59 replies to this topic

[Ranzear]

Just group firing for now. You're saying group fired streaks are bugged and only doing the damage of one salvo or something?

[Aware]

I think you find what you are comfortable with in terms of heat generation. I tend to be a miser with my SRM6's unless I know it is going to be a good shot. While the build that I am running with now tends to run a little hot I can put out a lot of damage.

XL260 (4SP is the only HBK I feel safe to use this on.
4 M. PL's in Arms
2 SRM6's 4 tons of ammo
15 DHS
Endo-steel
90 KPH (w Speed Tweak)
54 Alpha

[Ranzear]

No AMS? Sounds like a Mechbay queen, and that engine costs more than the base variant

[Aware]

Ranzear, on 02 November 2012 - 12:44 PM, said:

No AMS? Sounds like a Mechbay queen, and that engine costs more than the base variant

Nope. No need. I hide behind cover or dodge them. I am not always successful at dodging but seems to work for me. I rarely die to missile spam unless I get cocky and run out in the open against a bunch of LRM boats.

I can't help the XL engines are so expensive. I wish they were cheaper. hah.

[Ranzear]

AMS helps your assault teammates too, though, who might have more trouble ducking behind cover, particularly if you're leading them a bit and can smack down much more of a salvo than when you're the target. I can almost guarantee it to be more valuable in proper play than two extra tons of SRM6 ammo. Not to mention you haven't CASE'd it let alone specified where it is stored. Almost better off with two tons cased if you don't see the purpose of AMS for more than just missiles targeting you and especially if you're running hot from the MPLAS. Just for peace-of-mind if you wanna use the override for one last shot on the red last leg of a light or something.

Do you really need 66 volleys in a maximum 15 minute engagement? That's over two minutes of sustained firing from both racks.

You've reduced the strategic value of your mech to increase the damage output, and choose to sacrifice missile interception when those missiles are part of your core weakness: ranged engagement. Worse, if you get cored you're probably in the red because of repair costs even with a Victory (and without the raw survivability of being in an Atlas). Hence, Mechbay queen.

But if you can afford it and don't play certain maps... yeah it's probably quite effective!

[LaserAngel]

Ranzear, on 02 November 2012 - 12:44 PM, said:

No AMS? Sounds like a Mechbay queen, and that engine costs more than the base variant

Oh, I neglected to mention it in my build. I do run AMS.

[Gorfokk]

Hello there, i'm going to buy my second hunchback and i needed some advice from you vets

With my 1st hunchback i've had reasonable success with my HBK-4P (with 10 extra double heat sinks). I usually stay close to our LRM boats in cover depending on the situation so i can react by defending them, defend the base or support the front line as needed. I usually stay in cover camping/manouvering until i get into short range (under 270) then i go out and dish some sick burst damage. Loving my role so far.

I wanted to get more focused fire after seeing my friends gausscat in action ripping off arms in single shots, i realized that my lazers did hit my targets but due to the nature of those spinning duels sometimes i ended up spraying the lazers all over the target (thats 8 medlas all over the guy). I know that gauss does 15 damage to a single impact while my lazers are getting spread around, but i'm in doubt if the Autocanon does the same style of single hit damage or is more like a lazer (long burst of damage spread over a period of time).

My question is: i'm not sure at what would be more efficient at focusing my damage:
-Focus fire to snipe criticals with the HBK-4G equipped with 3 AC/10 for 30 damage to a single point of impact, +2meds +1las
- or do more damage with the HBK-4SP with 2 srms6 for 30 damage + 4 medlas +1slas
im not even sure if that 4G loadout even fits with the hunchie

but anyways, i'm leaning toward the 3 AC/10 loadout if the shot would be a single hit damage like the gauss...
any thoughts would be very appreciated
thanks!

[Dirus Nigh]

Cstriker, on 01 November 2012 - 11:29 AM, said:

Running that 4SP, do you link the medium lasers into one group firing 4 simultaneously? Also, Alpha striking with the SP souns like it would hurt more then the H or J.

The 4SP is a very good mech. When i first used it I had a great time. Then the devs changed the flight pathing of SRMs. Its still a good mech you just have to get used to how the SRMs work.

I group the weapons as follows.

1) left arm lasers 2) right arm lasers 3) SRMs chain fired 4) head laser.
I can controle my heat by firing two lasers at a time. By having the right and left arms on seperate groups I can fire them while peeking around corners. If I need to fire all for it's very simple to press mouse 1 and 2 together. The head laser is on a seperate group because its very short range and does not track with the arms. I reserve it for when Im really over heating or very close brawls. I have gotten kills and ammo crits with it. The SRMs are put on chain fire for heat management. I can also adjust my aim quickly if the first one misses.

[Aware]

Ranzear, on 02 November 2012 - 04:02 PM, said:

AMS helps your assault teammates too, though, who might have more trouble ducking behind cover, particularly if you're leading them a bit and can smack down much more of a salvo than when you're the target. I can almost guarantee it to be more valuable in proper play than two extra tons of SRM6 ammo. Not to mention you haven't CASE'd it let alone specified where it is stored. Almost better off with two tons cased if you don't see the purpose of AMS for more than just missiles targeting you and especially if you're running hot from the MPLAS. Just for peace-of-mind if you wanna use the override for one last shot on the red last leg of a light or something.

Do you really need 66 volleys in a maximum 15 minute engagement? That's over two minutes of sustained firing from both racks.

You've reduced the strategic value of your mech to increase the damage output, and choose to sacrifice missile interception when those missiles are part of your core weakness: ranged engagement. Worse, if you get cored you're probably in the red because of repair costs even with a Victory (and without the raw survivability of being in an Atlas). Hence, Mechbay queen.

But if you can afford it and don't play certain maps... yeah it's probably quite effective!

I hear your point about AMS and it does make sense. Not everyone needs to have an AMS though.

You make a sensible argument about ammo. I actually have run out of ammo only a couple of times. I could probably afford to drop some.

I have no problem on any of the maps though. I just pick my engagements rather than running at the first thing I see. With the amount of missile spam I have seen in some games not amount of AMS would have mitigated being shot by that.

Also you do realize that I am running a XL engine and the moment I lose a side torso I am done anyways right?

[Shalune]

A couple observations below from my own experience. I've put in plenty of hours in closed and now open beta playing mostly hunches with my main ride being a 4J.

- I run XL 260 exclusively, and after some hesitancy and practice now swear by it. First of all I feel the speed is essential to make hunches ideal. If I'm slower I'd rather be in something heavier, probably a cat. One of the biggest advantages is faster torso turning which makes it easier to spread out damage. This fills a double purpose by making it more likely that by the time one of your 3 torsos is knocked out the other 2 are near dead anyway. With the 84-90 speed (T2 pilot skill raises top speed) the 260 provides there's also no reason to give anything a clear shot on you for long.

- The SP is a great build but I much prefer the hunches with hunches. Torso hardpoints are less likely to go down quickly, and having your weapons clustered makes it much easier to predict when you can safely shoot past obstacles. This (and the extra energy slot) are why I prefer the 4J over the popular 4SP. Often I find half my SP SRM salvos going into a building or hill.

- With a large engine and proper maneuvering the liability of the hunch as an easy target is vastly reduced. If anything just default to keeping your left torso to the enemy, once it's exposed the right will do a great job of blocking for it.

- I agree with the popular sentiment that the 4G is weaker than other designs but I think both ballistic variants are undervalued by people. Once you have DHS you can fit the 4G with 3 medium pulse and a gauss which works surprisingly well. I haven't tried it but I bet a 4H with ballistic + med lasers would do well too.

[Cstriker]

Well, I did buy the 4SP and I am having trouble with it. First, I get focused fired to death...holy crap. I rarely get a kill and I just assist more and those damn scouts get behind me to much.

Well, I know the XL engine will solve some of that, as will DHS once I can get that. I have upgraded to 2x SRM6s, 2x Mlas, and 2x MPlas, and an AMS. My structure is now Endosteel as well. I plan on trying two builds.

First, 4x MPlas 2x SRM6

Second, 1xMlas 1xLLas 2x SRM6 (theres a guy raving about it on Mechspecs, sounds fun and may try it).

Tried streaks...so low damage I didn't like them, though I do see the use of them against open ground and scouts. Beyond my current upgrades, the XL engine and DHS, and moving some leg armor to my backside as suggest earlier (I know those three are musts now), does anyone else have some adivce to up my killyness and survivability?

I love the Hunchback from older Mech days, and I want this thing to shine! But damn, 2 mil and 1.5 for XL engine and DHS sucks!

Edited by Cstriker, 03 November 2012 - 05:10 AM.

[Ghost Inc]

Cstriker, on 03 November 2012 - 05:09 AM, said:

Well, I did buy the 4SP and I am having trouble with it. First, I get focused fired to death...holy crap. I rarely get a kill and I just assist more and those damn scouts get behind me to much.

Well, I know the XL engine will solve some of that, as will DHS once I can get that. I have upgraded to 2x SRM6s, 2x Mlas, and 2x MPlas, and an AMS. My structure is now Endosteel as well. I plan on trying two builds.

First, 4x MPlas 2x SRM6

Second, 1xMlas 1xLLas 2x SRM6 (theres a guy raving about it on Mechspecs, sounds fun and may try it).

Tried streaks...so low damage I didn't like them, though I do see the use of them against open ground and scouts. Beyond my current upgrades, the XL engine and DHS, and moving some leg armor to my backside as suggest earlier (I know those three are musts now), does anyone else have some adivce to up my killyness and survivability?

I love the Hunchback from older Mech days, and I want this thing to shine! But damn, 2 mil and 1.5 for XL engine and DHS sucks!

4 MPLAS and SRM 6 is hell lot of damage, but your mech will rapidly overheat.

I tried the 4 MPLAS, 2 SSRM2 Variant, but I have two spare tons. Any advide what to do with that? I can't seem to put more ammo on my mech.

I will try the LLAS, MLAS, 2xSRM6 Build, too

[Cstriker]

IncorporeaL GhosT, on 03 November 2012 - 06:43 AM, said:

4 MPLAS and SRM 6 is hell lot of damage, but your mech will rapidly overheat. I tried the 4 MPLAS, 2 SSRM2 Variant, but I have two spare tons. Any advide what to do with that? I can't seem to put more ammo on my mech. I will try the LLAS, MLAS, 2xSRM6 Build, too

I need to learn to pilot, it seems my current build is not a lot of damage. Gawd this new game is learning mechwarrior all over again. Cest la vie.

Anyways, heat is already and issue for me now with 2x SRM6 2x MPlas and 2x Mlas...hell I thought heat was bad with the stock HBK-4SP!!!

GhosT theres another build someone uses too besides 1x LLas and 1x Mlas that I wanna try now...Someone else suggested to me using 2x LPlas, 2x SRM6, and a Medium or Small laser for the head spot...this sounds pretty badass too and gives the 4SP a little extra range! Less pewpew and more Zap zap.

DHS, cooler engine like xl 260 maybe, and using experiance for cool running may help all that I figure.

Edited by Cstriker, 03 November 2012 - 06:57 AM.

[Ghost Inc]

Cstriker, on 03 November 2012 - 06:49 AM, said:

I need to learn to pilot, it seems my current build is not a lot of damage. Gawd this new game is learning mechwarrior all over again. Cest la vie.

Anyways, heat is already and issue for me now with 2x SRM6 2x MPlas and 2x Mlas...hell I thought heat was bad with the stock HBK-4SP!!!

GhosT theres another build someone uses too besides 1x LLas and 1x Mlas that I wanna try now...Someone else suggested to me using 2x LPlas, 2x SRM6, and a Medium or Small laser for the head spot...this sounds pretty badass too and gives the 4SP a little extra range! Less pewpew and more Zap zap.

DHS, cooler engine like xl 260 maybe, and using experiance for cool running may help all that I figure.

Yeah, 2MPLAS is something i am eyeballing too.
What i do now is to try all cool specs with just one Mech and decide what feels best.

4 x Med Lasers and 2 SRM feels to be quite boring so far, whereas the 4 MPLAS with 2 Streaks feels quite nice
Next I'll try the Large Laser Variant, then the 2 LPLAS

I too had to learn the game anew, but its very much fun.

[Shalune]

If you want a cooler running SP that works well solo you could always go longer range. I had one I used in closed beta briefly that ran 2 LRM5s, large laser, 3x med laser and TAG on the head. Pretty sure I was using a 260 XL and may have had DHS and/or ES. The mediums would still push the heat, but my goal was to fight over my shoulder while running away from things firing self-TAGed LRMs and the large laser back. I had a lot of fun pulling people out of position with it and once even kited an awesome and atlas across forest's lake until me and a distant LRM wore them down.

EDIT: Another neat trick is how the SP fires missiles. It's limited by the tubes in the default design, so if you load LRM 15s in the shoulders each weapon will fire in 3 quick volleys of 5. I messed with this too as a way to cause more cockpit shake on targets.

Edited by Shalune, 03 November 2012 - 08:36 AM.

[Aware]

Cstriker, on 03 November 2012 - 06:49 AM, said:

I need to learn to pilot, it seems my current build is not a lot of damage. Gawd this new game is learning mechwarrior all over again. Cest la vie.

Anyways, heat is already and issue for me now with 2x SRM6 2x MPlas and 2x Mlas...hell I thought heat was bad with the stock HBK-4SP!!!

GhosT theres another build someone uses too besides 1x LLas and 1x Mlas that I wanna try now...Someone else suggested to me using 2x LPlas, 2x SRM6, and a Medium or Small laser for the head spot...this sounds pretty badass too and gives the 4SP a little extra range! Less pewpew and more Zap zap.

DHS, cooler engine like xl 260 maybe, and using experiance for cool running may help all that I figure.

I won't lie to you. Running 4PML and 2 SRM6 can be heat intensive. In a big brawl you really have to watch your heat. I am looking at maybe trying out the 2 LL or 2LPL build that someone suggested.

Also remember that when the fix to DHS comes any laser built HBK will benefit even at the 1.4 DHS vs. true DHS

[Spectre999]

I've been experimenting with the HBK 4J chassis, and I think it's a pretty lovable ******.
You can make a nice brawler out of it... but the big thing was when I started to abuse the LRMs with it.

First build was 1x MPLas + AMS + 2x LRM 15.
Stripped all the unnecessary heatsinks, all the armor from from the left arm (it was left unused anyway).
Rest of space was filled with additional AMS ammo, LRM reloads and CASE.

It maintained the maneuverability of the medium chassis, packed a mean LRM punch.
I also have the Pulse Laser to stave off ankle biters and finish off stuff weakened by the LRM.

Then, I tried a more extreme build, I left the AMS (which I feel to be mandatory), knocked the engine down to a humble standard 160. This left me with enough space to fit 2x LRM 20 and keep the MPLas.
Suffice to say, the firepower feels amazing, but the mech has lost a lot of its vigor. Not sure if it's a good tradeoff yet. Will see at further testing. In any case, the MPLas will most likely be the first thing to go. Shall I trade it for a medium laser, CASE + LRM reloads or just a tad bigger engine, that remains to be seen.
There's also an option to place the MPlas in the cockpit, thereby allowing me to strip the other arm of its armor, with the obvious con of lost agility for the laser.

Overall, it's a LRM boat, not much to write home about, although I found the 2x LRM 15 variant to be pretty effective at 200m catfights. Especially guys with SRMs were stopped cold by the AMS.
I was able to destroy most mechs in my weight class so long as I get reasonable spotters on my team. I think assault and heavy pilots were genuinely surprised at the punch packed by a pitiful medium. While trading shots 1 for 1 with a Catapult is not advisable, they tend to run for cover after a salvo or two, which is good fun.

The LRMx20 variant looks promising, but needs moar tweaking. First tests weren't that favourable, lost mobility hurts a lot, but the increase in firepower is very, very tempting.

Overall, I think it has great potential as a long to medium range support. Another good thing about this build is that you add catapult-grade firepower to your team, while the enemy usually gets a centurion or a wang, which is more than a fair deal.

Of course, the +20 000 reload bill hurts, but such is life.

Edited by Spectre999, 03 November 2012 - 03:10 PM.

[Antony Weiner]

What do you guys think about this 4SP:



Running DHS

ML is on the head,
MPLs are on the arms
2 SRM6 in left and right torso with 3 tons of ammo total. Really need only 2 tons of SRM ammo, but then I have .4 tons floating after I max out the armor.

It's 20-50 grand in repairs after a good fight. Heat is an issue only if you get carried away and start spamming alpha fire and 1-2 (MPL groups). The only disadvantage is lack of any long range weaponry, so on some maps I have to be extra careful and rely on my team's assault mechs.

Was getting some mean kills, and like 5-7 assists every game. Any input is welcome.

[Cstriker]

So, trying to up the armor in the rear of my HB, and I can't!!! What the heck! Any know if I am able to? It just still set to 8 in the rear with 48 max and 0 available. Is it even possible to up the armor?

[Aware]

Cstriker, on 03 November 2012 - 08:03 PM, said:

So, trying to up the armor in the rear of my HB, and I can't!!! What the heck! Any know if I am able to? It just still set to 8 in the rear with 48 max and 0 available. Is it even possible to up the armor?

Not without dropping some from the front.