22 replies to this topic

[Vamboozle]

I'm struggling to see the point of / enjoy the Dragon and I'm hoping for pointers.

I've been specialising in Heavies lately and I've done ok in my 'Phracts, 'Pults & Jagers. (By ok - I mean I not a great player but I have fun, usually do a respectable amount of damage and usually get a kill or two in a game (and occasionally 3 or 4))

I'm a Pugger so all of the above have a variety of loadouts and aren't specialised

So then I move onto the Dragon and buy me a 1C.......

.....and I just don't get it.

Whatever loadout I try (weapons / armour / etc) I just fail....nearly every time. (as in die everytime and lucky to break 150 damage in a game).

It doesn't appear to be slow, lightly armoured or lightly armed but somehow it doesn't work for me.

Happy to take tips on how to play this beast.

[Clit Beastwood]

Well, don't try brawling, if you have been.

1. Be fast
2. Have a gauss in your right arm
3. Have 2xLL in your left arm (I use 2 erll)
4. Snipe from cover. With the dragon, you can shoot your arm mounted weapons without exposing your whole mech by going around cover as opposed to over it. This works well on tourmaline especially.

[Malora Sidewinder]

unless you're a phenomenal pilot, dragons aren't the mech for you.
they have a very narrow (but useful) role, which is dictated by their lackluster armor and focused weapons selection.

it is very difficult to pilot a dragon correctly. in my opinion, the dragon is the hardest mech in the game to play right.
you need to be a flanker. not a brawler. not a scout, not a sniper. a flanker.

you need to use cover to sneak in behind your enemies as they're distracted get a few good alphas into their rear armor, and the second they even SEEM like they're turning to engage you, ****.

rinse and repeat, if you deviate from that routine at all it's basically instant death.


once more, unless you are top 1% of pilots, find another mech.

[ivr56]

1C I own
I run 4 medium, 1 UAC5, 3 tons of ammo, 1 Streak2, 1 ton of ammo. XL340, DHS, Endo, Ferros

Its a flanker loadout and works surprisingly well. I was running it at the time of the Highlander release exclusively to give it some love (A bit at terrible timing with the new Meta) and I managed to get into the 400-500dmg range quite often (50/50 solo - NGNG random TS) and I'm a average pilot. I can echo what Malora said, be fully aware of your surroundings/line of sight and strike and retreat. Dragon's are brilliant when used well and is really rewarding once you learn how to properly use them.
Starting out I wasn't breaking 200 much either in my 1C

Edited by ivr56, 06 May 2013 - 11:58 AM.

[Ryokens leap]

Learn to shoot on the run, don't stand around or ur dead. Lots of pilots started with a 300 xl and had an alpha of 30 or higher. Lately most have up engine size for speed and lowered alpha/dps. Forget about ac2 or any weapon that leaves you exposed for a long time to do real damage. Gauss, erppc, ac10, uac5, lrg & erlaser work out. With so few hard points you can take advantage of ferro fib armour, endo and dhs. Lately my 1c has 2 erppc in l torso( high mount good for hiding and shooting) and a arti srm4(for lights) 330 xl, full armour and max out dbl hs. 1n good with 2srm 4, Flame will do ac20 with standard 300, 5n I use srm4 arti, lbx10, erppc,& 320 xl for leggin lights. Don't worry about xl, you will lose ct every time, don't bother with case, put gauss ammo in side torsos. Flank, flank, flank! Do not try to brawl! You are fast so help with base protection and capping. If there is another Dragon on ur team hook up with him. This is what works for me, may not be for everyone but I find these lots of fun. Good luck!

[Lord Perversor]

Mostly all of the Above the Dragon it's a 2nd line Mech (and also play like an oversized medium) you show your face when the enemy is distracted and focus a single target 1/2 alphas and run away to make them waste time chasing you.

also my overall 1C build (i find the 1c the most rounded of all 4 variants along as flame)

this is a basic template, you can get an extra 4 tons from 1x srm ammo, Ams and Bap to retrofit bigger ballistic weapon or bigger engine so it can be remodeled easily also as Ryokens said 300 Xl rated engine should be the smallest one you should consider to fit (unless you wanna try some odd build like my ol 3x Ac2 5n)

[Ravennus]

The 1C is currently my favourite Dragon, and I have them all mastered, including the Flame and Fang. (got those on sale)

I do something very different, and mount 2 ERPPCs in that super high side torso mount. It's the only Dragon that can do that.
My Flame does the 4 MLAS + Heavy Ballistic far better, and the 5N or Fang do the Gauss + 2 LLAS just as well.

19 to 20 DHS running at around 100kph with 2 ERPPCs and even a couple MLAS for close back-up works wonders.
My KDR is almost double that of my Flame.


You don't poptart, obviously. You are a mobile sniper that can reposition on a whim and fire off a large number of 20 damage shots without overheating.


Just FYI, I made this build long before the current PPC meta. It worked even better before all the slow people realized how good long range direct fire weapons were.
Hint: Nothing really changed, especially if you had a lower ping. PPCs were always awesome, but people were just too much in love with their brawling and missiles to bother even trying other things.

Either way, it's still great in the current meta. Most people are ****** shots. They can play all the min-maxed poptarts and Stalkers they want, but if they can't hit me moving 100kph+ then it is wasted.


The energy hardpoint on that shoulder is super high as well. You can fire from behind obstacles without revealing most of your mech.
Both PPC shots come out of the same place, so there are ZERO convergence issues.


Honestly, I'm surprised the build hasn't caught on more.

I guess most people aren't very creative and just look up "OP" builds on the forums. *shrug*

[Lefty Lucy]

I have dragons mastered. They're crap. I still run them because I think going fast is fun sometimes, but the fact that you can hit the front CT from almost any angle just dooms them to fragility.

[Buzzkillin]

Here's my Dragon build http://mwo.smurfy-ne...7a951d686fb98d3

I like to use this build out of all the other Dragon builds is the fast cyce time. I can constantly put down fire and pressure on someone, and if you can flank enemies from behind, you quickly destroy them or do heavy damage.

Edited by Buzzkillin, 06 May 2013 - 08:06 PM.

[Trauglodyte]

To run the Dragon effectively, you have to be fast. Anything lower than a 340xl and you're doing yourself a major disservice. Once you've done that, you need to become comfortable with the fact that you're a fringe fighter and not a primary battlefield slugger. You stand off at range or you flank and hit the enemy from behind when they're focused on other targets.

After that, you've got to decide what your loadout is going to be. Based on the model you choose, you're either energy/ballistics or energy/missiles. You can't afford to balance all three because, if you do, you end up throwing too much tonnage around for different ranges and it messes you up. A lot of people build around the Gauss but I'm not a fan. I run dual PPCs in my 1C and then pad everything else.

Then, and only then, can you become a good Dragon pilot.

[Vamboozle]

Thanks guys - some good tips here.

I can already see where I'm going wrong:
- I need to stop trying to brawl
- I need to treat the dragon less like a heavy and more like a "plump medium"
- accept that long range is longer than 400-500m and to tool up accordingly
- accept that 81kph isn't fast enough
- accept "torso twist damage control" is less effective

I'll give it a go and let you know how I get on

[Buzzkillin]

Vamboozle, on 07 May 2013 - 10:19 AM, said:

Thanks guys - some good tips here.

I can already see where I'm going wrong:
- I need to stop trying to brawl
- I need to treat the dragon less like a heavy and more like a "plump medium"
- accept that long range is longer than 400-500m and to tool up accordingly
- accept that 81kph isn't fast enough
- accept "torso twist damage control" is less effective

I'll give it a go and let you know how I get on

To each of their own play style, I brawl with Dragon all the time at short ranges and I get 500+ damage often. The dragon has plenty of armor that you can brawl in. With the large CT it can protect your side torso when using an XL engine. I say experiment with the Dragon and see how you like to play it. The Dragon is one of those mechs that don't have cookie cutter build that is always #1.

[Macheiron]

A Dragon with a 350XL is a very powerful contender in Conquest. 104 kph after speed tweak means that you can get anywhere in a hurry.

I have to disagree with the assertion that Dragons can't take energy/missile/ballistic and balance all of it. This DRG-1C build is more effective than you might think. It's only weakness might be shortage of ammo, but I've never really had a problem.

I will say that 2PPCs on a 1C is also very mean, and hilarious when you run back to stop a base cap and start blowing legs off of the ECM lights that tried it.

Edited by Macheiron, 07 May 2013 - 11:03 AM.

[Belorion]

The Dragon is built for fast attack response.

[DarkDevilDancer]

My first mech was a dragon and i regret it, i used it to grind up enough cash for an atlas then trashed it with zero regrets.

[PocketAces]

I like my Flame, AC20, 4ML, I don't run an XL. The great thing is everyone thinks your AC is in the RT, so most people aim for that, instead I only lose 2 ML.

I do a lot of waiting at the beginning of a match until the main engagement occurs, then I move in behind, hit and run. Don't get a lot of kills but deal massive damage.

Edited by PocketAces, 07 May 2013 - 05:22 PM.

[Vamboozle]

Thanks for all the tips!

I've up-engined, up-ranged and stopped brawling and there's a distinct improvement.

Not sure I'll ever love the Dragon but I'm ok with it now.

[GODzillaGSPB]

Fierostetz, on 06 May 2013 - 11:29 AM, said:

Well, don't try brawling, if you have been.

1. Be fast
2. Have a gauss in your right arm
3. Have 2xLL in your left arm (I use 2 erll)
4. Snipe from cover. With the dragon, you can shoot your arm mounted weapons without exposing your whole mech by going around cover as opposed to over it. This works well on tourmaline especially.

I just don't get why a setup like this has to be fast at all. Huge range, stick to cover...be fast? I'd rather put a standard engine in and be tough. And imho that is not the place of the Dragon.

My Dragons were (one still is) fast, with weapons build for close combat and harassment. For a mech like this, speed makes sense.

[zraven7]

Step 1: Spend 2 weeks playing nothing but Trebuchets and Centurions, both with nothing but XL engine builds.

Step 2: Get a dragon, doesn't really matter which.

Step 3: build and play the Dragon JUST LIKE a Centurion or Trebuchet, except with more space. You are now playing a Dragon correctly.

[Malora Sidewinder]

GODzillaGSPB, on 08 May 2013 - 12:57 PM, said:

I just don't get why a setup like this has to be fast at all. Huge range, stick to cover...be fast? I'd rather put a standard engine in and be tough. And imho that is not the place of the Dragon.

My Dragons were (one still is) fast, with weapons build for close combat and harassment. For a mech like this, speed makes sense.

When you lose a side torso you lose enough weaponry that you're as good as dead anyway, and being fast is arguably the greatest asset that a flanker mech can have. if you are less than 90 kph, you're a dead dragon.