30 replies to this topic

[Skribs]

I am a decent light pilot. I thought if I got a heavy, I would be great, because all I gotta do is walk up and alpha. It turns out thats not the case, and despite having 20% the alpha power, my spider out-damages my Flame on average. So I come here asking what should I be doing during the brawl to survive better and deal more damage?

[Gigastrike]

The first mistake you made is buying a Dragon for a brawling heavy and not a Cataphract. Dragons don't hold up as well in a brawl because of their massive core.

[Skribs]

What would you recommend I do with my dragon, then?

[Blahberry]

Dragon's aren't brawlers. They're like lights in a sense. Run an XL engine since you have such small side torso. Then learn to use your shield arm and go from there.

[Grandmaster Ramrod]

http://mwomercs.com/...-dragon-builds/

http://mwomercs.com/...advanced-guide/

[Cato Phoenix]

Flame is good to use as a flanker, with good speed and manueverability.

It doesn't usually have the weapons loadout or the burst alpha to fight in heavy brawls.

[Gothbloodman]

I think the mistake was thinking that one alpha would do it. Most heavy and assault mechs will be able to take a pounding before they go down, even from large barrages. I am not a Dragon pilot. Wiki suggest they are long-range fighters. I see the ballistic points, the missile points (which can be SRM points), the armor, and speed as potential brawler material. I'd armor up, get a heavy AC and some SRMs, and keep moving. You'll get it! Or, change your play style! Brawling isn't everything!!

[SIN Deacon]

The Dragon being on the lighter side of the heavy chassis's is better suited to use it's speed rather then trying to bulk up on firepower. It has a fair amount of armor for it's weight, has a good selection of weapon slots and is capable of going faster then some mediums depending on your setup. We have a few pilots that like to run the dragon in a direct support role. They will typically shadow our assaults like a light would except using the Dragon's speed and armor to push the enemy lights/mediums around and to keep the big boys freed up.

Sometimes firepower isn't everything and positioning will mean more. Knowing you are in a bad spot and having the ability to get out quickly is half the battle in a dragon. Don't set yourself away from the group and try to double up on targets. If you are planning on sticking with the Dragon, I'd suggest a combination of auto cannons and medium lasers.

[Skribs]

Yeah I can go for support. U/AC5 and a few MLs sounds like a decent setup to me. I will try it when I get home.

[Skribs]

I think my biggest issue is impatience when the groups are playing defensive.

[sC4r]

well if you want brawling heavy then you got here:
Flame
Pracht 1x/2x/3d
ilja muromets

these boys can have some really nice loadouts
catapults are not counted -> either longrange support, or cheezy nuke spitter
and dragons are more like... hmm hit and run or direct long range support
and pracht 4x is more second line dps... you really dont want to get too close to brawl or you will soon find yourself without CT

[ZelenKai]

I am a predominately light mech player so the Dragon was my first heavy mech as well.. because I was used to speed and the Dragon had the most speed out of any heavy.

You have to understand that the Dragon is not a head to head brawler. You can brawl but you have to use the terrain and situation to your advantage. Stick with the main group and engage people from the sides. Most enemies will go for the Atlases and Catapults first. You can take advantage of that. Use your speed to come at them from the side and back while they are trying to pound the heavier guys. When they turn to engage you, pull back or draw fire so the big guys can pound them from behind. Never go alone or run in ahead of others to engage heavy and assault mechs.

I was used to drive-by shootings and fade away with a light mech... the Dragon its too slow to do this and it is handicapped because it has less armor than other heavy mechs. But with the correct usage, it is very effective as a brawler. You catch people off guard with its speed and have more armor and firepower than mediums or lights. The key is never go head to head with others.

I have placed #1 on the score board many times with 700+ damage in the Dragon. It does take a lot of work to get there though.

[Skribs]

Okay, I was posting on my phone before so I was a bit brief. I did not think all I had to do was walk up and alpha once and I'm done. However, I thought the basic brawling strategy was get in close, strafe around, and pump out as much DPS as you can to make them fall (again a bit simplified, but you get the picture).

I'll take some advice and try to stay back a bit. I might even consider going back to my build which consists of just a few lasers (2 large, 2 medium), that actually seemed to work quite well. I'll see what I can do.

[Gigastrike]

I tend to have the best luck with my Dragons when I spend the first bit of the match hanging back for fire support, then moving in as a striker later in the game when the enemy team is weaker. Just remember to not make yourself the center of attention, and don't do anything that you can't run away from. It's ok to run up the side and start flanking, but don't do it unless you can get back to safety.

[Sapparu]

Actually I have brawled with a Dragon-1N with the biggest engine.

I feel like a hero moving at that speed and hitting targets with the ballistic arm or just hunt them lights down. You can remove one of the SSRMs for more ammo but I find SSRMs to be a secondary weapon since most of the time you will be fighting up against ECM mechs.

Edit: Make sure you keep moving and use your laser arm as a shield to avoid taking direct torso shots as your torso is a huge target.

Also if you plan to stick with your Flame mech, this build is possibly the best I can come up with for speed (Some MLAs can be replaced for more ammo).

Edited by Sapparu, 21 February 2013 - 03:17 AM.

[John MatriX82]

Skribs, you can use Dragons for brawls too, but you first need to employ XL engines (never go below a 300, you can use the speed of 325 or even 350s) + ENDO and DHS (usually few so you need to be good at heat management). Some builds with very large engines could even allow FF together with ENDO.
Then learn to use the speed to your advantage and soften up targets from afar with either your main ballistics or laser combinations.

If you manage to spot a lone enemy then you can close in to brawl. Remind to bring in 1 or 2 SRMs (even a single SRM6 with a single ton of ammo when used correctly can be the death sentence to an Atlas).

A good Dragon pilot is always on the move, flanking, harassing, changing engagement position, infiltrating enemy lines to disturb lrm boats or be ready to fall back in base to halt enemy capping.

Don't ever be the first contact the enemy see, join up other brawlers when they are focusing some of your friends and help them out. If you do it good you'll hear "thanks" many times

[Skribs]

I got the hang of it. Actually destroyed a cataphract one-on-one while a couple others took pot shots at me from the hill. 4 MLs, AC/10 or LB-X and SSRM2 or LRM10 makes a mean beast. Ive been "following the fracking atlas" for the most part and its been working out.

[Elizander]

Skribs, on 20 February 2013 - 12:58 PM, said:

I think my biggest issue is impatience when the groups are playing defensive.

Yes, it can get annoying, but you really will die if you charge or try to flank when your team is not distracting them.

[Eisenhorne]

The cure for impatience, at least for me, was to run my DRG-FLAME with 2x ER-PPC's in the arms. If I get bored, I just try to find a sniping position at least 700m away from the enemy, and take potshots. ER-PPC's can hit things up to 1.6Km away, so your never going to run out of range (unless on alpine, but even then you can usually do SOME damage).

[Murku]

FLAME 350xl w/16 DHS, Endo, Ferro

MPL
PPC
PPC

SRM4

Play like a Medium, avoid notice as long as possible while PPCing, do the 106kph dance when it all hits the fan.