Basically never. The first reason it is taken is because FO is a cheap specialist skill and ITS puts a high burden on those. The only other reason it's useful is because the Flash Pulse is a good side-benefit if you're already being forced to take specialists. FO'ing directly is one of those situations where you're usually better just shooting them first. I mean, we rarely even both marking targets with AHD's and those are infinitely safer, marking with an FO is just opening yourself up to a lot of risk unless you built your list to capitalize on marked targets (at which point, you're better off doing it via the hacking method anyways). Like most specialists you grab, you do it because ITS forces you to, not because their specialty is neceasarily useful in your force or for your build. FO's just happen to be the most cost-efficient for this purpose.
Is Spotlight really that viable? Wip-3 attack vs Wip reset. Both models roll 1 dice. At least FtF FO you have burst 2 to burst 1 (and potential positive range mods), assuming no Suppression or Link.
Neither one is really super viable, that was kind of my point. But where Spotlight (aside from enemy hackers) doesn't directly risk the piece, FO'ing a target does. If Spotlight fails, then no harm, no foul. If FO fails, your model may well be dead. And depending on things like cover and the quality of return fire, you may well be facing worse odds than WIP-3 vs. WIP. Probably doesn't help that most things worth FO'ing are either hard to hit or have attacks that should make a direct FO sweat bullets. But in most cases, it is likely better to just directly shoot your target rather than try to Rube Goldberg it with a multi-order gambit that has too many points of failure.
Yeah this was unexpected and perhaps unnecessary. Burst 3 FO qualifying for F2F rolls meant that if you had a high WIP unit, you might have gambled and risked an ARO to target something. But now, better to spray and pray...
Some slight corner cases exist however. Some FOs (Celestial Guard, Karakuri) carry shotguns instead of rifles, so if you're at longer range, FO is probably a more viable F2F option. Secondly, unlike Flash Pulse, FO has no saving throw, so all you need is one hit to achieve targetted status regardless of how beefy the target is. ...naturally this is dependent on having other weapons available that can actually *benefit* from the targetted status, but i digress.
And if you're considering Observe, it is active turn. And FO is Burst 2 to Flash Pulse's Burst 1 (assuming no link).
If the profiles were split in to one with Flashpulse and one with Specialist many units (especially linked ones) would pick the Flashpulse for me.
It's rare that I use it but that's more about the situation and other factors than anything lacking with the skill. In Yu Jing there are several profiles with FO who find it a better option than firing normally. Celestial guard (who come with shotguns) and Guilang in particular stand out because they are BS 11 and WiP 14, so it's usually more reliable. However properly utilising a successful observation is usually quite hard unless you've planned around a smart missile launcher or a weapon capable of speculative fire. I keep meaning to try using it in JSA so my domaru can lob E/M grenades around more freely but that has yet to happen.
I used against TR-Bots if i can move a Foxtrot in good position for it (or when i have the Katyusha, as often as needed). If succsessful, the +3 helps my big guns against him, if not... Plan B.
