I'm sure Kon covered it well.
I'm a big fan of the Hunchbacks. Folks make way too much issue out of it's hunch. Fix the armor for 46 pts in the front and 2 pts in the rear and go kill stuff. I mastered the -P, and -J variants with the hunch, but sold the -G after elite. Once I fixed the armor allocations on them, I very seldom ever lost a hunch in a match. Most of my deaths were center torso cores.
Never ran a Centurion, so I'll give that a pass.
Heavies, if you like ballistics (like I do), then yes, Cataphracts all the way. I mastered 3 of them, and kept the 3D and 2X. The main reason I sold the 4X was it's slow speed. Depends on how you play it for sure, but I PUG 100 % of the time. And I got tired of being left behind in the 4X since I couldn't keep up with the team even with a 255 engine. I'd take on a Jager in my 'phracts one on one any day.
I know Jagers are popular, but their armor is made of tissue paper and they fall on their faces in a straight up face off. Seriously, a heavy mech (-DD comes with 232 pts armor) that comes stock with less armor than my Jenner?! My medium Hunchbacks carry more armor than most Jagers. What makes Jagers effective is they run in groups, and stay at range, hiding over hills. If you can pick your fights, and stay out of direct fire, then Jagers can sure lay down the firepower. But you can't always pick your battles, and if I catch you out in the open, you're a smoking crater.
You should also look very hard at the Shadowhawks when they become available for Cbills. They are just amazing. I'm still surprised by them regularly on how much damage they can dish out and receive. They're nimble like a medium should be, all 3 variants have JJ's and at least one ballistic slot, have a good punch and take hits like a heavy. None of the variants are "boats", but all 3 make well rounded mechs that are good in most conditions. I would call them the best chassis in the game right now.
EDIT--
Meant to say Shadowhawks are "nimble like a medium
should be..."
Fixed it for you Void, I know they're mediums!
Edited by OldOrgandonor, 18 November 2013 - 04:35 PM.