Been a little bit but I got another one for ya.

Specifically, it's in regards to trying to "maximize" the Core Power of a frame that I've been using in a game and found it was a bit counterproductive to the build I was going for: the SSC Death's Head. Its Marked for Death can be pretty powerful, but you have to spend a full action targeting someone before you can shoot.

I was going for a Sniper build and my biggest gun was - as one might guess - an Ordnance weapon so it'd be a two-turn setup to take aim and then fire. Which... does indeed do a big number, but the build was set up so that firing every round would do about as much damage anyway. Which led to my thought - how would I set up a Death's Head to have the most attacks per round to really hit home with MFD?

---

Barrage Boat

The Resources

• Castor & Pollux
• Field Guide to Suldan

The Build

-- SSC Death’s Head @ LL12 --
[ LICENSES ]
  SSC Death’s Head 2, SSC MICROMONARCH 1, IPS-N WORDEN 2,
  HA Barbarossa 1, HORUS Pegasus 3, HA Sherman 3
[ CORE BONUSES ]
  Neurolink Targeting, Improved Armament,
  Integrated Weapon, Integrated Ammo Feeds
[ TALENTS ]
  Gunslinger 3, Stormbringer 3, Grease Monkey 3,
  Heavy Gunner 3, Nuclear Cavalier 2, WASTEBORN 1
[ STATS ]
  HULL:2 AGI:0 SYS:6 ENGI:6
  STRUCTURE:4 HP:18 ARMOR:0
  STRESS:4 HEATCAP:12 REPAIR:3
  TECH ATK:+6 LIMITED:+5
  SPD:5 EVA:10 EDEF:14 SENSE:20 SAVE:16
[ WEAPONS ]
  INTEGRATED WEAPON: Govardhana Micromissiles
  FLEX MOUNT: Autogun
  MAIN/AUX MOUNT: Sticky Launcher / Govardhana Micromissiles
  HEAVY MOUNT: Teen Baan Missiles
[ SYSTEMS ]
  MASS Pack, Siege Stabilizers, Hunter Lock,
  ASURA-Class NHP x6, Redundant Systems Upgrade x6

The Breakdown

I read somewhere that the best use for a Death's Head is as a Launcher platform, so I went for that as a base for this build. The SSC Micromonarch gives access to some good Aux and Heavy Launchers, and the Suldan splatbook actually gives access to a nice GMS Main Launcher in the MC-AML Anti-Armor Missile Launcher that can be used until (or completely in place of) the Worden's Sticky Launcher. The Worden also gives access to the Mass Pack, which allows for some utility to the Launchers on top of most of them being able to do some multi-target suppression on top of firing together on something Marked for Death.

The two things I ended up aiming for here was an Integrated Weapon and an Autogun on a Flex Mount to add two more attacks during a round to potentially add more Marked for Death damage on crits. So that meant leaning into the HORUS Pegasus again for three levels, but that also gives access to Hunter Lock to add that little bit more damage each round.

A dip into Barbarossa for Siege Stabilizers since we'll be Immobilized anyway to add five more range to all the attacks along with Neurolink Targeting's bonus three, and then I rounded out the last three levels with something a bit self-indulgent. The HA Sherman specifically gives us access to the ASURA-Class NHP, which gives a free full action once a scene. Which - in my mind, anyway - would be used to be able to activate the Core Power without losing a turn... or at least getting all the setup done in one.

Big thing shows up? Asura, Mark for Death, Hunter Lock, and Siege Stabilizers. Autogun and Integrated Micromissiles fire at the end of the turn, and then every subsequent turn you can fire everything. Could even Overcharge on that first turn to Lock-On the target as well... or just Skirmish with the Main/Aux for more attempts for MFD procs. Plus start trying to get your heat up to Danger Zone for Nuclear Cavalier bonus damage.

Something unique to this build compared to all the others I've done, though, is... there's no real set-in-stone HASE setup. With what I have equipped, you would "need" full Systems to also run the Redundant Systems Upgrade but that's just a bonus for dipping into the Sherman. There's nothing saying you can't drop it and have six Skill Points to go elsewhere. Engineering is also just maxed out to allow as many uses as possible of that system and the Micromissiles, but it could very easily be trimmed down and put into some Hull or Agility instead.

And if you're not using the Redundant Systems for Quick-Stabilize, mixing up the Grease Monkey and Wasteborn talents for something else is also an option. They're still nice so that even normal Stabilizes basically clear everything, but there's nothing saying you can't grab some other talents that better fit what you want to do. And that honestly goes for al l the other talents too, since none of them are core to the build itself.

Honestly, if you use the GMS launcher I mentioned earlier, you could have most of the build effectively in place by LL6. Just go Death's Head 2, Micromonarch, then Pegasus for 3. The only thing you'd be missing is the Integrated Weapon for the bonus Micromissile, but that's a GMS Core Bonus so there's no license requirements for that. So that's six license levels you can do whatever you'd like to give the build your own unique twist.

Considering how I usually overthink a full LL12 build, it's kind of neat to have one that's pretty much where you'd want it to be comparatively early on versus the others. But what are your thoughts? Are there some better Launcher options out there? Is the Sherman a bit too indulgent? I'm curious to hear your thoughts.