Just got a shadowcat, how is this build? (Yes I know, I've been asking these questions a lot lately)

[Frosk]

Yet another one of these threads, sorry about this. Tried googling good shadowcat builds and had no luck finding one I liked. I was originally going to get a huntsman but found that I could not fit it into my drop deck (which currently consists of a 90 ton Madcat Mk2, a 75 ton Timberwolf and a 30 ton Kit Fox) so I was told to look at the shadowcat instead. This mech sounded appealing to me as it is supposedly a highly mobile sniper, something I played a lot of in another (now dead) "mech shooter" called Hawken (and I've quite enjoyed sniping on my timberwolf).

I've been trying to come up with a build of my own based on what I've seen and this is what I've ended up with:
http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=298&l=fbc1efec353fe2e88845689031683f819109ddac

Originally I wanted to use a ER PPC or Medium Pulse Lasers, but both those ideas were scrapped in favour of more heat sinks (also cut down the missile size). Originally I also wanted to use LRMs instead of SRMs but somewhere along the way I seem to have switched (I'm not quite sure why now haha, I think someone suggested it?)

Anyway if someone could take a look at my build and give me a hand that would be great (until then I'll be trying to earn more cbills to actually be able to start testing builds in-game)

[Empyrrean]

Could work but those 2 SRM2s are a bit of a waste. You're better off just doing 2 Heavy LLs, 2 ERLLs, or 2 ERPPCs. You could also do an SRM brawler with 3 ASRM6s, or crit brawler with 1 ERPPC and 6 HMGs. Shadow Cats are pretty fragile though and best used as ranged snipers.

[Frosk]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Empyrrean:

Could work but those 2 SRM2s are a bit of a waste. You're better off just doing 2 Heavy LLs, 2 ERLLs, or 2 ERPPCs. You could also do an SRM brawler with 3 ASRM6s, or crit brawler with 1 ERPPC and 6 HMGs. Shadow Cats are pretty fragile though and best used as ranged snipers.

its firepower is rather underwhelming without the additional weaponry that the missiles provide, also it comes with artemis built in. In a perfect world I'd like to try and fit lrms of any form there but I dont reckon I can.

[Empyrrean]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Frosk:

its firepower is rather underwhelming without the additional weaponry

Wut? You mean the firepower stat bar? That thing doesn't mean anything, dude. That just shows how much damage all your weapons combined do, and doesn't account for range or rate of fire or synergy with other weapons. There are some fundamental gameplay basics you're not getting here.

In a perfect world I'd like to try and fit lrms

Ew god no, LRMs on a Shadow Cat is about as stupid as putting LRMs on any light mech.

[Frosk]

Wut? You mean the firepower stat bar? That thing doesn't mean anything, dude. That just shows how much damage all your weapons combined do, and doesn't account for range or rate of fire or synergy with other weapons. There are some fundamental gameplay basics you're not getting here.

No I meant firepower, as in the amount of damage it can put out. On the point of the missiles, would you just suggest replacing them with more heat sinks? Potentially swap the medium lasers for med pulse lasers? Or remove them alongside some heat sinks and swap the med lasers for large lasers?

Ew god no, LRMs on a Shadow Cat is about as stupid as putting LRMs on any light mech.

I like having them to hit enemies who attempt to hide from the main guns or to force enemies out from cover.

[Dakota]

This build got me 16th (or was it 14th) best Shadow Cat pilot in the game during the medium mech leaderboards:

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=298&l=5527cc4f89c65c3947865e4b7079a429efb33c13

Also you should never put artemis on SRM2s, its not worth it, SRM2s are already super accurate.


Shadow Cat is an excellent harasser mech, though it requires a great deal of piloting skill, game knowledge, and understanding the flow of battle. Your goal is to be annoying as possible for the enemy, running up your heat to the limit should be what you do constantly even with your two lpl. Shadow Cat has MASC, jump jets, and a decent base speed with high mounted weapons and ECM. It allows you to just get a sick amount of shots off against your enemy. I'd jump into the air and land a full beam duration on people before I hit the ground again, usually keeping it pinpoint on a section to rip it off. I'd use MASC to pop out and take a shot then be back in cover before an enemy has time to look in my direction. I'd flank around multiple ways, out run what I couldn't out gun, usually baiting those lighter mechs into my team where they get shot quickly so that I could go back to ruining some heavy or assault's day.

While the mech can be run as a brawler I don't really recommend it, as the mech is fragile and generally has more influence over the game through harassing than brawling. The build for brawling would be this if you still felt like doing it:

ECM: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=298&l=210a7ba01b65cd773d4f9fe67b6c92439262687f
MG boating: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=298&l=98193ba1a5259c0dee2261ea95a2714030f68c02

Both brawl builds have flamers to overheat the enemy as you shoot at them, the 3 ASRM6 build with ECM works out better for assassinating targets by coming at them by surprise, getting the dual flamers on them so they overheat within the first 10 seconds and then can't out DPS you while you blast their armor apart with your 36 damage srm alphas. The MG build works similarly except that you can't surprise people as easily without ecm and you only have one flamer so it takes twice as long to overheat an enemy if they overheat at all, but you do put out higher DPS and you crit things quickly if you attack from the rear and open up a component with the SRMs first.

[Frosk]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Dakota:

This build got me 16th (or was it 14th) best Shadow Cat pilot in the game during the medium mech leaderboards:

http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=298&l=5527cc4f89c65c3947865e4b7079a429efb33c13

Also you should never put artemis on SRM2s, its not worth it, SRM2s are already super accurate.


Shadow Cat is an excellent harasser mech, though it requires a great deal of piloting skill, game knowledge, and understanding the flow of battle. Your goal is to be annoying as possible for the enemy, running up your heat to the limit should be what you do constantly even with your two lpl. Shadow Cat has MASC, jump jets, and a decent base speed with high mounted weapons and ECM. It allows you to just get a sick amount of shots off against your enemy. I'd jump into the air and land a full beam duration on people before I hit the ground again, usually keeping it pinpoint on a section to rip it off. I'd use MASC to pop out and take a shot then be back in cover before an enemy has time to look in my direction. I'd flank around multiple ways, out run what I couldn't out gun, usually baiting those lighter mechs into my team where they get shot quickly so that I could go back to ruining some heavy or assault's day.

While the mech can be run as a brawler I don't really recommend it, as the mech is fragile and generally has more influence over the game through harassing than brawling. The build for brawling would be this if you still felt like doing it:

ECM: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=298&l=210a7ba01b65cd773d4f9fe67b6c92439262687f
MG boating: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=298&l=98193ba1a5259c0dee2261ea95a2714030f68c02

Both brawl builds have flamers to overheat the enemy as you shoot at them, the 3 ASRM6 build with ECM works out better for assassinating targets by coming at them by surprise, getting the dual flamers on them so they overheat within the first 10 seconds and then can't out DPS you while you blast their armor apart with your 36 damage srm alphas. The MG build works similarly except that you can't surprise people as easily without ecm and you only have one flamer so it takes twice as long to overheat an enemy if they overheat at all, but you do put out higher DPS and you crit things quickly if you attack from the rear and open up a component with the SRMs first.

I did not put the artemis on, it came with artemis. But yeah I have since changed my build a lot, it no longer includes missiles (at the moment i am trialing 2 med pulse lasers + 1 heavy large laser). I've noticed that the shadowcat looks... well stupid with just lasers on its arms though, they dont even mount in the spot set aside for a weapon, instead they get slapped on the side. It just looks so strange haha.

[Dakota]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Frosk:

I did not put the artemis on, it came with artemis.

You can remote artemis.

[Frosk]

Problem with these builds and there small number of weapons is I actually find them boring to play, reckon what I'm going to try next is the arm with 3 ballistic mounts and then put 2 long range lasers (1 in arm, 1 in side torso) then put 3 ballistic weapons or something on.

[Dakota]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Frosk:

Problem with these builds and there small number of weapons is I actually find them boring to play, reckon what I'm going to try next is the arm with 3 ballistic mounts and then put 2 long range lasers (1 in arm, 1 in side torso) then put 3 ballistic weapons or something on.

In general with light mechs and medium mechs you'll only have a small number of weapon groups, they don't have the free tonnage to be able to effectively field a variety of weapons. In general though all of the meta attempts to bring a mech to the most optimized state through reducing amount of weapon groups required and getting the most optimal damage to face time to tonnage to heat ratios on the fastest and highest mount mech.

Most of the fun of the Shadow Cat stems from the piloting, using MASC and jump jets and positioning to make your very meager amount of firepower work.


If you'd like to bring mixed builds with many weapon types, it won't be the most optimal mechs, but generally Clan assault and some heavy mechs are the ones that can best do this style of play. A Shadow Cat is definitely not the mech to pick for it. Mechs such as Highlander IIC, with their low engine caps and high tonnage have absolutely massive amounts of free tonnage to play with and have hardpoints for each weapon type, generally making mixed builds come easy.

Here is an example, tell me if this is the type of build you find fun and I can make some more suggestions:
http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=379&l=1961d14bfc66c1017d82648ed1960c93c7f65e93

This build is multirole for the purpose of having dual ERPPCs and a gauss rifle for long range work and then quad ASRM6 for a big alpha up close. Ghost heat has caused problems with being able to fire the gauss and ERPPC at the same time, so the gauss could be replaced by a UAC10 or the ERPPCs replaced with dual LPL.

[Frosk]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Dakota:

Opprinnelig skrevet av Frosk:

Problem with these builds and there small number of weapons is I actually find them boring to play, reckon what I'm going to try next is the arm with 3 ballistic mounts and then put 2 long range lasers (1 in arm, 1 in side torso) then put 3 ballistic weapons or something on.

In general with light mechs and medium mechs you'll only have a small number of weapon groups, they don't have the free tonnage to be able to effectively field a variety of weapons. In general though all of the meta attempts to bring a mech to the most optimized state through reducing amount of weapon groups required and getting the most optimal damage to face time to tonnage to heat ratios on the fastest and highest mount mech.

Most of the fun of the Shadow Cat stems from the piloting, using MASC and jump jets and positioning to make your very meager amount of firepower work.


If you'd like to bring mixed builds with many weapon types, it won't be the most optimal mechs, but generally Clan assault and some heavy mechs are the ones that can best do this style of play. A Shadow Cat is definitely not the mech to pick for it. Mechs such as Highlander IIC, with their low engine caps and high tonnage have absolutely massive amounts of free tonnage to play with and have hardpoints for each weapon type, generally making mixed builds come easy.

Here is an example, tell me if this is the type of build you find fun and I can make some more suggestions:
http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab#i=379&l=1961d14bfc66c1017d82648ed1960c93c7f65e93

This build is multirole for the purpose of having dual ERPPCs and a gauss rifle for long range work and then quad ASRM6 for a big alpha up close. Ghost heat has caused problems with being able to fire the gauss and ERPPC at the same time, so the gauss could be replaced by a UAC10 or the ERPPCs replaced with dual LPL.

Seems interesting enough, more interesting than 2/3 lasers imo. Not going to lie, I have most fun on my mechs with at least 3 weapon groups.
For example:
Madcat Mk2 with:
1) 2x Guass Rifle
2) 4x C-ERML
3) 2x C-SRM6 + Art IV

Timberwolf with:
1) 2x C-ERLL
2) 3x C-ERML
3) 2x C-LRM15

Kit Fox with:
1) 3x Light Machine Gun
2) 3x C-ERML
3) 2x C-SRM6

It's not like when choosing a mech I intentionally go "does this have 3 weapon groups? if not, then it's boring", just looking back on what I have been finding more fun this seems to be the case.

Only reason I have this shadow cat is to fill out my drop deck (I needed a 45 tonner or less). Tbh I wanted to give a mist lynx a go but people in clan chat talked me into this.

[Dakota]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Frosk:

Seems interesting enough, more interesting than 2/3 lasers imo

Well if that's the case then you're a fan of the non-meta, my friend, along with many of the players here. Personally I love mechs with just a few weapons and the piloting and the jumping and meta stuff, but I also know how to build mechs very well and will occasionally try out wacky builds with some decent potential, usually mixed builds that you might enjoy.

Some good mechs for doing this would be the Kit Fox, Mad Dog, Stormcrow, Night Gyr, Timber Wolf, Executioner, Dire Wolf, and the one non-omnimech from the list, the Highlander IIC I posted above. Omnimechs allow swapping of hardpoints in each section to maximize the amount of potential builds they can bring and thus allow for some crazy mixed builds. The ones I mentioned all have average to high amounts of free tonnage for their weights except for the Executioner, which is actually a fast moving assault mech with very little free tonnage but a whole load of energy hardpoints, a few ballistics, and a few missiles, allowing for builds of mixes of energy weapons with missiles as backup or builds based around a huge ballistic with energy to back it up.

With mixed builds generally I'll come up with a couple roles for the mech then build around that. For example, one of my Executioner's builds is 2 HLL, 2 ERML, 4 SPLs, and 2 ASRM6. Lots of different weapons but in combat the 2HLL+2ERML allow me to fire a 50 damage mid range alpha from the few high mounts of the mech so that I can use the jump jets and MASC to get some poking done before closing then I have the 4 SPL and 2 ASRM6 for DPS and close range alpha a mix of pinpoint from the lasers and frontloaded damage from the srms mounted in hip height arms with full freedom of rotation, making it easy to take out light mechs that attack me because they think I'm just a long duration laser poker and also making it easy to clean up at the end of matches where enemies are heavily damaged. The build can also alpha strike on targets for a 90 damage strike against large targets up close when I'm on resting heat.

Basically when you build a mech just make sure that each piece has a place on the mech and comes in handy rather than being more of a problem than its worth. For example, throwing a single machine gun onto a build might not be a good option on a mech based around short duration weapons, as it would just result in you wanting to keep your aim on the enemy at all times for an amount of DPS that isn't worth it. However on a mech with dual RACs, boating some light machine guns with it would be a good boost, adding to your DPS in the role of high face time that you were already taking. If I had thrown in some heavy medium lasers in my Executioner build rather than small pulse lasers it would be more of a problem, as the high heat and long durations would mean that up close when brawling I'd have heat issues, the high duration means it spreads against light mechs easily, making me vulnerable to quick mechs, and the higher alpha damage they do is unneeded, as I already have a high damage high heat alpha in the long range portion of the build.

[Frosk]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Dakota:

Opprinnelig skrevet av Frosk:

Seems interesting enough, more interesting than 2/3 lasers imo

Well if that's the case then you're a fan of the non-meta, my friend, along with many of the players here. Personally I love mechs with just a few weapons and the piloting and the jumping and meta stuff, but I also know how to build mechs very well and will occasionally try out wacky builds with some decent potential, usually mixed builds that you might enjoy.

Some good mechs for doing this would be the Kit Fox, Mad Dog, Stormcrow, Night Gyr, Timber Wolf, Executioner, Dire Wolf, and the one non-omnimech from the list, the Highlander IIC I posted above. Omnimechs allow swapping of hardpoints in each section to maximize the amount of potential builds they can bring and thus allow for some crazy mixed builds. The ones I mentioned all have average to high amounts of free tonnage for their weights except for the Executioner, which is actually a fast moving assault mech with very little free tonnage but a whole load of energy hardpoints, a few ballistics, and a few missiles, allowing for builds of mixes of energy weapons with missiles as backup or builds based around a huge ballistic with energy to back it up.

With mixed builds generally I'll come up with a couple roles for the mech then build around that. For example, one of my Executioner's builds is 2 HLL, 2 ERML, 4 SPLs, and 2 ASRM6. Lots of different weapons but in combat the 2HLL+2ERML allow me to fire a 50 damage mid range alpha from the few high mounts of the mech so that I can use the jump jets and MASC to get some poking done before closing then I have the 4 SPL and 2 ASRM6 for DPS and close range alpha a mix of pinpoint from the lasers and frontloaded damage from the srms mounted in hip height arms with full freedom of rotation, making it easy to take out light mechs that attack me because they think I'm just a long duration laser poker and also making it easy to clean up at the end of matches where enemies are heavily damaged. The build can also alpha strike on targets for a 90 damage strike against large targets up close when I'm on resting heat.

Basically when you build a mech just make sure that each piece has a place on the mech and comes in handy rather than being more of a problem than its worth. For example, throwing a single machine gun onto a build might not be a good option on a mech based around short duration weapons, as it would just result in you wanting to keep your aim on the enemy at all times for an amount of DPS that isn't worth it. However on a mech with dual RACs, boating some light machine guns with it would be a good boost, adding to your DPS in the role of high face time that you were already taking. If I had thrown in some heavy medium lasers in my Executioner build rather than small pulse lasers it would be more of a problem, as the high heat and long durations would mean that up close when brawling I'd have heat issues, the high duration means it spreads against light mechs easily, making me vulnerable to quick mechs, and the higher alpha damage they do is unneeded, as I already have a high damage high heat alpha in the long range portion of the build.

Alright, I reckon eventually I'll try to squeeze missiles back into the build but as for now I feel I've spent way too many cbills on this mech (and havent made them back due to machmaking taking a literal eternity to find a match of quick play) so I've reverted to 2 heavy large lasers (1 on each arm) and a er medium laser on the torso, the rest is just heat sinks and a ecm

[Dakota]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Frosk:

Only reason I have this shadow cat is to fill out my drop deck (I needed a 45 tonner or less). Tbh I wanted to give a mist lynx a go but people in clan chat talked me into this.

Generally speaking, faction play is meta central, its generally supposed to be the hardcore mode. Not taking meta to FP is basically asking to get stomped by a unit that is bringing meta. I'd generally keep mixed build play to quickplay where there is a matchmaker keeping you with your skill level and where groups and solos are separated.

That said, many players do go into faction play with non optimal builds, many also go in with bad tactics and no team coordination, this results in lots of stomps and some pretty unequal matches in those cases where a group of such players comes up against a group of 12 fully organized players working together with builds that synergize with not only themselves, but others on their team.

[Veritas]

The sad cat isn't known for its missile capabilites or raw firepower. It excells at long range though, and some people enjoy the 2 heavy large laser + 6 LMG build for solo queue.

[BWS2K]

In my limited experience as an SHC pilot and slightly longer experience fighting them, your job is to make the Red's split their forces. Go snipe somewhere just annoying enough to make Alpha Lance peel off and come investigate, then MASC to a new location and repeat. There are brawl builds for sure, with mixed results, and every pilot is different... but I think the SHC (except for the MG one) is mostly built around poking and sniping with those high mounts and legs. for. days. Good luck!

#mistlynx4life