







This has got to be one of the most badass looking designs from PGI, it looks like a love child of a father Victor and mother Atlas. I don't think you could cram more intimidation into a light mech. What we know about the Ember are these:

4E(LA-RA) and 4B(LT-RT) hardpoint layout

As fast as a Jenner

Jumpjets(6 rumoured?)

No ECM on this variant That's a whopping 8 hardpoints on a light, perfectly utilizable thanks to MG's, ML's or SL's. This mech is also everything I wanted Spider-5K to be, a self-sufficient MG light with enough firepower to punch in through armor by itself rather than relying on its team for damage. When the armor is breached, MG's will put out an insane DPS thanks to the crits. This mech should be a perfect killer, diving into brawls, critting the heck out of a component and getting out relatively unscratched.





To those scoffing at MG's, you really should know that when you have >2 MG's, they become exponentially devastating. Take the Spider-5K(C) for a spin and go for mechs with open internals, or take the BLR-1D with 3xMG's and tear down bigger mechs in brawls.











The facts on paper aren't everything though, how does it look? Here's a size comparison between a Jenner, Firestarter and a Spider:

The profile looks very good. I can guarantee the arms will get shot off very often, but thanks to the width of the arms, the torso is even slimmer than the Spider's. That means that targeting a specific component will be very hard and it will be very survivable thanks to a lot of armor crammed into a very small volume. Being a 35 tonner, the protection should also be decent and the huge arms will block off most of the incoming damage before they inevitably fall off. Even after they fall off, a 4xMG zombie isn't that bad to work with. Its legs seem quite slim and shouldn't be a bullet magnet like the Locust's and Raven's legs. Overall, this should be a very survivable mech.





It just bothers me that this might be just too good. If the hitboxes aren't screwed(legs/CT), then this will replace most of the Jenners/Spiders/Commandos on the field. It might also replace some of the Ravens since there is an ECM variant in lore, although this variant doesn't have M hardpoints so it can't play the ECM+Streak light hunter role. Having more choice is good, but look at what the Shadowhawk did to the medium bracket.



Possible starter loadout? You could do 4ML+4MG+2T ammo+6JJ+XL300+1DHS with full armor. I'll possibly sacrifice a bit of speed for more MG ammo and DHS though.





Anyways, I'm seriously considering picking it up tonight after the patch. I'll see you on the battlefield(and hopefully my stream)! Meanwhile, I'll be listening to this

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

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We already knew a new "controversial" light mech was on its way for months and no, it wasn't a Flea. It was hinted in an NGNG podcast by Bryan that it was a 35 tonner mech in humanoid form and the consensus was that it was a Firestarter, and it is a Firestarter indeed. Just look at this beauty: