DA BAWSS, on 18 May 2015 - 07:01 AM, said:
Either one is good.
Centurions:
A: All around variant, best used to support assaults. Best survivability.
AL: Best ranged variant, Large lasers complimented by SRMs make a great combo.
D: Awful.
AH: Best brawler variant. 3 SRM 6s, and an LBX packs a punch.
Hunchback:
4G: Good for trigger happy guys
4H: Same as 4G, but less fire rate.
4P: If youre not trigger happy, this is the right one.
4J: Great brawler, can use XL engine.
4N: Just get the 4J instead.
Though, as you stated, each chassis has it's strengths and weaknesses, I'd have to disagree with your current line up of mechs. Of particular note, the Hunchbacks.
I find a strength of the Centurions (for leveling purposes) is it's ability to do mostly the same build on many of them. However, the mixing of energy, ballistic and missile hard points can be a bit tricky to balance. It's a jack of all trades, master of nothing. I also would like to add, Centurions before their last hitbox pass, use to be one of the most survivable mechs in the game. After that pass, they became almost walking left arms and CTs. This reduced their survivability from days of old, but they still aren't a bad choice. (Use to be faster to kill a Centurion by legging them than by trying to core them.)
The Hunchbacks... I have no idea what you are going after on them.
4G: Good for it's AC20. With it's quirks, it can slam those rounds into a target in rapid fire mode. Problems are ammo, as it's too light on ammo most times. Alternative, non-quirked customs can have several (up to three) ballistics. It's limit of only 3 energy hard points, limits it's non-ammo capabilities.
4H: More energy slots than the 4G, but no quirks for the AC20. Instead, it has quirks for the AC10, which may have lower DPS than the AC20 (and less PPFLD), but it comes with more rounds and can shoot at longer ranges. This is coupled with up to five energy hard points, which can give it plenty of energy punch if desired.
4P: All energy, and quirked for med laser use. Depending upon how you set it up, it can be a great slicer mech for close in work. You can also balance out the loadout by having some (ER)LLs up high in the hunch, coupled with some medium (pulse) lasers for closer in work. Lots of good potential for this mech.
4J: Is NOT a brawler. This is primarily an LRM mech. With all the missile hard points in the shoulder, you want to use LRMs. Of particular note, LRM10s, which it is quirked to use at insane levels of reload. Slap in an LRM cooldown module into it, and let it rain.
4SP: This is the brawler, but it can also make for a fair LRM support mech as well. With even hard points on each side of the mech, if you lose a side torso, you aren't as badly hurt as with the other Hunchbacks. The arm lasers work very well for med laser defense weapons. Is quirked for SRMs, but can provide decent LRM options, especially with that high head mounted TAG laser you can place in it.
Between the two, the variety of the Hunchback, combined with decent hit boxes and a smaller frame, makes it a little better (but still a close call) between the Centurion and the Hunchback. I don't think any (besides possibly the 4H) Hunchback is a bad mech, depending upon what you wish to do with it. Centurions only are a little behind the Hunchback due to it's inflexibility between variants (in comparison to the Hunchback) and it's stature. (The shield arm can be a blessing if used correctly, or useless if not used. This comes with experience of playing the game.)
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