CN9-A "Zombie Hugger" (3xSRM6, 2xML, STD275)

5/5,

5 ratings

This is a very popular build called the Zombie Hugger. Essentially it is a mech that can fight at close to medium ranges until you completely obliterate it.

You can take off its' arms and it'll keep comin'
You can take off a leg and it'll keep comin'
You can take out the right torso and it'll keep comin'
You can take out the left torso and it'll keep comin'

Also, it'll keep coming fast! It moves at 98kph with speed tweak! The only way to kill this thing is a head shot, take both legs or core the center torso but beware, getting in that close could result in death. Yours!

Tactics:

Use your arms as bullet shields. You have armor in both of them and nothing else so why not torso twist towards your enemy and present your arms then swing back after he has fired and unload with your Alpha. That works, believe me!

Alternate Build A (AMS Protection)



With the coming LRM changes I dropped the engine down to a 265 Standard (you only lose like 3.6 KPH) and added AMS with 1 ton of ammo. Just make sure you put the 1x DHS you lost out of the engine into the mech again somewhere. Totally worth it if you know you are going into LRM Hell

 

Great classic Zombie build Michael. I have never run one myself but I hate fighting them in close combat. They tear newer pilots apart because less experienced pilots tend to ingnore the enemies paper doll and weapon loadout, targeting the decoy arms long enough for the Cent. to destroy them. If I could pass nothing more on to other pilots it would be this:

Pay attention to your enemies paper doll as well as your own, when you're not looking at them, look at your mini map...BE Aware!

Oh yeah...Speed is Life!

Myth

 

Personally, I'd go with a STD 270, and upgrade to FF armor. Sacrifice 2kph for 2 more tons of ammo. 27.7 full alphas instead of your 16.7. As hard as you are to kill, it'd suck to finally die because you ran out of ammo and couldn't kill your enemy fast enough.



But still a great build, reminds me of CB when the Cent first came out and how hard they were to take down. I've been trying to decide what to save up for, it might just be this...

 

I think if they extend map sizes, or when they add 12v12, then the extra 2 tons of ammo might come in handy because battles will spread out some or you will have more to shoot at to win a match but until they do that 3 tons of PLENTY. Trust me, I have never yet run out of ammo in this thing.

When I design a mech I look at "What can I contribute to the team overall"; I like to be as fast as I possibly can, survive as long as I can and dish out damage liberally to all enemies I can. It's a fine balancing act indeed. The only way to really tell is to load up with 5 tons of ammo and then drop 5 matches. See how much you have left over as an average and strip that amount off the mech so you can use that tonnage elsewhere.

 

Fair enough. I don't doubt your skill. You could still upgrade to FF and keep your engine, and get one more ton of ammo, or another DHS, though.

You're probably right, that if I ran experiments, I probably wouldn't even dip into my 5th ton very often. But I seem to always carry a little more ammo than I need in any ammo-dependent build I have, so I guess I'm just not as much of a min-maxer as you are.

 

One or two tons of saved weight and space can make a really big difference in both effectiveness and enjoyment. To each their own.

Myth.

Post Script: If you don't want to save the space for Armor or Heat Sinks, you can load it up with beer and women!

 

Forgot I didn't have Ferro on here so did that and added an extra ton of SRM ammo

 

Have you ever tryed this with Artemis? You could go 3t Ammo skip the extra DHS and would have the extra Space.

 

I don't, no. I prefer the ability to crit seek versus concentrated firepower at the cost of tonnage. If I want directed/concentrated fire I use my 2x MLAS but the 3x SRM6 are used to clip lights or crit seek. Some people play differently and Artemis would really help improve their game; for me I prefer without.

 

This has been re-adopted as my fave build for this variant, and is in my top 5 fave builds for MWO.

It's incredibly efficient seeing as you have 3 components that you can lose and still hit with a full powered alpha. This thing takes a lickin' and keep on kickin'.

 

I'm doing centurions next, and not seeing a zombie build I liked that makes use of a ballistic, I'm going with this when I buy mine.

 

THIS IS WHY THIS BUILD IS THE BEST!
I killed the HBK, JM6, a STK and AS7

 

This is my take on the zombie hugger. Drops 5 engine rating to get 1 ton, that ton goes to maxing out armor (okay, so I wasted like 0.07 tons...in-game it says 50 tons not 49.8 so it's pretty close) and CASE. All of the ammo goes left torso, so I can't have an ammo explosion from an arm or a leg going, and an ammo explosion in the torso won't kill me.

I've run this once so far...ran outta ammo (but did like 600 damage and got 2-3 kills). Vorus may be on to something.

 

I see a problem here.
For starters, your entire body is a shield to protect your weapon systems. Putting your ammo in your right torso means when you lose it you effectively lose your SRMs with it since your ammo goes.
I don't see a problem in swapping the engine down for more armor, that is okay by me.
Though it's always nice to have 4-5 tons of ammo cause those SRMs are ammo hungry.

 

I meant left torso (right side of the screen). I'll edit my post. The SRM ammo and SRMs are all together, and CASE protects your SRM ammo from taking out your CT. The way Michael's build works, a crit to either leg could take you out, and if you get crit in the ammo on your right torso you're toast. This eliminates the possibility of those crits taking you out.

 

Added an AMS Alternate Build for those that like to run AMS against LRM boats.

 

decided I'd follow suit. Looks good, didn't sacrifice anything but a pinch of speed by dropping 275 to 265. Sounds fine to me

 

Added a BAP variant.

NOTE: If you are gonna run BAP make sure your team mates also have BAP because 1 BAP counters 1 ECM.

 

Now-a-days, I only see two Centurions. Yen Lo-Wang and this puppy.

 

Yeah, I like my Yen-Low, but my CN9-D just feels like a wannabe-dragon, and I couldn't find a build I liked for the AL.

As to this, I'm thinking of going 250 STD and fitting more ammo/DHS on, along with AMS.