20 replies to this topic

[Diverso]

So, after the latest wipe i was forced to grind again(spending moneys on an unfinished buggy product is not my way), i noticed the only acceptable trial mech is dragon 1n. >>COMPARED TO OTHER TRIAL MECHS<< (it's still crappy if you compare to the customizable warrians.)
Rolled a bit in it, when not suicide scouting inb4 burning hatred. I managed to score 420+ damage and few kills in a good amount of matches. So i grinded my way up to dragio 1c and an xl engine in it.(Since it's a dragon and it's fast i can spread out the damage nicely and protect my sidetorsos) And now the actual question:
What the hell am i supposed to put in the ballistic lot?
Gauss is kind of mainstream and too heavy, i wouln't be able to stuff srm6 in CT then.
Lb10x is a joke for it's weight.
Ac/10 is a good all around good, but well, it's kind of heavy for it's damage.
AC5 again too heavy for it's damage.
AC/2 is a joke when you mount just 1 of it.
So, since i can't stuff ac20 in the the arms which i hoped i could when bought the mech i'm forced to choose one of the above. Suggestions? or should i purchase endo-steel to get some more free weight, since dragon has a crapload of free space anyway because of armor. (which i don't want to reduce in any way possible.)
EDIT: UAC/5 is not an option since it jams and i don't want to be a filthy dirty cheating scum and write a macro for autounjam.

Edited by Diverso, 31 October 2012 - 02:44 PM.

[Lugh]

The AC is perfectly good in the arm. So is the Gauss rifle. AC/10 you may as well have the gauss. And the LBX 10 is fun with SRMs and MLs. Its a close in fast striker so keep that in mind.

[Grey Rabbit]

I actually try and put an AC10 in my dragons. I use the excess mass for it with the XL and sometimes swapping the LRMs down to SRMs or SSRMs for hit and runs.

Before the last wipe I had a 1N with the armor upgrades. I thought about upgrading the structure but it didn't feel worth it, 28 crits is a lot of space to have both. I'd go with armor just because the CT and main gun arm seem to be priority targets that aren't too hard to hit.

What size XL engine did you pick? I found the 300 to be just right.

[Vallyn]

I'd favour the LBX 10 or AC 10 for the Dragon, but that risks a lot in one arm there.

Just depends on your preferential weapon - all those options can be deadly depending on why you have them. AC2 is just fun to rock someones mech with and make it harder for them to target you.

[Hex Pallett]

1x LBXAC10
4x MPL
whatever LRM that fits in there

high-speed brawler

[SaltySarge]

Here is my 2 cents.

If the Mech is faster than 90kph, I consider it recon in that it can get into a Mech's face quickly and back out again, just as quickly. The Dragon is a light Mech killer as it can keep pace with them for a bit and run them down when they are not paying attention. Pretty much, it makes for a quick brawler.

Double Heat Sinks!
Medium or Large Pulse Lasers
LB10X or Multiple AC2 or AC5.
SRM 6

Don't fire all your weapons at once (Alpha-Strike). Use Large Pulse Laser or AC at long range. Once you closed the distance, open up with Medium/SRM.

[Flapdrol]

you dont have to doublefire the Ultra AC/5, it's normal fire mode is still faster compared to the normal one, if fact, even if you dont doublefire it it still has a higher damage per second compared to the AC/10, and it's 3 ton lighter.

[Dewil]

The Dragon-5N that I usually pilots run with:

XL300 <-Primary weapon. Lets you choose your battles
Gauss Rifle + 4 tons of ammo
2 Medium Lasers in left arm
SRM6 + 1 ton of ammo (enough)
AMS + 1 ton of ammo
320 armour and 2 extra heatsinks

A great team-player. Not a mainstay mech in a group, but good to have one in a team as it can reinforce the frontline wherever needed. I usually hang back and take shots with my Gauss until someone calls me in to help them with a specific enemy. But sometimes when we do a fast flanking move I'm number 3 in line. The first two being two lights.

It is a fun mech to play as it can do a lot of things and is fast enough to always get a piece of the action.

[Lootee]

I like to keep things simple with the DRG-1C.

300xl engine
400 armor
Gauss rifle in RA and 3 tons ammo
2 medium lasers in LT
2 medium lasers in LA
16 SHS or DHS

The gauss gives you plenty of punch at any range with no heat. 4 medium lasers is good enuff up close. If you spring for endosteel and DHS you can pour out the hurt for a while before slinking off to cool down.

[Ow Chi]

TAG

[BlackSquirrel]

Possible to fit dual UAC5/s?

Endo? DHS?

[Elizander]

Grab Endo. It won't even be noticeable in your repair bill (unless they change it in the future).

[Fulkren]

i role a dragon 1n brawler.

1 AC 10 with 4 crates of ammo
1 Machine gun with 1 crate of ammo
1 SRM6 with 2 crates of ammo
1 MPL
1 AMS with 1 crat of ammo
1 Flamer

Endo Steel frame
Double Heat Sinks
XL 300 engine

people give me **** about having a flamer on there, but cant tell you how many mechs ive shut down and killed becuase of it, not to mention it can blind their field of view. also its not a "dragon" unless its breathing fire . my build has 400 armor, and due to the weapons, it has very low heat. so you can get into their face and hold down alfa strike for a long time just pounding on them.

people say that its risky to place heavy guns on the arms, but i rearly lose an arm in a fight. its all about tactics. i wait for the brawling to start, and then i enter the fight. if i take to much focus i get out untill they drop agro, then i circle around and get them in the back when they are focusing on someone else. you cant take heavy hits in a dragon, so play smart, use your speed to your advantage.

[Snapfishes]

My 1C;

AC/5
3 Tons Ammo

2 Medium Pulse

1 Streak SRM 2
1 Ton Ammo

AMS
1Ton Ammo

Endo Steel

12 Heat Sinks (I believe)

386 Armor

Find this build pretty efficient but even better when with a dedicated teammate.

Great at tearing up armor and dealing with lights.
Streak gives them something to think about along with the Dragon's speed.

Pilot Tree investments make it even more capable when dealing with lights.


I never really plan to upgrade to an XL, but if I did it would be to reinvest armor into the left over tonnage after adding more heatsinks.

The ability to quickly cycle between the three weapon types keeping pressure on targets.
Being able to change the level of engagement with my speed and medium range weapons keeps me alive more often.

Edited by Snapfishes, 13 November 2012 - 06:20 PM.

[Sennin]

I like to run the following...
1 Gauss Rifle (RA)
1 Large Laser (LA)
1 SRM-6 (CT)

300XL Engine
Endo-Steel Frame
Double Heatsinks

It's a good striker build and you can headcap someone if you have steady aim. I like the Large Laser over the Mediums for the range advantage that compliments the Gauss Rifle but this is personal preference. You can mount whatever you want but the Gauss Rifle is usually the most bang for your buck as a primary weapon in a Dragon.

[Leeroy Mechkins]

Try this, its quite fun.

Minimalist DRG-1C:
4 Medium Pulse Lasers
AMS (1 ton ammo)
Standard Engine 300 (81kph)
Endosteel Chassis
Double Heat Sinks (20 heat sinks)

It's just a fast laser boat, nothing fancy, but it has the best weapons to fire at speed (MPLs), no heat problems, 81 kph and lots of armor. What else you need?

What's the point in loading a Dragon with many weapons at the expense of speed?
With 5-10 tons less weight capacity than a Catapult or Cataphract, the Dragon cannot compete in firepower.
It is meant to be a lightly armed speedster, not a slow slugger.

Edited by Leeroy Mechkins, 14 November 2012 - 12:12 AM.

[Dewil]

I've finally found a Dragon 1C that I'm happy with.

XL300 engine (81kph)
Double Heatsinks
Endo-steel Structure
4 Large Lasers
AMS + 1 ton ammo
8 DHS (2 in engine, 3 in right torso, 2 in left Torso, 1 in left arm)
384/402 armor

Place the 2 large lasers in the arm in one group and the two in the torso in one group. The arm is the main weapon and can be fired close to indefinately. Against a large target you include the Lasers in the torso to deal a massive 36 damage in an alfa-strike. And you can fire two alfa-strikes right after eachother on Caustic! Wait a few extra seconds and you are cool enough for a third alfa. 100 damage in 10 seconds... Not too bad

[Mithos]

Leeroy Mechkins, on 13 November 2012 - 10:49 PM, said:

What's the point in loading a Dragon with many weapons at the expense of speed?

No point. But there is a point in loading a Dragon with many weapons at the expense of c-bills, spent on a big XL engine.

[Tiltings]

BlackSquirrel, on 13 November 2012 - 07:21 AM, said:

Possible to fit dual UAC5/s?

Endo? DHS?

You cannot mount two UAC5s in the arm. They take up too many criticals. The closest you can get is a UAC5 and AC5.

Similar to the other DRG-1C builds posted here. The start up cost is enormous. This one is mine:

XL300
EndoSteel
14 Double Heatsinks
4 Medium Lasers
Gauss with 3 tons ammo
SRM6 with 1 ton ammo
368/402 Standard armor (Its pretty much maxed everywhere except the legs.)

Edited by Tellings, 14 November 2012 - 08:04 AM.

[Sennin]

Dewil, on 14 November 2012 - 12:37 AM, said:

I've finally found a Dragon 1C that I'm happy with.

XL300 engine (81kph)
Double Heatsinks
Endo-steel Structure
4 Large Lasers
AMS + 1 ton ammo
8 DHS (2 in engine, 3 in right torso, 2 in left Torso, 1 in left arm)
384/402 armor

Place the 2 large lasers in the arm in one group and the two in the torso in one group. The arm is the main weapon and can be fired close to indefinately. Against a large target you include the Lasers in the torso to deal a massive 36 damage in an alfa-strike. And you can fire two alfa-strikes right after eachother on Caustic! Wait a few extra seconds and you are cool enough for a third alfa. 100 damage in 10 seconds... Not too bad

I run an Atlas RS with 4 LL and 1 Gauss Rifle with 18 DHS. You forgot to tell the OP that it takes about 30 seconds in chain fire mode for the 4LL configuration to fully cool down on Caustic Valley. Dont sugar coat it. It's a great build but it takes advanced heat management.