7 replies to this topic

[Alistair Winter]

What do you think of this build?

CN9-A
Gauss rifle (40 rounds of ammo), 2 medium lasers, 3 SRM2's (100 missiles)
XL 250 engine
Cooling efficiency 49%

[Der_Goetz]

Why not 1 srm 6 instead of 3 srm2 ? Or did you mean Streak srm 2?

This is a good build. But you must consider the problems of a 50 t mech with xl.They die fast with the current alpha meta.

[Op4blushift]

Drake Grayson, on 03 September 2013 - 01:26 AM, said:

Why not 1 srm 6 instead of 3 srm2 ? Or did you mean Streak srm 2?

This is a good build. But you must consider the problems of a 50 t mech with xl.They die fast with the current alpha meta.

Srm2s have a tighter spread and a slightly faster recharge (although its pretty negligible in my opinion). Don't see anything terribly wrong with the build, but if you have the money you might want to swap out the 250 for a 255, since they're the exact same weight but the 255 has slightly faster speed and turning speed. Might want to take out one on of gauss ammo for an extra ton of srm ammo, since the right arm of cents tend to get blown off like there's no tomorrow, but that's pretty much up to you.

Edited by Op4blushift, 03 September 2013 - 01:43 AM.

[Victor Morson]

Any arm mounted design on a Centurion is bad. They lose their arms way too fast. That's the reason you see so many tripple SRM6+2 Med builds. You can sort of get away with a couple small guns on the AL, but you will lose them before you die.

This is also the reason the YLW is bad. It's just too easy to gimp.

EDIT: Also, XL is really bad on slower moving Centurions and should only be run on a 130+ kph Cent 9D. The 9A however can't go fast enough to justify it and should almost always be running standard. Either way, this design would easily be taken out by a standard Cent brawler.

Edited by Victor Morson, 03 September 2013 - 01:47 AM.

[Alistair Winter]

Drake Grayson, on 03 September 2013 - 01:26 AM, said:

Why not 1 srm 6 instead of 3 srm2 ? Or did you mean Streak srm 2?
This is a good build. But you must consider the problems of a 50 t mech with xl.They die fast with the current alpha meta.

I just can't find a good build for the CN9-A with a STD engine. I'm unable to do enough damage with the AC5, AC10 or LBX against all mechs. AC10 is great against heavies, but I can't bring it to good use against lights, for example. LBX just doesn't have enough punch as a main weapon.

3 x SRM2 is the same weight as a SRM6, except the spread is much tighter and it causes more heat. More heat is not a problem for this build, so it seems like a pure bonus.

Op4blushift, on 03 September 2013 - 01:43 AM, said:

Srm2s have a tighter spread and a slightly faster recharge (although its pretty negligible in my opinion). Don't see anything terribly wrong with the build, but if you have the money you might want to swap out the 250 for a 255, since they're the exact same weight but the 255 has slightly faster speed and turning speed. Might want to take out one on of gauss ammo for an extra ton of srm ammo, since the right arm of cents tend to get blown off like there's no tomorrow, but that's pretty much up to you.

Good call about the XL255. I think I already have one of those.
I prefer the gauss ammo because I want to spend the first part of the match sniping a bit, since I have a fragile XL engine. But I'll have to play a few matches and see how often I run out of ammo for each weapon

Victor Morson, on 03 September 2013 - 01:45 AM, said:

Any arm mounted design on a Centurion is bad. They lose their arms way too fast. That's the reason you see so many tripple SRM6+2 Med builds. You can sort of get away with a couple small guns on the AL, but you will lose them before you die.
This is also the reason the YLW is bad. It's just too easy to gimp.
EDIT: Also, XL is really bad on slower moving Centurions and should only be run on a 130+ kph Cent 9D. The 9A however can't go fast enough to justify it and should almost always be running standard. Either way, this designs would easily be taken out by a standard Cent brawler.

Well, I do prefer a STD engine for the CN9-AL, for example. But I just can't find a good build for this mech without the XL engine. SRMs are not as good as they used to be, so the old Zombie SRM boat is fairly average at the moment.

I think the reason so many Centurions lose their arms is because many of them use AC10s, AC5s, AC2s, LBX or UAC5, and all those ballistics require that you stay on target relatively often, or even continually. With the gauss rifle or AC20, you can shoot, torso twist, shoot, torso twist, and so you're able to shield the gun a lot better.

And frankly, I have an intense dislike for builds that don't use any weapons on limbs that are supposed to have weapons. Such as AC20 Catapults with only small lasers in those huge arms, Jagermech PPC boats with no ballistics or.. <shudder> a CPLT-C1 without missiles!

[Victor Morson]

Alistair Winter, on 03 September 2013 - 01:59 AM, said:

Well, I do prefer a STD engine for the CN9-AL, for example. But I just can't find a good build for this mech without the XL engine. SRMs are not as good as they used to be, so the old Zombie SRM boat is fairly average at the moment.

They're actually rather stellar right now. While they only do 2.0 instead of 2.5, the Centurion 9A 3 SRM6 model is absolutely among the most devastating shotgun builds in the game right now. You'll level heavies in two and a half hits. Just make sure you remember to open your bay doors since the light is out.

So it's actually a really exceptional 'mech right now. They're being used in competitive play again, frequently.

Alistair Winter, on 03 September 2013 - 01:59 AM, said:

I think the reason so many Centurions lose their arms is because many of them use AC10s, AC5s, AC2s, LBX or UAC5, and all those ballistics require that you stay on target relatively often, or even continually. With the gauss rifle or AC20, you can shoot, torso twist, shoot, torso twist, and so you're able to shield the gun a lot better.

The AC/20 and Gauss Rifles are actually the worst guns for an arm mounted Cent; because both take up a ton of crit spaces, meaning that any crits rolled into that area will probably destroy the gun. In the Gauss's case, it's likely to take the remaining arm with it too.

The hit box of the arm, being very "shield" like, makes it just soak up hits. It's great bonus armor in a torso design.

If you want a decent 9D with an XL, always check out the twin LRM-15 + TAG model. It's not used much in leagues because of LRMs being subpar there, but it's a great pugging support 'mech.

Alistair Winter, on 03 September 2013 - 01:59 AM, said:

And frankly, I have an intense dislike for builds that don't use any weapons on limbs that are supposed to have weapons. Such as AC20 Catapults with only small lasers in those huge arms, Jagermech PPC boats with no ballistics or.. <shudder> a CPLT-C1 without missiles!

That really makes picking a 'mech tricky. A lot of them are far better if they only use torso, or maybe one arm; you can often times jam Ferro on such designs and make them rather deadly. Almost all of my 'mechs have at least one arm completely stripped and used as a crit space dumping ground.

The Centurion is one of those that in particular benefits, though, again because of it's bad arm hit boxes. Literally every fight I get into with a YLW for example, I'm able to completely declaw it in two shots tops - sometimes a single shot, with some luck! It's really bad.

[Inflatable Fish]

I, too, have come to the conclusion that force mounting a weapon on a 9-A's arm just for the sake of filling a hardpoint is risky business. you're p. much guaranteed to need to use an XL engine to maintain any kind of firepower, and then you face the combined dangers of running an XL and needing high uptime on target with most ballistic weapons.

I've thus decided to go with the current trend and am now running an STD 260, 2ML, 3SRM6+Arty build. it performs remarkably well against bigger opponents, but the SRMs lose a lot of their punch against fast targets due to bad hit detection. still, I can consistently break 400 damage per match, sometimes reaching as high as 750+.

so I guess if you want to make the 9-A work, you're gonna have to go against your OCD. (as did I.)

[Alistair Winter]

Victor Morson, on 03 September 2013 - 02:06 AM, said:

They're actually rather stellar right now. While they only do 2.0 instead of 2.5, the Centurion 9A 3 SRM6 model is absolutely among the most devastating shotgun builds in the game right now. You'll level heavies in two and a half hits. Just make sure you remember to open your bay doors since the light is out.
So it's actually a really exceptional 'mech right now. They're being used in competitive play again, frequently.

Hm, at least I can be grateful that people haven't figured out how to use them at my level yet But thanks for the head's up.

Victor Morson, on 03 September 2013 - 02:06 AM, said:

If you want a decent 9D with an XL, always check out the twin LRM-15 + TAG model. It's not used much in leagues because of LRMs being subpar there, but it's a great pugging support 'mech.

I did, for a moment, consider the 9A with a 3xLRM10 + TAG, but I decided against it, as I couldn't fit anything bigger than the MG in its right arm

Victor Morson, on 03 September 2013 - 02:06 AM, said:

That really makes picking a 'mech tricky. A lot of them are far better if they only use torso, or maybe one arm; you can often times jam Ferro on such designs and make them rather deadly. Almost all of my 'mechs have at least one arm completely stripped and used as a crit space dumping ground.
The Centurion is one of those that in particular benefits, though, again because of it's bad arm hit boxes. Literally every fight I get into with a YLW for example, I'm able to completely declaw it in two shots tops - sometimes a single shot, with some luck! It's really bad.

Well, I can tolerate certain mechs without weapons in both arms, such as the Highlander, as the 3D model adjusts to the actual weaponry. But a mech with no weapons in either arm, that I cannot tolerate, unless it's a Raven 2X or Cicada

I do agree that it's a sub-optimal model though, both for its size and the size of its arms. Compared with the Kintaro arms, it's... very silly.