49 replies to this topic

[stealthed]

I finnaly managed to rake in 60 dollars, however when I was buying the pack I'm prompted what mech to choose. Since my experience with battletech is rather limited I can only decide from previous mechcommander games and mw:LL experience. Personally I don't like lobbing missiles from long range and I don't like being in sommething vulnerable so i guess the jenner and the catapult will be a no go (unless I'm able to fit 2 ppc on that catapult variant XD ). So what would be best to choose for me? I love to be tank and all but that atlas sounds like a giant bullseye when on the battlefield the same way everyone targets the top tank in world of tanks so that won't be too enjoyable, but again I love to be the juggernaut. On the other had there is the hunchback, you cant go wrong with a medium, but i'm guessing those wont be too expensive to run anyways so I don't need a mech with perks for that.

So help me decide what mech to choose. atlas or hunchie

Edited by stealthed, 21 July 2012 - 03:48 AM.

[William Boone]

I think all the Founder mechs are the base variants though the CTPL-K2 Variant with the 2 PPCs is in game I don't think its the founder Catapult.

It is hard to tell you which to take though . Myself if I just had 1 pick I'd take the Hunchback.

[Elizander]

The Hunchback would be a safe choice if you're not the type to just charge in, guns blazing. You have the option to go Gauss Rifle later on so you aren't just limited to short range combat. If the engine upgrades are available, you can also increase your speed. The Atlas is great, but just think if you would get too frustrated by being flanked by fast mechs and you pretty much have no option of going any faster. You got lots of guns though, so that's always a plus.

I think that the Hunchback is a little more flexible overall if you are not a die-hard Assault mech fan. You can hit hard or move fast and you can have a decent amount of armor on. It sounds like you do want to play bigger mechs though and you can have an Atlas with two PPCs (one on each arm) if you really like that playstyle. Probably Atlas for you based on the tone of your post.

Edit:

I think the Hunchback can carry 2 PPCs in the arms as well but I don't have Quickmech right now so I can't be sure. You'd definitely need double heatsinks on that.

Edited by Elizander, 21 July 2012 - 03:54 AM.

[l33tworks]

There is no perfect mech choice though I will try help you out.

I think in terms of flexibility ease of use and general effectiveness the hunchbak will be the best. Since it seems like the underdog as its the most balanced and doesn't specialize in anything compared to the others it will likely get most love from devs.

Lol beaten.
Damn phone typing

[Khobai]

catapult seems to be the most popular choice since its a heavy mech with jump jets.

[l33tworks]

Khobai, on 21 July 2012 - 04:13 AM, said:

catapult seems to be the most popular choice since its a heavy mech with jump jets.

Cmon khobai take your own.advice upgrade to elite and pick it

[Euphor Kell]

precisely the reason i haven't upgraded to elite yet (not to mention, i hope to go legendary anyway)
but the catapult can be much more than a long range mech, the LRMs can easily be swapped out for SRMs, so you have your short range brawler, with jump jets

that said, the hunchback is going to be a "Safe" bet, but i am thinking because it will be the safe bet, you'll see them everywhere IMHO. so if you don't mind being one of the crowd, then by all means go the hunchie.

jenner's are going to be fast hit'n'run fighters, but that doesn't mean that you won't hold your own, a jenner (or any light really) should be able to take down an atlas simply because they'll be too fast for the atlas to keep up with, (a hunchback will give them a lot more of a fight though)

[stealthed]

ok, so from what I know now:
Upsides to the atlas:
-lots of tonnage to play with
-can take a lot of damage
-force you can't ignore
-iconic mechwarrior mech
-looks

downsides:
-big target
-possible vulnerable to headshots
-since it's iconic nobody will ignore it
-vulnerable to light mechs

Hunchback:

upsides:
-the safe bet
-there is always room for a medium
-decent mobility
-ac20
-decent armor

downsides:
-ac20 ammo
-probably one of the most chosen mechs
-not a lot of tonnage to play with

so will it be run with the crowds and be shure to be safe or will I go an individual style? I think I'm going to buy the atlas then

Edited by stealthed, 21 July 2012 - 04:37 AM.

[Tempest Borne]

If I were limited to 1 mech it would be the hunchback. It has a broader range of capability/flexibility for speed and loadout compared to the other founder's mechs.... IF game physics are similar to NBT days of MW4. It is hard to say with this iteration of MW since I am still impatiently waiting for Beta access like so many others.

T

[Khobai]

Quote

Cmon khobai take your own.advice upgrade to elite and pick it

Im waiting to see if I get in beta before upgrading so I can make a more educated decision about what founder mech to pick.

[Tori Migaku]

you should be able to fit ppc's on the catapult as it'll have energy hard points in its side torsos.

[l33tworks]

Khobai, on 21 July 2012 - 04:41 AM, said:

Im waiting to see if I get in beta before upgrading so I can make a more educated decision about what founder mech to pick.

You will always have this dilemma. the game can still change significantly after aug 7 negating what you have learned.

Going legendary solves this problem

[stealthed]

methebest, on 21 July 2012 - 04:42 AM, said:

you should be able to fit ppc's on the catapult as it'll have energy hard points in its side torsos.

true, but why gheto fit a mech with ppcs when there is a variant designed for it i can buy on the regular market? Also, since the atlas is an assault the regular would be expensive the run, which is less the case for the catapult and the hunchback ofcourse. Only thing I'm afraid of is the "noob in importand mech"situation that could arrise when I start playing...

damnit i want them all lol

Edited by stealthed, 21 July 2012 - 04:46 AM.

[Elizander]

PPCs in the torso will aim slower than PPCs in the arms.

[Faenwulf]

Well if you want somethign more unique take the Hunchback. The Atlas is the second most picked Foudner Mech according to polls. Then there is nothign for a loooong time, then the hunchback. Jenner is the least picked.

Besides of that: Having a Medium as a Foudners Mech who gets +25% C-Bills is a good thing for farming C-Bills. If you have an Atlas with the bonus most of your money will go to having it stuffed with ammo and fully repaired. With smaller Mechs that probably won't be the case. This way, you can farm C-Bills much faster. Just my reasoning why picking an Assault (and maybe even the Catapult, that ammo hungry beast) for a Foudners seems to be not very useful ( If you aren't going to paly it all the time anyways) since they are just the normal prime variants mith special paint. Except for the paintjob and C-Bill boost, you can buy the same Atlas later on, too and use your Hunchback to farm C-Bills if you have run out of enough to get the required ammo and repairs for your assault.
Besides, from the videos to me it looks like the Hunchback plays like a small Assault: Heavy Armor (more than some Heavy Mechs), good hitting capabilities but a bit faster than assaults. So it wpuld be a good second 'Mech.

[Moffmalthus]

Its funny seeing all this love for the hunchback in MWO. In the classic Battletech world its a rather maligned mech to say the least. Guess the way the game playes on a PC as opposed to the tabletop version will make it more popular.

[Jakob Knight]

Generally, any mech is going to have a bullseye on it, if it is the only one the enemy can see

If you like to tank, then that means armor and internals. That rules out the Jenner, which is about speed and -avoiding- damage. The Hunchback and Catapult are actually close cousins of a sort. In their default Primary configurations, the Hunchback is a defensive interceptor, designed to get in the way of an attacking mech and make them either halt their attack or suffer heavy damage. It can operate as a close-in fighter as well. The Catapult is a fire-support unit, designed to launch missiles over the heads of their team to strike at enemy units. It can also operate as a close-in fighter, though slightly slower in reaction time to the Hunchback and with lesser firepower. With customization, however, both mechs have a wide range of possible configurations, with the Hunchback having a Ballistic/Energy weapon profile and higher possible speed, and the Catapult having a Missile/Energy weapon profile and a higher possible armor level.

The Atlas, by comparison, is very heavy on the armor and has all three weapon type hardpoints. Its default configuration is capable of fighting in any range, and even doing light fire support. It will take the most damage and be able to throw out the most punishment of all the Founder's mechs. However, it's range of customization options is limited. It cannot ever move faster than 64 kph, and must bring the firepower to be able to take on the other Atlas's and Assaults it will be facing.

So, it comes down to what you like in a mech. If you want the ability to take damage first and foremost, and don't care about speed, take the Atlas. You will be a target anyway, so might as well pile on the armor. If you want something more multimission and like Ballistic weapons with an option for speed customization, take the Hunchback. If you want something more multimission and like Missile weapons with an option for more armor customization, take the Catapult.

Note this is limited to the Founder's mechs, with the c-bill bonus and custom skin. If this is going to be the unit you plan on being your 'main ride', then use the above. If not, then look over all the mechs we know about, and pick the Founder's mech that fills a role not covered by the other mechs you want to buy in the game.

Hope this helps.

Edited by Jakob Knight, 21 July 2012 - 05:31 AM.

[Ezrekiel]

If you can rule out the Jenner and Catapult already, then you should consider that between the last two mechs, Hunchback and Atlas, you might want to pick one now and buy the other one in the game as a regular mech.

In this case, in the Tabletop and Atlas is considerably more expensive than a Hunchback.
Another thing is repairs - if the repairs are more expensive on an assault mech than on a medium, then it might be useful to have that +25% credit income bonus on the assault mech.

Personally I'd choose a catapult, but with your choices I'd take the Atlas.

[saint71]

Moffmalthus, on 21 July 2012 - 05:07 AM, said:

Its funny seeing all this love for the hunchback in MWO. In the classic Battletech world its a rather maligned mech to say the least. Guess the way the game playes on a PC as opposed to the tabletop version will make it more popular.

Hunchback maligned? I think it's a short ranged monster that you should take down at range, that makes it a harder mech to play on the table.

In MWO I think both the Atlas and Hunchie will have one shared problem,they have big boom sticks and will be high priority targets. The Atlas will at least be able to answer back at range and have the armor to absorb alot of damage. The Hunchie is good but will need cover and team support to work well.

You could do some test runs, I think MW4 is a free dld (it was a while back at least). If they included all the expansions both mechs are in there.

[nufan]

These Videos really helped me decide:

• Jenner(Light Mech | 35t)
  
• Hunchback(Medium Mech | 50t)
  
• Catapult(Heavy Mech | 65t)
  
• Atlas(Assault Mech | 100t)

Edited by nufan, 21 July 2012 - 05:30 AM.