51 replies to this topic

[Leded]

it's been again been awhile since i did one of these... and i was dreading doing the Dragon. it's not my fav
but i've played around with my Dragon enough to get some of the ins and outs of the thing

as much as i'd hate to say it the DRG-FLAME was my favored variant (cause it costs money), the 1C coming in second for me. (i didnt buy Fang too so i dont know.)

1. Speed. the need for speed. the Dragon makes an excellent canidate for an XL engine (i used a XL350) due to its very small left and right torso hit boxes and it's rediculously huge center torso. most times i would get cored before my L or R ever got hassled much. you can either play it like an under gunned Heavy or a very well armed Light or Medium, i opted for the latter. the speed if not for better mobility, at least have it for the sake of being more able to chose your fights. you run into some sluggish Assault mechs pop off a couple shots and duck out and wait for back up.

2. Weapons load. the first thing that i was annoyingly confronted with was that this guy seemed pretty under gunned for it's wieght class. some medium mechs can front load alot more damage than a Dragon. this is where what's above comes into more play. your increased speed can allow you to out manuver even most Medium mechs and be able to give chase long enough to the Lights to take a few nibbles out of them and send them running. having less weapons lets you fit a bigger engine so do it

3. As with having fewer weapons to fire, heat rarly was a concern for me. grab the double heat sinks and if needed a big XL engine has enough Heat Sink slots to leave lots of free space for Endo Steel Structure and Ferro-Fibrous Armor. late game if you find yourself 1v1 even with an Assualt mech you'll be able to keep dancing around him peppering him with your weapons while enjoying cool air conditioning while he is probably frying like a clam in his cockpit

4. The Dragon fitted like so, gets the speed and addiquate firepower to make flanking runs on an entreched enemy, causing some confusion then running off. which is good, cause some of their guys that can't catch you will chase and your teammates will be happy about that. then circle back and hit the ones that came after you with support. running behind them is doubly good cause if they ignore you, you get free back shots and if they don't your team gets free back shots.

5 and finally pairing off, another fast dragon or equivalent fast mech. works best with a friend you're on the same page with; find a target, both of you take it on and when one of you starts taking too many hits that one runs off. the guy with either A: chase him while you are still melting his armor off or B: switch his focus to you. in the A: case you can easily get lots of choice shots on him till he gets frustrated and turns to face you, at which point your buddy turns back and joins the fight again or in the B: case he imediatly starts to unload on you after his first target disengages, again at which point he runs back to the fight. rince and repeat and he'll go down cursing you.

as far as taking the hits, most times i've noticed its almost better to let your CT do the talking, i mean look at that thing, it's gonna get hit. besides once your arms start getting blown off your damage output goes down with it. why i liked the Flame, shoulder mounted AC at least lets you get a few more punches in even in an armless state.


see also:
http://mwomercs.com/...nchback-pilots/
http://mwomercs.com/...w-atlas-pilots/
http://mwomercs.com/...awesome-pilots/

Edited by Leded, 24 May 2013 - 10:01 PM.

[Modo44]

6. Once you are fast enough with speed tweak, you can also play heavy support/lance leader for the light gang.

[Leded]

Modo44, on 24 May 2013 - 10:06 PM, said:

6. Once you are fast enough with speed tweak, you can also play heavy support/lance leader for the light gang.

yeah forgot to mention that, Speak Tweak and an XL350 will push you over 100kph

[Hayashi]

Moved to Heavy mech forums.

[Leded]

ahh i got hijacked! so many many sub categories. more people seemed to look at these during the closed beta. the forum lists were so much smaller then

[Zordicron]

A decent guide. I concur a dragon is a hit and run mech. Going in to brawl is a death sentence.

it is important to note, putting the XL on, double heat sinks, along with endo, and maybe even ferro, makes a dragon's actual cost really high.

Speed is really key. How much is up to the player(I went XL280, too slow before but good enough after tweak) and loadouts are mostly lasers with one ballistic. On my flame, I went 4 LL and an XL 300. Not super fast, but as you cant brawl anyway, playing support to the Fatlas on the team you bring a whole lot of dmg, and lights learn to avoid you real quick.

Flame is superior to fang, mostly because of the quad arm mount lasers. On my Fang I went with an AC10 on the arm, and 3 LL. Harder to converge all weapons, runs a bit too hot. After eliting it it was much better, and can pile on dmg fast. When it gets hot I just plink away with AC10 until it cools off. Flame was hands down easier to figure out a solid loadout and adapt to it's quirks then the Fang.

Overall, Dragons are quite potent, but only after you spend a lot of C-bill in upgrades and figure out a suitable loadout. Speed is key, and hit and run play, or sneaky fire support to your assaults will lead to success.

[James DeGriz]

Given that I've had so much fun with Centurions just recently (favourite being the YLW), and I love the hit n run fast medium range support role that the Cent gives, I thought the Dragon might be a good fit for the way I play. Have to say, boy was I right, I LOVE it.

Question is like you OP, if the Flame and 1C are your two preferred variants, what would be the third one? I've got exactly both of those and wondering what to have as the third one for getting those skill trees unlocked?

[Waking One]

There's no good third variant.

[LordBraxton]

I loved dragons in closed beta

with the meta the way it is?

they are a death trap

most competitive snipe builds can core you in 3 shots

even at 110kph that nose is easy to hit

[CaptOven]

I recently bought Dragons and I'm really loving them being a huge fan of Mediums Mechs.

Torso twisting to spread the damage around is a must as is having some kind of weapon in the torso for when your arms get blown off. The armour on the arms on a Dragon is a bit better than Mediums and as using your arms to defend the torso makes this handy. But never go one on one unless it's a Medium or you've spotted a problem with it's load out that your load out can use. And remember when pugging just because you can go faster then Assaults doesn't mean you should run away from them because they make great cover and distraction.

I went for the middle road with my engine ratings putting XL 330's which start at speed 89 and tweaked to 98. Almost faster than many of my Medium Mechs standard. You will need this speed to escape from groups of heavy or assault Mechs. This gives me some bite as well as some speed. Almost all have Ferro and Endo upgrades as they have few weapon slots.

My 1N has 2 AC/2 5 tons of ammo, 2 Medium Lasers and 2 Streaks with 1 ton of ammo. The twin AC/2 make ranged attack possible and kicks out a lot of damage per second. 14 Double Heat Sinks mean that it doesn't get too hot unless you firing the lasers a lot. The 2 Streaks help out with Light Mechs as taking them out with just the 2 AC/2 isn't really efficient and they allow you fire something even at high heat threshold.

The Fang has an AC/10 with 4 tons of ammo, 1 Large Laser in the centre torso and 2 Medium Lasers. This is the hardest to use as you have to aim in front of the moving enemy Mech to hit it and then move the cursor back to hit with the lasers. With some practice this is possible so I tend to fire the AC/10 wait a second them fire the lasers. By the time the lasers have discharged the AC/10 is ready to fire again. But it is nasty up to ranges of 450 and is fast enough to get there and it can put a lot of damage on one location.

My Flame has 4 Medium Pulse and an AC/2 with 2 tons of ammo. 20 Double Heatsinks help keep this Mech fairly cool the fast damage works well with the Dragons hit and run tactics. I have a Hunckback 4SP with 4 Medium Pulse and 2 Streaks and this strangely is one of my best Mech in term of Kill/Death and Win/Loss. So being able to have 4 Medium Pulse in the arms but with AC/2 as a much longer ranged secondary weapon is almost my dream come come true The Medium Pulse do have a short range but the Flame is more than fast enough to get there. This is the only Dragon I have without the Ferro upgrade to allow enough critspace for the 20 Double Heatsinks. Just be careful of your heat on hotter maps as the weapons can really heat it up as the tough thing about this Mech is it's heat management but it not as bad as firing several ERPPC.

As I haven't driven other Dragons I can't comment on them specifically but hopefully it'll give you a good base line.

[White Bear 84]

Dragons are great fun, dont know why they get so much flak.. ..i run each of mine with XL300's, Flame, 5N and 1N. Just for variation i have an AC10 in my flame, Gauss in my 1N and AC20 in my 5N

Even with an XL 300 and speed tweak you get good speeds to run circles round most mechs. Id prefer firepower over speed. If your working with your team, then you really dont need to worry about being any faster...

Edited by White Bear 84, 26 May 2013 - 04:45 PM.

[Leded]

James DeGriz, on 26 May 2013 - 02:37 PM, said:

Given that I've had so much fun with Centurions just recently (favourite being the YLW), and I love the hit n run fast medium range support role that the Cent gives, I thought the Dragon might be a good fit for the way I play. Have to say, boy was I right, I LOVE it.

Question is like you OP, if the Flame and 1C are your two preferred variants, what would be the third one? I've got exactly both of those and wondering what to have as the third one for getting those skill trees unlocked?

well i had "ok" sucess with the 5N rolling with 2 med lasers, 2 AC/5s and an SRM4. in certain situations it ran well... in others it fell flat on its face lol

[Leded]

Eldagore, on 26 May 2013 - 07:27 AM, said:

A decent guide. I concur a dragon is a hit and run mech. Going in to brawl is a death sentence.

i know i've heard the phrase "slow brawling in a Dragon only works in the movies" lol. i remember watching the Fang and Flame trailer and thinking to myself.... wth? no one fights in a Dragon like that!

i think once they ever work out a Charging Attack mechanic Dragons will make a good comeback

[Modo44]

Try the 1N with SRM8 or SSRM4 complimenting your long-range weapons. It produces funny moments when something light thinks it found easy prey.

White Bear 84, on 26 May 2013 - 04:44 PM, said:

Dragons are great fun, dont know why they get so much flak..

I think people assume that you can just stand still and fire, which gets you killed in no time. Pilot the Dragon like a light 'mech with more firepower, and you will do well.

[HardmodeNPC]

I went through the three standard variants a short while back, and my favourite was definitely the 1C. Didn't bother with an XL, dropped in an ERPPC and ERLL with NARC for team support and AMS. Several games I enjoyed having my right torso disappear whilst maintaining decent firepower, and once I got used to taking hits on that side I became more effective than I was previously. Top speed was just under 90kph once I unlocked the appropriate skills, but that CT still sucks. The first mech I went rumbling in, and still one of my preferred walking tanks ('cept for that damned chest).
I used 2 SSRMs in the 1N and standard loadout for the 5N. With a ping in excess of 250, they did alright, too...

[malibu43]

White Bear 84, on 26 May 2013 - 04:44 PM, said:

Dragons are great fun, dont know why they get so much flak.. ..i run each of mine with XL300's, Flame, 5N and 1N. Just for variation i have an AC10 in my flame, Gauss in my 1N and AC20 in my 5N Even with an XL 300 and speed tweak you get good speeds to run circles round most mechs. Id prefer firepower over speed. If your working with your team, then you really dont need to worry about being any faster...

Ummm... you can't put an AC20 in the arm of a 5N. The flame is the only one that can carry an AC20 (in the side torso)...

[1453 R]

Successful Dragon pilots never fight fair.

The 'Mech isn't designed for duels - try and fight them and you'll generally lose. Instead, use your Dragon's speed to strike at weak points in the scrum once it starts. You're quick and mobile enough to get around a fight, and despite what folks tend to say about them, Dragons generally carry more than enough firepower to be a serious threat against distracted targets. Prey upon the weak and the oblivious, and only press a fight against a target actively fighting back if you have a definite advantage over it.

That's been my experience with a Dragon, at any rate. The machine has the armor and firepower to finish a wounded fattie face-to-face, but only just, and only if the fattie is, in fact, wounded. I try very hard not to go head-to-head with much of anything in my Dragons - the 'Mech isn't built for it. As I've said in previous Dragon threads, if you're not making full use of the machine's speed and mobility, you're not really making use of the Dragon.

This, of course, is also why players give it flak. Any 'Mech that can't fight its own stand-up fight is considered weak and useless (light 'mechs not necessarily excluded - see the forum's general bias against them and the seriously top-heavy weight distributions in most matches for case-in-point), and any pilot who doesn't fight that way either is an unskilled nub who needs to "lrn2play". Dragons are bad brawlers, and brawling is still largely the gold standard by which a machine's effectiveness is judged. Even in the current sniper-heavy metagame, machines which carry a ton of firepower and can engage in direct, stand-up sniper fights, as opposed to direct, stand-up fistfights are held in high esteem.

Dragon pilots know better, though. A stand-up duel of a fight is one you lose even if you win - even if you destroy the other guy, you're often so badly damaged as to be easy prey for the next guy you come across, no matter what 'Mech you're in. Dragons are 'Mechs that specialize in being The Next Guy to the enemy, that's all.

[Xenon Codex]

The sign of a good Dragon pilot is when one barely notices his presence but yet ends up at the top of the leaderboard. Be fast, shoot straight, and don't draw attention.

[Zen Hachetaki]

"Never Fight fair". Win. You can fit various roles but excel at none - this is ok though - only people with ego issues need to be the best at something. Find what the team needs in any situation and you can pretty much provide it. I enjoyed using ER PPCs on my 5N - 2 of them in same arm and pounding lights with them. Have to protect it though! But slap a XL 350 in it with tweak and you can be a very effective corner sniper with the in one arm that you can pot shot at will in and out. Add in a BAP, 15 DHS, SSRM2, & 3 Mgs and make Raven's life hell (MGs optional ofc but i love the dakka).

Basically for folks who have the ability to adapt their play style to what is needed a Dragon can be fun and effective (pats self on back).

[BaconCouch]

I run my beloved Dragon-5N "Kingmaker" with
XL 300 Engine
Ac10 w/ two tons of ammo
x2 ER PPC's
Max Armor
Endo/Double Heat Sinks
Maxed sinks to use the rest of the space.

Its actually my best mech by a pretty large margin, deals 30 damage to one location, swap to autocannon when it starts running somewhat hot, just lingering on the outskirts of the fight, run in and be a bully late in the fight.

Also good at hunting light mechs, since you have the maneuverability, and the punch to leg them with the PPCs

Edited by BaconCouch, 06 June 2013 - 09:46 AM.