MechWarrior: Online - Shadow Hawk Build Speculation

Image courtesy of mwomercs.com

The Shadow Hawk doesn't seem to get as much love as the Thunderbolt, Battlemaster and oddly enough the Locust. It is a fantastic Medium BattleMech, but is a very "all-rounder" which is both a strength and a weakness.

The Shadow Hawk might have received the rough end of the Hardpoint layouts. It has 3 Ballistic Hardpoints, 1 Energy Hardpoint and 3 Missile Hardpoints. In order to make use of the Ballistic Hardpoints, the Shadow Hawk will need an XL Engine, even then it can barely make use of 3. I would've preferred it if they gave it 2 Ballistic and 2 Energy, which would've made this BattleMech almost OP.

Regardless, I'm still looking forward to piloting this thing. It'll be a lot of fun to learn it's unique quirks, strengths and weaknesses.

Project Phoenix is a go! The Unseen are back! After all these years, they are back! Back with a vengeance! Welcome to the battlefield; Locust, Shadow Hawk, Thunderbolt and Battlemaster!

This is my planned build for my Phoenix Shadow Hawk SHD-2H

Like I said, an XL Engine might very well be needed for this Mech to utilise most of its Hardpoints. My guess is, is that the Shadow Hawk will have a max armour of around 12 Tons, maybe less. Which is why I set the armour at 11.5 Tons.

In my opinion, AC/2s must always be taken in either 2 or more. They just lack the damage with 1, but really become powerful with a minimum of 2. I always take 2 Tons of ammo per cannon, unless the only weapons I have are ACs.

The Shadow Hawk may have some zombie action going for it, with that Head Missile Hardpoint. But with an XL Engine in this build, you can forget zombie-ing.

Actually let's talk about the Shadow Hawk and zombies. The Shadow Hawk will never be as effective as the Centurion zombie (it lacks the Energy weapons which require no ammo), but it can do it. In order to do so, the Shadow Hawk can never have Artemis IV attached. Artemis IV adds an extra Critical Slot to all missiles (except SSRMs). Which means, the best SRM the Shadow Hawk can have is an SRM 4.

Anyway, I don't actually have many ideas for the Shadow Hawk. I'm eagerly awaiting the Thunderbolt and the Battlemaster. Once I do get my hands on the Shadow Hawk, expect to see much more builds for it!!

Image courtesy of mwomercs.com/phoenix