Jump to content

The 'new' Centurions


7 replies to this topic

#1 Wildstreak

    Member

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Civil Servant
  • Civil Servant
  • 5,154 posts

Posted 25 March 2021 - 12:13 PM

Based on a recent comment I have to disagree to some point about Centurions being bad. This is only due to the overall Heavy and Assault bias seen in what players are running, less about the Centurion. I also believe this having rebuilt mine recently and doing something that may explain why some people are not understanding its place now.

Centurions were considered for 2 things.
1 - Tanking partly due to arm shield and side torso tanking with STD engines thus giving popular belief it was Brawly only.
2 - Players thinking they had to have 1 Big Ballisitc Arm Gun on it except the AL where a Big Energy was chosen.
Only the A variant was seen as different running 3 ASRM6 + 2ML but still considered Brawly.

Fact is there are other roles for Mediums including the Centurion such as Striker, move fast, shoot as much as possible then move again without getting too close. The Centurion is capable of this if you can get past the 2 popular hang-ups listed above. Stop thinking you need the Big Arm Gun (you can use it if you want but do not need it) and stop Brawling, there are plenty of other Brawl Mechs around.

When I rebuilt my Centurions, for whatever reason I noted that like many others usually the Missile slots on the AL and D went unused. With MRMs now a thing and having learned a trick from rebuilding the Zeus-6T, I made new Centurions listed below. Here is my current list of all 5 variants and what they run.

Yen-lo-wang - Poor Wang, still limited by its measly 3 hardpoints. Most builds are already listed on GrimMech Database, just scroll down to find all 3 builds so not listing this.

CN9-A(NCIX) - Still I use it in the old 3 ASRM6 + 2ML Brawler also to be different from the other Centurions but with LFE. I find I do not need Standard engines for Brawling at times.

The next 3 despite any XL engines, they work just fine so long as you do not run at people looking for Brawl range. You could swap MLs for ERMLs if you do not mind the heat.

CN9-AH - After learning how 3 MRM20 can work for a ZEU-6T from community member Aidan Crenshaw, I applied it here for a MRM60 Striker. It can get a bit toasty so 2 weapon groups are mandatory.
1 for Group fire
1 for Chain fire including times when you only use 1 or 2 launchers to manage heat

CN9-AL - No big energy gun anymore when I can just mount a MRM30 and 4ML while running a nice LFE275. So far I like this one best.

CN9-D - The odd duck because I still felt a need to run a LBX on it but mixed with a MRM it works. Currently still using XL version though you could drop the 2MLs for a LFE255 engine to be less fragile. Important note, in the time it takes the MRM20 to stream one launch you can get off 2 shots with the LBX, one at stream start and one near end so the LBX counts as 20 damage not 10.
I could have done MRM30+20 + 3 more tons ammo with no LBX but that would have been too similar to the AL and I wanted some differences in variant builds.

So now all my Centurions are 50-60 damage Strikers except for the A (just to be different) and Wang.
I should also note the A could be done like the D using a standard AC10 in place of the LBX and a XL250 with a half ton Left Arm armor removed. I choose not to do that because the A is the only Centurion with no Missile quirks while the AH, AL and D all have +10% Velocity helping the MRMs hit plus the AH and AL have a Missile Cooldown buff.

Edited by Wildstreak, 25 March 2021 - 12:15 PM.


#2 Horseman

    Member

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • The Mercenary
  • The Mercenary
  • 4,694 posts
  • LocationPoland

Posted 28 March 2021 - 01:33 PM

1x MRM20s are 1 ton heavier than 2x10. You can swap that for 40+20 and use a Light 250 for a bit of extra survival. Same build can fit on the 9D since it takes one less hardpoint.
To be honest, though, the Centurion is a sub-par MRM boat compared to the likes of Trebuchet 7M. These days I just do AC20 and 3xSRM4s on my AHs. With LFE 225, you can fit three tons of AC20 ammo and 2.5 ton of SRM ammo, which is just about enough for a QP match.

The AL can do MRM40+ 4xML. No point to undergun it.

#3 ScrapIron Prime

    Member

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Ace Of Spades
  • Ace Of Spades
  • 4,743 posts
  • LocationSmack dab in the middle of Ohio

Posted 28 March 2021 - 01:50 PM

My AL rocks the field as a 3ERLL build with rockets. It’s one of my go-to mediums.

#4 AncientRaig

    Member

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Guardian
  • Guardian
  • 584 posts

Posted 28 March 2021 - 03:41 PM

I run my 9-A with a UAC10, 2 ML, and an MRM10 on an LFE250 currently and it pulls in the numbers fairly reliably. The lack of UAC quirks hurts, but it's manageable. The Centurion's biggest "flaw", if you can even call it that, is that in a day of big numbers and flashy technology, it's a solid, reliable, but mundane and forgettable machine. It's good, but it's not outstanding. Nobody's gonna ignore you, but if it's a choice between a Centurion and something more meta like a Bushwacker, they're going to primary the Bushwacker. Which works somewhat in your favor, since you can occasionally get some damage in more or less for free.

#5 Therax

    Member

  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • Bridesmaid
  • Bridesmaid
  • 114 posts

Posted 28 March 2021 - 03:56 PM

The Centurion very much feels to me like the mech that time forgot, it might not be objectively bad, but its not very good either.

@OP I clicked some buttons and further optimized your builds.

I will not vouch for these builds, but if any new players come through here I would like for them to have the best possible versions of these builds.

CN9-A

https://mech.nav-alp...60e61_CN9-ANCIX (NCIX specific build code)
https://mech.nav-alp...#9095cbc8_CN9-A (non-NCIX specific build code)

CN9-AH

https://mech.nav-alp...c376_CN9-AH-STD

CN9-AL

https://mech.nav-alp...82acbda0_CN9-AL

More firepower but more heat. When played as a skirmisher I don't think the extra heat will be much of an issue, except for while the mech is still being leveled.

https://mech.nav-alp...ef80b7f0_CN9-AL

Lower heat option, now with a bonus ams.

CN9-D

https://mech.nav-alp...#bf34fc01_CN9-D


I find shield arms in general to be pretty overrated, most players by now have figured out to hold their fire until a torso twisting mech turns back to face them before firing.

NEW PLAYERS: DO NOT BUY AN XL260 ENGINE!

The XL260 weights the same as an XL265 and should be avoided unless the mech has an engine cap issue, or a player already owns the XL260 and doesn't have an excess of cbills with which to buy an XL265.

#6 Therax

    Member

  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • Bridesmaid
  • Bridesmaid
  • 114 posts

Posted 28 March 2021 - 04:05 PM

View PostHorseman, on 28 March 2021 - 01:33 PM, said:

These days I just do AC20 and 3xSRM4s on my AHs. With LFE 225, you can fit three tons of AC20 ammo and 2.5 ton of SRM ammo, which is just about enough for a QP match.


For any interested players looking for a build code, this will be close to how Horseman builds his CN9-AH:

https://mech.nav-alp...ed9f_CN9-AH-STD

#7 Horseman

    Member

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • The Mercenary
  • The Mercenary
  • 4,694 posts
  • LocationPoland

Posted 07 April 2021 - 04:31 AM

View PostTherax, on 28 March 2021 - 04:05 PM, said:

For any interested players looking for a build code, this will be close to how Horseman builds his CN9-AH:

https://mech.nav-alp...ed9f_CN9-AH-STD

Yup, about the only difference is that I keep some head armor while having a few points less on each leg.

#8 S e t a X

    Rookie

  • Ace Of Spades
  • Ace Of Spades
  • 3 posts

Posted 01 August 2021 - 02:09 PM

I love my YLW. It's a beast and extremely underrated. I run it with a UAC20 and 2xML and often come out as top damage dealer. 700-900 damage/match is quite frequent. Here's why YLW is great and (in my opinion) better than any other Centurion variant:
1: Max armor and structure quirks on the chassis
2: The only Centurion that can run UAC20+2ML combo, which is an almost pinpoint (depending on your aim) 50DMG/shot
3: -10% energy and ballistic cooldown
All the above combined leads to a sturdy, fearsome medium that can destroy components very effectively.
The skills also extremely important. I run my YLW with an XL285 and some people consider that too risky. If you put skill points on pretty much all survival skills YLW is ridiculously armoured for a 50T medium. The right arm got 57 armour and 43 structure. To put that into perspective my Victor got 72 armour and 28 structure which is 10 less combined and that's an 80T assault mech.
I also took the top half of the mobility skills (also extremely underrated) which gives me a huge amount of torso twist speed, acceleration and deceleration. You can move in and out of cover rapidly, twist and protect yourself and last forever. I'm sure the assaults hate my guts every time they have to fight my YLW that pumps 50dmg into them every 3 seconds, very hard to hit and lives forever. I love it :)





1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users