13 replies to this topic

[R1M10]

Hi, I am relatively new to MWO, and I managed to get Raven to Elite so far. I like Medium and, as I understood I should master the Mech to get the most of it, I am considering to buy the Mastery Pack for a Medium. I already own a HBK-4G as Medium, Not sure I love it though. I tried the Griffing Trial, and seems a nice Mech to me but I am not sure if while on fight is fast and agile enough, and still giving enough fire power...

I like to support Heavy and not very good when fighting Lights - generally the kill me . I also like to move fast enough, more than 60 or 70 is better.

Can anyone with more experience tell me which of the 2 is better for a beginner, and if it worth the money?

I recently bought MC with the 20% bonus, and in total now I have 7900 MC not planning to spend more money in MC for 6 months at least (maybe 1 year), as I play for fun only.
Before spending I would much appreciate your advice guys

thanks!
R1M10

[Spheroid]

You should get the Griffin package. The Sparky is a solid hero mech. The Grid Iron is a one loadout mech.

Hunchbacks are very cheap and can be easily purchased for c-bills. Of the remaining models really only the 4P and 4J excel in my opinion. You should buy these eventually.

I don't run my 4G anymore as I can run similar firepower much faster on Enforcers or Centurions.

[Rogue Jedi]

I persionaly think both are great but the Hunchback is probably better for a beginner,

with regards to your HBK-4G, the stock build is this
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...79cb1883e8f7bdd
I recommend upgrading it to this:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...a53722cc1c120fd
the upgrades will cost about 4 million, but you will end up with something which is faster, more agile, better armed and which runs cooler.

if you like the build I have suggested above then the HBK pack offers 3 more HBK variants all with similar capabilities, except for a different main weapon system, there is a Gauss Rifle specialist, an SRM specialist and a Medium Laser specialist.

if you do not like my suggested design then you know not to get the HBK bundle.

the Griffin is not dissimilar to the HBK but it has no variant capable of mounting Ballistic weapons, all variants are able to Jump and it can go quite a bit faster than the HBK is able to thanks to a much larger engine cap, however that comes with some downsides, the Griffin is extremely durable with a standard engine, and as some variants have the vast majority of their firepower on one side the 1N and 3M can sacrifice one side of the Mech with little to no loss in firepower,
If you want to go fast and mount a decent weapons payload as well as some Jump Jets you will need to compromise on ether top speed or durability, a Griffin is OK with an XL engine but nowhere near as durable as it is with a standard.

Hunchbacks are almost always better with a standard engine but some Griffin builds need an XL, which makes upgrading the Griffin much more expensive that the HBK

[z MadButcher z]

They are both good mechs but I suggest the Griffin first. Also if you can wait a while mastery packs go on sale every now and then and you could really stretch out the MC you purchased. 35% sales come about fairly often. But if you need on right now the Griffin will give you three very solid mechs, the sparky is a very good hero and the 2N gives you ECM to play around with so you can really cover a lot of bases.

[Appogee]

I have both.

Hunchback is a better choice as it offers you more options, playstyles and loadout options.

While it's a nice chassis that offers ECM and Jump Jets, Griffin is a bit one-dimensional.

Mastery Packs have only gone on sale once in the history of MWO, and that was just a couple of months ago. I wouldn't advise holding your breath til the next time. Mastery Packs already offer 50% off the MC price of buying their component items.

[R1M10]

Thanks All for the suggestions and info. It seems both Mechs are good and just need to fit your style. I will play with configuration suggested by Rogue Jedi for HBK, and also will play more matches with the trial Griffin, but so far I would go for Griffin I prefer the look and the view from cabin, also out of box is faster and can jump.
I would say that if I go with Griffin first, secondly I will master the HBK indeed

It seems pack discounts are not very often, so would not wait for it necessarily

Being a novice is not easy when you can choose between so many Mechs and variants... suggestions from you guys are very helpful.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

Don't get me wrong, I love my Hunchbacks, but unless you simply have to have ballistics, if you're spending real money and want to have both eventually anyway then the Griffin pack is simply a better deal- the Griffin pack only costs ~500MC more, but the MC value of the 'Mechs that come with it is over 1000MC higher than what's in the Hunchback pack. It will cost you less real money to buy a Griffin pack, then a standalone Grid Iron, than it would cost to buy a Hunchback pack and a standalone Sparky... with less of a grind to buy and equip the remaining Hunchbacks than you would have to deal with if you were grinding out for two more Griffins instead, since Hunchback loadouts are relatively inexpensive by comparison.

You'll also probably keep more of the equipment that comes with the Griffins- STD 275 is a good engine, and so is XL325. By comparison, Hunchbacks are unbearably slow with their stock 200 rated engines... the only Hunchback in the mastery bundle that comes with a decent engine is the HBK-4P Champion, which has STD275. The STD200 in the 4G you will use for exactly nothing, ever, and the XL200 in the Grid Iron you'll only ever use for light 'Mechs (and even then it's of fairly limited utility).

The short version: the Griffin pack gets you more bang for your real-world buck.

[Elizander]

Griffins have less variety compared to Hunchbacks. I'm actually pretty bored with my Griffins even if I really like how they look. The problem with Griffins is that they all play the same. It's usually just +1/-1 energy/missile hardpoint difference between variants except for Sparky which is almost just like the Jester with 6 E points and JJs.

The HBK-4P/4G/4SP are my favorite hunchies and give me a lot of variety to play with. Been melting faces with my 3LL/6ML 4P lately with 255XL.

[Sewman]

I have a ton of seat time in my Griffins. I'd agreed with Elizander in that they're mostly SRM boats (great srm boats).

Griffins are really agile. Probably still one of the most agile in the game in terms of twisting ability. You can basically turn around and shoot directly behind you with your laser arms after you master the chassis. The vast torso twist helps with SRM boating because you can really circle your targets and lead your shots if your target is quicker.

That being said, I think that Hunchies just ended up getting some of the better quirks which have kept them pretty competitive. I'd still recommend getting the Griffin mastery pack knowing that you'll be able to get the other 2 hunchies pretty cheap.

The Sparky is a pretty fun laser vomit mech which can be built like a giant jenner because of its great mlas heat quirks. 6mlas and the biggest engine you can fit.

[Aeolus Drift]

Sewman, on 05 September 2015 - 03:28 PM, said:

I have a ton of seat time in my Griffins. I'd agreed with Elizander in that they're mostly SRM boats (great srm boats).

Griffins are really agile. Probably still one of the most agile in the game in terms of twisting ability. You can basically turn around and shoot directly behind you with your laser arms after you master the chassis. The vast torso twist helps with SRM boating because you can really circle your targets and lead your shots if your target is quicker.

That being said, I think that Hunchies just ended up getting some of the better quirks which have kept them pretty competitive. I'd still recommend getting the Griffin mastery pack knowing that you'll be able to get the other 2 hunchies pretty cheap.

The Sparky is a pretty fun laser vomit mech which can be built like a giant jenner because of its great mlas heat quirks. 6mlas and the biggest engine you can fit.

I don't know. you stick 2x LPL in your chest and you got some serious poking power, and backed up by 4 MLs in the arms, and you have a pretty devastating brawler in the sparky, plus having six jumpjets really gives you alot of wiggle room when you want to position yourself quickly, especially on Viridian Bog.

Edited by Interceptor12, 07 November 2015 - 12:00 PM.

[Virlutris]

z MadButcher z, on 31 August 2015 - 07:54 AM, said:

They are both good mechs but I suggest the Griffin first. Also if you can wait a while mastery packs go on sale every now and then and you could really stretch out the MC you purchased. 35% sales come about fairly often. But if you need on right now the Griffin will give you three very solid mechs, the sparky is a very good hero and the 2N gives you ECM to play around with so you can really cover a lot of bases.

Sorry, no, the Mastery Packs never go on sale because they already represent a 50% "savings" over purchasing the constituent pieces separately

OP:
If you want 3 mechs with very different playstyles, builds, etc, then it's the Hunchies you're after. You will learn to torso twist (to protect that hunch), use cover (peek-and-shoot) and stay with the team (wait for brawl to break out in 4SP specifically, also sharing armor, and lower priority target). Hunchies teach a lot of lessons by the time you've mastered them.

The Griffins are good mechs, mostly for SRMs. They have EPIC torso twist, and when fully skilled, you can shoot directly behind yourself with the arm-mounted energy (this is funny when running full-tilt and kiting Red Team). The 1S (the champion variant is the 1S) is the least-favored variant, due mostly to the fact that it's only got 2 missile hardpoints (this doesn't stop me LRM-trolling in it occasionally). That said, Sparky's a solid laser boat (I enjoy it), and the 2N does SRMs like a boss while packing ECM. It purportedly makes a decent LRM troll, but I haven't run that.

I'd tell you Griffins due purely to bias. They were the first chassis that I bought 3 variants for and mastered. See above though, for reasons to go HunchBro. Either's good.

Edited by Virlutris, 07 November 2015 - 01:20 PM.

[stealthraccoon]

I adore my Hunchbacks, and really don't care for the Griffins, but I have no problem saying that most people will enjoy playing Griffins more.

[PeeWrinkle]

Here are the things to consider:
1. Hunchbacks have greater variety in how you can play them. This alone makes them a great choice for newer players because they can help you discover your preferred style of play.
2. Hunchbacks will cost more CBills to load out (this is somewhat speculative because there is a lot of individual choice) because the engines you get you will want to upgrade almost right away.
3. Griffins are a much better deal, money wise, since you get better engines with them. You will not be constantly swapping engines and will be able to get by for a bit without buying an engine. Although getting an XL280 or an XL300, if you don't have one, isn't a bad idea. A STD250 is also a must have engine, That one actually works very well in the HBK.
4. Griffins also cost a lot more CBills to buy if you are going to get both mechs eventually it will take a lot less to buy 3 HBK variants in game so you might want to not use MC on them.

Based on that go with Griffins, unless you think you would not enjoy them or are only going to go with one chassis. Then get the one you like the best.

Last piece of advice. Always wait to buy MC when it is on sale.

Hope that helps

Edited by PeeWrinkle, 08 November 2015 - 12:20 PM.

[Kurvi]

Long time Griffin driver here. I haven't tried the Hunchback.

Pros for Griffin:

1) JJ and better speed. This is the main reason I chose the Griffin. I'm in love with jumping.

2) ECM. Bringing ECM helps out your team even if you're a lousy shot. Bonus: Only Spider and Griffin have a variant with both JJ and ECM (among Inner Sphere mechs).

3) Hero mech. Consider that you're probably going to be spending a lot of time grinding c-bills to get the next module/engine/upgrade. The fact that a Hero mech gives you a 30% bonus to c-bills means that it's worth getting a chassis that has good hero variant. Note also that the other mechs can all be bought for c-bills, so it's the Hero that counts. Personally, I think that (on paper) Sparky is a better mech than the Grid Iron.

4) Minor, but any XP you gained playing with the trial Griffin will transfer to the one you buy. Saves a bit of time mastering it.

Cons:

1) Variability: As others have mentioned, all the Griffins have a mix of Missile and Energy hardpoints (no ballistic), and pretty much every build will have a bunch of lasers and srms. The Hunchback offers a lot more options to play with.

2) Hunchback is supposedly easier for newer player (can't speak to that since I never piloted it).


----------------


My suggestion is to try both mechs on the public test server. You start off with enough MC and c-bills to get pretty much any build/mech you want and you can see which suits you better. Bonus: you'll get a taste of what the new quirks will feel like.

Edited by Kurvi, 17 November 2015 - 01:11 PM.