19 replies to this topic

[An Individual]

I've been playing around with my Stalker 5S trying to find a build that I like and this is the one I found most entertaining:

Double Heat Sinks
Endo Steel
XL 255 Engine (because if they're close enough to reliably hit your shoulder your dead anyway)
4 LRM20s: One at each hard point
TAG: in left arm
1 Medium Laser: in right arm (I wanted something to poke people with)
9 Tons LRM ammo

With the increased range of TAG it's now possible (although not always easy) to boat LRMs and this is the most LRMs I could cram into the thing. I've considered dropping two of the LRM20s for 15s and adding artimis but I haven't been able to stomach the 1.3 million it's going to cost for me to find out if that helps or not. I have the 1 ML because I don't really need the 10th ton of ammo and I wanted something to do to those ECM lights when they park beside me.

With ECM being what it is this is a very gimicky build. The damage output of a volley is incredible. I've had a number of games where an atlas has tried to close distance with me to get into the circle of safety only to be tagged and killed in 3 volleys. A medium can go from full health to nearly dead (and missing a lot of limbs) in a single good shot. People have started feeling safe since ECM made LRMs harder to use so they often aren't expecting it.

That said, it runs a bit on the hot side and if you get out of position for even a second you are dead. It is completely unforgiving in that regard. And even if you don't, all the enemy has to do to counter you is park a light ECM mech beside you. Within an ECM bubble you are useless You have to stay close enough to your team that they can help you but far enough away that the enemy can't close with you easily.

It's a fun mech. If you have the parts and a stalker (most models can do it) it's worth throwing together and trying just for the fun of watching how much damage it does to a tagged enemy that fails to dodge a barrage.

[Goose]

You found crits for Endo? Where's your heat sinks go?

[TheFuzzyBunny]

No kidding. I haven't put Endo on because even with out it I have no crit spaces open.

[Volts]

I went 5S endo and didn't have a problem (2PPC, 4ML, 4SRM6 and 4T Ammo, 16DHS).

[Tarby]

Volts, on 21 December 2012 - 06:42 AM, said:

I went 5S endo and didn't have a problem (2PPC, 4ML, 4SRM6 and 4T Ammo, 16DHS).

I've gone 5S with the same build, thanks to someone giving me a heads up on setting it up properly.

Full armour but only a STD285 engine. Think I need to grab a STD300

[Volts]

I went 300Std, and ~450 armor.

I like the idea of the full armor, as my sides get ripped easily, but I suck at slow assaults :/

[An Individual]

Goose, on 21 December 2012 - 01:37 AM, said:

You found crits for Endo? Where's your heat sinks go?

What heat sinks? Endo has actually been a bit of a problem. I added it and have mostly been regretting it. However, as much as I've tried I haven't found a good way to work it out of this build. The LRMs weight 40 tons total plus 9 tons of ammo and 1 ton for TAG is a whopping 50 tons. If you drop below a 250 engine you lose some engine heat sink benefits and you really can't afford to lose what speed you already have so the stock XL 255 is a good choice clocking in at 12.5 tons. With full armor and endo steel the thing has a base weight of 21 tons. Add that all up and you've used 83.5 tons and have 1 crit slot available.

I would have to drop my ML and a bunch of armor to get rid of Endo Steel and then I would have to drop even more armor (or ammo but you really need that 9 tons as you go through the stuff fast) if I wanted to fit heat sinks in there. So the build is relying on the engine heat sinks to get it by. With double heat sinks that's the equivalent of 20 normally heat sinks (for those of you not aware, the engine ones are 2.0 even though the rest are 1.4). It gets the job done, but you can run into heat trouble some times.

[Dirus Nigh]

I trade out the LRM20s for 15s. This lets your ammo last longer and you do not waste as much ammo on a miss. Most importantly you gain 12 tons. you can add in AMS, BAP, 3 medium lasers, some heat sinks, an extra ton or two of ammo, and top off your armor.

edit.
Ah using DHS. Most likely would not have room for more. LRM15s build up less heat so that's another advantage.

Edited by Dirus Nigh, 21 December 2012 - 02:30 PM.

[An Individual]

I finally bit the bullet and tried dropping two of the 20s down to LRM 15s and upgrading to Artemis. You do more damage with the 20s, but Artimis makes it significantly easier to hit some one with a full volley. It's a trade off but I would say it's one worth making.

[80Bit]

An Individual, on 22 December 2012 - 09:07 AM, said:

I finally bit the bullet and tried dropping two of the 20s down to LRM 15s and upgrading to Artemis. You do more damage with the 20s, but Artimis makes it significantly easier to hit some one with a full volley. It's a trade off but I would say it's one worth making.

Yeah I have found that Artemis is really worth it, especially when you are self tagging. Remember Artemis only works when you have Line of Site now. Tag+Artemis really drives those missiles into the center of a mech. Better to do slightly less damage, but not have it spread across 5 sections.

[Sennin]

I use the 5M with an XL255. I run 4xLRM-15's, 4xML's and TAG. In a good match, with friends that spot well, I can clear 1K in damage. LRM20's seem nice at first but their cycle time is slower, they are much larger in weight and critical space, plus it takes longer for them to clear the stalkers limited launcher tubes.

I dont run Endo-Steel wich allows for more DHS however, the LRM-15's can cycle so quickly heat can still become an issue in longer games if your putting out LRM's in constant volume or using your lasers in conjunction with the LRM's. It's not perfect but it is more efficient at putting a high volume of LRM's on target in a short period of time.

[Hamm3r]

Volts, on 21 December 2012 - 06:42 AM, said:

I went 5S endo and didn't have a problem (2PPC, 4ML, 4SRM6 and 4T Ammo, 16DHS).

I;ve been messing around with this build, been having a lot of fun with it!

[Mack1]

I dropped Artimus from this and put in more Ammo, I have found that I don't really need it and the extra ammo means that I don't need to worry about missing.

[Dark Baron]

Mack1, on 22 December 2012 - 03:47 PM, said:

I dropped Artimus from this and put in more Ammo, I have found that I don't really need it and the extra ammo means that I don't need to worry about missing.

I've watched your vid there quite a bit Mack, as now that I've elited all my 'Pults, I too am looking to build an LRM boat Stalker. The only one thing you don't have on it that I want is the Beagle Active Probe. Faster targeting and larger scanners for an LRM boat? Yes please! The only problem with the build I had when I tinkered with it on Mechlab last night was I was extremely short on ammo (~900ish I think?) I believe I had 4 LRM 20s though, so I'll try a build with 2 20s and 2 15s and see how that works. How much ammo should I be looking to carry at minimum? 1200?

[Regrets]

http://mwomercs.com/...nd-the-stalker/

^some good discussion in this thread too. We seemed to be arriving at a LRM10+10+5+5+5 with art.

[MasterBLB]

Artemis on LRM boat is worth both its price and weight,but I'm not sure if Stalker benefits from it fully.
You need to be rather fast to be able to stay just behind attacking brawlers,also you need speed to run for cover when things are going bad for you.
But the Stalkers builds I saw are able to run only 41(!!!) km/h...in that case,it'd be hard to keep line of sight to make Artemis work,and in case of plenty of snipers it'll be difficult to fall back without taking much damage.
So,in my opinion Stalker would perform much better as indirect LRM support without Artemis,but with more ammo.And in case of having line of sight you can use TAG to increase potency.

[Regrets]

:| I go 57kph with no speed tweek...

[Reported for Inappropriate Name]

i prefer the atlas rs for barrage, I call it the jackhammer. If you know anything about the RS you'll know why. Use target decay and range modules. Ideally you want to be able to get locks by yourself before they're in range, and remember to stagger fire when suppressing for a constant rainbow of terror
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b8f08b772e7991d

Edited by Battlecruiser, 24 February 2013 - 12:29 PM.

[Mental Hippie]

STK-3H

I like this build.

Since the 3H has 20 missile tubes in each arm those 40LRM salvos are one big blob of missile goodness, and if someone decides to close in to disable the enemy "missile boat" it still has nearly as much close range punch as the standard Hunchie 4SP brawler build. Runs a little hot in close combat though.

[Icepick]

Good discussion here:

LRM Guide

In particular, read reply #5 by Elkarlos regarding "throw weight". More LRMs are not always better, especially when AMS is involved.

Edited by Icepick, 27 February 2013 - 10:57 AM.