58 replies to this topic

[zaibitsu]

Hello guys,

So I've done some small research and I see that it's the most recommended mech is the hunchback. So I've decided to go with him, but I dont know what variant should I get.

What I enjoy doing in this game is, at the beginning shoot from long range (so maybe some sniper capability would be nice). And when the battle gets more heated I really like to flank mid range. I'm not very interested in going close and personal.

So what variant of hunchback would you recommend for me? And maybe build?

Also I read that I need 3 variants of it (for something ?!), should I get them all from the start?

Can I use hunchbacks for more competitive play? I want to play everything: community warfare, scrimming. Not just random pubs etc.

Thanks,

Edited by zaibitsu, 10 March 2015 - 01:52 AM.

[Nightshade24]

Hunchback has a diverse and 'alright' set of range of builds possible and mediums/ heavies are more noob friendly then a clan, light, or assault mech.

Alright

First build?

Not a sniper, but ranged... the 4J is interesting, can do lots of lasers as well as rapid fire LRM 10 quirks for 2 missile hardpoints with it making it spew 20 LRM missiles per few seconds

not 'sniping" but it is ranged.

For 'sniping" I do not know what fits the bill for the hunchback, the 4H has an AC 10 quirk related stuff and has quite a lot of lasers as well making it a good med to short range mech.

Hunchback chassis are generally brawlers besides the 4J and the GI (Grid Iron, the premium 'hero' mech that has a gauss rifle quirk)

You need 3 variants that are different of the same mech (or alt.configs. for clans) to get elite pilot skills.

Which x2 your basic skills (including cooling down faster, turning harder, etc). and the elite skills include things like 10% speed bonus.

You can't get elite until you basic 3 variants.


Also hunchback is not 'competetive', comp often changes time to time but most of all it's stypically monotonus long range pinpoint high damage alpha's.


This may mean... Gauss rifle, ER PPC, Large lasers, etc.

The current chassis of choice is...

Firestarter A or S.
Thunderbolt 9S
Timberwolf
Stormcrow.

That is the current pallet of meta mechs. (Note: Firestarter or lights in general play by different rules)

I do NOT advise you to take a meta mech as your first mech because it can easily become the worst mech by the next week or what ever. It'll be a big blow for you as for eg "your only mech" which you got so used to doing averagely in (due to your poor experience, yo uwill still be new) suddenly goes rock bottom bad.

Hunchback and Centurion are alright. But the playstyle you say is more of the lines of a clan mech or a mech like the shadowhawk.

[Soulscour]

Hunchbacks are not really sniping mechs unless you get the GridIron which is a hero mech that costs MC (real money). If long range is your game then the 4J LRM boat is the way to go. If 300-400 is your range then the 4P laser hunchback is the way to go. Then there's the 4G and 4SP that excel at ranges under 300. A lot of good players pilot all of the hunchback variants especially after quirks were introduced to the game. They can be used in a dropdeck for community warfare but not predominantly. The weight cap tends to favor heavies. I recommend that you browse the medium mech build forum. There is a lot of discussions about hunchbacks. It seems to be currently one of the more popular mechs in the game.

Edited by Soulscour, 10 March 2015 - 02:34 AM.

[Modo44]

This was a recommendation a year ago, maybe. These days, you get a Stormcrow over any other medium mech.

[TheLuc]

since you need 3 variants to master a mech, Id pick the 4G,4P and the 4H then adapt those to my play style and keep the one I like best. here below suggestions for the hunchbacks

the classic 4G also possible to have same setup on the 4H to save time and Cbills, http://mwo.smurfy-ne...256c779536c38fc

and the 4P, http://mwo.smurfy-ne...069b4d6095444a3

there is other medium mechs that can do the sniping role like shadowhawk, cicada or wolverine. here is a little suggestion of the Wolverine 6R based on what you wrote ,

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...08d31d95312a4e1

there is also other classes like heavy and assault mechs that can fit your play style

Here is a Heavy class mech, the Cataphract 2X as exemple and a bit cheaper to build

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...5d53d99ea84d0a1

and here is the Highlander 732 assault mech http://mwo.smurfy-ne...fa047002dbc0bae

Edited by TheLuc, 10 March 2015 - 03:28 AM.

[zaibitsu]

I have no idea what to do.
I guess I'm going to research more before actually buying since I'm worried about regretting the decision.
Thanks for the info.

[Soulscour]

TheLuc, on 10 March 2015 - 02:41 AM, said:

Unless you really like the hunchback, id skip it for a other medium like shadowhawk, cicada or a wolverine. here is a little suggestion of the Wolverine 6R based on what you wrote ,

Except those mechs predominantly use xl engines which are expensive for a new player.

[zaibitsu]

What's the ;longest range you can be efficient with Hunchback?

[TheLuc]

Soulscour, on 10 March 2015 - 02:55 AM, said:

Except those mechs predominantly use xl engines which are expensive for a new player.

to note im far from the best pilot around and getting the XL engines is not so bad.

zaibitsu, on 10 March 2015 - 03:04 AM, said:

What's the ;longest range you can be efficient with Hunchback?

its not about the chassis but the weapon used to snipe, Id go with the gauss rifle

[Rogue Jedi]

zaibitsu, on 10 March 2015 - 03:04 AM, said:

What's the ;longest range you can be efficient with Hunchback?

if you put in a Gauss Rifle or ER Large Laser/ERPPC you can do damage well past a kilometer.

in answer to the origional question the 4H with its AC10 or 4J with LRMs should best fit your play style, the LRMs will work fine at ranges of 600-180m (do no damage inside 180 and past 600 most Mechs are likely to have enough time to find cover), the AC10 has no minimum range but has a slow projectile so if you fire on moving targets you will need to learn to lead with the AC if you want to hit, again it is not worth using it much past 600m.

Alternatevly you could take AC2, AC5, or Gauss on the 4H or 4G. those weapons are better for long range work than the other ACs and any Hunchback can take ^(ER)Large Lasers or ^(ER)PPCs potentialy giving close up capabilities and range beyond 1,000m ^{(but with reduced damage and a lot of heat)}, however taking those ignores the Hunchbacks powerful quirks ^{(each varient gets a big power boost for a specific weapon)} which are the main reason most people would take the Hunchback

[B L O O D W I T C H]

zaibitsu, on 10 March 2015 - 03:04 AM, said:

What's the ;longest range you can be efficient with Hunchback?

totally up to you, nothing stops you from mounting er-ppc or ER-Llas onto the 4P. or mount ac2 or guass onto the 4G.
but generally, hunches are midrange to closerange brawler (4G/4H) closerange striker (4SP/4P) or firesupport (Grid Iron/4J)

Hunches are a great choice for the first mech, they're cheap (most run with low tier standard engines) and can take a beating before going down (which you will need as a new player).

I'd recommend the Hunchback mastery package or, if you do not want to spend money, the 4G+4P+4J/4SP (SP if you like SRM brawling, J if you like LRM firesupport)

[zaibitsu]

Based on the TheLuc recommendation I have bought my 1st mech: HCB-4H

[A Vieira]

zaibitsu, on 10 March 2015 - 02:54 AM, said:

I have no idea what to do.
I guess I'm going to research more before actually buying since I'm worried about regretting the decision.
Thanks for the info.

If you go the Hunchback way, I don't think you'll ever say you regretted it. I just recently got into Hunchbacks and I regret not doing it earlier (I have around 30 mechs now). I really enjoyed mastering them and don't think on selling any of them.
It's a great starter mech, not too expensive to get optimum builds, as most builds are not XL dependent . Also, it allows you to get a grasp of different aspects of the game as each variant is distinct.

You can have the traditional builds (meaning making use of the quirks) with:
4G and 4H - ballistic AC20 / AC10
4P - Laser boat
4J - LRM

You can have also the Grid Iron which at the moment excels at Gauss Rifle (but, as stated above, you are not locked to one build per variant and can try other things in each one). I myself opted for 4G, 4P and 4J.


One other mech often suggested is the Shadowhawk, but as it was said it is generally an XL mech and as such more expensive to build.

zaibitsu, on 10 March 2015 - 04:06 AM, said:

Based on the TheLuc recommendation I have bought my 1st mech: HCB-4H

Good! Tell us how it went! Consider getting another two in the future so you can master the chassis. It makes a difference in performance.

[Anunknownlurker]

I have also taken the HB as my "first" mech - still running trials to earn money of course. I chose the 4H AC10 variant and have pimped it a bit with endo-steel, double heat sinks and a bigger engine (only 81kph but it's better than the starter engine). My next purchase will be the 4P and then I'm not sure, possibly the 4J but replace the LRMs with short range missiles as I have found I suck something chronic with LRMS

Had a couple of decent games since pimping the beast but as the old saying goes "life is cheap, mechs are expensive" I still have some way to go to earn enough credits to get another ride.

All in all I am not regretting the choice as it would have taken me nearly twice as long to get a Shadowhawk

[dragnier1]

I thought of recommending you the griffin, but i don't own that so...i'll recommend the centurion. The idea of the centurion is to use that left arm to protect the rest of the mech, while you fight. The centurion is designed to be more of a brawler though.

Edited by dragnier1, 10 March 2015 - 04:50 AM.

[chrx]

Hunchbacks are solid mechs. Get 4P and 4J or 4SP in addition to 4H, and you can try a lot of different playstyles and weapons. However, every hunchie is made to excel with one specific weapon (P: medium laser, J: LRM10, SP: SRM6, G: AC/20, H:AC/10, GI: Gauss rifle). In a medium, it is usually smart to follow the group and support heavier mechs when they engage.

This guide has a lot of good advice on hunchies: http://metamechs.com...des/hunchback/.

[Macksheen]

(1) They are all awesome. I love mine, and they are at this point my best mech by the numbers (looking at all variants for a chassis) for the Inner Sphere. I can't explain it.

(2) Don't get your expectations set too high. There is a pretty steep learning curve and I halfway wonder if I did so poorly in mechs because even months after I started I was still learning. Hell I'm still learning - but I can chart a steady but slow increase in various performance metrics pretty consistently since I started playing - I did worse in earlier mechs, etc. Anyway, you may not be as slow as I am, but just a bit of warning from a friendly side - don't hate it if you don't do as well as you expect.

[zaibitsu]

I need more range for my mech. The 500m of the AC10 are not good enough.

[TheLuc]

the AC10 goes beyond 500m but there is a damage decrease as well as bullet drop, there is also the gauss rifle ( rail gun ) that goes very far. tricky part is that the gauss rifle you have to hold down the fire button, the the gauss make 2 time a specific noise and then release the button, good timing is the key


Hunchback 4H with gauss rifle http://mwo.smurfy-ne...5081781c05af1ea

Edited by TheLuc, 10 March 2015 - 06:10 AM.

[Orbit Rain]

take a look at this site: http://snafets.de/mwo/quirks.htm to get to know which mechs have what quirks. Hunchbacks are heavily quirked so you did well there.