Phra, on 26 April 2015 - 04:47 PM, said:
The Cheetah will roflstomp the Firestarter at long-range due to having very high torso hardpoints, Clan ER lasers, and ECM. At medium range, the Cheetah will have a moderate advantage due primarily to the CERML, and ECM helps a bit here.
The real question is how the Cheetah will stack up against the Firestarter at short range. It could go either way really. On one hand, the Firestarter has a little bit more armor and internal structure, along with some various quirks (such as heat reduction). On the other hand, the Cheetah can survive a side torso loss and possibly pack a larger alpha (depending on weapon/Omnipod choice).
What's certain is that the Arctic Cheetah absolutely, positively, will outclass all other Clan lights and the majority of IS lights quite handily. The *possible* exception is that some IS lights might be able to match or somewhat surpass it in brawls. It will be a very good gundam either way.
The Scat won't quite rule the medium class (most likely), but it will likely be a decent/effective robot. Dem high hardpoints are nice, especially when using something like 2 CLPL or whatever. You can do a "Clan Arrow" with 2 ERLL/LPL and 6 MGs for fun, or go with ECM for sneaky sneaking.