71 replies to this topic

[BigFatGator]

Hey sponge, seen you in a few matches.

Highlanders were my first assault chassis, and I used to love them. The 733C can still wreck face in public que as a AC20 (or 2 UAC5's, your choice), 2ML, 3SRM6 brawler with STD engine, but post-quirk the Stalkers are a better choice overall- particularly with the mastery pack idea as Misery>>Heavy metal.

If you go highlander, my thoughts:
Put 1JJ on it. the two tons are worth it to get over rocks and silly little humps. Also can help slightly in brawling to turn and spread damage some- just don't count on it to do much other than that.

Except for LRM or offbeat builds, avoid the XL. Because of the low engine cap you get mostly a weight savings rather than a speed boost that you would get with the Victor, Battlemaster, or Banshee with their high engine caps. Once you put endosteel on the mech, you won't be able to use all that weight savings because you will slot out before you ton out. If you take off endo, then your weight savings is only about 5-6 tons, not worth the lowered robustness due to XL. I lost side torsi pretty often in mine when I ran brawling XL builds.

Low slung hardpoints are a pain. You will shoot a lot of dirt at first if you are used to ridgehumping. Get used to the low slung cannons.

Overall, the Highlander is only a really viable mech in a couple configurations and is in need of some quirkage to be a first-rate assault again.

Hope that helps.

Edited by BigFatGator, 03 January 2015 - 07:20 AM.

[Amsro]

No love for the highlander it seems.

Been working great for almost 2 years now for me.

Heavy Metal 4 Life, be-gauss I can win with it!

[TercieI]

Amsro, on 03 January 2015 - 10:42 AM, said:

No love for the highlander it seems.

Been working great for almost 2 years now for me.

Heavy Metal 4 Life, be-gauss I can win with it!

Many of us have sub-par chassis we do well in.

Edited by Terciel1976, 03 January 2015 - 10:44 AM.

[BigFatGator]

Amsro, on 03 January 2015 - 10:42 AM, said:

No love for the highlander it seems.

I do love the chassis, but I recognize that in the current quirkmosphere that it is disadvantaged vs. other IS assaults.
Doesn't mean I don't run it from time to time, or score great in some of the matches, but overall wouldn't suggest someone grab that chassis as a mainstay right now.

[Amsro]

Terciel1976, on 03 January 2015 - 10:44 AM, said:

Many of us have sub-par chassis we do well in.

I seem to do well in all of my "sub-par" mechs. Trebuchets included, yep catapults too.

BigFatGator, on 03 January 2015 - 10:58 AM, said:

I do love the chassis, but I recognize that in the current quirkmosphere that it is disadvantaged vs. other IS assaults.
Doesn't mean I don't run it from time to time, or score great in some of the matches, but overall wouldn't suggest someone grab that chassis as a mainstay right now.

Hmm I guess, but to me even with the lesser quirks I find the highlander to be very effective. I've never bought into the "top tier" mech choices.

The pilot and the build make more of a difference then the chassis used. er something like that.

[cSand]

Terciel1976, on 03 January 2015 - 10:44 AM, said:

Many of us have sub-par chassis we do well in.

lol

sub par

I see you follow the forum gospel like many other mindless drones

So if a bunch of players can do well in "sub par" chassis.... yet a vocal subset continually tries to convince everyone they are sub par for "reasons"... what does that say about the "1337s" who are making these declarations?


Let me give you a hint:

it starts with "sub par"

[TercieI]

Amsro, on 03 January 2015 - 11:15 AM, said:

I seem to do well in all of my "sub-par" mechs. Trebuchets included, yep catapults too.

I think TBTs are "underrated," not "sub-par." (I don't have them, but mean to remedy that shortly as they are gaining a new notoriety).

cSand, on 03 January 2015 - 11:39 AM, said:

I see you follow the forum gospel like many other mindless drones

LOL. No, I play with and against great players all the time and experiment regularly. This forum is pretty low on the level of MWO discussions and insights and aside from very specific posters, I trust it not at all.

And I'm sorry it's not PC, but there really are better and worse chassis. And I have yet to see a chassis that some huge number of people do well in that competitive players don't do well in and/or eschew for some reason. There seems to be this misconception that competitive types don't experiment with a wide variety of mechs. Nothing could be further from the truth. They do, and specifically when there are balance changes. That's where the meta comes from. There's no secret meeting where it's decided, it's tested and tried and develops based on what works. Patch days are great fun trying out new stuff, but it's certainly not limited to then. It's an ongoing process. And right now, the HGN is sub-par among IS assaults. Doesn't mean somebody can't do well in it, especially somebody as familar as Amsro, but it's an inferior option right now.

Edited by Terciel1976, 03 January 2015 - 11:59 AM.

[Brody319]

my locust is subpar but I love them<3

[Yosharian]

I experimented a hell of a lot with my Heavy Metal and it just isn't worth the tonnage. Jumpjets are worthless even after the buff, you can't carry dual UAC5 or AC20 (only the 733C can do that, it's definitely the best variant), it can't hill hump for ****, and it can't win CQC duels easily anymore due to the JJ nerf.

[Yokaiko]

Yosharian, on 03 January 2015 - 12:02 PM, said:

I experimented a hell of a lot with my Heavy Metal and it just isn't worth the tonnage. Jumpjets are worthless even after the buff, you can't carry dual UAC5 or AC20 (only the 733C can do that, it's definitely the best variant), it can't hill hump for ****, and it can't win CQC duels easily anymore due to the JJ nerf.

It used to be a monster when before JJs were trashed and ghost heat was a thing, The Metal in particular.

Now, meh, I'll stalker or Crab, the Highlander is a lot of work for not a lot of bonus.

[Brody319]

Yosharian, on 03 January 2015 - 12:02 PM, said:

I experimented a hell of a lot with my Heavy Metal and it just isn't worth the tonnage. Jumpjets are worthless even after the buff, you can't carry dual UAC5 or AC20 (only the 733C can do that, it's definitely the best variant), it can't hill hump for ****, and it can't win CQC duels easily anymore due to the JJ nerf.

Try this out

[Bulletsponge0]

so, by the comments here...I'd be much better off going stalker instead of highlander...

[Brody319]

Bulletsponge0, on 03 January 2015 - 12:09 PM, said:

so, by the comments here...I'd be much better off going stalker instead of highlander...

Yes, the Stalkers are beautiful mechs. They won't let you down.

[SgtMagor]

Heavy Metal, was all about mobility that's what made it fun. now its just not fun...

[TercieI]

Brody319, on 03 January 2015 - 12:00 PM, said:

my locust is subpar but I love them<3

Aw, man, me too.

Bulletsponge0, on 03 January 2015 - 12:09 PM, said:

so, by the comments here...I'd be much better off going stalker instead of highlander...

Stalker and Banshee are probably the best IS assaults right now. I've always liked Stalkers best of IS assaults personally, even when it was HGNs and VTRs as far as the JJ could pop-tart...

[Bulletsponge0]

Terciel1976, on 03 January 2015 - 12:17 PM, said:

Aw, man, me too.



Stalker and Banshee are probably the best IS assaults right now. I've always liked Stalkers best of IS assaults personally, even when it was HGNs and VTRs as far as the JJ could pop-tart...

Banshees were some of my very first mechs..I was happy that PGI gave them some love wub

[TercieI]

Bulletsponge0, on 03 January 2015 - 12:18 PM, said:

Banshees were some of my very first mechs..I was happy that PGI gave them some love wub

I'm leveling them now and majoring in WUB, though I can't find a thing I like to do with the 3S.

[vettie]

Bulletsponge0, on 03 January 2015 - 12:09 PM, said:

so, by the comments here...I'd be much better off going stalker instead of highlander...

Going by comments alone, the answer would be yes

I suggest you take a ride with the champion versions (trials) and find out for yourself, altho i dont like the load out on the Stalker Trial (you might) and I dont see a Highlander in the trials currently. But try the Stalker. Look over the slots, play in smurfy with the builds and decide for yourself.

[Brody319]

vettie, on 03 January 2015 - 12:30 PM, said:

Going by comments alone, the answer would be yes

I suggest you take a ride with the champion versions (trials) and find out for yourself, altho i dont like the load out on the Stalker Trial (you might) and I dont see a Highlander in the trials currently. But try the Stalker. Look over the slots, play in smurfy with the builds and decide for yourself.

NO! don't pilot the Stalker trial, it has an XL in it.

[Yokaiko]

Bulletsponge0, on 03 January 2015 - 12:09 PM, said:

so, by the comments here...I'd be much better off going stalker instead of highlander...

Yeah, Stalker is a very solid, very versatile platform.

......just never XL nub with it, never ever XL a stalker.