34 replies to this topic

[Milkshakes]

Can someone help me understand what's happening?

I'm running a hunchie with a gauss and an XL (a risky rig, I get it) but it seems like I'm dying a lot more than I used to. I recently experienced my first one hit death, cored from full health (CTF 3PPC+Gauss), in the history of my gameplay. As I mentioned, I've never seen anything like this. I feel like I'm dying more often than I used to, yet my gameplay is still as conservative (<3 4x Zoom). I've almost doubled the amount of ammo I have to carry to be combat effective (I think I'm an alright shot ) and still hang back. I've been told they made the gauss splash more. If that's true what am I to do? Sell my first mech because the devs decided they didn't like it? Buy an assault mech and just resign myself to hitting my primary group incessently? Some one please help me figure out what's going on here.

[Thirdstar]

Milkshakes, on 12 February 2013 - 10:17 PM, said:

Can someone help me understand what's happening?

I'm running a hunchie with a gauss and an XL (a risky rig, I get it) but it seems like I'm dying a lot more than I used to. I recently experienced my first one hit death, cored from full health (CTF 3PPC+Gauss), in the history of my gameplay. As I mentioned, I've never seen anything like this. I feel like I'm dying more often than I used to, yet my gameplay is still as conservative (<3 4x Zoom). I've almost doubled the amount of ammo I have to carry to be combat effective (I think I'm an alright shot ) and still hang back. I've been told they made the gauss splash more. If that's true what am I to do? Sell my first mech because the devs decided they didn't like it? Buy an assault mech and just resign myself to hitting my primary group incessently? Some one please help me figure out what's going on here.

You may be unaware of this but Gauss now explodes when crit. So you're probably getting one shot due a Guass explosion. Consider sticking a CASE into the side with the Gauss in it.

I assume you're in a 4G, you can play around with mounting any of the other ACs instead.

Edited by Thirdstar, 12 February 2013 - 10:23 PM.

[ownka]

XL makes CASE pointless.

[Thirdstar]

ownka, on 12 February 2013 - 10:23 PM, said:

XL makes CASE pointless.

Ah, yes. I meant to write that he should get rid of the XL too.

[Glaive-]

ownka, on 12 February 2013 - 10:23 PM, said:

XL makes CASE pointless.

Because of it's low health, the gauss rifle can be destroyed before the side torso. So shouldn't CASE save you from the explosion?

Or will an exploding gauss rifle always destroy the area that it's mounted to, even with CASE installed?

[80sGlamRockSensation David Bowie]

Milkshakes, on 12 February 2013 - 10:17 PM, said:

Can someone help me understand what's happening?

I'm running a hunchie with a gauss and an XL (a risky rig, I get it) but it seems like I'm dying a lot more than I used to. I recently experienced my first one hit death, cored from full health (CTF 3PPC+Gauss)

Hey! Thats my jump sniper build!

Yeah, I can tell you exactly what happened. I (or someone with my build, most likely) saw you had a Gauss in your giant right torso, and took off all your front side armor with a 45 point alpha. This also destroyed your Gauss and triggered a 20 point weapon explosion which took out your engine.


Good times...

Edited by mwhighlander, 12 February 2013 - 10:34 PM.

[Octantis]

Hunchie is always a risky build. Well any of the ones with a hunch. Everyone knows to air for your right shoulder because even if it doesn't kill you a knocked out weapon will reduce your effectiveness.

So what are you to do to increase your life span?

Between shots show the enemy your left side. Use your left arm as a shield.

If you are trying to be a sniper I'd recommend stopping it. Your alpha strike damage in minuscule compared to a 4 ppc stalker or Cataphract. They outclass you in armor and will shrug off your hits unless you are in a group of snipers.

If you like the gauss because it's like free heat sinks. Then build a brawler. Throw in some std engine, case, some med lasers and hang out with an Atlas.

Now that I think about it. Always hang out with an Atlas. They need someone to guard their flanks and mediums fill the role nicely.

But for your first point. I can't say I'm going down any faster compared to previous patches. But for most of my mechs. If they are in my shoulder the end is coming quickly anyway.

Lastly, never lead a charge. ever. People love to rip up mediums and if they see it first they will pursue ignoring most everything else.

Good luck

[Zinser]

Octantis, on 12 February 2013 - 10:42 PM, said:

If you like the gauss because it's like free heat sinks. Then build a brawler. Throw in some std engine, case, some med lasers and hang out with an Atlas.

Now that I think about it. Always hang out with an Atlas. They need someone to guard their flanks and mediums fill the role nicely.


Good luck

This - only thing people like shooting more than a hunchie is a fatlas.. you'll often be one the of the last ones standing.

[p00k]

exploding gauss does 20 damage. if 20 damage is enough to destroy the torso (in mediums it often is), then yes. in an atlas for example, you can often survive 20 damage, sometimes without even losing the side torso (atlas has 42 RT internal)

case prevents damage from being spread to adjacent parts. so case would prevent any spillover damage from the explosion from moving to the center torso after the side torso is destroyed. but of course with an xl that doesn't matter, since losing the side means death. so yes, case is currently 100% worthless if you run an xl engine

also @OP, gauss used to have 10 item hp, and was bugged to not explode. then pgi decided to simultaneously fix the bug, drop to 3 item hp, and increase the explode chance to 90% all in one big triplenerf, but that was a few patches ago (december or january i think?)

[dario03]

armyunit, on 12 February 2013 - 10:31 PM, said:

Because of it's low health, the gauss rifle can be destroyed before the side torso. So shouldn't CASE save you from the explosion?

Or will an exploding gauss rifle always destroy the area that it's mounted to, even with CASE installed?

Case only stops the explosion from spreading to other areas. So even with case if a explosion is strong enough to take out a torso it will take out the torso and blow up a xl engine if you have a xl. Its not a bad idea to take it if you are running a standard engine though because it will stop the damage spreading to the CT and hitting the engine.

[Mahws]

Long range builds have come back into fashion more and more since the stalker. A medium mech, especially with a giant exploding XL Gauss torso is simply not up to scratch. You're not that much smaller a target but your armor and per-shot damage are much, much lower.

Don't try to trade hits at range, ditch the XL and the Gauss, throw in an AC20/AC10 (Don't fall for the LBX10, it's a trap) and some lasers and go mix it up in melee. Use your mobility to be where you're most needed in the fight.

[Milkshakes]

Everyone's tactics are pretty valid. As I said it was my first mech so I am "blissfully" aware of the areas they're aiming for. I suppose I'm rather upset by the fact that the mech I worked so hard to build was nixed by patching. It seems to me like the game is moving more toward boats, whether they be PPCs or SRMs. Thanks for the input though!

CASE CLOSED.

[Commander Kobold]

armyunit, on 12 February 2013 - 10:31 PM, said:

Because of it's low health, the gauss rifle can be destroyed before the side torso. So shouldn't CASE save you from the explosion?

Or will an exploding gauss rifle always destroy the area that it's mounted to, even with CASE installed?

C.A.S.E only stops the explosion from damaging adjecent parts, it stills qrecks the side torso and as such the XL

[Milkshakes]

mwhighlander, on 12 February 2013 - 10:33 PM, said:

Hey! Thats my jump sniper build!

Yeah, I can tell you exactly what happened. I (or someone with my build, most likely) saw you had a Gauss in your giant right torso, and took off all your front side armor with a 45 point alpha. This also destroyed your Gauss and triggered a 20 point weapon explosion which took out your engine.


Good times...

While that's a romantic idea, the thing that got me was that I was cored, i.e. my center torso was destroyed, in one volley. That's ridiculous in that it can kill pretty much any mech within 600 meters of it, which is more what I'm getting at.

Edited by Milkshakes, 13 February 2013 - 10:14 AM.

[Commander Kobold]

p00k, on 12 February 2013 - 10:50 PM, said:

case is currently 100% worthless if you run an xl engine

Only if you're running something under a heavy, a heavy with a case might have enough HP in a given slots to survive the ammo/gauss explosion in which case you'll be in the red but atleast it'll only be that one side instead of your whole engine.

[Gallowglas]

Milkshakes, on 13 February 2013 - 09:59 AM, said:

I suppose I'm rather upset by the fact that the mech I worked so hard to build was nixed by patching. It seems to me like the game is moving more toward boats, whether they be PPCs or SRMs. Thanks for the input though!

It doesn't take a boat to be very effective. I have a CTF 3D build with an AC20 and 4 ML that gets as many kills as my A1. I wouldn't say that your mech is nixed. However, playing a hunchback as a sniper isn't optimal for all the reasons that were stated. Frankly, an XL is a dangerous venture, but I'd never, ever run one in a hunchback, much less with a gauss. You're just asking for trouble. Like others have said, try running another weapon aside from a gauss on your hunch. If you want to snipe, try a PPC instead.

[BlackSquirrel]

You're seeing more alpha builds. It's easier (Assuming you have the aim) to knock people out in 1-2 strikes and take the heat v. the usual maneuvering duke it out. Honestly the boating is getting kinda cheezy/annoying. I think when boating certain weapons the heat dissipation (not build up) should be slower. Or an aim penalty be incurred. (Think sniper rifles in most games... You have to steady your aim first, and then follow up shots are harder to make immediately)

Edited by BlackSquirrel, 13 February 2013 - 10:19 AM.

[OneManWar]

All CASE does is stop the damage from transferring to your CT. So if you have an ammo or gauss explosion in RT or LT it will not trasfer to CT and core you, but will still blow out that section. Completely useless with an IS XL engine, although not with a clan one.

[Mackman]

A hunchback was never meant to be a sniper. You're not supposed to be sitting still long enough for someone to line up their alpha perfectly on your CT and let loose.

Could it still happen on the move? Yeah, but it's much harder, and if you pilot smart and use cover, it becomes next to impossible for a sniper build to hit you until you're right on top of them.

In essence, your tactics are terrible, and blaming the game for your mistakes will never make you a better pilot.

[Milkshakes]

Mackman, on 13 February 2013 - 10:26 AM, said:

A hunchback was never meant to be a sniper. You're not supposed to be sitting still long enough for someone to line up their alpha perfectly on your CT and let loose.

Could it still happen on the move? Yeah, but it's much harder, and if you pilot smart and use cover, it becomes next to impossible for a sniper build to hit you until you're right on top of them.

In essence, your tactics are terrible, and blaming the game for your mistakes will never make you a better pilot.

I would suggest to you that my piloting is fine because, as you may not realize, you can both fire and move at the same time in this game. The original purpose of this mech was to harass enemy assaults, support friendly 65+ tonners, and drop scouts. As a scout killer you become quite adept at what is called "leading the target" and if you had read the initial post you would realize this problem is relatively new. Also as mentioned previously, a number of changes to gameplay mechanics have more or less weakened this build by splashing Gauss damage, making the Gauss easier to crit and thus making the engine much more susceptible to failure. It's not a sniper mech, nor is it a brawler, its a quick, decent damaging mech made for a more all rounder role.

P.S. I didn't ask for your opinion on my build, I am fully aware of its risks, and considering you have been in on this game for a lot less time than me I'd suggest if you don't have anything constructive to add you keep your feelings to yourself.

Edited by Milkshakes, 13 February 2013 - 11:00 AM.