53 replies to this topic

[Mcchuggernaut]

I have a new least-favorite mech to fight: the Hunchback. I usually pilot assault mechs, and would rather fight Spiders or Jenners any day. For a while I couldn't figure out why these little guys are so ridiculously tough. Then I looked at their tonnage, and to my surprise they have as much armor and tonnage as a Centurion, and we know how zombie-tough those things are. So it appears to me that they took a Cent, squashed it down to half the size to fool you into thinking it is a light, also making the hitboxes smaller and harder to pinpoint, and making it harder to hit in general. This brings up 3 interesting questions I would like to ask:

One, why the hell is there such a size disparity between two mechs of exactly the same weight, speed, and max armor? Is that considered cannon? You would think using the same materials and technology that two mechs of equal weight would be ROUGHLY the same size. At least one wouldn't be literally half the size of another, would it?

Two, given that a hunchback is basically a harder to hit Centurion, why would anyone choose a Centurion over a Hunchback? Yes, the Cent has torso twist and big arms. Big deal. That relies on pilot skill and circumstance, where small size and small hitboxes are ALWAYS working to keep you from taking pinpoint damage, or damage at all because you are harder to hit, being a smaller target.

Three, I have heard a lot of grumbling about mechs being the wrong size for their weight and canonical size. Will that ever get fixed, or is this another case of the dreaded "working as intended"? A few mechs are very misleading to the untrained, looking bigger and much more dangerous than they actually are, which gets them shot at and killed more since they are perceived to be a bigger threat than their actual firepower and tonnage should allow, as well as being easier to hit and pinpoint damage on. Conversely, in the case of the Hunchback, some are ignored more because they don't look all that threatening, only to end up tanking more damage than seems realistic, killing you much more quickly and easily than you would imagine, and making you think: "That doesn't seem possible...".

Thoughts/views/bashes/trolls/ideas/lulz everybody?

[RandomLurker]

Hunchies have illusionary durability because they are smaller, so your fire spreads out over more components and it's harder to focus them down. The right side hunch is a huge target (except on the 4-SP) that will also take out 90% of their firepower, so aim for that. Otherwise, just work on your aim. Hunchies are not that hard to deal with overall, unless a 9 ML or AC/20 version sneaks up behind you and you don't notice.

As for mech scale, I think Hunchie is probably the gold standard and the VAST majority of chassis are way too big. Others disagree, and PGI is bone-dead stupid on scale, so who knows if it will ever be fixed or not.

[PEEFsmash]

You have GOT to be trolling.

[No Guts No Glory]

Every hunchback except the 4SP carries 80% or more of it's firepower in that hunch. Take that off and it's effectively neutered.

[Mcchuggernaut]

PEEFsmash, on 13 October 2013 - 04:09 PM, said:

You have GOT to be trolling.

Not at all. I underestimated Hunchbacks and got killed enough times that I looked at why they seemed so damn tough today, and saw they were basically a half-scale Centurion. It got me thinking.

[CancersCincar]

Mcchuggernaut, on 13 October 2013 - 04:17 PM, said:

Not at all. I underestimated Hunchbacks and got killed enough times that I looked at why they seemed so damn tough today, and saw they were basically a half-scale Centurion. It got me thinking.

Well no worries, all the medium mechs they put out these days are huge, so i wouldn't worry about having to deal with any mediums with extra durability from size.

[Mcchuggernaut]

No Guts No Glory, on 13 October 2013 - 04:16 PM, said:

Every hunchback except the 4SP carries 80% or more of it's firepower in that hunch. Take that off and it's effectively neutered.

I wondered about that, but when I looked at Smurfy's mech lab to check out how Hunchback's weapons are laid out, there are a few that don't have many weapons in the hunch, or had plenty of other weapons in the CT and arms. A good few of them would retain about 60% of their armament even if you shot the hunch off. It would definitely hurt one, but are you sure it wouldn't be best to just go for the CT and out-right kill it rather than try and cripple it?

[No Guts No Glory]

Mcchuggernaut, on 13 October 2013 - 04:17 PM, said:

Not at all. I underestimated Hunchbacks and got killed enough times that I looked at why they seemed so damn tough today, and saw they were basically a half-scale Centurion. It got me thinking.

It got you thinking that the hunchback, blackjack, and cicada are the only properly scale mediums I hope.

Mcchuggernaut, on 13 October 2013 - 04:24 PM, said:

I wondered about that, but when I looked at Smurfy's mech lab to check out how Hunchback's weapons are laid out, there are a few that don't have many weapons in the hunch, or had plenty of other weapons in the CT and arms. A good few of them would retain about 60% of their armament even if you shot the hunch off. It would definitely hurt one, but are you sure it wouldn't be best to just go for the CT and out-right kill it rather than try and cripple it?

None of them have CT weapons. They all get 1 head mounted laser. The only variant that loses less than 80% of it's firepower without the hunch is the 4SP. The 4SP only loses about 40%.

Edited by No Guts No Glory, 13 October 2013 - 04:26 PM.

[anonymous161]

You want a good example of a stupid mech from these devs? The quickdraw...a medium mech with the size of an assault mech like the atlas. Not sure where they are getting their degrees from but I'd say they need to wipe out the majority of this team and start with a new one, that is a lot more open minded nad willing to experiment with people ideas.

[FupDup]

...The Hunchie has among the most vulnerable hitboxes in the game. You would have to be drunk, high, asleep, hogtied, and paraplegic to not rip off their right torso swiftly. Even then you would probably hit it.

Edited by FupDup, 13 October 2013 - 04:34 PM.

[No Guts No Glory]

Darth Bane001, on 13 October 2013 - 04:30 PM, said:

You want a good example of a stupid mech from these devs? The quickdraw...a medium mech with the size of an assault mech like the atlas. Not sure where they are getting their degrees from but I'd say they need to wipe out the majority of this team and start with a new one, that is a lot more open minded nad willing to experiment with people ideas.

coughcoughquickdrawisaheavycoughcough

[Bromineberry]

Mcchuggernaut, on 13 October 2013 - 04:24 PM, said:

I wondered about that, but when I looked at Smurfy's mech lab to check out how Hunchback's weapons are laid out, there are a few that don't have many weapons in the hunch, or had plenty of other weapons in the CT and arms. A good few of them would retain about 60% of their armament even if you shot the hunch off. It would definitely hurt one, but are you sure it wouldn't be best to just go for the CT and out-right kill it rather than try and cripple it?

I think you should go an see an ophthalmologist.

Aside from the SP, all Hunchbacks have, well, their hunch. If you take that thing out, the mech looses the hunch and the arm that is attached to it. So any Hunchback besides the SP is only left with one energy hardpoint in the other arm, and one single slot energy hardpoint in the head. Most of the time that means, he has like 2 Medium Lasers left to fight with.
I play Hunchbacks a lot...and trust me, they die quickly. If I play another mech and fight against Hunchbacks, I always aim for the hunch...
And as a Hunchback pilot I can tell you: There are hardly any mechs I'm less afraid of, than the Hunchback. I don't ignore them, because they can be deadly if you get an AC20 shell or 9-Medium lasers in the back...but disabeling them usually doesn't take long.

Edited by Bromineberry, 13 October 2013 - 04:39 PM.

[Krazy Kat]

A poorly played hunchback dies fast. Shoot out the hunch and move on. Don't even bother killing him.

A well played hunchback can be quite good.
1. Torso twist can save that hunch.
2. Staying behind the front line. Enemies focus fire on the big mechs first, planning to kill the mediums later.
3. Hunchbacks can have huge alpha for a 50 tonner. If you are already damaged, a fresh hunchback is way more dangerous than a light.

[Vassago Rain]

Master troll.

[Ruccus]

No Guts No Glory, on 13 October 2013 - 04:26 PM, said:

None of them have CT weapons. They all get 1 head mounted laser. The only variant that loses less than 80% of it's firepower without the hunch is the 4SP. The 4SP only loses about 40%.

And you can easily recognize the 4SP because it's the only Hunchback with two small hunches instead of a single big one. I usually pilot a Blackjack and the only time I'm concerned when running into a Hunchback is when it's firing back at me with the same AC20 that I'm firing at its hunch. I won't say they're easy, but I feel it's a fair fight even though it has a 5 ton advantage over me.

With most mechs you should try to kill, but with the Hunchback you'll probably have more success disabling the hunch first then killing it when it's only got a couple medium or small lasers left.

[YueFei]

Uh, the Centurion is more durable than the Hunchback, because Hunchback arms are skinny as hell and it's extremely difficult to block enemy fire with the Hunchback's arms. Even with the Hunchback-4SP, a couple big alphas and one shoulder is gone. Repeat on the other shoulder and all its got left is a laser in the head.

[Imperius]

I aim for the cockpit just to the right of the hunch. Never really die to a hunchback. Normally death is a lack of team support. That's the pug life.

Edited by Imperius, 13 October 2013 - 04:47 PM.

[Bhael Fire]

Hunchies are a formidable mech that I always try to be careful with.

They can ruin your day pretty quickly, if you make the mistake of underestimating them.

[Mcchuggernaut]

FupDup, on 13 October 2013 - 04:33 PM, said:

...The Hunchie has among the most vulnerable hitboxes in the game. You would have to be drunk, high, asleep, hogtied, and paraplegic to not rip off their right torso swiftly. Even then you would probably hit it.

Guess I need to learn to go for the hunch, then.

[FupDup]

Mcchuggernaut, on 13 October 2013 - 04:51 PM, said:

Guess I need to learn to go for the hunch, then.

Yup. As an extra motivator, you can pretend that it's a pinata filled with candy and C-Bills.