The value of this Mech isn't the alpha damage but the overall amount of damage it can dish out. It can alpha 4-6 times in a row before it gets near max heat. By switching to just 2 lasers when heat gets critical and back to 4 upon cooldown you can continue firing nonstop.
I'm running with this configuration at the moment, although I've dropped the leg armour a little and put a BAP in the CT (personal preference - it will be worth it one day). The LL as a primary weapon system has reasonable range, reasonable damage - but lacks one-location, one-hit punch of gauss rifles or PPCs. I've swapped between this, a 6xML, 4xSRM6 brawling build and a 4xLL, 3xSRM4 hybrid. This one suits my play-style better, but the single weapon-system type becomes a bit mono-dimensional.
Love it. 5-5. No ammo explosions. Fast. Cool running. I set up my groupings like this: 1: Left arm Large Lasers 2: Right arm Large Lasers 3: All Large Lasers on Chain fire. I found that if you fire one arm wait a second then fire the other arm the heat really isn't so bad. Plus it allows you to alpha strike all the Large Lasers with just two mouse buttons. Finally easy to switch to chain fire when you start to run warm. I also run BAP in the CT.
wow. just ran this build for the first time. 766 damage, 4 kills, First game. this thing is a beast. if you are patient and have good firing discipline you can just alpha away at people as your heat drops so quickly. New favorite stalker build. I had experimented with a lot of laser configs but this one takes the cake
It cools down so fast I swapped out for ERLL. I think I finally found a sniper that can brawl as well. Feels like the best sniper build I've tried since the heat nerfs.
I'd suggest running it with 2LLas and 2ERLLas, if heat gets critical within 450M, lay off the ERLLas, else lay off the regular LLas.
I've been running a very similar version of this for a while and I can speak to its effectiveness. The only difference is I'm running two less DHS and added and AMS with a small laser in the CT. I rarely use the small laser but it makes me feel better knowing that if my arms get blown off I still have something with which to shoot back. I don't alpha strike with this build very often. The key to my use of this is chain fire and a very steady hand. I can keep laser on target almost indefinitely. The build can overheat even when used in this fashion, but 22 DHS mean it cools pretty quick. Give it a second or two and go back to melting armor. Over the course of a match you'll find that you're cumulative damage is pretty high and you'll no doubt net a few kills. I've scored over 1,000 damage several times with this. It's not as "satisfying" as those high pinpoint/high alpha builds, but it's just as effective if used right. Usually I drop with a friend of mine using the same build. If we play "dueling lasers" (me fire/him fire) we can stagger the lasers so that the enemy we're shooting at is never not being hit by laser fire. We'll shred anything in no time this way.
I'm not into competitive 12 mans or anything, so my comments don't apply to that. For small groups and solo (the better to hear the music), however, I'm starting to think this might be the "perfect mech" right now. A bad match in this thing is being a winning team survivor with only the second or third highest damage. Advanced zoom seems necessary for this build, because it's way easier to keep the laser on the target if it's so much bigger. The way I set it up was with 4xERLL, and I fire each arm separately: it doesn't require as much exposure time as chain fire, and the ERLL seem to do way more damage with that extra range. Occasionally I alpha strike. It's a judgement call, but you can do it. Rarely (*very* rarely) I'll switch to chainfire if I'm forced to ride the heat limit. I'm going to try it out on a Boar's Head, but I don't expect it to really work because the lasers are knee-mounted. Update: It really doesn't work on the Boar's Head. Not so much due to the toe-height laser hardpoints; rather it's caused by the Atlas being focused, and forced to brawl at close quarters a lot more.
I'm considering to run this with 4 ERLLfor dem range. SRMs currently are BS anyway. The damage scores from above convinced me :3
This has been used for some time now in Competitive 8v8 and now 12v12 as a way of dealing with poptarts. This is one of the few builds that advanced zoom is excellent on as lasers are instant. 36 alpha is also an instant headshot and the heat penalty is not that high for the occasional use. This is best used for hill peaking where only a fraction of the mech is exposed.
cool enough(54% without MLAS, that should be fired only in the effective range or close), plus max speed.
This build is still performing alright in pug matches. You can build something similar on several Clan mechs, and they have longer reach, but the short burn time of the lasers makes the Stalker version easier to use and better for short exposure times. Here's an example of a Timber Wolf imitation that performed quite well on Alpine Peaks:
