26 replies to this topic

[WaddeHaddeDudeda]

Either 6 PPC 3F or 4 PPC, 1 TAG (to break ECM and locking SSRM's without firing PPC's), 5 SSRM 2 5M!

[Grandmaster Ramrod]

Har har har

[Lord Ikka]

I do a 5M with 5 PPCs and a couple of SRM6s for close in. Good alpha and it can chain for awhile.

[Palutena]

If your going all out PPC ranged, I actually like the 4 PPC 1 Gaus Rifle Atlas RS. No vulnerable XL Engine. Better on heat. You do 55 damage instead of 60 with a 6 PPC stalker but get 3 Alphas before shutting down instead of two. You have a Gaus to fire while cooling down. Gaus does run out of ammo but by the time my Gaus ran out of ammo I had a few assists/kills so its fine. You do lose a little speed but you weren't out running any mediums in a 6 ppc stalker anyway.

If you insist on a stalker, 4 ppc + 4 srm4/6s probably is a better balanced build. If they want to hug you to get in your 90 meter dead zone you let them have a bunch of missles.

Edited by Palutena, 25 February 2013 - 08:22 AM.

[Statixstorm]

I usually drop with a 6 PPC 3F with a 300 XL, good bang for your buck, I can rapid chain fire 12 times before I shut down, but recently I was experimenting with 4 PPC and 4 SSRM2 and it was actually working pretty good, even if that ECM mechs closes to point blank, I can suck up the heat and poke him with one PPC at a time keeping the ECM off while I punish him with SSRMs.

[Troggy]

Something to consider is the early tactical advantage to your team. Well played, there is almost no mech better than the 6-PPC stalker for getting your team a 1 or 2 mech advantage. It is the ultimate mech for capitalize on early enemy mistakes. Damage done in the early stages of a fight is so much more valuable than late stages.

After all, there is rule #20: The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.

If a 'pract with AC2/5s pops up or a AC20/SRM6 cat, or even a Hunchback takes a quick run through the open, they are easy prey.

--
Troggy

1453 R, on 24 February 2013 - 02:44 PM, said:

I'm going to ask a serious question here. I mean it - I would like to hear some straight-up answers to the question. I am not trolling, I am not flame-baiting. The question honestly escapes my comprehension.

Why in the seven Hells is the 6-PPC Stalker so unrealistically popular?

You have a build with zero tactical flexibility that combines the miserable mobility of a stock, standard-engine'd assault 'Mech with the overspecialized weapons package that smaller, lighter 'Mechs only generally make work by being swift enough to get that weapons package into the very narrow range/terrain envelope in which it works. Furthermore, the BattleMech is incapable of firing its weapons more than once in a twenty-odd second period without overheating hard and either forcibly shutting down or risking a fusion reactor overload. The BattleMech is almost entirely incapable of defending itself from aggression and is only really viable when taking individual targets unawares from medium to long range.

Why is a machine so positively riddled with flaws so incredibly popular? Especially when dropping some of the PPCs for close-quarters weapons not only allows the BattleMech to see to its own defense rather than relying on unreliable-by-nature teammates, but also reduces the machine's heat generation problems to 'severe' rather than 'inconceivable'. I just don't understand how skilled players can be so fond of such an unwieldy, unmanageable brute as the 6-PPC Stalker?

[joedawg39s]

I run a 3F with 4 ppcs ,2 srm 4s, and all the DHS you can fit. Overheats on the 3rd ppc alpha and you can also chain fire all day. One thing I like to do to is first strike 4 ppcs then chain fire, usually keeps them hiding and lets your team worry about other guys. I kept an atlas and 2 cats suppressed in alpine today which was fun.