Firestarter Loadout Question (Arm Mod?)

[Havamal]

+1

I use arm mods in my own sl firestarter.
I also use ace pilot when not meleeing.

It helps to have another mech in the Lance that can inflict stability damage to the target, and then position to finish the knockdown with the Firestarters melee as a method to help mitigate a melee counter from the enemy.

JJs certainly help with extrication behind sight blocking terrain, and flanking.

 

[Havamal]

Don't force the melee. Position for it, and take it as it comes or as a finisher. Especially if you can get at an enemy that is not in proximity of its support. Otherwise in the mean time use conventional hit and run tactics. Ace pilot helps with that.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

I'm working on Ace Pilot right now. It is slow going though, although when one picks 'Slow MechWarrior Progression', that is going to be expected.

That Firestarter did save me last night. I was in a 1.5 skull mission with 2 Lights and 5 Medium mechs. A Locust 1M, Jenner, Griffin 1N, Enforcer, Kintaro, Trebuchet, and a Shadow Hawk. A scary enemy composition.

They were all 'Ramshackle' however we were in a Tropical Biome with a lot of cover.

I almost...almost Withdrew after one of my two Vindicators got it's leg blown off.

The saving grace was my beat up Jenner and Firestarter was able to flank the Medium Mech Contigency and I was able to start backstabbing and blowing off legs (all while the enemy mediums seemed more focused on my battered Vindicators).

It was a tough fight, and a punching enemy Shadow Hawk almost clocked my Firestarter (it dodged in glorious fashion). It was a vicious fight, but that Firestarter (and Jenner) were the VIPs of that battle. They started systematically taking down the enemy medium mechs. Without them flanking, I would have had to Withdraw.

 

[Havamal]

I defeated Victoria with it in the first meeting.

 

[Blade_mercurial]

You mean like within one move’s distance of an enemy mech?

You need to live there for a round, in order to reserve, wombo-combo your target, and then gtfo on your double turn. If you use the double turn to sprint in and then punch, you’re exposed for a round and highly likely to get punched back.

I'm assuming we're talking about the player having a light mech with 6/9 speed vs an AI mech with 4/6 speed. Its absolutely possible to get to a distance where you can shoot them in the back during your 'double turn', yet they cannot punch you. And even if its not possible or too risky (due to terrain or relative positioning of other enemies), you can set it up so that even if one enemy rushes in to punch one of yours, its basically suicide for that mech, because all of yours will blitz him during their double turn and be able to get out unscathed.

If you haven't watched Edmon's 4 Lights campaign, its worth it for figuring how to accomplish this type of approach consistently. If I recall, I don't think he even bothered with jump jets in that playthrough...

 

[Edmon]

I'm assuming we're talking about the player having a light mech with 6/9 speed vs an AI mech with 4/6 speed. Its absolutely possible to get to a distance where you can shoot them in the back during your 'double turn', yet they cannot punch you. And even if its not possible or too risky (due to terrain or relative positioning of other enemies), you can set it up so that even if one enemy rushes in to punch one of yours, its basically suicide for that mech, because all of yours will blitz him during their double turn and be able to get out unscathed.

If you haven't watched Edmon's 4 Lights campaign, its worth it for figuring how to accomplish this type of approach consistently. If I recall, I don't think he even bothered with jump jets in that playthrough...

You recall correctly, only the Fightstarter had jumpjets and they were used for exact positioning so I could engage the melee attack on the next move perfectly.

I will be doing more lights stuff with heavy metal.... the first video will be up in about 2 hours .

 

[Icewraith]

I'm assuming we're talking about the player having a light mech with 6/9 speed vs an AI mech with 4/6 speed. Its absolutely possible to get to a distance where you can shoot them in the back during your 'double turn', yet they cannot punch you. And even if its not possible or too risky (due to terrain or relative positioning of other enemies), you can set it up so that even if one enemy rushes in to punch one of yours, its basically suicide for that mech, because all of yours will blitz him during their double turn and be able to get out unscathed.

If you haven't watched Edmon's 4 Lights campaign, its worth it for figuring how to accomplish this type of approach consistently. If I recall, I don't think he even bothered with jump jets in that playthrough...

No, I was more referring to how one move’s distance to a heavy mech puts you in range of its weapons, and they tend to have a lot of those, and buddies to sensor lock/strip off enough of your evasion pips to make you distinctly vulnerable in the open.

With that said, I was on a lower difficulty planet (mainly for the Black Market) and dropped that sucker into a 2.5 skull Attack and Defend mission and it absolutely cleaned house. One Fightstarter, one 3 ML/4MG Firestarter, one 2 ML/3SRM2/2SRM4 Kintaro, and one 2ML/2LRM20 “fake Archer” Orion-K, and I walked out of there completing no fewer than 7 mech chassis and 46M c-bills worth of salvage (which will sell for 4.6M).

My only problem was that Locust Ms are so fragile they tend to die before I can knock their weapons off. (Also I CT kill those to try and salvage better mechs, and I still salvaged a complete one!)

LRM 5s were disproportionally represented in what remained of the weapons, otherwise I might have been able to salvage even more mechs!