Build Battles #2 - SHD vs. GRF - SRM brawling

Alright ladies and gentlemen. It's time for another build vs. build discussion. This time, the Shadowhawk and the Griffin. Both are well known SRM brawlers, but which chassis has the best build?

The Shadowhawk has the 2K with excellent weight distribution with high mounted missile AND energy hardpoints.The SHD-2K has a 7.5% missile cooldown quirk so those missiles will be leaving their tubes slightly faster than the Griffin. This means that the SHD-2K DPS is actually higher than shown in the Smurfy's readout.

SHD-2K
Build 1

Build 2


The Griffin has two primary options for SRM brawlers: the 3M and the 1N. Both have superior torso twist speed and angle. The 1N, when running a STD engine, has the entire Left side of the mech that can be used as a shield. The 3M has 4 missile hardpoints that can be used to boat standard SRM6s or Artemis SRM4s. Both Griffins have a 10% missile range quirk for their respective SRMs giving them an edge at the 300m distance. Griffins also have a torso twist speed quirk allowing them to twist faster than the Shadowhawks.

GRF-3M
Build 1

Build 2


GRF-1N
Build 1

Build 2



Falconium and I will put them to the test in a duel of much splat and destruction!

Duel Schedule (3 rounds each):

1. SHD-2K (build 1) vs. GRF-3M (build 1)
2. SHD-2K (build 1) vs. GRF-3M (build 2)
3. SHD-2K (build 1) vs. GRF-1N (build 1)
4. SHD-2K (build 1) vs. GRF-1N (build 2)
5. SHD-2K (build 2) vs. GRF-3M (build 1)
6. SHD-2K (build 2) vs. GRF-3M (build 2)
7. SHD-2K (build 2) vs. GRF-1N (build 1)
8. SHD-2K (build 2) vs. GRF-1N (build 2)

Which ever chassis has the most wins will be the victor!

Please cast your vote to which chassis you think will perform the best in this 1v1 brawl.

While 1v1 duels do not represent how well a build will perform in a solo-queue or group-queue scenario, which mech do you believe makes for a better SRM brawler and why?

 

Personally, I think the Shadowhawk is going to take the cake on this one. The ability to absorb damage with both shield arms and not lose a weapon is nice. The high-mounted hardpoints is also very useful. However the arm actuators for the GRF-1N make them deadly accurate. Overall, I think the new 7.5% missile cooldown quirk is going to make a noticeable difference by the end of the duel.

 

Well, the SRM only DPS is higher on the GRF-3M, however that extra Medium Laser on the SHD-2K gives it higher DPS at nearly almost the same Heat Per Second. There is also the issue with the Medium Laser cooldown. For the SHD-2K, the medium lasers cooldown at exactly the same time as the SRM6s. However on the GRF-3M, the SRM4s cooldown faster, so you have to wait for the medium lasers to finish cooling down for another 0.5 second. This means you either wait for them before you twist and face the enemy (ignoring the better SRM4 cooldown) or you keep facing the enemy for a longer time. A third option would be to only fire the mediums at every-other SRM volley, this would also help its heat generation and remove the medium laser cooldown issue. The cooldown in-sync on the SHD-2K is definitely a plus.

I divided the data up to compare both the SHD-2K (build 1) and the GRF-3M (build 1). The columns on the left include the DPS and HPS of their respective Medium Lasers. The columns on the right only compare their SRM stats.

 

I think the Shadowhawk is a tougher nut to crack. High mounted weapons also mean you can hop around just high enough for weapons to clear over cover and unload missiles with minimal return.

 

The Griffin missile hardpoints are also very high mounted. The energy hardpoints is a major difference though.

 

I think honestly you guys should rotate between the two mechs if you both own each one. That negates pilot skill/familiarity etc. Since we are trying to decipher the mech itself not the pilots.

 

I think for future tests we should plan Mech rotation or even throw in other helpless bastards at you or Sol if we have the mech.

Which reminds me I need to start collecting good mechs... I love the SHD's but only kept my H for the cbills.

 

Meh, the pilots don't necessarily matter if our skill levels are close... Falco pilots that SHD build and is very familiar with it. I am very familiar with the Griffin builds. Seems like it would introduce a new issue of unfamiliarity if we rotate chassis.

 

That said, this isn't closed to just us. Anyone can participate in a duel. Just post the builds and results!

 

Well I mean what if Falconium beat you every round then you switched chassis' and he still won every round or vice versa. I'm just curious when it's a flawless victory every round just about.

You are both exceptional pilots but if we're being scientific about this with cool charts and all...

 

Don't get all simplified logical solution on me.

 

Agreed, even if only quasi-scientific.

 

Looking forward to this tonight! Getting mixed opinions about who will win on Reddit. They are also suggesting we test the WVR-7K (which I have) as well as the Kintaro. Someone suggested the KTO-18 with 5x SRMs, but I see far too many flaws with that build in general, let alone a 1v1 duel. Plus the KTO-19 got really good SRM4 quirks, the best SRM quirks of all the 55 tonners (20% heat, range, and cooldown). So I have no idea why we wouldn't test the 19 over the 18. The KTO's lack of jump jets for this playstyle too....

My take on the suggested mechs

WVR-7K


KTO-18


KTO-19


I updated the comparison chart to include all the #1 builds for the SHD, GRF, WVR, and KTO for comparison.