7 replies to this topic

[Audacious Aubergine]

Finally getting around to levelling the Firestarter H after getting the mastery pack. So far, so woeful. I'm trying to avoid the 6 ML build since I already have a Hunchback for spamming those. Would like to try for a medium-ish range primary weapon, either a PPC or a large laser. Opinions?

[Fox With A Shotgun]

You'd be wasting potential on a firestarter if you aren't going knife fighting. Its hardpoint positions are not the greatest for peek-and-poke style weapons like a PPC or LL.

But if you really insist, I would suggest using a LPL instead of a LL or PPC. PPCs on a FS9 tend to be too low and hits terrain all the time, and they don't fit in the H's CT slot. LL burns for too long for peek-poke. Try this: FS9-H LPL/SPL

[Leone]

Personally I went with a stripped down gauss build, but, outside of gauss training, it may not be the best build idea. Really haven't gotten back to it. I wonder how much uac 5 support I can put in that thing....

Edit: Runs a bit hot, but well worth trying. FS9-H, the Unexpected (And Yes, I have mastered my H without Double heat sinking it, but that's cuz it was mostly a gauss platform.)

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 09 November 2015 - 07:34 PM.

[Audacious Aubergine]

LPL sounds like a good plan. I've just tried the ERPPC approach - there are several low buildings in River City with huge plasma burns on their roof.
Now that I think about it, I've got a Raven set up for energy sniping

EDIT: Any advantage to putting the LPL on CT?

Edited by FreebirthToad18999, 09 November 2015 - 07:22 PM.

[Fox With A Shotgun]

FreebirthToad18999, on 09 November 2015 - 07:21 PM, said:

LPL sounds like a good plan. I've just tried the ERPPC approach - there are several low buildings in River City with huge plasma burns on their roof.
Now that I think about it, I've got a Raven set up for energy sniping

EDIT: Any advantage to putting the LPL on CT?

Raven is a much better choice for energy sniping because its E hardpoint is above the head level (just over right shoulder for the RVN-4X), and therefore you usually can hit what you see.

The reason for putting a LPL on the CT is the hardpoint placement on the FS9. For all long-range weapons, you want the mounts as high as possible on the mech so that it is far less likely to hit terrain (and you can sometimes shoot over buildings, if the mech was tall enough). The FS9-H in particular only has arm and CT hardpoints, and all of these are low-slung; the CT one being ever so slightly higher than the arm ones.

In this case, though, it's more to preserve your biggest guns in the case you are getting hit. Consider that you need to torso twist to spread damage, or if you're really getting your face bashed in, your arms might need to be sacrificed to get away. Putting a LPL and a SPL in one of the arms means that losing that arm loses you a lot of firepower. With this, you can lose both arms and still maintain reasonable poking power (you're also likely to have lost most armor by this point, so you want to snipe as much as possible).

Another reason for this is that arm hardpoints have much greater range of movement. Since the FS9 does not have the best cockpit design (it's fairly restrictive if you look up; solid panel just above your head), shooting something really far above you isn't going to work very well. Therefore your typical aiming angle for long range combat is around the same as your torso pitch range.

When chasing other mechs, though, you want highly responsive hardpoints that react pretty much instantly. Chasing other mechs is more about navigating terrain, jumping down ramps/hills/canyons, and generally rough movement. This is where your SPL arms come in; with lower arm and upper arm actuators, your weapons can pitch and yaw faster than your mech torso can, allowing faster reaction times to hit moving targets. It's also important to note that lower arm actuators let you aim past your torso's left and right limits.

Edit: Back when JJs weren't HoverJets on lights, the PPC FS9 might even be viable because it could jump, shoot, and fall back down. These days, though, that's only going to earn you lots of dakka as you come down in a nice parabolic arc...

I recommend you try to use the FS9 as a light brawler/knife fighter, as its hitboxes heavily favour doing so. Here's a couple of builds:

FS9-H SPL/JJ

FS9-H MPL

Edited by ArcturusWolf, 09 November 2015 - 08:48 PM.

[Wootin87]

I use this load-out for my H. It's a fun build and it's great at taking out armor stripped mechs: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...512e9c3e5297698

Edited by Wootin87, 10 November 2015 - 01:40 PM.

[Krispy Fiend]

ArcturusWolf, on 09 November 2015 - 07:09 PM, said:

You'd be wasting potential on a firestarter if you aren't going knife fighting. Its hardpoint positions are not the greatest for peek-and-poke style weapons like a PPC or LL.

But if you really insist, I would suggest using a LPL instead of a LL or PPC. PPCs on a FS9 tend to be too low and hits terrain all the time, and they don't fit in the H's CT slot. LL burns for too long for peek-poke. Try this: FS9-H LPL/SPL

This is a good alternative just so you can take advantage of the ML quirks. Runs a little hotter though. Also dropped two of JJs to max out the engine, but you can do it either way FS9-H LPL/ML .

But to the OP, if you're going to get the most out of the FS9-H, load that thing up with 6 MLs, max JJs, max XL, then go and poke and harass to your heart's content.

[Escef]

I own all of the FS9s, and just to make it different from the others I got silly with the H. 3xML and an AC5. And it works.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c4ed145c6e8fdbc

Pretty sure I frontload the armor a bit more than that, but that's pretty much the build. It plays more like a fragile medium than a normal Inner Sphere light. But this silly thing made the transition to Kit Foxes, Adders, Urbanmechs, and Panthers a far easier thing for me than it was for many others.

Edited by Escef, 14 November 2015 - 08:23 PM.