15 replies to this topic

[TheFourthAlly]

Hi all,
In sort of a sequel to my previous thread, http://mwomercs.com/...ickings-ramble/ I’d love to hear some opinions again.

I have had much fun this month after I picked up three Hunchbacks for c-bills, a 4G, 4P and 4SP. What with the events and everything, I managed to master them too, even the brawling 4SP I built. The latter only after I got a bit more the hang of dodging CT damage and quickly jumping in and out of fights instead of staying around going toe to toe with far bigger buggers.

Thanks everyone for recommending Hunchies to start out with, I had good fun trying them out plain stock a match or two, feeling the difference that upgrades and improved skills brought and the fun of getting into scraps with my ‘own’ Mechs and I haven’t even spent a real dime yet. I added some weapon modules, think I should unlock that radar deprivation too though, sometimes the LRM rain gets a bit old.

Unfortunately work duties ended up with me shifted to a different team, new account and work hours later in the day for July, so a lot less playtime in the evening to look forward to. If I understand it right, banked premium time means that I can activate that at a later date? Because that would put my preference strongly in favour of picking up a Warhammer set and activate the premium time later this year.

The steam packs are on sale atm, which got my attention, but I don’t think that’s what I really want right now. A full set of heavies to work with seems to make more sense and I do like the look and set up of the Warhammers.

Thanks again for reading and any feedback.

[invernomuto]

Yes, banked premium time means that you can activate your thirty days premium time whenever you want.

[SnagaDance]

TheFourthAlly, on 28 June 2016 - 03:24 AM, said:

... I managed to master them too, even the brawling 4SP I built. The latter only after I got a bit more the hang of dodging CT damage and quickly jumping in and out of fights instead of staying around going toe to toe with far bigger buggers.

A very valuable skill learned here that will help you while piloting ALL other mechs.

As said, the banked premium time only starts counting down when you purposely activate it. BE WARNED THOUGH!! If you have more than 30 days premium banked activating it through the MWO client will result in ALL premium time being activated, no stopping the ticker. While activating it through this website will allow you to do so in chunks of 30 days.

[Koniving]

TheFourthAlly, on 28 June 2016 - 03:24 AM, said:

Hi all,
In sort of a sequel to my previous thread, http://mwomercs.com/...ickings-ramble/ I’d love to hear some opinions again.

I have had much fun this month after I picked up three Hunchbacks for c-bills, a 4G, 4P and 4SP..

Thanks again for reading and any feedback.

Alright. First off, I think it's awesome the variants you chose were 3 out of the 4 I listed (and considering there are 6 variants, that's pretty rawr).
Don't have to use LRMs, and you could even mix it up with LRMs and SRMs. Or, as one player I know did, he slapped on twin PPCs with twin lasers (or quad PPCs) and took advantage of the 4SP's arm abilities. Each Hunchback has its own merits that you should see about tapping into. For example the 4J might be a missile hunch, but if you leave out the missiles and pack in torso weapons, you can have a "Half-P" without any hunch at all. I personally stuff PPCs into its hip and go "Stompy stompy, hipfire!"

Now.
The Steam package includes two heavy mechs, both with a 30% cbill bonus.
The Warhammer, yes it comes with banked premium time and a few others, but at 20 dollars it includes just 3 standard warhammers (and the perks) but no 30% cbill bonus on the mech itself. Gotta "upgrade" to get the S version of the standard Warhammer thrown in or upgrade

This said, yes banked premium time remains that way (and must be activated either all at once in game or in 30 day intervals through the website).

Warhammers can be bought for cbills, too.

Be aware, there are several mech preorders out there, some can give you better deals if you're willing to wait (like a freshly announced mech).

[TheFourthAlly]

invernomuto, on 28 June 2016 - 03:31 AM, said:

Yes, banked premium time means that you can activate your thirty days premium time whenever you want.

Cool, thanks.

SnagaDance, on 28 June 2016 - 04:35 AM, said:

A very valuable skill learned here that will help you while piloting ALL other mechs.

I'll say. Certainly managing by the end to actually stay alive for most of the match. I even picked up my 10 assists with the 4SP after some close combat in the Canyon.

I learned other valuable lessons just getting my behind kicked when I ventured too enthusiastically forward without some Assault to draw some fire or run around a blind corner, meeting 5 trigger happy reds.

Quote

As said, the banked premium time only starts counting down when you purposely activate it. BE WARNED THOUGH!! If you have more than 30 days premium banked activating it through the MWO client will result in ALL premium time being activated, no stopping the ticker. While activating it through this website will allow you to do so in chunks of 30 days.

Add reason #so many for reading and asking questions on this forum. Good to know, thanks for the heads up.

Edited by TheFourthAlly, 28 June 2016 - 08:23 PM.

[TheFourthAlly]

Koniving, on 28 June 2016 - 07:46 AM, said:

Alright. First off, I think it's awesome the variants you chose were 3 out of the 4 I listed (and considering there are 6 variants, that's pretty rawr).

I did read around a fair lot and those kept coming back. Especially Mr Boom, the 4G. Had I been driving that one in real life I probably would be deaf in my right ear by now. That big fat cannon sitting there taking up all of your peripheral vision was hilarious and the Mech itself good fun for me.

Quote

Don't have to use LRMs, and you could even mix it up with LRMs and SRMs. Or, as one player I know did, he slapped on twin PPCs with twin lasers (or quad PPCs) and took advantage of the 4SP's arm abilities. Each Hunchback has its own merits that you should see about tapping into. For example the 4J might be a missile hunch, but if you leave out the missiles and pack in torso weapons, you can have a "Half-P" without any hunch at all. I personally stuff PPCs into its hip and go "Stompy stompy, hipfire!"

Sounds good. I defintaly have to go around and experiment a bit now perhaps. I had played another medium of that type before, a trial with LRM's and ML. While there's something entertaining about making people move around the map trying to get away from your missle drops, it lacked a bit of the personal touch. I put 3 ER Large Lasers on the 4P, that was funny to do reasonable pokes from a distance and keep moving around.

Quote

Now.
The Steam package includes two heavy mechs, both with a 30% cbill bonus.
The Warhammer, yes it comes with banked premium time and a few others, but at 20 dollars it includes just 3 standard warhammers (and the perks) but no 30% cbill bonus on the mech itself. Gotta "upgrade" to get the S version of the standard Warhammer thrown in or upgrade

This said, yes banked premium time remains that way (and must be activated either all at once in game or in 30 day intervals through the website).

Warhammers can be bought for cbills, too.

Yeah, I did think of the c-bill bonus and the added goodies with the Steam pack, but the month of premium that's going to be wasted a tad due to later work hours is what's holding me back. Although paying USD 30 for it seems ok-ish I thought and that sale ends July 4 iirc.

Quote

Be aware, there are several mech preorders out there, some can give you better deals if you're willing to wait (like a freshly announced mech).

Apart from the deadline on the Steam sale, I am not really in a hurry.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

[Koniving]

Steam version's month of premium doesn't say banked? That would suck...

You're welcome. Personally I can't wait til I can spare a little for the Huntsman. (IS Kurita English translation calls it the Bannerman in Japanese). Soooo many stock hard points with minimal inflation if any at all. So many places to put equipment.

(Type autocorrect can suck when saying nouns.)

Edited by Koniving, 30 June 2016 - 04:36 PM.

[invernomuto]

Koniving, on 29 June 2016 - 04:08 AM, said:

You're welcome. Personally I can't wait til I can spare a little for the Huntsman. (IS Kurtis English translation calls it the Bannerman in Japanese). Soooo many stock hard points with minimal inflation if any at all. So many places to put equipment.

[OT]With base 20$ pack most hardpoints are in the arms... With P.Hawk it did not go too well. I am still interested in the huntsman preorder but I am a bit worried. [/OT]

[Koniving]

invernomuto, on 29 June 2016 - 05:08 AM, said:

[OT]With base 20$ pack most hardpoints are in the arms... With P.Hawk it did not go too well. I am still interested in the huntsman preorder but I am a bit worried. [/OT]

Depends. My Phoenix Hawk has a great KDR (the one I upgraded, the other I tried some one to two weapon combos and it was horrible).

I'm also an avid user of arm weapons, and if you don't make full use of arm weapons then you waste the many tactical advantages they provide.

Also since it is an Omnimech with plenty of torso hardpoints to choose from, you could completely forgo the arms and go torso only.

[Jables McBarty]

Koniving, on 28 June 2016 - 07:46 AM, said:

Now.
The Steam package includes two heavy mechs, both with a 30% cbill bonus.
The Warhammer, yes it comes with banked premium time and a few others, but at 20 dollars it includes just 3 standard warhammers (and the perks) but no 30% cbill bonus on the mech itself. Gotta "upgrade" to get the S version of the standard Warhammer thrown in or upgrade

This said, yes banked premium time remains that way (and must be activated either all at once in game or in 30 day intervals through the website).

Warhammers can be bought for cbills, too.

Be aware, there are several mech preorders out there, some can give you better deals if you're willing to wait (like a freshly announced mech).

Just want to add that the $40 'mech packs have 60 days PT, which as SnagaDance points out can be activated via the website as two 30-day periods.

Koniving, on 29 June 2016 - 04:08 AM, said:

Steam version's month of premium doesn't say banked? That would suck...

You're welcome. Personally I can't wait til I can spare a little for the Huntsman. (IS Kurtis English translation calls it the Bannerman in Japanese). Soooo many stock hard points with minimal inflation if any at all. So many places to put equipment.

Yea, I didn't find out about the Steam PT restrictions until after I bought it--two days before I left for a two-week holiday break.

But don't worry, I made sure to get my money's worth during the New Year's weekend.

[TheFourthAlly]

Not sure where I'm at. Extending the stable would be nice, but I would have to pick up some MC to add some mechbays I guess. That way I can muck about with some heavies for c-bills perhaps.

[Koniving]

TheFourthAlly, on 29 June 2016 - 11:26 PM, said:

Not sure where I'm at. Extending the stable would be nice, but I would have to pick up some MC to add some mechbays I guess. That way I can muck about with some heavies for c-bills perhaps.

To note:. Any mech bought from the website or Steam comes with mech bays for each mech.

[TheFourthAlly]

Thankfully aware of that one. But I can see the need to point these things out, the small letters can be easily overlooked. It's one of the reasons I was looking at package deals, just get a bunch of Mechs and the bays to put them in. With my selfbought hunchpack I'm now at 3/4 and I do not feel like selling any of them at all.

I'm not good with any of them afaik, but I'm having fun and they're all different enough to allow for varied gameplay.

[Koniving]

TheFourthAlly, on 30 June 2016 - 04:02 PM, said:

Thankfully aware of that one. But I can see the need to point these things out, the small letters can be easily overlooked. It's one of the reasons I was looking at package deals, just get a bunch of Mechs and the bays to put them in. With my selfbought hunchpack I'm now at 3/4 and I do not feel like selling any of them at all.

I'm not good with any of them afaik, but I'm having fun and they're all different enough to allow for varied gameplay.

I don't blame you. I own 7 Hunchbacks. 2 4Gs (founder and reg), 4H, 4J, 4P, 4SP and Grid Iron.
I love them. Had them 2012 and only ever sold one.... then bought it back about a month later (4SP).

For 4P and 4G, try right torso 44/4 armor or 46/2 armor. You'll love it's crankiness after. Just right torso, rear armor for the rest at about 8.

Have you considered a fast 4P loaded down with small pulse lasers on chain fire?

Left, my 4P. Right, Lordred's 4SP. Accompanying us, a 4SP with PPCs.

Alternatively I had a vid with 6 ML, 1 tag and 2 PPCs that works superbly well for a 4P.

For the 4G, cannot stress the joy of triple AC/2s or AC/20 plus twin mgs plus triple small pulse or triple ml.
This video is a little bitter and is from when ghost heat was first put into the game... at the time AC/2 was not listed in the penalties, then later said it is supposed to happen but wasn't working right, then became so bad it wasn't usable.... the penalties have been removed from MWO on this weapon entirely.

So if this is this awesome with penalties and before quirks.... imagine with quirks and no penalties!!
(Skip to 6 minutes for a match with it).

Tankiness. Not crankiness.

Edited by Koniving, 04 July 2016 - 05:33 AM.

[SnagaDance]

Koniving, on 30 June 2016 - 04:57 PM, said:

I though there was a Union class dropship taking off or landing in the left view, but then I was sad it was only the top of your Hunchbacks cockpit.

Yeah I know there have never been Unions in MWO, but sometimes the mind sees what the heart wants...

[TheFourthAlly]

Changing up the equipment on my Hunchpack is certainly on the list. I just found out you can swap modules around even if your Mech is still officially in a match, so that would cut down on costs a bit. A Radar Dep module was 6 mill iirc, that adds up hard if you consider one for every Mech. Seems I can play that a bit more cost-effective with swapping one aroud. I have the GXP for it, all that playing with Trials for weeks was certainly no waste.

Edited by TheFourthAlly, 03 July 2016 - 08:11 PM.