For the longest time, I really didn't know how to set this up when I got this 'Mech for the loyalty program. I wanted to make this a nice, solid brawler with constant, hard-hitting kinetics as well as a nice sniper/support role for heavies/assaults. This is what I came up with: The twin AC2's + LRM5 combo can out-range a lot of 'Mechs out there and the reload speed for the AC2's a fantastic alternating fire constant between them for much *bang-bang*!
I kind of like the concept, but there is some room for improvement and some small mistakes on top. First of all, CASE won't protect your XL engine from ammo explosion, so this one can go. Artemis on LRM5s is pretty superfluous as well and consumes way too much weight and space on a 55t mech. Not mounting any JJs on a jump capable mech is nonsense by the way - even a single one improves your agility a lot. Finally, you should ALWAYS use Endo Steel before mountin Ferro-Fibrous as it will save more space. Now with all those things changed you can replace one of the AC2s with an UAC5 (playing into the variant's quirks) which adds significantly to your damage output while sacrificing a bit in the long range department. Here's the final build: And again: isn't it a pitty one has to remove the MASC - the one and only thing making this variant unique - to mount a somewhat playable loadout? The 7M would have been miles better than the crappy 7D. :-(
Ah, Endo instead of Ferro. I knew things looked odd! Nice catch. Regarding MASC & JJ's: I can see using 1 JJ just in case [but I honestly don't use it as often as I should]. As I mentioned, it is intended as a sniper/support role so MASC is not needed imo since you'd wait for the battlefront 'Mechs to get into place anyway and can only see it as a means of getting away quickly. Would rather have more ammo than agility in this particular case but that's a personal preference. True that you could mount a UAC5 for lesser range + boosted firepower. The point with running 2 AC2's is a shared pool of ammo as well as a nice, consistently-timed reload [for when that lone light finds you & tries brawling it out with ya] but it's a decent compromise if the pilot doesn't mind the jams (again, this is a personal choice - don't know how many times UAC's have jammed for me at the worst times in tight situations).
