Mech Spotlight: Shadow Hawk

[RasaNova]

I thought it would be good to have some posts talking about strategies, loadouts, roles, tips etc for specific mechs, without debating about which mechs are better than others. Shadowhawk is a popular mech and seems to be the favorite medium for a lot of people, so let's start there!

I'm ashamed to say I'm using the stock loadout on my SHD-2H, which seems to be a well balanced mech for frontline gruntwork or scouting from the edges of the battlefield. But I feel like I could be doing much more with it. The SHD-2D on the other hand seems like it packs a decent punch but it's just too fragile. So what are you experts doing with yours?

All Mech Spotlights:

Centurion
BlackJack
Thunderbolt
Quickdraw
Shadow Hawk
JagerMech
Highlander
Grasshopper
Vindicator
Wolverine
Locust
Catapult
Orion

[zAcEz]

I love the 2H!

It was my workhorse medium mech that I ran 3 for awhile until I got the Orions.

x1 M Laser
x1 LRM 10 +ammo
x1 AC 5 +ammo
x4 Jump Jets
x1 Heat Sink

They run quite cool & can tank well with 720 armor.

[SamtheCossack]

I find you are much better off specializing your mechs. The base loadouts for both variants of the shadowhawks do pretty well early game, when it is only a couple light mechs, but you really aren't getting your potential out of them. If you want to keep the LRMs and AC-5, look at stripping the jump jets, the medium laser, the heat sink, and a little armor. Swap the LRM 10 for a LRM 10 or 20, upgrade the AC 5 to a rare variant if you can. You now have a pretty good early game LR support.

If you want to make it a brawler, swap the LRM for an SRM 6, pull the AC-5, max out laser and missle hardpoints with SRMs and ML, maximize armor. You probably can't max armor and keep jump jets, so make your choice there.

Generally I don't reccomend mechs that run excessively cool (Unless they are all autocannons or something), you are better off having more firepower and using partial salvos or dodging out of the way for a turn. If you can alpha strike a couple mechs down in the first few rounds you can afford to cool off.

[Jackrabbit_V6/ RSProduxx]

running it as a high maneuverable LRM boat in my heavy lance... jumpjets, LRM15 + LRM 10 and that´s it :)

Pilot has high levels of Tactics and gunnery, so i can keep him in cover and give firesupport without any issues... gotta admit, i don´t really have a good mech at moment to replace it, it´s my only mech below 70 tons right now...

the Shadowhawk in general is a very nice 55 tonner, very versatile. Have always loved them.

[Deckire]

I have 2 Shadowhawks that I like placing out.

1 Shadowhawk 2H Semi stock

AC/5++ (stb)
SRM4++ (stb/dmg)
LRM5++(stb / crit)
M. Laser++ (dmg)
3 Jump Jets
1 heat sink

been a great knockdown and damage mech in mid range. Ussually supports my LRM20++(stb) Centurion for a full salvage mechs

The other which I favoring now and ready to rebuild is my SHD-2D which is my only close range mech at the moment. Had to change cause I lost a good AC/10++ but it been doing a bit better then I expected.

AC/5+ (acc)
SRM4++ (dmg)
SRM6
M Laser ++ (dmg/acc)
M Laser + (acc)
2 jump jets

Armored as a stock Enforcer, it survives the brawl pretty well, though gets a little steamy after 2 alpha strikes

[Don Montega]

I love the Shadowhawks, but i refit them all for specialized roles.
The ability to maneuver quickly along with repositioning tactics enabled by jump jets made it an obvious choice of 'Mech for my skrimishing/flanking way to play.

Early in the game i welcomed the well rounded chassis and still field it, although i often oppose heavies or assaults.

I like the SHD-2D most, refit it with twin small lasers, triple SRM4s and an AC5.
give it at least 4 JJs and forgo heatsinks in favor of armor.

Best served with JJs hot and a stone cold ace pilot flanking and spanking.

[RasaNova]

Hmm I might try an all-shadowhawk lance... A max armored frontline mech, 2 skirmishers, and an LRM boat. Still not sure about the SHD-2D... Seems a bit fragile. Am I mistaken about this? And, how well do they hold out once the game is throwing more heavies at you?

[wendigo211]

The thing to remember about mechs is the stock loadout doesn't matter. The amount of armor you can mount is set by the tonnage, so all 55 ton mechs can mount the same amount of armor. What matters is movement speed, which also determines the maximum amount of free tonnage.

I think all of the 55 ton mechs have a tabltetop 5/8 movement speed (I think it works out to a speed of 150 in this game), so they have the same amount of free tonnage and can all mount 5 jump jets. If you strip the armor and equipment from them they all have 28 tons to play with. The good thing about this is that if you want jump jets this is the maximum amount of free tonnage you can have with a 5/8 mech. If you don't want jump jets the Quickdraw and Dragon can mount more equipment.

The Shadowhawk has a bit of an edge over the other 55 tonners in that it has a 85 point melee attack, which is the best for a medium (and among the higher values for a heavy). The other difference between the mechs is the hardpoint layout.
The Shadowhawk 2D has:

• 2 Support Hardpoints [LA, RA]
  
• 1 Ballistic Hardpoint [LT]
  
• 3 Missile Harpoints [RT, H, CT]
  
• 3 Energy Hardpoints [2 LA, RA]

The Shadowhawk 2H has:

• 1 Support Hardpoint [RA]
  
• 3 Ballistic Hardpoints [3 LT]
  
• 3 Missile Harpoints [2 RT, H]
  
• 1 Energy Hardpoint [RA]

The difference between the variants is the 2D has two more energy, 1 more support and 2 fewer ballistic harpoints than the 2H. I consider the 2D the superior variant, because you probably aren't going to put 3 ACs in a mech with 28 free tons, particularly if you want armor. Note that both mechs have a Missile Hardpoint in the head, so that limits what you can mount there and you might want a comm system or cockpit mod instead.

I tend to go for a short range skirmisher with my 2Ds, to capitalize on the melee bonus and the mobility of the mech. This is the 2D configuration from my first playthrough:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1380041049

[Rabidnid]

I run the D as a brawler with 2 SL, 2 ML, 2xSRM6 and full armour. Does the same job as the kintaro but better. I usually drop the jump jets on all my mechs as I don;t need them any more. The hihlander stall has them because their is nothing else to use the tonnage on.

When starting out I ran the H with a LL, SL and 2 SRM6. Initially with jump jets but then I dropped those for more armour and a heat sink.

[Quicksilver]

The 2D also has the flaw of a CT mounted launcher hardpoint, which clashes with gyros, limiting it's usefulness mid-late game.

[maurezen]

I run it as a scout mech, with 2x srm6+++ and an srm4 taking care of opposition legs/rears.

Still early in the game though.

[C4Warr10r]

The Shadow Hawk was the first mech I ever saw (it was on the cover of a book in a hobby shop) and I absolutely fell in love with it. It looked so COOL! Sadly, once I started playing the tabletop, I discovered that most of it was a big waste of tonnage.

It still is. Jump-capable mechs don't need those huge engines unless they're scouts, and the SHD sacrifices jump capability (3 jets) for inferior ground speed and a very heavy but not very damaging autocannon. It's like the devil played a trick on it where it gets to look badass but only carries the weakest weapons.

The SHD-2H we get is a respectable tank, though, I'll give you that. If all the weapons but the LRM-5 are stripped out, it can mount a grand total of 25. Not great, but coupled with the armor and mobility, it's a decent poor-man's LRM boat.

Some Battletech players opt to make it an SRM boat instead, and imho, that's not the way to go with it. The design just doesn't have the armor to brawl with the big boys, though I'll admit that an SRM-heavy Hawk can get in some nasty back shots if anyone is stupid enough to let it close. Even the AI in this game isn't usually that stupid, as it tends to target the closest mechs first.

The old Battletech adage is that the Blackjack is a jack-of-all-trades, master of none, but really, it's the Shadow Hawk. Too big, slow, and poorly armored to make a decent scout, and without the firepower to make it really threatening, the Shadow Hawk is not really a great design. The PHX-1 Phoenix Hawk does the scouting/raider job better, the WVR-6r Wolverine is a better brawler, the GRF-1N Griffin is a better sniper, and the TBT-5N and 5J variants are better LRM platforms.

[Gilius Thunderhead]

The problem for me with the shadowhawk is it's just too generalist. For every specialized role theres something else that does it better.

EDIT: Just noticed the guy above me said the same thing haha :D

[nyanko]

Shadow is a ok mech. Once you get the Kintaro though, it gets outgunned so badly you just leave it in a corner.

[C4Warr10r]

Incidentally, you should make more of these 'Mech Spotlight threads. I think they're a great opportunity for newer players to learn and older players to wax nostalgic. Imho, this community could use a lot more of that and a lot less "this game is too hard" whinging.

[Gilius Thunderhead]

Originally posted by C4Warr10r:

Incidentally, you should make more of these 'Mech Spotlight threads. I think they're a great opportunity for newer players to learn and older players to wax nostalgic. Imho, this community could use a lot more of that and a lot less "this game is too hard" whinging.

I've discovered a new love for the T-Bolt that I never had before.