Protector Serious Variant (1x AC20, 1x PPC, 2x MLas, 1x SRM4+A, STD300)

Group 1: PPC
Group 2: AC/20
Group 3: MLas
Group 4: SRM
Group 5: PPC/AC/20 together (pinpoint pain)

The Orion's not really built for being the center of attention, so shoot at the target that big assault you're following is shooting at.

An AC/20 couples with a PPC pointed at the same location at about 300 meters will rip open side torsos like a hot knife through butter. Jagers, Atlases, Stalkers, Highlanders, Hunchbacks... This Mech finally taught me to focus my fire and aim for vulnerable weakpoints, and it's hard to argue with the effectiveness of 30 points of damage right where you want it. Heat allowing, follow up with the MLas for an extra 10 points of damage.

MLas should mainly be used as either a finisher, or chasing lights. They generate a little bit of heat, but they and the SRM 4 can often be used to land a final blow on an exposed engine, taking a mech out of the fight.

Alt. Version-



Drop the SRM to upgrade to Pulse Lasers and better cooling efficiency.

 

I like the alt version a lot. I dropped half a ton of leg armor and the engine to a 290 to gain 2 DHS. You could also just swap the MPL to ML and get a slightly longer range. Post patch, the Orion can be engaged for a long time so heat management is more important.

The pinpoint damage weapons on the torso are great for convergence issues for hitting moving targets. This is probably my final build on the Protector. After the patch, it runs like I always hoped it would. This build is a real killing machine.

PROTECTOR

 

PROTECTOR



After playing this build for quite a few matches, I found just the thing it needed to be as optimized as possible. The ERPPC works great as part of this system since everything else has pretty low heat and there are tons of DHS. Taking potshots down range is a nice ability to have, but the 30 pinpoint alpha under 90m makes it all the more deadly. The 295 Engine provides an extra DHS over a 300 to keep the heat efficiency quite nice. Being able to pop of so many 30pt shots so frequently really make this a force to be reckoned with.

On a side note, the Cataphract 3D can run this dropping 2 DHS and adding a JJ. I'll try it when I get around to it, but I like the C Bill bump and the damage tanking of the Orion chassis at the moment.