703 replies to this topic

[Fut]

Galen Crayn, on 20 June 2013 - 03:45 AM, said:

Started mastering Hunchbacks. My favorite build for the 4G: AC20, 3 medium, 2 machine gun

Both with STD

What size engine are you using in your 4G?
I'm having a hard time getting that AC20/2MG build to work, no idea how you got 3 mediums on it as well..

[Sophocles]

I've tried countless variations with the 4G, each of them extremely satisfying.

But, when push comes to shove, you can't beat 3 AC/2s. It stealthily carresses your opponents to death from any range.

[Shuyen]

Helmstif, on 19 June 2013 - 03:04 PM, said:

I like how this thread has become the talking place for all Hunchback things. So happy

Hahahahaha! Yeah, right? I even brought over a post about my JM6, because piloting it reminds me of my Hunchie.

[Grifthin]

I recently Updated my main hunchback load outs - they seem to be rocking. For your enjoyment find attached some delicious hunchback loadouts and Screenshots.





I was using this:

HBK-4J

I've also been having tons of fun in this:

HBK-4P

And this:

HBK-4SP

[ZeProme]

Okay so I have both the HBK-4SP and the HBK-4P, both are basic-fully-researched. Any suggestion as to what my next HBK purchase should be? I'm thinking about the HBK-4H.

HBK-4J is redundant as the HBK-4SP is better and can field similar roles. HBK-4G, I heard that 4H is better.

[Grifthin]

Depends on how you want to play. I like the 4G with 2x Large Pulse lasers and 3x Magine guns. It's pretty lulzy.

[ZeProme]

HBK-4P is awesome.

[DragonFlame]

Thorasta, on 03 January 2013 - 10:40 AM, said:

OK. I just started playing. I built your HBK-4P... Now how do I play? What do I focus on learning how to do first? Which targets should a newbie with this hunchback focus on - small, medium, or the heavies? I'm not good at anything yet - least of all running in circles without hitting stuff while I'm twisting in to a target. Does overheating cause me to do damage to myself? I seem to die awfully fast even if I'm using the trainer stalker, and am wondering if I'm doing half the damage to myself. P.S. When they take out my bank of small lasers - it SUCKS. I reduced some of my armor and upgraded the head laser to medium.

If you are like me when i first started and used the HBK-4P, it could mean that you are not suited to brawling. Speaking of which, any hunchback pilot in a right frame of mind will never dive into a brawl unless he is sure he can kill something and get away with it. The role i would recommend would be that of direct fire support. You can also assume it means sniping and act accordingly (Peek out, take a few heavy-hitting shots and then retreat to relocate/cooldown). The HBK-4P comes with a brace of MLs but is simply too thinly armored to survive.

My HBK-4P config is as follows.

2 ER PPCs
2 SLs
17 HS (9 DHS installed - 1 for the engine i think) (9 x 2 = 18) (18 - 1 = 17)
STD Engine 200
304/338 armour
Speed 64.8 kmph (bit on the low side if you ask me)

Weapons
The 2 ER PPCs will grant you heavy hitting fire power at amazing distances while it also works at close ranges if necessary. (Please note that the enhanced zoom module is highly recommended.) I initially tested the HBK-4P with 3 large lasers as my main punch but i quickly discovered a problem. That is that for lasers, you had to remain on target with the beams when firing to apply full damage, but this prevents you from ducking back behind cover to avoid retaliation. This is not so for the ER PPCs. You pop out, fire about 1-2 salvos depending on the on the situation and targets and then duck behind cover. The heat curve is not that strict for beginners, allowing a maximum of almost 5 salvoes back to back before heat induced shut-down. DO NOTE HOWEVER THAT PPCs REQUIRE YOU TO LEAD YOUR CROSSHAIRS TO HIT MOVING TARGETS. This is a skill you must master if you wish to be an asset to your team.

The 2 SLs are for self-defense and weapons of last resort. I usually mount one in each hand so that it minimises the chances of losing my both secondary weapons at one go. The heat curve for these weapons are generous indeed. I did a test and when i fired them, my heat gauge went back to baseline before the lasers even recharged. Good for adding to the damage when you cant fire your ER PPCs as your mech is cooling. This comes as no surprise seeing as you have 17 HS cooling your mech.

Tactics
Basically this all boils down to killing/damaging enemy mechs. This means that you got to play like an ambusher. Bind the ER PPCs to mouse button 1 and the 2 SLs to mouse button 2. The reasons will be made clear later. With 64.8 kmph the hunchback is not very fast which is both a blessing and a curse. You are a medium and you should not go zooming off like a sports car after the light scouts to take it to the other team. More often then not i have made this mistake and found myself a smoking scrapheap within 30s of contact with the enemy team. The 64.8kmph top speed allows you to keep up with all assaults and most heavies which you should stick close to for continual health reasons. ( Would recommend those assaults with Anti-Missile Systems and ECM, if not then the heavies will have to suffice) Do not ever leave the pack! Being cut off is bad enough, but being cut off and taking fire from almost every enemy mech is hell! Trust me on this. Once contact is made with the opposing team, trottle back and let the assults and heavies take the lead. Find a good vantage position with overhead cover if possible and escape routes and then wait for the targets to light up your HUD and map. Select the most vulnerable mechs visible (Aim for the Mediums, Indirect Fire support(LRM boats) and scouts) then wait for them to get stuck in. Patience is the key. When this happens, now is the time to strike! Pop out of cover and let loose on the on your designated target with your dual ER PPCs. Once you have picked your target and fired off a few salvoes, reverse slightly to get enemy fire to hit your chosen cover, popping out to shoot when your enemies weapons are recharging, ducking back totally into cover to break sensor contact and cool down as well. A duration of 10-15 secs should be adequate but the final decision lies with you if you choose to enter the fray again early to deliver the killing blow or aid a beleagered teammate. Continue for about 2-3 cycles then relocate to a new spot ASAP. Repeat process until either victory or death/defeat. For accurate fire using the PPCs i would recommend a mouse sensitivity of 1500 Dpi. This, to me at least, is the perfect sensitivity to balance between sniping and self-defense. The ranges you should ideally engage will be mid to long ranges. Close combat is risky as your mech does not have much armour to weather much punishment. Your main dangers that you have to keep an eye out for are assault mechs, LRM boats and last but not least scouts. Usually the scouts are the first to find your hiding place(With you in it of course!). This is bad as the Hunchback is not able to engage swift moving targets due to its slow movement and speed(This is the time where you curse the hunchback for having a below average top speed). You outgun the scout mech so this can be a risky gambit for the scout but do not forget that you are not only facing the scout, but you also have the contend with the fact that this irritating pest is lighting you up for LRM bombardments. Use all of you weapons (ER PPCs + SLs) to quickly kill of the scout as best as you can for if you dont, i can assure you your mech will soon not be amoung the living. Assault mechs are another headache as they usually have the armour to endure your attacks and they carry vast amounts of weaponary to turn you into slag in a very short amout of time. This is why i advocate sticking close to your team. With teammates helping you take the heat, they will preoccupy/kill the people trying to kill you and allow you a chance to survive. One weakness my variant of hunchback has is that almost 90% of its main firepower is located in its Right Torso in the form of the 2 ER PPCs. If that part of your mech is destroyed then it is more or less game over for you. Of course if you do perish, i am sure you will go down gun blazing (I Hope!)

Edited by DragonFlame, 05 July 2013 - 08:54 AM.

[Warge]

Right now my HBK-4J has best K/D ratio among other Hunchys (I have them all). 2 LRM10 (Artemis) + 6 ML...

[Fenris Krinkovich]

I thought about making a new thread for this, but as Helmstif says, this thread is where Hunch pilots hang out.

I'm pretty committed to the HBK chassis. I play other mechs but the HBK is my home, it is where I am most comfortable and the chassis against which I measure all others. And that being said, I feel like the Hunchback is being left behind with each new mech that is released, primarily because we now have lights with lots of firepower, assaults with jump jets, and heavies that are faster AND tougher AND with similar or more firepower. Every other medium chassis is faster, every other medium chassis can mount the same armor, every other medium chassis seems more distinctly defined, refined, or capable in many ways.

I don't know much about the lore, but I do know some of it, and the Hunchback was designed to be an inner-city brawler (which it currently does well.) It's also an older chassis and much of its appeal in lore and in TT was that the HBK was cheap and easy to maintain, in addition to being as tough as some heavy mechs (HKB and Catapult are supposed to mount the same 10 1/2 tons of armor, but we see how that worked out.) This appeal does not translate well into the game and it appears that it never will.

So I have this idea, and although I *NEVER* expect it to happen, I thought it would be an interesting conversation. I don't want a Hunchback with jump jets (neat enough but really out of character), and I don't think a faster top speed is the answer either. What if the Hunchback was a 55-ton mech? If we're going to pilot the slowest, heaviest, toughest medium, then I say buy that ticket and take the ride. Give us another 1, 1 1/2, or 2 tons of armor (especially on that hunch), maybe a 275 engine (less for land speed than for twist and pitch), and leave the rest alone. Same hardpoints, critical slots, etc. More armor and better response times would make the HBK the maximum medium brawler, which I think is the intent within MWO.

Anyway, I haven't exactly pulled this idea apart to see how bad or how good it is, I just wanted to throw that out and see what some of my wiser and more experienced brethren would make of it. Thanks!

[Hex Pallett]

Oh the ol' Hunchies certain do inner-city brawling alright. Absolutely. Just enough size, speed and firepower. AC20/SRM12/6xML, all great short-range weapons.

Speaking of your 55-toner...isn't that Shadowhawk?

[Phobic Wraith]

Hey guys, I just bought my first 4P and I've been roaming the forums for ideas. I see a lot of the 9ML builds, and even the 6LL builds are good for a laugh. However, I was wondering why every time I see a serious build it has the standart 260 engine. Other than a handful of KPH, is there an advantage over the 250?

My thinking is that with double heatsinks, endo steel, and a 250 engine, and maybe an armor tweak, I could run a 6-7 ML with 2 LL in the arms. Is that viable? I like the distance on the large lasers, and a 2 less medium laser alpha (vs that 9ML monster) isn't that big of a deal, is it?

So, my question boils down to... 250 engine for more weight, or 260 for more speed and anything else I'm not thinking of?

[EmperorMyrf]

Phobic Wraith, on 08 July 2013 - 11:22 AM, said:

So, my question boils down to... 250 engine for more weight, or 260 for more speed and anything else I'm not thinking of?

The 4P is typically hurting for crit space due to DHSs, so there's not much you can do with that extra ton beyond armor, which is near maxed, and extra speed.

In all my other hunchbacks, I typically have the space to spend that ton elsewhere and stick with the 250 engine.

[Jungle Rhino]

Phobic Wraith, on 08 July 2013 - 11:22 AM, said:

Hey guys, I just bought my first 4P and I've been roaming the forums for ideas.

9ML works because it is very simple - I wrote up some tips in this thread http://mwomercs.com/...-piloting-tips/

If you chuck a couple of LL in there all you will do is be tempted to engage at mid-long range and get yourself shot up. Or when you do get to close range you are already too hot to apply your 7ML which makes them less useful.

Also from my experience the extra couple of ML are what is lethal. 9ML vs 7 ML may sound like a wash but when you are talking about ripping the back out of an Atlas you may only get two opportunites to shoot and that means you need to get the job done in two alphas. So you need to be 1. cool enough to take the shots and 2. fast enough to get there. Which is why I think most people just stick with the ML.

[Phobic Wraith]

Yeah, you guys make some pretty good points. I built the mech I was referring to, http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c9831bbadf8e4d2

tell me what you guys think.

And yeah It does run a little hot. The 9ML would definitely be a better short range alpha. I threw the large lasers in there because I'm getting pretty sick of the long range meta working against me. Granted, I have developed the skill of "surprise! have an AC/20 to the teeth!" but it just doesn't work so well on every map. It's just silly when the stalker sees me across alpine and I can't get behind cover fast enough.

I'm gonna play this build for a while and if I can't get it to score like my 4H then I'll buy a 260 engine and try the 9ML version.

[Wildstreak]

Phobic Wraith, on 09 July 2013 - 08:39 AM, said:

Yeah, you guys make some pretty good points. I built the mech I was referring to, http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c9831bbadf8e4d2

tell me what you guys think.

And yeah It does run a little hot. The 9ML would definitely be a better short range alpha. I threw the large lasers in there because I'm getting pretty sick of the long range meta working against me. Granted, I have developed the skill of "surprise! have an AC/20 to the teeth!" but it just doesn't work so well on every map. It's just silly when the stalker sees me across alpine and I can't get behind cover fast enough.

I'm gonna play this build for a while and if I can't get it to score like my 4H then I'll buy a 260 engine and try the 9ML version.

I can understand wanting a longer range weapon on the 4P however I had tried both 3LL and 2LL+2ML, neither worked well. The problem is the longer recycle time on the bigger lasers, when you have 2-3 most of your weapons are recycling too long to make a difference.

Your current 4P is too hot.

Before I sold it, my best 4P used on 1LL plus 5ML, still could get a bit hot depending on how often I fired but I had 1 mid-range weapon. Also had a PPC version. I found it best to:
- make great use of cover.
- never run at full speed initially, let bigger Mechs go first, wait for the fight to start before striking.
- play lots of Conquest.

The last one is no joke, right now unless you are really good playing a Medium in Assault is tough. Conquest, I see more mediums there and sometimes your team may have no Lights so the Mediums like Hunchies fill the cap role, still have decent speed and you can tie up enemy Lights.

[Grifthin]

If you want some long range punch of a 4P I ran 2x ER Large lasers + 7 Small lasers for ages. Works great.

[Phobic Wraith]

Man, you guys are the best. You're giving me lots of new ideas. I don't know if I love the knife fight range on the small lasers, but it's a pretty good idea. Maybe I'll try to mix it up a bit. And you guys are going to think I'm crazy but I've knly played half a dozen or so conquest matches. Couldn't tell you why... I'll give it a whirl.

I've been able to throw some hurt with my current build, but I can only get 2 alphas off before I'm sweating pretty bad in the cockpit. From what I can tell it's coming down to a choice between being able to tag people at Large laser range, or an axtra alpha before I have to hide. I'll play around some more.

This is fun, if you guys have more fun ideas let me know.

Edited by Phobic Wraith, 10 July 2013 - 01:33 PM.

[Raso]

So I wound up getting around 4 kills in a match the other day with my 4SP armed with dual ALRM5s, 4 medium lasers and a tag. I didn't do a considerable amount of damage but I got an assist on every enemy unit and multiple component destruction. I primarily used my LRMs at ranges from 500m to 800m and often ended up spotting my own targets while moving from position to position.

It felt good. It felt real good. No PPCs, no gauss but those LRMs still make you duck behind a rock like nothing else and eventually that's what did it, I think, the other team's high alpha ERPPC snipers (being the milk drinking, cowards they are) couldn't bring themselves to be exposed to enemy LRM fire. They even seemed to disregard me, for the most part, until late game because, I mean, I'm just a Hunchback, it's not like I'm a Heavy or Assault loaded with PPCs or AC20s, right Yes, your naivete pleases me!

[oldradagast]

Bought my 3rd hunchback today - the much-maligned 4G - and built the basic build: Standard 250, AC20 with 3 tons of ammo, 3 medium lasers, Ferro, and Endo.

This thing is nuts when played right. I've already killed at least a half-dozen Atlas who kindly ignore me while I core them... and I do move fast enough to make tracking with torso weapons painful. Just got out of a game with over 500 damage, which for me in a medium is insane, and 3 kills. Killed a Centurion with a headshot, then a Catapult, and used my last AC20 round to blow the cockpit off a Quickdraw - they have such large heads, and he wasn't really moving.

So, yeah... Hunchbacks... good mechs, despite all the hate on mediums. Now, sure - in the land of nothing but PPC and Gauss snipers, maybe it won't work, but I see plenty of that in my scrubby Elo bracket, so the mech has got some kick to it.

Edited by oldradagast, 15 July 2013 - 05:11 PM.