Last Updated: 14-May-2016

It’s time for a bigg’un. The Shadowhawk.

Overview

Thinking about the Shadowhawk can be kind of sad, because it used to be absolutely incredible and ridiculously fun. It has since been indirectly hurt by nerfs and changes to the metagame and its usefulness and popularity has declined as a result. Still, it has stayed strong as a very balanced and versatile medium mech, serving as a model example of good balance, in my opinion.

The Shadowhawk has one of the highest amount of variants in the game, but only a few remain relevant. The most meta-appropriate and reliable variant has got to be the SHD-2K due to its three high energy mounts, but it might not wow you. In comparison, the SHD-2D2 is one of the most powerful brawler mediums in the game, but is a bit hit and miss in terms of actual effectiveness. Next up, we have the SHD-5M, which gets 2 high mounted ballistic hardpoints and a 30% UAC jam chance quirk that make it one of the best medium dakka mechs in the game. And right up with that is the SHD-2H, which ends up getting built much differently, but still has that dakka playstyle and the two are pretty evenly matched (though I give the edge to the SHD-5M). The Gray Death is a decent skirmishy-style mech which has a solid lead on the SHD-2D, but neither end up being on the same level as the first 4.

Chassis-Wide Information

Strengths

Good hitboxes, some of the best of the Inner Sphere 55 tonners. It has a slim profile, a somewhat glitchy jumpjet animation, and its limbs are sized well for shielding and avoiding getting legged.

Missile hardpoints are clustered relatively close to one another, and the LT mounts (energy on the 2K and ballistic on the rest) are very high, with the only poorly mounted weapons being the energies in the arms – though even these are better than many of the alternatives.

It’s very maneuverable thanks to a high engine cap (though you rarely want to mount such a large engine) and the ability to mount jumpjets, giving it a clear advantage over many of its medium alternatives.

Weaknesses

There is very little exceptional about the chassis since the introduction of quirks. It’s still a very solid mech, but it hardly got any quirks, and the ones it did get were very limited, and so it has fallen out of favor for mechs like the Blackjack and Griffin, making it a victim of the whole “jack of all trades, master of none” shtick.

Though the mech has been given quirks (for a while, it was one of the few without any), they’re not on the level of its competitors, which really hurts its viability.

It doesn’t quite fit the current meta well, which tends to emphasize mid-range burst damage rather than the more traditional medium tactics. Though, with the meta subtly shifting to dakka, it could find itself positioned well.

Generic Tips

While your jumpjet animation is not nearly the worst in the game, it still is a bit wonky – as such, you should remember to tap your jumpjets when you’re trying to avoid fire.

Avoid exposing yourself when the enemy is watching your general area, and expose as little of yourself as possible. There are many mechs in the current meta which can get away with staying in the open and just laying down fire, but the Shadowhawk is not one of them. Generally, you’ll want to use your high mounts and jumpjets to poke for as long as reasonable before using your maneuverability to survive and do damage for the rest of the round.

Builds

If you’re not familiar with my Inner Sphere Master Guides, each pretty much follows the same formula. Each variant gets its own section; within that section I try to include at least two main builds, each with a few variations on the core principle (if applicable).

Each build has one paragraph about the build itself – going over anything I feel is relevant to understanding it such as quirks, tonnage issues, how it fits the meta, my general feeling about it…just whatever. And then there’s a paragraph about using the build, going over tactics, tips, and whatever I feel is relevant to that, including links to L2P guides, on occasion.

I may miss a build that you like, or my builds may differ slightly from what you find works best for you because our philosophies may differ – I strongly encourage that you experiment for yourself to see what works best for you.

The modules are listed in order of which one is most important and the consumables I’ve listed are the ones that are generally the best, but while leveling the mech you may want to swap the less important consumable out for a UAV. That is, if you can afford to use consumables at all (they aren’t necessary, just nice, and if you’re low on C-Bills they’re not necessarily worth it).

On with it!

SHD-2K

The SHD-2K has a trio of energy hardpoints mounted up high, but quirks stop it from being fantastic. It gets 5% to energy heat gen and cooldown and 20% to PPC velocity, but these are pretty tiny and the rest of the offensive quirks come out as 10% to missile cooldown and velocity. It does get a bit of extra structure across the CT, side torsos, and legs, but only around a 25% bonus.

Build 1:

Large Pulse

The basic notion behind this build should be pretty easy to recognize. The trio of Large Pulse lasers has worked well on mechs in every tonnage slot between 45 and 65 tons, so it’s not exactly surprising that it works on a mech with 3 high mounts. The main issue is that it doesn’t have any of the range quirks that are rewarded to its competition, and and its other quirks aren’t enough to compensate as we’ve seen on the QKD-4G. But then again…it does have the speed that its competition tends to lack.

For the most part, this should play like any other Large Pulse boat in the game (particularly the BJ-3). What this means is that you get to hill hump from around 400-600 meters over and over, blasting your target each time and farming up the damage. Feel free to reposition if you start losing trades, and maybe do a bit of poptart-style play while you’re at it. For more on this style of play, check out the Laser Vomit Guide.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: Large Pulse Range, Large Pulse Cooldown

Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike

STD Version

This version of the build loses the Xl to pick up some actual durability, allowing you to hard shield with your right side. The issue is the you drop 20 KPH in the process, and that really makes a difference.

ER Large Version

If you find yourself running into range issues, it’s worth trying this out. It used to be one of the stronger mechs of its type, but it’s still pretty good.

Weapon Modules: ER Large Range, ER Large Cooldown

Hybrid Version

It works decently at long and short ranges, but its lack of a specialty necessarily compromises its effectiveness in either case.

Weapon Modules: Large Pulse Range, Large Pulse Cooldown

Build 2:

Brawler

This build is optimized for short range brawl sessions, . Though it does end up having to run an XL, it has the speed and jumpjets to get in and out of fights with ease, as well as high enough mounts to get some actual pokes in at short range. Plus. It has enough heat sinks to sustain its SRMs pretty much indefinitely.

You only want to expose yourself to the enemy when they are close, but when they are in range you do better at poking than most other brawlers do. Don’t be afraid to poptart at around 200 meters, where you can slam them with your relatively high-mounted SRMs from mid-air and usually take minimal damage in return. You can also peek with your lasers within optimal range and avoid most return fire if the enemy isn’t already looking your way. And of course, once the fight breaks out, you can operate as a typical brawler, but try to stick to your SRMs so that you don’t get too hot – using your lasers on resting heat or when there’s a week component that needs to be finished off right now. Try to roll damage as much as possible, and just keep shooting..

Mech Modules: Seismic Sensor, Radar Deprivation

Weapon Modules: SRM6 Cooldown, Med Pulse Range

Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike

STD Version

Using an XL in a brawl can be a risky proposition, and as such you may find this build to be more to your taste. This means sacrificing some speed and damage, but whether it’s worth doing is up to you.

Weapon Modules: SRM4 Cooldown, Medium Laser Range

Honorable Mentions

PPC Poptart

This is one of my old favorites, but it’s not what it once was. The ghost heat does hurt it pretty badly (unlike the ERLL version), and that combined with the jumpjet heat means that you don’t get to shoot as often or as effectively as you’d like. Still, it’s good at pinpoint front-loaded damage (PPFLD), and there’s a quirk for it so I wanted to include it. For more on this style of play, check out the Poptarting Guide.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: PPC Range, PPC Cooldown

Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike

LRM Boat

Well, this one’s more of a dishonorable mention…

Mech Modules: Target Decay, Radar Deprivation

Weapon Modules: LRM10 Cooldown, Medium Laser Range

Consumables: Cool Shot, Air Strike

SHD-2D2

This variant is the main one to find a niche in comp, even if it’s a bit weaker than the SHD-2K in PUGs. Offensively, it gets 5% to ballistic cooldown, 10% to ballistic velocity, 10% to energy and missile cooldown, 5% to missile heat gen, and 10% to missile velocity. So really, it’s just a bunch of teeny quirks that have the effect of making its weapons overall a bit better than on other mechs. It also gets about 25% structure across the board, which is nice.

Brawler

This is an incredibly potent short-range build, limited by poor options for ammo placement and a low top speed. But even with these disadvantages, the DPS is straight up worth it. No other medium can tear enemy mechs apart quite like this one, and you aren’t quite limited to pure brawling.

You definitely don’t want to trade with the AC/10 (you’ll lose every time), but you can get off a few cheeky shots while you cross open ground or if the enemy’s looking away. That being said, you want to focus on avoiding taking damage whenever you’re not able to use your full complement of weapons. This means that in the early stages of the fight, any aggressive movements should be centered around picking off isolated targets or just getting into a position where you can shoot at the enemy team with your full alpha. Once full engagement does start, feel free to get in there and tear it up.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: SRM4 Cooldown, AC/10 Cooldown

Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike

LBX Version

Personally, I haven’t found a really compelling reason to use this build over the AC/10 one (crits and a bit of extra speed don’t quite make up for the spread), but it’s worth a go, and it was the first version that I tried.

Weapon Modules: SRM4 Cooldown, LBX 10 Cooldown

Honorable Mentions

It’s really just the one build with a good use on the SHD-2D2, but there’s a few others that are doable but maybe work better on a different variant, or it’s noteworthy without being (currently) good.

Poptart-ish

Oh man, back in the day this thing was amaaaazing. Cramming a 30 points of PPFLD onto a medium mech with jumpjets?! That was the dream, baby. Today, it just doesn’t work as well. You get killed a lot faster, the jumpjets don’t do nearly as much for you, and you’re relatively slow too. It can still work though, with a focus on left-sided corner-peeking, and 30 points exactly where you want it to go is pretty fun. But…the SHD-2D and Gray Death both do it better.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: AC/20 Cooldown, PPC Cooldown

Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike

LRM Hybrid

It doesn’t seem great, but it does seem kinda cute. Just keep popping off Gauss shots at long range, and firing LRMs whenever possible.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: Gauss Cooldown, LRM5 Cooldown

Consumables: Artillery Strike, UAV

SHD-5M

This variant is one of my current favorites, because it has my favorite quirk in the game – a 30% reduction to UAC Jam Chance. It’s also got 10+10% cooldown for UAC/5s, 10% to ballistic velocity and energy cooldown, and 15% to laser duration. That all goes with the 25% extra structure and some actual mobility quirks! 10% to turn rate and 35% to torso twist speed.

Build 1:

Dakka

It has high mounts, it has the maximum number of UACs you can jam on a mech of its tonnage (at least, an IS mech), and some crazy awesome quirks for those weapons on top of all that. And it gets away with all of those things without using an XL engine. Though honestly, I would if I could, but I can’t. But a STD250 is absolutely in the realm of “good enough”, the ammo is adequate, and it even has a couple of jumpjets. It’s just a really solid build all-around.

When playing this, you want to find a ridge of some sort that you can keep just peek over with your left shoulder before spewing your hot loads all over the enemy robots. Smash the hell out of the trigger and make sure that you’re leading appropriately, and you might find greatness in this machine. If the battle gets super pokey and you’re getting out-traded, you can always switch into pseudo-poptart mode, jump sniping with your UACs and maybe getting a couple shots off with each pop. Feel free to shield with your RT for as long as it lasts, and have fun.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: UAC/5 Cooldown, UAC/5 Range

Consumables: Artillery Strike, UAV

Build 2:

Dakka Poptart

This is my best result for creating a quirk-optimized old-meta SHD-5M that works reasonably well today. This style was all the rage before Clans hit, but nowadays it’s…sort of viable. You’ll find yourself running into issues with ammo, with jumpjets, and even heat…but it’s still quite interesting. The build is a sort of hybrid between full-on poptarting and hill-humping with dakka, which definitely holds a certain appeal today. Problem is, the dakka is sub-par and a 20-point alpha isn’t anything worth bragging about.

Most of the time, I do play this like a poptart. Ideally, you want to be jump-sniping over cover which is lower on your right side than your left, or you can just do rotations to the right while diving in and out of cover. If you’re not having success with a poptarting playstyle, you can always just sit back and dakka or corner-peek for a full alpha, but in most rounds you’ll have to use multiple styles of play for best results with this build. For more on PPFLD, check out the guide.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: AC/5 Cooldown, ER PPC Cooldown

Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike

Double PPC Version

This is definitely more of a poptart than a dakka mech, but retaining the UAC/5 does give you a decent amount of extra utility. It does kind of seem wimpy on its own up there, but you can get around 4 shots of it off per PPC alpha, making it worthwhile.

Weapon Modules: UAC/5 Cooldown, PPC Cooldown

SHD-2H

As soon as you see the 25% ballistic cooldown quirk (and 10% to velocity) for 3 hardpoints, it’s clear what this mech is good at. It does also get 10% missile velocity I suppose, but more useful is the 25% to structure, 30% to accel/decel, 20% to turn rate, and extra 15° of torso twist angle. Aaaand the extra mech module slot.

Build 1:

Dakka

It’s missing a lot of the beauty and elegance of the SHD-5M’s build, but the raw power of this is majestic. Each of them comes in about even in terms of actual DPS in game, but this one doesn’t have the unpredictable jams and can be a bit easier to handle. Plus, it technically has a larger alpha strike. Somehow, the ammo placement gets even hairier here than on the SHD-5M, but that kind of can’t be helped.

Playing the build is pretty typical as far as dakka goes – sit in a position where you can peek over cover and fire constantly at enemy mechs. If the enemy starts shooting back, back off and find a new place to sit and shoot enemy mechs. And if there’s any sort of engagement going on, you can get way more aggressive – your dakka can pretty much take mechs out of the fight as they’ll have to either turn to engage you or just die. Usually both. Stay mobile and keep up the DPS, and you’ll do great.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor, Target Info Gathering

Weapon Modules: AC/5 Cooldown, AC/5 Range

Consumables: Artillery Strike, UAV

AC/5 Version (“Trident”)

This is definitely a bit of a silly build, but it’s surprisingly good. The quirks, modules, and pilot skills up your DPS to 15+, and you’ll pretty much never run into heat issues with that, and you’ll have great range, and it’s all amazing. Unfortunately, you move slower than most Assault mechs and you’re really squishy.

AC/2 Version (“Pitchfork”)

This gives up a lot of DPS coming from the main dakka build (hell, coming from the Trident build), but it is fast and delivers AC/2 shells with unparalleled speed and voracity. Worth a go.

Weapon Modules: AC/2 Range

Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike

Pitchfork with a Large Laser

If 3 AC/2s is just baby mode to you, throw in a big ol’ honkin laser. You get pretty hot, pretty quickly, but it’s probably worth it to be honest.

Weapon Modules: AC/2 Range

Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike

Honorable Mentions

Brawler

Putting the 25% ballistic cooldown to good use. The velocity quirks for missiles and ballistics don’t hurt none either. The result is an incredibly devestating brawler, which fires an AC/20 and 3 SRM4s every 2 and a half seconds (actually a bit faster, but hey I’ll round up). Works out to almost 20 DPS, with a STD engine and a jumpjet. Trouble is, it’s really light on ammo (17 shots for the SRMs, 21 for the AC/20), it’s more than a little hot, and it’s quite slow for a brawler. Still sexy though. In terms of actual play, it’s a lot like any other medium brawler (like the SHD-2D2). The main difference is that you’ll have to position more carefully as you can’t escape or out-maneuver as easily, and also you’ll want to be a teeny bit more liberal with your AC/20 than SRMs.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor, Target Info Gathering

Weapon Modules: AC/20 Cooldown, SRM4 Cooldown

Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike

Dakka Poptart

Basically just like the SHD-5M, but with 2 AC/5s instead of one and a UAC. Refer to the description of that build for any info, as well as the PPFLD guide.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor, Target Info Gathering

Weapon Modules: AC/5 Cooldown, ER PPC Cooldown

Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike

Gray Death

This variant seems to have been targeted at a skirmishy style of play. It gets a 10+10% cooldown quirk to AC/10s and 25% to ballistic velocity, in addition to 10% energy cooldown and 5% energy heat gen. It also gets 50% extra structure across the board (instead of the 25 that other variants get), and 20% bonus turn rate.

Build 1:

AC/10 & Large Pulse

This is a weird kind of mid-range skirmishy build that sort of defies classification, but clearly wields its own sort of power. The quirks make the AC/10 very useful in most situations, and Large Pulse Lasers are obviously going to be useful too. It’s not a revolutionary build, but it is interesting and it doesn’t suck.

Whenever possible, you’re going to be full-on poking with all your guns, using your AC/10’s DPS to suppress and Large Pulses to damage. Unfortunately, the enemy has a nasty tendency to shoot back, so you’ll have to play a bit carefully most of the time. Hill-hump for the AC/10 if that feels right, poptart when appropriate (it does sort of work with the Large Pulse Lasers), and a lot of the time you’ll be just corner-peeking. But in a full engagement, when you can just maximize DPS, go crazy. The AC/10 with quirks is worth 2 unquirked AC/5s, so when you think about it that way, the build looks incredibly tantalizing.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: AC/10 Cooldown, Large Pulse Range

Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike

PPC Version

Heat is not your friend on this one, but oh man the velocity sync up is damn near perfect. Honestly, this build is adorable and would be incredible if it just had a few more heat sinks. Which you can do, but then you lose a fair bit of speed. Try them both out, see what you like.

Weapon Modules: AC/10 Cooldown, AC/10 Range

Build 2:

AC/20 Brawler

Man, if the AC/20 & ML builds were still meta brawlers, this thing would be competitive. Sadly, neither of these things are the case. Still, you basically get a Flame with a jumpjet in a 55-ton chassis, albeit hotter and less durable. It’s not quite as useful as a brawler focused around SRMs, but it’s still one of the better options for the variant, and the quirks (25% velocity on the AC/20?!) are sick.

Play it like your typical brawler. I feel like I’ve said this a hundred times. Poke with the AC/20 if you get the chance, but if you don’t just wait, maybe flank, try to catch someone out, and pummel the enemy as much as you can. Rely on your AC/20 when you get hot, and don’t use your jumpjets too much because they’ll hurt your heat dissipation (just baby taps to throw off enemy aim). Shield with your right side hard, but if the worst should happen and your LT gets blown off first, at least you’ll have something left to shoot with.

Mech Modules: Seismic Sensor, Radar Deprivation

Weapon Modules: AC/20 Cooldown, Medium Laser Range

Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike

SHD-2D

The SHD-2D has a respectable 15% to ballistic cooldown and 10% to ballistic velocity, missile velocity, and energy cooldown. It’s also got 25% extra structure and pretty unremarkable hardpoints.

There is absolutely no reason to get this mech. Like, it’s not bad or anything, but there’s nothing really attractive about it. Very few builds run better here than on other variants, and none of those builds are fantastic options. But if you’ve already got it, or just want to be contrary…I’ll quickly go over the builds that work best here.

Build 1:

AC/30

I already talked about this build in the SHD-2D2’s section, but it is a wee bit better here. This build is a real classic, the first and best competitive Shadowhawk build, and for good reason. The 30 points of pinpoint front-loaded damage is pretty brutal, and even today after powercreep, it can intimidate many enemies. Combine those 30 points of PPFLD with the asymmetrical nature of the build, a high ballistic hardpoint, jumpjets, relatively good maneuverability with a standard engine, and all of that being mounted on a medium chassis, and you’ve got a recipe for success.

Your goal in a match is to hit the enemy with those 30 points of PPFLD as many times as possible. Your tools are your jumpjet s , your left-sided asymmetry, your high mount, and your shield side. Peeking and jumping around the upper-left side of obstacles to unload your burst and then swing left to shield should make up about 80% of everything you do in a match, with the rest being casual poking and maneuvering around the map. Make sure you hit your mark and survive and you’ll see mechs fall apart in front of your eyes.

Mech Modules: Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor

Weapon Modules: AC/20 Cooldown, PPC Cooldown

Consumables: Cool Shot, Artillery Strike

Gauss Version

You should be playing this very similarly, though with less speed and alpha and way more range. Stay further back where you’re less vulnerable, and you’ll still be able to wreck the red team hard.

Weapon Modules: Gauss Rifle Cooldown, ER PPC Cooldown

Large Pulse Laser Version

This build does give up a bit of the oompf, and as such I don’t think it’s as good, but it works well as more of a brawler.

Weapon Modules: AC/20 Cooldown, LPL Cooldown

Pilot Skills

I’ve figured that this is the best skill order for pretty much any mech, and so I’m just going to customize it for mechs that have to emphasize unusual pilot skills. The Shadowhawk, though, is very much a typical mech, so there’s nothing unusual here.

Basics: Cool Run – Heat Containment – Hard Brake – Kinetic Burst – Twist Speed – Twist X – Anchor Turn – Arm Reflex

Elites: Speed Tweak – Fast Fire – Quick Ignition – Pinpoint

Then just master it. I seriously think that every single variant is worth its salt, and if you can afford it, get them all. If not, just get the ones that stood out to you as seeming awesome in this guide. Or if you really can’t make up your mind…SHD-2K, SHD-2D2, SHD-5M, and if you really like the chassis, the SHD-2H and maybe even Gray Death are worth buying too.

_________

And that’s that. I hope you enjoy your mechs, let me know if you have any questions, and as always glhf

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