26 replies to this topic

[Grindgear]

It seems like no matter how hard I try, even on a -good- round I will only end up doing less then 50 damage and dead in 2 or 3 hits. Constantly losing is really hurting my morale and I just can't seem to find a way to fix the problem. I only have one mech which is a Hunchie SP. Any suggestions?

[Selfish]

Your description really doesn't tell me much, but I can tell you what I assume. You need to relax. Chances are your aim is decent, but you're entering fights too early and/or picking head-on fights with targets too big. This leads to getting focused and killed. There are mechs that are built for taking focus fire, but the HBK-4SP is not one of them.

Familiarize yourself with checking the minimap and the opponent readouts. You need to know what you're facing, where it is, and how often it can shoot. You're a brawler up close, so it's critical to know when to twist so that shots land on your less critical components (like arms/side torsos). You're not just throwing damage into the opponent, you're mitigating incoming damage. Good brawlers can extend their life and even be a threat well after they've lost more than 2/3 of their weaponry. Bad/unlucky brawlers die in their first engagement.

The 4SP is a brawler, but it's not a heavy or assault brawler. It's not meant to stand up to more than a salvo or two in an engagement. Instead, it has to hit hard from rather unfair angles and then disappear/be less targetable than its visible allies. It sounds mystic, but you really just need to try and shoot someone in the back and have a backup/escape plan for when that big beastie turns around. The 4SP has fantastic control over its torso and arms. It's the one mech in the game that has the most control over either of them at once. Your strength is being able to control where you're going and still strike your opponent while heading there.

What could help: Your build. You can create it here and post it. Also, more information on how you play couldn't hurt.

[Grindgear]

r41nb0w d45h, on 18 July 2013 - 10:41 PM, said:

It seems like no matter how hard I try, even on a -good- round I will only end up doing less then 50 damage and dead in 2 or 3 hits. Constantly losing is really hurting my morale and I just can't seem to find a way to fix the problem. I only have one mech which is a Hunchie SP. Any suggestions?

HBK-4SP

That's a rough approximation of what I am using.

[ThePieMaker]

the HBK 4SP is ok...
This is close to what I run on it for fun
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...d0fe048c190efa2

Pro tip: Never put ammo in your CT.

Edited by ThePieMaker, 19 July 2013 - 08:03 PM.

[Kenyon Burguess]

r41nb0w d45h, on 19 July 2013 - 07:55 PM, said:

HBK-4SP

That's a rough approximation of what I am using.

that's a decent build. you should follow selfish advice about blindsiding your foes when they are engaged with other mechs. that will help you with getting over the learning curve of the game quite a bit.

[B0oN]

Welcome to HSR for latencies above 75-100 ms ...

[New Day]

Rad Hanzo, on 19 July 2013 - 08:01 PM, said:

Welcome to HSR for latencies above 75-100 ms ...

I love it when people say lasers are hitscan. Maybe if you live in Toronto.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Hunchbacks are somewhat fragile. Certainly so against heavies and assaults. Your best bet is to go after other medium mechs, preferrably single enemies or those distracted. I'd suggest switching to med lasers so you can attack from farther ranges with less heat.

Edit: Definitely do NOT use an XL engine in a hunchback ever.

Edited by TheCaptainJZ, 19 July 2013 - 08:20 PM.

[Hexenhammer]

Try this.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...4bfcb7758f624a7

Drop the pulse lasers and go straight medium.
Endo steel to free up weight
Artemis to tighten up the missile spread
3 tons of ammo
245 engine will make life easier.


Tactics wise play like a coward. Find a bigger mech and support it. Let it engage first then attack from the sides. And never stop moving.

Edited by Hexenhammer, 19 July 2013 - 08:54 PM.

[Grindgear]

Hexenhammer, on 19 July 2013 - 08:50 PM, said:

Try this.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...4bfcb7758f624a7

Drop the pulse lasers and go straight medium.
Endo steel to free up weight
Artemis to tighten up the missile spread
3 tons of ammo
245 engine will make life easier.


Tactics wise play like a coward. Find a bigger mech and support it. Let it engage first then attack from the sides. And never stop moving.

I'll give this a try later and I appreciate the suggestions everyone.

[Voyager I]

A brawling Medium with a 200 engine is far too slow to stay alive. You need to be able to outmaneuver larger opponents and get yourself out of bad situations, and 60kph is not going to do that for you. You're barely faster than a brawling Assault. The Medium Pulses are also hurting you: for four extra tons (a big deal when you only weigh 50), they offer very, very little utility over just using regular Mediums.

Try something like this. the 260 Standard Engine holds two more of your DHS inside it, freeing up enough space to get Endo-Steel. Combined with swapping the lasers to standard Mediums, you're actually a half-ton lighter in the end. I turned it into a bit more leg armor, but you could do something like a small laser in the head if you wanted. Never put ammo in the CT; you can case it in a side Torso if you really want to be safe, but most people just stick it in the legs.

A note on playstyle: you are not the indestructible facehugger that a Centurion is; most of the shots you take will hit you in the chest, and you will die like any other medium. However, with four MLs on fully articulated arm mounts, you can engage quite comfortably without having to get stuck into something you can't get out of. Your SRMs are powerful, but be mindful of your own limitations when committing to a fight, and never be the first man in or present yourself as a target of major focus. Let the big boys trade the big hits, and back them up from the sides.

As far as fitting details goes: you don't have the giant bullseye hunch of the other hunchbacks, but you've got a pretty big barrel chest. Your arms are tiny and will typically be lost with the torsos they're attached to rather than dying themselves, so you can consider shaving some armor off them if you need tonnage elsewhere. You probably want to find a way to squeeze a third ton of ammo in there if you're going to run SRM-6s. Artemis is also a useful upgrade if you can find the weight for it. I used to run mine like this, but with Artemis SRM-4s. Less heat, less ammo consumption, and enough precision to get just as many shots on the target, but we're getting pretty deep into personal preference territory at this point. That said, if you wanted to go heavy on missiles, something like this would do you well.

Edited by Voyager I, 19 July 2013 - 10:00 PM.

[Corvus Antaka]

you are going too slow. you want a standard 250 or 260 in there.

5 MLaser, 2 SRM 4 or 2 SSRM2 and a BAP.

go after assaults and other big boys while they are busy with your teammates, or chase light mechs down and cut them to pieces.

[Elizander]

Try to have a build with at least a 245-260 standard engine.
Stick with your larger mechs and stay near cover at all times.
Prioritize big, slow targets for maximum damage output, preferably after your team mates engage them. Don't be the guy in the front.
Hunchbacks with pulse lasers overheat quickly. Pulse lasers with SRM6 will fry you.

I'd recommend you go with this build first to help cool down your mech while you save up for Endo and a larger engine.

Also focus on 1) staying a live and 2) dealing damage. If you are legged or surrounded or caught out in the open with no cover, man it up and pump out damage 'til you drop. Just hit with 2-3 alpha strikes and you should break 100 damage no problem.

Edit:

I haven't played my hunchies in awhile so I reconfigured my 4SP to match the one I linked above (except it has endo and Artemis). It moves at 71 kph with speed tweak and I got an Alpine game. I stuck with a Stalker and a DDC and waited for the enemy assaults to engage. Once our Stalker and Atlas were shooting the enemy I went in from the side and started firing my missiles and I ran back behind the assaults once I was taking fire. I discouraged two catapults from backstabbing our assaults from top of a hill then went back to fight the victor and atlas in the front lines again. A highlander also showed up after that but we took them down 3v3 (3 enemy assaults vs 2 friendly assaults + my hunchie). I lost half my mech to the last standing PPC K2 that survived but I got some return fire in before my team mates took it down.

Results aren't impressive at 245 damage but that's acceptable considering I tanked the enemy highlander for a long time and I had to run away to use our assaults as meatshields when I was getting shot and I was a brawler medium on Alpine. I didn't stray too far from my allies so I always had the option of getting assistance.

Just practice a bit more with your aim and have awareness on when to retreat or hide behind team mates and you'll be dealing out damage in no time. At least you don't have to play with 300 ms with 6k ping lag spikes like me, right?

Edited by Elizander, 20 July 2013 - 12:57 AM.

[OuttaAmmo NoWai]

You're dying because you're named after a blue rainbow pony.

Name yourself "Dethlord Kell Kerensky Masakari Lord" like half of the forums and watch the kills roll in

[Elizander]

I would like to add a few things that you might not have noticed if you are still unfamiliar with the game.

• Weapon ranges. You might be firing from way beyond ideal range. Each weapon has a set range and your weapons are -very- short range. If you fire beyond their effective range your damage will be reduced significantly. I have seen people trying to 'snipe' with Medium Lasers and no, it doesn't work well.
  
• Lasers need to be kept on the enemy for the full beam duration. If you can't do that then the damage will also be very weak.
  
• SRMs will explode when reaching max range and deal no damage to targets beyond that.

[Grindgear]

Unfortunately I sold my SP 2 days ago for something else, and now I can't afford a new SP since losing matches doesn't bring in credits. Grinding my way back up so it might take a week or two to get the money.

[POOTYTANGASAUR]

Here is the perfect hunchback 4sp build even though i hate the damn mech because it isn't a real hunchback. HBK-4SP

[Voyager I]

The AMS works better if you bring ammo for it.

Edited by Voyager I, 20 July 2013 - 08:53 PM.

[King Arthur IV]

your build is hot and slow. try this. http://mwo.smurfy-ne...664d6e1c5e80a33

i think my build may have been suggested before. it runs much faster, turns faster and has better range. these few things alone should help you alot in term of being more survivable and dealing damage.

if you haven't figured out by now, this is a team base game and focus fire is very important and not running out alone is important. if you are looking for real time help join a team speak server. there are alot of random people playing randome games together and there is no need to sign up with any groups to play together. channels like ngng, comstar have loads of people willing to help you out.

Edited by King Arthur IV, 21 July 2013 - 01:21 AM.

[travelbug]

i have almost the same build on my 4sp except for the engine.
i was dealing the sam paltry damage as you and dying every match when i started.
then i learned to be patient. id always pair up with an assault, wait for a furball to happen and dart in and try to hit them in a damaged area or at the back with an semi alpha of 48. in a big brawl, nobody cares much about a hunchie, that is your advantage.

and although, its against 'dogma' here, id pick speed(xl engine) over durability any day since your fragile to start with. just always pair up/follow something big before the big fight starts. hope that helps