8 replies to this topic

[Ritual Hammer]

So I'm about to start working on some Shadow Hawks and I think I have it narrowed down to three chassis and the load out I want for them. Not the most experienced player so I figure I'd check in with the community wealth of knowledge. Basically, I'm playing PUG until I have a full set of mechs to take into CW. I have a mastered Raven 3L and 2X. Honestly, I'm not sure which I will keep but I'm leaning for the 3L. I can stick around 300-450 damage with 3 medium lasers and a couple of SRMs and I enjoy scouting with her too when I have her loaded to do so but I'm looking for something that I can start to rack up the kills with. Assist is usually the best I can hope for in a light and I don't want to go off the deep end and get something much bigger than I'm used to. So a medium mech and a Shadow Hawk at that. I am open to suggestions, though. Here's what I'm planning for.

SHD-2D2
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...80f2a94242881cc
This guy you could say is the light hunter of the group. Fast enough to keep pace for a time or fast enough to hit and run on larger mechs with its LRG Pulse Lasers. I'd Probably start with this one because the tactics, speed and XL engine would seem most familiar.

SHD-2H
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...19a27fafcce7f17
Then I'd get this guy next. I figure with this support fire build I can start to zombie it and drop the speed off. I would imagine keeping a distance means I might be taking damage at drop off ranges so I could get accustomed to the kind of punishment it can take at a good pace but I think I'm most unsure if this one is a decent build.

SHD-2K
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9bd7870e32cdeac
And then we have the 2K. The best straight up brawler I could build with the Shadow Hawk getting me ready for the heavies. As far as I can tell its a solid build but I admit I don't know jack about brawling or mediums.

So there it is. I'm open to any kind of suggestion but let me know what you think of these. I did think about going for the Centurions for the one that has a 30% ballistic cooldown and taking a AC/10 or even an AC/20. If its worth it I would even go for the LBX-10 with the 40% cooldown but none of the other variant's hard points or perks seemed amazing at all. I mean, the one with a specific AC/20 cooldown quirk isn't even as good for the AC/20 as the other one's generic ballistic quirks and while like the idea of carrying around a big boom stick,prefer it actually, I really don't know how to build a medium well around such a heavy weapon.

[Nullmancer]

shadowhawks are alright, used to like em alot back in the day, but lately i only use the 2K. The high mounted ballistic is the chassis' strong suite, if you're not going to utilize it, I feel you may as well build on a different chassis and will do better.

as for your builds...

streak 2's are not very good, i'd suggest SRM 4's instead and getting used to leading shots. Im a big fan of LPL's, but with one in each arm, you will have to expose a lot of your mech to effectively use them both. My suggestions, discard the light hunter idea, get a full allotment of SRM 4's with some med pulse lasers, toss in a fast XL engine but retain enough heatsinks for decent cooling. another build that will actually use that high mounted ballistic slot is a full complement of SRM 4's with an AC 10. It'll be slower, but you'll have a that solid, dependable high mounted autocannon.

LRM's aren't that great, drop em for a third AC 2. I got a unit mate with a triple AC 2 SHD and he does well in it regularly. You can use suppression fire to back off red team baddies and once you see an exposed component, rip into it and tear it out. Alternatively, you can use two AC 5's and SRM 4's and should also do well.

you have a somewhat decent build for the 2K, except for the engine and baseline SRM 6's, my suggestion, SRM 6's with artemis and swap the engine for a fast XL. toss on some jumpjets too. To go even faster, swap the ASRM 6's for SRM 4's, or the MPL's for ML's.

My preferred build for the SHD-2K is triple LPL, I used to do a 2 LPL, 2 SRM 4 build back in the day and it was alright.


anyways, yeah, shadowhawks aren't so bad, they don't have much in the way of significant quirks, so other quirked chassis will usually do better.

Edited by Nullmancer, 09 June 2016 - 06:19 AM.

[Ritual Hammer]

Okay, that all makes sense. What other medium would you recommend? I was thinking about maybe a Hunchie? They seem to have good quirks between variants but having everybody know to target my shoulder kinda worries me a bit. What other chassis would you recommend if not the Shadow Hawk?

[mogs01gt]

SHD-2D2
SHD-2H
SHD-2K

Edited by mogs01gt, 09 June 2016 - 11:30 AM.

[Nullmancer]

i dont mean to malign shadowhawks, its just their main/only? advantage is the high ballistic. SRM bombing is better on the griffin, and the wolverine, well, theres the one with the energy godhand, the other wolverines i'm not too thrilled with.

Hunchbacks are very versatile, I would definitely suggest them as a starter chassis for mediums. Blackjacks I can recommend as well. Cicadas are squishy, but what you learned from piloting lights will carry over some.

Since this is ultimately more for CW then pug queue, I assume, mediums with high mounted or a good amount of arm hardpoints and decent quirks are what you should be looking at. Blackjacks, Cicadas, Hunchbacks, Shads fit the bill somewhat. Trebuchets mebbe, there is the one with std laser quirks that seems alright. I dunno.

like I said, I dont mean to malign shadowhawks, people make em work, so can you.

[Aethermech]

I would recommend the Griffin's and the Crab's personally. Griffins are solid mediums, not to fast not to slow, descent amount and placement of hardpoints plus you can be an ecm caddy if/when it's important. Crabs are just tough little monsters. the builds all are about the same, 5 to 6 energy mounts, quirked to tank forever, they zombie well, they're sneaky. and you can build them for long-mid range/mid-short range and they are still just as good. They can use pulse and regular lasers just fine, most have generic energy quirks. Even with STD engines so you can zombie they move pretty fast, i think my 27b is toting 6MPL and a STD260 or 265 engine and he goes 90+. they are great mechs to get used to brawling in too, they roll damage surprizingly well.

[Rattler85]

Crabs are fantastic!

This is how I am running my SHD-2D2: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...41023880b7a216a
STD 310, 3 JJ, 2ML, 4 SRM-2
I do not use streaks as they take too long to lock on and you cannot aim them. '

My 5M: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...cba66f2e957fa78
XL280, 4JJ, 2LL, UAC5

My 2D: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9de249299d59736
XL 330, 3JJ, 2 MPL, TAG, 3 LRM-5s, AMS

Edited by Rattler85, 09 June 2016 - 07:22 PM.

[Ritual Hammer]

Thanks for the advice guys. I ended up going for a like Blackjack Nullmancer suggested. I started with the BJ-1 and oh, man. AC/2s on that thing are crazy! Some how it seems even more effective than when I tried 6 AC/2s on a Jager-DD. The speed isn't anything to write home about, certainly not what I'm used to but my experience with a light for situation awareness and positioning come it real handy. High points like I'm used to on the Raven, good def quirks and weapon quirks.

[jss78]

Nullmancer, on 09 June 2016 - 01:32 PM, said:

i dont mean to malign shadowhawks, its just their main/only? advantage is the high ballistic. SRM bombing is better on the griffin, and the wolverine, well, theres the one with the energy godhand, the other wolverines i'm not too thrilled with.

I notice OP already chose against Shadow Hawks, but I'll just touch on this. I find the SHD-2K a very robust SRM bomber. I've done it a lot on Wolverines, and I straight-up prefer my SHD-2K. Three shoulder-mounted ASRM6's and three shoulder-mounted ML's, two huge shield arms and good hitboxes. It's just a really good geometry, arguably near-ideal.

The 2K is a strange mech though, basically very little to do with any other Shadow Hawks.