703 replies to this topic

[Aware]

Cairrbre, on 29 November 2012 - 01:23 PM, said:

Thank you for the tips mate, new to the game (started a few days back), did not know what to choose as my first mech, went for a 4SP and do not regret it. Especially when meeting the overconfident centurion with arms to loose .

Was thinking of maybe trying a combination of medium pulse with ssrm. As I understand pulse are more focused so would transfer more energy on a smaller area. Also, those ssrm would help better keep those pesky Jenners off the heavy and assaults and, although more expensive would probably make up by missing less. Is it worth it?

A 4 x MPL with SSRM's is a good light hunter. MPL do slightly more damage and their non pulse brethren, also the beam is shorter so the damage is applied faster. I have used that build to great effect. I find though that having SRM6's give you better all round performance. I can hit lights most of the time with SRM's so I like the higher damage output.

[Vallyn]

AZA311, on 29 November 2012 - 07:17 AM, said:

I have a question i'm hoping someone can help with.

I'm loving my 4P and i want it to be a close range laser monster.

So i'm wondering, lasers have their optimum range right? But what about before they reach their optimum range. Is there a damage 'build up' before reaching optimum range like there is damage dropoff once you go past maximum range?

Like 9 is the maximum damage of LLs at 450M. Would it still be 9 at let's say 30M? Or would it be lower?

Reason i wonder is due to close range considerations. I'm not so big on DPS but more on damage output

If you're looking specifically for close range - the 9xMLAS is probably the best for this if you're concerned with shear damage output - if you have good aim you can take down most mechs in 2-3 alpha's (or one with a cockpit shot or weak back armour). Nothing says sneak attack like a 45 dmg Alpha. Plus with chain fire you can just constantly hit someone if required.

Lasers do not have a min range however as noted by Aware.

[Wrenchfarm]

Cairrbre, on 29 November 2012 - 01:23 PM, said:

Thank you for the tips mate, new to the game (started a few days back), did not know what to choose as my first mech, went for a 4SP and do not regret it. Especially when meeting the overconfident centurion with arms to loose .

Was thinking of maybe trying a combination of medium pulse with ssrm. As I understand pulse are more focused so would transfer more energy on a smaller area. Also, those ssrm would help better keep those pesky Jenners off the heavy and assaults and, although more expensive would probably make up by missing less. Is it worth it?

Great choice, the 4SP is one solid mech.

Personally, I like to stick with the 4MLAS in the arms over 2MPLAS because it does better damage overall, but the heat is worse and you do have to be (slightly) better at tracking. I think it is mostly a personal preference. Streaks can be used if you really detest light mechs, but man, those 2 SRM6s are what makes the 4SP so crazy deadly in a brawl. If you can get used to leading them right or find nice slow mechs (a big broad-chested Awesome is just begging for rockets) to pelt, you will rack up the damage.

I've had such great success using 5 MLAS and 2 SRM6s I'm hesitant to recommend anything else. But hey, experiment around. Maybe a Pulse and Streak combo could make you a lights nightmare while still letting you scrap.

[sarkun]

Ryft, on 28 November 2012 - 11:26 AM, said:

Right, but... ok, basically all your SP is doing is mounting an AMS and a TAG with that saved weight, and going a hair faster than mine does with a standard 250. What's your top speed with speed tweak at in that thing?

Also, how much are you finding the TAG helps the SRMs?

I got weight to pack 18 DHS. Speed is 90.6 kph. Tag with SRMs - no effect but when I see LRMs arching toward an enemy mech, I light him up with TAG for added LRM focus. I've also got tag tied to all my normal weapon groups, so the target I'm engaging is always lit up - greater chance that some friendly LRM boat will drop him a present.

Edited by sarkun, 30 November 2012 - 02:59 AM.

[UGiveBackCookie]

Thanks again for the tips. tried the SP with mpls and ssrm, while fun I got back to the initial build, just did not feel right (maybe I got to accustomed with the ml+srm) .

Also tried the 4P and the 4H (got the SP to maxed out elite ). They are also both fun, but overall I like the 4SP most and 4H second.

The 4H can be either a delight or a total bust, the UAC5 seems to jamm very often if you try sustained fire and gets blown off easily. Now a question - how much of a liability is an XL 245 engine, for the moment I am running the H with a standard 245 (no AMS) and the speed seems adequate enough. I understand XL tend to go fast and furious, so is the trade off fair?

Thank you again

[Smeghead87]

I do not recommend putting an XL engine in a hunchback. XL engines are lighter, but occupy critical space in your left and right torso.
This means a critical hit to either side torso can result in your death, not just the centre torso like a standard engine.

Most hunchbacks carry a large amount of weaponry in the right torso, so most players aim for that to disarm you (in my experience anyway.)
So putting an XL engine in is a death sentence.

Also, taking up critical space in the torso means less big guns in them.

[kendowned]

Helmstif thanks alot for the guide i used your 2nd variant and it is working wonders for me ive gone from never getting anykills doing hardly any dmg to topping the dmg table nearly every game.

[hgbek]

Hi,
I am a complete newbie so bear with me. I just bought a hunchback sp with my hard earned c-bills but I couldn't fit all the recommended options to the chassis. The 245 engine is quite heavy so that consumes a lot of tonnage. I couldn't find the double heat sinks (only standard) and I really like LRM so I swapped out a SRM for a LRM.
My biggest problem is that I can't find any double heat sinks, do I need to upgrade my pilot before I can use them?

HGBEK

Edited by hgbek, 03 December 2012 - 11:16 AM.

[UGiveBackCookie]

Hello mate,

Many of us are newbies here, myself included .

In order to acquire the double heatsinks you have to go to MECHLAB-> UPGRADES tab -> under "UPGRADES" on the right side of the window select HEAT SINKS tab and you'll find the upgrade there.

After you'll purchase the upgrade you'll be able to find them in inventory and the normal ones won't be available for that particular mech. If you would like to downgrade to normal heatsinks you'll have to purchase a retrofitting in the same upgrade tab.

For future reference bear in mind that both installing and uninstalling any of the available upgrades costs.

Have fun with the SP.

[hgbek]

Thanks! The amount of options/upgrades/mods etc is quite a lot to take in, but I'm getting there.... slowly :-)


HGBEK

[Ryft]

hgbek:

I don't know if this advice even helps you, but I figured I'd toss it out there since you're new in case it prevents you some frustration.

I usually upgrade endosteel internal structure first. Since I'm basically broke when I first buy a mech, the endosteel internal structure saves weight and provides an immediate benefit (even if that benefit is just an extra laser or some heat sinks) and at only 500,000 cbills it's cheaper than an engine or double heat sinks.

Additionally, the choice of engine is often tied to using double heat sinks on top of that, so... sometimes you can temporarily make a mech weaker if you purchase one thing without the other. When in doubt, if you don't want to wait to upgrade everything at once, it's usually safer to upgrade double heat sinks first, then the engine... a heavy engine might require you to use fewer additional heat sinks, and if your heatsinks aren't doubles you will run into heat problems.

The exception is light mechs. Upgrade the engine as soon as you reasonably can! I would rather play the fastest Jenner I can with only 2 small lasers than pilot a much slower Jenner with 6 medium lasers. Speed really is survival in a little mech.

Enjoy that HBK-SP! You made a really good first choice. You can get a lot of mileage out of that thing, even after you start branching into other mechs (it's dirty cheap to run, so it's a guaranteed money maker as long as you don't put ferro fibrous armor on it).

[Wrenchfarm]

hgbek, on 03 December 2012 - 10:50 AM, said:

Hi,
I am a complete newbie so bear with me. I just bought a hunchback sp with my hard earned c-bills but I couldn't fit all the recommended options to the chassis. The 245 engine is quite heavy so that consumes a lot of tonnage. I couldn't find the double heat sinks (only standard) and I really like LRM so I swapped out a SRM for a LRM.
My biggest problem is that I can't find any double heat sinks, do I need to upgrade my pilot before I can use them?

HGBEK

Hey man! Congrats on buying an SP! I'm not even sure if you need Endo to fit on the basic build (5 MLAS, 2SRM6s), but you do need DHS.

Can I recommend against the LRMs? They're find and all, but they take up more weight (if packing anything bigger than LRM5s, and then why bother?) and don't give you that Hunchback punch in a brawl. At least give the SRM6s a few more tries before writing them off. Make sure to get in close, slightly lead your target, and enjoy watching components fly off.

[Hex Pallett]

I strongly recommend against LRM on an HBK. Not mentioning that LRM is for those who can't aim by themselves and will make you a much less likable person, the LRM's general weight/damage/heat ratio is just not as good as SRM6. Let the big guys with better armor do the bombing.

[Hauser]

LRM's on a HBK aren't that bad actually. I wouldn't put them on the 4SP but they do great on the 4J.

If you're doing it proper (and you need brawling team mates for that) you can stay between 200 and 300 meters from the target. You can use tag to get a quick lock. Artemis to tighten the spread a bit. If you time it right, the target wont be able to move in cover before impact. At close range it is also much easier to use timing to aim for the center torso or the rear this way. Once bits go critical you can jab the medium lasers in there.

[MADSix]

I run HBK-4P.
260 Std (90.3 top speed)
9 MLas
Endo
18 Double HS
Full Armour
I am only at 49.6 tons, but out of crits for more DHS
Any suggestions as to what to do with the extra half ton?

[Taizan]

Wrenchfarm, on 29 November 2012 - 02:41 PM, said:

I've had such great success using 5 MLAS and 2 SRM6s I'm hesitant to recommend anything else. But hey, experiment around. Maybe a Pulse and Streak combo could make you a lights nightmare while still letting you scrap.

I run the exact same build, except that depending on my current liking I like to swap out the head laser for TAG. Because its so easy to be sneaky in the SP and steadily keeping up TAG works fine, the few LRM mechs I've had on my team were always thankful. I can imagine that in 8vs8 this would work even better.

[Mental Hippie]

MADSix, on 12 December 2012 - 06:32 AM, said:

I run HBK-4P.
260 Std (90.3 top speed)
9 MLas
Endo
18 Double HS
Full Armour
I am only at 49.6 tons, but out of crits for more DHS
Any suggestions as to what to do with the extra half ton?

Haha, went here to mention that very build. I mostly pilot it like it only had a huge single fire button labeled "GUNS!" (having all the pilot skills up to elite helps with hitting stuff). A bad drop is around 200 dmg, an average one around 400, and a great one 600-800. I will probably try some kind of PPC build once they get their little boost though.

And no, found no use for that half ton.

[jshill78]

I'm not saying this is an Ultimate build but, I was bored in variant leveling and tried it out. Had great fun.

2x LB 10-x AC in a HBK-4G

Like I said, it's fun as all get out and can really do some decent damage in support. The thing just rap3s armor.

[Tex Arcana]

This guide is a great benchmark.
My SP ended up like this and I'm loving it:

Artemis
Endo Steel
255 Std. Engine
AMS + 1 ton ammo
15 DHS
2 x SRM4
1 x Small Laser
4 x Med. Laser

I'm finding that speed + reasonable firepower is a good combination.
And with the 15 DHS you can Alpha a couple of times before hitting the redline.
I run the P with the same engine.
It's a Ghetto Delight (that I called "Cutter") without the Endo Steel:

255 Std. Engine
AMS + 1 ton ammo
19 DHS
6 x Sm. Laser
3 x Med. Laser

With the 19 DHS you can Alpha like a champ. And the engine get's you in and out of trouble quickly.

[slayerkdm]

I run my g with 3mplas/3mg's. not a power build, but really fun. It's not the power house my SP is, but somedays it's just more fun.

I just bought a Flame and well, it's no Hunch. I guess I'm in rut, as I only like driving hunches. I am a speed addict, running all my hunches at 92kph after speed tweak, but that 2x10lbx shotgunner sounds fun.