There isn't much you can do with the Shilone in this era and still call it a Shilone. The LRM-20 could be dropped to an LRM-15 and a heat-sink deleted; the four tons thus freed could be channeled into armour (three tons of it, including enough on the aft to nerf ML hits) and another ton of fuel, increasing combat endurance all around. One could also delete the SRM-4 in favour of a pair of MLs and invest the spare ton in even more armour or fuel, according to taste, but then again, it's just that eccentric choice of rearward armament that helps give the Shilone its own personality. ;D
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A very simple fix for [the SL-17R Shilone] is to upgrade all the lasers to ER models and pull a DHS for an Artemis system on the LRM mount - a great increase in reach and firepower, and heat is still something that happens to other people. A little more demanding of the workshop's time, but even more effective, would be pulling another five DHS (which still leaves you heat-neutral in an alpha-strike), upgrading the fuel tanks to six or even seven tons, and layering on as much ferro-aluminium as the spaceframe will carry. HM:A tells me the result looks like this:
Class/Model/Name: Shilone SL-17R*
Mass: 65 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant: 260 Fusion 13.50
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 6
Maximum Thrust: 9
Structural Integrity: 6 .00
Total Heat Sinks: 14 Double 4.00
Fuel: 6.00
Cockpit & Attitude Thrusters: 3.00
Armor Type: Ferro-aluminum (278 total armor pts) 15.50
Standard Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Nose: 94
Left/Right Wings: 66/66
Aft: 52
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 LRM 20+ArtIV Nose 16 16 16 -- 6 11.00
Ammo (LRM 20) 12 --- 2.00
1 ER Large Laser Nose 8 8 8 -- 12 5.00
1 ER Medium Laser RW 5 5 -- -- 5 1.00
1 ER Medium Laser LW 5 5 -- -- 5 1.00
1 SRM 4 Aft 6 -- -- -- 3 2.00
Ammo (SRM 4) 25 --- 1.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS: Heat: 31 65.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 4,166,485 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,541
Cost per BV: 2,703.75
Weapon Value: 2,337 (Ratio = 1.52)
Damage Factors: SRV = 33; MRV = 22; LRV = 6; ERV = 0
BattleForce2: MP: 6, Armor/Structure: 7 / 0
Damage PB/M/L: 3/3/2, Overheat: 0
Class: FM; Point Value: 15
Specials: if It's not gonna set the Inner Sphere on fire, but all the changes are relatively simple and cheap - secondary-market customers like the Periphery will probably jump at 'em - and they keep the type at least marginally viable on the Clan-era battlefield. You still have to be fairly careful against Clan-grade ordnance (what doesn't? ;D), but the primary threat, the more-nimble light fighter, finds its weapon of preference the medium laser robbed of most of its effectiveness, which means you can be a little bolder in your operations.
