Target Locking - Can you turn it off?

[Herr_Reitz]

I do not see any options I may check or uncheck related to the automatic target locking that occurs within the game. Whatch you talkin' 'bout Herr? 

 

The first level skill "Priority Target" indicates the number of ships targeting you. If there are any targets near your aiming reticle (within range) the game will automatically lock that target. You can use the X key to unlock the target but the game will then lock onto the next nearest target. 

 

IF you are attempting to be stealthy about things - and as most folks will have this skill - your ability to be stealthy is snatched away from you. You would like - I believe - to always select your own target, not have the game select it for you. 

 

So - does anyone know how to prevent the game from behaving in this manner? Maybe something in the preferences.xml which is not a screen option? 

 

TIA 

 

[pmgaudio]

what ARE you talking about???
when I read this it tells me you are saying that you cannot be stealthy for what reason exactly??
if enemy is locked it does not mean you lose stealth, priority target really has nothing to do with your stealth or your guns auto locking... if you press X enough times and there is no longer a closer target you lose your lock, 
but again I am confused as to what you are asking and why.... stealth has little to do with anything you asked....

signed

confused 

[Seraphil]

what ARE you talking about???

when I read this it tells me you are saying that you cannot be stealthy for what reason exactly??

if enemy is locked it does not mean you lose stealth, priority target really has nothing to do with your stealth or your guns auto locking... if you press X enough times and there is no longer a closer target you lose your lock, 

but again I am confused as to what you are asking and why.... stealth has little to do with anything you asked....

signed

confused 

 

Example: a destroyer hidden in stealth is stalking a battleship.  The battleship player has priority target.  If the destroyer passes his reticle over the battleship, it will auto-lock, and the battleship will now know there's an invisible enemy targeting him, potentially nearby.  Depending on circumstance/location, this will blow any element of surprise the destroyer had.  So, he's asking for a way to prevent the auto-lock from happening in the first place.

[pmgaudio]

 

Example: a destroyer hidden in stealth is stalking a battleship.  The battleship player has priority target.  If the destroyer passes his reticle over the battleship, it will auto-lock, and the battleship will now know there's an invisible enemy targeting him, potentially nearby.  Depending on circumstance/location, this will blow any element of surprise the destroyer had.  So, he's asking for a way to prevent the auto-lock from happening in the first place.

 

AHHHH that makes more sense...

Well pressing X will unlock.. but again, the enemy will know he WAS targets for a brief second... but still, you remain undetected so it kind of works out in the end...Just that the Enemy will (might) be more aware....but there might be a settings adjustment in the settings to not auto lock at all.... but I am not 100% on that...

[surratus]

Seems like a very clever way to defeat Priority Target.  Especially using torps on players relying on the skill.  Good catch.

[TenRing]

Great catch, Reitz.

[Aduial]

I do not see any options I may check or uncheck related to the automatic target locking that occurs within the game. Whatch you talkin' 'bout Herr? 

 

The first level skill "Priority Target" indicates the number of ships targeting you. If there are any targets near your aiming reticle (within range) the game will automatically lock that target. You can use the X key to unlock the target but the game will then lock onto the next nearest target. 

 

IF you are attempting to be stealthy about things - and as most folks will have this skill - your ability to be stealthy is snatched away from you. You would like - I believe - to always select your own target, not have the game select it for you. 

 

So - does anyone know how to prevent the game from behaving in this manner? Maybe something in the preferences.xml which is not a screen option? 

 

TIA 

 

 

There's an option in settings that allows you to turn it off. Also, since it's only main battery, you could stalk them in torpedo mode. 

[pmgaudio]

 

There's an option in settings that allows you to turn it off. Also, since it's only main battery, you could stalk them in torpedo mode. 

 

are you sure its main bat??

DDs have torps but they are not considered SECONDARY... they are a main armament... 

and I thought PT was just based on a lock.... if you lock onto a target you are locked.... if is is not torps 100% I think this will set off a vast number of threads and saltyness.... am I right>???

I mean can you imagine the BB players that find out that they got PT to find out if there is a stealth DD targeting them only to find out that it is ONLY THE GUNS that set it off???

MAN the forums will run red with blood for sure!@!!!

[LittleWhiteMouse]

You can fool Priority Target by using your torpedoes.  The skill ONLY registers when you're locked onto someone with guns.  If you have torpedoes in use, they don't get the warning.

[Aduial]

I've thought of a way to abuse Priority Target:

Now, most of the times people tend to default to the main battery view, even if they are trying to make a stealth-torp run. They come in with their gun view, switch to torpedo view, and then go back into gun mode. So theoretically, there will be one less ship targeting you with their MB when they are firing their torpedoes. 

 

If there's only one undetected ship targeting you, and the number goes down for a few seconds and then back up, I think you could be fairly sure that a DD just launched his torpedoes at you. 

[Junostorm]

 

Example: a destroyer hidden in stealth is stalking a battleship.  The battleship player has priority target.  If the destroyer passes his reticle over the battleship, it will auto-lock, and the battleship will now know there's an invisible enemy targeting him, potentially nearby.  Depending on circumstance/location, this will blow any element of surprise the destroyer had.  So, he's asking for a way to prevent the auto-lock from happening in the first place.

 

​The BB is detected by the DD, with or without PT, the BB knows it is a DD provided no other ships have detected the BB.  And any BB worth their salt would assume this.

[Seraphil]

 

​The BB is detected by the DD, with or without PT, the BB knows it is a DD provided no other ships have detected the BB.  And any BB worth their salt would assume this.

 

Considering you can encounter cruisers with CE that drops their concealment below 10km, you can't always assume it's a DD.  Not to mention, simply being spotted only tells you something is there: priority target tells you something is there focusing to kill YOU.  Very different situations.

 

You're also missing the forest for the trees.

[goldeagle1123]

There's literally no situation in which untargeting someone does anything beneficial for that person whatsoever. Dunno what all these people saying "great catch!" are talking about.

[Seraphil]

There's literally no situation in which untargeting someone does anything beneficial for that person whatsoever. Dunno what all these people saying "great catch!" are talking about.

 

It's not untargeting.  It's not targeting them in the first place.  With priority target being a thing this becomes a potential mind game between hunter and prey.

[Junostorm]

 

Considering you can encounter cruisers with CE that drops their concealment below 10km, you can't always assume it's a DD.  Not to mention, simply being spotted only tells you something is there: priority target tells you something is there focusing to kill YOU.  Very different situations.

 

You're also missing the forest for the trees.

 

My comment was a genetic one.  You could easily replace BB with CA/CL/DD and it is still valid.  With or without PT once detected one should assume your on the Red's hit list.   All PT does tell how many want your head  .  As for the forest there are more things than trees within

 

[Herr_Reitz]

As to the option to turn off the auto-lock there is no such option that I can see. There is an option to "Track the target". Of course I have that deselected. I want auto-lock/auto-target completely turned off - or the ability to do so.

 

I tried this in a match yesterday and was continually banging away at the X key to unselect, unselect, unselect... tried again today and it's just the way targeting works. Personally - aside from the potential use as you guys are thinking... I will often want to determine visually "fer sure" (as my eyes aren't what they used to be) by jumping into the scope view of my main guns. I do not want targeting to activate at that point whether I'm in a DD or a BB.

 

Maybe we can talk them into providing the option - or maybe it's a preferences option? tia 

[goldeagle1123]

 

It's not untargeting.  It's not targeting them in the first place.  With priority target being a thing this becomes a potential mind game between hunter and prey.

 

You can't not target them. You can only deselect a target after it's been acquired, and still, even if there were such an option, it would offer no direct benefits at all. 

[Aduial]

 

You can't not target them. You can only deselect a target after it's been acquired, and still, even if there were such an option, it would offer no direct benefits at all. 

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there an option in the settings that disables automatic selection of targets? 

[goldeagle1123]

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there an option in the settings that disables automatic selection of targets? 

 

I don't know. Nor do I care enough to look, because I'm not disabling it. I'm just operating under the assumption there isn't, if people are on the forums asking for it.

[ArIskandir]

You can fool Priority Target by using your torpedoes.  The skill ONLY registers when you're locked onto someone with guns.  If you have torpedoes in use, they don't get the warning.

 

Oh... boomer 

[Herr_Reitz]

So... to the best of my knowledge, there is no means of turning this function "off". I do not recall it having acted in this manner in the past, I really don't. Maybe it always has and now I'm just paying more attention to it, yes. 

 

I would like WoWS/WG to take another look at the automatic target lock functionality. It likely won't happen, but I'd still like them to consider it :-) 

[Kenjister]

If I'm not mistaken, if you lock your guns to a sector or an angle, you will not automatically lock onto new targets.  I'll need to test it however.

 

If you aren't familiar with the gun locking, it's SHIFT + X or CTRL + X.  Shift locks your gun to an angle, while Control locks them to a sector.

[Bril01]

I have never been a fan of the auto target lock feature.  It just seems to get in the way when ships are sailing close together and you have to fight with it over which ship you want to shoot at and the one it thinks you want to shot at.

[CBSDracster]

You mean there are still people in the game who don't think everyone is aiming at them all the time?

[SandraSmiles]

If I'm not mistaken, if you lock your guns to a sector or an angle, you will not automatically lock onto new targets.  I'll need to test it however.

 

If you aren't familiar with the gun locking, it's SHIFT + X or CTRL + X.  Shift locks your gun to an angle, while Control locks them to a sector.

 

Another way to look at it-

Ctrl-X locks the turrets in their current position-

Shft-X attempts to keep the turrets aimed at a specific sector- _{turret speed pending}