I can't beleive this very obvious build has not been posted by anyone else. It just feels, to me, like the only logical thing to do, really. I've piloted this variant to some surprisingly good effect. Short version: maxed mobility and firepower capacity and stripped armour from useless areas. So, here's what we have and most importantly why. The mech has Double Heat Sinks for the extremely obvious reasons. Endo and Ferro for shaving off weight, the slots are not worth the weight gain. The armour stripped from the arms and head frees up 1.36 tons of much needed space, enough to mount the hardware. In a 30ton Light, relying on tanking will get the pilot killed. Maneuverabilty gives FAR more survivability than armour that can't even withstand a single average Alpha. The structure is still there, so it still blocks just as many PPFLD shots as it would with armour. One hit. A larger engine and clever use of 11 JJs allows you to avoid hits and survive longer. And headshots on a Spider just don't happen. The armour remains full on where it matters. Front CT, Side Torsos and Legs. Two Medium Pulse Lasers synergize very nicely with the only two energy hardpoints in the CT, and the very heavy quirks they get. -30% Laser duration will make sure those pulses are extremely short, delivering the damage on a much more concentrated area. The -30% Energy Cooldown ensures you fire often, bringing your DPS to Spider 5D levels. The 10% Laser Range works well to enhance the range from 220/440m to 242/484m (264/528m with modules) which is handy to extend your range and enhance damage output at longer ranges. In a Light with this kind of firepower, even 10 meters can make a huge difference between a kill and a cherry red torso. The 11 Jump Jets paired with the XL285 Engine is what will keep you alive. Extreme acceleration thanks to the 70% Accel/Decel quirks will make sure you can change heading on a dime. 20% Turn Rate allows quick turns in an already extremely nimble mech. And the jumpjets themselves serve extremely well to put almost any object between you and your assailant. So, how to play this mech? Simple. Be fast. Stay mobile. Change position. Exploit any opening you see. Stay aware of what is around you. Think on your feet. Fall back if threatened too much. And use the terrain however you can imagine to your advantage, be it height, concealment or evasion. It's a matter of noticing all these little things to give you, the pilot, an advantage. SDR-5V is a low priority target, which in itself, allows a lot of cheeky maneuvers to use. The speed and laser duration quirks make this an excellent poker. 11JJs allow good quick poptarting. Speed allows you to dodge and disengage. And the cooldown quirk allows you to deal a surprisingly decent amount of pain, albeit over a while. Also, be careful of heat. Smurfy does NOT take the cooldown quirks into mind. This mech can overheat eventually. After a long while, admittedly. The main drawbacks of the mech are: The firepower is dished out over time, it is still a fragile light (though hard to hit), legs are an easy target mid-jump, takes some practice to not destroy own legs, can't look down too far, and, finally, requires a decent amount of thought and awareness to pilot effectively. Here's what it can do. It's not that bad of a mech.
Interesting. Looks like a good Spider build. I'll have to try medium pulses on my Spider 5V sometime. I personally would have at lest 8 points of armor or so in the rear torsos and maybe 10 or 12 points of armor in the rear center torso. I wonder how much cooler medium pulse lasers are than medium lasers? I can't really justify the pulses on my Spider 5v. My build is similar except I use medium lasers instead of pulse lasers (for the range), and I have a double heatsink in the engine with 12 jumpjets... I use the medium laser range module to boost up the range to around 640m. Depending on how I am feeling I may switch up the armor like this...
Alternate version to get 12/12 JJ while keeping 2x MPL, but you have to drop the engine to 270 XL and drop Endo-Steel to do it. 104 jump distance vs. 95, but 156 kph vs. 165 kph. Put another way, a 9% increase in jump distance vs. a 5.5% increase in maximum speed. It obviously depends on which is more important to you. You have 3 things, the 285 XL (over 270 XL), 12 JJs (over 11), and MPLs (over MLs). Pick 2. More factors if you want BAP and/or AMS, or more armor, obviously.
11 is as good as 12 JJs. Max engine is fun too. Better to just run a LE or STD and cut down on the amount of JJs.
