

Similar to the FS9-A, this has eight energy hardpoints and thus can run almost all the same builds identically, making it a strong and versatile variant. This is a borderline meme build - the exceedingly slow speed makes you a very vulnerable to be caught out - you can't play it like a light mech, you have to team up with heavier mechs and play such that they are always the focus of the enemies' attention before you expose yourself. Instead of exposing to the enemy frequently and having to fire multiple times before reaching heat cap, this build instead expends all its damage and heat in one single volley, so you don't have to expose to the enemy as often to deal your peak DPS. Like an IS version of the Cougar, this is a silly build which plays to the Firestarters' main weakness - being a large target. The FS9-A has half its hardpoints in the torso which protects them from being lost due to fragile-arm-syndrome.

This is the most versatile and arguably best variant, with eight energy like the FS9-K. Both heroes are hybrid MG boats which tend to play a little differently than most other Firestarter builds. Early in 2021 the Firestarter was given a substantial agility buff that brought it back from extinction and restored its position as the strongest and most versatile light mech in the game with the help of assorted weapon buffs.Īll Firestarters except the heroes are very similar in terms of hardpoints, being energy boats with only minor differentiation in quirks.


With the addition of some weapon and quirk nerfs, it remained absolutely useless for several years with the Wolfhound taking its place due to the Wolfhounds superior agility and durability quirks. It's worth mentioning the history of the Firestarter - going into 2016 this was the best light in the game by far, but then rescale and engine desync killed it by making it absolutely huge and sluggish, thus way too fragile to do its job. Like all other light mechs, when in doubt: always XL. If you are frequently dying early because of XL in this mech, then you are not playing it well enough and you will probably die similarly due to the Light Engine penalties anyways. The large side torsos make Light Engine builds tempting for the increased survivability, but very few builds are adequate when using Light Engine - the loss in speed and firepower is not worth some protection against fluke instant deaths. Overall it is the strongest light mech in the game with a good blend of speed, agility, durability, jumpjets, firepower, and versatility. It is a rather large mech with easily isolated hitboxes, but a combination of adequate agility stats and durability quirks offsets this disadvantage. The Firestarter is a traditional light that focuses on mobility and boating many lightweight weapons in order to brawl and skirmish.
