Build of the week - "The Gunslinger" WVR-6R

My relationship with the Wolverines progressed in a weird succession. I bought one after they came out for C-Bills, thinking it was a better Griffin. It looked like as Arnold would put it: "One, ugly, motherf**ker". After a lot of suffering and pain, I got them to work as SRM brawlers, especially the 7K was really good at it with its SRM launchers placed neatly on its shoulders neatly like books on a shelf. Though, I had the feeling that the 'Mech was a bit too bulky for its tonnage and even though its torso hitboxes spread damage like a champ, I felt that it still attracted more fire than it should.

After that, I bought a Griffin and never looked back. Slim, sleek and fast with no apparent weaknesses other than having a laser arm that is easily lost. Still, no big deal as the Wolverine also has similar hardpoint placement. With that, the Wolverines were left to gather dust in my Mechbay, occasionaly taken out for some experimental STD engine SRM brawler builds.

Recently I got bored of playing heavies and assaults and was looking for another challenge in the medium bracket. So went ahead and bought a SHD-2D for brawling, but I haven't had a great time with it which I'll probably touch upon in another post to find out why. After the disappointment, I remembered about the Wolverine 6R. This 'Mech is very similar to the 2D with its 1B 3M 1E layout, minus 2E hardpoints. Should I give it another try?

6R is unique in the sense that it's the only Wolverine with a ballistic hardpoint. It's also the only ballistic alternative to a Shadowhawk in the 55 tonner bracket. This doesn't automatically make it a popular 'Mech though, as the Shadowhawk not only offers more ballistic hardpoints but it also mounts them in its torso and pretty high. This leaves the 6R in the "Centurion dilemma", do you risk committing so much tonnage on a ballistic weapon and risk losing it early, or do you forgo the ballistic weapon and bank on SRMs? If you bank on SRMs, 7K or a Griffin is absolutely superior.

TL;DR Starts here
Its weakness is also its advantage though, with a fully articulated arm you don't need to stare at your target like a SHD. This means better drive-bys, "clutch shots" and a healthier torso. It also has a pretty significant quirk for its torso twist speed. With tese in mind, this build appeared:

It has an AC10, 3xSRM4s and  an ML with supported by an XL280, 3xJJs and 3 tons of ammo for each weapon. As with almost any other medium brawler, the XL engine is necessary to pack a big punch while having the speed to quickly disengage from unfavourable engagements —a perk most heavies and assaults lack.

AC10 and 3xSRM4 combo gives a combined 34 damage per salvo every three seconds. That's enough time to comfortably evade and twist between each shot. Just like the Centurion, you really need to keep that ballistic arm attached as much as possible though. Try to rotate counter-clockwise during brawls and use your shield arm to soak damage. What I try to do is, I try to stay back a bit during the initial stages of every match and use about 10-15 rounds of AC just peeking in and out. That way you can guarantee even if you lose the arm, you still get to use some of the damage potential with it.

What this thing does the best is, just getting up to the face of an opponent and tearing components apart with that 34 point damage salvo. Apart from your arms, Wolverines also tank well with their legs with or without jumpjetting. This is a curse as much as it's a blessing though, a few AC20 rounds to your legs in early round pretty much guarantees a legging later on.

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About Rak

I'm an engineer who likes to write extremely long articles about games that border simulation and mainstream.