27 replies to this topic

[Dead Fury]

I am looking to build a fastback, possibly a laser boat.

Anyone have some good general builds to start me out with? I have only used a hunchback one other time but now that we are in open beta I don't want to spend my MC on the wrong chassis.

So, whats the best overall chassis for firepower mostly consisting of lasers?

[RudWolf]

Its not laser, but

I can really recomend Hunchback 4SP with XL260 engine, 2xSRM6, 2MLAS, 2SPULSE. It is total shredder and that XL engine will keep you alive for loong time. The trick is to put ammo for SRM to Central torso and Head or to the legs. The side torsos fill with heatsinks. When possible upgrade to Endo Steel and Double Heatsinks.

Edited by RudWolf, 31 October 2012 - 01:40 PM.

[Mason Grimm]

http://www.mechspecs...hp?21-Hunchback

Plenty of builds to choose from there.

[c00lzyg]

Hey guys

I did HBK-4sp Shrike build
http://www.mechspecs...uot-Shrike-quot

But still I have the same 64,8 kph and I should get 80 kph. What's wrong?

[Lootee]

You need a 250 engine to get 81kph on a HBK.

[Flapdrol]

Not a very fast hunch build, but I do well with it.

4SP
standard 225 (200 is fine too, just some leftover tonnage)
medium pulse in head
2 medium lasers left arm, 2 right arm
2 streaks (one in each side torso)
ams
1 ton ams ammo and 1 ton streak ammo in CT
A lot of double heatsinks.

[Shalune]

I'll try to remember to repost or edit here once I have to money to afford a re-equip my mech but I had a build that fits perfectly with what you're describing from closed beta. This is what I remember from it. I'm fuzzy on the armor, ammo and heat sinks.

HBK-4J
260 XL
Upgrades: DHS, ES
2x med pulse (arms)
4x med laser (torso+head)
2x SRM6 (2 tons of ammo)
AMS (1 ton of ammo)
2-4 DHS (torso)

Alpha: 63!

I love this build like nothing else. It's not spectacular against lights alone, but does great against almost anything else. It runs a bit hot, but you should be using everything but the pulses pretty conservatively. Stay fast, and weave in and out of cover to give you cool down time in between jousting runs. Even with the heat it puts out incredibly dps and used right should get you ranked high in damage done.

It sounds like you're debating models to go with. For a fast moving striker I think one of the missile variants is the way to go unless you love lasers enough to go with the HBK-4P. Most people prefer the 4SP for missiles, but I'd recommend taking the time to really consider each based on the following:

- Do you prefer arm or torso weapons? Arms are more versatile for aiming, but are also more easily lost. With only 1 weapon in each arm it's also not a bad place to pull armor from to get weight to work with. Naturally if you really like arm weapons the SP is for you.

- Do you like consistent/predictable torso shots, particularly missiles? Grouping your weapons in the right torso on the 4J may seem like a disadvantage, but it has 2 pluses too. Firing missiles you have less of a spread, and it's easier to predict and avoid your weapons firing into walls or hills.

The XL engine may be controversial for some, but I swear by it. It helps make the absurd firepower on this build possible. Because of the extra power (than the default engine) it gives you it's easier to twist and spread damage across your torso so that when you do lose a section you're close to losing the rest too.

[Dead Fury]

Shalune, on 31 October 2012 - 07:17 PM, said:

I'll try to remember to repost or edit here once I have to money to afford a re-equip my mech but I had a build that fits perfectly with what you're describing from closed beta. This is what I remember from it. I'm fuzzy on the armor, ammo and heat sinks.

HBK-4J
260 XL
Upgrades: DHS, ES
2x med pulse (arms)
4x med laser (torso+head)
2x SRM6 (2 tons of ammo)
AMS (1 ton of ammo)
2-4 DHS (torso)

Alpha: 63!

I love this build like nothing else. It's not spectacular against lights alone, but does great against almost anything else. It runs a bit hot, but you should be using everything but the pulses pretty conservatively. Stay fast, and weave in and out of cover to give you cool down time in between jousting runs. Even with the heat it puts out incredibly dps and used right should get you ranked high in damage done.

It sounds like you're debating models to go with. For a fast moving striker I think one of the missile variants is the way to go unless you love lasers enough to go with the HBK-4P. Most people prefer the 4SP for missiles, but I'd recommend taking the time to really consider each based on the following:

- Do you prefer arm or torso weapons? Arms are more versatile for aiming, but are also more easily lost. With only 1 weapon in each arm it's also not a bad place to pull armor from to get weight to work with. Naturally if you really like arm weapons the SP is for you.

- Do you like consistent/predictable torso shots, particularly missiles? Grouping your weapons in the right torso on the 4J may seem like a disadvantage, but it has 2 pluses too. Firing missiles you have less of a spread, and it's easier to predict and avoid your weapons firing into walls or hills.

The XL engine may be controversial for some, but I swear by it. It helps make the absurd firepower on this build possible. Because of the extra power (than the default engine) it gives you it's easier to twist and spread damage across your torso so that when you do lose a section you're close to losing the rest too.

Thanks for that. I did buy the 4p version earlier and have a setup with all small pulse lasers and 1 small laser on the head. Right now its just to slow, at 64kph I am a fairly easy target so im thinking I need to save up cbills for an XL engine. I currently only have 1.5m cbills.

[Lootee]

The nice thing about the 4P is that 9 med or small lasers are so light weight you don't need an XL engine to move fast.

I have 9 medium lasers on mine with a standard 250 engine, with endo and 17 DHS. It moves at 81kph but doesn't suffer from XL death. The other HBKs mount heavier weapons so they might not be able to pull that off without XL.

Added: the standard 250 engine only costs about 1.5 million bills, which is awesomesauce compared to the astronomical XL prices

Edited by PanchoTortilla, 01 November 2012 - 11:42 AM.

[Dead Fury]

PanchoTortilla, on 01 November 2012 - 11:31 AM, said:

The nice thing about the 4P is that 9 med or small lasers are so light weight you don't need an XL engine to move fast.

I have 9 medium lasers on mine with a standard 250 engine, with endo and 17 DHS. It moves at 81kph but doesn't suffer from XL death. The other HBKs mount heavier weapons so they might not be able to pull that off without XL.

Added: the standard 250 engine only costs about 1.5 million bills, which is awesomesauce compared to the astronomical XL prices

How do you get the tonnage down?? I mean I can get the tonnage down but then I would have to remove a few heat sinks and with medium lasers dont you need all the heat sinks you can get?

Edited by Unstruck Fury, 01 November 2012 - 12:55 PM.

[Lootee]

Use double heatsinks.

250 engine = 10 built in hs.
7 dhs outside the engine = 14 shs

For a total of 24 heat dissipation in the current broken game. The stock design comes with 23 SHS. So even broken the DHS are a little bit better.

Once they fix engine DHS it will be 17 DHS = 34 SHS. That's plenty.

Edited by PanchoTortilla, 01 November 2012 - 01:05 PM.

[Aware]

PanchoTortilla, on 01 November 2012 - 01:02 PM, said:

Use double heatsinks.

250 engine = 10 built in hs.
7 dhs outside the engine = 14 shs

For a total of 24 heat dissipation in the current broken game. The stock design comes with 23 SHS. So even broken the DHS are a little bit better.

Once they fix engine DHS it will be 17 DHS = 34 SHS. That's plenty.

This is an nice build even without DHS and 9 ML (till you can afford that is) it is pretty boss. People will hate you and other HBK pilots will be envious of your speed.

[Adrius91]

Holy **** you're right Pancho, I had no idea DHS would help me so much o_O

My 4P Hunch is now packing 6 SLs, 2 MPLs, TAG, AMS + 2 tons of ammo and a 260 Standard engine.

PEW PEW MOTHER****ER. I can alpha all day.

Edited by Adrius91, 02 November 2012 - 04:23 AM.

[LaserAngel]

Double Heat Sinks and a larger engine are really the only upgrades the stock 4SP needs. You can move to Streak 2s or Small Lasers if you want from the stock but that is up to personal preference. You can squeeze out a little more DPS with Small Lasers but the range penalty and lower alpha damage might not be what some people want.

[Athomahawk]

I find small lasers slightly higher dps not worth the range tradeoff.

[Shalune]

Adding to my previous post.

I've found lately that with no collision/knockdowns, ongoing lag shield, and CT-homing powers streaks just seem like the better SRM right now. Its benefits outweigh the extra damage you can get on slow targets with 6s right now. As soon as collision is back though I see myself returning to SRM 6s, maybe sooner.

This works out well if the rumors about medium laser heat being broken are true - my own anecdotal experience supports this - since it gives you extra weight to stack heatsinks. For now I'm content running exactly what I listed above but with streaks and more DHS.

On the note of another build I also made a fast moving 4G with XL + DHS that could fit a gauss and 3 MPL which works surprisingly well and gives you some long range options.

EDIT:
I love massed small lasers too, but especially since DHS we seem to have no shortage of cooling to mount mediums in every slot, with the possible exception of the 4P.

Edited by Shalune, 02 November 2012 - 07:08 PM.

[Reported for Inappropriate Name]

no reason to use anything other than 9ml in a 4p. hunch and head on one weapongroup, arms on second weapongroup, 3/3 split on third and fourth weapon groups and head on 5th weapon group. the hunch's location makes ridging and peeking a breeze, and every click is 35 damage. (had the wrong build, fixed now derp)
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...fdd0c392af67f4c

and here's the 4sp. don't sass me on the artemis, it makes a big difference with the recent patch. this version runs a little hot but it's never been an issue for me.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...1c8642f2fb87880

Edited by Battlecruiser, 07 March 2013 - 01:26 AM.

[Smk]

Athomahawk, on 02 November 2012 - 09:48 AM, said:

I find small lasers slightly higher dps not worth the range tradeoff.

If you want a brawler then you don't need to worry about range. 7 sl allow you do deal the damage of ac20 at point blank without the need for ammo. Throw on a 260 std engine and you can run around at 90 kph with speed tweak. It's a pain to deal with and it eats lights for breakfast.

[ExplodedZombie]

Hunchback 4SP
Endo, DHS
260 Standard (no need for XL)
4 ML
2 SRM6 + Artemis
2 tons of ammo

You don't need an XL, this build is a ridiculous brawler. Get behind an Atlas and they go down very fast. Possibly my favorite mech.

[n0e]

Shalune, on 02 November 2012 - 07:06 PM, said:

Battlecruiser, on 07 March 2013 - 01:19 AM, said:

*sigh*