28 replies to this topic

[Tal Blackfox]

I've tried fitting it out as an lrm boat, a srm/ac-10 brawler, a gauss/erl-laser sniper... it's just so incredibly slow without having the armor to tank.

Are there any builds for this heap? Or is this just going to sit there and be a disappointment until they eventually allow us to sell them?

[Mechwarrior4670152]

No smurfy links right now, having trouble with that site, but...

3SRM6, 2MPL, STD..275? (Never really used that build)

Alternatively
3ASRM4 (Better grouping, lower alpha)

1AC10, 2-3SRM4, 2ML (Takes an XL engine though)

1Gauss, 2MPL...

Plenty of builds, but you have to keep in mind that it is only a 50 ton medium mech. It is not going to take as much of a beating as some heavies or assaults.
Having said that, if you make good use of the shield arm, it can take at least the beating that mechs such as the Gargoyle or Dragon can.

[AncientRaig]

Wence the Wanderer, on 24 December 2016 - 12:03 AM, said:

No smurfy links right now, having trouble with that site, but...

3SRM6, 2MPL, STD..275? (Never really used that build)

Alternatively
3ASRM4 (Better grouping, lower alpha)

1AC10, 2-3SRM4, 2ML (Takes an XL engine though)

1Gauss, 2MPL...

Plenty of builds, but you have to keep in mind that it is only a 50 ton medium mech. It is not going to take as much of a beating as some heavies or assaults.
Having said that, if you make good use of the shield arm, it can take at least the beating that mechs such as the Gargoyle or Dragon can.

I run an AC10, 2 SRM4s and 2 MLs on a STD225. It's a bit slow, but 78.4 isn't too bad once you get speed tweak and the build works best as an escort to a bigger mech anyway.

[Mechwarrior4670152]

Sidefire, on 24 December 2016 - 12:13 AM, said:

The Mech works best as an escort to a bigger mech anyway.

Fixed that for you.

Fun fact (Lore warning!) the Centurion, paired with the Trebuchet, were designed as escorts for convoys.

[no one]

The cent doesn't really zombie like it used to but it's still a tough cookie. I throw in an XL and run around lobbing shells around corners until the arm falls off. Once that's happened skulk on the front likes, flanking and shredding anything that pokes at the team.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...60cb77dad1e7b96

If you must zombie you can take an AC/2 to throw salt in the targets eyes, then beat them to death with a righteous hammer once you're in close.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...98140ca021a3dd9

Personally I like doing a XL255 on the cent for maximum firepower. So something like this -

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6a88a263eccbe47

If you manage your heat right the cent can be one of the most brutal IS infighter mediums. It's like a tiny, fast Atlas that isn't terrible.

Edited by no one, 24 December 2016 - 02:32 AM.

[AncientRaig]

no one, on 24 December 2016 - 02:26 AM, said:

The cent doesn't really zombie like it used to but it's still a tough cookie. I throw in an XL and run around lobbing shells around corners until the arm falls off. Once that's happened skulk on the front likes, flanking and shredding anything that pokes at the team.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...60cb77dad1e7b96

If you must zombie you can take an AC/2 to throw salt in the targets eyes, then beat them to death with a righteous hammer once you're in close.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...98140ca021a3dd9

Personally I like doing a XL255 on the cent for maximum firepower. So something like this -

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...6a88a263eccbe47

If you manage your heat right the cent can be one of the most brutal IS infighter mediums. It's like a tiny, fast Atlas that isn't terrible.

The ability to zombie is a core part of the mech though. I've had plenty of games where I've been reduced down to those two MLs and kept going. Personally, I don't think the A really has a high enough engine cap to justify an XL (even with a 275 and speed tweak you're still only going 95.7) and it's not like the AH where you need to XL to get any decent performance from the mech.

[Cato Phoenix]

Zombie:
3SRM4 Artemis + 2MPLAS +STD 275
3SRM6 + 2MLAS + STD 275

[no one]

Sidefire, on 24 December 2016 - 01:45 PM, said:

The ability to zombie is a core part of the mech though. I've had plenty of games where I've been reduced down to those two MLs and kept going. Personally, I don't think the A really has a high enough engine cap to justify an XL (even with a 275 and speed tweak you're still only going 95.7) and it's not like the AH where you need to XL to get any decent performance from the mech.

It's always a trade off, but I lean towards XL for a couple reasons. One, I hate losing the heat sinking from unbound heatsinks under 250 engine rating. Two, having a respectable engine size improves your ability to maneuver, use cover, twist, and generally preserve your 'mech. Three, the centurion is an ammo carrier and prone to explosive deconstruction STD engine or no. Four, the ability to deal damage as a zombie is always weighted against improvement to damage while you're fresh. In MWO being able to win damage exchanges and reduce the enemy's firepower as quickly as possible is paramount. That's why I like the XL.

[Audacious Aubergine]

I run mine practically stock with a STD engine. Seems to work for me but your mileage may vary. Yes I stripped armour off the shield arm and yes I'm using LRMs on it, which could be seen as cardinal sins, but anyway:
CN9-A(NCIX)
Yes, it's slow but as someone else pointed out, if you hang around with the heavies and assaults then you're generally safe. Just need to bear in mind that not every 50t mech is designed to be an 80+kph front line skirmisher - and if you are so inclined for that, the -D variant is nice because of its engine cap

[Wind of Horror]

I have pretty consistent matches with this build. Tear armor without getting hurt too much. LRM10's w/ Artemis strike center torso a lot, especially while tagged. Use your small profile on the front line to light up targets with TAG for teammates for LRMable locks. Use Target Decay and Radar Dep to peek get lock, cover to lose attention and get lock back before missiles hit or before it drops preferably. Make sure to use its back armor/arms for shields lots on incoming missile/fire but don't be afraid to tank for good locks. MG works surprisingly well for cleanup once armor is broke, I've legged lights and engined XL's for kills quite a few times now. Also with your tag it's your job to keep ECM mechs at bay. If you see a light dueling another light always toss missiles, they usually don't have ams and IS missiles strike lights easy. Other then that back up your assaults, stay behind them when pushing and lob missiles constantly always chainfire.

Crimson Straight can be tough, but doable. As named Centurion, was a managerial and support position in the Roman military. Oh ya and don't be afraid to sling missiles without locks.

CN9-A(NCIX)

Quote

Edited by Wind of Horror, 24 December 2016 - 05:46 PM.

[Wind of Horror]

Here's a Koniving video with a Cent-D in the beginning. Only difference is one extra machine gun I think compared to NCIX chassis. LRM 10/, 2 MPL, 2MG, 1 NARC & AMS

Edited by Wind of Horror, 24 December 2016 - 06:16 PM.

[Steel Raven]

Cut my teeth on the old 3X SRM 4A, MPL build. The Cent is light enough to get descent speed with a STD engine so you can zombie with that shield arm.

I'm currently using a old mid range build from Meta Mech, decent enough though not what I would call a damage dealer.

[AncientRaig]

no one, on 24 December 2016 - 04:25 PM, said:

It's always a trade off, but I lean towards XL for a couple reasons. One, I hate losing the heat sinking from unbound heatsinks under 250 engine rating. Two, having a respectable engine size improves your ability to maneuver, use cover, twist, and generally preserve your 'mech. Three, the centurion is an ammo carrier and prone to explosive deconstruction STD engine or no. Four, the ability to deal damage as a zombie is always weighted against improvement to damage while you're fresh. In MWO being able to win damage exchanges and reduce the enemy's firepower as quickly as possible is paramount. That's why I like the XL.

I suppose. Then again, I mostly run the AL and I can cram an STD 270 in there without sacrificing too many DHS.

[Starbomber109]

Maybe I'm biased but, I love centurions. The NCIX mech is just a CN9-A with a Cbill boost (awesome for me ) so just play it like you would play the CN9-A (At least about like this is what I've been doing with it lately.) The standard engine zombie is kinda it's thing, with this build, you have 2x shield arms. Then once your arms are gone, shield with the right side. Try to preserve your left torso because it's got all your firepower. It still goes above 80 KPH with, for me, is 'fast enough.' I realize some people like their medium mechs to go super-fast kinda like beefed up light mechs but that was never the Centurion's thing. It was always on the slow side, and that's mostly due to it's engine cap.

Alternatively you can use an XL engine and run something kinda like this maybe? I personally never liked running XL on my centurions I always tended to lose the LT too early and just die, but maybe I just need to get better at twisting. That AC 10 has a STUPID rate of fire on this mech, you could even take the SRMs off and run a giant standard engine and pretend you're a dakka mech, the AC 10 can reach pretty far and you can punish mechs standing in the open pretty well, but you can't really compete with things like the BJ-3 for pin-point alpha... SRM 4 is preferred for getting tighter shot groupings. Up close, you can wreck components very quickly as the DPS from the AC and SRMs is intense.

Obviously, the centurion isn't going to be everyone's thing. It's almost certainly my favorite medium in the game, but I realize it's not really 'meta' anymore. It can still hit hard but there's little reason to use it over a Griffin unless you're running out of tons in a group-drop scenario (group play or FW)

Edited by Starbomber109, 25 December 2016 - 12:39 AM.

[Dagada Moor]

starbomber,
I like both of your builds. I have never played Centurions, which u think I would since I like to brawl. I have got the AL and NCIX for free so I think I will give them a spin.

[AncientRaig]

Dagada Moor, on 26 December 2016 - 08:20 AM, said:

starbomber,
I like both of your builds. I have never played Centurions, which u think I would since I like to brawl. I have got the AL and NCIX for free so I think I will give them a spin.

This is my baby for the AL: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9e52e052d1360f9 It's a bit toasty, but it's a fantastic mech if you find a heavy or assault to become BFFs with. It's also fast enough to provide a "tanky" backup to slower light mechs or quicker mediums. I know it's hardly the most meta or most sensible build to most people who look at it, but the LL has come in handy time and time again and the quirks keep the cooldown about the same as the MLs.

[no one]

Sidefire, on 26 December 2016 - 01:22 PM, said:

This is my baby for the AL: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9e52e052d1360f9 It's a bit toasty, but it's a fantastic mech if you find a heavy or assault to become BFFs with.

I run something similar on my AL, sometimes switching up between AMS and more heat-sinks or trading LRMs for SRMs. Give it a whirl if you've got the engine laying around.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...a4b61dcabc3e12a

[Boulangerie]

no one, on 26 December 2016 - 07:46 PM, said:

I run something similar on my AL, sometimes switching up between AMS and more heat-sinks or trading LRMs for SRMs. Give it a whirl if you've got the engine laying around.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...a4b61dcabc3e12a

This is close (i think) to my AL build.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...fcb3b184f7efaef
This seems cheesy as it's a 1 button build for the most part (also put just the arms onto RMB), but it's gotten me an Ace of Spades, and it runs pretty cool thanks to the quirks.

[Trenchbird]

1X Gauss, 2X ML, 250 SFE, ES, FF. I'm paranoid about XL destruction and I always seem to run it like a skirmisher and not a sniper; Which helps because I tend to run all my Cents with roughly the same build, just always swapping the Gauss for something else.

[Jables McBarty]

Tal Blackfox, on 23 December 2016 - 11:52 PM, said:

I've tried fitting it out as an lrm boat, a srm/ac-10 brawler, a gauss/erl-laser sniper... it's just so incredibly slow without having the armor to tank.

Are there any builds for this heap? Or is this just going to sit there and be a disappointment until they eventually allow us to sell them?

Starbomber109, on 25 December 2016 - 12:35 AM, said:

Maybe I'm biased but, I love centurions. The NCIX mech is just a CN9-A with a Cbill boost (awesome for me ) so just play it like you would play the CN9-A (At least about like this is what I've been doing with it lately.) The standard engine zombie is kinda it's thing, with this build, you have 2x shield arms. Then once your arms are gone, shield with the right side. Try to preserve your left torso because it's got all your firepower. It still goes above 80 KPH with, for me, is 'fast enough.' I realize some people like their medium mechs to go super-fast kinda like beefed up light mechs but that was never the Centurion's thing. It was always on the slow side, and that's mostly due to it's engine cap.

I've been doing something similar to Starbomber.

Bigger engine, fewer DHS, added FF and Artemis, stripped arms (RA currently has +18 Armor; I leave 1 pt in LA so it doesn't look stripped in the paper doll), and CASE in both sides to aid in zombification.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...ada28d0ac9bd974

I've only run it three times, but my first match was >500 dmg and 2KMDD, which makes it my best match in ANY centurion by about 400 damage.