30 replies to this topic

[Kyynele]

Hunchbacks have been so far my most succesful 'mechs (not counting the LRM/SRM boats when missiles were broken) and there have been claims that Hunchies are useless because others do their stuff better. My favorite is the 4P with 9 mlasers, although I have better k/d on 4SP and even on 4G I did better than most of my other 'mechs. I've also played a splatcat enough to pretty confidently hit even fast-moving targets with SRMs.

Anyway, I enjoy close combat, so Centurions should be right up my alley?

I wanted to look into this so I bought a Centurion CN9-D (Hunchies worst offense besides the huge torso is apparently their slow max speed, so this should make the most noticable difference, right?) The loadout I put in it is: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6285fc8cdc60d04

I took it for a spin in a couple of matches yesterday and honestly it felt somewhat unimpressive. Probably partly because of no efficiencies.

I'd be interested to hear from more experienced Centurion pilots what to look for, like should I go for a completely different variant or am I maybe doing something else wrong?

[Aszot]

I' ve been playing with centurions ever since closed beta, but mostly with CN9- A and Al variants.
I found AL a great lrm boat/ support. With lrm 30+ ppc, it was a great line of sight long range support.
About CN9- A, for me it is a excelent mid/close range fighter. With AC-10, 3 * SRM4, and "zombiemode"
twin mlas. It could fight almost any heavy, and stroke fear into each light that came into srms range.
Nowdays, however, i use Guass, twin mlas and 3 * SSRM2. Nothing can really stop it- at range it packs
a serious punch with GR, and close up, no mech can escape mlas and streaks. For enchanced protection,
I tend to leave some armour on shield. Each one uses ~Std 200, (speed is not an issue with this firepower and streaks)
DHS, and Endo.

Edited by Aszot, 08 April 2013 - 12:38 AM.

[Lyoncet]

I think you've gone too far with the "fast Hunchback" idea. The 9-D is one of my favorite mechs because of its high engine rating, but if you go up to 350 or higher, you're really just a slow, enormous Jenner with fewer lasers and no Jump Jets. I'd recommend running the stock 300 XL, and adding some extra firepower in the form of your ballistic of choice. Also, I'd recommend downgrading to MLAS instead of MPLS. In my experience, only a few mechs can make good use of medium pulse, and on a small chassis it's just not worth the extra tonnage and heat. That also means you can lose some DHS so you won't run out of criticals from having fewer heatsink slots in your engine. Finally, I'd recommend going with double SRM 6; you already have Artemis, and you're fast enough to close in quickly so you'll have good accuracy with those extra missiles. Although it can be hard to do ballistics and double SRM 6A with Ferro-Fibrous enabled.

Also, if you want to run without ballistics, I'd say the best way of doing it is a CN9-A with triple SRM 6 and a standard 275 engine. It's one of the easiest configurations I've found for the Centurion since you survive forever if you twist well and stay sharp, and you can dump a whole lot of damage into just about any enemy. I don't think it's quite optimal, but it's very sftrong.

[Kyynele]

Sure, I can cut down the speed to fit a big gun in the arm, but isn't that even easier to lose than a hunchback's right torso? Especially if you're slow?

Anyway, STD engine might still be the way to go to maximize survivability.

I'm feeling I should've gone with the CN9-A first, but the 3x SRM6 firing in 2 waves didn't feel very appealing. Maybe and hopefully that isn't as bad as I fear. The AL would be easy to fit with a Hunchie 4SP weapon setup, but the hardpoints seem just worse for that except for the zombiemode.

Maybe I'll need to consider those slow and long range loadouts too. Thanks.

Edit: Lyoncet, I'm at work and I write just a bit every now and then, so I didn't read your post before posting mine. I'll look into it.

Edited by Kyynele, 08 April 2013 - 03:17 AM.

[nubcake]

I ran a few matches like this: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...dce7a5651a9b0c0
It was pretty fun (very effective vs slower assaults), but it was also a few weeks ago prior to missiles bug (and nerf).

[brock0]

CN9-A makes for a good shotgun mech (3x SRM6 hurts at close range). I run an XL engine and use it as a striker, get in close to shoot then get out.

I never found a setup for the D that I liked. 300xl engine, LBX10ac, 2x MLAS, 2x SSRM is an ok (non-ECM) light mech hunter.

[loliza]

Kyynele, on 07 April 2013 - 11:53 PM, said:

Hunchbacks have been so far my most succesful 'mechs (not counting the LRM/SRM boats when missiles were broken) and there have been claims that Hunchies are useless because others do their stuff better. My favorite is the 4P with 9 mlasers, although I have better k/d on 4SP and even on 4G I did better than most of my other 'mechs. I've also played a splatcat enough to pretty confidently hit even fast-moving targets with SRMs. Anyway, I enjoy close combat, so Centurions should be right up my alley? I wanted to look into this so I bought a Centurion CN9-D (Hunchies worst offense besides the huge torso is apparently their slow max speed, so this should make the most noticable difference, right?) The loadout I put in it is: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6285fc8cdc60d04 I took it for a spin in a couple of matches yesterday and honestly it felt somewhat unimpressive. Probably partly because of no efficiencies. I'd be interested to hear from more experienced Centurion pilots what to look for, like should I go for a completely different variant or am I maybe doing something else wrong?

ok u might not feel so impressed by the cents if you took the d variant first its honestly the worst of them it does nothing a or al doesnt do better execpt the speed but you will gimp your weapon loadout, that said the cn9-a is the meanest medium youll ever drive when you get there try this build : endo dhs std 260 3xsrm6 with artemis 3 tons of ammo and 2 ml

also drop the xl engine cents arent xl compatible

edit: wanted to add that i just checked and i can alpha 6 times in a row before worrying about heat

Edited by loliza, 08 April 2013 - 04:03 AM.

[Lyoncet]

Kyynele, on 08 April 2013 - 03:14 AM, said:

I'm feeling I should've gone with the CN9-A first, but the 3x SRM6 firing in 2 waves didn't feel very appealing. Maybe and hopefully that isn't as bad as I fear.

They should all fire at once. The launcher limitation applies per launcher, so if you group 3 6-launchers, they should all fire in one salvo. If you had, say, 2 15 launchers, they'd both fire 10, then 5.

You do lose the ballistics arm time to time, but it doesn't happen to me often because I can soak damage with my shield arm a lot of the time. I lose the arm they're not shooting for first maybe 90% of the time. And unlike most Hunchbacks, if you lose that arm, you still have the majority if your firepower. Lose the hunch on a 4H and at most you have two lasers left. Lose it on a 9-D and you have two lasers on your center torso, and 12 missiles on your left. Both of which are pretty hard to hit. So it's less a liability than the non-SP hunches.

Also, I'm of the belief that the 9-D can run XL just fine, even if conventional groupthink says otherwise. So whichever way floats your boat. You just can't play it like you'd play a zombie 9-A.

Edited by Lyoncet, 08 April 2013 - 04:09 AM.

[Kyynele]

Lyoncet, on 08 April 2013 - 04:05 AM, said:

They should all fire at once. The launcher limitation applies per launcher, so if you group 3 6-launchers, they should all fire in one salvo. If you had, say, 2 15 launchers, they'd both fire 10, then 5.

This I didn't know. I don't think that really makes much sense like that but it's good news.

Thanks for the info and tips everyone, I think I'm good to go. I'll focus on A and probably just save the D for stupid fun builds when I get speed tweak.

[Riktor Voshek]

Most of the Cents I've run used a standard 260 and often left the ballistic arm empty, but that was back before the Cent tweaks and missile nerfs so I don't know how they run now. Leaving the arm empty and using a big standard engine gives you a great combination of speed (~91 with a 260 and speed tweak), zombie capability and two giant shield arms, so you make a great striker.

If you do use the ballistic arm, try circling your target counter-clockwise and keep the shield arm towards your target between shots; helps keep the gun healthy

Most recently I've run the Wang with the AC20, an XL300 and an ER LLas in the chest. All sounds a bit crazy, but I found the XL300 makes you go juuuust fast enough to gain in speed what you lose in engine vulnerability, and the ERLLas gives you some range for the bigger maps. Could probably make something very similar with the D + Gauss.

[Kyynele]

Since it was mentioned, I'll add the question of Wang or AL for the 3rd Cent?

[Narcissistic Martyr]

Lyoncet, on 08 April 2013 - 02:30 AM, said:

I think you've gone too far with the "fast Hunchback" idea. The 9-D is one of my favorite mechs because of its high engine rating, but if you go up to 350 or higher, you're really just a slow, enormous Jenner with fewer lasers and no Jump Jets. I'd recommend running the stock 300 XL, and adding some extra firepower in the form of your ballistic of choice.

A 9D with an XL350 has about 4 more free tons for weapons and armor than a Jenner moving the same speed. Actually at that speed (~115kph) a 50 ton mech can carry more stuff than any other chassis at any other weight. However, if you go bigger than that to 120-130 kph you're down 2-6 tons on the lighter Jenner.

[Dth2Vwls]

I've been having fun with the AL. Mine has a 250 engine, DHS, endo, x1 Large Laser, x3 Medium Laser, and x2 SRM6. It works well for hunting lights and for supporting the main line. Lately I've been thinking about freeing up a couple tons to either upgrade the LL to a ERPPC, or to add Artemis. I'm leery of dropping an XL engine in because I've had quite a few games where I was able to do good damage with my SRMs after I lost my side torso.

[EvangelionUnit]

Kyynele, on 08 April 2013 - 05:26 AM, said:

Since it was mentioned, I'll add the question of Wang or AL for the 3rd Cent?

wang with 225 std engine LB10X(2ton ammo) + ERLL + DHS + ES
runs cool on every map, is not to slow, and packs a good punch at short range and can fire for a very long time with the laser even on hot maps

wang with 225 std + AC20 (3 ton ammo) + 2x ML + DHS + ES watch out for your AC20 and hurt people as much as you can

@Dth2Vwls how about downgrading the SRM6 to streaks and adding the ERPPC ? or to SRM4
SSRM and ERPPC are a nice combo vs ECM if you manage to hit them with every shot

[Riktor Voshek]

AC20 strapped to a big engine:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...2f73c08b0507186

A 225 engine will move you at 80.2kph with speed tweak. An XL300 pushes you up to 106.9kph. That really is usefully fast at that point, and makes it much easier to backstab the big guys when they're distracted.

Hmm, I actually wonder if it's possible to carry an AC20 around faster on any other mech?

[JayVrb]

You won't be going anywhere until they fix missile damage. That's really the only thing the Cent has going for it. Ballistically speaking (and lasers for that variant), the arm gets blown off too easy and soaks up too much damage. Unless you're using it as a shield, the majority of your firepower needs to be focused in your standard engined torsos.

But like i said, missiles are laughable right now so I've put my Cent up on the shelf until that's fixed. My 3xSRM 6 Cent went from ~50pt alpha to like 35 overnight, sorry that kinda nerf gun is not something I'm going to take into battle when I can have a more armored, faster mech.

On the bright side, it has REALLY thinned out the ranks of Splat Cats, but I don't think it's fair to the other non-boater builds like mine =(

Edited by Vrbas, 08 April 2013 - 01:52 PM.

[Kyynele]

For the CN9-D, I took out the extra heat sinks, switched the ASRM4 to another ASRM6 and maxed armor. I kept the XL engine for now. So, 2x mplaser, 2x asrm6, xl 350. It's not really spectacular but actually pretty fun to play. Had some pretty good pug matches while leveling it up, too:



I bought the CN9-A as well and finally got all the upgrades in it. Running it on STD 260, I'll take it on some test rounds tomorrow.

Vrbas: I don't really think SRMs where hurt nearly as bad as LRMs. You can still dish pretty decent damage for the weight it takes and heat it generates. Not saying it's great at the moment, but OK.

I almost bought the Wang today, but decided to still sleep on it.

[Blackadder]

Either of these 2 versions work well, you can swap out the AC10 for an ac5 or uac5 and upgrade the lasers to MPL & Add 2nd SRM 6, i have run 500 point matches in this build far more frequently then i thought i would both with the AC10 and UAC5. The 2nd build i do not like as much but its been decent enough, i am still not on board with the ssrm although they do work well as secondary weapons in conjunction with the medium lasers. Other option is just to dump the 4 tons of ssrm, and upgrade the ammo on the gauss, and go with 2 MPL.

CN9-D

CN9-D

[Fallreaper]

My favourite mech currently is the CN9-A with the following build.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...dab374d3a0242da

The best brawler build in my opinion. Even with missile nerf.

The trick with the build is torso twist. You have arms and RT to sponge the damage and still get all weapons. This should give you enough longevity to able to get close range for that 1-2 punch of the missiles and medium lasers. Artemis helps since you should try to bring mechs down as fast as possible even with a brawler. The effective way to play with this mech is to play it smart. Always be aware of your surroundings, use speed as often as possible, always torso twist and aim for weak spots. Most fun for me every time.

Oh and remember to open the missile bay doors when engaging opponents. This enables quicker missile salvos and better accuracy since you don't have to lead the target so much. But always remember to torso twist between missile barrages if the enemy is targeting you.

Edited by Fallreaper, 09 April 2013 - 02:13 AM.

[alexivy]

Fallreaper, on 09 April 2013 - 01:56 AM, said:

My favourite mech currently is the CN9-A with the following build.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...dab374d3a0242da

The best brawler build in my opinion. Even with missile nerf.

The trick with the build is torso twist. You have arms and RT to sponge the damage and still get all weapons. This should give you enough longevity to able to get close range for that 1-2 punch of the missiles and medium lasers. Artemis helps since you should try to bring mechs down as fast as possible even with a brawler. The effective way to play with this mech is to play it smart. Always be aware of your surroundings, use speed as often as possible, always torso twist and aim for weak spots. Most fun for me every time.

Oh and remember to open the missile bay doors when engaging opponents. This enables quicker missile salvos and better accuracy since you don't have to lead the target so much. But always remember to torso twist between missile barrages if the enemy is targeting you.

agreed. best cent build period. I actually sacrifice one ton of ammo to armor the arms (optimize them for shield use) but that's just a personal preference.