Help Me Fix My Broken SHD-2H

Thread in 'Shadow Hawk' started by gleaver, Aug 8, 2014.

  1. gleaver

    gleaver New Member

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    I'm a broke new player, who loved the trial SHD-2H and so decided to make my own as a first mech. Needless to say I ran out of cash before I could get it put together; specifically before I could buy an XL engine. Now I'm overweight and undergunned, limping along as a sorta SRM mech.

    Help me figure out how to fix this while I say the ~1m more c-bills I need for an XL engine. I have not spent my cash well. I have about 4m in the bank, but realize I desperately need the engine to get the weight freed up to do anything interesting.

    Should I bother? Should I drive the trial and just leave this parked? I'm pretty sure any variant of the SHD is going to suck without an XL engine, and I don't have the cash for one at the moment. I'd love some advice.

    http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=110&l=44e8dce20d8d35de8a1883f5081279813c2d19dd">SHD-2H
     
  2. SirBurntChicken

    SirBurntChicken Well-Known Member

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    Ok, since no one has answered your question I'll join the Mechspecs and try to help.

    You'll want an xl engine for it eventually, I recommend the xl300, but you can make it work with. Even with the stock engine you're not terrible slow. Use that to stay with the group and get into and out of trouble. Learn to torso twist to spread damage. I assume you have double heat sinks(dhs). Those are an absolute must since single heat sinks are unbelievable bad. If you haven't already got dhs you'll notice when you do. Get endo-steel and skip ferro fibrous.

    As far as weapons a lot of players like two ac5's. They have good range, do good damage, and fire very fast with little heat. But they weigh a lot. 20 tons with minimum ammo. I'd recommend the ac10 even if it seems like a waste of ballistic slots. It's like the dual ac5's but with less damage per second. It's what I had on my shadowhawk and I liked it. That's 14 tons with minimum ammo. I'd put on 3 srm2's and chain fire them unless your aim is good. You'll miss at times but you hit some of the time doing some damage and it lets you worry less about aiming. I'd finish it off with a medium laser. That load out is 14 tons for the ac10 and 2 tons ammo, 5 tons for the 3 srm2's with 2 tons of ammo, and 1 ton for the laser. 20 tons total. I think it will fit with near full armor, but I'm on my phone right now and can't look it up. This build worked for me. It has good longish range damage. Decent short range with the srm's. And a laser for backup and adding a little more damage. Assuming you have double heat sinks and endo steel the only expensive part of this build is the ac10. Plus it runs cool even with no extra heat sinks.

    You could also run lrm's on this, but those are expensive, can be hard to use unless you know how to, and are useless if you run into trouble. My build worked the best for me when I was new to the game. Hope, if you use it, it works out well.
     
  3. Auriga

    Auriga MechSpecs Addict

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    This guide can help u: http://www.mechspecs.com/forum/index.php?topic=3691.msg50063#msg50063

    Also the 2 choices i would recommend u

    Intermediate with STD still
    http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=110&l=4dd38c72a2a613f6af65ffb87162ecf6b636b244

    Advanced with XL sorta trial mech
    http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=110&l=aac27cb6127f8cf9537e2fda0570bf0768eba589
     
  4. Falconium

    Falconium Administrator Staff Member

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    Hi Gleaver, welcome to MWO and to Mechspecs. :)

    You're absolutely right about needing XL engines to get the firepower you want in certain builds. And wasting C-Bills on useless engines, upgrades, weapons, and other equipment certainly caused me a few draw-backs when I first started playing this game. So I understand what you're going through. ;)

    First off, (and this is for lots of 'Mechs, not just Shadowhawks) you should save up enough C-Bills to buy three XL engines: an XL255, an XL280, and an XL300. These three engine sizes are the ones you will likely use most in pretty much all the 'Mechs/builds you run in this game. Eventually you will want to get some larger ones, like the XL325 and 350, and maybe even the 375 for certain builds. But in general, the best XL-Engine builds for alot of different 'Mechs use either a 255, a 280, or a 300. Get yourself one each of those three, and you'll be able to build yourself pretty much anything you want. :cool:

    Of course, those are all expensive XL engines (you'll need about 14 Million C-Bills to purchase all three), so yes, you'll have to keep a tight hand on your wallet in order to save up all those C-Bills. For now, I do recommend you find a build for your Shadowhawk that you can enjoy running with just a STD engine, and that can perform well for you. Without knowing what your particular/preferred playstyle is, it's hard to say what would work well for you. I do recommend, though, either the STD build Auriga has already posted, or else something more like this.

    http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=110&l=3f8569deea73a9dde4c528b80ce56b7cd307cb12

    Both use a STD275 engine, which is fairly inexpensive, relatively light for a STD, but also gives you a decent speed for your Shadowhawk. The two builds are very similar in many ways --- both have SRMs as their primary weapons, which is something I definitely recommend. However, you should generaly always carry some long-range backup to go with those Short-Range-Missiles. Auriga's build uses an AC5 cannon for that, whereas my build carries a Large Laser instead. Either one can work very well; but drawing from my own experience as a starting player (2 years ago at the start of Open Beta) I do not generally recommend Ballistic (cannon) weapons to new players, primarily because of the difficulty leading/lining-up targets for that shot. With the long beam of the Large Laser, you can generally land some damage on your target every time.

    And this reminds me of one final point I would bring up: for saving up C-Bills, you'll obviously want to be getting as much out of each match as you can. And the easiest way to do this, is to get as many assists as you possibly can. Basically, touch each one of the enemy targets just once with your Large Laser, (which is easy to do, since it has such a long range), and so long as they die, you will get a C-Bill bonus for every one you do damage to. So yeah, get as many assists as you can, and you should store up C-Bills fairly quickly. But don't forget to use your SRMs either; they'll do some great damage and pull some nice kills for you once you get close enough to the enemy. ;) :)
     
  5. SirBurntChicken

    SirBurntChicken Well-Known Member

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    I agree. Ballistic weapons are hard for new players to use effectively, but so are srm's. I used to chain fire mine, when I had three or four srm2's, so I could at least hit sometimes. The 2h is unfortunately geared toward ballistics and missiles, but it is a very good mech with a lot of options.

    I apologize for not posting a link to my build. Any of these builds will work fine and take the c-bill farming advice. Stay with the group and hit every target you can with a laser without worrying about damage done. A large laser build will work best for that. Decide what play style works best for you or, at least, what play style you want to use. Happily, it's free to play unless you want to spend money on it so the only loss is your time.
     
  6. Sassafras

    Sassafras MechSpecs Addict

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    If you have to run a STD engine in a Shadowhawk, why not throw in an AC-20 there just for fun seeing as you have the room anyways? AC20 + JJ is always a good time. Add in whatever backup weapons you can cram in, strip off as much armor as you can from any unused arms, and you're off to the races. (I'd post some example builds, but I can't access Smurfy while at work).
     
  7. Auriga

    Auriga MechSpecs Addict

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    Like this:

    http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=110&l=d2efbf5506a583a3a66ade2cfe527edb9a52d7a7

    :cool:
     
  8. Motörhead

    Motörhead Benefactor

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    http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=110&l=4ec7452eb76faf2d9ab0f13e74ecf1431d3f8fe1

    Just go for this epic build and never look back :)

    8,80 DPS on a medium @620meters, that never over heats ? Hell, yeah !
     
  9. fyrebryan

    fyrebryan New Member

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    non xl version... fairly inexpensive and viable...
    http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=110&l=4237e6a0953a4f95f0495cd9cbd2c294c6289bd5

    also 100% no upgrade version
    http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=110&l=318bd6ce32bec6d506153d9a474f150a6d17021d
     
  10. Auriga

    Auriga MechSpecs Addict

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    But u have to buy an engine that u never gonna use or want to use. The ShadowHawks comes stock with the STD275. Downgrading the speed so much is not a good choice. U can pass on the XL, cause i run 3 STD275 variations and i enjoy them, and they have enough firepower to threat anything in the field, but reducing the ShadowHawk speed under 80kph, trust me, is a horrible choice.
     
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