Ultimate TC hybrid, In my honest opinion

[Bakemonky]

I play on a squad with quite a few members, and whenever we have 4 or less people playing, we RARELY have a TC. But when there are 8 of us on at once, like last night, we absolutely need one, and so I decided to give TC a shot.

Holy Crap. I never thought I would have that much fun barking orders and guiding my teamates. We won every mach (about 12 in a row, with 5 of those being against human players.) I was told I did a good job, and I really had a fun time playing TC.

Now, onto the reason I'm posting. I've been reading some of your posts on what is the best hybrid for a TC, or what guns should you carry, or what other optional equipment. I played TC on a quad walker at first with one big cannon, a sniper rifle, and an assualt rifle. But halfway through the 3rd game I noticed I was barely attacking because the map display takes up all of the screen and I can barely see, not to mention it took me 1,000,000 years to reach the fighting on my slow-as-all-get-out quad walkers. So, I was essentially putting my teamates behind on firepower, just like the scouts do. So, I decided to fuse the two RT's in ChromeHounds that act as support characters.

I made a Hound with wheel legs, a simple cockpit, good engine to go fast, and my TC parts. Then, instead of ANY GUNS, I packed on 3 bomb/mine dispenser. I was able to run in front of my teamates and capture COMBA's, while keeping an eye on the enemy and directing my squad, and if I saw an area where the enemy mechs were going, I layed down mines. If I saw them coming in my general direction, I got the heck out of there.

This method worked wonders. I was capturing COMBAS, while being able to see the enemy, directing my squad, hurting them with mines before my teamates got there, AND it left the usual scout role open and my squadmate created a soldier Hound, and everyone benefitted from the extra firepower.

win/win, in every sense of the word.

sorry, so long. and I dont have time to check for spelling. this is my first post, tell me what you guys think.

BakeMonky

[spawn316]

Pretty ballsy going w/o any guns whatsoever, but if it works for you go for it. It's all in how you use the TC that determines what you need before you start riding out. Personally, I've got a couple of Howitzers, a rocket launcher, and a light machine gun on treads. I'd LOVE to put the mine dispenser on it, but I've got solid balance with a radiator and night vision and one plate of armor over the generator so it's all good. I like to work from a distance and stay out of the action, but if the need arises, I can defend a base (or destroy one) and give support.

I can't believe you guys were playing w/o a TC. You can't talk w/o COMBAS towers and you can't tell where the enemy is unless you walk up on them or see them in the distance. That's too risky for my blood. I'm the TC on my squad and just for kicks and giggles I played a couple matches as a soldier/HG. Big mistake. Not knowing where anybody was sucked. I much prefer giving enemy locations and setting up the network than going blindly.

[Tjirad]

Personlly I have 2 TC's I use both basically the same setup, however they are quad walkers with the big cannon on top, for me and my squad it works wonders, as I slowly move to the middle of the map and provide support whenever its needed and I take some crazy hits before going down if I go down at all. So I guess its just squad and personal preference about the TC hybrid, I'm a better HVG than I am a TC but both rolled into one and using the NA maker range to guage target distance with my big cannon on top really makes targeting and range finding alot easier.

[notoriouzwun]

Honestly, I run around on bipeds with the radar on my back. 2 bomb dispensers a couple of daggers and a mortar on my cockpit. Well thats my first TC. I'm not much for fighting other hounds but if need be I can take a base out in a few minutes.

As for my second one its just a fast little TC with 4 piles on it. Again not really meant to be in battle but i have had my share of sneak attack pile drives.

[NiteGuardian]

I'm more of the Defender or Soldier type, but I made a Hovercraft (so no mines can harm me & I get good speed) TC/Scout,
with 2 Rockets (just so I can Blast enemy NPC's) it has standard equip of night vis. & thermo vis.
it can be a TC, a Scout, or both.

[ResidentFrosty]

add a smoke mortar onto yours ,good for getting away in a pinch :P, other then that its my basic setup as well

[DrLime]

I have two howitzers (with incendiary rounds), two machine guns, and the largest NA dish I could fit on there; all smashed onto cat. legs. My NA is usually large enough to cover a third of the map from the break, and I tend to travel with my heavier mechs. The idea is that when we actually engage enemies, I hang back and hit them with the howitzers, which causes them to overheat (and kills their generator) so other mechs can make short work of them.

The beauty is that this works on any mech, even if they have a ton of armor. When they overheat, besides stalling their mech it does a TON of damage to the generator. Once the generator is gone, all of the (massive) amounts of heat generated goes to the cockpit in the form of damage.

Not to mention it looks awesome on night maps.

[DoubleTap68]

Just so I can compare it to my 4 HEAT rocket set-up, how much heat (temperature-wise, as opposed to H.E.A.T) does an incendiary howitzer round generate?

[sparktite]

yeah thats a pretty good idea what i do is because my team mates dont like or want to be tc i usually am i use either a heavy weight sniper/tc or my scout/tc which is on the fastest wheels with the speed chip and it uses 3 spikes and the heaviest command tower thing

ive got a range of 1k a good speed and 3 powerful spikes so i sneak behind the base while keepin an eye on the enemies and destroy it

[Intercol]

I've always been strongly against the idea of a TC/Scout hybrid, since a Scout requires you to be focusing on the field, rather than upon the NA. You seem to be having quite a deal of success with it, so I think I'll have to have a go and see its strengths and weaknesses for myself.

Thanks for the suggestion, and your review on this style.

[Gabriev]

This method worked wonders. I was capturing COMBAS, while being able to see the enemy, directing my squad, hurting them with mines before my teamates got there, AND it left the usual scout role open and my squadmate created a soldier Hound, and everyone benefitted from the extra firepower.


The idea that your team would benefit from greater firepower is invalid. If you were a heavier commander you would have guns of your own, and the scout would not be held down by a cumbersome NA radar and would be able to mount weapons of his own.

Being a scout requires direct visual vigilance. You need to be watching your surroundings closely for warning signs of the enemy as you are the frontline, and the quickest route to your objective. If you divide your attention between your direct view and your map you may do well, but not as well as if you focused on one or the other. A commander/defender who is sitting back at the base doing nothing most the time anyway can focus entirely on the map, guiding his troops every step of the way with less risk of personal destruction.

I think that you probably played well (judging by the quality of your post), and that you were supported by an exceptional squad of players--but I do not believe this is a good commander build.

[eric2903]

but why visual confiration when you could just see the red blip and tell everyone?

[Gabriev]

Radar does not tell you the role of a hound, where the hound is looking, and is still fooled by NA jammers. The scout commander staring at his map does not notice the 5 zerglings with jammers stroll past him. The scout focusing on the field notices the cloud of black smoke over the hill and has the weapons to defeat enemy scouts.

The first enemy a scout is going to face is usually going to be another scout, vying for the same combae. This scout/commander would have no choice but to give up the area, and the NA and landmines probably slow him down enough for the enemy scout to overtake him.

[Getya]

eric2903 said:

"but why visual confiration when you could just see the red blip and tell everyone?"


I feel the same way. Very few people NA jam, and even then, they won't be using it (from what I've seen) until they are rushing your base. And if they are, it only lasts for so long. I havn't actually battle tested the tc/scouts I have built (not enough squad members on at once yet), but I feel it rolls two valuable support RT's into one (just as the poster said). Also, they are usually the two least popular RT's, and I will always take one for the team. I prefer just my def/sniper or my scout (I call him Lil F***er, two snipes and two cannons, counter, NV, goes 250, you cant get close to hit him, blah, blah, blah), but I will be the first to say, "I have a mech for tc scout" when the time comes.

We recently also had a squad mate "gain rank" within our squad (we make you play scout until you are ready for more, battle exp and parts wise, how long that takes is up to the person), so he decided he wants to be an HVG because his aim is retarded with those huge cannons. We will be doing R&D with him tonight to see if we can get a NAM on him, as someone else suggested. So, we might make that a staple in the squad if it works, almost negating the need for a scout (We could have a sold or def become a little faster to get combas, but not neccessary with NAM already, just protect him, and there is a MK NAM that has 95% KE Def WOWZERS).

[JT Zinger]

iv slapped on 4 machineguns and 2 rocketlaunchers and 4 plates of armor on my tc hound,

and yesturday i was playing a 2v2 match and the ppl we were versing didn't hav a tc and it made a big difference i could tell where they were so i could flank them when my heavy gunner comrade layed fire upon them

[G8TR FAN]

I am the only TC in my squad and mine is set up with 3 sniper cannons and the largest NA maker I could find, My roll is to give real time info and fire support for my squad from a safe distance. I was gonna use howitzers but I chose the sniper cannons to avoid splash damaging the guys I'm trying to help. But now with this new info I need to consider the little scout with a NA comming after me unseen. any sugestions for weapon layouts? are the howitzers that much better than the snipe cannon when the cannons are equiped with the high ke and heat rounds, i have not used a howitxer as of yet but likr the accuracy of the snipe cannon, any input?

[I Love Lamp23]

has anyone tried a scout/commander with 4 assault rifles? I cant try it now but it sounds like a good idea. you could stay pretty far away from the enemy when you have to engage and you would be fast enough to dodge incoming fire. Alot of people put MG's on their Commanders but dont realize that they are a close combat weapon and a commander will get fried, close range, to any decent hound.

leave me some feedback on this idea...

[SylvanBasilisk]

I used a scout/TC hybrid for a while and it worked really well. I actually won alone against three other people with it because I could sneak around them (Thats what you get for not having a TC). I switched over to a TC biped with heavy armor and thats been working good for me.

[Dr Shakalu21]

I put alot of armor on my TC. I think I've got 7 plates on it now. I've got my weapons and c-pit covered along with my generator. As for weapon I just have 4 Sal-Kar MG's on it. Yes I know MG's are shortrange weapons but being a TC ypou have the advantage of knowing where the enemy is. I just find a good hiding spot and wait for the enemy to walk by. Since I'm not moving at all I don't appear on their sonar. So I just ambush them. And if you planned it well you'll be able to kill them.

[SPBTooL]

... but I made a Hovercraft (so no mines can harm me & I get good speed) TC/Scout, ...
Mine are detonated by the hovercraft legs.

[Fliggi]

personally i'm using more of a field commander version.
setup on a morskoj inverse biped it features a small sal kar na maker (still decent, but range slightly below that of a combas), dual cn-200 cannons and 4 mgs. i like the gun setup and the na maker gives me and my team the extra edge in battle.

[JT Zinger]

has anyone tried a scout/commander with 4 assault rifles? I cant try it now but it sounds like a good idea. you could stay pretty far away from the enemy when you have to engage and you would be fast enough to dodge incoming fire. Alot of people put MG's on their Commanders but dont realize that they are a close combat weapon and a commander will get fried, close range, to any decent hound.


i dont know about a scout commander, it would hav very little heath, (mine has the health of a defender) but ill try the assult rifle thing b/c the machineguns dont pack a lot of punch

[Serph]

dunno if ne1s posted this :\ but, i run a Commander thats on a hoverboard, has 2 piles for destroying bases and a machine gun for killing ACVs, Turrents, and blowing down buildings and walls...

surprisingly i go 196 with a heavy morskoj generator, heaviest NA, and a fairly heavy , along with 3 guns on a hover (most of my squad mates think i cheat)

[Dr Shakalu21]

In my opinion Hover TC's are useless. TC's should stay behind not go to the front grabbing combas. Plus You won't be able to carry many weapons. And yes it is true TC's shouldn't go into combat but you should always keep that possibility in mind. But if you know some secret tecnique then by all means use it.

Currently I have a TC on treads but it can't carry what I need it to. So I'm currently in the lottery for the Heaviest Morskoj Quads. That and I'm in the lottery for the heavy morskoj c-pit. I'm thinking of putting some howitzers on it. That and alot of armor. And to top it off the Morskoj NA Array that has a 1000 network area.

Yes I know it will go slow but I'm probably on gonna use it in City, Mountain, or maps with a high vantage point. Otherwise its back to treads.

[Serph]

well.... hovers r good 4 tcs so that i can keep up with my squad w/o having to have them capture COMBASs.

- also when playing alone with it instead of fighting the enemy i can sneak around and kill the base :D

[Redraven]

This method worked wonders. I was capturing COMBAS, while being able to see the enemy, directing my squad, hurting them with mines before my teamates got there, AND it left the usual scout role open and my squadmate created a soldier Hound, and everyone benefitted from the extra firepower.


The idea that your team would benefit from greater firepower is invalid. If you were a heavier commander you would have guns of your own, and the scout would not be held down by a cumbersome NA radar and would be able to mount weapons of his own.

Being a scout requires direct visual vigilance. You need to be watching your surroundings closely for warning signs of the enemy as you are the frontline, and the quickest route to your objective. If you divide your attention between your direct view and your map you may do well, but not as well as if you focused on one or the other. A commander/defender who is sitting back at the base doing nothing most the time anyway can focus entirely on the map, guiding his troops every step of the way with less risk of personal destruction.

I think that you probably played well (judging by the quality of your post), and that you were supported by an exceptional squad of players--but I do not believe this is a good commander build.

IM not even a TC, in fact ive only played one once (and it was mad fun) and frome what i learned i can tell if you use an NA maker on a scout you dont need visuals because you know where they are, you rush in get some locations avoid/ mine trap them, and then see what they have, relay that to your squad and moveback to them as well as actuall evasive capabilities, if your a TC/defender your liable to get shot down and you cant effectively defendsinglehandedly, plus you dont use the extra range you NA maker uses. you would be much better off using a scout that is up on the front line and can see all even using a small NA maker.

oh well im rambling

[Quagmire]

The way I got mine set up is to capture combases, destroy the enemy base if necessary, and tell my teammates where enemies are. I have a reasonably light c ockpit with 4 sal kar piles. If they leave their base undefended, I'll know ahead of time, and head in to destroy it.

[Behemoth911]

I use a HG/Commander build. Quad legs and 2 double cannons and a medium range na maker. It works wonders! My squad is mostly HG and Snipers, so when Im commander i can relay orders and enemy positions and destroy a couple hounds each match. :)

[daibook]

TC/scout works you can put that na right up front to pick them up as soon as possable set better ambushes get you whole squad on them, but yeah it a gamble cause you can take no damage but if you play it smart it works. i tend to use my biped howie TC much more fun to do the @22 kick myself tend to only run a scout/TC 5-6ppl or mountain maps

[Irond Will]

has anyone tried a scout/commander with 4 assault rifles? I cant try it now but it sounds like a good idea. you could stay pretty far away from the enemy when you have to engage and you would be fast enough to dodge incoming fire. Alot of people put MG's on their Commanders but dont realize that they are a close combat weapon and a commander will get fried, close range, to any decent hound.

leave me some feedback on this idea...

That's exactly what I run. I've had some luck with it, though it requires careful play - stay at 300m-400m and provide support fire. It also cannot lay down heavy single-damage hits. However, a fast variant is very hard to hit with direct fire, ARs are nice for sustained damage. Also, 4 AR200s can drop a base in 90 sec, so there's always that as well.

You can fit this on bipeds at around 180-190 kph or on inverts for 170. Wheels don't really have the stability for quad ARs, but I think it can go around 200 kph.

[spawn316]

Triedb the TC/Scout hybrid many times and it never worked for me, mainly because the prevelance of the DD mechs and heat cannons. Even while avoiding combat, either the chassis gets knocked out from splash damage or the NA (which is strapped to the back of the mech) gets knocked out. Most of the time the mech became a glorified meat shield or an easy kill. Even with the NA, the TC/scout is vulnerable, especially since it's never as fast as a true scout. We had a player that played our scout and his mech was over 300; no way you get that with a NAM strapped on.

If it works, I ain't gonna knock it. But the OP wondered what the best hybrid was and I'd go with either a TC/HG or TC/sniper. I see absolutely no point in a TC/soldier as that completely defeats the purpose. If you want to throw down, just be a soldier. Using a commander to fight in anything other than a support role is suicide.

[AJvdb]

i have a TC / Defender

its got the morsojj quads with high load.

the morsoj cpit with like 9k durability.

the morsoj NA maker with 1100 something area, and 3 morsoj cannons that do descent damage.

i usually just sit at the base, and when i'm not TC'ing i swap the na for a double cannon, it works wonders.

[Irond Will]

i have a TC / Defender

its got the morsojj quads with high load.

the morsoj cpit with like 9k durability.

the morsoj NA maker with 1100 something area, and 3 morsoj cannons that do descent damage.

i usually just sit at the base, and when i'm not TC'ing i swap the na for a double cannon, it works wonders.

Seems like a good combo, though I never see people running defenders these days.

[Irond Will]

Triedb the TC/Scout hybrid many times and it never worked for me, mainly because the prevelance of the DD mechs and heat cannons. Even while avoiding combat, either the chassis gets knocked out from splash damage or the NA (which is strapped to the back of the mech) gets knocked out. Most of the time the mech became a glorified meat shield or an easy kill. Even with the NA, the TC/scout is vulnerable, especially since it's never as fast as a true scout. We had a player that played our scout and his mech was over 300; no way you get that with a NAM strapped on.

If it works, I ain't gonna knock it. But the OP wondered what the best hybrid was and I'd go with either a TC/HG or TC/sniper. I see absolutely no point in a TC/soldier as that completely defeats the purpose. If you want to throw down, just be a soldier. Using a commander to fight in anything other than a support role is suicide.

My TC/Soldier with ARs does all right - good sustainable support fire, mobile enough to keep snipers frustrated, enough range to keep cannon mechs from connecting. I stay at 300-400 m as much as possible so that I can flip on the map if I need to. It's true that getting engaged means a lot less (ahem) commanding, but it's also probably true that any hybrid AT requires a lot of attention to contribute to combat.

All in all, it's been the best hybrid TC I've come up with (we generally run a 3 or 4 man squad), though I'm interested in hearing what everyone else is running.

[spawn316]

This is an old thread so I've changed up since I was running treads back in July.

I still have a tread mech for urban fighting although I have 2 Falcions and a missile launcher with a small NA. Mostly I've been running on inverse legs with a small NA and 4 Falchions; I've got a variant which has 2 Sabres and 2 Falchions with a little stronger cockpit as well. These are pretty much the 3 mechs I roll with. On the rare exception when I'm on a map with few towers, I roll out with a quad legger with the largest NA and a double cannon.

I find it best to switch between several mechs with similar weaponry to get familar and proficient with the equipment.

[ed111]

A defender/ TC is a good hybrid, especially in urban levels.

IE: Load up a mech with 2-3 zinifas(mine launchers) on treads and 2 analaces falchions or flanburgs(whichever one fits.) on a high durability cockpit than use the heaviest tarakian na maker and a generator that supplies enough energy use the mines at a choke pint and the cannons for self defense.

[AJvdb]

i just get the na, cus ususally i defend with mt friend, who runs a quad with 6 cannons on it, so yea, if i can see em coming from 1200m away and we can just aim on him, hell, 9 cannon shells firing in the same direction every 3 seconds is bound to hit something.

[MTCD01]

Spray and pray. Never a good plan to run a quad with shot range weapons.

Running W/O a TC isn't really that bad on most maps. Eyes on the target is worth more than a blip on the radar any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Eyes on tells you the weapon load out, pit location and type, legs, armor, speed, and where the HVG rounds are landing if the HVG is firing blind. An NA only tells you where they are and what speed they are moving at (ie scoutish speed or not). On most maps you can see farther than an NAM anyway.

The maps that we do find the TC useful are the ones that have limited draw distance to to geography or inclement weather (cities or jagged terrain).

[Trocki]

Triple machine guns (hard hitters), triple piles (hard hitters), wheels (fast), dabbur, nuemann. Speed = 220-230. Go take combas, and then if they are dumb enough to leave their base open... piles. If they aren't... help your teammates kill stuff with the machine guns (which double as base smashers).

Mines are too unpredictable (even with the NA). Sometimes they just don't do much good at all.

Bombs are good at blowing up bases but they're way too loud. Piles are clean, neat, and a tad bit stealthier (nothing like your opponents hearing bombs in their base and coming back),and of course, piles are good for killing people.

[shuv]

I dont do TC much at all, but when i doi just smack the big experimental Morsokj NA on top and use 4 shotguns. can cover upto a quarter of the map at the begining of the amtch, and if i see any scouts going for the base i am well prepared.

[spawn316]

Spray and pray. Never a good plan to run a quad with shot range weapons.

Running W/O a TC isn't really that bad on most maps. Eyes on the target is worth more than a blip on the radar any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Eyes on tells you the weapon load out, pit location and type, legs, armor, speed, and where the HVG rounds are landing if the HVG is firing blind. An NA only tells you where they are and what speed they are moving at (ie scoutish speed or not). On most maps you can see farther than an NAM anyway.

The maps that we do find the TC useful are the ones that have limited draw distance to to geography or inclement weather (cities or jagged terrain).

Eyes on the target are good, but the NA comes in handy in conjunction with that as well. The majority of the 115 maps have a weather condition that prevent you from seeing more than a 1/3 of the way across the map (if you're lucky). Having the NA makes it possible to "see" targets without actually confirming them visually. And a scout's job is to visually confirm the type of mech and loadout. The problem is, nobody wants to play with a TC or a scout cuz you can't get a 6-man game consistently. You're lucky if you can get a 4 man game, and rarely does a 4 man team want a TC AND a scout because they're scared of the "lack of firepower." Little do they realize that a TC, scout and 2 mechs that are capable of medium- to long-range combat is an unbeatable team when used correctly.

I'm partial, but I'd prefer having a TC on any map I'm playing with teams of 4 people and up (even South Cemo). You're going to need to take towers to communicate anyway, so why not have the ability to see the enemy?? I can understand if you don't want a TC if you're playing 2v2 or 3v3, but 4+ the TC is a must IMHO.

[sh4753]

I use two different ones, both with similar setups though. A slow quad with the 1200 Morskoj NA with three 300 Howitzers, primarily for base defence. The huge NA doesn't require much moving around. The other the fast skinny quads with a 850 Sal Kar NA with 4 300 Howies with 2050 HE rounds. Does about 119 in speed so I can keep up for the most part with my sqd. Worked wonders the other night on a 4 vs 4 human match in Quara. Each one of their hounds were HG quads with at least two doubles. I ordered my squad to their death (unintentionaly), but as they were in the thick of fighting and dying, I took three out with my howies. The other ran like a girl and we ran out of time. They won by one conbass. Never underestimate the Commanders Hound!

[Trocki]

A slow quad with the 1200 Morskoj NA with three 300 Howitzers, primarily for base defence.

Do yourself a favor, go to story mode and beat the HVG missions, then beat the DEF missions. If you have already done this, then do it again and pay attention... who knows yuou might even get "S" rank!!