Marauder II

The best build for this variant, and the most unique build it can run. You get one of the largest laser alphas available to an IS mech, though it must be staggered into two volleys. Thanks to an HSL quirk, this build can fire 5+3 for improved frontloading compared to a standard 4+4 alpha. This build will out-trade almost anything else within its optimal range.

This build is a viable alternative to the LE build, trading speed for the ability to not send your heat through the roof for the rest of the match once you lose a side torso, preferably your left.

This can alpha despite ghost heat, and with enough DHS and a heat quirk you can afford to do so quite often to win trades - the short burn duration is what makes this build strong.

A solid build archetype that has stood the test of time, with its main niche being dumping extremely high burst DPS when combined with its laser duration quirk. Slightly slower then what could be considered optimal, but the extra durability of the STD engine is well worth the loss of speed in most scenarios. Changing the engine to an LE is of course an optional upgrade for those who value speed above all else

Decent long-range specialist, but with only three of six lasers in high mounts, this mech needs to expose quite a bit to fire all weapons. Jumpjets help it navigate terrain more easily than many of its competitors, but it's considerably heavier than, and not really competitive with, established long-range favorites like the Battlemaster and Stalker. This is primarily due to lacking a range quirk that most of the best sniping mechs possess.

This is the primary build that the MAD-4HP is known for, and by a significant margin its most effective build. General gameplay is to shoot the left side, and then the right side, but due to the excellent convergence and mounts that all of its missile hardpoints have, the order you fire doesn't matter much, just don't ever alpha strike!

Slightly a one-trick build, with high heat, no benefit from the SRM range quirk present on the 'mech, and forced lock on. However, its burst DPS is still extremely high and you effectively cannot miss with this mech, which allows it to pulverize mechs up to 60 tons in one-on-one duels. However, you watch your heat bar if you have to manage multiple targets since you lack the precision to bore through multiple people per heat bar!

This alpha is free of ghost heat. Remember that the MRMs aren't enough damage to trade with as an assault, so try to get only into situations where you can abuse the rate of fire of the SRMs. When you are heatcapped, use the SRMs because they are vastly more accurate.

This build is one of the main hallmarks of the MAD-6S variant. Capable of outputting a whopping 54 pinpoint damage at close range, with good heat and cooldown rates to sustain damage output, as long as you can clear both your arms and land your shots, enemy mechs will explode very fast.

This build isn't a paragon of DPS or sustained damage output. It's not even particularly effective at long range. But the ability of this mech to continually rattle off 40 pinpoint alphas, with acceptable heat management thanks to a total of -15% heat means that it still hits like an absolute truck even past 1km distance, with a lower profile and no gauss charge compared to the similarly pinpoint focused MAD-4L.
Its ability to pack 3 JJs combined with its JJ quirks and the JJ skills means it actually poptarts quite effectively, for a 100 ton behemoth with relatively low mounts.

This build is a slight rehash of the primary 4 ERPPC + JJs build, trading away whatever poptart ability the 'mech had and a tiny bit of speed, for a standard engine, and an extra DHS.

The primary claim to fame of this variant. 50 pinpoint with no ghost heat out to obscene ranges, and with solid DPS and sustain thanks to some very generous quirks. It's extremely straightforward to play, but you do need to keep in mind the fairly poor convergence due to having all your weapons spread across the mech. This can make getting the full 50 pinpoint very difficult on small flying targets, or even some larger flying targets too.

While this build on the surface appears to be largely inferior to the tried and true classic of 2 Gauss + 2 ERPPC's, the reality is that at mid ranges it vastly exceeds the damage output of that build, while coming close to matching its pinpoint. This is greatly aided by the ECM that this variant carries.

A long-range DPS-trade hybrid, with low mounts which means this build needs to present and try to assert dominance. This lacks the DPS and sustain of pure AC2 boats, and lacks the trade quality of pure trade assaults. However, ECM helps you to sustain fire for long enough to make an impact on the match.

Quad RAC2 does indeed have ghost heat, but with enough heatsinks you can just ignore it. Fire all four for decent mid-range burst potential, and you can drop to firing three when heatcapped if you really need the extra sustain.

Missing an ERPPC and a not-insignificant amount of its firepower, this build relies on "abusing" the fact that stealth armor renders you un-targetable under most situations to allow more aggressive flank positioning

The most effective build for this slightly maligned variant. It does have high burst and high DPS, but equally high heat and too short range to really be comfortable to use. Make sure to always shield the right side of your 'mech, much like playing a giant Marauder.

Solid alpha, high durability, and good sustain make this build solid, but nothing more.

It's a Boar's Head with worse quirks, but a lower profile, and the obvious benefit of being able to deadside with ease.

This build is the pinnacle of Quad UAC based burst builds on this variant, maximizing optimized burst damage out to mid-range. If you see an enemy, warm up your mouse hand and get ready to mash your fire button until you heat cap or your enemy dies, usually the latter.

This build maximizes the ranged burst damage that this variant is capable of while utilizing all 4 ballistics. It will run hot when pressed, so while skilling it, perhaps drop to 1 ERPPC only and add more ammo or heatsinks to taste. Otherwise, get ready to start mashing your fire buttons and farming damage.

Brawl-centric build with some extra range thanks to well-quirked UAC10s. MRMs will need to be close to be truly effective, but let you farm some early damage when needed. This will heat-cap rapidly, leaving you with two quirked UAC10s to fall back on, but the burst DPS up to that cap is solid.