14 replies to this topic

[MischiefSC]

Just got it after playing the Quickdraw. Which, by the way, I hate. I want to love it! I do! But it's clumsy, huge, poorly place arms that are too low and too wide to be useful. It fights like an atlas and is almost sized like one but armored like a big medium and dies like one.

Then I saw someone running a Dragon like a boss, then saw a well played Dragon in another game. So I picked one up.

Holy crap. Fast, nimble, rock solid hardpoints with a wide set of options. Even without a single unlocked basic it was more useful than an Elite QD. It's no Highlander reaping 2-5 kills a game and tanking damage but it's an excellent tactical mech. With the right loadout it's essentially heat-neutral at 1.7+. It excels at popping cockpits out of overheated mechs.

It's a balanced mech and in this often 1-sided meta that's suddenly more useful. The lack of brawlers makes it surprisingly useful. It's very consistent - no matter what map you drop on you've got some clear options. Alpine Conquest? You can cap points and chew most lights you encounter. River City Assault? Hunt snipers and LRM boats, you're fast and while your alpha is probably low you can pile on the DPS. Wait for that Stalker to overheat and blow his back out.

It's just tougher to get good at. With different weapon types on each arm typically it's harder to stack damage for alphas. You have to pay a lot more attention to what weapon you're shooting and where you're aiming. You want to face towards, not away, from your enemies - ducking sideways won't save your CT. You need to be far more aware of cover to duck behind. Conversely you've got to be more on your game to play it.

In then end though? It's just fun to drive. Low-slung, fast, turns well, packs a diverse loadout. I highly recommended for experienced players who are looking for a new experience that isn't just another flavor of the same old thing.

What are some good builds people have found?

[Sephlock]

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...7035ca18cff036b

[One Medic Army]

I've always liked by 1C:
2 PPCs (torso) +2ML (arm) XL350, Endo/Ferro/DHS.

Of course, I run the same thing on my Quickdraw with +4 ML instead of two plus jumpjets and kick more arse, so it's a personal thing.

All I can say is that you should use your arms to shield and mount at least a 325XL in either Dragon or Quickdraw. Personally I prefer the quickdraw of the two, but then with a 350XL it's hard to find the tonnage for a ballistic.

[HansBlix WMD]

Personally I enjoy using a brawler range flame with an AC20 or LBX10. Fill in the lasers as you can (medium, or medium pulse if you are feeling angry).

300XL engine, DHS, Endo, FF (the works).

Heat issues mean you have to weave in and out, not stay for an extended fight.

[Wormrex]

Well~ it is adviced to have at least XL300 engine towards the higher end...

with XL300 engine you can pack 1 gauss 1erPPC 2 medium lasers and a srm4.

pretty deadly at all range although you might have to watch you heat a little on the ppc. Did I mention the deadly sucker punch alpha it can do?

If you move towards the higher range, say XL350 engine, you can fit 4 large lasers. or 4 medium lasers and a gauss. which are pretty neat as well.

SO...... besides being heavilty chested, which makes all mechs immediately eye your huge curves when you drive by, the dragon needs substantial upgrades as well to function, double heat sink, xl engines, endo and even FF armour.

Just wait until they give us back the ability to push over them woodland creatures... We dragon drivers got send to the corner because we've been running around pushing everyone over...

[pulupulu]

For engine size, you should pick your speed enough to catch the slower variant of mediums (after speed tweak). Any faster the weight could have gone to more firepower/cool down, because you still can't catch faster variant of med and light.

As for dodging lrm... a good dragon rarely get hit by lrm due to tactic.

I personally went for 320 xl. It is 320 because some of my other mechs also use 320, and i live on switching engine left and right.

Edited by pulupulu, 02 July 2013 - 03:04 AM.

[Lyoncet]

I jump between 300XL and 350XL in my 1C, 5N, and Flame (my only Hero 'Mech). The 1C I tend to run with double PPC with MLAS backup and a 350. The Flame I flip between 4 MLAS and Gauss plus 350 engine, and the same engine plus 2 LLAS and 2 MLAS/MPLS. These are all standout builds, and the Flame builds have netted me a higher win/loss and kill/death ratio than any other variant I own.

At the moment I'm experimenting with a 2 MLAS 2 AC/5 build on the 5N, with a 350 engine, and just sticking to the backside of slower 'Mechs while unloading my huge sustained DPS into their back. It's dangerous because you have a low alpha, meaning you need to stay exposed to the dozens of PPCs everyone's boating, but you can rely chew up assaults if you have good situational awareness.

[Roughneck45]

Im a gauss rifle fan for the dragon. The 2 most consistent builds ive used.

XL300, 4mlas, SRM6, Gauss rifle.

Or

Drop the SRM6, a few heatsinks, and drop a max size engine in.

1C and the Flame can do this.(they are the best variants as well IMO) I have a tough time taking is out right now in the PPC meta, and the fact that SRMs are almost useless makes it even worse.

I hope Dragons become viable at some point from a min/max perspective, but until knockdowns are reintroduced i don't think it will happen.

Edited by Roughneck45, 02 July 2013 - 04:33 AM.

[MischiefSC]

That's about where I'm at. My main question is - anyone have a good dragon design that actually gets kills, other than a Flame with AC20? Something with a lot of UMPH. High DPS is nice and I'm doing 500, 600 damage a match with a critically high win/loss but almost crap for KDR.

Suggestions?

[General Taskeen]

MischiefSC, on 02 July 2013 - 07:50 PM, said:

That's about where I'm at. My main question is - anyone have a good dragon design that actually gets kills, other than a Flame with AC20? Something with a lot of UMPH. High DPS is nice and I'm doing 500, 600 damage a match with a critically high win/loss but almost crap for KDR.

Suggestions?

You can build a Fake Grand Dragon with the Flame. 3 ML, 1 ER PPC, 1 LRM10 with the same engine, the 360XL. Its actually pretty good in the game.

Fake DRG-5K

That's a duplicate of the record sheet, but basically you can see the jist of it.

[Lyoncet]

Have a few more I played around with today. The first is a (don't laugh) triple AC/2 5N with double MLAS as backup and a 300 XL engine. Just fill it with 5 tons of slugs and the rest with dual heatsinks. It puts out surprisingly high damage for its size. And while the alpha sucks, Dragon alpha strikes aren't that great anyways so you may as well play to your strengths and learn to stick to Assaults' rear sides.

The other was my old trusty DGN-1C. Grab an ERPPC in one arm, Gauss in the other, drop in a 350 XL engine, and play keep away. Again, not the best alpha, but you're fast and cool, so your effective DPS should stay pretty high. Things like MLAS, ammo, and heatsinks are up to your discretion. Note that you can't ridge-hump win both weapons regardless of which variant you use, so I put it on the 1C. Reason being that way you get max articulation on both weapons, and depending on your mood you can fill in the gaps with extra MLAS. Or downgrade the engine if you want to keep the sinks and ammo while adding more lasers.

[MischiefSC]

Lyoncet, on 02 July 2013 - 08:51 PM, said:

Have a few more I played around with today. The first is a (don't laugh) triple AC/2 5N with double MLAS as backup and a 300 XL engine. Just fill it with 5 tons of slugs and the rest with dual heatsinks. It puts out surprisingly high damage for its size. And while the alpha sucks, Dragon alpha strikes aren't that great anyways so you may as well play to your strengths and learn to stick to Assaults' rear sides.

The other was my old trusty DGN-1C. Grab an ERPPC in one arm, Gauss in the other, drop in a 350 XL engine, and play keep away. Again, not the best alpha, but you're fast and cool, so your effective DPS should stay pretty high. Things like MLAS, ammo, and heatsinks are up to your discretion. Note that you can't ridge-hump win both weapons regardless of which variant you use, so I put it on the 1C. Reason being that way you get max articulation on both weapons, and depending on your mood you can fill in the gaps with extra MLAS. Or downgrade the engine if you want to keep the sinks and ammo while adding more lasers.

I've seen both of these used to decent effect. I've also seen one with an AC10 and LL - decent steady damage and no real heat. Had 2MGs in it that tore the crap out of me after my armor came off. It had its merits.

Just can't get a dragon with a decent alpha it seems though.

[Mycrus]

http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__2476956

[Johnny Reb]

The quickdraw trumps the dragon in so many ways, unless you need a ballistic. My Flame is pretty much moth balled.

[GODzillaGSPB]

Sephlock, on 01 July 2013 - 11:54 PM, said:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...7035ca18cff036b

Let me correct that for ya:

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...2a4680e0f40f5c0