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Quickdraw QKD-4G is a Heavy-class 'Mech in Battletech.
Description
Geared for close to mid-range combat, the Quickdraw 4G's Jump Jets allow it to deftly control the battlefield. Unfortunately, the thirteen heat sinks in the 4G mean that it is difficult for pilots to bring all of the 'Mech's weapons to bear at once.
The Quickdraw can be the first heavy mech that you access. It's possible to receive a complete Quickdraw after Capture_the_Argo, though this requires remarkable luck. It's possible if you kill Grim Sybil with a headshot - then have the opportunity to receive all 3 salvage items from her mech. Since at this point in the campaign your pilots probably don't have advanced skills in called shots, this is mainly a matter of luck. If you do manage to pull this off, then you still need to work out what to do with it. It's unlikely to be a keeper.
Loadouts
- The Quickdraw-4G is strictly inferior to the Dragon, and in practice is less useful than higher-end medium mechs like the Shadow Hawk or Wolverine. While it's very fast, it has the weakest melee damage of any Heavy (and less than many mediums). Its many energy weapon slots result in ready overheating, rather than impressive damage output. Worst of all, its base initiative of 2 forces it to compete with many more powerful designs.
- Although being a 60 ton mech, the Quickdraw QKD-4G has only 13.44 tons available at full armor. This is less than the Blackjack BJ-1, which has 16.69 tons available at full armor. Both have four laser hardpoints but the QKD-4G has two missile hardpoints as opposed to two autocannon hardpoints on the BJ-1. In many ways the Quickdraw-4G isn't even a good replacement for the Blackjack BJ-1.
Strategy
- Quickdraw 4Gs are among the fastest and most maneuverable of heavy 'Mechs, with decent weaponry. They suffer from problematic heat buildup when using all their features at once, so some caution is needed.
- High speed but little armour and low initiative suggests a long-range sniper. Stripping out most of everything to add a PPC and a Large Laser alongside a Medium Laser can work.
Jumping
•Use jump jets to attack the enemy from the rear. The only way for them to hit you is with rear weapons. You also get to attack them in the rear.
•You can use jump jets to get attack multipliers to go up. That will make you harder to hit. In some cases you can even make them instantly miss!
•You are even capable of doing a dfa if you win initiative! Dfa stands for death from above. You have a base of 3 for a dfa. Their movement can make it harder to dfa them and if you have to jump towards ths enemy also will add the multiplier. If you miss the attack, you fall down, but if you sucseed, you are able to do massive damage!
•You can also hide behing partial or full cover. If you have partial cover, then you get the attack multiplier to go up. If you have full cover, then their attack misses no matter what. If you hide in level 1 water,your heat will go down. If you are in level 2 water, you have partial cover and your heat will go down fast, but any hit goes to your head. If you are in level 3 water or below, you are in full cover and your heat goes down super fast.
High speed makes this mech a good candidate for a L-COIL build. With a pilot with sure footing, the Quickdraw will consistently get a 4 evasive pips multiplier, and arm mods can boost its melee output. Keep moving toward the target and firing the COIL, then melee to cool down. With called shot mastery, you can even get some one-hit headshot kills.