38 replies to this topic

[JayVrb]

A relatively fast and capable mech w/ a 50+ alpha strike is the Hunchback 4-SP.

Standard 225 or 235 engine
4 Medium Pulse Lasers (2 on each arm)
1 Medium Head Laser
2 SRM 4's (you can get away w/ just 1 ton of ammo if you're short space)
Double Heatsinks

Alternate build (close to the stock variant)

Standard 225 or 235 engine
4 Medium Lasers (2 on each arm)
1 Medium Pulse Head Laser (or a Small Laser)
2 SRM 6's (i recommend 2 tons of ammo)
Double Heatsinks


***EDIT***
This is a GREAT starter mech if you ask me. I've been playing long enough to call myself skilled and I continue to come back to this tried and true mech. Cheap to repair and puts out a lot of damage without sacrificing the speed you'd have to for a heavier chassis. Please try it

Edited by Vrbas, 04 December 2012 - 02:02 PM.

[Hammerhai]

Lumicko. You want to ask whether you do that damage over time or as a one shot. It is easier to measure the one shot potential, called an alpha strike. With the Jenner, you will die quickly in the beginning as you have to stay alive to deal the damage. People actively HUNT Jenners because they can be so dangerous. Other people tell you you can do 500+ damage in a Jenner: Answer is not very very easily at all. In 3 months I have seen 4 or so scores of 700 and above with a Jenner. Maybe I suck but I rejoice if I do 200 dmg a match

I would recommend staying away from the Atlas and the Dragon, as with both I can tell you from personal experience it is not as easy as all that with those 2. With the Dragon it is the Hit Box of the Head. It is large
It is a matter of
Role: Spotter, Sniper, Brawler, Assault, Missile Unit. Gunboat: Laser, Autocannon, Gauss. (The streak cat is nasty but very expensive to run. And forget it as a joystick driver due to lock on loss), Run n Gun. Fast Mover. Light Hunter or Unit of the Line Backbone
Playstyle: Run n Gun or slow and deliberate
and skill.Best Jenner driver I ever saw was a guy called Wookieefat at over 1000 damage. Just measure the diff between him and me, and it equates to a LOT of time on the battlefield

Put in the time and see for yourself what you like best. TO start I would go with a Laser build like Vrbas above.


Stay away from the XL engine add on until you know what you are doing. You want to turn a profit even on a loss, so be gentle on the LosTech. If you want to run a Mech with all the goodies, expect to visit your ComStar ATM a lot.. An XL engine can run you 50k and up all on its' own. Worthwhile upgrades in general are endo steel to start with, ignore FerroFibrous Armour unless you are a light. Ignore Artemis in general, but that is a personal decision.

[Lumicko]

Thx, Well i bought cata A1 and i kinda dont get the Tons... I have 65/65 with just 2x LMR 15 isnt that too much? I dont get the tons what the hell takes so much ? Mine eq take max. 30-25 tons and also i reduced armor to 20 all parts except arms and chest.. But got only 62 tons. Which isnt big win.
I will later probably try the laser build like he said above or 5 med laser + 2x srm6 in Hunchback 4SP...

[Hammerhai]

Lumicko, it kinda works that way. You SAVE tons in this game off the stock variant. You never want to run a mech below what it can pack, either. Everything weighs an amount. be it 1 ton or many. Your heaviest items are often the engine and other such stuff as Gyros and so on.. Your LRM's alone are 5 tons + as well as a given amount of critical space. Eg a large laser is 5 tons AND 7 criticals. You generally trade weight for crit space with, for instance, Ferro Fibrous or Double Heat sinks. Put another way when you save weight, you increase the chance of an instagib when things go boom. Always put in CASE where you store your ammo. It is worth it.

So if your mech says 65/65 after tweaking it, that is just fine. And 3 tons off is actually quite a lot. Think of it in percentage of mech weight: 5% is a bargain. So don't just go removing weight off without having a goal in mind. You may want to visit the training grounds and look at a Mech Lab video.

So please put that ammo back on, don't handicap yourself from the start by trying to run light, it serves no purpose. This is like boxing in a way. You want to be the heaviest a given weight class allows

Edited by Hammerhai, 04 December 2012 - 03:55 PM.

[Syncline]

I never used one until yesterday and I'm a complete 100% fanboy of the Hunchback now. I bought a 4SP and...wow... If I hang back with the snipers/LRM boats/assaults and only engage when people mess with my "fatties" then I just, plain and simply, murderate people. I used to pilot a Dragon, and before that, a Centurion.

I've found way too much success with the HBK-4SP.

[Eisenhorne]

Syncline, on 04 December 2012 - 07:20 PM, said:

I never used one until yesterday and I'm a complete 100% fanboy of the Hunchback now. I bought a 4SP and...wow... If I hang back with the snipers/LRM boats/assaults and only engage when people mess with my "fatties" then I just, plain and simply, murderate people. I used to pilot a Dragon, and before that, a Centurion.

I've found way too much success with the HBK-4SP.

Its that your packing the SRM6's.... they flat out destroy things.

You can do MORE damage in this role, actually, with a CN9-A, packing 3x SRM6's + 2 medium lasers.

[Syncline]

Eisenhorne, on 04 December 2012 - 07:28 PM, said:

Its that your packing the SRM6's.... they flat out destroy things.

You can do MORE damage in this role, actually, with a CN9-A, packing 3x SRM6's + 2 medium lasers.

I'm working on my HBK and CN9 masteries concurrently. Will try it out.

[KerenskyClone]

I ROFL @ Pilots who use XL engines in assault mechs... The bigger they are, the harder they fall....

I would advise against using SSRMS as a main weapon as ECM has basically made them obsolete (unless you get lucky and encounter a lone mech without ECM support)

[Lumicko]

Hmm damn this.. So i should use 4x srm 4 ? (cata A1 ) damn... i would like to also use 2x lrm but they are too heavy (or what build you suggest? ) And should i upg the armor and the heat sinks? I saw somewhere there that its not worth it or it was other topic.. But now with the EMCs LRM is kinda useless... And also streack. .Damn i bought just now Cata A1 and this happends.. What to do? ( Please answer to all questions if possible dont want to spam same question again )

UPDATE I will keep upgrading A1 and mine build will be probably 6x Srm6s + Artemis... Sounds like best build for actual situation... Anyway after i full upgrade and if i get bored any suggestion for other mech?

Edited by Lumicko, 06 December 2012 - 05:46 AM.

[JayVrb]

Lumicko, on 05 December 2012 - 06:47 AM, said:

UPDATE I will keep upgrading A1 and mine build will be probably 6x Srm6s + Artemis... Sounds like best build for actual situation... Anyway after i full upgrade and if i get bored any suggestion for other mech?

Hunchback. Either a 4H or a 4SP and play around with it.

If you ask me, Hunchbacks and Catapults are the most versatile chassis out there, bar none; there's a lot of different stuff you can do w/ them and they can fulfill almost any role on the battlefield.

[Darwins Dog]

Lumicko, on 05 December 2012 - 06:47 AM, said:

UPDATE I will keep upgrading A1 and mine build will be probably 6x Srm6s + Artemis... Sounds like best build for actual situation... Anyway after i full upgrade and if i get bored any suggestion for other mech?

It's a good idea to work with one type so that you can get the elite skills. So look at getting 2 of the other catapult variants (I like the one with 4 energy hardpoints and missiles).

[Buckminster]

Vrbas, on 06 December 2012 - 11:45 AM, said:

Hunchback. Either a 4H or a 4SP and play around with it.

If you ask me, Hunchbacks and Catapults are the most versatile chassis out there, bar none; there's a lot of different stuff you can do w/ them and they can fulfill almost any role on the battlefield.

I'll second this. I have three Catapults - an A1, a K2 and a C1.

My C1 is indirect support - 2 Artemis LRM15s and 4 medium lasers
My K2 is direct fire - twin PPCs and twin medium lasers
My A1 is up close and personal - 3 SRM6 and 3 SSRM2

So the same basic chassis - three entirely different roles.

[Lumicko]

Buckminster, on 06 December 2012 - 12:34 PM, said:

I'll second this. I have three Catapults - an A1, a K2 and a C1.

My C1 is indirect support - 2 Artemis LRM15s and 4 medium lasers
My K2 is direct fire - twin PPCs and twin medium lasers
My A1 is up close and personal - 3 SRM6 and 3 SSRM2

So the same basic chassis - three entirely different roles.

Yes i was thinking mby will buy later the K2 and i will mby try also 4x Large Laser sounds good .
Then i was thinking about Hunback Sp or Atlas D-DC or Cataphract 2X variant and what you think about Raven RVN-3L with 2x Med. laser and 2x SSrm 2 ?

Edited by Lumicko, 08 December 2012 - 01:00 PM.

[Lumicko]

Uhm which mech u think is best/very good for lasers? Like gauss, large lasers etc.. ty.. Atlas?

Edited by Lumicko, 08 December 2012 - 01:44 PM.

[ArcDemon]

I have to put in a vote for a Hunchback variant, they are good mechs to build up skill with, don't require lots of money to get into working shape* and are economical to run so you'll be getting lots of CBs for if and when you decide you want something more expensive.

And yes, any mech can do 500+ damage, you just need to get a feel for the game and find the style you like. Keep in mind though that damage is not the same as kills, a single mech can absorb 500 damage and live, while less then 100 damage in the right spot will take it down. An AC/20 (a popular weapon for H and G Hunchbacks) is very good at making kills with the minimum damage required, once you learn how to use it.

* Most mechs will need additional upgrades (anywhere from 1m to 4m CB) to elevate them above trial mech performance. The Hunchback is quite effective with just some minor armor distribution tweaks, heatsink additions and maybe endo steel skeleton.

[Lumicko]

ArcDemon, on 08 December 2012 - 01:56 PM, said:

I have to put in a vote for a Hunchback variant, they are good mechs to build up skill with, don't require lots of money to get into working shape* and are economical to run so you'll be getting lots of CBs for if and when you decide you want something more expensive.

And yes, any mech can do 500+ damage, you just need to get a feel for the game and find the style you like. Keep in mind though that damage is not the same as kills, a single mech can absorb 500 damage and live, while less then 100 damage in the right spot will take it down. An AC/20 (a popular weapon for H and G Hunchbacks) is very good at making kills with the minimum damage required, once you learn how to use it.

* Most mechs will need additional upgrades (anywhere from 1m to 4m CB) to elevate them above trial mech performance. The Hunchback is quite effective with just some minor armor distribution tweaks, heatsink additions and maybe endo steel skeleton.

So you suggest Hunchback SP ? And What about Cataphract 2X ? And the AC/20 arent better for Cataphract 4x ? He got 4x ballistic , Or atlas can be very good for lasers. ( Hunch SP seems kinda weak to me if i get close to him he dies fast or its because they dont have some eq.. )
( Actually got 10k C-bills and got the A1 cata but want try some lasers its kinda fascinating ) Maybe Cataphract 3D or Awesome?

Edited by Lumicko, 08 December 2012 - 02:24 PM.

[ArcDemon]

Lumicko, on 08 December 2012 - 02:00 PM, said:

So you suggest Hunchback SP ? And What about Cataphract 2X ? And the AC/20 arent better for Cataphract 4x ? He got 4x ballistic , Or atlas can be very good for lasers. ( Hunch SP seems kinda weak to me if i get close to him he dies fast or its because they dont have some eq.. )
( Actually got 10k C-bills and got the A1 cata but want try some lasers its kinda fascinating ) Maybe Cataphract 3D or Awesome?

Piloting a big mech takes a lot of experience - it's not all about shooting, it's about knowing where to go and when to fight. When an enemy mech starts retreating do you follow and finish him off, or hold your ground knowing he could be drawing you into an ambush.

While a heavy or assault mechs gives you a small advantage, outside the game the repair costs can be unforgiving. This is compounded by the fact that many people running the big expensive mechs also have the money to outfit them properly (most have doubled the cost of the mech with all the upgrades) so you won't be on even footing with the guys your team expects you to fight. That's why I recommend a Hunchback early on (the SP is pretty good and I use it for my laser Hunchback, it doesn't have the big hunch of the other variants that people like to target making it more durable). This way you are getting more experience but still earning enough CBs you can use toward purchasing something big once you find the play style/weapons that work best for you.

Because the Hunchback is cheap to outfit to a competitive level it's also one of the easiest mechs to buy 3 variants of and get elite efficiencies. Personally I would recommend the 4SP, 4P and 4G (yes I know most people will suggest the H over the G, I think the G is better for sampling different ballistic builds). These 3 mechs will give you a nice sample of different playstyles and weapon configurations, I would suggest trying different weapons on each one to master them all (ie switch between LRM, SRM and SSRM on the SP).

[GH0ST1E]

Lumicko, on 06 December 2012 - 02:15 PM, said:

Raven RVN-3L with 2x Med. laser and 2x SSrm 2 ?

It works fairly well, just remember although you can get an ECM, Other Lights are hunting ECM carriers now. I can do around 500 damage in my raven 3L with a very similar configuration.

[Lumicko]

Katala Pryde, on 09 December 2012 - 09:56 AM, said:

It works fairly well, just remember although you can get an ECM, Other Lights are hunting ECM carriers now. I can do around 500 damage in my raven 3L with a very similar configuration.

Well can u say exactly? But i think ill buy Cicada A2 with 6x med. lasers or any better ideas? / or other small mechs

Edited by Lumicko, 11 December 2012 - 02:22 PM.