15 replies to this topic

[Temper Tantrum]

Stalker STK-5S
Name: MAKIN' BACON

Engine: STD Engine 260
Tonnage: 84.5 t
Armor: 526 of 526

Heat Efficiency: 1.07 (18 double heat sinks)
Speed: 49.5 kph

No additional upgrades cept for a sizzlin hot paint job.

Armament:

x4 Medium Lasers (will swap to/ Medium Laser ER's when they are implemented in MWO)
x2 ER Large Laser
x4 STREAK SRM 2

x2 ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM (CIWS)
x1 Priority Air Strike

Ammo stores:
x4 streak srm caches
x6 AMS caches
&
x2 C.A.S.E

Makin' Bacon is all about the war-path style of play. I came, I saw, I kicked its ***. It has heat issues, which is why it has 4 streak shooters for a total of 8 shots per salvo. There's literally never a time when you need to stop firing with this, if you have the enemy in your sights. If you get hot, use the streaks, then return to the death rays of doom once the heat is low enough. it has a non XL engine to mitigate the risks of critical hits, and maximum armor to deal with all the other non-critical hits. Furthermore, with the AMS, incoming missiles aren't much of a problem. Even out in the open. However, I still use cover whenever possible. This mech is a great pack leader, since it's AMS's will protect your group from incoming missile barrages, and it can still provide more firepower than almost every other mech combo in the game!

I have the firing set up as;
Mouse button 1 (left click): x4 medium lasers
Mouse button 2 (right click): large lasers
Mouse button 3 (middle click): Full Salvo (EVERYTHING for 75% heat, but a 1 shot killer on almost all light mechs and some lightly armored mediums)

Mouse button 4 (side click): Streaks only

Since Makin' Bacon will turn almost any light mech into bacon, with a single salvo, it's reccomended that when you get the little annoying ECM tards who pace your backside and shoot you in the back over and over, you simply:

A:) Back into a corner of a cliff or building so they have to face your front side. Middle click. Now your free to go about your business.

B.) Come to a complete stop. Turn in the opposite clockwise or full reverse past the back-stabby MF'er. Middle click. Now your free to go about your business.

C.) If you're hot, (and I'm always hot), simply play turning games with the little ****, and hit them with streaks when they come into view a couple times. You'll get them before they get you, I promise.

This mech is good at all ranges, since with it's ER's it can engage out to 1350 meters. Medium range is still all about the ER's. But anything less than 300 meters is game for the mediums and the streaks. I fire the ER's at distant targets as I approach, since the heat isn't too bad, then I finish them off with the mediums. If it's too fast (enemy mech), finish it with the streaks. It is afterall somewhat of a streak cat. This machine works best in groups, so I recommend it as a pack leader/support.

Like I said, it runs hot all the time, so use the streaks, because they don't generate enough heat to shut you down, even if you're at 85 to 90%. You might have to wait a bit between streak salvos, but thats ok. You've got the armor to be patient. Just don't let them out of your sights!

An alternative, if you like to snipe, though personally I think sniping is lame, you can ditch the mediums and the streaks and have 6 ER Large Lasers instead of 2. Now go out there and MAKE SOME HEAT!

Happy hunting. :: sizzling grin ::

Edited by Lightningbug, 04 May 2013 - 01:20 PM.

[RLBell]

It looks a bit heavy on the ammo. With the amount of ECM packing lights flitting about, I had a hard time emptying two tons of streak ammo; even though, my STK-5M had five streak launchers. While I have emptied two bins of AMS ammo, I usually do not get to the second ton (this may change with the upcoming missile buff). If you changed the ammo load to what you could carry in the arms and legs, you could add two more DHS (in the six side torso slots vacated by deleted ammo bins and CASE), add a Beagle Active Probe (also expecting a buff to counter ECM within 150m), and maybe kick the speed up by a slight notch. If it is playable with only five tons split between AMS and streaks, you can add the two DHS, the BAP, and upgrade the medium lasers to medium pulse lasers.

Another option is to reduce the ammo tonnage and up the speed, by putting in a 300 standard engine.

[Regrets]

Advanced zoom module >>>>>>>> Priority Air Strike espesh with your build. I could go either way if to swap one medium for TAG.

[Jay Z]

I like 360 targeting for those circling lights. My build is pretty similar too STK-3F. However, I am not sure what your actual build is as you are running a STD 260 and only have 18 DHs, where I have a STD 300 and 22 DHS for identical damage output (albeit minus 1 AMS).

[RLBell]

Jay Z, on 05 May 2013 - 05:45 PM, said:

I like 360 targeting for those circling lights. My build is pretty similar too STK-3F. However, I am not sure what your actual build is as you are running a STD 260 and only have 18 DHs, where I have a STD 300 and 22 DHS for identical damage output (albeit minus 1 AMS).

You missed the amount of ammo he has loaded. Your build has a single ton of AMS ammo to his 4 and 3 tons of streak ammo to his six.

I have a similar build but with SRM4's, instead of streaks, and a BAP, instead of any AMS. If I converted to streaks, I would have the tonnage for two more DHS. It is a beast of a build (but only two tons of SRM ammo) and its most recent outing (this is not typical, sadly) brought in 4 kills, 3 assists, 12 component destructions, and 953 damage points. I lost a side torso, but that cost me half of my weapons, but only 0.7 of my 3.4 heat dissipation, so my fire only slackened a little. Stalkers fail gracefully, as they come apart.

On your build, Jay Z, I do not like splitting the medium lasers between the arms and side torsos. I understand why you did it (to maximise the available space for DHS). It is not such a big deal for a Stalker as it is for an Atlas, but it can make for some non-converging issue when firing up or down.

[Jay Z]

RLBell, on 05 May 2013 - 08:16 PM, said:

You missed the amount of ammo he has loaded. Your build has a single ton of AMS ammo to his 4 and 3 tons of streak ammo to his six.

I have a similar build but with SRM4's, instead of streaks, and a BAP, instead of any AMS. If I converted to streaks, I would have the tonnage for two more DHS. It is a beast of a build (but only two tons of SRM ammo) and its most recent outing (this is not typical, sadly) brought in 4 kills, 3 assists, 12 component destructions, and 953 damage points. I lost a side torso, but that cost me half of my weapons, but only 0.7 of my 3.4 heat dissipation, so my fire only slackened a little. Stalkers fail gracefully, as they come apart.

On your build, Jay Z, I do not like splitting the medium lasers between the arms and side torsos. I understand why you did it (to maximise the available space for DHS). It is not such a big deal for a Stalker as it is for an Atlas, but it can make for some non-converging issue when firing up or down.

Thanks RLBell. I see OP loves his ammo. I have only rarely run out so I have no need to add more. Sometimes, I swap out the AMS for BAP and probably will keep that after the next patch.

I put the LLs in the arms as I like doing maximum direct fire damage while aiming up and down. I don't fire the Torso MLs much. My G500 has 5 buttons and I can arrow across to use 6 as chain fire. My 5M is almost identical

Control grouping:
1. Large Lasers
2. Medium Lasers (Arm mounted)
3. Streaks
4. Medium Lasers (Torso Mounted)
5. Arm Lasers Chain Fire
6. Large Lasers Chain Fire

[Temper Tantrum]

Well, my main reasoning behind the ammo supply is due to component destruction. I never run out just from firing alone, and dont really even come close. But, I frequently end up with components being destroyed, and, usually lose ammo caches that way. Which is why I dispersed a little bit of ammo into almost every area of the mech. With CASE for the right and left torso.

[Drehl]

sorry dude, but imo this isn't a good loadout.
very slow and hot as hell.

far to much ammo (6t ams ammo... wtf?) in the current meta you barely see anybody using lrms.

what you have:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c2e1abc48e81cda

what I would recommend:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f6bd675fdf0fd3e

1. As I said.. there aren't many lrms at the moment. so there is no point of having an ams (or even 2) anyway. But if you still insist on having one, you can easily remove one DHS and a ton of streak ammo and add one.

2. Ammo: imo for an assault 1t of streak ammo is enough for 2 launchers (since it is usauly a backup weapon against fast targets).. so 2t should be fine for your stalker.. I added an addition third ton for some savety.

3. heat: if you're trying to pilot your stalker as it is now it requires a tremendous amount of "trigger dicipline" to not overheat. so I used the free tonnage to put in as many DHS as possible.

4. Speed: with 54 km/h tweaked your mech is slower than many atlases... not good. I upraded the engine to a 300 std and put in 2 additional DHS.


so in short:
18DHS --> 22DHS
2 AMS --> 0 AMS
4t streak ammo --> 3t streak ammo
2 cases --> 0 case
260 std --> 300 std

relocated ammo
rest unchanged.

for my taste the mech is still to hot. I would downgrade to LL instead of ER-LL.
But thats realy a matter of personal taste.


edit: one thing you should keep in mind: the more ammo you carry the slower your mech is eatin' through it, the higher the risk of an ammo explosion. Usualy an ammo explosion results in the loss of the affected component. So maybe your tremendous amount of ammo is one of the causes you're losing components so often.

Edited by Drehl, 06 May 2013 - 03:06 AM.

[Temper Tantrum]

Drehl, on 06 May 2013 - 03:01 AM, said:

sorry dude, but imo this isn't a good loadout.
very slow and hot as hell.

far to much ammo (6t ams ammo... wtf?) in the current meta you barely see anybody using lrms.

what you have:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c2e1abc48e81cda

what I would recommend:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f6bd675fdf0fd3e

1. As I said.. there aren't many lrms at the moment. so there is no point of having an ams (or even 2) anyway. But if you still insist on having one, you can easily remove one DHS and a ton of streak ammo and add one.

2. Ammo: imo for an assault 1t of streak ammo is enough for 2 launchers (since it is usauly a backup weapon against fast targets).. so 2t should be fine for your stalker.. I added an addition third ton for some savety.

3. heat: if you're trying to pilot your stalker as it is now it requires a tremendous amount of "trigger dicipline" to not overheat. so I used the free tonnage to put in as many DHS as possible.

4. Speed: with 54 km/h tweaked your mech is slower than many atlases... not good. I upraded the engine to a 300 std and put in 2 additional DHS.


so in short:
18DHS --> 22DHS
2 AMS --> 0 AMS
4t streak ammo --> 3t streak ammo
2 cases --> 0 case
260 std --> 300 std

relocated ammo
rest unchanged.

for my taste the mech is still to hot. I would downgrade to LL instead of ER-LL.
But thats realy a matter of personal taste.


edit: one thing you should keep in mind: the more ammo you carry the slower your mech is eatin' through it, the higher the risk of an ammo explosion. Usualy an ammo explosion results in the loss of the affected component. So maybe your tremendous amount of ammo is one of the causes you're losing components so often.

I would love to agree with you,

But in a match that my team won last night (8 to 0) I ate through 2500 rounds with my AMS. Plenty of mechs use missiles, whether its LRM or SRMs or streaks. The AMS will down all of them, and protect my team mates as well. And losing components is usually due to PPC hits, at least for me. As a frontline fighter, it's not uncommon for me to be quickly targeted and take a lot of fire. And is not uncommon for me to have to deal with AC/20 hits. I pretty much always survive it though, and can dish out the damage faster than enemy lance groups can deal it. To be honest, I tried the STD 300 idea with 22 DHS already, and it really made no difference. I had to reduce armor or ammo, of which I tried both. But ultimately I realized I don't need the speed, it's pointless really. And 22 DHS puts me at 38% heat efficiency (1.16) vs 28% (1.07), which doesn't do anything to prevent overheats during close quarters combat. Assault mechs don't need to be fast. They aren't scouts. All they need, is to be durable and put out the burst damage. Though I understand why some of us in the assault field prefer to have that extra 7 to 10 kph, and it's certainly useful for a lot of playing styles. Just not mine.

If you think that speed is really important, you should invest some MC's into buying Pretty Baby. Then you have a 70 to 80 kph assault mech, which is capable of nearly 90 kph with modifications to the default loadout (and the speed tweak). However, for me, 57 to 59 kph isn't enough to out-run anything except the slower heavys and the average assault. And, speed isn't important. I can kill most lights and mediums within a couple shots, even if they do run away. Hence why I have ER LLs. A light/medium mech still needs a good 10 to 15 seconds to get out of range of my ERs, and most likely they'll be dead before that.

the hot rod of the assault class-
http://mwo.gamepedia.../Awesome_AWS-PB

Edited by Lightningbug, 06 May 2013 - 05:27 PM.

[Jay Z]

Drehl, on 06 May 2013 - 03:01 AM, said:

sorry dude, but imo this isn't a good loadout.
very slow and hot as hell.

far to much ammo (6t ams ammo... wtf?) in the current meta you barely see anybody using lrms.

what you have:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c2e1abc48e81cda

what I would recommend:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f6bd675fdf0fd3e

1. As I said.. there aren't many lrms at the moment. so there is no point of having an ams (or even 2) anyway. But if you still insist on having one, you can easily remove one DHS and a ton of streak ammo and add one.

2. Ammo: imo for an assault 1t of streak ammo is enough for 2 launchers (since it is usauly a backup weapon against fast targets).. so 2t should be fine for your stalker.. I added an addition third ton for some savety.

3. heat: if you're trying to pilot your stalker as it is now it requires a tremendous amount of "trigger dicipline" to not overheat. so I used the free tonnage to put in as many DHS as possible.

4. Speed: with 54 km/h tweaked your mech is slower than many atlases... not good. I upraded the engine to a 300 std and put in 2 additional DHS.


so in short:
18DHS --> 22DHS
2 AMS --> 0 AMS
4t streak ammo --> 3t streak ammo
2 cases --> 0 case
260 std --> 300 std

relocated ammo
rest unchanged.

for my taste the mech is still to hot. I would downgrade to LL instead of ER-LL.
But thats realy a matter of personal taste.


edit: one thing you should keep in mind: the more ammo you carry the slower your mech is eatin' through it, the higher the risk of an ammo explosion. Usualy an ammo explosion results in the loss of the affected component. So maybe your tremendous amount of ammo is one of the causes you're losing components so often.

^good advice. If you swap the LLs to the arms you get my build!

[Drehl]

Speed IS important even as an assault. If you're going to get caught in brawl with an atlas.. you won't stand a ground with this mech.
I run my atlas with an 340 engine (~ 60 km/h tweaked) and these 3-4 km/h I'm ahead the other atlas saved my *** more than once and since the stalkers lack of real arms it is much easier to avoid their fire as it is with the atlas. In addition the speed allows you to get in and out of cover faster... so you can't be locked by missiles that easily.
Imo speed + clever use of cover >>>> ams.

Of course there are rare occasions where an ams can be usefull but atm its just crap in most of the games.
A game where one side wins 8 to 0... is a stomp..not even close to.. well to be a close match. I don't think your ams was the key to this win.

Edit: I also pilot a 3 LL, 1 srm6 flame... once I switched one of the LLs to an ER-LL... the heat difference was almost the same you have in your stalker and my suggestion (so not very much).. and it realy had a huge impact on the gameplay.

Edited by Drehl, 06 May 2013 - 10:47 PM.

[Rushin Roulette]

You do realize, that the Engine speed does not only dictate how fast your mech is able to move forwards and backwards dont you?

The size of the reactor also dictates how fast you can turn your torso and aim with your arm mounted weapons (the bigger your reactor is, the faster you can turn your torso and the faster you can move the arm aim reticule).

The 2-3 kph wont make too much difference in mitigating damage (but even so it will definitely mitigate some damage or at least allow you to spread it around better), but you will be able to target and shoot mechs easier if you can turn your torso faster.

In the OP, you mention multimple times that you are (at least partially) building this mech to take down light mechs.

That is not in the job description of an Assault mech. Against a good Light mech you have no chance, because he can easily stay behind you where your weapons are useless and safely take you apart from there. Leave the light hunting to the Lights and mediums on your team and stick to taking pot shots at them when they are infront of you. Trying to turn and twist in a slow Assault mech to take them out is a futile excersise if you are up against any half way decent light mech which still has both legs intact.

Edited by Rushin Roulette, 07 May 2013 - 01:34 AM.

[Temper Tantrum]

Rushin Roulette, on 06 May 2013 - 11:07 PM, said:

You do realize, that the Engine speed does not only dictate how fast your mech is able to move forwards and backwards dont you?

The size of the reactor also dictates how fast you can turn your torso and aim with your arm mounted weapons (the bigger your reactor is, the faster you can turn your torso and the faster you can move the arm aim reticule).

The 2-3 kph wont make too much difference in mitigating damage (but even so it will definitely mitigate some damage or at least allow you to spread it around better), but you will be able to target and shoot mechs easier if you can turn your torso faster.

In the OP, you mention multimple times that you are (at least partially) building this mech to take down light mechs.

That is not in the job description of an Assault mech. Against a good Light mech you have no chance, because he can easily stay behind you where your weapons are useless and safely take you apart from there. Leave the light hunting to the Lights and mediums on your team and stick to taking pot shots at them when they are infront of you. Trying to turn and twist in a slow Assault mech to take them out is a futile excersise if you are up against any half way decent light mech which still has both legs intact.

Correction,

I said I could take down a light mech in one salvo. Not that it was my "mission."

My mission is to shoot anything, and everything, that moves. Till' it's dead. A.k.a, I'm a front line fighter that focuses on utilizing cover to dish out damage, and soak it up, while supporting my team mates.

As for twist rate, I have the xp upgrade already. Even with my STD 260 I smoke most mechs and have never had problems targeting mechs due to slow twist speed except for CQC with light mechs. But since they die in one salvo, it's a moot point anyways...just a matter of time. And usually I kill the lights before they can even reach me.

As for Atlas's, if I middle click twice, thats 100 damage. I don't think an Atlas will be feeling too confident after that. Most likely because they'll be laying down for a nap by that point.

And like I said, if you're a speed demon, even in an assault mech...buy a 80 kph Pretty Baby.

Edited by Lightningbug, 08 May 2013 - 01:01 AM.

[Jay Z]

I just bought a 5S last night and it absolutely wrecks
STK-5S

After LRMs are nerfed again, I'll try this:
STK-5S

[Regrets]

Jay Z, on 22 May 2013 - 04:10 PM, said:

I just bought a 5S last night and it absolutely wrecks STK-5S

To give you brutal honesty... you will be way better off with 2LRM10+2LRM5 and artimis. You only have 10 tube in each arm and 6 in each torso (see in Smurfy next to 1 M says '(6)').

Also, medium lasers are a poor match for LRMs. The primary advantage of LRM besides fire support is low heat. You can pretty easily add endo steel, get rid of a bunch of DHS, and have an ok size STD engine. Large lasers heat efficiency will help greatly with cheating the DHS number down and saving as many criticals as possible.

Also, skipping leg armor is a really bad idea. When people see ballistics and missiles the first place they will go is to leg you.

This is a 5S version of my current 5M build. I would go with a 240 std. Really a 225 or 255 could both work. I suppose you can move two of the Large Laser to the torso, but I think I'd rather have them in the arms for better aiming against lights anyway. Personally I don't use AMS but it is ok. I left it on for your build since I assume you like the double AMS.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b66bc8a2146a22f

Note you are a powder keg, but you are unlikely to get cored from the explosion, and ammo explosions are the life of an LRM boat anyway. Also I move a little armor to the front torsos,, if you are getting shot in the back your problems are larger than your back armor. Really most matches you will pound away from range and either your team wins or loses. If you get ganked it could be poor positioning or lack of team support. This thing is not designed to fight anything at a close range Don't get me wrong you can def kill stuff with 3 large lasers, but it is not your primary or preferred technique.

My experience with the Stalker LRM boat, which was my main for a long time. Your mileage may vary!

Edited by Regrets, 23 May 2013 - 04:38 AM.

[Regrets]

Oh yeah, if you want to go super cheesy, try this, it will not disappoint.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...4d9f39b1051e922

Similar punch as above but can go laser boat on someone. Still more LRM tubes than 90% of LRMboats so you can slug it out from afar as well.

Or even something like this with an XL will be very loltastic with steaks and MPL to own the lights. Drops AMS adds XL for steaks.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...2b9a6a1377a39a9

Both still have a ridiculous 50+ volleys of 2xLRM10+art death.

Edited by Regrets, 23 May 2013 - 05:18 AM.