23 replies to this topic

[Remillard]

I have been using the loyalty mech and enjoying it. I previously had no Stalkers in my stable and have been using a variation on the brawler 3F build with the loyalty ECM

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...2ba321815ca5d7d

When playing, I have the medium lasers ganged together on one fire button, and the SRM4's ganged on another fire button. When I fire the SRM4's however, they seem to fire as if chain fired. This makes it a little awkward to aim because not only do I need to account for movement, I need to account for the strange left/right behavior.

I do not have chain fire on.

Is this a known behavior for Stalkers in general, or something that's buggy about the loyalty 3F?

I do like them quite a bit, might try to pick up 2 more for eliting them.

[Recon Strike]

You have to open your missile bay doors, if you want them all to fire instantly.

Check your cheatsheet to see which key is bound to that function. (Default is / ).

Nice to see you're having with your Stalker!

If you decide to buy two more: I'd say all chassis are good, but the 4N and 5M are the front runners at the moment. This could easily change with balance changes (requirkenings), especially for the 4N which used to be the poorer choice, before quirks.

Personally I like my Misery and 5M the best. The 3F, 5S and 4N are all solid, but the 3H is a bit awkward to me, though the 4LPL build has it's place.

Have fun!

Edited by Recon Strike, 27 October 2016 - 07:48 AM.

[Remillard]

I'll have to try the door thing. My other splat experience was Jenner Oxide and I guess it just doesn't have doors because everything always seemed to go BOOM at the same time (either that, or I just never noticed -- also entirely possible).

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll check them out. In the past I've just leaned on the trio that come in Mastery packs (bundled picking is easier when you don't have a preference yet) but I might try to be a bit more choosy this time around. It's a pretty solid chassis. I tend to like the ones that feel slightly more tanky (though the wings fall off the Stalker pretty easily -- I've taken them off on other Stalkers just as easily as the ones on mine come off.)

[Recon Strike]

Not every mech with missile hardpoints has missile bay doors, just the ones that have actual doors modeled with animations attached to them. When you fire missiles that are stored behind doors like in the Stalkers or Catapults ears, you have to wait for the actual animation to finish before the missiles are launched. Opening the doors beforehand takes care of that problem.

The king crabs claws don't have that problem btw, the cannons fire instantly together with the claw animation.

If you want a Misery and a 5M, the mastery pack is a good deal, even if you wouldn't really be interested in the 3F.

Do not forget though, that before quirks, the 3F was the best Stalker. It has good hardpoints and the best torso twist by far.. so keep in mind that if you are planning to do a build that does not use the quirks of another variant to their full potential, the 3F is still the best platform. Definitely worth it if you like to deviate from the meta once in a while. Personally I think the 3F is highly underrated at the moment, just because it has mediocre quirks. People completely forget about it's much better twist even though it's such a nice thing to have, especially if you like to brawl.

Edited by Recon Strike, 27 October 2016 - 11:17 AM.

[Void Angel]

There's also damage reduction when the doors are closed, so if you're getting hammered from long range, you can close the doors to protect those components a bit.

[Steel Raven]

Got hammed by a 6X Medium Pules build not long ago.

[Void Angel]

PS: Once you get enough money (buy other Stalker variants first,) you'll want to finish upgrading that build to Something Like This.

Steel Raven, on 27 October 2016 - 11:38 AM, said:

Got hammed by a 6X Medium Pules build not long ago.

Really? Just six medium pulses? That's... that's a Medium's loadout.

There's no way to put that on a Stalker and still spend all his tonnage, unless he used Standard Heat Sinks.

[Steel Raven]

Void Angel, on 27 October 2016 - 11:44 AM, said:

Really? Just six medium pulses? That's... that's a Medium's loadout.

No, it was a LRM boat, the 6 MPLs was for anything that got withing LRM minimum range. I usually pilot a tankier mech than a Hellbringer so I wasn't expecting to get cored while closing the distance (think I was the fist to get in MPL range)

[Void Angel]

That explains it. Knowing what he was carrying before you got to him is one of the many benefits of the vanishing art of scouting - though that's really another thread.

[Remillard]

Void Angel, on 27 October 2016 - 11:44 AM, said:

PS: Once you get enough money (buy other Stalker variants first,) you'll want to finish upgrading that build to Something Like This.

Certainly has a lot of punch, but seems like it might get kind of hot in a brawl. Course if you can end the brawl before it starts... :-)

[Void Angel]

It has the same time to overheat as the core build, if you treat the Medium Lasers as backup weapons (they're just there for a little more firepower and to fill out tonnage; put them on a third weapon group and use them sparingly) - with Stalkers, your "brawling" preferably consists of following just behind the front lines and melting people, anyway. Your side torsos melt too easily from wide angles to wade into them, but you are very hard to kill quickly head-on.

The build is a bit overarmed by my preference for its role, but the chassis' relatively low engine cap cuts off the only alternative way to use up all your tonnage. Better to have weapons you don't use and be able to overheat in an emergency than to run too cool and not be able to amp it up. There's a reason one of the major player-run tournaments is called, "Run Hot or Die."

[Kuaron]

How about this variation of your build then?
Yes, easier to leg and a tiny bit slower, but cooler and and much more versatile on different ranges.

[Kaptain]

Remillard, on 27 October 2016 - 07:19 AM, said:

I do like them quite a bit, might try to pick up 2 more for eliting them.

I quite like them also. This one is my favorite. http://mwo.smurfy-ne...522c86316b0a468


I don't own it but this looks fun also: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...b4ce3ff55f5f33c Hot but one does not have to use all the weapons at the same time. LPs+MLs pair well at the moment and when fired alone they have a 39% heat efficiency. Personally though I think I would rather LRM5s for the disruption and psychological impact.

Edited by Kaptain, 28 October 2016 - 05:32 PM.

[Remillard]

Void Angel, on 28 October 2016 - 11:11 AM, said:

It has the same time to overheat as the core build, if you treat the Medium Lasers as backup weapons (they're just there for a little more firepower and to fill out tonnage; put them on a third weapon group and use them sparingly) - with Stalkers, your "brawling" preferably consists of following just behind the front lines and melting people, anyway. Your side torsos melt too easily from wide angles to wade into them, but you are very hard to kill quickly head-on.

The build is a bit overarmed by my preference for its role, but the chassis' relatively low engine cap cuts off the only alternative way to use up all your tonnage. Better to have weapons you don't use and be able to overheat in an emergency than to run too cool and not be able to amp it up. There's a reason one of the major player-run tournaments is called, "Run Hot or Die."

Yeah I think I'm going to give this a swing. I just got the 5M elited and have more experience with the splat Stalker (was running 5 SRM6+A) and so 4 SRM6+A shouldn't be too different, and bit of precision slicing to go with the splat.

[Mad Ox]

The good ole Corn Cob mech (It looks like a Corn Cob with Legs, had one painted this way in Battletech) people largely discount it but the way its built, packs all that weaponry in close and tight it can be a very effective face melter.

Find it works best with a mixed range of weapons couple long range then strong mix of medium to short, For example, on the Misery Find a mix of AC20, SRM-6 and 4 ML's along with single ER Large for some range to work very well and can pound it out to as pretty heat efficient.

Many a time I walk around a corner to find some enemy waiting to take me on and then I unleash hell and they rapidly back off.

[Remillard]

I had a lot of trouble with Misery. I was running 2xPPC and AC/20 asymmetrical and found that my one side just fell off if folks breathed on it funny. Maybe I was just terrible at twist shielding but I don't think so as I didn't have the same issue as much with the 5M or 3F. I managed to get it all through Basics but it was kind of "miserable" so to speak. I might have to try moving away from the 40 PPFLD build.

[Recon Strike]

Switch the PPC's out for LPL's and it works, I promise. But you have to get that shielding down... I keep the right side completely empty and put ALL of the armor on the front of the RT, and keep shielding with that side after it is destroyed because then they'll start grinding on your CT armor at a heavily reduced rate. Only start spreading damage over your weapons side after your CT is cored or almost out of armor. The Misery was my first mech and I have become quite the master at it.. after I got the AC20/dual LPL build I never looked back.

[Remillard]

I'll give that a shot, though I have my splatter Cyclops idea to tinker with too. Thought since I liked the STK-5M so much, maybe I could do something similar with one of the Cyclops chassis :-)

[Neput Z34]

Fist things first, welcome to the "Hill-Humper" / Stalker club.

Secondly, when it doubt on how to fit your Stalker:
Universal build 1: 4 LPL, STD300 and 20+ DHS
Universal build 2: 3-4 LL high mounted + SRMs, STD300 and 16-18-19* DHS

STK-3FB doesn't have enough missile hard points to boat SRMs, so "laser vomit" is your best bet.

(Smurfy's has a hard point bug, but the hard points match description of 2016 Customer Appreciation, I am confused.)

Edited by Neput Z34, 16 November 2016 - 12:15 PM.

[Remillard]

I suppose it depends on how much of a weapons system needed to consider it boating. And weirdly, I think Smurfy's is ... wrong on the 3FB(L). If you look at the build I have and then one Void Angel offered above (http://mwo.smurfy-ne...000481f71c4217b for reference) we've got SRM systems in locations it suggests can't have them. Anyhow, the 4 SRM + Lasers build for the 3FB(L) seemed to work out alright originally, though it's not as much splat as the 5M can produce.