Howdy everyone and welcome back to mech overview! Continuing our look at the Merc box mechs, the Starslayer is a mech mostly notable for looking goofy and being in Mech Commander 2. Originating in the same scenario pack as the Devastator, the Starslayer is a dorkus of a medium mech that ended up fading in to the background radiation of post Clan Invasion SLDF mediums, I think it looks deeply silly in the original art, and CGL did a fantastic job of salvaging the design into something properly cool looking.
Chassis
The Starslayer is a 50 ton medium mech, and it is not an omni-mech. Variants can make substantial changes, but when you have as small of a variant list as this dork does, you usually don’t get too many that do. Intended to replace the Crab, most Starslayers have a very similar role and movement profile to that much more iconic medium mech, which probably goes a long way towards explaining why it tends to not get the spotlight very often. Most have mid-grade speed, mid-grade armor, and mid-grade everything else. So, lets get into the myriad variants of this weird lopsided crab cosplayer.
Variants
These mechs have all been reviewed based on a standard F through S scale, which you can find described on our landing page here (along with all of our other ‘mech reviews, the name of the box you can buy to get any of the mechs we have covered, and our general methodology).
STY-2C
Starting us out at 1365 BV, the 2C is certainly a Crab competitor. With kinda bad armor for a 50 tonner, 5/8/5 movement speed, and a lot of guns, it is aiming for the same cavalry role that the Crab has. For guns, it carries a pair of large lasers, a pair of medium lasers, an SRM-4, and a small laser for some fucking reason. It has enough heat sinks to bracket fire pretty well, but the thin armor is a horrible issue here. 5/8/5 isn’t really high grade mobility for a 50 tonner and the 2C will regularly find itself with either mediocre TMMs or mediocre to-hit numbers on the enemy. On top of that, the thin armor is a horrible problem here, with the side torsos and arms taking crits from ER PPCs and Gauss Rifles, which it’s closest competitor in the Crab doesn’t take. It also gets critted by an AC/20 to the CT, which isn’t great for a battle line/cavalry medium. Overall it is kind of just a worse Crab that jumps, and I am already not a huge fan of the Crab. It isn’t appalling for the price, 1365 BV is budget range for 50 tonners, but it isn’t winning any awards either.
RATING: C-
STY-2CEC
Oh god the early clan bullshit again. This one is much more sedate though. For 1407 BV you upgrade the lasers to prototype improved versions, and the SRM-4 for a prototype streak 4. Near as I can remember the improved large is functionally identical to the regular large laser, just lighter, and the prototype ER mediums and prototype streak 4 are also identical to the IS versions of these weapons. I mean, it’s a little bit of an upgrade and it is nice to have, but it doesn’t do anything about the low-grade armor and I am just deeply underwhelmed. Not a problematic unit, but nothing special.
RATING: C-
STY-3C
Coming in at 1508 BV, the 3C is a fucking incredible upgrade. It is extremely simple, compared to the 2C the only difference is that the 3C uses Endo-Steel structure to free up tonnage, and then spends literally all of that tonnage on armor! The 2C’s only issue is bad armor, and with that issue fixed the 3C is a fucking high grade medium cavalry mech that in my opinion is much better mech than the Crab. I love jump jets and the 3C is functionally a competitor to the Griffin and Wolverine, and I would rather have this mech any day of the week. The range is perhaps a bit short with only large lasers to poke people with, but with the adequate mobility the 3C has it should be able to get at least ok shots on something every turn.
The STY 3C is exactly what I want out of a 1500 BV inner sphere medium mech. It isn’t as specialized as something like the Wraith or Trebuchet but it is a flexible list-filler that will always have something useful to do and can slug it out with other mediums or lower end heavies without any issues. Great mech but not an all star the way something like the Devastator is.
RATING: B+
STY-3D
The 3D is an interesting remix of the 3C. At 1593 BV it drops the small laser and SRM-4 to upgrade one of the large lasers to an ER PPC and add an extra heat sink. It manages heat alright and this gives it some decent long range capacity without hurting it at medium range. You lose a bit of point blank damage and flexibility from that SRM-4, but this is a good enough trade that it is a matter of personal preference which you would want between this and the 3C. I personally prefer the 3C, but I can’t give this a different rating because they are so close together, use whichever one fits your force better.
RATING: B+
STY-3Dr
Dr Starslayer here is a weird remix of the 3C. For 1781 BV you trade both large lasers, the SRM-4, and the small laser for a heavy PPC and triple-strength Myomer. Bluntly, this is too much to pay for a single heavy PPC and fuck all else. 6/9 movement (after TSM kicks in) on a rugged headchopper isn’t the worst thing ever, but you can do better for cheaper. Something like the unfortunately named Huron Warrior comes in 300 BV cheaper for a gauss rifle, which is a better headchopper, and it has other long range weapons to back it up. Mediocre and overpriced.
RATING: D
STY-4C
Another weird remix, the 4C is a total piece of shit. For 2218 BV, you know, good heavy mech BV and the price range of fucking Stormcrows and Goshawks, you get a Clan technology Starslayer that makes a ton of bad choices. It has TSM and slightly thinner armor than the 3C standard, and the weapons here are just baffling. You get 2 improved heavy large lasers that generate 36 heat, while only sinking 26, meaning you go to 10 heat immediately, which is one higher than you need for optimal TSM usage. It also has 2 Clan ER medium lasers and a Clan ER small laser for some fucking reason. The most confusing choice is that the SRM-4 has been replaced with a one-shot SRM-4, so it barely even has it and you shouldn’t consider it. This mech can’t maintain heat neutrality easily for TSM and can’t fire anything without overheating, it is a miserable piece of shit and one of the single worst Rec Guide variants of any mech in the game. Unless I am misreading this sheet somewhere (and I really hope that I am, the Rec Guide variants tend to be fucking awesome and really well made), this is the worst Starslayer and honestly one of the worst misuses of advanced technology in the entire game.
RATING: F
Conclusion
The Starslayer has a couple of really high grade variants and a couple of duds. The recommendation here is simple, just use the 3C or 3D depending on what your lance needs, and enjoy having a really quality medium mech bumping around. It won’t win games on it’s own, but it also won’t ever lose one alone either. Dependable little dorkus of a mech. I am glad that kid me filling their force with these in Mech Commander 2 had the right idea.
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