Description[ | ]
The 2T Vulcan is a curious ‘Mech that's designed primarily for Support attacks but also mounts an AC/2 - one of the longest range weapons available. Mechwarriors normally ditch it in favor of more armor or different weaponry that complements the Vulcan’s close-quarter strengths.
Loadouts[ | ]
- This Mech (and its other variant, the -5T) has a unique, permanently-fixed CQC Suite in the center torso that takes up two slots, and grants a staggering +10 Defense against enemy melee attacks and grants the Vulcan's own Support-class weapons +90m range.
- True to Yang's description, getting rid of the AC/2 is a near-required first step for a reasonable loadout.
- This mech is a fast, low-weight medium that is easiest to compare to the Firestarter: it has the same speed and maximum jump range, very slightly more armor potential and structure health, and a 2-ton increase in maximum payload (meaning it still has higher weight capacity even with the extra armor weight). Detailed comparison as follows:
- The Firestarter has substantially more hardpoints of both types, 6 Energy, 6 Support, to the VL-2T's 1 Energy 4 Support; and is classed as a Light mech, meaning it moves in the first phase of Initiative and has an extra +2 Defense against all attacks over the Vulcan.
- The VL-2T, as stated above, slightly beats the Firestarter in payload and Armor+Structure HP. The biggest difference to recommend the Vulcan over the FS9-H is the CQC Suite: for direct damage, the Vulcan's range boost to Support weapons turn Small Lasers into slightly shorter-range half-weight Medium Lasers, offsetting Small Lasers' primary drawback; and allowing them to terrorize high-evasion mechs from substantially longer range (very useful in the early game, if you receive a Vulcan in your Heavy Metal bonus crate). For critical hits or keeping heat low, Machine Guns enjoy the same huge increase in usability. Upgraded zero-weight Machine Guns free enough tonnage for an Energy weapon of substance in the single hardpoint; the Snub PPC is a standout here.
- Perhaps the biggest implication is that, for a mech of this size, Evasion is key to keeping it alive, but Melee attacks ignore Evasion, making melee the hard-counter to this type of mech. The CQC Suite's enormous Defense bonus makes the Vulcan near-immune to melee attacks, allowing it to jump-backstab or surprise-melee with near-impunity.
- So the comparison and choice between them boils down to firepower and initiative, for the Firestarter; or survivability, for the Vulcan.
Strategy[ | ]
Get as close as possible and put all those support weapons to good use. Given its low tonnage and accordingly low armor capacity, keeping its evasion high and preferably using a pilot with evasive skills is necessary to keep it alive against larger mechs.