48 replies to this topic

[USS Nevada]

Is the STK-3F.. To be precise this Stalker STK-3F

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...d2fb973153ac90f

What it can do.

It is not a graceful fighter, it isn't going to end the match with 12 kills (unless you have ******** opponents), But it is the very best at what it does. Which is close range combat. There is no other mech in the game that can possibly stand up to this one at close range.

How to play it.
It requires good positioning more than anything else. You do not have to defend around a corner, but if you are advancing you need someone in front to be effective, because you are worthless beyond 270 meters.

Alpha strike. The winner of a brawl is not decided by who can do the most sustained damage, but the most damage in the shortest amount of time. With this mech you will take their life or their weapons before they take yours.

The effective range for this guy is 270m, but you want to be closer than that, Since nothing else in the game can do as much damage as you can, stand in their face. Not even an ac/40 mech or any variant of the atlas. Because this mech has the most hardpoints in the game. It can nearly alpha for 90 dmg, you can instantly rip other assault mechs in half if you hit their side torsos at close range, you instantly kill smaller chassis mechs with a ct barrage.

The Bad

If you've been following along, it IS worthless beyond 270 meters Obviously this can be problematic, but it is the same for any real brawler.

It is slow, so not only is it bad to be out in the open, if you're moving to a good location you have to know how long it will take you to get there before the fighting starts.

It is hot, you need to test your weapons on every different type of map to know how many alpha strikes you can do, if you can't kill your enemy with the 1st or 2nd alpha, you must only rely on your SRM's for a prolonged fight because the energy weapons are just wasted heat.

You have to aim, 1/2 of your damage is concentrated and pinpoint, the other half is uncontrollably random (within a reasonably predictable spread of course.

Please post your comments in agreement or disagreement, but of course to be constructive you actually have to test this build honestly.

Why I posted this
I am tired of seeing derp ac/40s running around thinking they are good at brawling, and I wanted to read the interesting flames for calling this build the very best!

EDIT: IT ALSO HAS LARGE PULSE LASERS

Edited by USS Nevada, 20 January 2014 - 10:09 PM.

[Col Jaime Wolf]

is the atlas D-DC because it can rock ecm and up to a 72 alpha at short range.
and it has the most armor of any mech. which is nice for brawling

Edited by Mellifluer, 20 January 2014 - 11:28 PM.

[kesuga7]

Thing is about the stalker your only going to be able to hit whats directly infront of you
with that torso twist i mean but good buil none the less

[MungFuSensei]

Stalkers make terrible brawlers, no matter how big their alpha is. Slow turning rate, bad torso twist, no arms. You miss that first alpha and you're dead. You can't twist to spread damage, because your job is to protect your side torsos, not use them as shields.

Don't get me wrong, it has to feel incredibly satisfying to let loose with that much firepower. However, I'd never run it except as a gag. Like quad-PPCs and 6 LLas builds, they seem great on paper but they fail terribly in practice.

For me, it's been the Grid-Iron lately. STD 200, DHS, Endo, 3 MLas, LB10X (4 tons), and an ASRM6 (2 tons). Can skirmish really well at mid ranges, and packs enough punch close in to make even an Atlas think twice. Has crazy fast torso twist to spread damage.

[The Helepolis]

Personally, I don't see a Stalker being a Brawler because that is not its job ever. The amount of times I've solo'd Stalkers trying to brawl in a Spider or Shadowhawk, just by staying away from its front and blowing off its laughably exposed arms. The saddest part is I don't think the Stalker is a bad mech, its just not a brawler at all.

I've seen this exact build before or a very similar one before and it never did the trick. Sure its got a good damage output, but anything above a single assault or heavy will put you in a blindspot.

Edited by IronWolf Vascus, 21 January 2014 - 09:13 PM.

[Hex Pallett]

OP either didn't think it through, or, with all due respect, is total noob. Judging from his forum post counter, well....

If you go down that design philosophy, this is what it should be like.

[XX Sulla XX]

Well for me there is one mech I always have a good chance of winning in a brawl with. Not matter if its an Atlas or Stalker or Shadowhawk etc. And that is my Victor 9S. 60+ alpha - 80kph - full armor - 4 jump jets. I have not found anything I like better and I have over 1000 drops in a DDC.

[Wildstreak]

The Stalker is better as a mixed range Mech.
I am biased towards something similar to the stock 3H design, 3 different weapons for simplicity.
LRMs soften up the target when closing.
MLs & SRMs for slamming close range.
Thus I would run the 3F weaker cousin with better heat handling and speed.
Artemis + TAG improve LRM hits and tighten the SRM groups.
Just be careful about enemy Lights.

[Hawk819]

Best way to use a Stalker is at range.

[smokefield]

yes the stalker is best used at range. when i was using the 3f, before all the heat changes, i was running 2 ppc 2 lpl. was good at anything.

[Kiiyor]

Remember when SRM's were ludicrously dangerous instruments of extreme Kerblammo? I do. You could cram 5 six packs into that thing. You were slow, and it was hard to hit... well, anything...

... but you only needed to hit once.

[LuInRei]

OP, the major flaw in your build is that if you want to brawl with it it's too slow, plus Stalker's side torsos are not made for brawling, but if you're still intending to go down with this approach consider ditching LPL and getting artemis for your SRMs.

Something along those lines http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f2d89d72dfd5b02

[Rushin Roulette]

Just about any Assault mech is better at brawling (even the much laughed at Awsome) due to the very limited torso twist range/speed/tilt. In a brawl, twisting your torso to protect any vital weapons is a must and fully articulate arms are a massive advantage in a brawl where your opponents will be circling you.

With the Stalker, you will be prey to any light or Medium mech which you miss in the first go. Plus that heat efficiency seems a little low for a Brawler mech.

[Void Angel]

The Stalker can make an excellent secondary brawler - meaning that it engages just after the primary brawler (e.g. Atlas) absorbs the enemy alpha strike, and unloads on the enemy itself. A Stalker can spread damage to its side torsos with ease from the front, but you have to try to hit the arms from the side. Along with its relatively thin frontal profile, this makes the Stalker much harder to kill from the front than the sides - which in turn makes it a poor primary brawler, and a potentially excellent secondary. Critics are correct that it is too slow for this with a 255 Engine; the 300 is a must, since your torso twist and turning rates are modified by engine rating.

That being said, big, slow, primary brawlers are on the decline for reasons related to the metagame and too numerous to go into here. This means that you're not going to have a primary brawler to support many (though not all) matches, and so you'll end up playing a sort of counter-brawling role. Work your way up through cover and use your massive firepower and high weapon mounts to punish the fast brawlers and hit-and-run types who are trying to flank your team.

[Void Angel]

Rushin Roulette, on 22 January 2014 - 12:30 AM, said:

Just about any Assault mech is better at brawling (even the much laughed at Awsome) due to the very limited torso twist range/speed/tilt. In a brawl, twisting your torso to protect any vital weapons is a must and fully articulate arms are a massive advantage in a brawl where your opponents will be circling you.

This is actually somewhat incorrect. While most Stalkers' torso twist is abysmal, the 3F's range is actually 5 degrees wider than an Atlas. Its twist rate and torso pitch are similarly superior. This means that the 3F is not so inferior a choice as you'd expect from familiarity with other stalkers - the lack of true arms will be inconvenient in the extreme as a primary brawler, but a secondary brawler doesn't have to worry about that so much, since he won't ideally be entering the melee and circle-dancing to disrupt enemy formations.

Edited by Void Angel, 23 January 2014 - 12:50 PM.

[Victor Morson]

The topic is lies, heh

Stalkers in general can't claim that title right now.

[Sh4dow78]

This build is pure garbage...

1) stalker SUX for brawl as brawler need ALOT torso twist to not get cored fast and stalker sux with twisting
2) HOT as hell even if u chain all that lasors and missiles still any hotter map u are pretty much done
3) SRM = GARBAGE atleast now. I really cant get how is this possible sometimes i coire ppl FAST sometimes they seems to do nothing at all... stranbge
4) anything get behind u are u pretty much dead

Brawler need to be fast and agile he need to go IN make a PUNCH and then go OUT > REPEAT ( hunch is good for brawl) or u have to be DURABLE like Atlas - once u go in u not going back so make sure u have friends with u to support and while u draw their attention ur team punish them. Use big engine for atlass ( i use std350) so u can torso twist FAST so u dont get all dmg into one point. Just turn - alpha - trurn(show them left then right side) ur arms absorbs alot dmg then and u can stay alive longer.

IMO best brawlers are able to use AC20 with decent speed with STD engine for that quick burst dmg. SRM are not good weapons now so AC20 imo is the best for that job + some ML two or more then u will have decent brawler.

I really like my atlass D-DC even if sometimes my srm make me cry... but sometimes whan game actually register my hits well... then s*hit happens

[luxebo]

The only Stalker I would ever count as a brawler would be Misery. As a dual PPC single AC20 highlanderish build with the ac in a secure torso instead of an arm or a minature Atlas with 5 med lasers, single AC20 and single SRM6, both I've seen work. Definitely not this kind of Stalker however, far too hot and not enough alpha.

[MungFuSensei]

luxebo, on 23 January 2014 - 05:42 PM, said:

The only Stalker I would ever count as a brawler would be Misery. As a dual PPC single AC20 highlanderish build with the ac in a secure torso instead of an arm or a minature Atlas with 5 med lasers, single AC20 and single SRM6, both I've seen work. Definitely not this kind of Stalker however, far too hot and not enough alpha.

Even the Misery makes a bad brawler. The chassis itself is the problem, not the loadout. If you control the range, you control the orientation, thus controlling where you get hit. You don't want anybody closer than 500 when you're in a stalker.

[Pat Kell]

FYI to all the people saying stalkers can't brawl. In the last assault vs the world tournament, I took 1st place in the stalker category with a brawling stalker. Not saying it's a better brawler than other mechs but you can make it a good brawler. I had 4 med lasers 2 large laser and 3SRM6's 1 SRM4. The key is to not charge in like a derp. Take your time and pick your battles. Granted, not having side arm movement isn't good, but the 3f can torso twist really well. (the others suck). I prefer using it as a long range mech but it can do very well as a brawler if used correctly.

Edited by Pat Kell, 24 January 2014 - 01:14 AM.