17 replies to this topic

[BigFatGator]

Looking to get an Assault chassis elited, have Firestarter, Shadowhawk, and Jager for the Light, Med, and Heavy. My playstyle varies, but I tend to like shorter-mid range builds (2AC10,4ML on Jager, 6ML on Firestarter) vs. long range snipers. Or lots of LRM's on a Jager A.

Both Stalker and Highlander have at least one variant for an LRM-heavy loadout, and looks like lots of other short-mid range loadouts with at least some mid-long firepower with AC5's or LLs.

JJ's are nice, although mostly use to climb stuff rather than jumpshipe. Leaning towards the Highlander right now... but the Stalker has it's proponents and I like the lower profile.

In the end it might come down to the strength of the Hero, Misery vs. HM.

Anyone have suggestions/observations about these mechs that might nudge me one way or the other?

[n r g]

BigFatGator, on 20 May 2014 - 02:13 PM, said:

Looking to get an Assault chassis elited, have Firestarter, Shadowhawk, and Jager for the Light, Med, and Heavy. My playstyle varies, but I tend to like shorter-mid range builds (2AC10,4ML on Jager, 6ML on Firestarter) vs. long range snipers. Or lots of LRM's on a Jager A.

Both Stalker and Highlander have at least one variant for an LRM-heavy loadout, and looks like lots of other short-mid range loadouts with at least some mid-long firepower with AC5's or LLs.

JJ's are nice, although mostly use to climb stuff rather than jumpshipe. Leaning towards the Highlander right now... but the Stalker has it's proponents and I like the lower profile.

In the end it might come down to the strength of the Hero, Misery vs. HM.

Anyone have suggestions/observations about these mechs that might nudge me one way or the other?

Highlander 733C // end thread

Can be used close, or mid, or longer range. Jump sniping is key, even with close range to get the first few shots in and damage on opponent.

Another viable option if you want something faster would be the Dragon Slayer or Victor.

[BigFatGator]

Ok, got the Highlander.
OMG is it a slug on basic. Will see how it feels once I get it elited though

[RLBell]

I am sorry that I did not see this thread earlier, so I will respond in case other people read it.

The one difference between a Stalker and a Highlander is that the hard points of a stalker are balanced and many Highlanders are severely crippled if they lose the wrong side torso. For the HGN-732, losing the right torso destroys all of the ballistic and energy slots (experienced Centurion pilots consider this to be a feature, not a bug, as it means that they can use the left side as a shield). Losing the side torso of a Stalker only costs half of your weapons. As stalkers usually have severe heat issues, losing half of the weapons, but only a quarter of your heatsinks, means that you alpha strike suffers, but your damage per second (or between shutdowns) is not that much lower.

Because I have trouble putting the little circle on a target, when it moves both up and down and side to side, and I am a poor user of jumpjets, I prefer the Stalkers, but your mileage may vary.

Edited by RLBell, 23 May 2014 - 08:42 PM.

[IraqiWalker]

I am sorry I did not respond in time. For this thread.

While RLBell gave a great analysis of some variant specific information. I will go more general with both chassis.

Highlander: Used mainly as a poptart it is jump capable and can carry a frightening array of energy and ballistic weaponry. The hardpoints are mostly set up on the high part of the torso, while the arms are a bit under-slung. It can be mobile compared to some other assaults, especially a stationary Atlas. However, make no mistake, with the proper use of JJs you can be a threat on the field at all ranges. I prefer them in close quarters combat because that is more fun than the escalator action. Their missile hardpoints allow you to mount a fantastic number of SRMs and SSRMs depending on your preference.



Stalker: That's the one I would have recommended personally, the chassis is not XL friendly, unless you are playing long range builds (4-5ERLLs and such). However, the amount of missiles and lasers it can mount is terrifying and can end lives in seconds. Your weapons are all high mounted which allows you to be one of the best ridge humpers in the entire game. My personal favorite set ups for it are either SSRMs with ERLLs, or SRM6 with MLs, or LLs. The "Deathbarrel" as it is called is a STK-5m I believe with 5 SRM6s+artemis, and a few MLs for backup, coupled with a big engine. Anything within 200 meters of it suffers critical existence failure within seconds.



The two mechs also handle differently. The Highlander is a humanoid mech with arms, while the stalker is a reverse joined mech with "ears". As such the stalker doesn't like lights at all, since they can out turn it, and avoid some of it's firepower due to the ears lacking horizontal movement. On the other hand, Stalker weapons converge faster and more accurately than the highlander.

[Tesunie]

IraqiWalker, on 23 May 2014 - 09:02 PM, said:

As such the stalker doesn't like lights at all, since they can out turn it, and avoid some of it's firepower due to the ears lacking horizontal movement.

I agree with everything you say, except the part left in the quote.

I have to say, yes... and no. An experience Stalker pilot can preform a quick move forwards turning one way, and then slam into reverse and suddenly snap in the other direction trick (which I seem to be very good at doing). This normally leaves a light exposed to the bulk (depending upon loadout, typically all) of your weapons. If you can master this snap turn action, lights who think you are an easy lunch because "you turn slowly" and they can "run around you faster than you can turn" will be caught surprised. (Works best with lasers and SSRM mix.)


Personally, I don't own a Highlander so I can't say much about them. They seem like a good ride. However, I do love my Stalker. I placed a nice balanced build on my Stalker 3F (my opinion, the best Stalker because it has the best twist rates). The Stalker can be such a beast with all it's hard points that it really can be set up in a large number of ways (as I have a closer ranged version of the Stalker 3F*, though I have not tried it yet). If you like energy weapons and/or missiles, the Stalker is a go to mech. (It's also got nice hit boxes if you like to spread damage around. Twist a little and suddenly people are hitting a side torso instead usually. XL strongly not recommended.)

The Highlander looks to be a nice ride. I have a few experimental, untested, concept designs for if I ever get one. It's got jump and last I knew can move fairly fast. It's got a good mix between all weapon hardpoints, so you can set up some as missile mechs, some as energy and some as ballistic mechs. My Highlander would look very similar to my Stalker personally... but there are once again so many ways to load out a Highlander. Jump can be a big advantage, even just for moving or getting locks (or poptarting if that is your thing). However, without owning one, I can't say much else on them. This one here, I would have to tell you to read the previous posters comments...



*Please ignore that it is built on the 5S, unless you want to lose the extra twist rate of the 3F and go with dual AMS. I also warn, that build is an experimental build I have not tested yet... It's a concept I considered.

[Koniving]

BigFatGator, on 20 May 2014 - 02:13 PM, said:

In the end it might come down to the strength of the Hero, Misery vs. HM.

Anyone have suggestions/observations about these mechs that might nudge me one way or the other?

Highlander is well rounded for fighting many things. It can take damage fairly well if you spread it so it can't be focused. Its agile.

Heavy Metal in use. (Skip to 6:08 for the match). Multiple thousand+ damage scores.




My heavy metal build developed over time, originally starting with the 3 ML as 2 flamers and an ML for fun. It has not changed much (occasionally switch the LB-10 for an AC/10 but otherwise no real changes) since then.

A Stalker is better suited for tanking; its body can take huge amounts of damage that other mechs including Highlanders cannot. With the right armor allocation you can take a Stalker up against 4 to 6 mechs as their only target and still kill several of them.

Old.


New.


The Misery is a very solid mech. I put together a build that works rather well for me that I've been using with very few adjustments since the 4 PPCs + Gauss and 6 PPC days. It actually stood up to a 4 ER PPC + Gauss Atlas and a 6 PPC Stalker toe to toe at 300 meters and less for over two minutes of intense fighting before I switched the UAC/5 for an AC/5. I would have won that fight if not for the constant jamming.

I like brawling rigs. Occasionally I like LRM'ing. I don't like poptarting.

Both chassis have suited me very well for my chosen playstyles.

I've had every single Stalker.
I've owned every Highlander except the 733C (affectionately known to many as the Brawlander).
Yes that includes the heroes.

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

Personally, I'm saving up for an assault mech of my own. I originally wanted to get a Stalker because of its abundance of energy and missile hardpoints, making it attractive for LRM and TAG support while still being a capable direct-fire weapons platform, and high placement of said hardpoints, and especially a Stalker 5S because of it's dual AMS support (specifically, I wanted to play with this LRM30 build, this faster LRM20 build with NARC support, or this slower, but more durable LRM20 build with NARC support). However, more recently, I've started to grow fond of the idea of sniping while jump-jetting from behind cover, or "poptarting" as it's called (especially when ballistic-heavy Dire Wolves start to show up in the metagame), so I've been thinking about wanting to play as either this support-heavy Highlander 733P build (complete with LRM20), or this high-alpha Highlander 732 build (which can alpha strike for 51 points of damage), both of which possess a NARC to assist in maintaining locks on targets while I poptart.

[NRP]

I think I would have recommended the Stalker, if only because of the huge agility nerfs PGI recently applied to the Highlander. Also, SRMs look like they're mean again, and the Stalker can pack more of them.

Of course, it's not that the Highlanders are terrible. I could go either way on this one, but if I had to choose I'm pretty sure it would be the Stalker.

Edited by NRP, 24 June 2014 - 06:10 PM.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

Out of the 2 mechs, I would say... The victor!

Or... If you wanna be mr cool guy- the battlemaster!

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

NRP, on 24 June 2014 - 06:09 PM, said:

I think I would have recommended the Stalker, if only because of the huge agility nerfs PGI recently applied to the Highlander. Also, SRMs look like they're mean again, and the Stalker can pack more of them. Of course, it's not that the Highlanders are terrible. I could go either way on this one, but if I had to choose I'm pretty sure it would be the Stalker.

Personally, I'll most likely want to build my assault mechs to soften up targets with LRMs, then finish off any weakened mechs by targeting any weakpoints that I discover. Since the Highlander and Victor are, from what I've seen, both made for poptarting, I'll need to rely on NARCing enemies as I poptart them more than a BAP, which I prefer to use with assault mechs that lack jumpjets such as the Stalker. Once NARCed, I could maintain a lock while I'm behind cover, so that once I poptart again, I can aim for a weakpoint.

With that in mind, I'll need to focus on precision more than raw power, so I'd most likely prefer to invest in more direct-fire weapons such as lasers and autocannons, and even Streak SRMs, over more spread-out weapons like regular SRMs or LBX Autocannons.

Also, with slow assault builds like the ones that I showed before, I may not need much agility. To avoid getting picked off by speedy light mechs, I'll want to travel with my fellow heavies and assaults, so that, if a light mech does harass one of us, then our fellow teammates can help drive it away. However, if I am alone, and I get into a fight with a light mech that runs circles around me, then I'll need to move my back to a nearby wall, so that the light mech won't be able to shoot me in the back that easily.

Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky, on 24 June 2014 - 06:18 PM, said:

Out of the 2 mechs, I would say... The victor! Or... If you wanna be mr cool guy- the battlemaster!

What's so special about a Victor over a Highlander, or a Battlemaster over a Stalker? Although both the Victor and the Battlemaster can mount a larger engine than either the Stalker or the Highlander, I'm not looking for a fairly speedy mech as of now. If I was, then I'd probably be checking out some of the heavier medium mechs like the Kintaro or Shadow Hawk, or some lighter heavies like the Dragon or Quickdraw.

Aside from that, I don't see any way that a Victor can fulfill my personal needs better than a Highlander, which is not only 10 tons heavier, but has more hardpoints that I like. As for the Battlemaster, its hardpoints aren't mounted as relatively high up as the Stalker's are, and none of its variants can mount dual AMS like the Stalker 5S.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

Shadow Wolf TJC, on 24 June 2014 - 10:25 PM, said:

What's so special about a Victor over a Highlander, or a Battlemaster over a Stalker? Although both the Victor and the Battlemaster can mount a larger engine than either the Stalker or the Highlander, I'm not looking for a fairly speedy mech as of now. If I was, then I'd probably be checking out some of the heavier medium mechs like the Kintaro or Shadow Hawk, or some lighter heavies like the Dragon or Quickdraw.

Well the Victor has a really cool helmet, if you get a blue paint job, you look like cobra commander which is way more powerful then Jonny-5.

And the battlemaster has really cool shoulder pads... the stalker... doesnt have shoulder pads... whats more meta then shoulder pads???

Edited by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky, 25 June 2014 - 01:01 AM.

[Reported for Inappropriate Name]

only highlander worth getting is heavy metal because it can jump the highest.

also, this is coming soon.

Edited by Battlecruiser, 25 June 2014 - 03:32 AM.

[IraqiWalker]

Battlecruiser, on 25 June 2014 - 03:31 AM, said:

only highlander worth getting is heavy metal because it can jump the highest.

also, this is coming soon.

Ok. I may be missing something here. So help me understand this post.

Is there something new in the pic? Or are you talking about your stalker being almost complete?

[Reported for Inappropriate Name]

IraqiWalker, on 25 June 2014 - 03:41 AM, said:

Ok. I may be missing something here. So help me understand this post.

Is there something new in the pic? Or are you talking about your stalker being almost complete?

seriously?

[IraqiWalker]

Battlecruiser, on 25 June 2014 - 03:52 AM, said:

seriously?

In all honesty .... Yes!

I'm sleep deprived, so that might contribute to my lack of focus. Is it a new camo?

[Reported for Inappropriate Name]

IraqiWalker, on 25 June 2014 - 03:55 AM, said:

In all honesty .... Yes!

I'm sleep deprived, so that might contribute to my lack of focus. Is it a new camo?

you've obviously not met the dilldozer in battle before.

[IraqiWalker]

Battlecruiser, on 25 June 2014 - 03:56 AM, said:

you've obviously not met the dilldozer in battle before.

Lol, maybe a long time ago.

Is it a deathbarrel build (SRM Stalker)?