( Feel free to skip my sob story D: ) Sooooo, I used to be a Kitfox guy, and way-back-when I used to run a build very similar to this one that I called Priscus. It was a pretty damn good build for a cute fox, and I always had a blast with it, so much so that it was all that I played for my first six months of MWO. When the Shadowcat first dropped I tried to remake Priscus on the Shadowcat platform, and I just sortof came into the process with the wrong frame of mind. Priscus was cool because he killed other mechs in his weightclass without any trouble and then sniped everything else. Priscus II on the other hand got owned by every other mech in his weight class because he was too busy pretending to be a light. That really got under my skin, and I got carried away installing cSPLs to help compensate for the lack of DPS. The build lacked focus and it sucked. Fast forward about a year and the Shadowcat is getting a MASC buff, so I decide to give the whole Priscus thing another whirl. This time my head was in the right place and I just focused on what Priscus was good at, sniping and light hunting, and this time I struck gold. Without further ado, I give you the best damn combat scout to ever grace MWO. But Shayu, Where is all of my fancy shmancy scouting equipment? I don't see a BAP, a TAG or a NARC!? This a combat scout soldier! That means less EQUIPMENT and more WEAPONS! The ECM is all you need! But seriously, let me go over why this is the best scout evar. A) Manuverability: With the latest MASC upgrade, the Shadowcat has just enough landspeed to get around the map in a comfortable amount of time. The jump jets then allow you to get into some pretty annoying places without much effort. If it can be climbed, you can probably get to the top of it in one bound. MASC and JJs together also allow for some pretty crazy evasive maneuvers. B) ECM: This is pretty self-explanatory, you get less aggro, and its a pain to get LRM locks on you. (Onto what this build in particular lets you do) C) Snipe Alone In Total Safety: So long as you keep your eyes peeled, there are very few threats you can't address and then return to sniping. If it's fast it's probably under-armored, so fire up that MASC and chase after it with your streak tubes. That'll usually send the problem packing. If it's slow, reposition and go back to sniping, anything with enough guns to get you into trouble, can probably be outrun. D) Intercept Flanking Lights: As with the case above, if you spot a light being sneaky, lock him, call him out, and then chase him around with streaks until he's dead or fleeing at pants-shitting speed . The Basic Strategy When the match starts, split off from your team -- yes you are going to do that thing that you are never supposed to do. Once you've split off, try and take the flank opposite to the one your team is taking, and no matter what, keep your firing lanes as LONG as possible, you never want to come directly around a corner that could have a bunch dudes waiting behind it. Once you have split and are following the safety protocols, one of three things is going to happen: a) you're going to see an enemy formation coming right for you -- point them out to your team so your team knows where the enemy is, THEN RUN, if you're being safe you should have plenty of room to get away. b) you're going to see an enemy formation moving in another direction -- point them out to your team, get out your lawn chair and your PPC and get ready to be an asshole. Start plinkin' away, and gettin dem free potshots. If you can piss someone off enough to come and try to find you, you've done good work. If he's a light let him dive into your SRM wood-chipper, if not then squirrel him. c) you're going to see an enemy light trying to be sneaky -- point them out to your team, and chase them back to their formation while you wear them down with streaks. This is also a good time to practice your duck shooting with your PPC, if you can hit a leg while you're firing your streak barrage it'll probably be the first thing to come off. !If you ever find yourself in the middle of a brawl! Don't panic! use that MASC and those JJs to make your mech dance. You'll be a huge pain to hit, and you can use it to duck in and out of cover. When you want to fire, jump into the air, lock SSRMs and fire them in conjunction with the PPC, fall back down, and then MASC-Juke your way into cover, then repeat. I've saved some pretty close games that came down to close quarters combat, you've just gotta practice with that PPC. Module Recommendations: Mech: -Slot 1: Advanced Zoom/Sensor Range -- (I prefer the zoom, but Sensor Range is perfectly viable) -Master Slot: Seismic Sensor -- (This will make it easy to spot any lights trying to sneak up on you) Weapon: Slot 1: ERPPC Cooldown -- This will let you max out your freefire DPS. Slot 2: (Up to you) -- (I run Streak Range) Consumable: Slot 1: UAV -- This can be dropped during a retreat to give your team full visual on the enemy. Slot 2: (Up to you) -- (I never leave home without my coolshot 9x9) Pros: -Fire and forget weapons allow you to put all of your focus on your evasion, rather than holding beams on target. -One of the best non-backstabber builds there is for lone wolfing it. -You're fully kitted out to light hunt, snipe, or scout, change your role based on the needs of the battle. -No other mech can minimize its exposure to return fire quite like a PPC shadowcat. -Once you're in tune with the build you can hold your own in CQC. Cons: -Requires some PPC skillz. -Dedicated streak shadow-cats are a pain to deal with. -You'll have to fire on ECM mechs to negate their ECM (cERPPC negates ECM), whereas you could be more passive with TAG. -You don't have as much raw firepower as the 2x LPL build.
Nice write-up and description of the build and it's role! The SHC can indeed easily be seen as a haevy scout and I used it that way several times myself, but with a totally different loadout (LRM10, SSRM4, 2x MPL and TAG), as the cERPPC puts heavy duty on your cooling efficiency. However, as you probably use either the PPC or the SSRMs, heat might not be that crucial at all, but I have to test this by myself. Nevertheless my first instinct was to replace one DHS with both half a ton of armor and ammo - did you try that already?
Thank you, I try and get into character before I write them The streaks don't actually cause a net-increase in heat, so I'll keep them firing constantly with the PPC if I'm in range. If I get too hot, then I'll just fire the streaks until I cool down, and then I'll go back to firing both. Near the start of the match though, unless I'm chasing a light, I'm probably going to stick to range and JUST use the PPC. It's sorta up to taste I think. If you'll recall, we both independently developed variations on your SMN "Hammer" build. You opted for secondary weapons, and I went for no secondary weapons, maximum heatsinks, and a flamer on a half armored arm. To another pilot it might seem risky not to run any backup CQC weapons, but for me, having full focus and cooling concentrated on just the PPC(s) made me just as dangerous up close I think. It's the same deal here really, I feel as though a marginal increase to cooling my PPCs makes me more of a threat. I don't USUALLY run out of streaks, but I do every now and then, and that's okay with me. If it's not okay with you for this to happen, putting more tonnage into ammo can be a good idea. As for armor, I feel like the armor is pretty well optimized, I don't really feel like I NEED more armor, shadowcat arms aren't very brilliant shields anyway. Just some stats. With the ERPPC cooldown module and 13DHS, you can fire 7 consecutive PPC shots on Tourmaline Desert and 13 on Frozen City, with 14DHS you get 8 on Tourmaline Desert and 15 on Frozen City.
