lots of people strip the heads on mediums. figure a fast mech is harder to headshot. i do it, i dont like to strip legs at the lower end of the tonnage spectrum, unless there is a vestigial arm i can steal from. you are more likely to die of a legging than a headshot.
that said the hunchback 4p can do a 54 point alpha with medpulse, xl275 and 5dhs. this mech has a +3 mpl hsl quirk. so i think you can alpha that without ghost heat. alternately you can do 42 exactly with 6spl + 3mpl. thats with an lfe275 and 7 dhs. this runs a little cooler and cant be st killed. thats probibly the mech to do it.
there is also the blackjack 1x. this has 8 guns instead of 9 but only has +2 mpl/er/std hsl quirk. it can however pull of the requisite 42 damage with 2 medpulse and 6 standard/er, but it can run 8 medpulse no problem.
the hatchetman 7r also looks like a candidate, but i dont have that mech. it can carry 7mpl and have an hsl quirk.
if you dont care about ghost heat there are also a couple phoenix hawks that can do it on 7mpl. that shouldnt spike too hard, and if it does you can always fire a coolshot when you take your headshot with override on, you should be fine. of course in 1v1 you land the headshot you dont have to worry about it because that ends the match and stops you blowing up.
i generally dont like flamer cheese, but il use it if things get dire. i dont think there are any ppfld options unless you can get 8 lppcs into a mech, and thats probibly leathal to fire (its possible on the bj-1x and hbk-4p). i also figure a lot of times you get some really bad players (since there is no mm in event queue as far as i know) that shut down in front of you, thats probibly going to be the best source. you should have no problems at all.
my favorite targets are shadowhawks, centurions and wolverines, with their square windows. lots of mediums have easy to find cockpits.
Edited by LordNothing, 15 February 2023 - 11:37 PM.