82 replies to this topic

[GLIZZY GULPER]

Pretty much the title, been eyeing this thing for a bit and just wanted to know.

[Dawnstealer]

My very first mech was a Cicada 3C. That was a mistake.

My second mech was a Stalker. Love them. I wouldn't say they're "noob friendly" at all. They're kind of like piloting a blimp, to be honest, but they carry a lot of weapons, have a lot of options for variable loadouts, and can tank some damage.

I think the best mech for a new player is a Centurion, but someone wanting to break in on a unique mech, could do worse than a Stalker. I'd say go Victor for a more survivable mech, but Stalkers are fun and you don't see them much anymore.

[Josef Koba]

Stalker 3F, STD 300, max armor, 23 DHS, Four Large Lasers (chain fired), AMS, with one small las as a throwaway. With a steady hand, you'll melt mechs. It's simple, but very effective. I'm a big fan of Stalkers due to their versatility as weapons platforms.

[Tahribator]

Yes. Most newbies have no idea how to torso twist and tend to stare enemies. Frontally, the Stalker has a very narrow profile and most of the damage tends to spread between all 3 torso areas. This makes the Stalker very newb friendly as they can spread damage by just staring at their enemies. It's incredibly hard to take down when piloted this way.

The downsides are you will be slow and you will have no idea how to actively spread damage for a while.

[Heavenly Angel]

I could see handling all those slots and all that heat being tricky to deal with to a new player in the mechbay.

[Kali Rinpoche]

They are an adjustment if you are used to more mobile and faster turning mechs, but they can definitely still be effective in PUG play. They make the second best missile boats in the game. The tonnage gives you the ability to load on the LRMS/SRMs and still have a few tons for CDWs. The 4 LL build above is solid, but I would go LRM support builds until you get used to the slow turning. If your caught on you're own, you will get torn apart. In 7 months, the 3M variant has the most kills of any of my mechs.

Edited by Kali Rinpoche, 26 November 2013 - 08:56 AM.

[Modo44]

No. The Stalker is too hot in virtually all configurations, and the opposite of mobile. You need to manage heat carefully, and good map knowledge + situational awareness is a must. The Victor is much more forgiving.

[Dalziel Hasek Davion]

The Stalker is a great beginning 'Mech. Like pepperoni pizza - strong simple flavours. It's simple to pilot - has no arms, but good elevation (up/down). Arm-mounts are great for ridge-humping and sniping. Has a wide array of possible builds from LRMs, sniping, direct energy fire support or brawling.

Cheap to begin with too since most builds don't benefit from XL engines and seldom require Endo Steel or Ferro Fibrous armour (Run a Std 300 and pack the side torsos with DHS).

It's sluggish and you will not survive if you get isolated from the pack and you have to learn good positioning and how to time pushes - which is a good lesson to learn. The STK-3F has the best torso twist of all of the variants.

[mark v92]

the stalker 5S was the first mech i bought and i was (and still am) very happy with it. it is my most used mech.
if you buy one take the 3F, its cheaper, good hardpoints and has better torso twist than the others.
i bought the 5S because i didnt know what ams did back then so i thought 2 ams instaid of 1 was worth the price.
which is not because i only once used 2 ams once on it

so take the 3F. its a good mech and you can try a lot of loadouts with it.
the downside is that it doesnt carry a balistic slot loadout whise so you cant experiment with those guns

[Appogee]

I'd say ''yes, though they're not particularly representative of the most enjoyable aspects of the game''.

They are heavily armored enough to stay alive and shoot at stuff for a while... which is noob-friendly. But their lack of maneuverability, painfully slow speed, and tendency to be used by noobs as remote-locking missile boats, makes them kind of clunky from a game experience perspective.

Having said all that, I'm having trouble deciding what would be a better noob Mech. Maybe a K2? The CN9-D? ShadowHawk?

[Redshift2k5]

Their loadouts can be impressive, but their mobility is greatly lacking. This can be very frustrating. The lack of speed and low turning agility can make it so making a mistake (choosing the wrong path, moving over a ridge or around a corner you should not have, moving to the wrong side of the map) very punishing. Other assaults can be faster, or have jumpjets, or have arm-mounted guns that can swing in a wide arc. The only thing the Stalker brings is a huge number of weapons, and SRMs are currently performing sub-par.

Their high damage output and broad side torsos (with skinny center) can make them very survivable, but you still have issues bringing your weapons to bear when every other mech can out-turn you.

I generally reccomend a much more mobile heavy mech as a first mech. The Stalker represents a significant increase in raw tonnage and missile capacity compared to a Heavy, but may actually be worse at all roles compared to the not-yet-available-for-individual-purchase Battlemaster.

Edited by Redshift2k5, 26 November 2013 - 09:49 AM.

[GLIZZY GULPER]

Redshift2k5, on 26 November 2013 - 09:47 AM, said:

I generally reccomend a much more mobile heavy mech as a first mech.

No, no, I already have a few mechs, actually, it was just a question that I wanted to ask.

[Bront]

They sorta are.

Pros for newbs
- Good, durable profile
- High mounted weapons
- The 5M stock is a perfectly fine build (Once you remove the NARC) stock, so almost no fiddling to start with.
- Don't need an XL to shine (Makes them cheaper, and means stock engines are usable)
- Arm Lock doesn't hurt a stalker too much.

Cons for Newbs
- Heat management is needed for most builds
- LOTS of weapons can be confusing.
- Slow mech means it's easy to be out of position
- Short torso twist restricts most models
- Expensive in general, (most will run over 10,000,000 after mods)
- Assault mechs tend to be priority targets

Over all, it's not a bad starter mech, and I'd recommend starting with the 5M, removing the NARC, and simply adding heat sinks (if you can fit them in there) and armor (and moving the ammo around). Something like this STK-5M is something easy to setup to start (Cost is only 8.3 mil ), and works well enough as a starter mech, with a good mix of weapons and survivability. With a little tweaking (Standard 300, probably dropping the LRMs for something else) you can make it better, but it's still got a lot of room to experiment.

Edited by Bront, 26 November 2013 - 11:10 AM.

[Koniving]

To he who said Stalkers are too hot, I refer you to these. Among the hottest possible builds on paper when you consider that a single flamer could overheat a 27 DHS mech unless used a certain way. Disclaimer: These are not good builds to run at all.

Spoiler

In general, the Stalker 3F would be best as an introduction to stalkers. This is due to the torso twist that others do not have.

All Stalkers run great with standard engines of the 280 to 310 range. You need a mixture of weapons if you want to make them truly work. Preferably weapons to use at 'different' ranges. It's a lesson also required for Awesomes that many people just don't understand. Do not use Endo Steel. Maximize your heatsinks. If you're run fewer than 18 DHS, you have doing something wrong.

My favorite Stalkers include the 5M, the 5S, and the 4N. I did great with the 3H as my first one but it has issues. I did good with the 3F but it bored me (it wasn't much different than the others aside from twist and the 5S's twin AMS provided far better protection).

One thing many people do is run lots of SRMs. That's where it gets really hot. Pack a mixture of weapons, not a lot of the same. Ones for nasty punches, and ones for low heat 'slaps'.

A solid example is my Misery. Here and here. 2 PPCs for the high heat punch (coupled with an AC/5 in this case). Then 3 red lasers and an SRM-4 as a very low-heat slap when enemies are too close. This combined with the damage resilience of the Stalker's body allows it to royally function as a 'tank' in a way that even the Atlas is hard pressed to compete with.

[Bront]

Koniving, on 26 November 2013 - 11:08 AM, said:

Do not use Endo Steel.

There are a few builds you can get away with Endo, but that takes some experience. But for a new player, I'd avoid it till you're sure.

For example, I'm quite effective in this 3F build.

Edited by Bront, 26 November 2013 - 11:15 AM.

[Koniving]

Bront, on 26 November 2013 - 11:04 AM, said:

Something like this STK-5M is something easy to setup to start (Cost is only 8.3 mil ), and works well enough as a starter mech, with a good mix of weapons and survivability. With a little tweaking (Standard 300, probably dropping the LRMs for something else) you can make it better, but it's still got a lot of room to experiment.

Agree all the way up to the build. Such a small engine will really make you suffer. I fixed the weak leg syndrome, modified the heat a bit (also simplifying the weapon groups to 3 instead of 4) as well as made it 5% more heat efficient. What about this? 5 ML, AMS, twin LRM-10s, twin SRM-4s (less spread, less waste, lower heat, ready sooner). More heatsinks. 300 engine. Sadly because of the engine it goes up to 10 mil.

Bront, on 26 November 2013 - 11:14 AM, said:

There are a few builds you can get away with Endo, but that takes some experience. But for a new player, I'd avoid it till you're sure.
For example, I'm quite effective in this 3F build.

Zomg that's hot! O_O! As in... I hope you don't do alpha strikes at the tempting middle ground of ranges where all weapons would work. Aside from the flamer Stalker, most of my Stalkers are in the 50% range of efficiency. Even my Misery is way up there on that.

Except this one. But if you build this you're asking for a difficult match.

[Bront]

Koniving, on 26 November 2013 - 11:18 AM, said:

Agree all the way up to the build. Such a small engine will really make you suffer. I fixed the weak leg syndrome, modified the heat a bit (also simplifying the weapon groups to 3 instead of 4) as well as made it 5% more heat efficient. What about this? 5 ML, AMS, twin LRM-10s, twin SRM-4s (less spread, less waste, lower heat, ready sooner). More heatsinks. 300 engine. Sadly because of the engine it goes up to 10 mil.

I was recommending it without the engine change to start. I do recommend at least a 275 (more space for HS, and faster), and 300s are a nice sweet spot.

Koniving, on 26 November 2013 - 11:18 AM, said:

Zomg that's hot! O_O! As in... I hope you don't do alpha strikes at the tempting middle ground of ranges where all weapons would work. Aside from the flamer Stalker, most of my Stalkers are in the 50% range of efficiency. Even my Misery is way up there on that.

Except this one. But if you build this you're asking for a difficult match.

You rarely fire the LRMs and the MLs/Streaks at the same time, it's easy to ignore the streaks and chainfire or alternate fire the MLs and LLs, and things usually die before heat is a huge issue.

Again, not a newb build

Edited by Bront, 26 November 2013 - 11:22 AM.

[Voivode]

If you enjoyed the assault trial mechs then the Stalker isn't a bad choice. Be aware people will shoot for your side torsos to disarm you. You will need to learn to protect your side torsos or you may find yourself weaponless quite often.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Bront, on 26 November 2013 - 11:14 AM, said:

There are a few builds you can get away with Endo, but that takes some experience. But for a new player, I'd avoid it till you're sure.

For example, I'm quite effective in this 3F build.

A custom built Stalker with weapons effective at almost any range?
Gentlemen we have found our cryptid.

Edited by Shar Wolf, 26 November 2013 - 12:01 PM.

[Turist0AT]

You can make a Stalker alpha almost 100 damage. If you are only putting 4LL on a stalker you dont deserv to have one, period.