1 reply to this topic

[Krazy Kat]

I am try to level up Stalkers, and I am trying to decide on the third choice. The variants seem to have some loser loadouts. There are plusses and minuses to the stock variants, but after playing in the mechbay (and playing on Smurfy's) here is what I found:

3F + Better torso twist than all other variants. Big plus.
- None.

3H + 20 missile tubes in arms. Can fire 2 LRM20's in a single volley.
- No energy hard points in side torsos.

4N + Command console (useless at the moment.) Might be useful in the future.
- One less missle hardpoint in left arm.

5M + Replace 2 side torso energy hard points with 1 CT hard point. Better for zombie.
+ add a 5th missile slot to left torso but it only has only 1 tube.
- One less energy hardpoint. And CT hardpoint can't be PPC.

5S + Double AMS. Not sure how useful that is.
- Expensive. If you drop the XL engine then it was a waste of cbills.

So it looks like the 3F is the best no-brainer. I got a 5M next for the CT LLAS. But which mech should I choose for the last one? Any Stalker pilots out there who like the other variants?

[Spiketail Drake]

I started out with the 3H, then took the 5M and finally the 3F. In retrospect, I should have gotten the 5M last and the 3F second. Less hardpoints (-1 energy, -1 missile (just disregard that hp)) means less heat to worry about. And with the twist range bonus, it turns darn good.

Also, best way to play is keeping your ranges overlapping at 180-250m, but never commit to that range. That means keeping both LRM's and SRM's. DHS is a must though, but not XL engines. You can go smaller LRM's to fit larger energy weapons.

The 3H is special though, upgrade it with Artemis if you want, but definately add more LRM ammo. It can handle LRM15's just as well. Aim for 1080+ missiles.

Edited by Spiketail Drake, 03 February 2013 - 01:37 AM.