14 replies to this topic

[TakLocke]

Hi, I've been playing for a couple days saving up my C-Bills, and wanted to get thoughts from those who have been playing longer on whether to get the 8M C-Bill Centurion that has a nice loadout, or a Catapult and build it up? Thanks.

[scJazz]

Hunchback or Centurion are considered very friendly to new players. The Catapult with its enormous CT and no arms able to block with while torso twisting are a bit unforgiving.

I've only been playing for 8 weeks and have never piloted a Centurion or Hunchback so I will defer on specifics. Although fighting against them the Centurion has a very slim profile and a shield arm (Left Arm has nothing useful so people will torso twist to present that arm to take damage. The Hunchback can easily fit the dreaded AC20 or the 9ML loadout. Getting shot by those sucks!

[Ningyo]

I would recommend Hunchback (likely SP but most are good), or Jaggermech JM6-A (this is a good and very flexible mech that can use almost any combination of weapons imaginable so you can try them all out. and its a solid enough mech to do very well in. This is my favorite for starting.) .

Catapult is a good mech, but it has many drawbacks that can be off putting for a new player, and has very limited hardpoints so you cannot try many different things on it. The huge center torso and massive head hit box can be frustrating. I would suggest this as more of a 3rd or 4th mech not first.

[IraqiWalker]

My personal recommendation would have to go to the Centurion 9-A. The hunchback 4SP and 4P are also two good new player friendly models. However keep in mind that for your first 25 matches, you are receiving a cadet bonus that is giving you more money than a regular match would. So keep that cash on hand for now.

Experiment with tools like the Smurfy mech lab http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/ Create builds there and then once you find something that suits you properly, buy it and upgrade it.

[Koniving]

AlexHagerman, on 29 June 2013 - 10:15 AM, said:

Hi, I've been playing for a couple days saving up my C-Bills, and wanted to get thoughts from those who have been playing longer on whether to get the 8M C-Bill Centurion that has a nice loadout, or a Catapult and build it up? Thanks.

Ah the CN9-D.

This video by the first tournament's 4th place medium champion (at the time it relied on total score and no time constraints or match limits, and he spent less than 8 hours so had he spent more he'd easily have gained that first place) 7NationArmy. It's a lance of myself (commanding; jack of all trades), 7NationArmy (medium enthusiast), and Verrick (a Dragon pilot).

We are using the stock build, in a lance of 3 (to 4 for one match) trial CN9-D against all manners of cheese builds from SRM Centurion 9As (back when SRMs did up to 12 to 15 damage per missile against tightly compacted targets) to 4 PPC stalkers to SRM Catapults.

It also has great music and no spoken words, so enjoy the text, tips, and watch us butcher people with an army of trial Centurion CN9-Ds.

I'm also the Cicada at the end dancing away.

Later, with the X-5, PGI gave a nod to this in their hero vid for it (watch the ending).


Though I'm curious who dances better.

Edited by Koniving, 29 June 2013 - 10:57 AM.

[Swords to Plowshares]

Both of those would be great choices. In either case you will end up needing to spend an additional 1.5 million c-bills for the double heat sinks upgrade, so be aware of that. While you can make a very small number configurations that get by fine on single heat sinks those are going to be extremely rare.

In the case of the Centurion though I would not recommend you starting with the expensive CN9-D because the XL engine, while making it very swift, also makes it very vulnerable. There is nothing wrong with that whatsoever, and you can always choose a standard engine too (at additional expense), but I don't think it is the best way to start. A CN9-A or CN9-AL is a more well rounded way to start off and their standard sized engines allow you to survive for extremely long periods of time. Be sure to pump up your armour a bit.

[Koniving]

Also, I recommend taking a peek here: http://mwomercs.com/...-beginner-mech/ As chances are lots of advice on other mechs -- especially the Catapults -- is already there to include build ideas.

[Krazy Kat]

If you do get the 8M C-Bill Centurion and decide that you want to sell it, keep the engine! Drag and drop the engine out before you sell the mech. The XL300 might be a great engine in another mech later.

[Johnny Reb]

Cent-D is prolly my fav mech in the game. However, I would never recommend it to new players. I run my Cent-D as an Uber Scout xl380 engine(5.5+ mill). Still going 135 with other scouts in a pack is so fun. Still, I think the Hunchie-4sp is the best trainer mech. In the hunch can do a version of anything but ballistics, which really need heavier mechs to do properly.

[Revorn]

Cent-D is a funny Mech. You can play it fast or slow, buildt many Weapons in, or not so many. And he can take a Punch.

Atm i drive mine with, 1xAC2, 2xMedlasers and a 365 XL. wich makes him a nice Harasser. But to be true, it took a long time fo me, to get this build to work. Cents are not so easy to handle as many think. At least for me.

Edited by Revorn, 30 June 2013 - 07:54 AM.

[Koniving]

So Alex, what did you get (if you have gotten anything yet) and what are your thoughts on it?

[TakLocke]

So I listened on the Centurion having hit box issues with the XL, and I tried the Hunch trial for a few runs and really wasn't enjoying the feel. I ended up going with my gut and picking up the Catapult K-2. I've tried some Gauss, PPC, and LBX variants and I can't say I've been dissappointed yet. I love running this mech and it fits just about any style I want to run. I greatly appreciate everybody on teamspeak for the suggestions, tips, etc. over the weekend and for allowing me to drop in so many 4 and 8 man drops over the weekend testing different loadouts. Thanks for the feedback, videos, etc. loving this game and hope to see you on the battlefield.

[Koniving]

Sounds good. If you forego the ballistics, an XL-315 engine is amazing in a catapult because of the speed.

Edited by Koniving, 01 July 2013 - 10:02 AM.

[Dawnstealer]

The AC40 Jager (Jagermech with two AC20s) is the current version of an "I win" button in this game. Do that, you'll get gobs of kills and the game will be boringly easy.

[Baba Yogi]

buy a cn9-a cent, its cheap and can be configured very differently. If its your first mech then you'll have to decide what suits you best and centurion is a great trial platform.

Edited by Lordhammer, 02 July 2013 - 03:21 AM.