49 replies to this topic

[Jazzbandit1313]

I don't know about other GI players, but the first round i played in this little guy felt so right. I can't explain the feeling all together, but it was extraordinary. It felt so familiar, yet I rarely ever pilot HBKs. I splurged and bought one on sale today. Slapped on an xl275, UAC5, SRM6+A, 2 MPLS. The torso turn rate is so snappy right out of the box. Hell if it feels this good without any basics unlocked, I can only imagine the joy it will be to play this mech mastered. Maybe the exquisite HP layout was what enchanted me, or the perfect handling and size of the mech itself...I don't know, but this may be my new favorite hero out of the 7 I own.

Any other Grid Iron appreciation out there?

Edited by Jazzbandit1313, 30 November 2014 - 08:52 PM.

[Quxudica]

Jazzbandit1313, on 30 November 2014 - 08:49 PM, said:

I don't know about other GI players, but the first round i played in this little guy felt so right. I can't explain the feeling all together, but it was extraordinary. It felt so familiar, yet I rarely ever pilot HBKs. I splurged and bought one on sale today. Slapped on an xl275, UAC5, SRM6+A, 2 MPLS. The torso turn rate is so snappy right out of the box. Hell if it feels this good without any basics unlocked, I can only imagine the joy it will be to play this mech mastered. Maybe the exquisite HP layout was what enchanted me, or the perfect handling and size of the mech itself...I don't know, but this may be my new favorite hero out of the 7 I own.

Any other Grid Iron appreciation out there?

the Grid Iron is generally perceived to be at best the "mehist" of the hunchbacks as far as I'm aware. It's not awful so much as it is.. somewhat redundant. Other variants run more effective builds more effectively.

[Davers]

When it comes to handling and the range of arm weapons, few mechs can compete with Hunchbacks. They have a lot going for them, if you can work around the Hunch.

[Jazzbandit1313]

Quxudica, on 30 November 2014 - 08:57 PM, said:

the Grid Iron is generally perceived to be at best the "mehist" of the hunchbacks as far as I'm aware. It's not awful so much as it is.. somewhat redundant. Other variants run more effective builds more effectively.

But it's the only one that has a mix of all 3 hardpoints, and it can run them in such a versatile way, almost like the cent d with ballistic energy and missile, just a lot shorter....

[FupDup]

The Grid probably would've been better with 2 missiles and 1 ballistic instead of 1 missile and 2 ballistics.

[Davers]

FupDup, on 30 November 2014 - 09:03 PM, said:

The Grid probably would've been better with 2 missiles and 1 ballistic instead of 1 missile and 2 ballistics.

Then it would be an upgrade from the SP.

[Naduk]

Many pilots claim it is to similar to the other hunchies
But it simply is not true, you just need to be willing to break the mould

Try out some of my lances fav combos
2x uac5 + srm6

Lbx10+srm+pluse las

Ac20+narc+mlas

Ect , go crazy, all the normal bits you can do when leveling to master

[FupDup]

Davers, on 30 November 2014 - 09:15 PM, said:

Then it would be an upgrade from the SP.

SP gets more lazors.

[Jazzbandit1313]

4th round ever played. 2 basics unlocked. 1 ml 2 mpl srm5 arty uac5

[luxebo]

Davers, on 30 November 2014 - 09:15 PM, said:

Then it would be an upgrade from the SP.

AC20 + 2ASRM6s zombie. Better than the SP I would say, although slower.

My personal feelings for the Hunchback is that the GI is the worst as far as I can see/pilot. I don't have it but have run it in test servers + test driving with my teammates. Even with dual UACs.

Maybe it's the shiny armor. Maybe it's the fact that you can't lower rear armor a ton and you lose that hunch quicker than normal. Maybe it's the fact that the 4P can party so hard. Maybe it's the fact that the 4G can outbrawl an Atlas DDC when played well.

I dunno but I am not feeling the GI Joe. It ain't swell for me.

[Walluh]

The only problem with the Grid Iron I have is the stock load out.

A gauss, and an XL. In a hunchback.

It's literally the worst conceivable build you could ever put on a hunchback. Having no weapons in the hunch would be better than putting an XL and a Gauss in it, two things a Hunchback should never have under any circumstances.

Edited by Walluh, 30 November 2014 - 10:03 PM.

[dr lao]

yes my GI is a beast I have mastered 3 GI, P4,4G my faverite by fare is the P4 C after the Quirk system was implemented I dug them out and dusted them off O by the way this where my very first buy's even when older player's keeped telling me that Hunch's where the werst mech's to start out with 'easy targets ' as fare as mastering my P4 with two large laser's ,one med laser,one L pules laser I have all the modules range 5,cool down 5 ,advanced zoom and hill climb speed at 98 I even got that come and get me paint job !!

[Kirkland Langue]

I run GI with 2UAC5+3ML. It ran just well enough to not call it trash. I've tried a number of fits - it really isn't a good mech.

[Sagamore]

Jazzbandit1313, on 30 November 2014 - 08:49 PM, said:

I don't know about other GI players, but the first round i played in this little guy felt so right. I can't explain the feeling all together, but it was extraordinary. It felt so familiar, yet I rarely ever pilot HBKs. I splurged and bought one on sale today. Slapped on an xl275, UAC5, SRM6+A, 2 MPLS. The torso turn rate is so snappy right out of the box. Hell if it feels this good without any basics unlocked, I can only imagine the joy it will be to play this mech mastered. Maybe the exquisite HP layout was what enchanted me, or the perfect handling and size of the mech itself...I don't know, but this may be my new favorite hero out of the 7 I own.

Any other Grid Iron appreciation out there?

Absolutely loved the Grid Iron before quirks. I was running 3 Medium Lasers and an AC20 (your typical HBK-4G build). Since I missed out on the Founders Hunchback, since I chose the Atlas, this was a way for me to earn 30% bonus C-Bills using that big AC20. I did quite well in it.

Now the 4G has a god cannon and the same build on the Grid Iron would be "meh". Still can't work out the UAC5's. I really want to run 2 of them but I can never seem to fit everything. 1 UAC5 just seems underwhelming.

As a medium mech I don't want to be using weapons that require me to stare at my (potentially much larger) target such as the UAC5.

[speleomaniac]

GI, once mastered was rocking before the quirks with AC20/3ML setup, it got the wrong quirks (I mean who faces up with your enemy and trade in a Hunchback, you are a hit and runner and nothing hits and run better then AC20), I am running in 4G setup and it should get the 4Gs quirks.

Even with the half of the 4Gs quirks it is a regular 500 damage 9 assist mech (around 500 damage I ran out of AC20 ammo ).

Grid Iron rocks....

[The Amazing Atomic Spaniel]

I've run 2 UAC5 + 2 ML with a standard engine. Very slow but with a UAC module and the quirks the rate of fire is stonking. However, it suffers from the problem of all HBKs in that it's just not very tough. Fun to play but not exactly a rival to the Stormcrow.

[MoonfireSpam]

2LPL + UAC5, XL275. Doing constant drive byes seems to work well most games.

[Satan n stuff]

Quxudica, on 30 November 2014 - 08:57 PM, said:

the Grid Iron is generally perceived to be at best the "mehist" of the hunchbacks as far as I'm aware. It's not awful so much as it is.. somewhat redundant. Other variants run more effective builds more effectively.

I agee with you there, it's quirks are all over the place so if you want to use all of them you have to use an XL engine and it can't do the stock non hero hunchie builds nearly as well as the variants that have them by default.
It's specific energy weapon quirk is for medium pulse lasers which take up too much tonnage for a Hunchback, it's specific ballistics quirk is for ultra AC/5s which are more or less useless unless you have at least two, which means you'd have to fit an XL engine or a small standard engine to get the most out of either of these quirks.
On top of that it only has the single missile hardpoint so any missile weapons would have to be added more or less as an afterthought, as missile weapons aren't all that useful if you don't have at least two.
The only viable way to build this mech that I can see is to build it around one weapon specific quirk so you can fit a standard engine, which quirk you actually want to use is a matter of personal preference but I'd go with the medium pulse lasers and a mid weight ballistic, alternatively 2 UAC/5s and medium lasers will fit with a standard 200 but you'd be slow and will require lots of facetime, which means you'll be dead in seconds if someone decides to focus on the mech firing the big scary autocannons.

I've currently got mine configured as a 3 medium pulse + LB 10-X can opener with a standard 250, it does reasonably well for what it is but most of the time half my damage comes from a well placed arty strike. At least it doesn't require a lot of facetime, but the LB 10-X doesn't work well until after you've stripped armor from an enemy and it's scattershot nature counters whatever precision the build gains from the pulse lasers.
An upgraded stock 4G will strip armor much more efficiently than this build and it's probably more effective overall against internals too, because it benefits from stacked cooldown quirks and it's AC will still hit for about one third more damage against internals with better focus which the extra damage and shorter duration of the pulse lasers probably don't make up for.

All in all there is no way to make the most out of the weapon specific quirks without turning it into a suicide bomber, either due to lack of speed or an XL engine, and any decent loadout that doesn't use those quirks is noticeably worse than the same loadout on a more appropriate hunchback variant.

After playing around on smurfy a bit more I found a loadout that might actually focus damage well and uses most of the hardpoints, it also isn't possible on any other variant which is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned, here it is, a standard 200 with an AC/20 + 2.5 tons of ammo, 3 medium pulse lasers and an SRM2 with 0.5 tons of ammo. I'll likely try this sooner or later, I didn't bother to balance my torso armor so don't expect me to run it exactly like that, and it's slow as **** so I probably won't live long if I get focused in this.

Let's hope I don't run into anyone I regularly play with while playing that build, because most of them will focus me just to get me out of the way, or to be able to brag that they killed me.

[151st Light Horse Regiment]

I get excited when i see a GI on the map, because theyre so rare

[QuantumButler]

the worst Hunchback is the one with LRMs, the GI is just average.