This article is about the Cerberus unit in Mass Effect 3. For the Blue Suns unit in Mass Effect 2, see Blue Suns Centurion.

Centurions are Cerberus officers encountered in Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect: Infiltrator. They are hardy opponents that lead squads of Cerberus soldiers into battle.

Mass Effect 3

Description

Centurions are Cerberus's front-line tacticians. They are meant to enact the Illusive Man's strategic goals, although it is clear that they have leeway to adapt as an encounter develops.

The only useful intelligence that the Alliance has gathered on centurions relates to their armament. Each centurion carries an M-96 Mattock heavy rifle modified to launch smoke grenades, leaving enemies vulnerable to crossfire.

Capabilities

Offensive

Centurions are equipped with M-96 Mattock assault rifles that are modified to fire smoke grenades. They're also equipped with Frag Grenades, which have low explosion radius but can instantly kill the player on harder difficulties or if the player character is low-level. Finally, they can attack their enemies in melee with electrified batons, which are more powerful than ones given to Assault Troopers.

Defensive

Centurions have moderate health and shielding: the latter regenerates over time, with the speed depending on the difficulty. They will frequently take cover during combat and they can perform combat rolls to avoid gunfire or projectile powers like Warp or Incinerate. Their smoke grenades can temporarily obstruct the player's line of sight and targeting.

Tactics

• Their Mattocks enable Centurions to deal considerably more damage than Assault Troopers, and they are more durable with their shields making them immune to the crowd control effects of physics-based powers and freezing attacks while active.
• Centurions are also aggressive and adept at poking out from cover to fire bursts from their rifles while exposing themselves as little as possible to return fire.
• Easily the biggest threat from Centurions comes from the smoke grenades they often deploy. Though these cause no damage by themselves, they obscure the Centurion and anything else behind the smoke so thoroughly that it breaks the player's targeting reticule.
  • Be alert if moving through the smoke, as enemies will continue to fire through it without loss of accuracy, and the positions and numbers of enemies on the other side can change dramatically.
  • If there's no pressing need to move through smoke, it's usually a better idea to be patient, back off, and wait for the smoke to either dissipate or for enemies to emerge through it.
  • Use of weapon mods that can see through smoke can be quite useful when fighting Centurions. These include the Assault Rifle Thermal Scope, the Sniper Rifle Enhanced Scope, and the Sniper Rifle Thermal Scope. Also, the Javelin sniper rifle has a built-in ability to see through smoke and cover without needing these mods.
  • Squad members are not affected by smoke and they don't require any special mods on their weapons to acquire and shoot enemies through smoke.
  • Smoke can interfere with your ability to manually revive squadmates, see enemy grenades coming or notice live ones on the ground, and possibly worst of all, prevents you from locking on to enemies for the purposes of hitting them with powers. This last disadvantage can be especially deadly if you are a Vanguard relying on landing biotic Charges to restore your shields as smoke can be deployed without warning and prevent you from launching a Charge successfully, even against enemies very close to you.
• Level 4+ Overload or Energy Drain is very effective against Centurions. Both skills will instantly take down the Centurions' shields and briefly stun them, leaving them open to follow-up attacks.
• In multiplayer, an enraged krogan can dispatch a Centurion with full shields with a single heavy melee attack.
• On higher difficulties, Centurions should be taken down quickly, since they can regenerate their shields quite fast and throw grenades more often.
• Like Assault Troopers, Centurions will follow you to try to hit you with their batons if you get too close to them. You can turn this to your advantage and "lead them by the nose" into a kill zone or out of any obscuring smoke for a clear shot.
• Regardless of whether they still have shields, Centurions can be staggered by normal melee attacks except once their melee animation has begun. A heavy melee attack can still interrupt them during their melee animations, however in single-player only the Vanguard and the Adept can execute a heavy melee fast enough to do this reliably.
• As with other enemies with the ability to dodge powers, Centurions are less likely to dodge projectile powers if they are staggered, very close, or are focused on another target.

Mass Effect: Infiltrator

Centurions are an elite Cerberus infantry unit that Randall Ezno faces on the Barn during his escape. They are equipped with M-96 Mattock Auto and are found leading troopers into battle.

Tactics

• Centurions have considerable health and possess a strong layer of shielding over it. Their shielding will regenerate over time.
• Centurions will often take cover during the firefight, and tend not to come out unless you're in their line of fire. This allows you to wait out behind cover for your powers to recharge without being disturbed. If necessary, using Pull will flush them from cover into the open.
• Like other humanoid enemies in the game, Centurions are vulnerable to headshots, receiving bonus damage when shot there.
• It is recommended to take them out first due to the increased threat they represent.

Trivia

• Centurions are named after Roman Centurions, officers in the Roman army who usually commanded a "century", a unit of about 80 legionaries. However despite their name, Cerberus Centurions don't seem to command any more than small squads.
• Unlike their counterparts in Mass Effect 3, Centurions from Mass Effect: Infiltrator wear the same armor worn by Troopers and Assault Troopers but with a red touch and they do not possess specific abilities such as smoke grenades.

Mass Effect 3 Enemies
CAT6	Atlas • Brooks • CAT6 Heavy • CAT6 Sniper • CAT6 Specialist • Clone • Disruption Drone
Cerberus	Adjutant • Assault Trooper • Atlas • Centurion • Combat Engineer • Dragoon • Dr. Eva • Guardian • Kai Leng • Legion Assassin • Nemesis • Phantom • Rampart Mech • Turret
Collectors	Abomination (Possessed) • Collector Captain (Possessed) • Collector Trooper (Possessed) • Collector Web • Praetorian (Possessed) • Scion (Possessed) • Seeker Swarm (Plague)
Geth	Combat Drone • Geth Bomber • Geth Hunter • Geth Prime • Geth Pyro • Geth Rocket Trooper • Geth Trooper • Geth Turret
Reapers	Banshee • Brute • Cannibal • Harvester • Husk • Marauder • Ravager • Swarmer

Mass Effect Infiltrator Enemies
Cerberus personnel	Assault Trooper • Assault Captain • Centurion • Engineer • Riot Trooper • Trooper • Sniper
Synthetic	Geth Trooper • Geth Juggernaut • Grad Turret • Ogre Mech • Orcus Mech
Other	Asari Prisoner • Krogan Prisoner • Inali Renata • Turian • Turian Trooper • Turian Sniper • X1