Whats the big deal with the fire starter as a light?

[Toadman]

So I see a lot mentioning going to a firestarter.
Are they really that effective?
I am assuming you use him to overheat and shut down a big guy but what keeps him from getting smashed in melee since yo have to be fairly close to your target?
Can anyone walk me through exactly how they use them?

[wesnef]

It's pretty fast, but not so fast that the engine takes up all the available weight.
It's got 6 Support Weapon slots (and 4 energy slots), so you can arm it to the teeth & do vicious melee attacks.

My usual two builds are:
2x Med Laser, 6x Machine Gun, Jump Jets; or
4x Med Laser, 6x Machine Gun
edit: with max front armor, 25-35 rear armor

I don't bother with flamers & trying to overheat things. I go for the backstab, with lots of guns.

(I also don't use it once the enemy starts fielding lots of heavies. At that point, my "light & fast backstabber" position gets filled by a Griffin-1N or preferably 2N)

[Toadman]

got it thanks

[Washell]

Keep skipping it till initiative 1, run up to a heavier mech, flame him. Next turn, flame him again, run away. Requires Ace Pilot.

[danko9696]

Light mechs usually have a hard time firing + jumping, because the long jumps they're able to perform can generate a lot of heat, not leaving much room for the heat weapons generate as well (apart from the weight of the weapons themselves). But because support weapons are ultra efficient if you have many support hardpoints you might be able to jump long distances while still packing significant firepower.

Firestarters can take advantage from it for tactics like hit & run and backstabbing foes, very effectively for their weight. Look for weapons like SL++, ERSL++ and MG++.

[maerchen]

Originally posted by Washell:

Keep skipping it till initiative 1, run up to a heavier mech, flame him. Next turn, flame him again, run away. Requires Ace Pilot.

Flamers carry a suboptimal ammo capacity.

There are SL++ for 25 damage each, or 0t MG++ that are much more effective in my book.

I use COIL L too. Urban maps and a COIL on a FST is brutally effective because you end your turn with 6 evasion, a lot of LOS blocking when played tactically and one less enemy Mech on the board.

[TheMasterBlaster]

in the early game you don't want mechs with only one or two big damage weapons when your pilots' Gunnery skill is not so great. outfitting a Firestarter with a full load of MGs or Small Lasers, and 2 or 3 MLs means you have more chances to hit the target with inexperienced pilots. rear arc attacks with this setup are especially potent with an aimed shot.

as a light mech you can also delay your turn until last, and then go first on the next turn. effectively taking two turns in a row with the previously mentioned weapon loadouts and tactics makes the Firestarter deadly for its tonnage.

[VipreRX]

The 2-ML 6-MG, 6-JJ Firestarter will absolutely butcher Light, Medium, and most Heavy mechs via backstab, even a few Assaults if you can double backstab them. It relies mainly on cheesing the way the AI attacks, in that it will nearly always attempt to close until it has line of sight or a spotter does. Hide the Firestarter behind a rock, wait til the sucker is in range of the jumpjets, jump behind it and boom.

Just about any low to mid-ish level 1v1 duel is free money as a result.

[Sentient_Toaster]

To add to the above, they can be fairly hard to hit between size, evasion from movement, +defense gyro, and high Piloting (which you probably want for Ace Pilot, too). Yes, that can go away if the enemy chooses to spam Sensor Lock, but if there's an easier target to focus down, the AI might well choose to focus that.

YMMV with mods, ofc. Like, in BTA 3062, while evasion tanking is easier -- notably, you don't lose evasion when shot at -- there's also more AoE weaponry that will cause damage regardless of evasion if you happen to be close enough to wherever the shell or missile landed, and the AI will bring them to bear against you.

[Praxis-W]

Originally posted by maerchen:

Flamers carry a suboptimal ammo capacity.

Hell in the tabletop version of the game, they didn't use ammo. They were simply weaponized vents of the plasma from your mech's fusion core.

I understand why they changed it for this game. Endless flamer spam would get old quick.

[VipreRX]

Originally posted by Praxis-W:

I understand why they changed it for this game. Endless flamer spam would get old quick.

The change made in BEX is nice, unlimited ammo but spreads out the heat to balance it. I still would rather have the MGs or SLs though.

[redhous3]

Firestarter in urban terrain is fun. I run one with maxed armor, 4 flamers and upgraded arm. Then jump/run into the rear-arc... then kidney hit+flame, then run/jump out. Doesnt always do the trick but fun. Some missions have tonnage limits so that works well.

[ImHelping]

As much because they are "not as weak as other light mechs", rather than "Wow so amazing!"

With a side of "It would be better if you could use nearly as many mechs as the enemy", because enemy tonnage bloat cuts into their niche. A half working enemy firestarter is a problem because it will be alongside more mechs than you have. While the most powerful firestarter in the universe in your hands is going to be run ragged even when you flank take advantage of initiative as much as possible.

*flashbacks to ramming the rear bumper of a mission target vehicle with a laser spam firestarter, and it failing to kill them. Sighing, and finally retiring his lights unless a gimmick basically forces him to use one.*

Man, anyone else remember when pre-launch lots of people were screaming "Melee OP! A spider can one hit melee kill tanks all game!"