after launch, just like the real thing. Just gotta keep the reticle on target and you should hit, although sometimes range does make it go a bit screwy for some reason.

[Fudgeblood 10]

The title was a little misleading, "How to target with heavy AT weapons in vet or expert mode" sounds like a guide on how to do it, please in the future name your titles "How do I?" or "How do you?" not "How to?", it's broken English.

Sorry, just had to get that off my chest. :P

And as the others said, you'll have to guess if the Javelin is locked on, and the SMAW dosn't lock on at all, sadly.

You should also be able to turn on visual aids in the menu for Vet/Expert without tampering with any other settings.

[Nazul 10]

What about the Strela, Stinger and Igla, same method in veteran? Just put cursor over and right click for a bit? I always seem to miss with AA, i have better luck with an AT weapon. Actually i get my most heli kills while as gunner in a tank and use main gun.

[CarlGustaffa 4]

The SMAW doesn't lock, and it absolutely shouldn't lock. What it definately should have though was 9mm tracer rounds. I guess we have to wait for ACE2 for this one.

Javelin locks even if difficulty mode prevents seing it, depending on the weapon cursor setting. Any weapon with a lock indicator should be excluded from the weapon cursor setting, and always be shown.

TOW locks depending on the AT guidance difficulty setting, iirc from Arma1, unless something has changed. The visual of it depends on the weapon cursor again, I believe. I haven't tested TOWs in Arma2 yet, but in Arma1 they were impossible to hit with unless you had a "lock", even though such a lock doesn't exist in real life.

[frederf 0]

I've fired tons of TOWs in ArmA2 without a "lock" and hit fine as long as it wasn't longer range than the magical pole allows. I don't know how "Auto Guide AT" works as it's such a stupid option I never use it. I would hope that firing a TOW with AG-AT on would follow a lock if given one or simply be user controllable if there was no lock. However it's likely that with AG-AT on and no lock it just goes ballistic (no track).

The Javelin auto-lock is pretty dumb in ArmA/ArmA2 but it's at least simple and pretty reliable. Aiming slightly below the target gives a stronger lock than slightly above. Try it with the crosshairs on and see how faded in the lock box (err circle) is based on elevation. It fades a lot faster as you aim above the target than below.

As for top/direct. The flight path behavior is always the same no matter what the difficulty level. The way BIS models the Javelin is really neither top or direct mode but it is closest to the direct attack mode in real life. Don't be fooled by the name, direct attack mode in real life arches up quite a bit, up to 60m. I think the behavior in ArmA is probably more direct than the real direct mode. Top attack flies super high and it's nothing you'll see in ArmA outside of a Mando/ACE2 mod.

[Macka 10]

I use space bar to confirm lock in these modes, then release, and fire normally. Or was that a different difficulty level specific to the warfare mod!!??

[frederf 0]

Commanding mode (default space) would work if you're the group leader but I'm not sure about if you're a group member. I know people use the commanding mode to "tag scan" for friendlies even on the hardest difficulty restrictions (lame) so it might be the same mechanic to show your lock status.