14 replies to this topic

[Jungle Rhino]

I love Cents, and have been successful with them as great little brawler mechs - but lately I've been trying to use them near stock in their intended role as a medium-long range support mech and they just seem to fail.

The AC/10 is only efficient over a long period of time to exploit the excellent DPS yet the projectile is too slow to hit anything reliably at longer ranges. The LRM10 just isn't enough punch to have any noticeable impact, and is effectively neutralised by a smattering of AMS.

Finally when you do get into closer ranges you just lack firepower to compete with even a light mech.

And you still aren't all that fast thanks to all the long range weaponry sucking up tonnage.


I think the fundamental problem is the AC10 - it just isn't enough cowbell to be a primary damage dealer and it it difficult to line up and land shots every 2.5s to maintain the good DPS it is capable of. Oddly I find the torso AC10 in the Cataphract to be a lot more effective - but that is usually more of a backup weapon to a bunch of lasers and the Cataphract can afford to be in the frontlines more than the Cent.


Any ideas, do I just need to adjust my gameplay? Learn to aim better? Or should I give up and go back to SRMs?

Edited by Jungle Rhino, 25 February 2013 - 07:18 AM.

[Liev Andropov]

I've been trying out different arrangements on my Cents to give them a bit more long range punch while waiting for the scrum to start. I never found the AC10 to be that effective either, instead swapping it for a UAC5 on my CN9-D. Just as hard hitting, better speed and range, and a certain terrorizing aspect when it just keeps on popping off double shots. Give it a try (with at LEAST 2 tons ammo)!

[Ewigan]

I did run my 9A near stock quite a while, till last weekend when i caved in and ripped the AC/10 out.
3*SRM6, 2 Med laser, standard 275 Engine.

[Marchant Consadine]

I guess you could say I run YLW close to stock. I mean it's stock but upgraded (ferro, endo, ML -> MPL and engine -> xl300)

It's ridiculous what one can do with it. Hit and run with 106kph. That's enough to chase lights and shoot them in the rear while they think they've outran you (well some of em at least and it's satisfying)

Edit: I think certain relatives of horses would be offended by the censorship in these forums

Edited by Marchant Consadine, 25 February 2013 - 07:43 AM.

[Liev Andropov]

Honestly (feel like I'm giving away a secret here) the best thing I did to my 9A was rip out all ballistics and one SRM6 and replace it with a LRM15. Find a relatively exposed target and start juking towards them, letting the LRMs fly at ~250 meters. As they're frantically trying to find any cover (and failing) close the remaining distance and hit their newly weakened armor with your 2xSRM6 and 2xML. It's been working wonderfully.

[Bishop Steiner]

You can run near stock, but you have to modify your approach to your "role" on the battlefield.

I totally agree with your points on the AC/10, and thus, I tend to save the ton with the LB-10X. It has it's own set of issues,for sure, but I seem to do better with it, and it is much better for swatting those Ravens nipping at you.

I have often run the CN9-D Stock, and in fact, even after buying one, barely modified it. The Change? DHS.

Now HOW to use it? The LRM 10 is there to soften a foe during your advance, or for covering a retreat. It's amazing how many people get plinked with a lowly AC/2 or LRM5 suddenly duck to cover. I actually will run "contain" about 500-600 meters behind the main line, using any hard locks to lob flight after flight of LRMs. Being that they are coming downward, you would be surprised at the head hits you seem to get. Not uncommon to get a kill from the LRMs alone.

Then, either as my LRMs run low, or if I see a unit freelancing beyond effective support I start moving in, and as I get under 300 meters, have at it with the LB-10X and lasers. Because of the great speed the CN9-D has, it is no problem at all being the hound that baits the bulls, and just stays on their flanks until they simply die of exhaustion (aided by AC and laser fire).

Running like that, while not possible on every map, tend to land me around 450 damage and 2 kills, 3-4 assists a game. And every once in a while you will have that special game.

I also do run the A series a bit still, but 60 kph is gonna get you killed fast on a battlefield with Assaults moving faster. So whenever possible, the Engine gets as big as possible. The Centy handles easier than most mechs, so speed is good.

[Eisenhorne]

I run my CN9-AL as a long ranged fire support mech.

ER-PPC, TAG, 2x ML, and an LRM-20 + Artemis.

You could probably run a similar loadout with a CN9-A, but replace the ER-PPC with a UAC-5 or something. Or just drop the LRM-20 to an LRM-15 and use the extra weight to get an AC/10.

[Stormwolf]

Turned my stock K2 into a K3, works rather well.

[Jungle Rhino]

Nice feedback guys. I do agree on the UAC - it works well for long range potting as you can cut lose with the double shot, wait for it to jam then duck back to cover. Also puts some serious DPS out at short ranges if you can manage the jams and it is far lighter/smaller than the AC10.

I also totally agree on how handy the LRM10 is for just spamming people back into cover. I've never bothered with Artemis for my CN-9A but maybe that would help the situation aswell?

Also when used in such a role it seems an XL could be a feasible upgrade - I would normally never do this for a straight brawler but it could certainly help giving a nice speed boost or even a potential upgrade to a Gauss Rifle?

I think I just need to get more games in and get out of 'Wang' mode (I do run the Wang close to stock and have a lot of fun with the AC20)

[Bishop Steiner]

Yeah. The Centy with an XL changes from Brawler to Flanker. If you find yourself going toe to toe, you are doing it all wrong. With a fast Cent, you should always be using terrain, cover and the distraction from your Big Boys in front to find a way to their sides and rear, then get out again before they can target you.

Problem I have with Brawling with Zombie Cents is simply that there are too many mechs carrying much more armor and firepower that can move as fast or faster. Like Awesome 9Ms.

[Aeolus Drift]

I tend to run my centurion-9al fairly close to stock. Since I tried my best to keep the spirit of its original design, I loaded it out with an ER large laser, two medium pulse lasers, an lrm-10 (no Artemis), and a medium laser to replace the small laser, the remaining slots, are taken up by endo-steel, Double heatsinks, and the standard stock engine, the only sacrifice i needed to make was removing two points of armor from the head. now 60 kph certainly may not seem ideal for a medium, but i tend not to play it as a flanker. Instead I have found it to be an effective escort 'mech. the weapons loadout gives it effective damage at all ranges. the lrm's and large lasers can harass opponents at longer ranges, and even when opponents manage to close in 250 meters, the medium laser and the medium pulse can provide ample damage, at close range, and the er large laser can still be used at cqb. now the real kicker is that even without double basic skills, you can have a relatively heat efficent mech if you have decent firing discipline, and this is true even on caustic valley (though you might wish to double your caution.

[roastpuff]

I run a stock YLW with the exception of DHS to free up tonnage and space to add AMS and more ammo. I find that I do quite well with it, and the AC20 is usable at mid-range(~400m) if you can aim carefully at larger targets. I average 300-500dmg a match if I don't get caught up in the open, and with the zombie mode I can really annoy quite a few 'Mechs while my team mates take them down. I don't have that much of a problem with lights because I can usually peg them with the AC20 - which hits them like the hand of God.

My CN9-D and CN9-AL are definitely not stock though. The -AL is a mixed sniper loadout with 1 ER PPC, 3 MLs, 2 SSRM2 and a STD260 to make it go 92km/h, meaning it can outrun quite a few 'Mechs while potting them with the ER PPC but has enough punch close in to make it hurt - and the SSRM2's let me chase lights that don't have ECM (or with ECM, if I hit them with the PPC to disable the effect). The CN9-D is a hit-and-run close-in guy with the stock 300XL, 2 SRM6+A, 2 MPL and 2 MG's - with the crit buff on the MG's I can destroy components quite fast once the armor is breached.

I always had fun with Centurions and with these loadouts I find myself doing well in comparison to others.

[Frank the Tank]

In CB I ran the centurion with an AC/10 very close to stock. The thing about the UAC/5 is that while it dps is higher than the AC/10 you are often spreading out the damage. If you can consistently hit the same spot the AC/10 is probably better. Also the issue with using a single UAC/5 as your primary weapon is that when it jams you're screwed. The centurion doesn't have many hard-points so you need to make everyone count.

As for LRMs Bishop is right. They should be used as a suppression weapon. Use them to keep enemy LRM or guass boats in cover and not shooting at your team. I don't worry about AMS since not many people are running with it these days, but watch your missiles if they all get shot down find a different target. Lastly, 2 LRM5s weigh 1 ton less than 1 LRM10; take advantage of the extra missile hard-points so save some weight. However, if you switch to Artemis use the LRM10 to save a slot.

If you are using the CN9-A stock the best place to be is just outside the brawl. Your sweet spot should be around the range of your AC/10 (450m) keep enemies between 300 - 400m from you and you can hit with all your weapons effectively. Remember LRMs have a minimum range of 180m, but feel free to use them at 200m they will still hit.

This is my near stock build with the AC/10:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...eca1403c80535eb

This is my UAC/5 build, I use an SRM4 at close range when my UAC/5 jams:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...dd526c4be741da9

[Khanahar]

Frank the Tank, on 25 February 2013 - 08:51 AM, said:

In CB I ran the centurion with an AC/10 very close to stock. The thing about the UAC/5 is that while it dps is higher than the AC/10 you are often spreading out the damage. If you can consistently hit the same spot the AC/10 is probably better. Also the issue with using a single UAC/5 as your primary weapon is that when it jams you're screwed. The centurion doesn't have many hard-points so you need to make everyone count.

As for LRMs Bishop is right. They should be used as a suppression weapon. Use them to keep enemy LRM or guass boats in cover and not shooting at your team. I don't worry about AMS since not many people are running with it these days, but watch your missiles if they all get shot down find a different target. Lastly, 2 LRM5s weigh 1 ton less than 1 LRM10; take advantage of the extra missile hard-points so save some weight. However, if you switch to Artemis use the LRM10 to save a slot.

If you are using the CN9-A stock the best place to be is just outside the brawl. Your sweet spot should be around the range of your AC/10 (450m) keep enemies between 300 - 400m from you and you can hit with all your weapons effectively. Remember LRMs have a minimum range of 180m, but feel free to use them at 200m they will still hit.

This is my near stock build with the AC/10:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...eca1403c80535eb

This is my UAC/5 build, I use an SRM4 at close range when my UAC/5 jams:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...dd526c4be741da9

This guy said pretty much everything I was going to say.

Stock CN9-A/Ds are great. As above, 2xLRM5 are better than 1xLRM10 in every way (normally larger missile launchers are more heat efficient, but the LRM5 and 10 have the same heat efficiency and the LRM5 is more weight efficient) unless you're running Artemis (in which case you should probably be running an LRM15.)

The MLs and AC/10 are pretty straightforward. There is some choice of AC between the standard 10, the LB10, and the UAC/5. My preference is for the standard 10, though I run an LB10-X on my scout hunter.

I find the best place for a stock CN9-A/D is on Alpine: engagements at all ranges, room to maneuver if you go the XL route, and less cover for the enemy from your LRMs. AC/10s shine on that map too, due to increased frequency of medium range battles.

I run standard 260s on most of my CN9s, incidentally. Not speed demons, but good enough for brawling.

[One Medic Army]

I just personally can't stand the way arm projectiles work on close in targets in this game.
The only mechs I run with arm ballistics are my Cataphract 3D (AC/10) and a 1N dragon with an LBX.

If you have trouble hitting accurately with an arm mounted AC/10 but want to keep using arm ballistics, I'd suggest moving to an AC/2 (to track your fire in) or an LBX 10 (since near-misses still count).