Thanks for reading this.
Edits are at the end!
There have been many guides written on the Centurion mech; including individual builds and variants. I encourage you to search for something specific, if you cannot find it in this guide.
My goal here is to provide more functional 'how to use' information on the Centurion variants available in MWOMercs. I intend to make it detailed though obviously there are limits. This mech is frankly too flexible to write something for every single situation, but I feel some might find benefit in what I've learned about this mech over the past few months.
A little background on me: I love battletech & mechwarrior, but enjoy the medium mechs the most. I feel this makes me somewhat an oddity in MW games as most people tend to gravitate to light mechs for speed or heavier mechs for firepower. I want the best of both worlds: to me I love the speed of a lighter mech, the versatility of heavier mechs, and close range dueling capability of something with lots of ballistic slots or missiles.
On to the mech. The centurion is an interesting mech with some rather unusual traits. The first is that it's left arm is in effect by designed to be a shield. This includes a fin which extends up to help protect your vulnerable co*ckpit. Utilization of the left arm as an effective shield is VITAL to playing a centurion. Three of the variants actually allowed you make cross body shots with your ballistic arm while using your left arm as a shield to soak fire. This effectively gives you 32 points of free armor, extending your combat capacity significantly. In fact, with many of the variants boasting significant torso weaponry, this mech excels at survival. While it's firepower is usually around a 7 out of 10, the fact that you can effectively stay in the game until the bitter or glorious end cannot be overlooked. It is not uncommon to see this mech running around armless, even legless with only it's missile or laser slots remaining still firing away. For this reason, I am not a fan of XL engines in this chassis as it significantly reduces the durability/longevity. While the high speed is great, the trade off is you die quite literally 3-5 times as fast due to the engine being placed across your entire torso. Your arms are very large targets on this mech, so once those are gone you're going to need that torso armor to survive.
Despite the reduced torso twist radius, the fact that you have a high powered weapon typically placed on your usually mobile arm allows you to make shots literally on the edge of your screen while dogfighting. IE you can keep your shield arm in the way while shooting over it at the enemy from relative safety.
While many point to the hunchback as a more effective platform, I believe my own
experiences show that in the hands of a skilled pilot a centurion can easily outfight both of the other medium mech platforms currently available (Hunchback and Cicada). The hunchback has little use for it's comically small arms, relying mostly on it's huge pod(s)to fight with. Taking the pod out of the fight is relatively easy considering they have to keep it facing you to use it. The cicada is very fast, but relatively underpowered. It's basically a larger version of a light mech.
Shared traits of all Variants:
Left arm never mounts weapons.
Jump jets are never available.
All tend to put heavy weapons in the right arm.
All can carry a very respectable maximum of 338 points of armor. If you consider you're able to use your left arm as a shield, that basically give you 32 "Free" points of armor to use as a soak at any given time.
The fact your center torso weapons will always be available means it makes good sense to put double heat sinks on this mech. Ferro Fibrous armor is a mixed bag - in many cases I use it for weight reduction but you have to be mindful of the loss of slots. As such, it's the least important of the available upgrades.
All variants start with a WHOPPING 48 points of armor in each leg. I recommend
immediately reducing those values from 48 to 30-35 to free up vital tonnage. Likewise you will see nearly all of my builds put the ammo in the legs or co*ckpit. This is because it helps save the cost of CASE being necessary. It's a calculated risk on my part. In the case of putting ammo in the co*ckpit usually when that is breached you are likely dead anyways. You could probably go thinner but even with this much I still have only been legged about 3 times in the plethora of games I've done in this mech. 48 points is simply beyond overkill.
At worst, those points can be better reallocated to LT/CT/RT.
Now on to specific variant(s).
The CN9-A - This is a base level coming in at a very reasonable 3,697,000 C-Bills or 1,480 MC.
This is an excellent variant, though it's basic equipment is somewhat lacking. It is, however, an excellent mech once upgraded. The first thing you're going to want to pick up is endo-steel. The 2.5 ton weight improvement can then be immediately shuttled into a newer engine. I prefer a standard 225-245. The largest you can fit on this mech is a 260. Bear in mind as you go up in engine speed it comes with more and more heat sinks. So you can probably get rid of 1 or 2 depending on what speed you get.
It sports a speed of 46.3->84.2 km/h. While this is tepid by light mech standards, it works very well for close combat dogfights and most general situations. This mech seems very happy when running around 72kph. While other variants of this chassis can go faster, this one has by far the most balanced and useful slot allotment. The right arm is movable and allows for the great cross-body method described earlier.
Starting load out:
1xAC10
1xLRM10
2xMLas, 64.8kph out of the box, 272 points of armor.
Hard-points:
1 Ballistic Hard-point (RA)
2 Energy Hard-points (CT)
3 Missile Hard-points (LT)
Most notably this load out, in canon, is described as a sort of bodyguard mech for fire support mechs. It works reasonably well in that role. In the downtime, the LRM's are good for racking up damage on targeted enemies.
I however, think on this mech that the LRMS are in general, a waste. It takes up entirely too much space and ends up giving this mech a 'master of none' feeling out of the box. This is primarily due to the low speed. In general it functions fine unless you're being focused. A few minor upgrades/changes will resolve this in kind.
I find that I pretty much cannot live without some manner of SRM on this. Indeed, there are three missile slots; to not use them to maximum benefit is to do yourself a disservice.
A combination of LRM5 for utility and 2xStream2 or 1xSRM6 is a simple, but very functional change which makes all the difference. Also for consideration is that no matter what the LAST weapon you will have is always going to be your center torso. For that reason, I don't like using medium lasers unless I have to. Their lack of punch seems a waste. I prefer a single large laser, which is a bit unorthodox but gives long range versatility and short range focused power. If saving weight, I'll try to slot in 2 medium pulse lasers. I find they hit more easily and consistently as well as deliver slightly more damage to the target.
The relatively big AC10 is hard to use effectively. At close range the shots can be difficult to lead with on fast targets; at long range the damage is diminished. On top of that the damage is only slightly better than average.
Moreover, it's weight is higher than the LBXAC10, which seems far more useful in the close range support role this mech is intended and best suited for.
One build I prefer is a triple SRM6 build. It has a HUGE short range punch. The ballistic arm is replaced with a simple AC/2, though I've sometimes snuck an Ultra AC/5 in at the expense of ammo or lasers. With that said, here are some of my favorite builds.
The SRM6 nuker:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...a67cc68de627924
Highlights: 304 points of armor, 2xMPL, 3xSRM6, 1xAC2. 76 kph (84 w/speed tweak). DHS, Endo, even Ferro for maximum weight savings.
Downsides: Alphas cause a LOT of heat, even with DHS.
SRM6+UAC5 w/out ammo shortages.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...16548dbd1ea9b33
Same as above, gives up vital center torso lasers though to be able to put up a good fight with missiles and UAC. Damage output is fairly significant.
Downsides: no center torso lasers and is completely ammo dependent.
SRM6+UAC5+2xML w/ small ammo pool:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...0ee9901d09bca93
This one has two center torso medium lasers, a UAC, 3 SRM6's, 304 points of armor but only 1 ton of SRM and UAC ammo. It dries up very fast. Great design if you want to dump as much damage as possible before you lose your equipment (say if you find you're not a
terrific dog-fighter and lose your arm/etc very quickly).
The "Balanced" build:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...dffc74464171163
LRM5 for pecking away at the enemy at maximum range; LBX10 & 2 streak SRM2's for
infighting. 2 Medium lasers round out the arrangement. Packs a good punch and can be used in pretty much any circ*mstance.
My usual build:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...f76086cff6e816b
2xML, 2xSRM6, 1xLBX10. This is my alpha machine. I simply run up, alpha strike the co*ckpit, rinse, repeat. Damage values run from respectable (300-400) to great (800-1000+) depending on how you play. Ammo consumption is reasonable but not unmanageable. With this setup you can pretty much go toe to toe most anything.
Variant 2: The CN9-AH - No longer available in game. Closest you'll find is the YLW, though it's a far cry from the AH in terms of slot allotment.
Variant 3: The CN9-AL - The "las boat" version of the A. Comes in at 3,552,238 C-Bills or 1,425 MC. So slightly cheaper to buy on the outset. Works the same, but only with more heat sinks standard, more laser/energy weapon slots while still retaining the moving arm. Top speed is still limited to a 260 engine, meaning a maximum of 84.2km/h. Once again endo-steel is a must (as with all variants) as a first choice of upgrades to free up vital tonnage. I also like to lighten up the leg armor as well as you know. This frees up a significant amount of weight and gives a lot more flexibility for weapons.
Starting load out:
16xheat sinks
1xLarge Laser
1xSmall Laser
Starts with MAXIMUM 338 armor (dropping leg armor to 31 from 48 gives an immediate 1.5 tons of free space); endo steel adds another 2.5 for 4 extra free tons.
2xMedium laser
and 1xLRM10.
Hard-points:
0xBallistic
4xEnergy(CT & RA)
2xMissile(LT)
This load out is very similar to the A variant, with the only changes being allotments and starting load out It's pretty efficient on heat from the outset, so DHS is less of a priority; however as you upgrade it you will find it eventually will become necessary.
Note: I'm not really into energy weapon builds. So you'll probably find better out there; this is simply what I use to grind EXP to get back to my CN9-A and CN9-YLW.
Builds:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...58ea8d42577119d
2lpl 2ssrm. Pretty straightforward. Heat is an issue, but it's manageable. Switch to streaks when you run hot.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...9fe8fdc1972e561
1 ER PPC, 1 ER LL, 1 LRM 10.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c908d2fbf5f017d
2 ER PPCS, 1 ER LL – this is a sniper build. It uses an XL260 engine as a calculated risk. The goal here is mobility and long distance shots so ideally you won't get in a close range firefight.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...79a1ae32cd376a2
1 LL (for heat), 2 ML, and 2SRM6. It's a basic setup, not as powerful as I'd like but similar to my preferred build. You can improve it a lot, but I don't plan on dumping a ton of money into this mech – mostly I'm just doing it to elite it so I can get master on the ones I care about.
Variant 4: CN9-D – Coming in at a whopping 8,158,590 C-Bills or 3265 MC, this (currently a trial) mech is equipped per battltech lore with star-league era refit technology. It's essentially a CN9-A with bonus goodies on it. It comes standard with Artemis IV and an XL engine.
Stock load out:
1xLBX10, 1xLRM10(Artemis), 2xML. Stock speed is a blistering 97.2 km/h right out of the box, making this a wicked fast version of the Centurion platform. Indeed it's also got the highest top speed, with the capability to put in a full size 390 engine! Granted, you'll be using half your mech for engine, but hey – 126.4 km/h right?!
Hard-points:
2xEnergy (CT)
2xBallistic (RA)
2xMissile (LT)
So on it's face, this mech seems great. High speed, great mobility, decent weapons, fast missile lock – etc. However it's exceedingly hard to play to its strengths because the XL engine again dooms this mech to an early death as many people who have used the trial version can attest to. Simply put this mech almost always ends up a brawler. While the LBX and Medium Lasers work fine for that, the XL engine and broad torso will invariably bring you to a quick and ignominious end.
That said, it's got a lot of great potential and probably represents the best POSSIBLE Centurion in terms of builds.
Most of the builds that are done in the CN9-A can be done here veritably identically; I'm not going to repeat them.
I will however, put up a few of my more interesting ones for your review.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...2ad524977e3157d
1xUAC5, 2xML, 1xLRM10(Artemis), 1xAnti Missile System.
This first one I think is how the mech should really come stock. When you are running an XL engine, you really don't want to get into protracted engagements. Your goal should be to use your superior speed to keep the fight at a great distance while peppering the enemy with LRM and UAC ammo. The AMS will help mitigate counter fire from enemy LRM's when you're exposed. This is a hit and run mech, designed to lay down rapid damage and fade away just as quick. Armor's been reworked to be more useful and survivable.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...7942c441bb4b6a5
This is my “not long for this world” variant. Designed to run in, hit the enemy, and hopefully run like hell before being blown up. Doesn't carry much ammo, but I left a full 1.5 tons remaining for either a bigger engine, AMS, machine gun, more ammo, etc. It dumps the Artemis to make room for more weapons.
Variant 5: CN9-YLW – The “Yen-Lo-Wang” - aka “the wang”. In lore, this was the solaris ArenaMech piloted by the famous Kai Allard-Laio. The only premium (MC only) mech on our list; comes in at 3750 MC, making it the cheapest 'hero' mech in the game as of this writing.
The primary advantage to this variant is it's 30% cbill boost. It also has a very vibrant and non-changeable paint job.
Starting load out:
215 engine (vs 200 in A/AL); to a max of 280 (some online sources claim 260, this is wrong). This gives it a slightly faster 69.7 KPH speed out of the box.
AC/20 and 2 ML's – that's it.
Max 338 armor.
Hard-points:
2xBallistic (RA)
2xEnergy (CT)
1xAMS
Oh, did we mention you can't move the right arm horizontally either?
And that's it. So at a glance, it's a centurion with a bullseye for a paint job, worse slot allocation, and a busted arm. Frankly many people can't stand this mech.
I, however, love it. It has some special offsets that make it different from any other centurion to compensate for the busted arm: For one it has an additional 30 degrees in range of motion. Stock centurions can turn 90 degrees; this one can go 120, without any bonuses. Next up the torso speed is very high, having also been increased significantly. Putting in larger engines will actually make this even faster. So rather than shooting across the body what you actually want to do is whip the torso rapidly to soak a big barrage and unload with your main gun when they're on cool down It's actually pretty easy to do with practice.
While you can shoehorn an XL280 engine into this mech it really isn't worth it. With the lack of cross-body shooting you're begging to get killed. The top speed is only marginally higher than a stock centurion too – with a 280 engine in you can push I think 90.7km/h without speed tweak. So realistically you're going to take some lumps. I prefer a 235 or 245 standard engine, giving me a solid top speed in the 70's or 80's with speed tweak.
The bread and butter of this mech is that it can fit an AC/20 into it's arm. There' s really not a whole lot of options with this mech in terms of configuration due to it's low slot allocation. I personally prefer keeping the AC/20 on. I know some people put a Gauss or 2xUAC5 but I just really think it's the one huge advantage of this mech so why not use it?
The long and the short of it is, it's a unique mech that will force you to adapt your play style but hey – it's cheap to own, looks pretty cool, can fit an AC20 in the arm, is great at dogfighting, is highly mobile AND gives you 30% more C-Bills per game to boot!
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN LEARN TO DO WITH YOUR YLW IS USE THE AC20 EFFECTIVELY! That means get close enough to hit for the full 20 damage, be smart enough to keep your gun from being blown away after 2 shots are fired, and to know the 'feel' of the slower AC/20 projectile so you don't miss! Wasted shots with an AC/20 are painful since ammo is in short supply.
If you're going to C-Bill grind, here are the builds I prefer:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...67517d33d25002a
1xAC20, 1xERLL. The goal with this design is to pepper at range with the ERLL until they close in to to range with the AC20. Carries 4 tons of ammo because you will definitely need it. Double heat sinks are pretty much a must due to the heat generated by the AC/20.
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...fc3a7331d96ba23
1xAC20, 2xMPL, 1xAMS. This was my build for a long time. The AMS is useful in many situations. CASE is used because there was an extra .5t available. 3 tons of AC20 ammo, though I found I tended to shoot through this. The damage is slightly higher in close quarters than with the ERLL, though you're limited in range which means your overall damage is usually lower. You can pull the engine, pull the AMS and put in
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...c46046e74b0dbb6
This is what the above got upgraded to – a 245 engine (vs 225) for an 87.3 kph speed tweaked top end. Two medium pulse lasers, and an AC20. No AMS, no CASE.
*UPDATES 3/7/13*
Per patch notes:
Centurion Variant Quirks. (each variant gets it's own quirks)
- Increased CN9-A and CN9-AL max engine to 275 (from 260).
- Increased CN9-YLW max engine to 300 (from 280).
- Increased CN9-A and CN9-AL torso twist angle to 100 (from 90).
- Decreased CN9-A, CN9-AL, and CN9-D max horizontal arm angle to 35 (from 40).
- Increased CN9-A and CN9-AL turning rate by 10%.
- Increased CN9-YLW turning rate by 5%.
- Decreased acceleration rate of all Centurions by 10%.
- Increased the deceleration rate of the CN9-A, CN9-AL, and CN9-D by 10%.
Changes to the guide: With the A/AL/D shooting over the shield as described above doesn't require you put the circle all the way to the edge of the screen. It makes it considerably easier.
The turn rates make this a significantly potent brawler. The turning rate changes really assist with high speed maneuvering.
Higher engine speeds affect torso twist rate; the YLW already had stupidly high twist rate (twist speed), so 300 I find is practically instantaneous, though the tradeoffs are too much for me.
And that about covers it! I appreciate you taking the time to read this and welcome any comments. Feel free to post your builds too 
Edited by Gevurah, 07 March 2013 - 09:24 AM.
