24 replies to this topic

[S 0 L E N Y A]

War Kitten, on 15 May 2016 - 08:27 PM, said:

You are not the only one who is crazy as a loon, Kon....I also tend to do some of the craziest stuff in battle including facing down an Atlas wearing nothing left but a smile and two med lasers...kept popping that left eye and (as my dad would say) "my gun fit my hand before his gun fit his", and down he went, took the match with that.

I am in excellent company....I am honored.

War Kitten

Broken clocks, my dear.

[Scout Derek]

Inner Sphere Highlander hands down, right now Highlander IIC is only good for LRM boating, while the IS HGN gets some structure and mobility quirks so that it can move well and have good firepower.

[War Kitten]

I do however, find it very annoying that the side cockpit windows are blocked by the 'side armor' that really isn't needed and just restricts my view greatly!

War Kitten

[Koniving]

The armor on either side is a bit intrusive, however I'm often glad it's there. It's rare that anyone has the brains to, but the cockpit in the center window is really easy to hit otherwise. I use my battlegrid and audio for situational awareness.

---

Of random interest, people keep saying "Go IS! It's better."
Remember that PGI doesn't quirk mechs that are impressive as it is, and goes negative on mechs that are far too impressive.
There's a reason the Highlander IIC isn't quirked.

Side note: Current hitbox comparison.

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From the few Highlander IICs I've played, they are on par to slightly superior.
I mimicked my 733 missile boat in the HGN-IIC B with modest results; only issue is the occasional jam on the UAC/2 (and I'm still using a standard engine because I can't afford an XL at the moment). Once I get that fixed it'll be up to speed but even slow it does well against softened enemies.

The Highlander IIC-C also did REALLY good as an upgraded Brawllander with twin UAC/10s instead of UAC/5s. Jam rate's still a bit of an issue but for the damage output it's doing superbly.
Interestingly, it was awful as a mimick to my Heavy Metal (which is my best Highlander build). I believe the reason is that unlike the Heavy Metal where all the direct fire weapons are on the arms and the streaks are on the torso (and can target/hit what I fire at with the arms), the lasers for the IIC-C are on the torso and as such lose the ability to use those lasers when arm-aiming, severely hurting the mech's potential to imitate the Heavy Metal.

Those are the only ones I have thus far.

When I get the A, it will imitate my 733P Highlander.
And finally the prime looks like it'll be whatever a Highlander 732 could be.

Edited by Koniving, 16 May 2016 - 08:23 AM.

[Jables McBarty]

Can't speak to the IS version, but HGN-IIC is my most played across all chassis by an absurd margin (like 17%, to 5% in second place). I love them. I cannot really recommend them though, especially as brawlers.

Granted, I'm not a brawly assault player to begin with, but most of the builds I've run as a bralwer in a HGN-IIC have fallen flat on their face. I could've intuitively told you what Koniving's hitbox images tell you--all CT. Yeah you have Clan XL, but not enough engine or quirks to really twist your STs into view. You're also gimped by being somewhat starved for hardpoints, which at least as far as metabuilds and variety go, means you're SOL. Big guns only on this big 'mech. I hope you like heat management

That being said, I'll disagree with what Scout said about it being only an LRM boat. I seldom carry LRMs, and the only time I really do is the UAC20/3MPL/2LRM15 build mentioned above. I've also had some luck in the IIC-C running 2UAC5/3MPL/2LRM10 (or a variation thereof, haven't gone into Smurfy's to check it out), but I just picked the -C up for Cbills after the recent release and haven't Elited it yet (the other three were gifted to me when the Origins package was released).

My favorites have been the IIC-Prime and B with 3ERPPC/UAC5 + SSRM to taste, and the IIC-A with 2ERPPC and 2LPL. In lower tiers I can bully players by charging and pounding PPCs and UACS all around me, but in higher tier games I tend to stand back from the fray and snipe. I've recently started toying with the 4ERPPC -A but I have yet to not cook myself to death.

So to answer your question as it regards the HGN-IIC:

Brawler? Nope. Hot as hell? Yep. Challenge? Most definitely.

But you sound like someone who likes a challenge.



If you decide for the IIC, a couple of my go-to builds. Haven't updated them for a while (most run with clan AP for the Streaks), but they are generally true to what I run. You'll notice I tend to use 3xJJ to fill up tonnage. You can't poptart, but you can sometimes get into corners where a 90t sniper isn't expected.

Prime with 3ERPPC and UAC5 (My favorite)

Prime brawler (aforementioned)

-A with 2ERPPC and 2LPL (The one that helped me "figure out" this chassis)

-B Missile Support (haven't run for a while. The SSRM12 helps to startle the Lights that come looking for an easy kill)

-B pinpoint build. Inspired by one of the KDK builds (4xSSRM4s). Good in theory...when it works, it wrecks. But when it doesn't it melts.

-C Versatile. I find the 2xCUAC5 suits my playstyle better than the 2xCUAC10, which I recognize as heresy.

Also, note that most stock HGN-IICs come with FF but not ES, so you'll need to switch that. I think the -C has the stock 325XL, so consider buying that one first (also 2 B hard points ftw!).