120 replies to this topic

[Aylek]

Inspired by this thread I started to explore Dragons without my TT-based bias against it's tonnage and more or less unimpressive armament and already knewing most of the arguments about the chassis. Since I like the playstile of a highly mobile supporter which also packs a respectable punch I gave it a try. fell in love with it and kept on leveling three designs, one of which was a Flame which I intent to keep for like... forever. Nowadays I share the opinion of the Dragon being more of an overweighed Medium than a true Heavy.

Prior to acquiring my XL I experimented with various loadouts, all similar in sharing a single big gun and some additional firepower through lasers and missiles. After experimenting a lot and after regular updates to the structure and so on I finally managed to buy a 300 XL for it.

And the mech's performance exploded. I also know all the arguments about XLs, since these are discussed since their introduction in TT. Considering the Dragon's profile in MWO though it's more likeky to get you engine destroyed by damage to our CT anyway. Therefore the only disadvantage for me was not being able to use an AC20 due to slot space issues. Because of slot space I also changed the armor back to Standard Armor.

This is my current loadout:

300 XL, 11 DHS, Endo Steel structure, Standard Armor

Gauss Rifle (2 tons Ammunitiion)
PPC
2 Med Laser
SSRM-2 (1 ton)
AMS

89,1 kph including speed tweak
40 point alpha, heat efficiency 1.31
336/402 armor

As with the OP's recommendation, this is a rather expensive mech, and one has to get used to piloting a Dragon, but I think it's worth the effort.

Edited by Aylek, 22 February 2013 - 12:12 AM.

[Dacovale]

This is by far my favourite Heavy. Although it's more a heavy medium that a heavy per se.

I tend to use my dragon either as an outflanking heavy scout that tries to sneak through gaps in enemy lines before picking out helpless long range mechs at a distance where their weapons won't work or to pick off stragglers/heavily damaged mechs that are trying to escape the firing line.

It try not to rambo 1 v 1 vs the punchier mechs as I find that the Dragon doesn't excel in this role. If I wanted to do that I'd pull out a mech more suited to that role.

I've unlocked mastery on the chassis now and my favourite variant has to be the 1c

This is what I run with.

Pew Pew Pew

This is brutal and I have a great deal of fun running it. Granted every now and again I get over confident and get splatted but generally when I'm thinking and hopping from cover, lurking behind assault mechs and picking my targets I get good scores, lots of damage and generally finish matches with a huge smile on my face which is what this is about

D

[Kmieciu]

The Dragon is the most flexible mech. You can snipe with the snipers, you can brawl with the brawlers, you can kill light mechs, you can save your base from being capped, you can rush the enemy base.

I had a game recently, where I was the last man standing against 2 DC atlasses and 1 Raven 3L. The Raven was capping our base, so I ambushed him, took out his leg with Gauss and medium lasers, and finished him with SRM6.

Then I circled behind the two Atlasses as they were approaching our base and backstabbed the second one with a 50 damage alpha strike to the rear left torso. He lost his 3xSRM6 and the ammo explosion almost cored him, so the second salvo finished him of. The second guy was a pro and I wasn`t able to hit him in the back. We exchanged fire outside SRM range (Gauss vs AC20). My side and center torsos were red. The guy even wrote "JUST DIE ALREADY" in chat :-). Since their base was half-capped I decided to disengage and won by capping before he managed to reach our base.

One again, I would like to recommend my build:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...0261d9a6a677839

[Guchion]

I Bought a Dragon today on a bit of a whim, not sure why but...

I freakin love it.

DRG-1N

This is my current build, I've hit 800+ damage with it, killed stalkers atlas's Lights and meds, its just so fast, and hard hitting!

Loving hitting points just before the med'***** and mauling them to death, so much fun.

[jns]

Hello.

Dragon is my favourite chassis, I love the speed it can have. I tried today again one of my old favourites, the dreaded 5N uac5 + ac5 combo. Threw in mlas, streak aaaaand... a flamer to blind them in case they close too much on me but these are secondary weapons and you can use what ever you want for them.

You can make Dragon similiar to this from 1N, 5N and Fang

Anyhow. I played two exellent rounds and after first one went quite smoothly, I frapsed the second. I'm actually thinking this vid has potential to be a tutorial kinda vid for playing teh dwaggon, even if I say so myself.

Main points:
- Take point with scout mechs
- Intercept enemy if its spotted in time
- Harass enemy while staying safe and staying far and relatively safe
- Don't wander too far from team, don't get greedy with killing shots
- Assist & support mates, be fast

Fixed video link.. hopefully. This should work in a moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zgtPALAnsU

Edited by jns, 05 March 2013 - 04:25 PM.

[Tesunie]

I run my Dragon the same way you describe, but my load out is different.

I run my Dragon with an LBXAC10, PPC and LRM 10. The LRMs let me support at range and let me choose when to choose. LBx is for fast mechs and PPC is for range or burst damage with the LBXAC10. It runs a respectable 80 some odd kph without speed tweak.

The build works best of you can keep targets just outside 200, even with the LBXAC10.

[SchwarzerPeter]

I run my Dragon C1 with this loadout:

XL 300 engine
Endo Steel
DHS

1x UAC5 in RA
2x MPL in LA
2x ML in LT
1x SRM6 in CT
AMS in RT

6x DHS additional (4 outside engine, LT+RT)

3x UAC ammo (in Legs + Head), 1x AMS ammo, 1x SRM missl (in Legs)

amor max exept legs

With the 16 DHS it is verry heat efficient. The UAC5 covers a wide range, dosent explode like the gaus and is even usefull in CQC. Wait for the UAC to reload, dont fire rapid, unless the enemy is taking cover anyway. Than spray the **** out of it, the weapon will be unjammed when you see them again anyway
You shouldnt brawl, although you can mess up a Light with the MPL and the SRM pretty bad.
Stick mostly with the team, so that the AMS is covering your mates. If there is another AMS almost no missile will get through. For me its pretty worth the 1,5 tons.

Alocate some of the back armor to the front, the center torso is the main target (i go with 60/20).

With the MPL its much easyer to hit fast lights, the ML is for mid range and when you run out of ammo.

Keep in mind that you are no brawler, even if you can take some punches. Dont rush into the enemy, stick with our team and shot the crap out of them.

[Roughneck45]

SchwarzerPeter, on 06 March 2013 - 06:42 AM, said:

I run my Dragon C1 with this loadout:

XL 300 engine
Endo Steel
DHS

1x UAC5 in RA
2x MPL in LA
2x ML in LT
1x SRM6 in CT
AMS in RT

6x DHS additional (4 outside engine, LT+RT)

3x UAC ammo (in Legs + Head), 1x AMS ammo, 1x SRM missl (in Legs)

amor max exept legs

With the 16 DHS it is verry heat efficient. The UAC5 covers a wide range, dosent explode like the gaus and is even usefull in CQC. Wait for the UAC to reload, dont fire rapid, unless the enemy is taking cover anyway. Than spray the **** out of it, the weapon will be unjammed when you see them again anyway
You shouldnt brawl, although you can mess up a Light with the MPL and the SRM pretty bad.
Stick mostly with the team, so that the AMS is covering your mates. If there is another AMS almost no missile will get through. For me its pretty worth the 1,5 tons.

Alocate some of the back armor to the front, the center torso is the main target (i go with 60/20).

With the MPL its much easyer to hit fast lights, the ML is for mid range and when you run out of ammo.

Keep in mind that you are no brawler, even if you can take some punches. Dont rush into the enemy, stick with our team and shot the crap out of them.

Unless you are attached to those pulses and the UAC5, the gauss and 2 Mlas is just superior to this.

You would have to drop 2 HS as well, but it still runs cool.

If it suits your personal style then stick with it.

Edited by Roughneck45, 06 March 2013 - 08:04 AM.

[KMCA]

SchwarzerPeter, on 06 March 2013 - 06:42 AM, said:

Stick mostly with the team, so that the AMS is covering your mates. If there is another AMS almost no missile will get through. For me its pretty worth the 1,5 tons.
Alocate some of the back armor to the front, the center torso is the main target (i go with 60/20).

I agree with the AMS, if you're farther forward and running around your AMS can really make a difference and being a heavy mech you aren't as concerned about weight as a light or medium.
As for the armor 59 front 21 rear, that way if you take an AC 20 to the back you still have 1 point left, it makes them wonder if they're paying attention... Although I will admit I run my dragon rear center thinner than that... the front is just such a big target.

[Verrue]

I tryed some new setup on a Dragon-1C

1 gauss RA
1 Erppc LT
2 small laser RA
XL-300

You have to remove the ams and put some double heatsink to raise heat eff. to 1.31


Its a nice sniper setup, playing hide and seek. You dart up an hill , hit for 25, and move away. You have to stick to good cover because you have no AMS. Dragon speed is your friend. Almost no overheat on this setup unless you fire the small laser each 2 seconds.

Amazingly, those 2 lasers are a nice puch after the Gauss and ERPPC in close combat.

Tryed another setup on my Flame :


4 med pulse (2 in each arm)
xl-300
1 Ac/10

No Ams

It overheat if you fire 4 time the med pulse.
you have to use the ac/10 a bit instead, but the 24 dmg each 2.5 second is an armor melter.
Nice to bralw , but almost no range. Needless to say its an urban setup.

[NRP]

Rebuilt my Fang:

XL340 (101 kph w/speed tweak)
Gauss (3T)
ERPPC
ML
DHS, Endo, FF

Really having a lot of fun with it. The ERPPC-Gauss 1-2 punch is devastating. Excellent sniper mech.

[One Medic Army]

Guchion, on 01 March 2013 - 01:40 PM, said:

I Bought a Dragon today on a bit of a whim, not sure why but...

I freakin love it.

DRG-1N

This is my current build, I've hit 800+ damage with it, killed stalkers atlas's Lights and meds, its just so fast, and hard hitting!

Loving hitting points just before the med'***** and mauling them to death, so much fun.

That's almost exactly my 1N build. I use MLs with the extra weight going to heatsinks though.
I'll probably switch them up now that the SRM4s no longer provide supreme amounts of punch by themselves.

[Verrue]

Reworked last flame build:


Xl-300
Ac/10 in LT
2 Med pulse in LA
1 LRG Pulse in RA
1AMS
45 ammo for ac/10 (1 in cockpit, 2 in RLeg)
1 T ams ammo in RT


More range then the last build (can hit at 600 max with large pulse)
Ac/10 can be used as a sniper gun, have to test range as the bullet lower over 540 m, but once you know the physic, i hit som ething at 1000 easely.
Pulse excellent for smaller circling mech & melting armor of bigger mech. 2 less firepower then 4 med pulse. Greater range gained.
AMs is a nice bonus.

Average dmg score : 350-475
Average kills: 2

Edited by Verrue, 08 April 2013 - 03:31 PM.

[Hairy Passion]

Awesome thread. I spent many months favoring the DDC to the tune of over a thousand missions in it. Then I started playing with the dragon. I really am having more fun running dragons now. Currently I am using a 3x AC2 build with a XL325 engine, all elites unlocked. This mech scares anyone you draw down on. It will cause ANYONE to leave their position VERY quickly. I utilize my speed and advanced zoom to seek out groups of enemies ahead of my team and the triple ac2 can usually fragment a tight group. Dropping an artillery strike can disrupt them as well before they get entrenched. It pays to then either circle back (96.5kph with tweak) behind your assaults and focus fire, or flank the enemy once they engage your team's main force and further disrupt them. This mech is also EXTREMLY good for the latter stages of the battle when many mechs are roaming around with soft armor points that a few pops of the triple AC2 will destroy. I also make a whole lot of CB with this mech as I am able to put a few rounds on nearly every enemy and get assists (avg 7-8 assists). You need Endo, and DHS and close to max armor to be effective IMO. 6 kill 4 assists, 1019 damage is a personal best. Only problem I have is that if I run out if AC2 ammo or get my arm blown off I have no backups-thinking of trading down to an XL 300 to accomodate some more weapons. The LBX with some lasers is also very effective if you want to kill lights..

All in all, this is a mech for an experienced pilot IMO, but very fun and challenging..

[BaconCouch]

I run a 5n with the following
XL 300
Endo
12 DHS
Near max armor, missing a few on the legs and head
Runs at around 90kph, can reach out and force people's heads down with the LL's
x2 ER-Large Lasers
x1 AC 10 with 3 tons of ammo
x2 Machineguns for internals

Its my best w/l mech, and my second best k/d mech
Games/Win/L/Ratio/Kills/Death/Rat/Damage/XP/Time
233 134 99 1.35 219 131 1.67 70,463 166,802 20:21:30

Edited by BaconCouch, 18 December 2013 - 10:29 AM.

[Yeknomious]

Just ran the 1C with 4x medium lasers, 1x AC10 and XL350:

[andrijkc]

The Flame was my first heromech and i hated him right after the purchase - no idea how to pilot him, 60 elited mechs later i came back and fall in love....

i like to run and gun, so an 360xl is a must have

my build

360xl, Endo, Ferro, 14DHS, 1xAC10 with 60 Shells and 4xML

[LIM YIXI]

Hi i just started out this game and I would like to know if I were to buy a Dragon as my first mech after able to afford at least 1 or possible 2 variants.

which variants will be best to get?

thanks.

[1453 R]

My first 'Mech was the Dragon. I bought the DRG-1N, the DRG-5N, and the Flame to elite the chassis. It is to this day the only 'Mech I've ever outright mastered, module slots and all. I live for the strike fight, moving quickly and hitting hard before moving on to the next victim, never getting bogged down in the brawl - pretty much the exact sort of fight the Dragon was built to fight.

My advice on the best chassis to get, right out of the gate?

SDH-2H, SDH-2D2, and SDH-5M.

Take it from a Dragon pilot - there is not a single thing the poor Dragon does that the Shadow Hawk doesn't do for five less tons and with jump jets. They have nearly identical speed profiles and similar hardpoint loadouts, save the Shadow Hawk's ballistics are in an enormously better location and its missile hardpoints aren't half-crippled by all being stuffed in the CT. Half-ton jump jets are also a really big deal. The Quickdraw took over the Dragon's job more or less on the day it released. The Shadow Hawk has since taken over the Quickdraw's. It's easily one of, if not the, best medium chassis around.

If you're dead-set on Dragons, though - and I do not recommend the durned things to a new player. I went down that road, and it sucks - then the best bet is the DRG-1C. Those extra beam slots are pretty much all the Dragon still has over the Shadow Hawk, which is also why the actual best Dragon variant is, unfortunately, the Hero Flame. Flame's ballistic is in the same spot as a Shadow Hawk's, while its matched quartet of arm-mounted energy is much easier and more intuitive to use than the DRG-1C's beams. The 1C does make an acceptable PPC sniper, and the DRG-5N(C) is a reasonably* priced option that also lets you skip a lot of the early Dragon pain. The DRG-1N, unfortunately, lost its niche when SRM launchers went belly-up and never quite resurrected themselves.

My recommendation is still Shadow Hawks. They do the same job with the same guns in better places and without generally feeling like a CT with feet. They're also flippin' Shadow Hawks, which is a really, really big deal to old BattleTech lore nerds/tabletop buffs and doesn't otherwise mean a thing to anyone else

[Op4blushift]

LIM YIXI, on 30 December 2013 - 07:19 PM, said:

Hi i just started out this game and I would like to know if I were to buy a Dragon as my first mech after able to afford at least 1 or possible 2 variants.

which variants will be best to get?

thanks.

Personally I wouldn't recommend getting a Dragon as a first mech since its play style is very difficult to get a hang of and you'll have to spend a lot of money getting big XL engines, but if you really want one then I'm not stopping you

I don't actually have any dragons right now (waiting for the flame to go on sale) but I did have a 1C and a 1N. If you want to master any of them without paying anything you'll have to go 1C,1N and 5N. If you just want one or two, the 1C is basically the best variant out of the non-hero ones so get that for sure (the Flame is basically a 'better' 1C since all the energy points are in the arms and it has a nice high ballistic mount that can AC20).
1N isn't really as powerful as it used to be because srms are kind of bad right now, but it can run some decent builds. I can't speak personally for the 5N, but most seem to use it as a triple ac2 build, so if you want dakka with a bit of mobility, go for that.

But if you're willing to pay money the Flame is basically the best dragon so get that. I don't really know about the Fang, but its basically a 1N that trades a missile point for another energy point.