34 replies to this topic

[Orangeug1ad]

I am kind of new about 100 or so matches in. I bought founders pack and didn't come back to the game until last week. I am having a great time so far too. But I bought a YLW while it was on sale and have enough exp to master it. I have also about 10000 exp in the CN9 A [C]. So I guess I should get this one too. But which should I get for the third I need to continue the mech tree?

I like the YLW a lot more that the CN9 A. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Arnold J Rimmer]

It depends on playstyle and available funds. The CN9-AL is one of my all-time favourite chassis - currently running this fast brawling build. (Don't be scared of that XL - you lose your zombie but I've still been the last mech standing on my team more times than I can count. Just never stop moving and always torso twist to spread damage)

The CN9-D comes stock with an XL300, and can make an absolutely brutal Light hunter if you load up with Streaks and leave that LB-10X in there.

[Grey Black]

Let me guess, you like ballistic weapons? If my assumption is correct, your only mech choice is the CN9-D. The 9-al has lasers andmmissiles and no bigass cannon to pop off. Put a standard engine in it and have fun.

[Autobot9000]

I think both the AL as well as the D have some great niches. I mastered all the cents except the yenlowang. A very successful build I had with the AL was 2 PPCs in the right arm and 2 MLs as zombie back up with 17DHS

2 PPC/2 MLaser/17DHS/275XL build
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...a3e8adb2ab51c1a

However the D variant makes an excellent light hunter, as you can insert a large XL engine here. I use Ferro/Endo/305XL with LB10x, 2xSRM4 and 2ML. You can fit a Gauss rifle here instead of the LB10X, if you play a little.

gl & hf

Edit:
I think the AL will play quit similar to your Yen-Lo Wang, because the PPCs deal 20 points of pin poitn damage as well, so it's basically the same execution targeting with your right arm and then protecting it again - maybe not as micro intense as a Yen-Lo Wang, because you can do this from a large distance.

Edited by Autobot9000, 27 October 2013 - 02:01 PM.

[Victor Morson]

Hey there OP. Let me do a quick breakdown; I will start with the unfortunate news that the YLW is a very bad 'mech. Let me explain why.

Effectively, Centurions are well known for one specific trait: Durability. They're very, very hard to bring down when properly configured. However, a lot of this has to do with the arm hitboxes. They're very easy to hit - you can take the YLW's primary firepower out without a second thought, if you're a skilled player, and that right there is why I say the YLW is bad.

In fact, I'm going to take that up a notch: Every Centurion but the 9AL should not have arm weapons, ever. You can justify a couple medium lasers/SPL on a 9AL's arm, but that's only because you can count it as "expendable." If you put ANY big guns in ANY Cent arms, they're just asking to be gunned off by the first good shot that notices you, period.

That said, the Centurion is a great 'mech if you keep it torso mounted and focus exclusively on that. Here's some basic setups (sorry for the lack of smurfies) that I can honestly recommend:

9A: 3x SRM6 2x ML, 260-275 Standard, Endo + Ferro
9A: 3x SRM4 2x MPL, 260-275 Standard, Endo + Ferro
9AL: 2x SRM4 4x SPL, 260-275 Standard, Endo + Ferro (Primarily anti-light)
9D: 2x LRM15+Artemis 1x TAG, 280-300XL, Endo
9D: 2x SRM6 1x ML 1x SL, largest XL you can fit, Endo + Ferro

Again, avoid arm mounted guns outside of VERY light guns on the AL (Don't go wasting a PPC on that arm - you WILL lose it halfway through the match!) on a Centurion. Instead strip them to minimal armor and twist your torso so that they catch most of the early incoming fire as shields.

The Centurion is an excellent 'mech but I think you've been using it the wrong way to get the most out of it, basically.

PS: I recommend the 9D next. You can either make it run very, very fast (140 KPH) and keep up with Jenners, or configure it like I was mentioning with the LRMs & TAG and turn it into a very vicious long-range support 'mech. Honestly it is the single best LRM platform in the game, having the speed to reposition and maintain optimal range, and the firepower to do serious damage.

Autobot9000, on 27 October 2013 - 01:57 PM, said:

2 PPC/2 MLaser/17DHS/275XL build
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...a3e8adb2ab51c1a

This is a prime example of what not to do. If I ran across Autobot's centurion in a match, he'd be down to two medium lasers in 15 seconds. It's a bad idea.

EDIT: Also, never, ever run XL on any Centurion but the D model, as the D's greatest strength is it's ability to take larger engines; you want to run it either as a fast skirmisher or a oversized light exclusively.

But the rest of the Centurions again are most notable for being incredibly hard to kill - you can lose both side torsos and all your arms and STILL keep coming / alive. Again, it's a great 'mech, but avoid XLs like the plague on every model except the 9D.

Edited by Victor Morson, 27 October 2013 - 02:28 PM.

[Grey Black]

Autobot9000, on 27 October 2013 - 01:57 PM, said:

I think both the AL as well as the D have some great niches. I mastered all the cents except the yenlowang. A very successful build I had with the AL was 2 PPCs in the right arm and 2 MLs as zombie back up with 17DHS

2 PPC/2 MLaser/17DHS/275XL build
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...a3e8adb2ab51c1a

However the D variant makes an excellent light hunter, as you can insert a large XL engine here. I use Ferro/Endo/305XL with LB10x, 2xSRM4 and 2ML. You can fit a Gauss rifle here instead of the LB10X, if you play a little.

gl & hf

My only problem with an XL in a centurion is that it eliminates the single biggest advantage of the centurion: survivability. The centurion can zombie better than any mech if you don't run an xl because of its 2 medium lasers in the center torso and high speed. Torso twisting is life in a centy, so you can spread the damage, let your left arm take the damage first, then everything else.

[Autobot9000]

Victor Morson, on 27 October 2013 - 02:03 PM, said:

This is a prime example of what not to do. If I ran across Autobot's centurion in a match, he'd be down to two medium lasers in 15 seconds. It's a bad idea.

lol.... You know smartie, Centurions tend to hvae their main gun in the right arm, they're not all SRM/ML zombies and it's 100% legit to play them this way. Your bragging just makes you look bad, but I guess if it's such an achievement for you it means something for me.

Edited by Autobot9000, 27 October 2013 - 02:06 PM.

[Arnold J Rimmer]

I don't understand why people say that the possibility of losing an arm means you shouldn't put anything there. Atlases lose arms - should they stick to torso mountings? They often lose the RT first - should they never mount an AC/20 there?

As long as you go in remembering that both the arms of the Cent are expendable, no matter what you have mounted, you'll do fine. My -AL build above loses only 25% of its alpha damage when that arm goes - in a long fight, it's insignificant. It's a nice bonus to have while it's there, but nothing more.

EDIT: not even 25%, more like 22.

Edited by Arnold J Rimmer, 27 October 2013 - 02:14 PM.

[Victor Morson]

Autobot9000, on 27 October 2013 - 02:05 PM, said:

lol.... You know smartie, Centurions tend to hvae their main gun in the right arm, they're not all SRM/ML zombies and it's 100% legit to play them this way.

Those are all bad Centurions straight up, too. Arm mounted guns on a Centurion is the mark of a bad Centurion and you'll never ever see a competitive player run these designs.

Autobot9000, on 27 October 2013 - 02:05 PM, said:

Your bragging just makes you look bad, but I guess if it's such an achievement for you it means something for me.

This isn't bragging. My 15 second estimate reflects the fact I'm not the best shot. I have guys in my unit who could dearm you in 10 by themselves, and if we were working as a team (4 or 12) we'd call to take out your arm first then leave you until last, which means you'd lose it in about 3 seconds.

Again, this isn't bragging. There's some units out there like SwK that could bring an arm off a Cent like this literally on the first salvo, if you happened to get noticed as the prime target.

It's just the way the Centurion works: It's arms are weapons fire magnets, so they are best used to soak hits - not mount guns.

[Victor Morson]

EDIT: OP before you write off the 9A, definitely try the 3x SRM6 2x ML setup on it. It's very worthwhile. Also make sure you keep the 9A when you buy your next Centurion no matter what, as you need three Centurions to reach Master status in the pilot lab.. that and the 9A is one of the best mediums in the game.

Arnold J Rimmer, on 27 October 2013 - 02:13 PM, said:

I don't understand why people say that the possibility of losing an arm means you shouldn't put anything there. Atlases lose arms - should they stick to torso mountings? They often lose the RT first - should they never mount an AC/20 there?

It has to do with the hit boxes and 'mech design. Some 'mechs can use arm mounted weapons fine, like the Cataphract or Jaggermech - they are positioned so that you really have to aim at them to hit them most of the time, and if you do, say, take off a 3D's right arm (killing it's ballistics) it's likely to still have half it's firepower in the torso.

By contrast, the Centurion arms are positioned just so that half the shots going at the torso will hit them, a fact that can be used to an advantage (by using them as intentional shields) or a huge disadvantage (by mounting guns on them.)

So to recap:
3D arms - hard to kill, and if you do kill them, you reduce their firepower by half at most, possibly less.
Cent arms - easy to kill, easy to hit on accident, and reduce your firepower to around 10% if you kill them on a heavy arm design.
Atlas arms - Tons of armor and fairly hard to kill, and each arm (outside of the RS) is likely to be carrying only a tiny percentage of firepower and are unattractive targets.

The reason the AL gets a pass in my post is it's firepower only goes down about 20% when it loses the arm, so indeed, it is worth running some LIGHT expendable guns over there on the AL specifically.

But you do not want to do anything more than that. You are going to lose your arm against even any moderately talented player once you're noticed, in these designs.

Arnold J Rimmer, on 27 October 2013 - 02:13 PM, said:

As long as you go in remembering that both the arms of the Cent are expendable, no matter what you have mounted, you'll do fine. My -AL build above loses only 25% of its alpha damage when that arm goes - in a long fight, it's insignificant. It's a nice bonus to have while it's there, but nothing more.

EDIT: not even 25%, more like 22.

I do give a pass for ALs running very light firepower in the right arm for a few reasons. While it's likely to get blown off on accident anyway due to what I was saying about Cent arms, nobody is going to aim for an arm carrying, say, 2 medlas. That's just not worth it compared to an arm carrying something like 2 PPCs.

On top of the other reasons I just listed, I mean.

Really this all comes down to a 'mech by 'mech basis - there are many designs that benefit from focusing ENTIRELY on armless setups and the Centurion is one of them, but many more that have perfectly usable and well implemented arms.

PS: One advantage to armless designs is you can almost always fit Ferro + Endo on, freeing an extra ton or two to max your armor without resorting to XL engines.

Edited by Victor Morson, 27 October 2013 - 02:39 PM.

[Arnold J Rimmer]

Does this just come from the fact that the CN9's loadout is asymmetrical? What about all those highly successful HBK builds that have that massive hunch? You didn't answer the point about leaving a weapon out for no reason other than 'I might lose it and I'm scared '

[Autobot9000]

You can still torso twist Victor TrashTalkChamp and hence its not simply your decision if you can target fire that arm all the time. Also it seems like your next advice would be to not use the AC20 in your hunchback or your Atlas DDC, because that's what people target for. How silly. But I guess talking to such a troll as you present yourself here, arguments aren't what I am gonna waste my time with. Especially since you're already starting bragging again LOL How childish are you seriously?

Edited by Autobot9000, 27 October 2013 - 05:14 PM.

[Orangeug1ad]

Well thanks for all the great input. I guess I will buy the CN9-A[C] and I'll figure out the third one. As for the AC discussion. I have had it shot off several times. I am also learning to turn my torso to protect it and keep it for longer as well. Obviously, I am not real competitive since I am just starting out. I just checked, I am at 88 games as I type this reply. But I do try to do the best I can. But in reg ole public games if I stay back as support for the Heavies and Atlas class I tend to keep it more often than not. But I have been a zombie running around with lasers several times too. Heck one time my lasers were taken out before the AC.

The fast LRM Cent sounds interesting though....

[aniviron]

The CN9-AH, of course.

[Orangeug1ad]

aniviron, on 27 October 2013 - 06:32 PM, said:

The CN9-AH, of course.

So meh?

[MonkeyCheese]

Arnold J Rimmer, on 27 October 2013 - 01:51 PM, said:

The CN9-D comes stock with an XL300, and can make an absolutely brutal Light hunter if you load up with Streaks and leave that LB-10X in there.

Brutal light hunter you say

My Cent 9D goes 131.9kph speed tweaked but at like 18mil its kinda not cheap.

Edited by MonkeyCheese, 27 October 2013 - 06:59 PM.

[aniviron]

Ben Brabu, on 27 October 2013 - 06:44 PM, said:

So meh?

I just wish the AH were still around. Still seems dumb that they took it out, to me.

[luxebo]

Victor does have a point in competitive play, but I'm guessing since the OP placed this in the new players section, this means that he wants an idea on what Cents for Pugging. I think they all work fine as long as you torso twist. You should use the Cent A(C), as that one is a good mech for brawling. And you have the Yen-lo, another solid mech. Up to you on whether you like chasing lights or mounting multiple ballistics (that means Cent D), or mounting energy instead of ballistics (Cent 9AL).

[Orangeug1ad]

aniviron, on 27 October 2013 - 07:01 PM, said:

I just wish the AH were still around. Still seems dumb that they took it out, to me.

oh ok. well I was just getting to where I got about 1000 EXP with the YLW every match and now I am having a hard time getting used to the CN9-A[C].

luxebo, on 27 October 2013 - 07:14 PM, said:

Victor does have a point in competitive play, but I'm guessing since the OP placed this in the new players section, this means that he wants an idea on what Cents for Pugging. I think they all work fine as long as you torso twist. You should use the Cent A©, as that one is a good mech for brawling. And you have the Yen-lo, another solid mech. Up to you on whether you like chasing lights or mounting multiple ballistics (that means Cent D), or mounting energy instead of ballistics (Cent 9AL).

Yeah, not really competitive yet. Just PUG games right now. I figured I would grind this mech since I have such a big jump on it anyway after I bought the YLW with the sale last week.

[Arnold J Rimmer]

MonkeyCheese, on 27 October 2013 - 06:57 PM, said:

[snip]
but at like 18mil its kinda not cheap.

True - why I added at the start of that post that it depended on funds. Just adding for fluff, really