I know that 300 is little for PB but side torso so vulnerable at this barn door mech Heat may be an issue but PB is like hit&run, he stops so damn long, and even after damage nerf on rockets still do damage.
The biggest highlights of the PB is its incredible speed capability (88.5 kph w. speed tweak), and ridiculous torso movement. Having said that, putting anything less than a 400 is just not worth it IMHO. Alas, the armament on your build is OK. None the less, thanks for the share.
The awesome is really built to be a faster assault indeed, but fitting a much higher rated engine (esp if you REALLY want standard) will have so little leftover tonnage for weapons, that you're better off running a heavy. As for the build, standard, effective brawler. Quite a bit of damage for the hardpoints it has. It's likely going to be outgunned by the other assaultclasses, but there's not a lot you can do about it, escept go for that XL engine upgrade to be able to outrun them and turn yourself into a Catapult-C4 with less boxy arms and more pewy lasers. Big targets aren't much of a problem if they can get behind cover relatively quickly. The only other concern you have is that your team might be screwed over by the matching system, which would decide it'd be good to put a full armor ECM atlas on their team.
I run this build with the standard 310XL engine, PPCs replacing the LPLs, and Artemis on the SRMs. Initially it was a bit of a hard thing to handle but quickly grew on me. I prefer the 8Q with its extra energy hardpoints, but this mech is not bad except for its tendency to eat through SRM ammo very quickly. [size=small]Whatever I'm doing, the XL doesn't seem to be a horrible liability, though I am working on trying to get a standard engine into the build just because. As far as Seven's point about the matching system, I've been in this mech and had it put me up against 3 Atlases and a Highlander, with a lone Stalker as the only other assault class on my team...
I've found that the STD 300 provides a decent amount of speed while minimizing (to a degree) the shortcomings of the Awesome's "barn door" torso. The main downside that I've found is lacking the speed to effectively close the range on some of the bigger maps, often resulting in being caught at long range where you can't use your heavy SRM array to good effect and your ammo load out is either wasted or winds up being used against you depending on placement. The close quarters maneuvering required both to hug terrain to get into effective range and for brawling purposes can get a bit interesting with the movement quirk of this chassis, resulting in a few "where are the dang brakes on this thing" moments until one gets used to the timing compared to other AWS chassis, but is well worth it when optimum range is achieved and the SRMs begin to fly. On my best game, I was able to take out two Atlases before being taken out myself. My personal change to this variant involves swapping the LPLs out for ER Larges, providing some long range punch and also some extra tonnage for additional armor, ammo and a BAP. The TAG is there mostly to use up that extra energy slot, though it occasionally helps to call in some support. As a side note, this design also works reasonably well in the AWS-8V chassis for anyone looking for a 3rd chassis to grind.
