Trying to figure out a build for the AC20arm variant, so that I can make it a proper assault brawler with JJ's.
Anyway, I'm comparing this off of 2 brawler mechs, the atlas and the 2x phract.
The phract can fit a 280engine, AC20 4t, 2 srm6 (or 4s+artemis, I guess) 3t (2t then), 3medlas. It can fit max armor except maybe the arm (I brought it down to 35 instead of 44 - can be tinkererd with) with only 1laser, and the legs. If it underarmors its legs into the low 30's, I can fit 13DHS. If it doesn't want to gamble that, 12. Or it can get rid of the 3rd ton of srm ammo (which is unnecessary with srm4/art, and optional even with 2srm6 anyway) and opt for 13-14. All this, at 64(71)kph.
I like my Atlas fast these days. 350 engine = 56 (62) kph. AC20 4t, 2srm4+art, 2LL. Max armor torsos, 44 in arms (low for an atlas, yes, but I've never lost an arm alone on an atlas), 51 in legs. 17 DHS. So, much better heat management than a phract, more range potential with the LL's, but slower.
Highlander, I see 2 engine possibilities in mind. 300 (54/59) or 325 (58/64), so more or less comparable to fast atlas. The default AC20 variant has a 2 medlas/LRM20/srm6, so it depends how they split the hardpoints for that (probably 3 missiles at least - I wonder if they'll give more laser slots, come on it's a bloody assault!).
For a moment, let's give it the phract loadout on a 325. AC20, 2srm4art, 3medlas. Max armor, except 53 on the legs, 16 DHS, 2 JJ's. At the loss of 7kph. From what I've seen, highlanders are very tank-able. They have great armor, and the JJ's make them very maneuverable for an assault, which means they can spread damage even more, and thus can be very survivable (more than an atlas? maybe). So, compared to a phract, the 'fast' highlander looks like it can be a viable build = better heat management, more armor, JJ's, at the cost of 7kph. It can be an acceptable trade.
Against an atlas, though, the main difference is the JJ's, otherwise it'd just feel like a poor man's atlas. The 2kph speed difference is negligeable. Atlas has more armor, and 2 LLs instead of 3 medlas. More longrange potential, slightly more damage, so not necessarily a *massive* difference. More armor (though not actually true of the arms on my fast atlas vs the max armor highlander), but the JJ's in the highlander might make up for it. 17 vs 16 DHS.
If I bring down the engine to 300, I can fit AC20, 2LL, 2srm4art. But, I have to remove a heatsink (15) and a bit of armor (50 to the legs, 55 to the arms instead of 60). This is the same loadout as a fast atlas, minus 2 heatsinks, but adding in 2 JJs. Mind you, this actually goes 3kph SLOWER than the bloody atlas.
One thought comes to mind. What about an XL? It's a death wish on an atlas, or pretty much any brawler. On the other hand, it makes 2AC20 jager cheese builds viable (extreme firepower at a great gamble, given their very obvious weakness). Zap "Deathtrap Bridge" Truder is telling me that brawling in an XL heavy metal is actually pretty doable, since the JJ's help spread out the damage. So testing this out, putting an XL325 (don't think it'd work with XL300, you'd run out of critical spaces because of endosteel), with AC20/2srm4art/2LL, I'm already out of critical spaces with 15DHS and 6 tons left. So XL means forgoing endosteel. With an XL325, I can have AC20/2srm4art/2LL, 16 DHS and 1/2ton left. I can give it back the 1/2 ton I've stripped off it before, or remove another 1/2 ton for a 17th DHS. If I do the latter, I can do an atlas build, but with an XL, except I have 2 JJ's........ which seems like a big gamble just for JJ's, especially given the insignificant speed diff. XL300 without endo gives me 5 ton spare with the same weapon loadout at 15DHS. So I can fit AC20/2srm4art/3LL 15 DHS, or AC20/3srm4art(3t ammo then)/2LL + 16DHS. These loadouts give me actually *more* weapons than the fast atlas, but is actually *slower*, and less DHS (more weapons, less DHS - a winning combination!). It seems like I'd still prefer brawling without the XL. With the XL, it still seems like the gauss/3LL sniping combo would work better, which seems pretty popular with the heavy metals these days. The biggest advantage the XL may confer is the needed tonnage to add extra JJs.
I didn't intend to write a novel, heh.
Though, with the highlander, I might just decide to bring my atlas back to a lower engine (300 no endo, I guess - 325+endo = no space left -- 325 no endo = no tonnage left)