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Hawken General Guide

I will address the topic based on: the first OB build items and internals stats, the assumption that you will want to maximize the gains for the amount of time played, the assumption you are new to the game and that you do not intend to spend money.

1. Know your mech: Welcome to Hawken. As a new player the first thing you will want to do is the basic training. Laila is a friendly lass she will guide you through the basics of the games features. Now that you are familiar with the basics of Hawken you can go back to your garage. In the mech shop you will notice 2 mech available for rental. Unlock them both. It is important to note that a rented mech will gain experience but you will however be unable to customize it until you have purchased it. Now you should have 3 mechs in "your mech" section of the garage, time to start wrecking some mechs. Click the Deploy icon and switch to the matchmaking tab. Select your preferred server location and click on the game mode of your choice. Play a lot of games. The more games you play the greater your understanding of the games mechanic and in time it will be easier for you to determine what items/internals fit your playstyle. Try out all the mechs you have at your disposal. There are 3 classes of mechs in Hawken(A,B and C). Each class has its own set of stats related to armor (Hit points) and mobility. It is important to get a feel for the weapons as the game is limited in its number of weapons and these weapons are repeated throughout the different purchasable mechs. Getting a feel of the different classes and weapons will allow you to choose a mech that fits your playstyle with more ease.

2. Your first purchase: I would personally recommend that your first purchase be a mech. For 2 reasons 1. Diversity is the spice of life. 2. Whilst playing in a Max level 25 mech will grant you HC it will not grant you EXP unless you are willing to pay money to have that experience transferred.  So having a second mech available to start leveling up will allow you to keep gaining both HC and EXP, making your playtime overall more lucrative.

3. Prestige weapons: Upon reaching level 25 your mech will have the ability to purchase a new alternative primary weapon. These weapons are quite costly (4165 HC) so i would recommend saving up before you reach level 25.

4. Items: Items have a bigger impact on the battlefield than internals and therefore should be your second priority. There are currently 2 item slots. Each slot has its own designated items.

Offensive:
He charge: Fires a grenade in a low arc straight ahead of you and deals moderate damage. (this item takes skill to use properly but can quickly turn the tide in battle) Holding down the key will increase projectile speed.
Machine gun turret: Places a MGturret in a fixed location that will track and shoot your opponent for consistent damage. (Very good item that has many uses in all situations)
Missile turret: Places a missile launching turret that tracks and fires at your enemies. It is important to note that due to the slow rate of fire and easily dodgeable projectiles this item is out shined by the MGturret in most occasions. (slightly lackluster at the moment)
EMP: Fires a projectile that explodes on contact with the environment or mechs shutting down all mechs in a wide area for a short amount of time. (currently broken with a time of over 7 seconds, hopefully the devs will balance this asap)
Support:
Shield: Places a shield on the ground or on a nearby mech. The shield has a limited life and timespan. It will block all incoming projectiles but will not block splash damage.(good item that is very usefull in coordinated play)
Hologram: places a hologram generator on the ground. The hologram will crouch as you do if you repair but will not move or display muzzle flash. (Can give a slight advantage in some situations)
Repair charge: Drops a spark on the ground that heals all nearby mechs for 250 armor(good all round item)
Radar: Drops a radar on the ground. The radar will display enemy mechs in its vicinity on your radar and will enable the enemy sighted message.(can improve map control significantly)
Radar scrambler: drops a radar scrambler on the ground. All enemy mech walking into the scramblers radius will get an extra 4 moving targets on their radar. (lackluster, will not significantly affect any experienced pilot)
5. Internals: Internals currently are very expensive and do not bring much to the battlefield i suggest purchasing these only if you have left over HC you do not wish to use to purchase new mechs or items. Internals come in 3 categories. Clicking on an item in game will show you its bonus in green and malus in red. Since i am lazy i will not transcribe them in the forum, you can look them up for yourselves. (if you do the work for me i will copy/paste)

Offensive:
Magnetic rail: Might be valuable if you are willing to sacrifice some survivability.
Explosive ammunition: Similar to the magnetic rail. Becomes twice as effective on dual explosive wielding mechs like the rocketeer,grenadier and HEAT infiltrator. (titzilla and NotKjell have tested this internal and have come to the conclusion that it does not affect the damage of the heat nor the HE charge, further testing is required.)
Primary weapon loader: Mostly inconsequential but we do not yet have the data to understand its full effect yet. I do not recommend this internal.
Special weapon loader: Very interesting internal, probably the most useful off. int., great way to improve your dps, must have especially if you have the weapons coolant ability, or sufficient skill to handle the extra heat.
Armor piercing ammunition: Similar to the Explosive ammunition. Would only recommend this internal on the sharpshooter as it is the only dual wielding bullet gun mech.
Cooling units: Useless do not spend any HC on this internal. Part 1 : know your mech.
Heat sinks: Slightly less useless than the cooling unit but with a bit of skill you will be able to manage your heat without the use of this internal. Part 1 : Know your mech.
Defensive:
Armor: Possibly useful if you are willing to sacrifice mobility for survivability.
Heat resistant armor: The bonus is not worth the malus. Most explosive projectiles can be dodged, bullets on the other hand can not.
Reinforced armor: Could come in handy for c-class mechs who act as damage soak. possibly even on the Berserker since his ability can make up for the loss in damage.
Repair kit: Currently the wording on the tooltip is wrong. "+0.30/s repair start-up time" This does not make sense. If we take it as: "+0.30s" then this internal is probably by far the best one in the defensive slot, highly recommend it. But i would suggest you do not purchase it until someone can clarify its malus. Your HC can be spent somewhere else in the meanwhile.(Dackstrus confirmed +.3s)
Functional:
E.U. Canisters: Only useful in siege mode. I would only consider equipping these if i had a team with a E.U. mule strategy to back me up.
Thrusters: Get to know your mech; if you think this internal fits your playstyle i see nothing wrong with purchasing it.
Fuel generators: Get to know your mech; if you think this internal fits your playstyle i see nothing wrong with purchasing it.
Fuel canisters: Get to know your mech; if you think this internal fits your playstyle i see nothing wrong with purchasing it.
Radars: Useless. Default radar range is about the size of your minimap. increasing your radar range is therefore useless as you will not be able to make use of the increased range.
6. countermeasures: I will not cover countermeasures in this guide since they are currently the source of much criticism and their pricing is ridiculous. I sincerely hope MTR/ADH removes these from the game.

Please leave a comment other than "bump". I feel this topic might be helpful to all and deserves visibility.


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