16 replies to this topic

[Endnuen]

Hello!
As a new player I'm trucking along still trying to learn the ins and outs of the game, but want something to work towards, a reward for getting better hopefully.
And I fairly like the Highlander. So how would this Highlander fair?

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...3b18185e0aaf7d2

Is it viable or just rubbish?
The idea was the gauss for long range engaging, and the the srm's and pulse lasers to whack them around when they closed the distance?

Regards
Endnuen

[DJDeath]

Honestly, it's bad.
1.If you're going to use a GAUSS rifle, there's no reason to use the 733C over the other Highlanders, because of the limited arm movement. You're only going to reach its full potential when using an AC20 or dual UAC5.
2. 2 tons ammo for your primary ballistic weapon is not enough.
3. The XL engine is too small, and I wouldn't use XL engines on assaults (but some do with the Highlander).
4. Keep the ammo away from the engine.
5. Use all your tonnage.
6. Endo > Ferro.

[Sam Slade]

He's right... it's not going to do you any favors.
1. Overgunned: your heat management is going to have to be perfect and even then I forsee many surprise shutdowns.
2. Way too slow: for a HGH that is going to be up close and personal I'd not take anything less then a 300 rated engine. You can take an XL if you like but I always feel a little safer knowing my enemy has an XL in their brawler(personal advice; NEVER use an XL in an Assault... taking out a side torso can halve the firepower of most Assaults and so side torso focus is a good option against an already damaged mech... if you're XLing then BOOM).
3. Use the AC20 and ditch the pulse lasers. If you want laser heavy go with Large Lasers and downgrade to Streak SRMs
4. Endo is always better
5. Put Artiemis in the SRMs if you really want them to be worth anything.

[zztophat]

DJDeath, on 10 June 2013 - 03:14 AM, said:

Honestly, it's bad.
1.If you're going to use a GAUSS rifle, there's no reason to use the 733C over the other Highlanders, because of the limited arm movement. You're only going to reach its full potential when using an AC20 or dual UAC5.
2. 2 tons ammo for your primary ballistic weapon is not enough.
3. The XL engine is too small, and I wouldn't use XL engines on assaults (but some do with the Highlander).
4. Keep the ammo away from the engine.
5. Use all your tonnage.
6. Endo > Ferro.

This but also, you may want to switch your energy weapons to matching range profiles. It just makes them easier to manage and use.

[rainharder]

Try using this one for long range engagement
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...dee30a263d658fe
You can also ditch the jump jets and upgrade the LLas to LPLas.

Again, for 733C, you need to use AC20 to maximum its potential, if you like long range engagement with a Gauss rifle, you should consider using 732.

[Endnuen]

So, I'm determined to fit the gauss, so I fidgeted around a little and found anothers build and tweaked it:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...65d32cd8fca4185

No waste tonnage, still an XL engine though.
And can not find out where the artimis thing is.

[Takony]

You can experiment with any build, but here's what worked for me:

- for gauss, I'd use the 732: 1 Gauss, 2 t ammo (enough tbh, in the same/right arm) 1 erppc, 2 ppc, 1 jumpjet, 300STD, rest heatsinks, left arm only 12 armor (it's empty anyways), legs ermm 61 or 69 armor.

- for 733C: AC20, 4 t ammo, 2 erppc, 2 ssrm2 1T ammo (in left arm) 1 JJ legs 61 armor STD300.

LRM, SRM too weak atm, and in the current ballistic-style meta, lasers are rather "meh" (with the exception of the usual 6 LLas Stalkers of course ).

STD 300 gives you 59kph with speed tweak, which is okay for an assault mech.

Sorry if the above builds are not "fun" enough, but if you want to commit murder on the battlefield, they work fine (no you don't have to poptart, flanking works wonders ).

[DJDeath]

Endnuen, on 10 June 2013 - 03:52 AM, said:

So, I'm determined to fit the gauss, so I fidgeted around a little and found anothers build and tweaked it:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...65d32cd8fca4185

No waste tonnage, still an XL engine though.
And can not find out where the artimis thing is.

The artemis upgrade is beneath the double heatsinks.

This is what I'd do with this weapon configuration: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...8d3546209c66ffe
Don't gimp you rear armor too much though, or a potent light might too easily core you.

Edited by DJDeath, 10 June 2013 - 04:42 AM.

[Joey Tankblaster]

Very similar build to mine. Dropped one SRM6 to SRM4 in exchange for AMS.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f64c6d6d5c8b7b1

[OneEyed Jack]

I'm not fond of splitting sizes on SRM launchers, as it puts them on different cycle times. I'd drop to all 4-packs and add a heat sink, but that's just me. And always, always stuff those last 2 spots in the arm with Gauss ammo. it's inert (won't explode) and "pads" your Gauss by putting something else there to absorb crits. If the Gauss gets killed or blows, you won't need the ammo, anyway.

Endnuen, on 10 June 2013 - 03:52 AM, said:

So, I'm determined to fit the gauss, so I fidgeted around a little and found anothers build and tweaked it:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...65d32cd8fca4185

No waste tonnage, still an XL engine though.
And can not find out where the artimis thing is.

I fiddled with it a bit. You don't usually need that much AMS ammo, and more than 1 JJ isn't very useful for this mech. Also, BAP is good, but not terribly useful to you. I also dropped 1 Heat Sink and fit in a Std Engine, Artemis and more armor by using Endo Steel. Other than that, I just moved stuff around. AMS ammo in the head because Highlanders rarely get hit there. Gauss ammo in the torso because it won't explode.

[Sam Slade]

One Eyed Jacks build is good... though it disgusts me to see a possible AC20/massed SRM build shunned.

[OneEyed Jack]

It's similar to my own BlackJack.

That's the name of my mech, not the chassis type. All of my mechs, except a couple I have left over from early on, have gambling-related names in theme with mine, which is a reference to the playing cards (Jacks of Hearts/Spades) and partially inspired by One-Eyed Jack Farrel from MW:DA (ClickyTech).

[kevin roshak]

Don't let the 33% HE take you off. You wont be using all weapons in each range unless they sit at ~200m. You could monkey around with the JJs and armor/DHS if you want to try and artemis everything. Good damage across all ranges and the JJs give some extra manuverabliltiy, idk if you want two, I havent tested it durring the meta.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...8236231df93c0b9

or you can switch to XL325 and swap a ML for a LL and two DHS.

[2RC4U]

I have fun with this build can get some good scores.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...1a73c5bb61cf401

Edited by AUSSIETROOPER2, 20 September 2014 - 06:35 AM.

[MisterPlanetarian]

OneEyed Jack, on 10 June 2013 - 06:39 AM, said:

I fiddled with it a bit. You don't usually need that much AMS ammo, and more than 1 JJ isn't very useful for this mech. Also, BAP is good, but not terribly useful to you. I also dropped 1 Heat Sink and fit in a Std Engine, Artemis and more armor by using Endo Steel. Other than that, I just moved stuff around. AMS ammo in the head because Highlanders rarely get hit there. Gauss ammo in the torso because it won't explode.

This is a good build. Though i'd still recommend getting the 733C first. It opens up some intresting options.

Such as this: 733C Brawler /w AC20 OR 733C Gauss version.


Or this: 733C UAC/LL

You can still mount Gauss rifles with similar loadouts and not suffer much, the AC20 build can work well with a Gauss and 2x ERLL instead for example.

Edited by MisterPlanetarian, 20 September 2014 - 06:34 AM.

[Tiamat of the Sea]

So, as usual for me, I'm gonna disagree with a lot of people around here and suggest something that more resembles your original build.

Keep in mind that I do this not because I think the ideas the other posters have are invalid (a lot of those builds have good potential and are quite nice) but because I see other ways of doing things as well that I feel are equally valid.

Proposed Highlander

Why I did this:

It's obvious that you're looking to snipe with the right arm and then brawl with everything else. However, there are a few things you need to keep in mind about weapon placement and exposure.

In order to use that gauss rifle, you will need to peek more than the right arm of the HGN out of cover. This means two things- first of all, your energy weapon ports are going to be exposed, and second of all your energy weapon ports are going to be exposed.

1. Your energy weapon ports are going to be exposed. This means your right shoulder can be shot. There is no point to having purely close-range weaponry like pulse or medium lasers here in that situation, as you're exposing it to loss. Additionally, there's a good chance of it getting shot- which means your right torso getting shot. An XL engine means that losing your right shoulder will lose you your entire 'mech, in which case your left side won't matter. By using a standard engine (and CASE for just in.. -cough- case...) we ensure that you don't lose your entire 'mech if you are shot back while sniping- unless whoever it was shooting back is good enough to nail your head or rip open your entire heavy-armor CT.

2. Your energy weapon ports are going to be exposed. By using ER Large Lasers here, you can now fire these weapons and deal significant damage at most of the same ranges as you can expect to be plinking people with the gauss. Sure, the burn time is a bit long and all, but the gauss generates essentially no heat whatsoever and so you can use the ERLLs with abandon- even with no skills complete you have 31 seconds of full firing rate with lasers and gauss before you overheat (on a heat neutral map), which is plenty of damage to dish out.

With the standard engine instead of XL, you want weight savings wherever you can afford it- thus the endo-steel. The remaining weight gets you one jump jet.

Normally, I don't advise using only one jump jet. The lift rate is terrible, and the ability to leap obstacles is basically nil. However, this is not an agile brawler type of HGN. Therefore, the one jump jet is good enough- you only want to use your jet to avoid falling damage or to take shortcuts over small but broad obstacles when you aren't fighting. When you are fighting, treat this thing as though it had no jump jets- one is just not enough for effective combat maneuvering, no matter what you're trying to do with it. Unless you suddenly walk off a cliff.

The launchers are four, and they are split type. This is why I picked the 733 Highlander. Here is where combat gets a bit messy, but using your weapons payload effectively can make a huge difference.

The name of the game here is fire control. This means having the fortitude and self control to not constantly shoot all your weapons that can apply, because doing that will overheat you like mad and give them the chance to cherry-pick where they want to tear through your armor (unless you override your overheat and explode yourself before they can tear you open).

With four launchers, one of them has to be an SRM-2, or you start taking ghost heat from your own SRMs. I went with three 4s and a 2 for maximum firepower with the alotted tonnage. If you want minimal heat and fastest overall firing, you can swap in all 2s, or even turn all of them into Streak 2s. With standard 2s you get an additional heat sink into both side torsos, with Streak 2s you get an additional heat sink into preferably the left torso. I'll discuss that in a minute.

The heat these generate is too much when combined with the lasers. This is where fire control comes in. During close combat, you want to be firing either both ER lasers or all the SRM racks. If you keep your target locked, you can use the lasers to open holes in armor, and the SRMs to splatter open components with missiles. The reason you do this is that the larger number of missiles hitting means more chances of critical hits- and that in turn means more equipment destroyed and more chances to take out enemy weapons or even explode enemy ammo bins. Do not fire the lasers with the SRMs unless you are about to die anyway. That's a heat spike you can't afford.

With the standard engine, you can also fire in bursts- shoot, look away, shoot, look away- and thus use your side torsos and arms to spread damage much more safely than you could with an XL engine.

It is for this reason that I put the 11th double heat sink not in the engine's free slot but in the left torso, and the 12th in the left arm. This is crit padding.

When you take a critical hit, the game picks a random slot out of the location you took a critical to, and the critical hit damages whatever component is there. If the slot was empty, CASE, Ferro-Fibrous, or Endo-Steel, the game re-checks, or re-rolls, the crit until it hits something that is not one of those three elements. By putting that double heat sink in the side torso, I have provided something other than weapons and ammo for the critical hit to damage. This 'pads' the ammo and weapons, making it less likely that you'll lose them before losing that section (or component) of your 'mech. Similar reasoning applies for the left arm.

This is why you would put additional heat sinks garnered by lowering your launcher weight into the side torsos instead of the engine- you reduce the risk of ammo explosion.

You will notice I haven't put ammo in the traditional places (legs, head). There are a few reasons for this.

First of all, light 'mechs, which are the biggest culprits of machine gun supercritting, will tend to go for your legs unless you're already badly damaged somewhere. Highlanders really can't handle light 'mechs very well, they're too slow and stumpy without a 350+ engine, so I'd advise against storing ammo in the leg for that reason. One ton might be okay if you first discover that you're suffering a lot of ammo explosions, but I don't expect this build will.

Second of all, nobody shoots the Highlander's left arm on purpose. This makes it a (relatively) safe place to store some of the ammo. I say some and not all, because it does sometimes happen- accidentally or intentionally- and in that situation, if the ammo in the arm doesn't blow up, you want to have something stored in the torso or legs for the torso launchers to fire when that happens. If you're twisting and shielding well, you'll probably lose the arm with some regularity by your own actions, in which case- again- you want some ammo stored in the torso so your torso launchers don't become dead weight.

Third, I don't experience ammo explosions nearly as regularly as most other people seem to, so I don't have quite the same fear of them. I think this has to do with the crit-padding I do regularly, and my use of rarely-shot components as ammo bins.

Finally, this version has CASE and a standard engine, so it's not going to be a complete 'mech loss anyways- which means the dreaded instant-kill ammo bin just isn't a thing.

Whether you go with this or something else, happy hunting.

QKD-CR0

[Hit the Deck]

Hey, I want to share my latest 732 build. Let's call it "Supreme" because I managed to max everything on this thing!

1x Gauss (with 40 rounds of ammo)
2x ERLL
3x SRM6+A
1x JJ
XL325
13 DHS
Endo
Maximum armor

HGN-732


The ERLLs make it worth the cost of installing an XL engine. But for those who prefer an STD:
HGN-732

I think a similar build for the latter has been posted above/before but mine has a 325 rated engine installed. I always put 325 on all of my HGNs!

Happy mechin'!