0
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.
