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The first hero mech I bought was the Flame, and I have really loved to try to make it work… and I had big hopes for the quirks… but….
Which quirks did the Flame get?
…we ended up with 2x AC20 and 1x energy cooldown quirks. Disappointed.
- AC/20 range +15% (7.5 + 7.5%)
- AC/20 velocity +15% (7.5 + 7.5%)
- Laser duration -10%
Let’s have a look at some of the viable builds for the Flame. I have tried many different ones in my small quest to make this mech usable. Here are the ones I can remember from the top of my head:
Stock: 1x ERLL, 1x LRM5, 1x AC/2, 1x ML (oh dear)
The first build: 1x Gauss, 4x ML, 1x SRM6 (worked quite fine before charge mechanics was introduced)
The first “meta”: 1x Gauss, 2x ERLL (still not a bad build, DRG-1C quirks based on this)
The second “meta”: 1x AC/10, 2x PPC (probably current “meta”? What I ran last time I had it out)
The fun wubboom build: 4x MPL, 1x AC/10 (mostly for fun, but it’s good fun so worth to mention)
The honorary mention: 4x LL (would work in theory, but the low slung arms really doesn’t help)
If one prefers, one can replace the AC/10 with LBX-10 in all these builds (or UAC/5 and bigger engine). Note how the current quirks effectively dodges the “current meta” and gives nothing general to the PPCs, and 7.5% velocity and range to AC/10 so practically nothing. Also note that none of these builds use STD engines, the Dragon needs speed to be able to skrimish.
What was wrong with the current quirks?
The current quirks imply this build, which is very poorly suited for a Dragon. It forces it to use a STD engine, which removes about the only thing the Dragon has going for it, a large engine cap. The implied build makes the flame into a big, slow, heavy and less quirked HBK-4G.
The only reason I can see as to why they gave AC/20 to Flame is variation. DRG-1C got what would have been the obvious Flame quirks, DRG-1N got AC/5, DRG-5N got AC/2’s and Fang got AC/10 and LPL (excellent quirks btw).
What to suggest?
So, there’s another pass coming sooner or later. Why not collect some ideas of what would make this variant viable.
Firstly, I’ll just claim that ranking it as Tier 3 in the first place was wrong. All other Dragon variants was ranked as Tier 5, and the Flame as Tier 3. A quick comparison to the other Dragons shows that there is only one thing that is better with the Flame compared to the DRG-1C, and that is that the Ballistics hardpoint on the side torso also has energy hardpoints on the attached arm so you can use your right side as shield. To me that is an obvious Tier 4. Yes, the side torso hardpoint on the Flame is high, but so is the double energy hardpoints on the 1C. Therefore I’ll base suggested quirks for the Flame as Tier 4 quirks. I’ll also assume that they don’t want this as a support build, but rather a skirmisher, so I’ll not suggest ERLL. I will also assume that they do not wish to buff a single weapon with more than 2 quirks, so I’ll spread the grace a bit.
Which quirks should the Flame have gotten instead?
My suggestion would be large lasers and medium pulses. They would help the above builds with at least four secondary buffs and three of them can use the primary buffs. Only buffing energy might be in theme for the Flame as well compared to the other Dragons.
- Large Laser duration -20% (-10 + -10%)
- Large Laser range 20% (10 + 10%)
- Medium pulse laser heat gen -20% (-10 + -10%)
- Medium pulse laser cooldown -20% (-10 + -10%)
Made suggestion based on AC/20 as well if PGI insists on giving the Flame quirks that disables and XL engine. Not that I would be happy running it anyways but at least these quirks would help the build a little bit compared to what it got now. Tier 4 useful AC/20 quirks:
- AC/20 cooldown -20% (-10 + -10%)
- AC/20 range 20% (10 + 10%)
- AC/20 velocity -20% (-10 + -10%)
- Medium laser duration -20% (-10 + -10%)
Edited by Duke Nedo, 24 November 2014 - 03:02 AM.
