59 replies to this topic

[Coralld]

OP, sense you mostly play Lights, I highly recommend the Cicadas as they play almost exactly like Lights.

I like the X5 with 2x SRM6s with 2 tons of ammo and 4x ML with a XL300 Engine. Very nasty strike mech for hit and runs and by far one of my most favorite mechs currently in game, other then my HBK 4H.

The Cicada 3M is also really good as it can mount ECM. Common build is ECM with 2x ERLL (or standard for better heat managment) and 2x ML with either an XL300 with 2 DHS or XL310 for more speed.

The Cicada 2A is also not that bad with 6 energy hard points. Needless to say use 6x MLs. Its basicly a larger Jenner without JJs but because of its weight, you can cram a few extra DHS.

Sephlock, on 12 July 2014 - 04:12 PM, said:

Nothing like knowing that you're piloting an inferior, flightless Jenner .

Not really, I have seen good Jenner and Cicada pilots go at and usually the Cicada player can force the Jenner to retreat.

Edited by Coralld, 12 July 2014 - 04:20 PM.

[badaa]

forget what every one telling you start with the hunchbacks there tough fast you can go beam boat, missile boat, cannon boat.

the only resin to use the other meds first is if ur into meta whoreing because thats what most ppl do with them

[Sephlock]

badaa, on 12 July 2014 - 04:25 PM, said:

forget what every one telling you start with the hunchbacks there tough fast you can go beam boat, missile boat, cannon boat.

the only resin to use the other meds first is if ur into meta whoreing because thats what most ppl do with them

OTOH it seems to be some sort of law that everyone and their mom must stop doing whatever they are doing and turn to de-hunch any unihunched enemy Hunchback that they see.

[Coralld]

Sephlock, on 12 July 2014 - 04:28 PM, said:

OTOH it seems to be some sort of law that everyone and their mom must stop doing whatever they are doing and turn to de-hunch any unihunched enemy Hunchback that they see.

I actually find the HBK 4J is a better Laser boat than the 4P. Sure your not using its missile points but if you go for all Lasers it does not mount a hunch which makes it tougher to cripple. The 4P is good for hill humping with energy weapons.

Edited by Coralld, 12 July 2014 - 04:37 PM.

[Hauser]

Wolfways, on 12 July 2014 - 03:20 PM, said:

No love for the HBK? I like my stock-weapon HBK-4G.

Used to love it. But the 4Ps alpha strike is way more effective at tearing things up and they both are too short range. Nearly every fight seems to happen at around 500 meters now.

[OznerpaG]

the BJ is the only mech in the game where every single hardpoint is at cockpit level or above so it's very easy to stay behind cover and fire

i never would have thought it at first, but i loved the BJ-1X so much i ended up playing over 300 games with it - with an ERLLas and smart use of cover you can harass from way back and keep out of harms way, and when you do get into trouble (or sneak up behind an unsuspecting heavy) a 39 alpha takes care of business nicely

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...491e504c7a6bf94

Edited by JagdFlanker, 12 July 2014 - 05:04 PM.

[Jman5]

Anyone telling you to play the hunchback needs their head examined. You will spend 90% of your matches with nothing but your head laser because everyone enjoys smashing that hunch off. The majority of hunchbacks out there do not break 200 damage in their matches. In fact an awful lot of them hover around double digits.

If you really want to play a medium, either pick the shadowhawk, griffin, or cicada depending on your playstyle.

[Hauser]

Mister D, on 12 July 2014 - 03:45 PM, said:

Griffin you MUST carry a large engine 300+ if you want to have any luck with. They leg easy, just like the Quickdraw, so if you're going to be jetting around alot, just be prepared to see your legs melt fast. BlackJacks I never understood the mentality behind the NON JJ equipped variants having much narrower Torso range. IMO, it should be completely opposite, the BJ-1 and BJ-3 with JJ's "should" be the variants with narrowed torso twist ranges, the groundpounders with no JJ's should have the advantage in torso twist range being greater than 90.

The non-jj version get +2 weapon slots.

[Wolfways]

Jman5, on 12 July 2014 - 05:01 PM, said:

Anyone telling you to play the hunchback needs their head examined. You will spend 90% of your matches with nothing but your head laser because everyone enjoys smashing that hunch off. The majority of hunchbacks out there do not break 200 damage in their matches. In fact an awful lot of them hover around double digits.

If you really want to play a medium, either pick the shadowhawk, griffin, or cicada depending on your playstyle.

Well i never said i do great in it, but i do okay. I only play mechs i like though, not because of how powerful they are.
My wife on the other hand plays her PP mediums and usually gets the highest scores in most matches.

[Deathlike]

Jman5, on 12 July 2014 - 05:01 PM, said:

Anyone telling you to play the hunchback needs their head examined. You will spend 90% of your matches with nothing but your head laser because everyone enjoys smashing that hunch off. The majority of hunchbacks out there do not break 200 damage in their matches. In fact an awful lot of them hover around double digits.

If you really want to play a medium, either pick the shadowhawk, griffin, or cicada depending on your playstyle.

For a moment there, I thought you were going to promote the epic awesomeness of the Hunchy.

Now, I'm weary of calling you JHunch.

[Coralld]

Jman5, on 12 July 2014 - 05:01 PM, said:

Anyone telling you to play the hunchback needs their head examined. You will spend 90% of your matches with nothing but your head laser because everyone enjoys smashing that hunch off. The majority of hunchbacks out there do not break 200 damage in their matches. In fact an awful lot of them hover around double digits.

If you really want to play a medium, either pick the shadowhawk, griffin, or cicada depending on your playstyle.

My HBK-4H would like to have a word with you.

Also, as I stated before, the Laser boat 4J does not have a hunch which makes it so much easier to defend your RT. Also, enemies appear to derp when they run across it as they don't normally shoot at your RT.

[Mcgral18]

Jman5, on 12 July 2014 - 05:01 PM, said:

Anyone telling you to play the hunchback needs their head examined. You will spend 90% of your matches with nothing but your head laser because everyone enjoys smashing that hunch off. The majority of hunchbacks out there do not break 200 damage in their matches. In fact an awful lot of them hover around double digits.

If you really want to play a medium, either pick the shadowhawk, griffin, or cicada depending on your playstyle.

I'm not too sure about that in the Solo queue, where I can safely take a Cute Fox and survive some matches.
Even carry to a tiny extent.


Pugging is very different than it was last month. You could certainly take a Hunch and do half decently, though your advice is very applicable to the group queue.

[Jman5]

Deathlike, on 12 July 2014 - 05:06 PM, said:

For a moment there, I thought you were going to promote the epic awesomeness of the Hunchy.

Now, I'm weary of calling you JHunch.

I play it enough to know that you play the entire game on the edge of a knife. One bad engagement for one brief moment and your hunch goes kaboom. If you really want to succeed, you need to cut a ton of corners in your build/playstyle that will kill you if you it screw up. It's challenging and that provides a lot of fun for me, but I would never recommend it to others.

I am curious what other people's "current" (not archived) average damage stats are for their favorite hunchback, but that would be rude of me to ask.

Edited by Jman5, 12 July 2014 - 05:34 PM.

[Deathlike]

Jman5, on 12 July 2014 - 05:32 PM, said:

I play it enough to know that you play the entire game on the edge of a knife. One bad engagement for one brief moment and your hunch goes kaboom. If you really want to succeed, you need to cut a ton of corners in your build/playstyle that will kill you if you it screw up. It's challenging and that provides a lot of fun for me, but I would never recommend it to others.

Fair enough. I think you're still crazy for driving it... but that what makes you JHunch.

Quote

I am curious what other people's "current" (not archived) average damage stats are for their favorite hunchback, but that would be rude of me to ask.

I haven't run any Hunchbacks in this "current season". Maybe I'll wait for a Medium vs World Tourney, but... let's just say it's not at the top of my list of "gobackto" mechs at this point in time.

I'll probably run another Trebuchet again (before the Hunchback)... the mech I love to hate.. or was it hate to love. I'll take part of the Trebuchet meta!

Edited by Deathlike, 12 July 2014 - 05:39 PM.

[Wolfways]

Jman5, on 12 July 2014 - 05:32 PM, said:

I am curious what other people's "current" (not archived) average damage stats are for their favorite hunchback, but that would be rude of me to ask.

HUNCHBACK HBK-4G (stock weapons) 37 22 15 1.47 31 25 1.24 10,373 37,311 03:45:21
I haven't played it much and i know I'm not great in it, but i enjoy it

[Coralld]

I agree that HBK should not be for someone who is new to the Medium Class to start out in, unless its the HBK 4J (fitted in a laser boat fashion like I have mentioned several times already) or the 4SP.

I honestly think that HBKs should get a damage reduction of 15% to their front RT as a quirk. The 4SP is excluded though sense its hard points are evenly distributed.

Edited by Coralld, 13 July 2014 - 08:04 AM.

[zagibu]

I have the Griffin, Hunchback and Centurion medium mechs, and in my opinion, they can't be played like lights, mostly because they are too large. If you want something that plays similar to a light, maybe a Cicada. Otherwise, it would have to be a specialty build, something like this: CN9-D "light" mech A few other mechs might be able to pull something like this off, namely the TBT-3C and the WVR-6K, but with the rest, you aren't going over 120 kph.

[Chemistry Warden]

Largely, mediums are an unforgiving bunch of chassis.

If you over-commit to a flank or defensive move, you're dead or close to it.
If you over-commit to a push through a chokepoint, and nobody else pushes, you're dead. (This is true in anything slower than 130 kph, and even those faster, sometimes.)
You can't output the raw DPS or Alpha that heavies and assaults can.
You can't maneuver like lights can.

That being said, I think the centurion line is not a bad place to start on mediums. Big shield arms and you can load them out for ac's (or lasers) and srms. You won't move nearly the same speed lights do, but you should also be playing much closer to the pack.

Regarding Hunchbacks, I've noticed that my 4-sp likes to draw fire as if I were running around with all the ppcs lately. Stats since reset:
30 matches 15W/15L 34K/21D 9155 damage 34k exp
I did have an outlier match last night where I did 1204 damage and carried the team to a win. But, it's a major outlier.
Hunchbacks seem especially unforgiving lately

[badaa]

ppl if ur always losing ur hunch its not the mech its u

[Soulscour]

The easy choice is the shadowhawk. It can pretty much do whatever you want it to do. The cheaper choice would be HBK-4G or CN9-A since they use the standard engine. The most similar to a light mech is the CDA-3M. Blackjacks are fun in jumpet versions of BJ-1 or BJ-3