29 replies to this topic

[Tiger Shark]

Hi Hunchie IIC Owners,
I have been trying 4 builds.
The original Pytor Battletech cartoon version with 2UAC20s, 2ERML, FF 200XL.
4UAC2s 2ERSL with FF 255XL.
Another variation with FF XL255 and 2UAC10s 2ERSL.
I also made one that's like the BJ1X that I usually play, 6ERML, 275XL, 2JJ, Endo, 25DHS, 338 Armor. Or sometimes with 8ERML, and 24DHS 336 Armor.

The Quad UAC2 build is fun with all the flashes and long range, but I have not had too much success with the dual UAC20 or dual UAC10 build.

I usually escort the assaults or heavies in the UAC20 and UAC10 builds, and stay back to provide cover fire in the UAC2 build.

Any builds and tactics you use with that build would be helpful.

I usually play lights and fast mediums (Cicadas or Blackjacks or Stormcrows or Hunch4G or LRM Hunch4J).

Edited by Tiger Shark, 19 December 2015 - 11:16 AM.

[Luscious Dan]

Sure am glad the Hunchy can upgrade its engine, the 200XL is far too slow IMO.

By far my best results have been in the prime variant, with 2xUAC10 and 2xER mediums. So far I've been running XL255, two jump jets, and 4.5 tons of ammo. WIth Endo/Ferro you can max armor everywhere except the arms. God it's fun when mechs twice your size run away from you

However, I think I need to try XL235 with an external DHS in each torso for crit padding. I find those UAC10's get critted out far more easily than they should (for example, I almost never seem to lose any of the ACs in my Marauder right torso before the component blows). I'll certainly never put any ammo in those side torsos if I can help it.

Once I get some more money for engines (man it sucks when you buy an XL and don't end up wanting to use it long term) I want to try perfecting a dual UAC5 build for the C variant. Arm mounted weapons will be nice, as extreme elevation changes are often your biggest issue with the other variants. Especially when they're below you, your torso weapons can't hit them. If you skip the TC1, you should be able to take 4ER mediums, 4 tons of ammo, and max jump jets. 12 DHS total (two per side torso soaking crits), which will run toasty, but if you use your ACs as the primary weapons and rarely fire the arm guns you'll be fine.

Edited by Luscious Dan, 17 December 2015 - 08:18 AM.

[MattEdge]

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6a89cb98901c199

Favorite build so far (But I'm not even basiced yet).

Play like a scaredy-cat Hellbringer and it's pretty effective. That is to say, ridge peek - stay in cover - find a position where no one is looking at you and poke a corner/hill over and over and over until someone looks, then move somewhere else.

Edited by MattEdge, 17 December 2015 - 09:13 AM.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

The build I'm playing with for now.

The engine is a 245 XL. Look, it's Clan tech, so it's GOT room for the external heat sink. Even then, it saves a half-ton. Not much, I know. The 200 XL is just too slow. For now, at least, that's the engine I'm gonna work with.

The SRMs aren't Artemis. I might play with that later, dropping the MPLs to ERMLs, losing a ton of ammo, and shaving another ton off the arms. A little shuffling of components, and it should work just fine. Right now, I'm getting used to a new mouse (Logitech G502, as opposed to my old M-something trackball), so my aim is kinda bad, and the extra spread on those vanilla SRMs helps.

The MPLs? Eh, may as well. I rarely use MPLs on anything.

Gets two alphas out without overheating on Canyon Network, without any BASIC skills unlocked. With Cool Run and Heat Containment, and with just a LITTLE bit of discipline, can alpha three times before needing to go bathe in ice water.

[Raging Owlbear]

MattEdge, on 17 December 2015 - 09:10 AM, said:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6a89cb98901c199

Favorite build so far (But I'm not even basiced yet).

You might consider cutting down your back armor a bit to buff your front. It will weaken you against light swarming, but with your tactics, you probably want a few more points up front anyway... and with the 275, the extra mobility will help protect your back.

Edited by Lt Waldo, 17 December 2015 - 10:41 PM.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Actually, THIS seems a little better. Cooler, more ammo, quicker.

[Luscious Dan]

I don't bother fixing the front/rear armor when posting here. Everyone has their own preferences for frontloading armor. Just the other day I spectated a Cheetah sneak up behind a Black Knight and fire a full SPL alpha into its back. Damage was spread slightly, but didn't even turn the armor red. Couldn't believe it lol

Anyway I am still finding that I lose a lot of side torso weapon systems to crits, so I'm being extra paranoid about including any ammo in them. I've been using jump jets and external DHS for padding and it seems to help. On the IIC-C you can put some AC ammo in the arms, which nobody ever shoots at since most variants don't have any equipment there.

My builds are settling on XL255 and XL235 engines mostly. Anything else seems too slow, but being in the same range as Timbers and Jaguars is nice. Being slower than them would be a huge problem, as they can pack as much weapons as you but significantly more armor.

[Moldur]

this net me back to back 1000+ damage games.
HBK-IIC-A 2xLPL 4x erML

Triple UAC-5 with stock engine and 2 small lasers in the IIC is basically a race to get all your ammo and damage out. You might run out of ammo, but that also means you did a lot of damage. I'm too lazy to post a build of it.

for the IIC-B I've got 4x artemis srm6, 2 small pulse lasers and 275xl. The convergence on the SRMs is really tight, so you can core people pretty quick. HBK-IIC-B

These have worked pretty well so far. With the preorder variant I'm trying UAC5 max engine and 4MPLs. I don't want to recommend it as I haven't played enough in it. All the other builds I posted I used to basic.

[Wintersdark]

The builds I'm currently running:



The "Classic" 2 UAC10 build. ERML's for the lasers as their range synergizes best with the UAC10's. It's effective, but my '10's tend to jam a lot. An interesting alternate is running 3xAC2's (that is, AC2's, not UAC2's - the AC2 is actually better) - but ultimately the facetime requirement is a bad thing on a fragile 50 tonner.

---

Probably my favorite of the bunch, despite my distaste for laser vomit. The high mounted ERLL's are excellent early match weapons, and once you get in close 6xCSPL's are brutal, particularly when they can be alpha'd easily for an easy 58 damage.

---

Once I get a few more cbills, I'll switch this to ASRM4's and a XL275 - HBK-IIC-B But for now, this makes an monsterous poptart brawler.

[DivineTomatoes]

Have been using 4 lbx2s and it's turned out surprisingly fun and not half bad.

Staying at mid range and peppering people and annoying them to all hell too.

Dual ERLL and quad ERML is pretty decent too, just stay at range or your paper ct goes splat.

[Tiger Shark]

Reaver2145, on 19 December 2015 - 01:06 AM, said:

Have been using 4 lbx2s and it's turned out surprisingly fun and not half bad.

Staying at mid range and peppering people and annoying them to all hell too.

Dual ERLL and quad ERML is pretty decent too, just stay at range or your paper ct goes splat.

How do you keep the LPL+ML versions cool? I do way worse than 8ML or 6ML.
The 4LBX2 sounds like better than the 4UAC2 even, will give that a try.

[Wintersdark]

Reaver2145, on 19 December 2015 - 01:06 AM, said:

Have been using 4 lbx2s and it's turned out surprisingly fun and not half bad.

Staying at mid range and peppering people and annoying them to all hell too.

Dual ERLL and quad ERML is pretty decent too, just stay at range or your paper ct goes splat.

2ERLL/4ERML is too hot, not hitty enough when things get close.

The 2ERLL/6SPL build listed above solves both problems: It's cool, and it's got a brutal 36pt rapid firing SPL strike. On a reasonably quick and highly agile mech, you can tear sh!t up with that. Toss in the ERLL's when you've got a good rear shot (as to be worth the decreased heat efficiency) and you're golden with a 58pt alpha.

---

Is a fun quad AC2 build. With 2 damage shells and pinpoint accuracy, which you don't get with LBX-AC2's. And, unlike UAC2's, you get 900m/1800m ranges. The UAC2 also loses DPS when doubletapping, making the AC2 a clearly superior weapon. +1 slot taken, but it's not like space is at a premium.

It's less effective at higher tiers where the facetime requirement will get you killed, but for Regular Folks firing from a hulldown position it puts out a LOT of dps with a good amount of disruption.

Edit: Was testing the TC here. Apparently, the TC does not apply to AC2's, so replace with jump jets/ammo/what have you.

Edited by Wintersdark, 19 December 2015 - 11:41 AM.

[Tiger Shark]

My top builds so far, add / subtract JJ and ammo as see fit
5ML+1MPL+275XL+25DHS
4AC2+255XL
4LRM10+2ERSL+275XL

[Not A Real RAbbi]

My current top HBK-II-C chassis build. A little weak on firepower, but fairly cool running.

Noticed that I have room there to go with FF armor, which would allow another DHS (two if I ditch the TCompI) and let me upgrade to cERMLs for the cSPLs, should I find that necessary. I like the asymmetry, given the HUGE STs and the relative squishiness. The cLPLs go to the top of that right hunch, so they can poke over cover alright.

Still haven't found a comfortable build for the missile variant. :-/

The ballistic one? Does alright with 2x cUAC/5, 2x cERML. Nothing spectacular, but in PUGlandia it's enough to keep constant dakka in an enemy's face sometimes. Also do a slightly derpy one with cGauss, 3x cMG, and 2x cMPL, that runs ridiculously cool without any extra DHS.

[Vermaxx]

The IIc is already done:

12 armor arms, 28 legs, 10 all rear/full forward, 16 head.

Two ER Med ct
Two UAC20
Four tons of ammo
Two footie sinks, no jets.

You NEED the two basic cooling perks quickly, you NEED to control how rapid you fire the 20s, and you might want the CB coolshots installed. Other than that it's done.

No, it's not too slow. If you get to the fight first you die first. Let someone go in before you and exploit damaged torsos, or follow an assault around. If you can get ignored, you'll outdamage assaults really quickly.

The MISSILE variant is also pretty much done - I just cut two heatsinks and plugged the weight back into armor. You could cut a ton of ammo if you needed some of the sinking back.

[Audacious Aubergine]

My current build for the laser powered space heater:

I'll be the first to admit that it's an insane build and that it's carrying a ludicrous amount of lasers, but I'm starting to learn how to pick my shots with it. Initially had group 1 to be all 8 of them chainfired, but that lead to overheating and getting shot to hell and back, or just plain getting shot to hell and back because of all the face time. Current setup (which I've so far only used once) is:

Weapon cooldowns give it at least some time to cool off

Edited by FreebirthToad18999, 27 December 2015 - 03:58 AM.

[Tiger Shark]

For the LRM version, I run 4LRM10, 2ERSL, 275XL. Didn't use tonnage for artemis. Choose your mix of active probe, TAG, JJ, ammo, and heatsinks to your preference.

TheRAbbi, on 21 December 2015 - 03:34 AM, said:

My current top HBK-II-C chassis build. A little weak on firepower, but fairly cool running.

Noticed that I have room there to go with FF armor, which would allow another DHS (two if I ditch the TCompI) and let me upgrade to cERMLs for the cSPLs, should I find that necessary. I like the asymmetry, given the HUGE STs and the relative squishiness. The cLPLs go to the top of that right hunch, so they can poke over cover alright.

Still haven't found a comfortable build for the missile variant. :-/

The ballistic one? Does alright with 2x cUAC/5, 2x cERML. Nothing spectacular, but in PUGlandia it's enough to keep constant dakka in an enemy's face sometimes. Also do a slightly derpy one with cGauss, 3x cMG, and 2x cMPL, that runs ridiculously cool without any extra DHS.

Edited by Tiger Shark, 27 December 2015 - 10:34 AM.

[Zookeeper Dan]

Tiger Shark, on 27 December 2015 - 09:54 AM, said:

For the LRM version, I run 4LRM10, 2ERSL, 275XL. Didn't use tonnage for artemis. Choose your mix of active probe, TAG, JJ, ammo, and heatsinks to your preference.

This is my LRM Hunchy IIC-B
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...d98adaadbe71df5
XL250, 4 LRM15's, TAG, ERLL, 2JJ, Clan Active Probe
It does really well. The LRM's have to be fired in two groups or it gets way too hot. The ERLL is great for sniping as you TAG, catches a lot of people off guard and is great on open torsos.

Although I may switch the 4 LRM15's for 4 Artemis LRM10's. I'm just not sure if the smaller spread, quicker lock-on, and better ammo use would balance the 20 fewer missiles.

[Moldur]

I am reposting this here. All of these builds have been successful for me, a standard game being 400-600+ damage, with outliers depending on a bad loss or a good win. I've pulled some 1000+ games in the "A" variant as well, and gotten many high kill games in the srm back. Let me be clear, These builds are for winning games. I'm not trying to stroke my own ****, but the hbk iic is getting so much **** when it's actually pretty damn good.

Ok guys, I finished mastering the Hunchback IICs and used these builds for most of the journey.We've all learned these mechs can't tank and require some finesse to not get killed or gimped early. That said, I think these are about as good as you can get with the Hunchback IIC. I'm not saying other people's builds are bad, but if you're still lost in the sauce with making builds that are giving consistent games, I would give these builds some consideration.

-All have close to maxed armor besides the head and arms for the most part.
-All have 275 XL engines. (The empty ton in smurfy is the heatsink in the engine that it doesn't show for some reason)
-All have Ferro and Endo

HBK-IIC UAC20 + 2 MPL 4 tons ammo 36 firepower, just remember it's 56 if you double tap the UAC-20. Plenty of ammo, armor, and speed. Probably my least favorite, but not bad.

[favorite]HBK-IIC-A 2 c-LPL + 4 c-erML Excellent hardpoint placement. Hot alpha. Still works pretty well even with an ST taken out. 54 firepower

[favorite]HBK-IIC-B 4x Artemis c-SRM-6 + 2 c-SPL 600 missiles also has 2 tons of JJ. Doesn't brawl well due to heat and fragility.I've been doing close range pokes. For some reason the ghost heat warning doesn't show up in mechlab, but I think it still occurs. I bound my fire groups to 1 SPL + 2 SRM-6 volleys for mouse 1 and 2. Gets alittle hot in rapid fire. The grouping on the SRMs is very tight. Awesome for stripping enemies early on. Can outright kill anybody up to a heavy that wants to face hug you in about 3 volleys. 60 firepower

HBK-IIC-C UAC-10 + 4 MPL 2 tons ammo 2 tons of ammo might seem low but if you can get it all off, you're probably having a good game anyways. Basically, 2 more MPLs are supplemental to having a UAC-10 instead of a UAC-20. You can swap out for a UAC-5 and more ammo or DHS, but I found the 10 to be more efficient since the jam chance/damage output ratio of a single UAC-5 was pretty bad unless the round was really long. 42 firepower (52 doubletap)



I put at least 2 hoverjets on these so I can hopefully get out of some tight spots and traverse maps like Canyon Network, which seemed important for the chassis. If you don't think they're useful or need them, or want to tweak anything else for that matter, by all means. In any case, I think these are very good builds or a basis for tweaking to your liking. I'm posting this because I see so many people unsatisfied with the hunchback IIC, but I've been doing really well in them.

edit: Also, if you use one of these builds and are keeping it, like or comment, because idk if I'm actually helping anyone otherwise.

Edited by Moldur, 27 December 2015 - 08:12 PM.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

I've settled into this HBK-IIC-A config as optimal for my playstyle. It doesn't have the firepower at range that some of these here do, but all of the med-long range weapons are on the highest mounts. I can safely peek while exposing very little of my 'Mech to return fire- so little that even if I draw fire, I can almost always cover before it hits me. The ERSL give me a good, low heat close range option that I would not have if I traded them for two more ERML- which I would have had to expose more of my 'Mech to fire anyway, defeating the purpose of placing my main weapons on top. Max engine and max jets grants excellent mobility, and I think I have about as many sinks in this thing as I can realistically fit. As long as I don't alpha spam, the heat is very manageable (3 volleys of the ERML+ERLL combo, unlimited ERSL volleys, two alphas, or half a minute of sustained ERML+ERSL fire). I have 29 matches in it so far, with a W/L of 2.22 and K/D of 2.24. It carries, and it carries hard.

This is my IIC-B config. Nothing too exciting, but it performs almost as well as the laservomit does. I chalk the difference up to the range limitation; you really have to commit at the perfect moment in these, since they're so fragile. Join the fight too soon, and you get focused down fast, but if your timing and positioning are right you can steamroll a quarter of the enemy team before they realize what's happening to them. The HBK-IICs catch pretty good air with max jets, so jump brawling is definitely a viable option. It's tricky and requires both timing and luck, but I have managed to hit slower heavies and assaults in the back then jump over them as they turn around to do it again and finish them off.

I'm back to dual UAC20s on my IIC(O). I tried dual UAC10 with dual ERML backup, but it was just so underwhelming. Dual 20s overheat on double-tap, but only just (not enough to damage if you do it from cruising heat), so if you're careful you can make it work. Super light on ammo (19 alphas, only 9 on double tap, with a few leftover shells), so it's basically a troll build, but I couldn't stomach the infernal slowness of the stock 200XL just to squeeze a few more shots off. It's never going to be a laservomit carry 'Mech like the IIC-A, and it's never going to be quite as potent an ambusher as the IIC-B, so I figure I might as well have some fun and use it for what it was built for.