SAAW Anti-Air Pwnage

[SilverDragon]

I don't know how these guys did this, but, in a titan game the #3 squad piled into a transport and invited me to join. (I was the only Assault in the hangar at the time) I did and hopped into the gunner seat of their Transport. They had a support flying and a cargo bay full of engies, my side had nothing but Engies with the SAAW and the other side seemed to be carrying the pilum.

The Engies with the Saaw could not only lock onto enemy aircraft, but they dropped like flies, the pilums did a geat job killing armor when it tried to capture a silo, and the other gunner and I just fragged squishies the whole time.

Either these folks figured out how to make the SAAW lockon or they were teh haxxorz, either way it was fun as all getout.

Just a little tip to make the transport into a BF2142 version of the SPECTRE gunship.

[Cronos]

I haven't unlocked it because i know i won't use it as i don't play engie that much but i chose it once as unlock field to try it and shot down a talon with my first shot, pretty effective.
Maybe you must master it, like getting right timing or aiming angles...

[SilverDragon]

http://www.vetkor.com/en_img/ac-130%20spectre%20gunship.jpg

That's how I felt, pwnage in a can, too bad we couldn't seem to hit moving tanks all that well, bt they have to stop to be able to cap, so we pretty much made them useless. I'm sure you can guess what happened to any offending AA cannons.

[The Pro]

It auto locks on when a air vehicle is in the scope just like ground AA.

I find it very effective besides the bugs where you sometimes cant lock on to transports.

It takes two shots from it to down a Attack VTOL and 3/4 to down a Transport VTOL.

[HighDef8Bit]

For some reason when I field unlocked the SAAW, it tracked attack VTOLs, but when I fired at transport VTOLs it did jack ****.

[SilverDragon]

I can't wait to put together a squad from this board so the engies can group fire the AA and insta-kill any aircraft nearby. I figure the squad who did this had all the AA engies on one side so the pilot could point them in the right direction. The only thing this squad didn't have was a PDS-1.

I'm a decent pilot so we just need some good gunners and REALLY good engies who <3 their pilums.

[Deesies]

I was thinking of going for the saaw as my next weapon instead of the clark but have heard pretty sucky things about it. Think I'm going to go for it now considering I rarely ever play support :)

[SilverDragon]

could you get the SP-all unlock mod and test the SAAW out in that? Or are there no aircraft in SP? I've actually never played it.

Edit: You know, see if you like it or not. It'd be great for dedicated squads to kill aircraft but not much else.

[jasnth]

if you kill Aircraft with saaw, does it count as infantry kill or AA kill?

[tehevilcheez]

really? i heard from quite a few ppl that the SAAW was a waste of an unlock...

[HighDef8Bit]

really? i heard from quite a few ppl that the SAAW was a waste of an unlock...

I heard the same about the Ganz, and I've found that I just love the Ganz to death. Never use the LMG anymore.

I'm going to keep trying the SAAW out in field unlocks while I unlock other stuff first, like the Shotgun, Sprint upgrades, etc. Being able to use a weapon that can only take out two specific vehicles with marginal effectiveness in only one game type isn't a big plus.

[LeadS]

really? i heard from quite a few ppl that the SAAW was a waste of an unlock...
Before you unlock SAAW wait and see if it's locking problems will be solved at next update.

Problem with SAAW (besides locking) is that your target will fly away before you can destroy it. Good team work (ie reporting targets, driver/pilot who knows your needs) will help for this, as will having two or more people with SAAW.

Now it's just not worth of your time to equip SAAW. If you don't have good team to back you up, the best way to get kills with SAAW is camp alone in the middle of the map and keep scanning the sky and wait for beep. It's boring and you will be defenceless to enemy snipers. With good clan or team, go for it, otherwise don't bother.

[Talus]

I will only unlock the SAAW as a field upgrade so far. The few times I have used it, it was buggy as hell.

[Doctuh]

Yeah its buggy as ****. Only locked half the time, and even if it locks, you need to fire closer than the lock distance or the projectile doesnt home, just arcs down. I field upgrade to it but its just not as effective as it should be to justify losing the anti vehicle capacity.

[SilverDragon]

Tried out a new thing with the Airships today, i suppose it falls into AA pwnage, got me 2 unlocks for my alt profile. We loaded the Transport with Support on one side, medics piloting and gunning, and engies on the other, (with rocket launchers)

We had INSANE anti-infantry weaponry and pretty good anti-tank, with 3 medics any damage from small arms was fixed instantly, and a barrage of rockets from a transport scared any gunships away. we didn't have to even revisit the titan, just land, and repair.

[LeadS]

we didn't have to even revisit the titan, just land, and repair.
You can fix it while flying from seats 5 and 7.

[mav3n]

one thing i found with the saaw was that u need to turn auto reload off cause if u fire both rounds u loose the tone and your shots never land

[Storm]

really? i heard from quite a few ppl that the SAAW was a waste of an unlock...

same here

[viper1431]

Yeah its buggy as ****. Only locked half the time, and even if it locks, you need to fire closer than the lock distance or the projectile doesnt home, just arcs down. I field upgrade to it but its just not as effective as it should be to justify losing the anti vehicle capacity.

This is the problem i was having when i used it, i would fire at the air vehicles but the projectiles would get 3/4's of the way there then suddenly veer downwards and into the ground like they were scared to hit the airships.
And yes i definatly was locked on.

[Vreki]

one thing i found with the saaw was that u need to turn auto reload off cause if u fire both rounds u loose the tone and your shots never land

I tried the SAAW yesterday, and that had me fooled for a while too.
But just keep the trigger pressed after the second shot, and you will stay in zoomed mode.

Due to lag I was unable to play on the Titans, so I got the SAAW and podjumped to a hiding place in range of both Titans. I think my only kills where one or two gunships, but I am sure I was rather annoying. :D


Based on my limited experince, it is not usefull for getting points, but it might have some strategic value by grounding gunships.

It was actually quiet relaxing just sitting there and scaring the birds, it is the BF2142 equaliant of fishing.:)

[whitehunter]

I was playing yesterday and i just unlocked the saaw and i love it. I got 20 kill with that gun in one round before the titan shield went down. The only problem was that it did not lock onto the transport ship but sometime i would try to fire at them and they would still hit.

[Buttoneer]

It's funny but while a lot of people have said that the SAAW is useless, others have said that the vast majority of times they end up defending a silo (or flag) it gets attacked first by a gunship or transport. So wouldn't the SAAW be a good idea for anyone engaged in silo defence generally? Especially since you can rely of having motion mines (a requirement to get SAAW) for any ground assault.

[Vreki]

I was playing yesterday and i just unlocked the saaw and i love it. I got 20 kill with that gun in one round before the titan shield went down. The only problem was that it did not lock onto the transport ship but sometime i would try to fire at them and they would still hit.

Any tips? Best firing distance or other stuff?
Did you need 4 hits to take down a transport?

[dumbo]

It's funny but while a lot of people have said that the SAAW is useless, others have said that the vast majority of times they end up defending a silo (or flag) it gets attacked first by a gunship or transport. So wouldn't the SAAW be a good idea for anyone engaged in silo defence generally?

Air transports will either fly over dropping infantry and move on to the next silo, or land. If they fly over then the transport isn't a problem - if they land then you're better off with a pilum... (and that's assuming there's not a static AA/walker within range of the silo).

Especially since you can rely of having motion mines (a requirement to get SAAW) for any ground assault.

Defending a silo with smg + mines + pilum is usually challenging enough for me - I wouldn't want to try it without the pilum.

---

I don't think the SAAW is useless - but I wouldn't spend a permanent unlock on it - a 'field upgrade' makes sense..

[LeadS]

I was playing yesterday and i just unlocked the saaw and i love it. I got 20 kill with that gun in one round before the titan shield went down.
Your profile (http://battlefield.ea.com/battlefield/bf2142/Leaderboards.aspx?Lang=us&PID=82811168&SrchName=&Profiles=) has only total 10 kills with SAAW.

[Buttoneer]

Your profile (http://battlefield.ea.com/battlefield/bf2142/Leaderboards.aspx?Lang=us&PID=82811168&SrchName=&Profiles=) has only total 10 kills with SAAW.

:laugh: That's '20' in internet inches.

[Serizhor]

If you're part of a cohesive squad the SAAW imparts a certain kind of specialty. When the copter comes down and the Pilum man takes a shot and misses it's up to you to knock it down. Plus, the Pilum is only useful with close range shots. If a copter is approaching from the distance and you want to accrue some damage before it gets into engaging distance then it's up to SAAW man to do the job. Plus, it gives you, the player, an identity that others rely on which is something I find only snipers and shotgun users get regularly. Someone sees a copter and spots it and lets you know over in game VOIP or TS that it's there. Finally, a job to do!

Plus, the SAAW still does some hefty damage to vehicles. Just a bit trickier to aim.

[Buttoneer]

Does it lock onto transports?

[TheMofficer]

If you ever use a tank your going to want the SAAW. You stick at range and snipe all enemy armor/mechs/transports. So theres no need to have the pilum or rocket launcher. Whats your worst enemy when your in a tank? (besides rdx and a pilum from behind) Those pesky gunships. If one does a run against you pop out, lock on and fire 2 shots. You should kill him, but if you dont get him he knows not to make another sweep at you.

[Buttoneer]

I got the SAAW as a field unlock last night and gave it a try. Two of us decided to stick it out long after the cappers had come and gone, to defend The Hill (Silo 2) on Minsk-Titan.

We both spawned as engineers, both had motion mines, and both grabbed the SAAW.

We found that we made a difference, which is what counts. At first the enemy kept coming in tanks, on foot, in aircraft. The mines kept the vehicles at bay, and mining the battlewalker provided a lot of entertainment when one sneak thought he'd steal it from under our noses. The SMG's a good close quarters guns so they kept us going well against infantry as long as one of stayed watching and guided the other to a sneak attack. Finally the SAAWs kept all airtransport away. I got one outright kill but took down 7 aircraft in total, while my teamy got a whole lot more (yeah, I'm crap).

Eventually they just stopped trying to retake the silo. I consider that to be success.

The best bit was that the gunships kept coming back and taking out the AA gun on the roof, thinking that was the threat. Nope.

Overall, I'm warming to this weapon.

My next unlock will still be the PDS-1 so I can get the pilum as a field upgrade, but the SAAW is definitely a great weapon in the right circumstances and with proper teamwork.

[DrJambo]

I imagine the SAAW might be quite useful on the Shuhia map where the sheer size of it lends itself towards people using transports and gunships more often.

[Buttoneer]

I think verdun also - it's not too hard to find a titan to titan route along the map, but travelling side to side results in either a drop into water or driving a long way around a wall. So they fly. And they die.

Hopefully...

[Arcalane]

Something worth remembering; once you have a lock on your victim (ie, gunship) with the SAAW, if it's moving, give it a little lead - you can keep the lock and still aim a little ahead of your victim.

[schiessmichtot]

for me the words "pwnage" and "SAAW" don't go along very well.

I've shot down much more Choppers with the Pilum.. which feels wrong.

when i see chopper i zoom in. when i get a "beep" i fire my 2 rounds. i hold down the fire button so i stay zoomed. i follow the enemy Aircraft beyond visibility all the time with the silly beep. but still - i dont kill **** :|:

[Arcalane]

The SAAW missiles are F&F*. You don't need to maintain a lock on the target once you've launched the missiles.

(*Fire and Forget)

[Vreki]

The SAAW missiles are F&F*. You don't need to maintain a lock on the target once you've launched the missiles.

(*Fire and Forget)

True, if you Fire and lose the lock, you can Forget about hitting anything :rolleyes:

The profile that you so kindly link to in your sig shows that you have never even held the SAAW, so from where do you get this knowledge?

[Arcalane]

True, if you Fire and lose the lock, you can Forget about hitting anything :rolleyes:

The profile that you so kindly link to in your sig shows that you have never even held the SAAW, so from where do you get this knowledge?

Unlocks mod. I doubt it's entirely coincidence that, during the reload cycle, I have downed gunships that were moving at a rate at which they would be able to avoid the missiles if they had no lock-on (ie, if the missiles were fired dumb and acted like the Mitchell's or Sudnik's, instead of a grenade). :rolleyes:

[Vreki]

Unlocks mod. I doubt it's entirely coincidence that, during the reload cycle, I have downed gunships that were moving at a rate at which they would be able to avoid the missiles if they had no lock-on (ie, if the missiles were fired dumb and acted like the Mitchell's or Sudnik's, instead of a grenade). :rolleyes:

I the interest of science, I replicated your experiment.

And No, like everybody else says, the SAAW is NOT a Fire and Forget.

Your missiles must already have been on impact course when you lost lock.

[dezmoss]

i just got the saaw and im totally pissed. it sux bad. and it cost me 1200+ pts

[Ecko]

It is a Fire and Forget weapon. You just need to shoot the missile at the right time. The missile will attempt to track on it's own the moment you fire. If you fire it at the wrong time (The target moving horizontal from you) than you WILL miss.

[SilverDragon]

I suppose we've proven a few things so far, the SAAW is bugged as tits and it's extremely effective in concert with teammates or armor.

[Buttoneer]

I suppose we've proven a few things so far, the SAAW is bugged as tits and it's extremely effective in concert with teammates or armor.

I think that's spot-on, and in many ways exactly what you might expect from a tactical weapon of this nature. If you're running around a battlefield wielding one of these, it's likely you'll be a target for armour and infantry, so a squad with good balance is essential.