703 replies to this topic

[Grifthin]

i picked up a hunchback HBK-4J after trying it on trial and I've been enjoying all of them ever since. I've since expanded into the 4P and 4SP too. Here's what I'm running - hopefully someone else will gain some benefit from my builds, and if any vets have a suggestion they are welcome to chime in.

First up is my trial/first bought mech - the 4J varient.

Maximum Armor - 338
15x Double Heat sinks
Std Engine 200
6x Medium lasers
2x LRM 10's
2 Tons LRM ammo
Endo steel
Heat efficiency 1.01
66 Firepower

The basic idea was that I can stay with heavies while chucking some LRMs down range. With the medium lasers I could also keep the lights off of them. With the 6 Medium lasers it also makes a passable brawler. I normally fire the lasers in 2x groups of 3 and 4. Heat is a non issue as long as you arn't firing everything at once all the time. Staggering laser volleys seems to work wonderfully.

My second purchase was the 4P varient for the 9 energy hardpoints:

320 Armor
18 Double heat sinks
1.09 heat efficiency
Std engine 200
7x Small lasers
2x Large lasers
39 Firepower

Basic plan here is similar to the 4J where I use the large lasers to take pot shots as I move up, then once in brawling range it's down the smalls with the occasional volley of heavies as heat allows. The 7 small lasers do a deceptive amount of damage at close range. No ammo means this mech is great for extended engagements. It run's surprisingly cool even on caustic valley as long as you stay off the heavy lasers once a fight is underway. If you use them frequently you can find yourself overheating. One last thing - the reason I have large lasers in the arms is so that if my hunch get's blown off I can still do damage. With this build you have a small laser + large laser left to zombie it up if worse comes to worse.

My last hunchback varient was the 4SP - at first I hated it. I tried varients using streaks, ppcs, large lasers etc. Eventually i went back to a similiar build most people use:

15 Double heatsinks
336 Armor (2 short of maxed)
Endo steel
1.1 heat efficiency
5x Medium lasers
1x Anti missile system with 1 ton ammo
2x Streak SRM6 with 2 ton ammo
Beagle active probe
Std 225 Engine
55 firepower

This mech somewhat organically evolved - It's got a top speed just shy of 80km per hour. that's great for getting in and out of trouble. all your weapons fall into the 270m range bracket so you are built for medium and close range fights. Your main aramaments are the 2x laser mounted in each arm. I have them in 2x groups of 2. I use the SRM to discourage lights and destroy mech's who's armor have been stripped. With the beagle active probe you can spot for team mates, detect shut down enemies and generally act as a guardian to team mates. Your damage can discourage everything except for a assault to tangle with you and even they should be wary.

Edited by Grifthin, 21 December 2012 - 02:23 PM.

[Atriedes]

Fantastic Thread. Helped me make my initial (and secondary!) purchase and plan out my third!

[kaeh]

I've tried all hunchback chassis and finally sold all except the 4SP.
I played a lot of builds, first with XL engines, later with standart ones, and now I'm back to XL again. Why? Standart ones makes me play overconfident for what a medium is, I know I can take more damage than with XL engines and that makes me step in places i wouldn't have to be, ending dead much faster than when I play XL engines (but that's only my playstile), besides that, gaves me more tonnage for weapons that is what worths here

I don't like ballistics or LRMs on the hunchy so I play always on lasers/srms.

I usually played the basic build with 4xML/2xSRM6 and ST260 engine, but i get bored quickly on builds and i'm continuouly trying new ones.
Then sometimes changed that one for 4xMPL / 2xSSRM2, but with the arrival of ECM I've dropped on using SSRM.
Now I changed back to XL and shifting between 2 new builds, both with XL260 engine, endosteel and 15 DHS:

First one is 4xLL, and heat efficiency of 1.1. That is in basics the same build i use on my K2 CAT, but with less heatsinks and a little faster. It heats a little, but gives you a great alpha with a good range, so you can stay a little back on lines and give support to your teammates. Using them in chain fire allows a sustained damage over time, with the change to alpha sometimes.

Second one (current using) is 2xLLasers/2xML/2xSRM6 with 2TNs of ammo and heat efficiency of 1.08. That's very little HE for what I'm used for, but with a firepower of 58, a rearblast from this is really devastating and when you run out of SRM the heat management becomes a lot better while still getting a great damage output and range.

[Loc Nar]

Armor distribution, you're doing it wrong. No matter what your variant or loadout, running less than 1/3 armor on your rear torsos is NOT a good idea (well, if you snipe with a ranged weapon more up front makes sense just remember you are not a brawler, but have fun explaining that to the guy that flanks you and shoots you in the azz anyway). Any vet knows Hunches have a rather soft backside, so targets it with impunity. Also, I haven't met a Hunch that didn't benefit (greatly) from Endo...

[Smeghead87]

I couldn't fit endo on my hunch after I'd loaded up on double heat sinks, maybe I put too many in there, I do like high heat efficiency numbers.

[Loc Nar]

I couldn't fit endo on my hunch after I'd loaded up on double heat sinks

Trick is to use a big enough engine to hold one or two DHS inside it (225/250). Internal engine heatsinks count as 2.0 (external DHS count are 1.4), so require less for the same heat efficiency in addition to freeing up slots. Depending on your loadout, you may or may not have too many... Try pulling them off one by one till you find you're actually running hot, then determine is small changes to firing discipline or more heatsinks or both are needed. I've found heat management to be a non-issue on my Hunches, but I don't have a 4P yet and that's the one that runs a fever...

[Void Angel]

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?

Honestly, I'd pull that .1 ton of armor off the legs (no one tries to leg a hunchback) and put in TAG on your head slot. It does YOU no good, but the guys on your team with LRMs will love you. It also gives you something to do during those times when all the assault and heavy mechs on your team stop at long range to trade Gauss rounds and missile volleys. People love to target hunchbacks - something about massive firepower for the size of the chassis.

Edited by Void Angel, 23 December 2012 - 03:14 PM.

[MartianMonkey]

Void Angel, on 23 December 2012 - 03:14 PM, said:

People love to target hunchbacks - something about massive firepower for the size of the chassis.

You are right about that. For some reason I notice I'm more of a target when I run a Hunchie over some of my other mechs.

[Void Angel]

It really is because of the massive firepower we can mount. Take other mechs in the class as an example: the other mechs in the class mount no more than six total weapon hardpoints; the largest number of energy hardpoints goes to the Cicada, with six - the Hunchback 4P mounts nine. As a practical matter, the significant limitation on armament carried for a hunchback is raw tonnage, not space. My Atlas is far less customizable.

Also, the 50 ton size of the Hunchback means that even if your arm and torso armor is maxxed out (and it probably should be) you're still a lot easier to kill than a heavy chassis - so you get targetted for your vulnerability as well as the threat you represent.

Edited by Void Angel, 23 December 2012 - 06:04 PM.

[Hex Pallett]

who-hoo! i've been thinking about updating the post a bit but since there're tons of helpful replies here, now i think there's no need. happy hunting!

[Pastor Priest]

Someone else has mentioned a similar build, but I'll mention my for some redundancy. I run a 4P with 6 MLAS and 2 MPLAS. 5 of the MLAS are in the arms, 1 is on the head, and a single MPLAS each on the arms. Having the MPLAS in the arms provides a bit better damage from areas I find a bit more difficult to aim for the time being. The engine is a 250, 18 DHS, and endo steel. I love it! The damage I can do is phenomenal, and it has enough speed to get it out of sticky situations.

What I find interesting is that HBKs are considered brawlers. When I hear that term, I think of something meant to have a toe-toe slugfest with the opponents. The 4P at least isn't meant for that. I find it works best when I wait for the heavies and assaults to engage the targets, and then try to flank them. A good alpha strike to the side or back goes a long ways. I also have a tendency to hunt down other HBKs and lights.

Edited by Pastor Priest, 23 December 2012 - 11:59 PM.

[Smeghead87]

Loc Nar, on 23 December 2012 - 11:28 AM, said:

I couldn't fit endo on my hunch after I'd loaded up on double heat sinks

Trick is to use a big enough engine to hold one or two DHS inside it (225/250). Internal engine heatsinks count as 2.0 (external DHS count are 1.4), so require less for the same heat efficiency in addition to freeing up slots. Depending on your loadout, you may or may not have too many... Try pulling them off one by one till you find you're actually running hot, then determine is small changes to firing discipline or more heatsinks or both are needed. I've found heat management to be a non-issue on my Hunches, but I don't have a 4P yet and that's the one that runs a fever...

I didn't think of upgrading the engine to make room for more heat sinks, so that's probably where I went wrong.

Yep this seems to have worked, I now have a much faster hunchback with only a marginal drop in heat efficiency.

Looking back, my hunchbacks were one of the first mechs I played when I started, and my firing discipline was terrible then, now that I've improved I might drop another heatsink and add some more ammo.

Edited by Smeghead87, 24 December 2012 - 12:23 AM.

[liku]

Mental Hippie, on 13 December 2012 - 10:38 AM, said:

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.

Same for me : GUNS

[Cstriker]

Pastor Priest, on 23 December 2012 - 11:59 PM, said:

What I find interesting is that HBKs are considered brawlers. When I hear that term, I think of something meant to have a toe-toe slugfest with the opponents.

I think it's more appropriate to call them scrappers. Mechs I consider brawlers are Cataphracts and the Atlas. However, HBKs pack a lot of fight in a small package. My 4SP is consistantly a money maker for me, and those Artemis SRM6s are nothing to laugh at. From my experiance any brawling ability I have revolves around not getting hit, and twisting my torso to divide damage amongst my arms, center, and side torsos to keep me fighting longer.This may be why people call it a brawler as with out the "hunch" ballistic/energy/double missle single shoulder rack, the 4SP does not have a single defined weak spot, which then keeps it in the fight longer. Ton-for-ton, I'd take my HBK-4SP over any light, medium, and heavy.

I have a CPT-C4 and K2 (gauss kitty), and I thoroughly enjoy them, but they are not my beloved 4SP, which was my first Mech buy and first to killstreak in...I remember that fight well. Lost both arms, one shoulder, and had 1 Slas and 1 ASRM6 and still pulled out 5 destructs. I wish I taped that one!

Anyways, its a wonderful scrapper, the 4G/H/J/P I agree are more ambusher and support, but man my 4SP has always had staying power for a medium mech. Really it's the pilot in the end though. I've cored many bad Atlas piolts in my day, and been killed by great centurion and Commando pilots from time to time just due to great piloting. They knew their mech and played it well. I know my 4SP and play it well (at least I think I do ) enough that I am an asset for the team.

Edited by Cstriker, 26 December 2012 - 01:35 PM.

[Void Angel]

Feh. No Commando pilot can make a plausible claim to skill until the netcode is fixed.

[Thorasta]

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.

Edited by Thorasta, 03 January 2013 - 11:21 AM.

[Void Angel]

Overheating has a chance to damage you if you are carrying non-Gauss ammunition - because boom. However, you want to really, really avoid overheating. Because when you overheat and stand there for what seems like eternity, you're no longer moving, turning, and twisting to scatter your enemies' incoming fire. And they're going to be pounding you as soon as they see you're an easy target. When you see yourself shut down, pound that O key, and then reduce your rate of fire so you can avoid going right back into shutdown.

Generally, you can kinda kill anything with a hunchback! You're fast enough, in Kph and turning/twisting speed, to fight with lights (though don't bother chasing them,) and you're big enough to pack the firepower to really hurt even an Assault 'mech. But you really don't want to fight toe-to-toe with anything heavier than you are. Basically, find the target which everyone (if they're smart) or at least a lot of people (if they're new,) is firing at and hit them - preferably in the back.

The first skills to work on are positioning/mobility (never back up unless you're right next to cover, and don't put yourself in a position where lots of the enemy team can hit you - because they will,) and putting all those lasers in the same hit location.

The first pilot skills you want with a hunchback are turn speed, then torso twist speed. That'll make it much easier to kill things to death. Other than that, just play a lot of games and read the stickied and popular guides in the general sections. "Follow the Fracking Atlas" has a special place in my heart, for obvious reasons. =)

[Hex Pallett]

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.

MWO rule-of-thumb: fight in packs, never venture alone too far..

Other basics includes: group similar weapons together and chainfire different groups, keep moving, focus fire on one specific 'Mech with your teammates on a specific body part.

4P is more of a harasser rather than a workhorse, so generally you should avoid engaging head to head. Remember to tank incoming fire with your left torso - you lose your left torso, you lose merely one ML; you lose the other, you're pretty much done for.

Also I think you can put more armor on right torso front (the "hump" indicated in Mechlab hitbox). In Mechlab, right torso rear is only a tiny area so I only put 4 armor over there, the rest 44 all on the right torso front.

[Thorasta]

I usually feel lucky to hit them anywhere - let alone targeting a specific body part.

I mucked with your build a bit - dropped the heat sinks with the AMS and I have 6 medium lasers and 3 smalls. I burned 3-4 alphas right in to a guys chest and he didn't go down. *sigh*. On the brighter side, I did my second largest damage in a single round (234) - which isn't a lot, except my team lost and I was #2 for the team so I feel pretty good about it.

[o0cipher0o]

Hi all, my first mech was a 4sp, and i've played a lot with loadouts. The best one for me is this:

Endo steel
4x Mlas
2x srm6
16 dhs (9 engine 7 non-engine)
3 tons srm ammo
std 245 engine( but a 250 should fit if i drop a dhs, that should be even better for the heat efficiency)

A really good brawler, fast enough to get out of troubles, but with the stock punch. And it can sustain some alphas before overheat!

With this build it's easy tho end a matche witha an 600+ damage.

Edited by o0cipher0o, 03 January 2013 - 03:54 PM.