Difference between revisions of "Hellhound"

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(Variant C - "MadMouse": Added dire's comment)
(Variant E)
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===Variant E===
 
===Variant E===
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A solid bread-and-butter skirmisher variant with augmented maneuverability thanks to [[Jump Jets|Improved Jump Jets]]. A trio of [[ATM3]] launchers spread across external pods above the side torsos and in the left arm serve as the main weapons system, granting this variant a solid mid-range punch that is further bolstered by a [[Extended Range Lasers|Medium Laser]] in the right arm and right torso, which can also act as a backup weapon in case targets were to be within the ATM's minimum range.
  
A Clan classic if there ever was one. Two [[CERML]], three [[ATM3]] and lo and behold - [[iJJ|Improved Jump Jets]]!<br>
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{{Commentbox
If you take care of where you stand and note how the battle is progressing, if you engage only aerial targets, and if you use your CERML sparingly for the occasional finishing blow, you might not even notice how hot this unit gets when used as a skirmisher.<br>
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| Comment1=Second-line DPS brick. The ATM3s cycle quickly and are incredibly DPS efficient, group fire them as often as possible to maximize damage and chain only when needing to lock down a dangerous target's aim or if you need to preserve heat capacity for your CERMLs to hit a critical component. The combination of iJJ, STD engine, and ranged safety makes you extremely survivable. Leverage that - position yourself at the outside edges of a fight and put out your damage until enemies start focusing you, in which case you can jump jet away to reposition and resume your damage output. You can tank stray shots and jump behind cover to dodge guided munitions - force enemies to really split their attention and contest you, and you'll make your allies that much more effective!
Skirmishers should jump out of cover, fire the laser battery, wait for the ATMs to lock on, and launch during the fall into cover. Take care not to fire them under the 120 m minimum range and apply coolant to stay off the yellow line. Turning and twisting damaged components out of harms way will allow the pilot to get in a few more volleys before being forced to repair.<br>
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The [[ATM3]]s will likely be ready to fire by the time the jump jets have recharged, allowing for a near constant stream of fire. This is a decent mech for the price and it's common to see them live long enough to be sold at base for a net gain.
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| Writer1= - [CJF] DireWolf2K }}
  
 
===Variant F===
 
===Variant F===

Revision as of 04:33, 2 August 2020

Hellhound
Hellhound spin.gif
360.png
Hellhound.png
360.png
Class: Medium Mech
Faction: Clan
Ticket cost: 7 upon destruction
Tier: 7
Tonnage: 50 tons
Speed: 97 km/h
Torso yaw: 260°
Torso pitch: -34° to +50° while standing
-35° to +60° while crouching
Variant Armament
Variant Weapons Equipment
Prime:
Price: 66 000 CBills
Total armor: 49 561
Engine Size: 300 STD
A:
Price: 59 200 CBills
Total armor: 48 061
Engine Size: 300 STD
B:
Price: 77 300 CBills
Total armor: 52 274
Engine Size: XL
C:
Price: 62 500 CBills
Total armor: 50 774
Engine Size: 300 STD
D:
Price: 78 100 CBills
Total armor: 46 848
Engine Size: XL
E:
Price: 59 600 CBills
Total armor: 49 275
Engine Size: 300 STD
F:
Price: 73 500 CBills
Total armor: 45 348
Engine Size: 300 STD
G:
Price: 65 600 CBills
Total armor: 45 348
Engine Size: 300 STD
Armor Points Distribution
LE
BT
HD
LA
LL
LT
CT
RT
RA
RL
INT
2714
4071
2760
3901
3901
5190
4410
6785
4410
3901
5190
3114

All stats current as of release 0.15.3

The Conjurer - otherwise known as the Hellhound to Inner Sphere forces - is a Clan medium mech designed for frontline combat. Speed is sacrificed for lower price and increased survivability, helped in part by the usage of a Standard engine. All units are equipped with Enhanced Optics and a ground speed of 97 km/h. Relatively cheap for a clan chassis, it bridges the affordability gap between the high-end clan light mechs and the clan mediums. The Conjurer is also notable for its battlefield longevity, as all variants mount between 9.5 and 10.5 tons of armor, and are equipped with a standard engine, meaning that damage done to a destroyed side torso does not get a multiplier when it is applied to the center torso. This fact, combined with the lack of weapon mounts on the side torsos, make them particularly poor targets on this chassis, and skilled pilots should look to use them to soak damage when possible. The weapon mounts are spread across the center torso, the arms, and a pair of shoulder racks, making it generally inefficient to target individual weapon systems on this chassis, despite the relatively thin armor on those components.


Roles and Gameplay Hints

Prime

This quintessential second-line skirmisher variant features Improved Jump Jets with advanced vectoring capabilities, granting it enhanced mobility. It uses a Large Pulse Laser in its right arm as its main weapon, with a long range and rapid refire rate that doesn't falter as enemies close the distance. A pair of Medium Lasers in the left arm amicably augments the LPL's damage output, with similar range profiles. Finally, an SRM4 in an external pod provides an extra helping hand in close range encounters.

Player Comments:
This variant is easily out-DPS'd by lighter dedicated brawlers, so keeping a healthy range advantage is imperative to winning battles. Copious usage of the jumpjets should aid in this, whether to get onto normally inaccessible vantage points, or to dodge and evade enemies that are too close for comfort. Users should try and focus on a single part with the lasers, as the LPL's damage output is less front-loaded and more reliant on rapid follow-up shots.
- Toriate/Jingaku


Variant A

A dedicated close-range brawler with marginal skirmishing capabilities, this variant notably lacks jumping capabilities. An array of 3 Medium Pulse Lasers spread across the side torsos and right arm provide a rapid source of short-mid range damage, while a pair of HEATM 3s located in an external pod and left arm grants this variant an extremely painful up-front punch in a brawl.

Player Comments:
The HEATMs provide the brunt of this variant's damage output within 300m. Continued barrages from them, however inaccurate, will quickly soften up parts on targets, allowing the pulse lasers to surgically remove them in short order. Even despite the pulse laser's reasonable range of 500m, this loadout will quickly falter if the user is caught out in the open with no cover due to its very average mobility. It is thus best used to single out high priority targets when fighting with and against a group. With copious amounts of torso twisting, this variant can take quite a beating thanks to its standard engine.
- Toriate/Jingaku
Although individual salvos from the HEATM3s may not do all that much damage compared to the primary weapons on other equivalently tonned assets, the missiles cycle extremely quickly and are some of the most efficient DPS weapons in the game. Groupfire the HEATMs and and try to hit them as often as possible to maximize and focus your damage output. HEATM3s refire only slightly slower than ERMLs, meaning you don't need to worry too much about carefully timing your shots to shake your opponents - they refire fast enough to reliably disrupt enemy salvos without forethought, and the longer you keep firing the further the DPS advantage tilts in your favor. Suggest to chainfire the HEATMs only if you absolutely need to mitigate a large alpha that you know is in play, say to shake the aim of a gauss rifle asset that you haven't seen fire in a while. Another defensive option is to groupfire your ATMs but immediately flick your torso up and to the left or right - the ATMs will still be able to track to their target, and you may be able to force an enemy alpha to impact one of your side torsos (which do not transfer damage to the CT at an increased rate when destroyed, thanks to the variant's standard engine) instead of your essential CT.
- [CJF] DireWolf2K


Variant B

One of the more expensive Hellhounds, this skirmisher variant features slightly more armor but has a fragile XL engine. It sports AECM to conceal nearby allies from enemy radar and has standard Jump Jets for basic vertical maneuverability. An LBX10 in the right arm provides far-reaching firepower that only gets more devastating at closer ranges, while a pair of SRM6 external pods provide a hefty close range punch. 3 small lasers in the left arm, and an extra one in the left torso, provide adequate backup weaponry. A single free ton of ammo is available, allowing an extra reload for the LBX10 to be stored.

Player Comments:
The LBX10 has a long range, but it's only a fraction of this variant's total damage output. Careful maneuvering in and out of cover with the aid of jumpjets is required to bring its full loadout into play. Poptarting can be viable if not facing off against a large group. In a pinch, the LBX can be used as an anti-air weapon, but the Hellhound chassis is not particularly capable of pitching its torso enough to properly aim at air assets.

AECM allows this variant to hide allies from enemy radar, which can be useful for catching entrenched enemies off guard in daring flanking maneuvers that they'd normally be able to see coming from a mile away. However, as AECM does not hide the user, this can result in enemies focusing fire on the user far more than usual.

Despite having an extra half ton of armor, the XL engine in this variant considerably reduces the robustness of the unit, mostly when its side torsos are shot out.

This variant closely resembles the Centurion CN-9D BattleMech.
- Toriate/Jingaku


Variant C - "MadMouse"

Having more armor at the cost of maneuverability due to the sacrifice of Jump Jets, this variant is a particularly flexible skirmisher due to its somewhat eccentric loadout. A trio of LRM5s spread across external pods and the left arm provides withering streams of missiles that function down to brawling range, while 3 Heavy Medium Lasers located in the right arm and side torsos allow the "Mad Mouse" to deliver blistering beams out to the edge of typical brawling ranges.

Player Comments:
A rather fun variant to use, but not against faster assets that can run circles around the Hellhound and dodge all the LRMs. It can be particularly devastating to less mobile assets within 400m that are unable to take cover before you fire off several follow up salvos.

The long burn time of the heavy lasers mean that you have to absolutely focus on and track a single part of your enemy, or else their damage would just be spread over multiple components.

This variant can perform quite admirably in all-out brawls unless it devolves into point-blank face hugging, where the LRMs would be rendered useless due to its 20m minumum range.

Sustained alpha strikes can easily overheat the unit, but chainfiring any of the weapons systems are not recommended, especially the heavy lasers (which would basically become useless due to their long burn times). It's best to simply back down into cover to cool down instead of trying to maintain a pitiful amount of fire at a target.
- Toriate/Jingaku
If you're looking at your opponent, say in order to keep your HMLs on target during a burn, chainfire your CLRM5s. They cycle extremely quickly, and if you chain launches with a short space between them, you can keep a nearly constant stream of screenshake on your opponent to consistently disrupt their aim. You can also use this utility to help lock down a big target if you're in a teamfight. It helps to mix up the spacing between your launches a bit so your target can't adapt to the shake pattern!
- [CJF] DireWolf2K


Variant D - "Stink Eye"

An atypical mid-long range sharpshooter variant that happens to be the most expensive Hellhound, and also the most fragile due to having less armor and an XL engine. C3 allows the unit to share sensor contacts and target data to allies, while an active probe greatly enhances its sensor radius. Basic Jump Jets provide sufficient vertical maneuverability for poptarting. A Heavy Large Laser built into the right arm allows the "Stink Eye" to reach out to mid-long ranges with an utterly devastating scorching beam, supported by a standard ATM12 launcher in the left arm which can dish out unrelenting salvos of hard hitting mid-long range missiles. A quartet of machine guns spread amongst the side torsos round out the loadout with a source of minor long-range harassment. It should be noted that the machine guns only deal their full damage within 250m.

Player Comments:
This variant is one of the harder hitting Hellhounds, but it's quite a challenge to fully utilize it without exposing yourself to enemy fire, and it's really not a variant that you'd want to be shot in. Strategic positioning is key (and should be easier due to its C3 and BHP giving you a better idea of where the enemies are), and utilizing the Hellhound's above-average speed to constantly reposition can subvert attempted flanks against you. In case any enemies manage to get within the minimum of the ATMs, the machineguns can pack a surprising amount of DPS that could turn the tide of a brawl assuming they were damaged beforehand, but if a fresh brawler blindsides you, it's best to just attempt to disengage and get help from allies.
- Toriate/Jingaku


Variant E

A solid bread-and-butter skirmisher variant with augmented maneuverability thanks to Improved Jump Jets. A trio of ATM3 launchers spread across external pods above the side torsos and in the left arm serve as the main weapons system, granting this variant a solid mid-range punch that is further bolstered by a Medium Laser in the right arm and right torso, which can also act as a backup weapon in case targets were to be within the ATM's minimum range.

Player Comments:
Second-line DPS brick. The ATM3s cycle quickly and are incredibly DPS efficient, group fire them as often as possible to maximize damage and chain only when needing to lock down a dangerous target's aim or if you need to preserve heat capacity for your CERMLs to hit a critical component. The combination of iJJ, STD engine, and ranged safety makes you extremely survivable. Leverage that - position yourself at the outside edges of a fight and put out your damage until enemies start focusing you, in which case you can jump jet away to reposition and resume your damage output. You can tank stray shots and jump behind cover to dodge guided munitions - force enemies to really split their attention and contest you, and you'll make your allies that much more effective!
- [CJF] DireWolf2K


Variant F

With a gunload resembling that of a certain popular Solitare variant, but packing substantially more armor and close range punch with its HMGs. Its CERPPC provides fearsome punch at all ranges and its CERSLs dig into wounded components nicely. This Hellhound's versatility is highlighted by its GECM and IJJ giving it tons of options for how it approaches and engages targets, making it a tricky combatant to pin down when coupled with the Hellhound's signature toughness. A powerful generalist that excels at nothing but isn't bad at anything either makes for a flexible mech capable of adapting to a dynamic engagement without need to rearm or rebuy.

Variant G - "Bayonet"

Armed with the mighty HAG20, this mech is capable of putting out some serious damage in the early to mid stages of the game. However, it's true calling and namesake is pairing that at close range with its array of 4 Heavy Small Lasers which in tandem with its main gun are capable of putting serious hurt even on larger mechs. Coupled with the Hellhound's trademark survivability, it has plenty of opportunities to apply it's damage at both short and long ranges. This unit is perhaps must at home when contributing its HAG20 damage to a larger firing line, then breaking off to dive a weakened enemy, and using its armor to return to its own line.

History

The Hellhound was confirmed for release with update version 0.11.0, notably being the first Clan mech utilizing a Standard Engine.

Canon

The 2829 Conjurer (codenamed the Hellhound by the Inner Sphere nations) is a fast, inexpensive medium BattleMech that excels at medium to short range. As befits its status as a second-line 'Mech, the Conjurer uses a Standard engine, though it is constructed on an Endo-Steel chassis and uses eight and a half tons of Ferro-Fibrous armor. Its Jump Jets enable it to leap up to 180 meters at a time. Of note is that the Conjurer is, for all intents and purposes, the Wolverine IIC and was even reported as such by ComStar in early sightings, presumably for its obvious heritage; it was designed off the WVR-7H Wolverine II variant of the original Wolverine, taking the concept and rebuilding it with advanced technology in the fashion of a IIC rebuild. However the Clans would not retain the name of the Not-Named Clan for the redesigned 'Mech.

Year introduced: 2829, during the "Early Succession Wars" era (2781 - 2900) Unit Role: Skirmisher

BattleTech Reference