14 replies to this topic

[Arihm0]

Hello, new player to MWO but always closet fan to battletech.

I have my first build mech with my own modifications and build in the CN9-AH. For brawling and assist for the assaults and missile platforms, I know how to use my left arm on this mech (Idea of how, still need practice in execution) I look at the meta builds for this variant to help me along my way for my own build. Something I don't do that the "most meta" build does is plug in an XL engine as well as strip the left arm of a lot of armor, are these good ideas and if so, why?

[Fox With A Shotgun]

The reason why people use a STD engine in a centurion is to 'zombie' the mech. That is, you can remove the arms, STs and it'll still be able to fight. This also implies that you need at least some weapons in the CT.

The CN9-AH, however, has no CT hardpoints, Even if you were to 'zombie' this mech, you would only be able to do so until both STs are removed. Hence, it's not as good for zombie-ing as any of the other centurions which have at least one CT hardpoint; you might as well go fast, load up heavy weapons and strike as hard as you can before exploding.

Removing a lot of the LA armor has to do with the quirks, hitboxes and the shape of the centurion. It's got +16 LA armor, which is the equivalent of half a ton of extra tonnage with standard armor. Since it has no weapons, the only reason it is there is to block as much damage as it can before breaking - it simply doesn't require as much protection as say, the RA or torsos, because those parts are vital to the centurion. Plus, even if the arm breaks, it leaves a -huge- stump (the LA's shield collar still blocks shots directed to the LT) which passively absorbs 50% of incoming damage. That means you don't really need the LA to be intact to still block things!

If you are a brawler supporting heavies and assaults, try this build. It lets you blow up mediums (and lights, with good aim and practice) that try to get too close to your assaults.

CN9-AH SRM/AC20

Edited by ArcturusWolf, 17 November 2015 - 02:37 PM.

[Boulangerie]

I never really got into the AH. It is probably because I had already had my Yen Lo Wang hero mech for a long time running the AC20 and 1 Medium Laser+1Pulse laser. On that Mech I use a 250 STD engine because You still retain 2 Lasers even after dropping most of your mech on the battlefield. That said, there are many who will say to take an XL on the YLW as well. You can either take an engine that is the same rating, and free up tonnage for bigger/better weapons, or keep your loadout the same and upgrade your speed and agility. You can try to strike a medium ground, but in general I'd say to specialize in one direction. One reason you need the extra tonnage for the AH is that it doesn't use Lasers at all, so you need more tons to take the 1-3 missile points plus ammo for those missiles.

Good luck finding a build that suits your playstyle! It has great quirks for the AC20 right now, but don't be afraid to throw a couple AC5's on there, or even 3 Machine guns if you want to go all out and load in 3 SRM-6's and a big engine. Playing around with your load out is a lot of fun, especially when you find something that you can do well in and fits your playstyle more than a suggested build.

If you decide you like the Centurion, you will want to pick up 2 more chassis to skill up to unlock the higher tiers of skills in your AH. I'd suggest the AL and D actually. The AL is my favorite variant, and loads 2E slots in the arm instead of a ballistic slot. I haven't actually used the D variant, but it is getting pretty good generic quirks and is crazy fun with the LBX-10 as a giant auto shotgun. It also has a larger engine cap and can go really fast! It does cost more CBills out of the gate, but does come with more expensive equipment (big engine).

[Leone]

Personally, I don't own centurions, but if I did, this is the sorta build I would rock. CN9-AH, like my shadowhawk.

You could try it with the stock engine, but you just don't have enough room for the kinda ammo a build like that goes through. Maybe try a standard dual AC 5, 200 rating engine build first, see if you like it before moving up to the sheer awesomeness that is dual uac 5s. Yes it sacrifices speed. Thing about a build like this though, you'd hafta face a Jagermech or King crab to lose a face off.

(The dual Uac 5 weights four tons more than the ac 20, can put out twice the damage just slightly faster so long as it doesn't jam, has over twice the range and still runs cooler. Ammo, surprisingly enough, still costs nearly the same, damage to tonnage wise. Jam chance is a small price to pay for such an increase in my kill capacity.)

~Leone.

Edited by Leone, 17 November 2015 - 03:12 PM.

[Arihm0]

Thank you for replying so quickly, that makes a lot of sense, I used to use the A variant before deciding that the AC 10 felt like it under preformed, and I didn't know that the shoulder blocked 50% damage to the LT so that's super helpful.

Would AMS be a viable option if I dropped some ammo, or would that take too many slots?

[Fox With A Shotgun]

With AMS, YMMV. I normally pack it on my ECM raven which has E hardpoints, but an ammo-dependent centurion is pretty starved for tonnage as it stands. If you find yourself getting ripped up by LRMs, or you'd like to offer anti-LRM support to your assaults and heavies, you can certainly try it. It's only 1.5 tons after all for an AMS and a ton of ammo.

[Boulangerie]

You can always downgrade to a half ton of ams ammo as well. It can be useful, but in general you will get better at avoiding lrms.

[FlipOver]

RescuePony, on 17 November 2015 - 02:25 PM, said:

Hello, new player to MWO but always closet fan to battletech.

I have my first build mech with my own modifications and build in the CN9-AH. For brawling and assist for the assaults and missile platforms, I know how to use my left arm on this mech (Idea of how, still need practice in execution) I look at the meta builds for this variant to help me along my way for my own build. Something I don't do that the "most meta" build does is plug in an XL engine as well as strip the left arm of a lot of armor, are these good ideas and if so, why?

Centurions are a well-known hard mech to kill.
But that's only true when you don't use a XL engine on them.
Even worst if you place ammo (exploding ammo, not Gauss ammo) on a torso while using a XL.

One thing Centurion pilots rely on is the mechs speed. Never use a Centy with a speed below 80kph.
Great flankers and brawlers, as they can dance around most enemies if they are fast enough and still pack a great punch.

Personally I've used a Centurion AH with 3xSRM6+A and 3MGs... both are some of the worst weapons in game at the moment, but even so I average matches of 300 damage.

People just need to know how to use the mechs.

Also stripping armor should be a last resort on a mech like this, especially from its arms. Yes they have quirk buffs, but if you leave the armor, it makes it even harder to take down and provides you the ability to soak even more damage, protecting other components.

[Kaptain]

Leone, on 17 November 2015 - 03:02 PM, said:

Personally, I don't own centurions, but if I did, this is the sorta build I would rock. CN9-AH, like my shadowhawk.

You could try it with the stock engine, but you just don't have enough room for the kinda ammo a build like that goes through. Maybe try a standard dual AC 5, 200 rating engine build first, see if you like it before moving up to the sheer awesomeness that is dual uac 5s. Yes it sacrifices speed. Thing about a build like this though, you'd hafta face a Jagermech or King crab to lose a face off.

(The dual Uac 5 weights four tons more than the ac 20, can put out twice the damage just slightly faster so long as it doesn't jam, has over twice the range and still runs cooler. Ammo, surprisingly enough, still costs nearly the same, damage to tonnage wise. Jam chance is a small price to pay for such an increase in my kill capacity.)

~Leone.

Terrible build imo. If you must run 2 ultras you might as well throw in an XL. 60kph is far too slow for a medium, again imo.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...89a19cf76550fd2

[Fox With A Shotgun]

Leone, on 17 November 2015 - 03:02 PM, said:

Personally, I don't own centurions, but if I did, this is the sorta build I would rock. CN9-AH, like my shadowhawk.

You could try it with the stock engine, but you just don't have enough room for the kinda ammo a build like that goes through. Maybe try a standard dual AC 5, 200 rating engine build first, see if you like it before moving up to the sheer awesomeness that is dual uac 5s. Yes it sacrifices speed. Thing about a build like this though, you'd hafta face a Jagermech or King crab to lose a face off.

(The dual Uac 5 weights four tons more than the ac 20, can put out twice the damage just slightly faster so long as it doesn't jam, has over twice the range and still runs cooler. Ammo, surprisingly enough, still costs nearly the same, damage to tonnage wise. Jam chance is a small price to pay for such an increase in my kill capacity.)

~Leone.

Dual UAC5 isn't actually all that great for medium mechs. It's heavy and requires far too much face time; and if you're in a centurion, you're wasting the biggest part of the mech. Shield arms. You can't shield-arm without losing DPS, and you can't DPS without getting your face chewed off. Shield-arming requires you to do burst damage, not constant DPS.

Load up an AC20 and a bigger engine. Torso twisting becomes really good, and you'd be amazed at how much more damage you can soak up before exploding.

[Leone]

Kaptain, on 18 November 2015 - 06:55 AM, said:

If you must run 2 ultras you might as well throw in an XL. 60kph is far too slow for a medium, again imo.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...89a19cf76550fd2

Ha! Point. Too used to needing to ditch XL engines due to Torso space constraints in my mechs.

ArcturusWolf, on 19 November 2015 - 02:41 PM, said:

Dual UAC5 isn't actually all that great for medium mechs..

I respectfully disagree, for the reason listed in my above post.

~Leone.

[JC Daxion]

I love the AH. I run an XL-265, AC-20 + a pair of SRM4's.(artemis not needed) The mech is ammo heavy, and i find it is so much better dropping the 3rd SRM4 launcher, and take 2 extra tons of ammo.. 1 ton ac-20, and 1 ton SRM.

It is one of the best brawlers around. Has the speed to really do well as a flanker, and hits like a ton of bricks. I put it right up there with the TDR-5ss when it comes to the dance. Actually, i think it works even better, but where it does lag behind is the ammo count. With the quirks, this thing is lucky to make it to the end of the match with a few rounds left.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

This is what I've been using in my CN9-AH, with minor tweaks, for about a year now since it dropped as a reward 'Mech. It is one of my favorite mediums and one of my most consistent performers. SRMs are in a terrible place right now, but the AC20 can carry until PGI fixes them again.

If I feel the desire to run a Zombie Cent, well, that's what the CN9-A and Yen-Lo-Wang are there for. The Wang has gone down in the world somewhat since quirks, but it is still one of the most enjoyable 'Mechs in the game. These are what you drive when you want to tank like a heavy but still move like a medium.

My CN9-AL does things a little bit differently. I usually run dual PPC on the arm, but I also keep a pair of LPLs around since they can be swapped in with little trouble on nights when I'm having better results with wubs. I used to run 2xSRM2 and 2xML for close quarters weaponry, but with SRMs presently sucking eggs, I figured a single LPL was a better deal (plus then when I run a pulse arm it just becomes a LPL boat).

All of my Cents run a fully-armored left arm. Except for occasionally getting blindsided and killed instantly by a Gigaspike Whale or gaussvomit KGC, I don't think I've ever gone down before losing that arm, so I like to think that I'm shielding effectively with it. I'd add another half ton to it if I could.

[Boulangerie]

PS WrathOfDeadguy, on 20 November 2015 - 09:55 AM, said:

This is what I've been using in my CN9-AH, with minor tweaks, for about a year now since it dropped as a reward 'Mech. It is one of my favorite mediums and one of my most consistent performers. SRMs are in a terrible place right now, but the AC20 can carry until PGI fixes them again.

If I feel the desire to run a Zombie Cent, well, that's what the CN9-A and Yen-Lo-Wang are there for. The Wang has gone down in the world somewhat since quirks, but it is still one of the most enjoyable 'Mechs in the game. These are what you drive when you want to tank like a heavy but still move like a medium.

My CN9-AL does things a little bit differently. I usually run dual PPC on the arm, but I also keep a pair of LPLs around since they can be swapped in with little trouble on nights when I'm having better results with wubs. I used to run 2xSRM2 and 2xML for close quarters weaponry, but with SRMs presently sucking eggs, I figured a single LPL was a better deal (plus then when I run a pulse arm it just becomes a LPL boat).

All of my Cents run a fully-armored left arm. Except for occasionally getting blindsided and killed instantly by a Gigaspike Whale or gaussvomit KGC, I don't think I've ever gone down before losing that arm, so I like to think that I'm shielding effectively with it. I'd add another half ton to it if I could.

I used to run double PPC on my AL as well before quirks. I'd take those, and 2 LRM5's and a couple mediums for close range stuff. It wasn't a great build, but I was still learning about the game back then as well.

I took a break and came back to find quirks everywhere. After a little bit, I decided I'd try a "meta" build on my AL and threw three LL on it. two in the arm and one in the CT. I didn't want to give up my Zombability however, so I stuck with the STD engine and I'm currently using a 260 in there. I filled some heat sinks in and ran max armor on the LA. I shaved a little off the legs I think because I almost never get legged in a Cent, and even if I did get stripped, there's no ammo to pop.

It is actually super good. I could probably upgrade the engine to a 275 if I wanted, because it runs that cool. In a way it's more of a DPS build, but 27 damage alpha which has a very short cooldown and good tracking (2 in the arm) is nothing to laugh at.

Yes, it's a little boring, but damn is it effective. I think once they generalize the quirks a little bit, i might try the PPCs again, because I did enjoy the feel of an energy cannon on the arm as opposed to having a ballistic one. It will

I'm also excited about the D variant with the new quirks (if they go in). It will have a generic 30% cooldown for all Ballistics. I might just try out an AC10 on that thing! The LBX quirks aren't getting nerfed, but an AC10 with 30% smells really nice.

[WANTED]

I run XL on my Yen Lo. I find it like using advanced mode for Cents. Typically I don't last much longer with STD over XL anyways and I like being able to bring more ammo for my AC 20 as well as using Medium Pulses and I even put a Beagle in there to negate the light ECM guys who think they can come up on me.