81 replies to this topic

[HunchbackCenturion]

Slash Beastleo, on 08 September 2013 - 09:17 AM, said:

The Hunchback is a great mech. You're an *******.

^^That's most of what this thread is.
Personally, I've owned and mastered three of the hunchies but I haven't played them in a couple of months.
The BJ-1 is faster, it has jumpjets, and it's so much smaller and harder to hit. (with an ac/20 in the arm and not the torso!)
Whenever I see a group of enemies with a hunchback mixed in, I often focus on that hunch. It's just so easy hit them. They're like lego men.

The agility boost that mediums received was very small but was hopefully a sample of upcoming buffs.
Maybe the hunchbacks will have their day in the sun eventually?

[Royalewithcheese]

I think that tonnage balancing is definitely an issue right now - the Hunchback has the "Centurion is better" problem, but more globally it has the "Cataphract and Victor can do the same thing more effectively with Jump Jets" problem.

[Byzan]

that is one thing about the free to play model. I think you can over time expect better and better mechs to come out because that is just the way the model works. PGI need to keep people buying mechs.

I mean how do the founders feel about the Phenox package? To me it looks better than the founders package and the game still isn't released yet.

as far as the HBK goes I think it's an ok mech. I'd surely take a Hunch out before either of my quickdraws, HBK has as much or better firepower than a quickdraw and just as much mobility while being a much smaller target. QKD has JJ's but its not worth all the drawbacks.

I dont feel HBKs are inferior to centurions. If it's easy to blow the hunch off a hunchback its easier to blow the right arm off a cent. Heck look at the forum background lol.

[Kasiagora]

I love how so many people in our community think they can cry for a refund months after buying something. With the Founder's package it was understandable for some people because they bought the product without knowing what they were getting, or they had become displeased with the way the game was going before their package was even supplied. I took that as an understood risk, much like in the kickstarts so prevalent these days, you don't know if you're giving your money to someone who's going to suck at making a game or give up part way through.

I think of your Hunchback as a burrito. You bought your plain old bean burrito when you first started getting into Mexican food. You thought it was pretty great. You played around with it for a while, maybe even killed some people with it, but after a while it got chewed up and eventually turned to poop as newer burritos started aging it out. After all, your bean burrito was a starting point, and it was only later that you discovered the superior chimichanga. Now everyone says, "Why get a burrito when a chimichanga does the same thing and so much more?!" That's understandable, but you can't go back to the restaurant where you bought your first burrito and demand a refund when you've chewed it up and it's turned to poop. No one wants your poop. No one will give you a refund for your poop. Shove it back up your keister and be grateful for the happy times you once had together.

P.S. I haven't eaten yet today.

[Bishop Steiner]

lockwoodx, on 08 September 2013 - 03:05 AM, said:

Can we get refunds? As long as PGI continues to produce superior mechs there's no reason to bother owning the inferior ones. Now I understand why players are asking for a mechlab wipe and MC refund at launch of the official game, because they've been misled into thinking every mech has a chance to compete and is effective. PGI has three choices in this matter. 1: Wipe and refund players. 2: Ignore players and lose customers. 3: Implement brackets based on tonnage limits.

My Founders Hunchie would like a word with you. And bring at least 2 friends. I need to keep my KDr up. And I have little issue doing so with old faithful.

Mediums aren't obsolete, they just require skills to be good. One can debate the merit and such of some mech being harder to use than others, but I for one enjoy the challenge. Though I do tend to run the other way screaming like a girl if a triple UAC Ilya rounds the corner.

[Hauser]

Last weekend I took the hunch out for a spin. Got more damage, kills and assists then any of the assaults on my team. That was the one good thing about repair and rearm, assault pilots tended to know what they were doing. They literally couldn't afford not too.

[Bishop Steiner]

so true.

Sadly, RnR scares people, and of course, PGI can't figure out how to keep people from gaming it (like, IDK, NOT giving 75% autorepair? And to compensate, make prices reasonable for repairs, though with heftier penalties for lostech...... shrugs)

[Jman5]

lockwoodx, on 08 September 2013 - 08:36 AM, said:

The amount of apologists in this thread is hilarious. Medium mechs are a serious liability to your team that make little difference to the overall match compared to lights or heavy+s. If it wasn't a serious issue I wouldn't bring it up. This won't be the last time until mediums have a viable way to compete again.

If the game made no effort to match weight I might agree with you, but it does try to get it relatively close. The lighter the mech you bring the lighter the enemy team will be on average.

Anyway, the biggest improvement for the plight of the medium will be when PGI implements weight restrictions. Right now there are too many assault/heavies who slow the pace of the game down and create these ridiculous sniper stalemates.

[Bishop Steiner]

lockwoodx, on 08 September 2013 - 08:36 AM, said:

The amount of apologists in this thread is hilarious. Medium mechs are a serious liability to your team that make little difference to the overall match compared to lights or heavy+s. If it wasn't a serious issue I wouldn't bring it up. This won't be the last time until mediums have a viable way to compete again.

you sound remarkably like one of those guys who ends up dead almost immediately, then backseat drives the team about how bad they are the rest of the match, while I'm busy mugging and murdering enemy assaults in my HBK-4G.

Seen too many "pro" pilots in ALL weight classes end up dead and dragging the team down. Heavies are simply the easiest to master and do well in. Light are usually wannabes who think bad hit detection actually reflects on their skill level. Assaults are often paperweights dragging the whole match into a long range stalemate. And yes, a poorly designed and or piloted medium is no asset. Conversely a well handled Medium can be absolutely deadly. As usual, it's the meat, not the metal that usually decides a match.

[Utilyan]

lockwoodx, on 08 September 2013 - 03:05 AM, said:

Can we get refunds? As long as PGI continues to produce superior mechs there's no reason to bother owning the inferior ones. Now I understand why players are asking for a mechlab wipe and MC refund at launch of the official game, because they've been misled into thinking every mech has a chance to compete and is effective. PGI has three choices in this matter. 1: Wipe and refund players. 2: Ignore players and lose customers. 3: Implement brackets based on tonnage limits.

You need Urbanmech in your life........to free you from the ocean of brainwashed, powergaming, elitist, whine-dom.

That way when anything shows up thats superior you can always say MF-WHAT!?

[Angel of Annihilation]

tsula, on 08 September 2013 - 05:22 AM, said:

Only mech that is really just nothing is the Awesome. Thou I have seen people do really well with them I am not one of them. Hunchbacks are still deadly.

This is a good point. Even the Awesome that has a bad reputation can do well with the right pilot behind them though obviously there aren't that many "right" pilots.

The Hunchback is probably the best medium mech in the game and very dangerous with someone of any skill behind the mouse. It is about the only medium mech scales correctly meaning it is a very small target comparatively and packs in alot of firepower. Sure it has its disadvantages but they aren't really that big.

In any case, people really need to stop complaining about "bad" mechs because none of them are really bad, though many don't suite the majority of players. However just becaue most people can't do will in a give mech doesn't mean no one can.

[Hisashi No Oni]

*Face palm and Sigh* I got 3 kills last time I played my Hunch....? Perhaps you should get an new "non-Obsolete" Mech to play. It would seem the Hunchback is not your "style" of combat. So.... I would suggest a poptarting Highlander "thats unusual for a Mech of that size" for you and good luck.

[Fred013]

lockwoodx, on 08 September 2013 - 03:05 AM, said:

What Is To Be Done About Obsolete Mechs Like The Hunchback? Dragon, Quickdraw, Cicada, Commando and Awesome?

Fixed for ya
edit: sorry, these mechs are not really not obsolete, just much harder to play. No offence intended to pilots of the above mechs. Would you not like buffs to them?

Edited by Fred013, 09 September 2013 - 12:01 AM.

[MeiSooHaityu]

I do well with the Hunchback *shrug*

I have a 1.31 KDR in the Hunch 4G and a 1.72 in the Hunch 4P. I do not understand how this mech can be considered useless??

Man, I must be a REALLY good player if I do this well with an OBSOLETE mech. Since most would say I am not THAT good, then I guess these mechs are perfectly competent.

P.S. PUG stats

Edited by MeiSooHaityu, 09 September 2013 - 03:39 AM.

[Starmage21]

The problem with the hunchback is only the right torso on 3/4 variants. The 4SP is actually pretty good still. The other 3 variants of the hunchback suck bawls because someone can pick off the giant box on your shoulder with ease at range, and with it goes 90% of your firepower.

I've put serious thought into mounting a PPC in each arm and nothing in the right torso of a 4G, just to troll people trying to pick off that shoulder cannon.

[oldradagast]

Some mechs need help, such as the badly over-sized Trenchbucket and Centurion (and Quickdraw...), and the wide-as-a-barn, saddled-with-ghost heat Awesome, but the Hunchback is probably the best medium. Very few matches lack a Hunchback, and they can fill almost any weapon-based role in the game, from ballistics to energy to SRM's to LRM's. Now, once the new 55-ton mechs show up, there will be less of them, sure, but Hunchbacks aren't in trouble, even if half the medium class is, IMHO.

[HammerSwarm]

I can't say this loud enough, These mechs are not broken.

MrZakalwe, on 08 September 2013 - 03:26 AM, said:

Not sure on this one- tonnage limits are a bad idea (it's basically giving up on the idea of balancing mechs and instead choosing to force half the players in a given team to play {Scrap} mechs).

No, it's accepting that you can't balance something that is inherently unfair and including a mechanic to fix it. Tonnage limits old school. What is the problem in this instance are whiny kids and balanced drops. Balanced for numbers, and not for tonnage. In a perfect world there would be a strick tonnage limit and teams could drop down a man. So an 8 man atlas drop could drop against a more diverse 800 ton 12 man drop. That's unlikely to happen though because kids would complain.

Tonnage is exactly how you implement balance. Sorry if your whole lance loves assault mechs because they want to shoot and be shot. Tough cookies.

Back to the OP.
These mechs are great. I routinely out damage people in much heavier mechs with anything from a Spider to a Kintaro. I'm even respectable in a dragon. These mechs are about role, and it's possible you aren't great at that role. You can't hope to stand toe to toe with an atlas and just shoot him without moving. You need to shoot and drive your mech. It's possible that your load outs are wrong, but without seeing them I can't know.

Learn how to pilot and play them well and you'll never want to pilot an assault again.

[Rhaythe]

The Hunchback is obsolete?! My 800 damage-dealing HBK-4G would like a word with you.

[LordVanquish]

The Hunchbacks used to be my favorite mechs back in closed beta. I love running wild with the 4sp and the 4p back then. Was totally unstoppable.

Since then however, the Hunchback is a shadow of itself. The engine caps reallly hurt them. Now, I'm not sure there's something the hunchie can do that another chassis can't do better. I really want to use it again, but I'll feel like I'm intentionally gimping myself if I did, and trust me, I'm not some scrub pilot.

HBK-4G: BJ-1 or BJ-DC does better. Even though they use XL engines, it's much more survivable and agile than the HBK. Can carry pretty much the same loadout. Can also mount JJs whereas the HBK can not.

HBK-4P: used to be my favorite, running around ~118 kph with 9 slas. Now, there isn't any build that does great with it. BJ-1X performs much better. 117KPH with same usable loadout vs the 4P.

HBK-4SP: loved this mech. I used to make fun of Centurion pilots for their use of subpar mechs. Oh, how the tables have turned on this mech!

What the hunchies need is either:
-acel/decel + turning radius buffs - this will make them slightly better
-increased engine size to at least 300. This will make it much more survivable.

As it is now, a hunchback can't go 1v1 vs any heavier mech and expect to live (equal skill level pilots), if they are equipped similarly, and expect to come out on top even half the time. As a support option there are much better mechs as well.

TL;DR: The hunchback is a decent mech, but it can't do anything that another one can't do better. It needs some buffs in order to be competitive with others, even in its own weight class.

[Rhaythe]

Guess I'll have to disagree. I slap a STD 210 engine on my 4G with an AC/20, 2 MGs and 3 Meds, and it does admirably. I like the Blackjack as well, don't get me wrong. But an XL is *required* on that thing, where the Hunchback still gives you some flexibility.

In my worthless opinion, of course.