32 replies to this topic

[Rippthrough]

Looks like walking scrap metal to me.

[Tarrasque]

All of this is exactly what I was looking to hear. Appreciate the critiques, as I'm no min/maxing wizard.

[Josef Nader]

Give this one a shot:

STK-5S

Same cooling efficiency, better damage output, better armor, more ammo. The only thing you lose is the extreme range of the ERPPC. Using ER Larges drops your cooling efficiency by 3%, which isn't much. I'd advise you to try both and see what suits you better.

Just remember to take advantage of your range brackets. Avoid using the mediums if you can help it, as they're a lot hotter than the larges for very similar damage numbers. They're strictly there for point-blank massive damage kill shots.

[Zeh]

Josef Nader, on 04 March 2013 - 07:43 AM, said:

Give this one a shot:

STK-5S

Same cooling efficiency, better damage output, better armor, more ammo. The only thing you lose is the extreme range of the ERPPC. Using ER Larges drops your cooling efficiency by 3%, which isn't much. I'd advise you to try both and see what suits you better.

Just remember to take advantage of your range brackets. Avoid using the mediums if you can help it, as they're a lot hotter than the larges for very similar damage numbers. They're strictly there for point-blank massive damage kill shots.

Gotta disagree with avoiding the use of mediums. Both Large lasers and Medium lasers are quite close to 1.25 heat per damage. And if you're talking ER larges (Under 1 dmg per heat), mediums are definitely more efficient.

Do agree with dropping BAP though. You don't need it, you just need heat vision. And it doesn't help streaks lock vs ECM.

Also, the build above puts its sniping weapons in the torso. While this is tempting because you want those arm slots to match up, it's bad for sniping. Hell, it's HORRIBLE for sniping, particularly vs poptarts. After earning 250k+ exp in my 3F, I can assure you, you want your sniping weapons in your arms.

Oops, just noticed you need to change that too. It will pay off. Fast.

Edited by Zeh, 04 March 2013 - 07:58 AM.

[Tarrasque]

Josef Nader, on 04 March 2013 - 07:43 AM, said:

Give this one a shot:

STK-5S

Same cooling efficiency, better damage output, better armor, more ammo. The only thing you lose is the extreme range of the ERPPC. Using ER Larges drops your cooling efficiency by 3%, which isn't much. I'd advise you to try both and see what suits you better.

Just remember to take advantage of your range brackets. Avoid using the mediums if you can help it, as they're a lot hotter than the larges for very similar damage numbers. They're strictly there for point-blank massive damage kill shots.

Thanks a lot, I adapted that and dropped the engine to a STD 280, added Artemis, and got an extra heat sink in the process. Now I'm off to test! Hopefully I don't spontaneously combust!

[Josef Nader]

@Zeh You're right. Just double checked my math and my dislexia has struck again. So yes, mediums are better in knife-fighting ranges.

Gotta disagree about putting the LLas in the arms, though. Torsos tend to elevate just fine at range. A few degrees of torso elevation can mean a lot of height at 500m. You want your mediums in your arms so you don't ruin your heat scale in a brawl where having the more agile weapons makes a huge difference. It's far more likely you won't be able to track a fast mover in hilly terrain in a close fight than a pop tart in hilly terrain at range. I'd much rather keep the MLas in the arms and use the torsos to snipe.

Edited by Josef Nader, 04 March 2013 - 08:09 AM.

[Tesunie]

Good. Standard engine. Don't know how many Stalkers I laugh at because they put XL engines in.

As for weapons, I would probably remove the SSRMs and replace with normal SRMs or LRMs. All it will taker is for one ECM mech to go for you, and you loose a lot of weapon tons that could be used to damage them. Then again, if you run with a team who can counter ECM... Any other light mech would have to keep their distance.

If you are staying with the SSRMs, get an Artemis system. It doesn't add any weight, but reduces the lock on time for the Streaks.

[Tarrasque]

Yeah, I'm only 3 runs in, but in each I've hit about 800 dmg and 3 kills per... so THANKS GUYZ!

Damocles (Updated) :: STK-5S

[Sedant]

Its a Stalker, NEEDS MORE FIREPOWER. Running Stalkers more frequently then other mechs I can tell you from experience if they are not up around 100+ firepower, your doing it wrong. That's just my opinion though. My two favorites are my 3F (6 MLAS, 2 SSR2, 2 LRM20 + Artemis, 112 firepower) and my 5M (5 MLAS and 5 SRM6, 100 firepower), I also have a 5S (2 LLAS, 4 MLAS, 4 SRM6, 98 firepower). All are running near top speed and the 5M even has a maximum standard engine, giving it excellent zombie properties for lengthy engagements.

[Josef Nader]

Tarrasque, on 04 March 2013 - 08:15 AM, said:

Yeah, I'm only 3 runs in, but in each I've hit about 800 dmg and 3 kills per... so THANKS GUYZ!

Damocles (Updated) :: STK-5S

Glad to help, boss. Assaults are my specialty.

[Shadowsword8]

Tarrasque, on 04 March 2013 - 06:48 AM, said:

Damocles :: STK-5S

Can't wait to see feedback on this one - despite having an extraordinarily low alpha for an 85 ton mech, this command platform is what I plan to use when I decide to get back into a unit and metagame.

It runs relatively cool, hits at all ranges with precision, and can negate ECM on lights.

I haven't read the previous comments because I don't have time right now, and want to give an unbiased comment on your build:

- Not enough front armor, too much back armor. Mine has a 80% front/20%back ratio, even even then, kills from the back represent less than 10% of my deaths. If you die often from being shot on the back, i'd say you need to work on your situational awareness, placement, and need to always be near cover (cover isn't only used to proect you from enemy fire, but also to restrict enemy movement. The Stalker is king at face-to-face shootout, so seek narrow places if you can).

- PPC to remove ECM from lights: If you can hit them reliably with a PPC, you also can kill them with a few dual PPC shots and don't need streak in the first place. If you can't hit them reliably with PPC, don't bother with the PPC/streak combo.

- Mixing different energy weapons: I don't like it much. At long range, your mech has just one ERPPC and one large laser. One pro from PPC is concentrated damage, but with just one mounted, that pro is cancelled. The large laser has a fairly good damage/heat ratio, but again, only one won't do much.

- Medium lasers: easy weapon to fit, but the damage/heat ratio is worse than that of a large laser. So I tend to avoid using them.

- I'd also drop the AMS: If you're not already hugging one cover or another to defend against part of the enemy team, you're already doing something wrong. Whenever possible, use ridges so that only the top of your torso and arms are visible from the enemy. 4 energy hardpoints above cockpit level is a tremendous advangage over something like the Atlas or Cataphract, use it for all it's worth.


Overall, I'd say your mech suffer to much from mixed weapons: You have long range accurate weapons, but not enough to focus your gameplay on long range shooting. You have focused short range, but they're too heat-inefficient and will get you killed against a real brawler. And you have heat-efficient weapons, but unfocused ones. Again, that isn't enough against a brawler.





I often change my loadouts, but here's two that I found pretty good:

Loadout 1: 4 PPC, 2 SRM6, 2 SRM4, XL 255/275 engine. Good alpha at any range, a real mech killer, but overheat very easily, so you need to make each shot count.

Loadout 2: 4 large lasers, 22? DHS, STD 300 engine, 1.51 heat ratio. This one is very simple of use, not really good at really short range, but it does bring a lot of stable, steady, fairly focused damage. You will kill mid-range targets faster than another stalker that would have a higher dps, but would keep shutting down from overheating. You'll struggle against light mechs, however, so try to kill them when they're running around your teammates.

[Tarrasque]

Shadowsword8, on 04 March 2013 - 08:25 AM, said:

Overall, I'd say your mech suffer to much from mixed weapons: You have long range accurate weapons, but not enough to focus your gameplay on long range shooting. You have focused short range, but they're too heat-inefficient and will get you killed against a real brawler. And you have heat-efficient weapons, but unfocused ones. Again, that isn't enough against a brawler.

This, yes. I definitely like my build and have a specific use for it as part of an 8 man, but based on the great comments here, I've got a couple other directions that appear to be far more conducive to solo dropping.

I gotta try that PPC Stalker out, just hate spending so much on PPCs!

[Zeh]

Sedant, on 04 March 2013 - 08:19 AM, said:

Its a Stalker, NEEDS MORE FIREPOWER. Running Stalkers more frequently then other mechs I can tell you from experience if they are not up around 100+ firepower, your doing it wrong. That's just my opinion though. My two favorites are my 3F (6 MLAS, 2 SSR2, 2 LRM20 + Artemis, 112 firepower) and my 5M (5 MLAS and 5 SRM6, 100 firepower), I also have a 5S (2 LLAS, 4 MLAS, 4 SRM6, 98 firepower). All are running near top speed and the 5M even has a maximum standard engine, giving it excellent zombie properties for lengthy engagements.

Just gotta put my 2c in. I think a stalker as a dedicated brawler is a waste. A splatcat is better than a splatstalker. IMO you're just a gimped Catapult playing a stalker that way. Also, by far my most effective stalker (Particularly in 8-mans) is 2PPC, 2ERPPC. With a total alpha of 40, that damage # isn't everything. But it's very unlikely an srm-based stalker will ever get an opportunity to do anything but explode. (A splatcat on the other hand, can move fast enough to surprise and kill me if lucky).

Just because you're doing lots of damage doesn't mean you're winning. I'd rather deal 600 damage with PPCs than 900-1000 with SRMs, because the PPC damage probably took out 4 mechs and several torsos.

Edited by Zeh, 04 March 2013 - 09:53 AM.