59 replies to this topic

[Alistair Winter]

Livewyr, on 25 July 2014 - 11:00 AM, said:

I thought dragons were extinct...

[insert Paul Inouye as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones photoshop]

Yeah, I'm too lazy.

[beerandasmoke]

Ok you guys convinced me to drop in mine again. If I get facestomped im blaming you all. Most likely one of you will end up killing me in some damn metacat or victor lol.

[Soulscour]

See what you guys did. You convinced players to try to play the dragon again with this thread. You might have even convinced some new players to buy it. Please lock this thread before more damage is done!

[Zervziel]

Heeden, on 24 July 2014 - 10:12 AM, said:

Of course, it being the underhive, you also frequently get times where lots of the enemy turn to attack you but your team stay behind rocks playing Yu-Gi-Oh or whatever assaults and heavies do when they don't want to fight. PuG life yo.

*Lone medium mech walks around rock*

Atlas: You've activated my trap card. *trollface*

[Impyrium]

I always attributed it to the SRM fixes, since most if not all Dragons seem to rely on them for brawling. Either way, it can only be a good thing if there's more variety out there.

[beerandasmoke]

I tried to drop with the AC2 build and it sucked so hard i stripped it after one game. Fiddled around in the lab and managed to mount an XL300 2PPC, 1AC10 with 3 tons of ammo. Let me tell you it wasnt too bad at all. Matter of fact it was pretty mean.

[Y E O N N E]

AC/2 is crap every since they lowered it's RoF so the DPS would be less than that of an AC/5, but also kept the heat really high. I tried it in the DRG-1N and it was awful.

A great brawler build, on the other hand, is an LB-10X, two MPL, two SRM2, and a STD 300 with three tons of ammo all around (two for the LB, one for the SRMs).

Another great build is a PPC and an ERPPC in the torso of the DRN-1C, a STD 310, a small laser, and as many heatsinks as you can squeeze in. Very good at swording and boarding, and decently quick. LPL are also good stand-ins for the PPCs if you do most of your work under 400 m.

[AlexEss]

Mcgral18, on 24 July 2014 - 10:57 AM, said:

But can it outbrawl the SHD?

Both have good hitboxes for XLs, but the SHD has better hitboxes period. More hardpoints, more SRM tubes, same ballistic options, but nearly every SHD can mount an AC20.

JJs as well. I can't see dragons taking off. Not with superior chassis' in the game.

Ah... But you forget the key element here... It is a heavy... And thus by default better then a medium in the eyes of the less informed..

[PANZERKAT]

Corbenik, on 24 July 2014 - 09:38 AM, said:

Thought Drags were medium?

They do feel like that don't they.

[Zolaz]

Yes, everyone would rather have a Dragon on their team than a Timberwolf. The Dragon is a subpar mech for subpar players. Yes, I know that one or two of you will be able to do better than the (C) mechs out there and say it is good, but we all know the truth.

For those that disagree, see you on the maps. Hope you are on the opposing team so that game is easier. Though I imagine that you will end up on mine. PGI always wants me to Carry Harder, since that is so much fun.

[Escef]

Zolaz, on 24 July 2014 - 02:24 PM, said:

Seeing a Dragon on your team is like seeing a Locust.

Last match I saw a Locust in the dude got 5 kills, 5 assists, and was one of the highest damage dealers in the drop.

Locust, much like Dragons and Quickdraws, are piloted by two groups of people: those that don't know they're under the curve, and those that learned how to own faces in them anyway. The first group is the most populous, but the second is scary as hell.

[PANZERKAT]

Locusts are less outclassed because they have great speed. Dragons are a mech designed for diversity in a game which doesn't support diversity. They had a mix of energy ballistic and missiles which helped them on campaign. Also, they were one of the few mechs the DCMS were still able to produce....so....ya. If it wasn't an iconic mech I doubt we would have had it at all.

If they are doing a size pass on some of the older mechs, alongside the Awesome, I wouldn't mind it bulked down a tad. Same with the Centurion.

Edited by KOMMISSAR KITTY, 28 July 2014 - 06:46 AM.

[Prezimonto]

Ph30nix, on 24 July 2014 - 10:39 AM, said:

Dragons are a really underrated mech. 2 of my dragons are in my top 5 of KDR, if i look at IS only they are in top 3.

They aren't a perfect chasi of course but there are a few builds with them that are INSANELY effective.

Sadly the chasi just takes a different approach then most of the playerbase are able to use.

I've found that I do well in my Flame these days because no one takes it seriously. "Oh, it's just a dragon, he can wait until I deal with this REAL threat." All the while I'm dishing hit and run pain and misery to mechs rear sections, heavy loaded weapons areas, and stripped armor components. When the enemy actually turns on me I don't last all that long though. Not fast enough to get away from the actual mediums or lights, or enough weapons to do more than 1v1 with them, and a GIANT center torso that every loves to touch.

[Y E O N N E]

Dragons are great at tearing down already damaged 'Mechs. I don't mean exposed CT, I mean orange armour. Running a 300+ standard engine with near max armour allows plenty of room for punchy DPS weapons, but no room for heatsinks. So, they don't last very long in a fresh 1v1 but against an orange-armored Atlas? Oh yeah, they are very good. 12 seconds of 13 DPS is pretty devastating in that scenario.

Their relative speed makes them great for scooting among the smaller engagement zones to where their extra firepower is needed the most. Their armour advantage over any medium also comes in handy if you happen to run across a fresh one. Not even a Stormcrow lasts very long under a rattling hail of LB-10X, twin SRM2, and twin MPL gunfire.

[Hans Von Lohman]

Tuesday, July 29 patch.

Inner Sphere mech quirks

Dragon = +5% faster rate of fire for ballistics, 5% less heat from ballistics, 10% faster torso twisting.

[TheMadTypist]

I've been running my dragons a lot lately because I've decided having 41k XP banked on the -1C and only the basics unlocked is wasteful, so I need to get two others up to snuff.

It's still been every bit as broken as I can remember. Damn thing can't even fire it's LRM 10 from the ten tube launcher in the CT in a single salvo- instead it fires two bursts of six and four. That's been borked since before the pheonix pack came out, FYI.

It has no real niche. Mediums outrun and outgun it, bigger heavies keep up with it and outgun it, downgrading the engine to a speed of 71 kph leaves it slower to twist and handle than a stock slower 'mech upgraded to the same speed. The ballistics arm is offset enough that even direct shots land in odd places and both arms are low enough that your own cover becomes your enemy. It can tank damage well by rolling the torso and generally I'll lose at least one side torso before they take my center, but you don't earn any credit for taking fire and everybody loves to kill the apparent weakest link ("distracting" quirk, I guess).

My best builds are slightly better armored centurions with less SRM's. Are they good against weakened opponents? Yes, so is pretty much everything. Can you do very well when ignored? Yes, so can everything. I honestly think pilots who like the sort of gameplay the dragons excel at would be happier in mediums, with their inherently higher accel/decel (The dragon does feel like driving a mac truck at times), better torso twist, and tighter turn circle.

edit:

Hans Von Lohman, on 28 July 2014 - 05:14 PM, said:

Tuesday, July 29 patch.

Inner Sphere mech quirks

Dragon = +5% faster rate of fire for ballistics, 5% less heat from ballistics, 10% faster torso twisting.

What what what? Is this whistful thinking or do you have a source on the inside? Don't tease me with dragon buffs when I still need to pick up the -5N.

Edited by TheMadTypist, 28 July 2014 - 06:05 PM.

[CocoaJin]

So Dragons might fare better if the game had a sandbox theater of war, without forced "battles in a bottle"/arena play dates?

Mmmm, imagine dropping onto a planet's regional combat map where lights could use their speed to scout and vector in heavies to crush unsuspecting groups. Where logistical considerations meant combat wasn't just attrition of units, but also combat supplies...man, I wouldn't be able to play this game in sweatpants...not in public anyway.


Regardless, I expect to re-acquire a Dragon for my faction line up....probably a Flame.

Edited by CocoaJin, 28 July 2014 - 06:56 PM.

[Bigbacon]

i regret buying the dragon when the flame was on sale. It sucks.... limited in so many ways over everything else near it in tonnage. with clan tech you get melted in an instant. No way to fight back unless you just poke and drop and sooner or later you get flanked by a locust and melted.

only mech I've regretted buying...worse purchase ever.

i am seeing them being used a bit more. i never ever saw some before until a few weeks ago.

Just so out classed.

[A banana in the tailpipe]

The other night I saw a Dragon 5N not only break 600 damage but carry his team in the pug queue. I swear half of us thought it was a unicorn at first.

[PANZERKAT]

CocoaJin, on 28 July 2014 - 06:55 PM, said:

So Dragons might fare better if the game had a sandbox theater of war, without forced "battles in a bottle"/arena play dates?

Mmmm, imagine dropping onto a planet's regional combat map where lights could use their speed to scout and vector in heavies to crush unsuspecting groups. Where logistical considerations meant combat wasn't just attrition of units, but also combat supplies...man, I wouldn't be able to play this game in sweatpants...not in public anyway.


Regardless, I expect to re-acquire a Dragon for my faction line up....probably a Flame.

I think a regional map would work for events. In my mind anything is possible, but perhaps there are limitations due to the equipment they have or the way the game is coded.