10 replies to this topic

[KeishiRaito]

Wow... seen a few more Highlanders ingame but not a single discussion or necrothread besides the IIC?

I know the percentage of players on the boards vs the players staying just ingame is really far off but still?? Anyways, instead of necroing the 33C or 33P threads I thought I might just start a new one to see what the active Highlander pilots had for thoughts on quirks, class one jump jets, the state of Highlanders in CW/Meta/Etc/Trollbait for "DerpIS vsHerpClan"/?? Versus the IIC?? and most of all; Smurfy builds and tips!

And for the trolls, I'll troll you.




So for the no brainer, 733C with AC20, 3 SRM6, and 2 ML/MPL is pretty much a staple along with a Endo/DHS modified stock 732... what else just flat works for you and others? As for me, in the past I enjoyed the 733 with a AC5, 2 LL/ERLL, and 4 LRM5 for the constant rain. I'm also enjoying the fact that 2-4 jump jets on the Highlander is worthy right now. Not as much as it should be to feel right but a HUGE improvement over the hover jets. Far way to go for the Highlander but its a start. Think PGI/Russ are just afraid to let the Highlander back to its jump potential due to the flood gates of tears because of a certain brand of toaster pastries. Brawling and mid range builds get the shaft because of this but the brawlers got a unexpected gift with jump jet slight unnerf.

Comments, builds, IS vs Clan Highlander discussions? : O

[Kodyn]

Personally, I always wanted to love HGNs, and leveled 3 of them a while ago, before giving up. I had a thread somewhere talking about how they were way too fragile to be useful, as the STs and CT were like bullet-magnets, so neither XL or STD engines helped with survivability.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who felt that way, because now the B is out, and overall tankiness of the chassis has been improved, and I'm piloting a HGN once again, now with much more success and fun.

I always felt defensive quirks were needed, and while they don't look huge on paper, I've noticed the difference in gameplay, both on my own, and enemy HGNs.

After trying a few builds out, the one I've settled on for now with my B is gauss + 3xERLL, STD 325, using the left side as a shield. I still only run one JJ just for maneuverability, no need to poptart with ERLL burn times anyway, and have no room for AMS, even with Endo, but it seems to be working just fine as-is.

I kinda wish the B was a bit more PPC friendly, so I could pop a shot and turn away more quickly, but I find the ERLL/Gauss combo to be very easy to use for high pinpoint damage, and don't find myself getting torn up too quickly or losing my weapon arm, well, ever so far.

They probably still aren't competitive, but they're a hell of a lot more useful and fun now, at least to me.

[Sewman]

I bought the 733C, 732 and 733 right around the time when Victors and Highlanders were the run away metamech to have. I was gleefully wrecking faces with pop-tart builds as well as jumpjet brawlers without any worries about jump jet heat.

Shortly after I mastered the chassis, the JJs were given heat penalties and thrust nerfs and that's when the Highlanders became Hoverlanders. I think PPCs lost their velocity as well. A whole bunch of new mechs (both IS and Clan) have been introduced since that era which really put the HGN's firepower to shame.

Post JJ Improvements:
I excitedly tried a few games post JJ + PPC velocity quirks to see if my Highlanders are now in the realm of 'playable'. Or are they still complete trash against the today's plethora of DPS monsters?

First Impressions, the JJs are actually pretty good now. Lots of height, crazy initial thrust height.
I tried an old Meta build: 300STD 2PPC, 2UAC5's. Best game was 3 kills and about 600 dmg and it even included one sky high jump jet PPC snipe, just like old times. But that was a single good game nestled deep in an hour long losing streak.

I haven't had much seat time with my Highlanders since then but I have noticed that the JJs do help utilize leg armour (jump jet spamming) to help tank more damage like they used to.

Are Highlanders back?
My conclusion - Still absolutely not. I piloted some other mechs after getting too frustrated with the losing streak and easily did more damage than my hour long stretch of losing in the Highlander. But I will continue to test and pilot my HGNs again. Even if they still aren't one of the better mechs right now, it's still become a bit more 'fun' to play with the increased agility.

I'm really anxious to see if anybody has made more progress with their Highlanders, especially Video captures of some above average matches.

Edited by Sewman, 16 July 2015 - 12:09 AM.

[UndeadEdd]

These are my builds:
HGN-732B - AC10 + 3LL
HGN-733C - AC20 + 2PPC
HGN-733P - 4LPL

I hate "poptarting". I won't use it as my main tactic, but only to get a rare shot in. I also don't like using SRM if I can use more accurate weapons instead, which is why none of the builds usethem.
I've been most successful with the 732B, usually getting around 100 points per match. It's a very deadly skirmisher.
The 733C can deliver quick 40 damage hits and hide. Fairs pretty well, usually.
The 733P is a bit tricky because firing all the LPL generates extra "ghost heat". Used in pairs, they can quickly deal lots of damage at a decent range.
In all builds, the weapons are concentrated on the right side which allows to fire them all with good accuracy and without exposing the whole mech.

About the JJ, I think now they work pretty reasonably. You can't have a 90 ton mech jumping around too quickly. I think JJ should be used for traversing tough terrain and finding good firing spots, not for "pop-tarting".

Edited by UndeadEdd, 16 July 2015 - 06:45 AM.

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

heavy metal jumps very nicely now with 5JJ:s

good poptart,runs a bit hot tho

[JC Daxion]

what did they do to highlanders in the patch? i didnt notice anything

[Rear Admiral Tier 6]

JC Daxion, on 17 July 2015 - 09:13 AM, said:

what did they do to highlanders in the patch? i didnt notice anything

JJ thrust was upped to previous levels

[Hit the Deck]

Cookiemonter669, on 17 July 2015 - 10:14 AM, said:

JJ thrust was upped to previous levels

Yeah, but Paul also nerfed the fuel by around 17% (4.9 to 4.1) so theoretically you can't jump as high as before.

Anyway, I took my HGN-733C for a spin and played as a dual UAC/5 dual PPC semi-poptart and it worked fine. Not great but just okay.

Next time I'll try brawling with it (AC/20+lasers+SRMs).


EDIT: this is the build I'm currently using:2UAC/5+2PPC.
If you fire the UAC constantly then it becomes a bit hot. I'll try swapping the UACs with a Gauss Rilfe.

Edited by Hit the Deck, 04 August 2015 - 06:11 AM.

[Hit the Deck]

Hmm... the "once meta" 2UAC/5+2PPC is my favorite right now after the last PPC buff. I play it at range and don't get close to the enemies. Updated my HGN-733C build above. Had pretty good games with it in the solo drop including 5 kills 800 damage.

The only variant that I haven't tried is the 733P. And the 732B. But I think the last one should perform pretty similarly to HM and 733C which I already own.

Edited by Hit the Deck, 04 August 2015 - 12:02 AM.

[STEF_]

Hell!
+1000 to this thread!

I never liked the highlander back in the days, because in the poptart era, it was rather silly watching 23 mechs jumping like bunnies, and fly like butterflies. Also I snob them, until now, 'cause I'm a light and medium pilot.

But thanks to recent sale, I've bought 3.
Guys, I'm having hellafun with them
And they are not sub par, as I was reading around the forum, and months ago it was pretty rare to find one in the battlefield.

The main "thing" is the low engine, but there is a trade there: you have a lot of tonnage for weapons/armor.

Here my Landers:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...ba20cb8745d1de4
I like that uac5 and ppc have quite the same velocity.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...be28eed061c17bb
A classic.
I like that at the end of 3erLL I can release the button for the gauss slug

But this is my fav:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...21d70e10b3d6509
Those 43 dmg, with cooldown mod., in an xl engine....high risk, high rewards!
Very fun to pilot!

[TheLuc]

Here are suggestions for the Highlanders,

732 http://mwo.smurfy-ne...d54f5c0460d6705

732B http://mwo.smurfy-ne...fbe9895c27a96de

733 http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b60f8a9672f41d3

733C http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f8373a85e71926f

733P http://mwo.smurfy-ne...48d296d2e98114a

those setups served me well.