I'm not on mobile, and I see nowhere to edit anything. Someone said it was under Report for a post, but i don't see any of that.
Close combat specialists, mines, templates on cheap piece traders. Hgl or smart missiles are passable options as well if you're a fan.
Mostly I think it depends on where the link team is located(deployment zone, middle of the board) and their general composition, are they armed defensively(snipers, missiles, etc...) or offensively(spitfires, hmgs, etc...). Then they're skills and stats are taken into account such as being HI or LI, visibility modifiers, visors. I'd break down vanilla's options as I see it into two sets which I've ranked according to my opinion. The former for dealing with links near the enemies deployment zone. The latter for dealing with links that have moved into the middile of the board or further. Anti Defensive Link Team ────────────────────────────────────────────────── KRIZA BORAC HMG / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (2 | 54) He's just the best. REVEREND MOIRA HMG / Pistol, Shock CCW. (1.5 | 34) She's really good at dealing with troopers without, sixth sense level 2, visors or visibility modifiers and that's what most links are. SZALAMANDRA Hyper-rapid Magnetic Cannon, Heavy Flamethrower / . (2 | 90) SZALAMANDRA PILOT Contender / Pistol, Knife. () BS14 burst 5 shock or ap and 8 arm make a costly but usually effective tool to remove defensive links. REAKTION ZOND HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26) With Marksmanship 2 they go up to BS14 burst 4 shock and are surprisingly tanky thanks to remote presence if an engineer or helper is nearby to keep fixing them(Watch out for circular blast). They can also maneuver into the zero range of missile launchers. ARMAND (Multispectral Visor L1) MULTI Sniper, Nanopulser / 2 Breaker Pistols, Shock CC Weapon, Knife. (1.5 | 45) I haven't used him in nomads yet but it seems like he'd be a solid option to deal with link teams thanks to ODD and MSV1. Also his forward deployment can put him into a missiles 0 range band and his sniper out ranges most weapons. INTRUDER HMG, Grenades / Pistol, CCW. (1.5 | 42) A star player can easily pick off one ARO piece at a time thanks to smoke, furthermore mimitism and MSV2 can help mitigate the extra skills a link brings. PROWLER Spitfire, D-Charges / Pistol, CCW. (2 | 36) If you can get into a ranged weapons 0 range band they're more likely to win the fight then an intruder however if you can't hes just worse. HELLCAT Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21) You've probably brought hackers so getting assisted jump on a shotgun trooper may allow you to bring them in where it hurts, costly in orders but can hugely swing the game. Anti offensive links ────────────────────────────────────────────────── SPEKTR Boarding Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 30) Link teams really hate splitting their reactions since that breaksdown a link and immediatly starts costing them bonuses. Template weapons are the best way to bring this about if especailly if team members are obstructing line of sight. No one is better at doing this then the spektr thanks to being far harder to hit and hidden deployment. The boarding shotgun does this cheaply and can really slow down almost any links push. SPEKTR (Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle, E/Mauler / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 32) No shotgun but this guy will be a huge threat to heavy infantry and hackers. In a faction full of good hackers this guy makes links very vulnerable. SPEKTR Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 31) Changes out the boarding shotgun for a rifle. ZERO Boarding Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 17) ZERO (Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle, E/Mauler / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19) ZERO Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18) Zeroes are 2/3rds as good as a spektr but they also cost 2/3rds of one so they're pretty great still. KRAKOT RENEGADE 2 Chain Rifles, Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 14) Cheap and mean these guys can put the hurt on links with metachem 2, berserk with da, and 2 chain rifles. With forward deployment and just regular impetous they can be brought into the fight at the perfect moment. MORLOCK Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, E/M CCW. (0 | 6) A cheap warband if they survive they can pose a significant threat. HELLCAT Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21) Same as before but it is probably easier to bring them in outside of your opponents deployment zone. BANDIT Light Shotgun, Adhesive Launcher / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 22) If you've maxed out ava on zeroes and spektrs but need more go ahead.
I played a game yesterday where I stood up a full link team of moderators to fight off a Kriza Borac and he slaughtered them all. There was no pie slicing, he just waddled out and put a bullet in each of their heads. I'd recommend the Kriza.
I think it's more the other way around: Krizas are good but that's mostly that Moderators are trash. Legitimately the worst link in the game for combat ability. As order monkeys who can use Supportware, fire Pitchers and (in a pinch) Spec Fire they're OK.
The Kriza is great for this. Kriza B5 HMG with an unavoidable -3 to hit mitigates a lot of link advantages and is a firefight winner again any MSV link. Against non MSV link, the Moira HMG is win
Most people don't deploy so a Missile Launcher can hit more than one, at least not near a guy poking out for ARO. Chain Rifles can just be hard to get there.
Why are people favoring the E/M CCW Morlock over the DA one? I guess so you can isolate and effectively "kill" the effectiveness of a single troop without repair from an engi. That, and E/M CCW is going to be much more effective than DA against high armor TAGS. On the subject, when a TAG is immobilized as well as damaged, do you make two seperate rolls to repair as well as remove immobilization?
I could give a much more comprehensive guide on defeating new and first time players if that's what people want. Step one: demoralization. Pretend to show pity for them picking the "bad" team. If they are playing generic casually mention sectorials being stronger, if they play sectorials do the reverse.
Be careful against defensive links of 4 or more with the Intruder. Sixth Sense 2 will mess his day up.
They're about equal. DA gives you two chances to wound, but E/M lets you slice through high ARM dudes and provide a lasting disable, which as you said is good against a TAG. You also have the engineer skill correct. You can activate an engineer to roll to repair damage, or roll to clear all bad status effects.
