20 replies to this topic

[Mitheledh]

I've been playing this game for a week or two, now. So far I have three Catapults, to get mastery in them. My favorite by far is the K2 (big surprise) which is usually outfitted with 2x UAC5 and 4x MLs. With it's 300XL engine, I get it up to 82 kph and it's a lot of fun, despite how easy it is to lose the CT on that thing.

I'm wanting to get a different type of mech, now, though. I was thinking a medium mech and looking for something that was faster than my CPLT-K2, but could still pack a bit of a punch. The Centurion looked like it might be able to do that. (I thought about the Hunchback, but I think it's really kind of ugly.) I have some questions about it, though.

I guess the first question is, is it a good mech to get? Or would a different medium mech be better? Secondly, if it is, which one would be better? The CN9-D caught my attention because of it's speed, having the same 300XL I use in my Catapults. I'm also only about 3 million short of affording it, so that's not really an issue. It also has two ballistic slots in it's arm, and while I very much enjoy ballistics, I'm not sure I would need two. The CN9-A has one ballistic slot and 3 missile slots, which might be a better arrangement. However, when looking at Smurfy's, it looked like the biggest engine I could put in it was the 270XL, so it'd never have the speed of the CN9-D. The CN9-AL doesn't have any ballistic slots at all, so it's not as appealing to me.

So, anyways, any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Fiesognom]

Balistics in centis are not the best because you lose your big arms very fast in a match. Try 2 ml in center, 3 srm6 + artemis in sidetorso and a big xl. Its the best setup in my opinion and use armes only as a shield. So the AL is the best i think

Edited by Fiesognom, 11 September 2013 - 02:34 AM.

[Ewigan]

well, actually right now Cents are the best medium mechs out there.

you can do very much with them, they have awesome hitboxes AND even some "problem" with their damage transfer, so they stay alive longer then they are supposed to.

that being said, you can go for speed with XLs, going zombie with STD engines.
The best in my eyes is the yen-lo-wang, what is a hero mech though. only get it if you feel comfortable with piloting cents. when you know how to use your shield arm though.... that AC20 in you arm and 2 Med lasers as a zombies just wreck face.
the other "prime" zombie cent is the cn9-a, where you just run it with a big STD engine, med lasers and SRMS. here you basically have two shield arms... use them wisely!

the other two cents are fun too, but i rarely take them out of their mechbay. the AL can do big energy weapons or LRMing, while the 9D can go incredibly fast for a 50ton mech.

Edited by Ewigan, 11 September 2013 - 02:52 AM.

[Modo44]

Consider also the archetypal ballistic medium -- the Hunchback 4G/4H (can literally shoot behind itself with lasers) -- and the Blackjack BJ-1 (for jump-sniping with an AC20). The recent mobility modifications to mediums made all of those pretty strong.

[Shiro Matsumoto]

The only Centurion i have to date is the Wang.. and yes i can tell you they ALWAYS! try to shoot your gun-arm first.

Personally, my favorite Medium is the Trebuchet, good weapons mix, diffrent variants, one with a torsomount "inconspicious" Balistic hardpoint, that can easily take an Ac10/20/Gauss. You dont have space for an XL, if you bring an Ac20, other variants make formidable missileboats.

[heleqin]

the Cent 9A is hands down the best medium mech to start with. lots of build options, super survivable, lots of fun.

the arms are relatively easy to lose, but don't take that as a reason not to run ballistics unless you're already part of some hyper competitive merc corp, Ballistics are fun and fine for PUGging or just playing for fun.

[B1zmark]

Cent should be used with a 275 engine (standard preferably) and it's main weapons in it's arms. I pilot cent's and so does my friend, here's what we've found:

-It's a trash LRM Boat
-SRM's are pointless unless you get close
-Getting Close leads to you loosing arms and die quickly
-It needs speed to get out of situations, despite how naturally tanky it is, it has low HP
-Ballistics are 100% the best main weapon on them
-2x Medium laser (not pulse) is an excellent backup in your centre torso and helps when dealing with light mech's or when you run out of ammo/lose your arm.

I've tried ultra AC5 and wasn't too impressed, mainly due to how long you need to stand 'in the open' to apply your damage, that being said i'd recommend an AC10 as your main ballistic weapon or 2x AC2's if you want some rapid fire chaos and long range. I don't even use missiles on my Cent due to the point above. I tend to get high damage, long life and kills/assists out of piloting them in this fasion:

Use your speed (89 kph+ with 275 and speed tweak takes it higher) to approach close to the centre of the map. From here you can spot lights rushing a flank, or see where their heavy mechs are. From this position you can then dictate a strong place for your team to place their heavy mechs without over-extending. Stay with the main group at this point, take pot shots with the AC's to draw attention and try and add some component damage. scout back and fourth along your own Mech offensive line and look for a weak spot in the enemies line.

At this point the cent really shines: If you can see a way through their line that affords you cover/distance from the main brawling mechs and gives you some good uptime on a long range LRM or Sniper mech, go for it. You can rush in, peel off components quickly and this causes the enemy team to re-adjust their line in order to deal with you, or face loosing a ranged mech and letting a heavy hitting medium get behind them.

If the enemy team rotates to you, run back to your own mechs - feel free to loose your shield (left) arm and 'bait' people into follow you into your own team. Now the damage is already done you can rinse and repeat this. I've broken an enemy team's offensive line quite a few times with this. My setup is roughly

Centurion-A
Standard 275 Engine
AC 10
2x Medium laser

I've tried things such as:
STD 275
UAC5
3x SRM2
2x Medium laser.

and had limited success, due to how long you have to be facing your target and how close you need to be to maintain good DPS. The absolute best mech for this is the Yen Lo Wang, i pilot it:

XL 300
AC 20
2x Medium laser

I love it more than almost any other mech. Good piloting will work wonders, 300-500 damage a game isn't uncommon and considering this is all point damage, not missile spread, it adds up to a lot of lost limbs for your enemy.

[Bront]

I wasn't a huge fan of Cents, but they were fun, and I still take my D out (I got rid of the AL and A because I can remake the builds I want with the D).

Cent AL/A run fine with a 250 or 275 standard engine in them. Good speed, very good durability. The weapon arm is vulnerable, but if you don't ignore your missiles, you can still pack some punch for a long while. The SRM build with no ballistics for the A I didn't enjoy, The Balistics give you punch, and SRM hit registration isn't great right now. Still, try out the champion Cent-A trial mech right now if you want a feel for them.

The Cent-D is fun with the 300XL, and I threw a 360XL in there for kicks (it was fun, but didn't care for the weapons loadout). I find while it's not quite as survivable as the A/AL, it's close, and the extra speed makes a difference. I build my D as a light mech hunter (MPL, Streaks, LB10X)., and I can always rip out the XL and throw in a standard and recreate any non-3 missile A build.

[_demir]

I prefer the A and the AL.

The D has two ballistics instead of one (in the gun arm) but I've found trying to double up on anything bigger than an AC/2 isn't viable. You loose too much speed having to sacrifice the bigger engine sizes to fit much else.

The D with a big, expensive engine is an effective light hunter --- except several lights that go faster can hold more weapons and have a better alpha and smaller profiles and hitboxes. It's fun to watch a cent do 139, but once the novelty wears off ... you wonder why you put 17,000,000 cbills into it.


IMO go A for the extra missile hardpoint, or go AL for a more energy based build.

Edited by demir, 16 September 2013 - 12:15 PM.

[Son of the Flood]

As you say, the Hunchback isn't quite as sexy (not sure I'd go so far as "ugly") as some of the other mechs (looking at you Jaeger ), but it makes up for it with a good sense of humor and a variety of build possibilities. I mastered the Hunchbacks first so I was a little biased against Centurions for some time. A buddy of mine who ran them finally convinced me to give them a try and since then I've mastered three Centurions and it is my current favorite chassis. Of the three, I've had the most fun/success with the CN9-A.

One build I like is:

275 Standard

Endo, Ferro, DHS

3SRM6 w/3 tons ammo
1 LL
10 DHS

As others have said the Centurions are one of the most durable mechs in the game and they do lack the big hunch of the aforementioned HBK (excluding the 4SP). My vote would be for the Centurion, although the Hunchback would be a close second.

If you do consider the Hunchback, one thing to increase their longevity tremendously is to put most of the right torso armor in the front and only a few points in the rear. The hitbox for the rear right torso is extremely small.

Koniving did a post specific to this, I believe, but I'm struggling to find it. I did find reference to the strategy and a picture of the hitboxes about half-way down on the link below:

http://mwomercs.com/...4g/page__st__40

That change made an immediate difference in the longevity of the RT weapons for me. Good Luck!

[EnC3PhAL0P4TH1C]

I am a big fan of the medium and heavy mechs and the cent is definitely a favorite of mine. Hunchback 4sp is good as well, but it is the only hunch I like while I like 3 of the Centurions. The mech I have had the most success with in this game is the CN9-D.

This is by far one of the most unconventional builds I have ever done, but my kill to death ratio is 2.02 in it, all PUGs, which outshines any other chassis I use. I actually have never seen this duplicated in the field; I built it primarily as a light hunter when Jenners were getting seriously out of hand a couple months ago, but I still have success with it. I have averaged 349 damage per match with this since I bought it (best game is 899):

Tarantula Hawk

Cent CN9-D
Endo
DBL HS (11)
XL350
2x ML
2x SRM6 (4 tons ammo)
2x MG (1 ton ammo)
Armor 336/338

At 16.3 mil, she is ridiculously overpriced for a medium. I play it similar to a light, with speed boost it does 124kph. This allows you to pursue jenners and spiders most of the time. It takes some skill to maneuver and keep the MG on your enemy with the right arm, while lining up the CT for ML and SRM 6 salvos. Run it with advanced sensor, seismic, and cap accelerator.

Some people say you should never run a cent with XL but when you are that fast and you torso twist/arm shield you have very high survivability and escapabity. I hardly ever die from side torso, and thats including other cents with XL275.

I run it like a light, cap early and support team lights. Having a med with them in the early going when they run into other scouts gives them an advantage. Then I break off and head to the main battle. I find it holds its own against any weight class and is highly versatile, but recent MG nerf has hurt it a bit. If you make it through all 4 tons of SRM ammo you are looking at 650-850 damage. This chassis is nice because it can do a lot of different builds. Its only fault really is it is expensive.


Its an unusual build and not for everyone. Just wanted to give you guys something different to consider.

[Mitheledh]

So, after thinking about things for a bit, I realized that I was going to need to buy the A, AL and D (I have more important things to spend my money on right now than a Wang). So, I decided to pick up the CN9-D first. I've been running it like this:

Endo
DHS
XL300
1x LB-10X AC
2x ML
2x SRM4

I've been enjoying it. It feels like it has a nice punch up close. The speed is really nice, too. Not sure that's a great build or not, though. It means I have to get up close and personal to be effective. Sometimes that seems to work really well, other times it makes me feel very fragile.

I also just bought the CN9-AL. Still trying to figure out what to do with it. At 64 KPH, though, it feels poking slow. Even my heavier CPLT-K2 is 20 KPH faster than that thing is.

[heleqin]

there are lots of options for the AL, the classic zombie short range looks kind of like this

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...4877ff0978a58a4

lots of other options with LLas or LPulse, or even LRMs as well

[Alaskan Nobody]

heleqin, on 21 September 2013 - 04:24 PM, said:

or even LRMs as well

I run my CN9-AL with
1 large Pulse in the arm (always wonder what the other people feel is worth giving up to mount 2 of them...)
2 medium lasers in the CT
2 LRM 5 in the side (suppression fire yo!)
A 250 standard engine

Between the 2med and 1LPulse I can fight light mechs or assaults fairly well, the engine has me moving at almost 90kph (post speed tweak) and the missiles give me some indirect fire options, and decent suppression.

[Bront]

demir, on 16 September 2013 - 12:06 PM, said:

The D with a big, expensive engine is an effective light hunter --- except several lights that go faster can hold more weapons and have a better alpha and smaller profiles and hitboxes. It's fun to watch a cent do 139, but once the novelty wears off ... you wonder why you put 17,000,000 cbills into it.

XL300 and speed tweak gives you 106kph, which is fast enough to hunt lights while still carrying a good payload, and is surprisingly effective against larger mechs as well. I agree with the XL360 though (which I had for another mech). 2 MGs, 2 MLs, and 2 SSRMs was just not effective against much of anything.

[Leesin]

Just bough the YLW as it was in the sale, I've never been inclined to even try a Centurion before, but I am loving the YLW. Using it with a 300xl, DHS, Endo Steel, AC 20 w/6 tons of ammo and 2 med laser. So far my K/D is 10.00, killed 10 died once, getting between 250-500 damage a match usually it seems. A few of my kills are actually lights too, when you hit them with an AC 20, if they don't die, something falls off of them lol.

These are all pug matches too so I've probably been a bit lucky that I've not had terribad teams, but regardless this is a real fun mech to play.

Edited by Leesin, 19 October 2013 - 05:15 AM.

[TripleEhBeef]

I've tried Cents more than once, but I just don't like them. It's either "small engine-big guns", "big engine-small guns", or "run an XL and pray your STs don't get shot". It feels like you have to sacrifice too much in one area to benefit in another imo.

[Oni Ralas]

Cent pilot here with 300K xp on my YLW. The chassis is far from dead with the influx of all the new mechs. I still rock the YLW constantly and love her to death. Ballistics are currently the FOTM, which helps.

Same rules with any cent - twist n' shout. Use your shield arm, protect your gun arm. Any pilot worth his/her salt will go strait for your cannon arm, so guard her. I never run a cent w/o an XL, ever. Your CT is the last to go, even with the change to the amount "ghost arms" stop dmg. Move around, harass, take shots center mass and *especially* go after backs of the slowboats.

YLW classic: 300xl, 2ML, AC20.

[DOMDOM]

I just mastered my Cents last week. Yes zombie is fun, but my current goto build is the 9D with 2xAC2 (5T ammo), 2xML, and an XL330. With speed tweak you do 117kph and AC2s are a lot more fun than I thought they would be. Longest range weapon in the game and you can basically fire as quick as you can click. Great for hit and run skirmishing, really distracts enemies... quite annoying to be pelted by AC2s. I'm averaging 300-500dmg per game with my high of 700.

Can't claim credit for the build, think I got it out of the Cent thread, very glad I found it though.

[Koniving]

Mitheledh, on 10 September 2013 - 08:38 PM, said:

So, anyways, any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

A vid using 3 to 4 stock CN9-Ds and advice from the first tournament's 4th place medium mech winner.


Now these are not recommended builds, just random b.s. rigs for fun trying to maximize speed and/or damage with speed. This is the last of the Centurions for me (until the AH is restored), making it my 83rd mech if we count the ones I sold.