12 replies to this topic

[wikkedj]

Hi folks,
By the weekend I should have the hunchback mastered. I like to plan ahead though, so I was looking for some help from those that have experience with them....but my 4P and 4SP are set up as mid range brawlers. What modules would help them the most? I was thinking seismic sensors for sure, to keep from walking into ambushes...but what other options are useful for this role?

Thanks in advance!

[Wintersdark]

Seismic Sensor absolutely, then either Coolant for the 4P (it's really, really worthwhile there, but expensive if you don't run Premium Time) or a Capture Accelerator.

Cap Accelerators are incredibly valuable on Conquest these days, with slow capping. The faster you can get off a cap point and back into the first, the better.

[DEMAX51]

Seismic definitely.

I'm also a big fan of Target Info Gathering on brawlers - it's nice to know, even just a few seconds earlier, where your enemy is hurting.

Edited by DEMAX51, 10 September 2013 - 09:30 AM.

[heleqin]

As a general rule i run Seismic and Target info gathering modules on all my mechs. For LRM heavy chassis i will sometimes use Target decay. i also have a couple Advanced Sensor range modules that are useful for LRMs, sniper builds, and scouts. but generally with the new longer capture system i run Cap Accel as my 3rd module on mastered mechs.

[mailin]

Sorry, but using Cap Accelerator on anything but a light or a Cicada is a waste of a slot. Seismic, Target Info Gathering, Sensor Range, Target Decay and Cool Shot are potentially much more useful.

[Bront]

Seismic is a good general use module.

Capture Accellerator is highly useful when you need to cap (It stacks with everyone on the cap point, so it helps a lot with a group cap)

Target Info or Target Decay aren't bad to get info faster or not lose targets if you end up chasing.

[Wintersdark]

mailin, on 10 September 2013 - 10:45 AM, said:

Sorry, but using Cap Accelerator on anything but a light or a Cicada is a waste of a slot. Seismic, Target Info Gathering, Sensor Range, Target Decay and Cool Shot are potentially much more useful.

No. This may well apply in organized groups, but in a PUG match? A Hunchback can do nearly 100kph these days, and will in conquest matches often be capping. The Cap Accelerator is a very useful module for anyone capping.

Seismic is obviously much better, but otherwise?

TIG is helpful, but is just a fraction of a second difference, barely noticable at all.

Sensor Range? Very little gain, as you're unlikely to be scouting, and as a striker (hunchback, remember) you're going to be pushing for close range.

Target Decay? Meh. Again, it's got some "help the team" usefulness, but if your team isn't packing LRM's it's pretty much wasted space.

Cool shot is absolutely more useful, but at the new CBill levels, with a somewhat newer player, Coolshot can be prohibitively expensive. CapAcc is expensive up front, but then you've got it forever for any mech.

In short, if you're playing in organized groups, Sensor Range, Target Decay, and even 360 Targeting can be very valuable support modules - so long as you've got other teammates who are able and willing to use that targeting data to do something useful - because it's of very limited use to the HBK pilot.

[mailin]

Wintersdark, I have to disagree that Cap Acc should be used in a Hunchy. At 100 kph, a Hunchy, or any medium at max speed, except the Cicada are simply to slow to cap. Unless you're the fastest mech on your team a hunchy should be helping the heavies and assaults and leave capping to faster mechs. I get really, really frustrated when I'm in my Spider, I let my team know where I'm capping in conquest mode and I see on my minimap that I have a string of 4 or 5 mechs following me. I wouldn't care if they were all lights, but I can't tell you how many times I see all different weight classes following me. Also, I probably wouldn't care if it were the whole team, but it never is. It's a few mechs that essentially leave their buddies to die. In that scenario it typically ends up with me running around trying to get as many caps as I can and stay alive. Why? Because the other mechs weren't doing their job, which isn't capping.

[Victor Morson]

Adv. Seismic Sensor = A must for you, as everyone's been saying.

Coolant 9 by 9 = Another excellent choice, if you have any heat issues - great for "shock damage" in a brawl.

Capture Accelerator = For the reasons I'll outline below, this is something that most mid-range brawlers use!

Improved UAV = Not necessarily optimal on a Hunchback, but anybody in a group with one can be very helpful; when one team is around the corner from another team, this lets you get the drop on them, fast. Not nearly as vital as the others, but it can be handy. (It also breaks ECM so dropping one on an Atlas cluster will let everyone outside of it target the mechs; thus having a brawler equipped with one can benefit a team greatly.)

Really of those, the UAV is really only useful in a competitive drop because of the cost associated with using it, and how little you profit from spotting people. However, the Adv. Seismic, Cool Shot, and Capture Model are top tier and must-have items as soon as you can for a midrange brawler pilot.

PS: If you really enjoy midrange brawling in a medium 'mech, definitely think about Centurions for your next chassis. They're generally rather superior to Hunchbacks in that role.

mailin, on 10 September 2013 - 11:50 AM, said:

Wintersdark, I have to disagree that Cap Acc should be used in a Hunchy. At 100 kph, a Hunchy, or any medium at max speed, except the Cicada are simply to slow to cap. Unless you're the fastest mech on your team a hunchy should be helping the heavies and assaults and leave capping to faster mechs.

Two reasons you are wrong:

• In Conquest, the main body is dog piling points together. Even the assaults. Often. Cap Accelerators greatly enhance the speed of capture.
  
• In Assault, often you end up in a "Cap race" if the teams missed each other, or the survivors happen to end up at the bases. Many times the team with some Cap Accelerators ends up the winner.

Both scenarios are highly common. It's a worthwhile piece of equipment.

[jonomy]

Bront, on 10 September 2013 - 10:49 AM, said:

Seismic is a good general use module.

Capture Accellerator is highly useful when you need to cap (It stacks with everyone on the cap point, so it helps a lot with a group cap)

Target Info or Target Decay aren't bad to get info faster or not lose targets if you end up chasing.

Thanks for this info. In a match today someone said base capture in Assault Mode is no different with anything more than 3 mechs. I thought 2 mechs is twice as fast as 1, 4 mechs is twice as fast as 2. Did not question the point during the match.

While checking for info I realized I use light mechs often and mount 4 nodes of capture accelerator. Looking at capture dynamics, capture accelerator has question marks - this discussion cleared up most of them. I remain curious - if CA skill points are for 5% each, how does the feature max at 15%? Will I still get 15% using only 3 skill points? I looking further, but if someone knows - please share this info. Thanks.

HEY! I just checked and when I put the eyeball on it, 4 nodes IS 20% Answered my own question.

Edited by jonomy, 11 January 2021 - 02:06 PM.

[Horseman]

Just FYI, this thread discussed the old module system - where the bonus modules were typically capped at 1-2 per mech - and is not directy applicable to the skill tree that replaced it in 2017.

[Tesunie]

jonomy, on 11 January 2021 - 01:50 PM, said:

Thanks for this info. In a match today someone said base capture in Assault Mode is no different with anything more than 3 mechs. I thought 2 mechs is twice as fast as 1, 4 mechs is twice as fast as 2. Did not question the point during the match.

While checking for info I realized I use light mechs often and mount 4 nodes of capture accelerator. Looking at capture dynamics, capture accelerator has question marks - this discussion cleared up most of them. I remain curious - if CA skill points are for 5% each, how does the feature max at 15%? Will I still get 15% using only 3 skill points? I looking further, but if someone knows - please share this info. Thanks.

HEY! I just checked and when I put the eyeball on it, 4 nodes IS 20% Answered my own question.

Please take note of the date of the previous post. This thread was discussing mechanics that were in the game back in 2013, and are not necessarily implemented in the game in the same way.

As for the capture speed capping out at four mechs being within the capture zone (for assault and conquest), I have never heard this before. I do not believe this is true, but I do not have exact knowledge about the specifics of this mechanic. I've always believed that the speed increases for every mech in the capture zone with no cap...

[Ekson Valdez]

The Digger cometh.

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