20 replies to this topic

[Effectz]

I bought the Flame yesterday and I absolutely love it,it's extremely fast and good for hit and runs.I want to work on my Pilot tree for that particular mech chassis and was wondering,What other two Variants would you suggest along with some loadout's.

Thanks in Advance.

[Sh4dow78]

1c & 5n

[Rigiroth]

What ever you do, make sure you have a high powered weapon in the left torso. That cannon being so high up is one of the few redeeming qualities of the dragon. It allows you to shoot a powerful weapon (ERPPC in other mechs, Gauss in Flame) without exposing your body. It's a god send

[1453 R]

The 1C makes an excellent energy sniper. PPCs or large lasers in the left torso energy slots can hit most anything you can see, being both high-mounted (slightly above cockpit level) and relatively close to the 'Mech's centerline. It can carry your choice of supporting weapons in the rest of its hardpoints and is, honestly, generally a better platform for Grand Dragon range harassment than the Flame is.

The 1N is the only Dragon that can make effective ('effective' being a relative term, of course) use of Streak missiles, and can also carry a pair of SRM-4 launchers for close-range scatterblasts or a pair of LRM-5 launchers for chain-fire LRM annoyance as well as saving a ton over a conventional LRM-10. It has the high-mounted left torso sniping hardpoint as well, though it loses a bit of backup weapon utility compared to the 1C. The 1N my favorite of the three standard variants so far, though the 1C is an excellent contender.

The 5N...is not. The only thing it does that the 1N or the 1C don't do better is triple AC/2, and the JagerMech is three days away from doing that job much better than the 5N can anyways. I've tried configurations with a Gauss rifle and a pair of machine guns for kicks, but after forgetting to use the damned things four matches out of five, I just ripped 'em out for an extra heat sink and some armor. I don't recommend it, especially since you already have Flame and don't need all three standard Dragons to master the chassis.

[Samophlange]

I found the 5N to actually be pretty decent.
Its nice to have dual energy weapons in the arm. I think I tried the triple AC/2 a few times, but eventually dropped them for a single ac/10 or LBX.
I know some folks will have a hemorrage over not using the hardpoints, but hey, effective is effective.
Sometimes I drop the ac/10 for an ultra and put in a larger missle set in the center.

That being said, I run all 3 of the basic variants. But, the 5N was the first one to max out the skill tree.

[The Slippery Gypsy]

Steemship, on 16 March 2013 - 09:00 AM, said:

What ever you do, make sure you have a high powered weapon in the left torso. That cannon being so high up is one of the few redeeming qualities of the dragon. It allows you to shoot a powerful weapon (ERPPC in other mechs, Gauss in Flame) without exposing your body. It's a god send

There are other ways to win in a flame. Recently I have been tearing it up with 3 x LPL, endo, fero, 16 x DHS and an xl 340. very regularly get 3-4 kills and 600+ damage and often top the match leader board. Although it runs a tad hot, youd be hard-pressed to beat the focused and accurate 30 damage per shot. Thats 30 damage you can focus on to one location if your steady. It is WAY more accurate than any ballistic weapon. Even though other combos easily give you a bigger alpha, few give it to you in an as accurate and focused package. I takes down mechs incredibly fast if you focus on their torso center torso. (even more on thier rears, and the speed will let you get there vs most other mechs) Or if you want some fun and extra damage/ xp points. Use it to slice limbs off your enemy. Once the battle is turning in your favour, although it results in a slower death, this will let you accrue massive damage and xp. which equals cbils.

[Rigiroth]

The Slippery Gypsy, on 16 March 2013 - 10:04 AM, said:

There are other ways to win in a flame. Recently I have been tearing it up with 3 x LPL, endo, fero, 16 x DHS and an xl 340. very regularly get 3-4 kills and 600+ damage and often top the match leader board. Although it runs a tad hot, youd be hard-pressed to beat the focused and accurate 30 damage per shot. Thats 30 damage you can focus on to one location if your steady. It is WAY more accurate than any ballistic weapon. Even though other combos easily give you a bigger alpha, few give it to you in an as accurate and focused package. I takes down mechs incredibly fast if you focus on their torso center torso. (even more on thier rears, and the speed will let you get there vs most other mechs) Or if you want some fun and extra damage/ xp points. Use it to slice limbs off your enemy. Once the battle is turning in your favour, although it results in a slower death, this will let you accrue massive damage and xp. which equals cbils.

I don't have a flame. I was just saying that using the LT weapon is a smart way to play the dragon because it protects the Ct while allowing a player to deal heavy fire power.

[Effectz]

I run this on my Flame.

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...e98c620a6b3f646

[Hex Pallett]

1C for mobile Gauss, and 5N for triple-AC2.

[John MatriX82]

I advice 1C and 1N since you already own the Flame. The 5N is the only variant I sold, too few backup weapons, and if you want to go "dakka" there are much better platform than the dragon, imho of course.

[Gigastrike]

The 1C is pretty much a given; but between the 1N and 5N, I'd say the 5N. Really, the only thing the 1N has over the 5N is the extra missile hardpoint, but you can't even make great use of it because you only have 2 slots in the center torso. The 5N, on the other hand, has the extra ballistic hardpoint for the triple AC/2s, and has both energy hardpoints on the same arm (removing the convergence issue with double medium lasers).

Sure the 5N isn't the best mech out there for dakka boating, but considering that the point of buying it is for its own sake just to get the skills, you don't want the mech that's best at doing one particular thing. You only need the variant that's better than the other options, and the 1N is a mess of inefficient hardpoint distributions.

[Koujo]

This is what I'm running atm. http://mwo.smurfy-ne...e42ca9d51dd81d0
It just shreds stuff. 805 damage and 5 kills last match.

Edited by Koujo, 16 March 2013 - 02:24 PM.

[Lyff]

The 1n can send 2 srm4 at the same time, and they are far better than one srm6 (damage and precision), actually I run this:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...3d58b9c931cc318

A lot of firepower at close range, 4 alpha before shutdown, and if you lose an arm, you keep 80% of your firepower, and it's important to me in big fights.

[Imagine Dragons]

John MatriX82, on 16 March 2013 - 12:49 PM, said:

I advice 1C and 1N since you already own the Flame. The 5N is the only variant I sold, too few backup weapons, and if you want to go "dakka" there are much better platform than the dragon, imho of course.

Nothing does "2 ERPPCs and 3 MGs" better than a 5N...

[Denolven]

Hm I thought about getting a Dragon myself. What about the setup below? Lacks dakka, but has versatility (including some team helpers). Intended for hit&run, flanking, occasional 3L killing (I hope).
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...e2ea2102250c96b

[John MatriX82]

XenomorphZZ, on 16 March 2013 - 02:34 PM, said:

Nothing does "2 ERPPCs and 3 MGs" better than a 5N...

I'd rather take my TBT-5J to dual ER PPC acting as a mini pot-tart.. oh and sporting 3 smlas and a srm4 as backup not the mgs

Denolven, on 16 March 2013 - 02:50 PM, said:

Hm I thought about getting a Dragon myself. What about the setup below? Lacks dakka, but has versatility (including some team helpers). Intended for hit&run, flanking, occasional 3L killing (I hope).
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...e2ea2102250c96b

Feels somewhat gimped and by time I've forgotten streaks on non-ecm capable mechs.. you should use them on lights, but lights around are the ECM variants only 90% of the time, therefore you waste firepower and tons with them.. AMS: you have a really fast mech, then AMS isn't that useful since you'll disappear in cover before they hit you.

If you want speed this looks a tad better: DRG-1N

If i were going to use that large engine I'd probably go as a striker with this DRG-1N


I, however, usually run dual SRM4, dual ML, GR+4 Tons with xl 320+ENDO. GR can do wonders on Dragons if you master it the good way, can't live without it.

Edited by John MatriX82, 16 March 2013 - 03:50 PM.

[Jeremiah Battleborn]

I suggest looking in any one of the half-dozen threads already created for Dragon Builds.

[Effectz]

Jeremiah Battleborn, on 16 March 2013 - 05:00 PM, said:

I suggest looking in any one of the half-dozen threads already created for Dragon Builds.

Very productive post there.

[Roughneck45]

DRG-1C Master Dragon
On a Flame or a 1C, this is the best Dragon build hands down.

You can make effective energy based builds, but they are better suited for flanking and harassing only. This can do both of those things and will outperform any energy heavy build in an extended brawl.

Edited by Roughneck45, 17 March 2013 - 10:13 AM.

[Tremendous Upside]

Roughneck45, on 17 March 2013 - 10:12 AM, said:

DRG-1C Master Dragon
On a Flame or a 1C, this is the best Dragon build hands down.

You can make effective energy based builds, but they are better suited for flanking and harassing only. This can do both of those things and will outperform any energy heavy build in an extended brawl.

I've used builds like that - and still do with my Fang... But the best all-around build I've found for Flame looks like this:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...de0468c6b488bd6

It works MUCH better than the DPS and cooling efficiencies suggest. The speed, the range on the 2 LLs, the MPL/SRM6 combo - it all fits together perfectly. The right arm gives you a stiff "jab" out to 500m+ (with no ammo to worry about), and the rest of the weapons give you a nice CQ uppercut for those high-speed drive bye back-shots. It's a very fun load out to run with, and it's surprisingly durable as well.