10 replies to this topic

[Tor Gungnir]

I'm starting to think that at 200+ posts I might not qualify as a new player anymore... oh well, here it goes:

I already own the Heavy Metal, which I will continue to play (because: C-bill bonus) but I need two other variants in order to Master it.

Which two variants come best equipped to start with? So that I don't need to spend enormous amounts of C-bills on something I'll never use after I've gotten the Mech EXP I need.

[FrDrake]

732 is the king of the HGH, not sure what his base loadout is, but you'll need that chassis if you want to remain competitive. Personally the other one that I like is the AC/20 one, the 733C I'm pretty sure. You don't have to use a gauss with it and can even go dual UAC/5 if you wanted to.

[Koniving]

Best stock? Honestly I could barely tolerate them stock. But depending on what your goals are different ones are superior to others.

For example of the non-hero variety, the best missile boat Highlander is the 733. The best high-speed brawler mech for use with standard engines is the Highlander 733P. The best power-brawler, however, is the 733C.

Haven't used a 732 yet, so I'm not sure what it's best suited for. Though its 3 shoulder mounted energy weapons and gauss rifle screams best poptart.

[Tor Gungnir]

I keep reading that term.

"Poptart".

What's it about? Sounds fun.

[Koniving]

Tor Gungnir, on 10 July 2013 - 01:01 PM, said:

I keep reading that term.

"Poptart".

What's it about? Sounds fun.

Poptarts.

[scJazz]

The HGN 732 is the way to go... 3 PPCs and GR... Jump Jets and voila... poptart!

That video makes me giggle every time.

Poptarting is the art of jumping over cover and firing a single high alpha strike and then falling back behind cover. Trust me... when you see it being done to you... you'll know exactly what is going on. When I started just months ago it seemed that half the mechs in the game were poptarting. The other half were 6 PPC Stalkers.

Edited by scJazz, 10 July 2013 - 01:08 PM.

[FrDrake]

Tor Gungnir, on 10 July 2013 - 01:01 PM, said:

I keep reading that term.

"Poptart".

What's it about? Sounds fun.

They call them that because they pop up from behind hills like a poptart does in the toaster. It just means any mech that is hiding behind a hill, uses its Jump Jets to get a clear line of fire over the hill, shoot a baddie, then fall back down behind the hill again. It minimizes your exposure to enemy fire and usually they're never really sure where you will jump from again (unless you're a horrible poptart and keep jumping from the same spot).

The 732 HGH is 1 gauss/3 PPC with the biggest engine it can carry and 3 JJ giving it enough lift to get a clear line of fire. None of the other mechs are as effecient or have as high an alpha. The 4 energy slot ones using 4 PPCs is a beast for heat, the 733C can get 1 gauss/2 PPC for a decent heat effecient alpha but the 35 pt alpha is a very noticeable difference from the 45 pt one.

*Edit* If you want the best mech to carry your PUGs the 732 is currently it IMO.

Edited by FrDrake, 10 July 2013 - 01:09 PM.

[Tor Gungnir]

How on Earth do they do that? You lose any semblance of accuracy when jumping?

[scJazz]

Tor Gungnir, on 10 July 2013 - 01:21 PM, said:

How on Earth do they do that? You lose any semblance of accuracy when jumping?

You started just after they introduced JJ Shake. Plus you can still do it since the Shake stops the second you stop jumping. Jump... Get lined up higher than the target... let go of jump... fall... crosshairs over target... ZAP. Repeat as necessary.

Since I use LRMs almost exclusively the process is so much easier for me and really ****** people off!

[FrDrake]

Tor Gungnir, on 10 July 2013 - 01:21 PM, said:

How on Earth do they do that? You lose any semblance of accuracy when jumping?

Your reticle shakes on the way up and your shots will fire offcenter if you shoot while GOING UP, once you take your finger off space bar your reticle snaps back to normal and your shots will fly true again. So you use the ascent to look around and spot a guy, then you use your descent time to do the final targeting and pulling the trigger.

It's so effective that people call it the braindead no skill way to play, even though it takes just as much skill as any other effective build, the PPCs that are the staple of it just need a heat increase IMO.

If you want to try it out I recommend turning arm lock on so your gauss hits where your PPCs hit, after you are more comfortable with it you can take arm lock back off for the added flexibility.

This build does have a weakness that PPCs have a minimum range of 90m. The HGH has enough mobility though with the JJ that I've never had a problem creating the separation I need to get 90m and full damage.

*Edit* Something else about this build and I guess any mech in general, don't panic when you come under fire, don't tunnel vision into one guy and let someone else chew you up. Lots of times your cockpit will be shaking from enemy fire, just line up your shots and let loose, the HGH is a 90 tonner with a bunch of armor, you will usually be able to take a hit way better than whoever is shooting you.

Edited by FrDrake, 10 July 2013 - 01:29 PM.

[Jay Z]

If you don't want to spend much, you want something that has good heat management on single heat sinks. I.e. something that doesn't rely on energy weapons.

I would get the 733C (brawler) and the 733 (missile boat).

put both LRM20s on the 733 and put the SRM6s on the 733C. Optionally, if you have a larger standard engine in your mechlab, chuck it in the 733C. With a bit of cheap tweaking (no upgrades) you should have 2 playable mechs. I hope this helps.

I wouldn't sell the 733C as with upgrades and dual UAC5s it is a great brawler.