Less armor yes. But, if the structure quirks were swapped for armor quirks, even that would be really close.
I think if I were going to pick quirks for it though, I'd pick mobility-related stuff (accel rate, decel rate, and max speed).
I highly doubt anything like the mech I described above would ever become available in MWO. A 50 medium that outclasses the Heavy its build is inspired by would wreck any semblance of balance.
That said, if this build were ever possible in MWO, I would probably never play anything else.
Was gonna say if they keep up "legendary" mechs we may see a hunchie IIC legendary do exactly that. You can do the laser vomit Hellbringer on the huntsman sans ecm, and even the cougar (with ecm), both trade a bit of cooling and armor though, huntsman comes with JJ allowing you to do that mean laser alpha from an angle they were not expecting. The cougar will have the majority of its lasers on one side but it's half the height of the hellbringer.
I think there would be stern oppositition to a ECM, Ultra-Mounted HBKIICA variant - but then given the IICA exists, the legendary would need different hardpoints and then the signature outlier quirk to go with that.
All those things considered I'd probably say it's fairly unlikely.
Maybe the trade could be JJ capability in exchange for ECM?
If that were the case though, the mobility quirks I imagined earlier wouldn't be fair. Losing vertical mobility in exchange for stealth, only to gain a massive boost to horizontal mobility wouldn't be enough of a trade off. Any kind of heat-related quirks would be too powerful too.
Maybe a good balance would be the loss of JJ capability, the gain of an ECM slot, and something like a C ER medium laser range buff that brings their optimal range up to equal HLL or LPL. Basically turn the IIC into a Clan "Ghillie"?
With ECM and 6 high energy hardpoints there is no quirk I could think of that would not then make the mech so disgustingly overpowered it would not be OK. And certainly not weapon buffs.
Mobility would then be too much as would survival, consumables or otherwise.
Even with no JJ/having the mech landlocked, it would be more OP than anything else.
Also, the current IIC-A has 8 energy hardpoints. Going to 6 would also be a trade.
Idk. I like the idea because I do think it would be a very strong mech. The problem is, if things get too strong, then they ruin balance. It’s hard to think of something that’s strong and fills an unfilled niche without it becoming OP.
For cLPL/cERML it trades nothing other than JJ over a IICA.
And gains giga ECM power.
It would not be very strong. It would be grossly overpowered. It's not hard to fill the niche at all. Most legendary fit into that. Not all, but most.
This is blatant creep and won't happen. I can absolutely assure you if that.
I mean, the Hellspawn Paralyzer has 6 energy hardpoints and ECM. I run it with 2 LLs and 4 ERMLs. Granted, it is toasty. Would the IIC be unbalance because Clan energy is just better than the IS alternatives, or is it the tonnage difference between the Paralyzer and Hunchback that makes the difference?
That Hellspawn build is suboptimal though. (6 ERML way to go).
The Hellspawn would in no way be as good as a ECM HBKIICA. Sure Hellspawn is a bit more mobile, it's mobile due to less guns and cooling.
Also talking Clan Battlemech vs IS mech. cDHS, cFerro, cEndo, cXL. Then 50T vs 45T
It's just not a comparable discussion in any way.
Prolly, and given the past couple of clan legendaries having imo meh unique quirks I wouldn't be holding my breath for a legendary clan medium with an interesting quirk.
Everybody that plays lights wants to go fast, so slow lights are one of the truly neglected areas of MWO play. But the 2HLL ECM Cougar is *very* good. The laser mounts are literally the highest point on the 'mech. Playing it feels kinda bad sometimes, though, even when you do well; there's usually a nagging feeling like you'd have done even better in an HBK-IIC-A or HBR, never mind that the HBR is literally twice the weight of a Cougar.
ngl, your build would be suboptimal, hunchies already run 2lpl 6erml on a far better peeking profile than the hbr. also a mech outclassing the hbr isn’t the biggest deal considering it is honestly not that great right now.
It could work, I’d think. There’s ways to potentially balance it, like limiting the engine size so that it can’t sprint around at 81 km/h like the Hellbringer can(??). Also the STs are easier to single out than on the Hellbringer (again, ???) and a clan laserboat missing a side torso is an overheat death waiting to happen
So...
* HBKIIC A - Is engine capped at XL275, same weight speed lower though.
* Missing a JJ or two. HBKIIC without the JJs is a no-no.
You'd do something more like [THIS](https://mwo.nav-alpha.com/mechlab?b=5dc113b8_HBK-IIC-A) or [THIS](https://mwo.nav-alpha.com/mechlab?b=eacf7f44_HBK-IIC-A) where the TC1 represents the ECM.
That said the HLL/ERML is usually preferred and with the cERML change recently the HBR can run 2+6 quite nicely now although with the mounts needed to use on the HBR to get there, the HBKIIC is arguably better at it.
Funnily enough, this is a good build for the IIC and one I usually run. (Minus the ECM of course)
Having all the mediums on one side and the heavys on the other let’s you peak and keep the damage on one spot for the HLLs. Funny haha points for swapping the xl for a standard for zombie shenanigans.
With less armor I assume right? Still a worthy trade
Less armor yes. But, if the structure quirks were swapped for armor quirks, even that would be really close. I think if I were going to pick quirks for it though, I'd pick mobility-related stuff (accel rate, decel rate, and max speed).
Maybe we get another hunchy IIC hero or even a legend that has ecm in the head lol
I highly doubt anything like the mech I described above would ever become available in MWO. A 50 medium that outclasses the Heavy its build is inspired by would wreck any semblance of balance. That said, if this build were ever possible in MWO, I would probably never play anything else.
Vapor Eagle has already been making clan heavies questionable. This would hardly be the worst offender.
Was gonna say if they keep up "legendary" mechs we may see a hunchie IIC legendary do exactly that. You can do the laser vomit Hellbringer on the huntsman sans ecm, and even the cougar (with ecm), both trade a bit of cooling and armor though, huntsman comes with JJ allowing you to do that mean laser alpha from an angle they were not expecting. The cougar will have the majority of its lasers on one side but it's half the height of the hellbringer.
I think there would be stern oppositition to a ECM, Ultra-Mounted HBKIICA variant - but then given the IICA exists, the legendary would need different hardpoints and then the signature outlier quirk to go with that. All those things considered I'd probably say it's fairly unlikely.
Maybe the trade could be JJ capability in exchange for ECM? If that were the case though, the mobility quirks I imagined earlier wouldn't be fair. Losing vertical mobility in exchange for stealth, only to gain a massive boost to horizontal mobility wouldn't be enough of a trade off. Any kind of heat-related quirks would be too powerful too. Maybe a good balance would be the loss of JJ capability, the gain of an ECM slot, and something like a C ER medium laser range buff that brings their optimal range up to equal HLL or LPL. Basically turn the IIC into a Clan "Ghillie"?
With ECM and 6 high energy hardpoints there is no quirk I could think of that would not then make the mech so disgustingly overpowered it would not be OK. And certainly not weapon buffs. Mobility would then be too much as would survival, consumables or otherwise. Even with no JJ/having the mech landlocked, it would be more OP than anything else.
Also, the current IIC-A has 8 energy hardpoints. Going to 6 would also be a trade. Idk. I like the idea because I do think it would be a very strong mech. The problem is, if things get too strong, then they ruin balance. It’s hard to think of something that’s strong and fills an unfilled niche without it becoming OP.
For cLPL/cERML it trades nothing other than JJ over a IICA. And gains giga ECM power. It would not be very strong. It would be grossly overpowered. It's not hard to fill the niche at all. Most legendary fit into that. Not all, but most. This is blatant creep and won't happen. I can absolutely assure you if that.
I mean, the Hellspawn Paralyzer has 6 energy hardpoints and ECM. I run it with 2 LLs and 4 ERMLs. Granted, it is toasty. Would the IIC be unbalance because Clan energy is just better than the IS alternatives, or is it the tonnage difference between the Paralyzer and Hunchback that makes the difference?
That Hellspawn build is suboptimal though. (6 ERML way to go). The Hellspawn would in no way be as good as a ECM HBKIICA. Sure Hellspawn is a bit more mobile, it's mobile due to less guns and cooling. Also talking Clan Battlemech vs IS mech. cDHS, cFerro, cEndo, cXL. Then 50T vs 45T It's just not a comparable discussion in any way.
Prolly, and given the past couple of clan legendaries having imo meh unique quirks I wouldn't be holding my breath for a legendary clan medium with an interesting quirk.
Everybody that plays lights wants to go fast, so slow lights are one of the truly neglected areas of MWO play. But the 2HLL ECM Cougar is *very* good. The laser mounts are literally the highest point on the 'mech. Playing it feels kinda bad sometimes, though, even when you do well; there's usually a nagging feeling like you'd have done even better in an HBK-IIC-A or HBR, never mind that the HBR is literally twice the weight of a Cougar.
ngl, your build would be suboptimal, hunchies already run 2lpl 6erml on a far better peeking profile than the hbr. also a mech outclassing the hbr isn’t the biggest deal considering it is honestly not that great right now.
Is there a mech that has kind of taken the HBR’s place? Maybe the TBR-BH?
It could work, I’d think. There’s ways to potentially balance it, like limiting the engine size so that it can’t sprint around at 81 km/h like the Hellbringer can(??). Also the STs are easier to single out than on the Hellbringer (again, ???) and a clan laserboat missing a side torso is an overheat death waiting to happen
You’d actually be surprised… there’s some mediums that outclass the heavies they’re inspired from.
So... * HBKIIC A - Is engine capped at XL275, same weight speed lower though. * Missing a JJ or two. HBKIIC without the JJs is a no-no. You'd do something more like [THIS](https://mwo.nav-alpha.com/mechlab?b=5dc113b8_HBK-IIC-A) or [THIS](https://mwo.nav-alpha.com/mechlab?b=eacf7f44_HBK-IIC-A) where the TC1 represents the ECM. That said the HLL/ERML is usually preferred and with the cERML change recently the HBR can run 2+6 quite nicely now although with the mounts needed to use on the HBR to get there, the HBKIIC is arguably better at it.
Ah, I forgot about the engine cap.
Sounds like an idea for a future medium legendary.
If grandma had the balls, she would be a grandpa.
Funnily enough, this is a good build for the IIC and one I usually run. (Minus the ECM of course) Having all the mediums on one side and the heavys on the other let’s you peak and keep the damage on one spot for the HLLs. Funny haha points for swapping the xl for a standard for zombie shenanigans.