Vulcan VL-2T

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, 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.