5
The main difference is the energy hardpoints. Heavy metal has 3 energy hardpoints in the left arm, which makes it really useful since you can both aim quicker with them and have a higher degree of firing angle both horisontally and vertically. This means whether you want to keep up with quick opponents or fire high up or far down you can do that well whether with PPCs or lasers in the arm. The Cbill Highlanders on the other hand have most of the energy hardpoints in the torso which will both be slower at aiming and fire at a really limited angle. There's one variant that has 2 energy in the arm, but for a huge downgrade of not having a single ballistic. When it comes to energy weapons not one, not two, but all of the CBill Highlanders suffer from less useful energy hardpoints.
Well that's the downside you think, surely there is a clear upside? Well not really. Instead of the really useful 3 energy hardpoints in the left arm of the Heavy Metal, on the CBill Highlanders we get one or two missile slots. That's it. The only missiles that really have any use of quick targetting using the arms are srms. so you get 2 srm6 in the left arm at most, and here comes the thing that s*cks. You get 1-2 more missile hardpoints in the torso to go with those in you arm. So on the Heavy metal you get all energy hardpoints focused on the arm reticle, letting you dish out focused damage by using the same weapons. But with the CBill Highlanders you get your missiles split between torso and arm reticles, making them effectively a lot harder to use. Want to use 3 Srm6? Sure you can, but you have to aim them with both the arm and the torso reticle. Sure you can torso lock but then you'd just lose out on the extra angle and speed of targetting with the arm, effectively losing the advantage of having the missiles in the arm in the first place.
Last but not least the one thing one of the CBill Highlanders can do that the Heavy Metal can't, the AC20. So what do you have to give up for that? Well you lose all torso twist speed advantage of having arms, so you're just going to have one reticle and when you're sweeping left/right to keep up with lights you're going to be as slow as if you had all torso weapons, like a Jager, But at least on a Jager I can carry 2 AC20!
So really the devs have made the MC only Heavy Metal the best Highlander, while the CBill versions all give up clearly more than they get back. If you don't believe me, look up the hardpoints of all Highlanders yourself, think of what you're giving up for the things you get when moving from Heavy Metal to the other Highlanders. I've thought about it quite a bit and I can't reach any other conclusion than that Heavy Metal is the best version of all Highlanders. Maybe you're ok with that, or maybe you're like me seeing how the devs have finally stopped trying to make the Hero mechs just different but instead opted to make them better than CBill variants. And I do wonder if this is the new business model for Hero mechs: pay to get the best variant.
Edited by armyof1, 16 April 2013 - 10:43 AM.
