12 replies to this topic

[TungstenWall]

Any ideas about a good fit for DFS?

I was thinking 4 ERPPCs to alpha at long ranges while in a "hull down" like position. Maybe some Streaks to scare off lights?

[Mr Steik]

Generally the only lights you see are the ones with ECM's equipped so you would need a ECM mech to hang about with you.

[Eisenhorne]

You'll never have the heat to do a 4 ERPPC build.

Honestly, no mech can at this point, really, because of the size limitations caused by heatsinks being too large, and not working well enough.

The best layouts for this mech are probably going to involve 2-4 large lasers, coupled with 2-4 streak launchers, and either 2 SRM launchers or 2 LRM launchers.

[Lsq78]

Try 2erppc 2ppc 2mpl and the maximum amount of dhs you can fit in.

[Omnicidal Kitten]

It's entirely possible that, with DHS, the Stalker will be able to pull off a quad ERPPC build. How effectively remains to be seen, and I'd bet we'll see a lot of overheated Stalkers laying around the battlefield before people figure out what bits and bobs work best on their 'mech.

I think you'd be better off going with two ERPPC's in the 'shoulders' though, mated to a twin LL/MPL combo up front. Sacrifice the MPL's for standard ML's if cost, weight, or heat buildup turn out to be serious concerns. I'd keep your LRM's, since they give you a nice broad engagement envelope, and twin SRM6's with a ton or two of ammo would give you some pretty wicked defensive firepower. I don't know how effective that sort of build would be, though, since your engagement envelope starts at 1,000M, then takes a sharp downturn to 450M with the LL's, and around 270M with your MPL's and SRM's. Alpha striking would have to be done between 180 and 270M to be effective, aaaand you really don't have enough fast-firing weapons to protect yourself against lights when they come your way. It could work, it could not - it's what I'd do over quad ERPPC's, but whatever fits your playstyle I s'pose.

Anyways, the way I see it, the Stalker is meant to be effective at all ranges but it's not really meant to brawl. It's meant to bring the boom to anything hapless enough to be stuck in front of it - sort of like a pocket Atlas, but with moar laz0rz and the potential for a serious macross missile massacre. What I'll be doing is stuffing quad LL's and TAG into her, retaining her LRM pods, and possibly shedding the forward missile pods or downgrading them to save weight. My oh-so-brilliant [not] plan is to give her a vicious alpha strike with an effective range of around 400-500 meters, and excellent missile capabilities out to 750 meters - provided I have line-of-sight to target. It's not exactly a long-range sniping mech, but it'd melt the face of anything unfortunate enough to be within range of its workhorse weapons - the LL's and LRM's. [It goes without saying that this build would need tweaking - and DHS, probably - to get it running well.]

But that all depends on how the girl works - if the engagement envelope is too large, or too small, for how the Stalker plays, then I'll alter her loadout. I'm hoping it plays like a better-armored, more heavily-armed version of a Catapult, but I s'pose the only way to find out is to take her for a spin.

Edited by Jiang Winters, 18 December 2012 - 12:00 PM.

[Bolide]

Stalker is one of my favorite assaults, along with the Victor, Zeus, and Banshee.

I think a direct fire version will be great, but look for regular PPC's instead of ER. Then you can have M-Laser, M Pulse, SRM or SSRM to back you up when they get within 90 m.

For me Stalkers scream missles. I am actually sad the refit costs are going away as I think they helped balance the effectiveness of SRM, SSRM and LRM boats vs having to win to turn a profit. With refits being free now I'll be taking advantage of the missle subsidy.

Can't wait to see you all on the field!

[Gigastrike]

I say go for it. You'd only be able to get off like 2 alphas and shutdown on the third (if that), but if the noisy cricket was any proof it should be hilarious. And don't worry about extra weapons for lights. As fast as the PPC shots are gonna be moving now, you should be able to get them pretty good with a nice shot.

[Pando]

6x LL's

[Alphascrub]

Pando, on 18 December 2012 - 01:02 PM, said:

6x LL's

To much heat.

[Xerkics]

Ive tried 4 ppcs but this patch there seems to be something odd with the hit detection the bolts seem to be passing through mechs, either that or thats netcode problem. Lag etc. Atm i dont think ppcs are worth using.

[Stingz]

Laser Fire-Support falls under Awesome territory, Stalker is better for LRM/L.Las at long ranges.

[Hex Pallett]

I still don't understand why are those people so obsessed with LL and PPC, while totally ignoring that STK-5M could mount 5x Artemis SRM plus 4x ML, which means a glorious 90 damage alpha.

[Lennex]

Here's a direct fire 5S I built, got 3 assists with it first game, and about 450 damage. I was mostly sniping and trying to soften up the enemy for my team as the stupid machine is so bloody slow. I then got swarmed by a few other mechs that flanked me, but didn't do too bad at short range.

4x ER PPC
2X SRM6
2X Small laser
all the SHS I could fit


I've modified it and will try running:
4x ER PPC
2x SRM4
2x Small Laser
all the SHS I can fit (total of 25)

I will see how this performs, I wasn't doing too bad with chain fire in the SRM6 version. I only started shutting down and crying for a slurpee when I got confined to close quarters. but at range I wasn't doing too bad. I was in River City.