30 replies to this topic

[Serapth]

I run my Flame with max XL engine, 4xLL and DHS. WIth the speed, you can get up in the face with the annoying early game scouts, and other then the wonky 3l hitboxes against lasers, make them pay.

Otherwise the key to fighting in a Flame is speed. Dont be afraid to disengage and approach again from a different direction. You should be able to eat a Catapracht and Splatcat if you can discipline yourself to stay out of brawling ranges as much as possible and to run away and reposition if things go poorly.

You are also an ideal mech to go back and clear base cap attempts, as you can get back fast enough, and are strong enough to actually do something about it.

This is a mech I regularly put up 300-800 damage rounds in, with my highest being > 1200. That's not much to brag about though, it just means I was being a ****** shot.

Edited by Serapth, 26 February 2013 - 02:58 PM.

[Korlandril]

I use a flame and brawl with it pretty easily to be honest. an ac/10, 4 medium lasers and a srm 4, max armour
It seems pretty tough actually and fairly easy to take down catapracts and other mechs like it, awesomes dont stand a chance either. It is how you use it. keep moving, use those 4 arm lasers, each arm is a unibeam remeber, so there are very damaging. Strafing mechs is always better than standing there and hoping you will core them before they core you, that isnt strategy that is brute force. You cant do that with a dragon. A mobile and well piloted dragon can destroy any mech in the game, as long as you pilot it properly. and with the lasers in the arms...light mechs arent the terrible little beasts most brawlers seem to think they are. Every mech can be effective, even devastating if used properly. have light armour, and a lot of firepower? then use hot and run tactics. Slow with lots of armour, but lacking real punch, then stand and deliver constant firepower. A weapon that doesnt hit you, wont do damage...to keep moving, and make sure you learn to aim really well, focus those lasers, and lead that autocannon. every shot counts in a tight fight. And it is the better pilot, not the better desighn, that will usually determine a fight.

[Captain Stiffy]

Skribs, on 20 February 2013 - 10:23 AM, said:

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?

TURN
YOUR
MOUSE
SPEED
WAY
WAY
DOWN
(if you haven't already)
cause you can't torso that fast and the only turn is a keyboard turn
you don't need CS mouse speed

with low mouse speed you can pinpoint almost anything during close range brawling

Also... be patient, even though you are taking some damage, WAIT FOR THE SHOT. YOU ABSOLUTELY _WILL_ GET THAT PERFECT LINEUP - HAVE 5 SECONDS OF PATIENCE!

Also dude... you're in one of the lighter heavy mechs... you aren't ever going to be able to brawl an atlas or a stalker pound for pound.

Edited by Captain Stiffy, 21 March 2013 - 05:42 AM.

[Hayashi]

Dragon - Max armour, max speed, stay behind your target at all times, and always fire while torso twisted sideways. If you attack straight on your CT is asking to be shot. It's the hardest Heavy chassis to use, but not all that bad if you get used to it.

[Warskull]

Get yourself a 4SP, it will teach you how to brawl. The 4SP is probably the best mech to learn the game on.

[Fiona Marshe]

As has been mentioned, the Dragon is not a Brawler, it is a Striker, where you pick targets of opportunity that either don't have more guns than you, or you can outflank with a buddy.

General guide to successful brawling (I am not a dedicated brawler, but am familiar with the theory).

• Maximum torso armour (self evident, but not everyone does so);
  
• A good mix of close range weaponry with good sustained fire (lasers/pulse lasers/heavy AC/SRMs);
  
• You can mount a long range weapon (ERPPC, ERLgLaser, LRMs), but should be less than 1/4 of your weapon tonnage; not being able to shoot a sniper or LRM boat is a death sentence for most brawlers. PPC/ERPPC is a good choice, as you can fire it once to disable enemy ECM, allowing LRM support;
  
• STANDARD ENGINE! XL engines make brawlers too vulnerable to easy kills. A brawler can usually still out DPS anything else with only half a torso, but XL engines are a deathtrap that penalizes your team (you lose the LRM lock, allow enemy brawlers to outnumber your team etc). XL is for Strikers who need the speed to reposition and outflank. I have seen a lot of "brawler stalkers" get their XL engine taken out, where a standard engine would have only slowed them down in finishing off the target (many times it was often 2 on 1, with the enemy already internal);
  
• Enough heatsinks to maintain full short range output for at least 20 seconds. Shutting down after your 3rd or 4th salvo again penalizes your team too much. An atlas can soak 6-10 alpha strikes unless your are *very* precise in your targetting.
  
• Always have at least two buddies (brawlers preferably, but strikers can work with voice comms, LRM fire support optional, but makes a big difference).

[Hayashi]

I realise I didn't actually answer the OP's question so here goes.

Overall firepower = Damage per second * Time spent firing
Lights do more damage than you might expect from their damage per second values as they spend more time firing their weapons than heavier chassis do. This can be due to the following:

1. Lights are hard to kill as fast moving targets are harder to hit than slow moving targets for the majority of players. Harder than their armour would indicate. Hopefully ballistics HSR can help to solve this.

2. Lights can evade fire by taking cover, reducing the time the enemy has to fire at them. This diminishes enemy firepower, which increases the team's survivability, which increases the time your team has to fire.

3. Lights are faster and can move between battle to battle rapidly. Heavier chassis, while perhaps doing 5 times the damage per second in a single fight, may need to spend 3 times that amount of time they spent fighting to walk to the next battle. This is one of the reasons why some Assault players hate Tourmaline Desert and Alpine Peaks so much. 12v12 can help to solve this.

Edited by Hayashi, 05 April 2013 - 01:25 AM.

[zraven7]

I rocked a dragon for a while. Turned out not to be the best playstyle for me, but I had some good matches, and they have potential. You wanna play as a striker/flanker. Get the biggest XL engine you can take and still have the weapons and armor you need. Come up on enemies backs, or attack an enemy already engaging a team mate. Pick a body part, and target it until it's dead. Most Dragon builds don't have burst damage per se, but they have very quickly accumulating steady damage, usually from an AC or two backed by medium lasers. come at the enemy at an angle, and drill whatever body part you decided to take out. Center-back torso is an amazing target, but not always viable. However, you can relatively easily do a curving strafe and rip off an arm or a leg. Keep moving.

[ExplodedZombie]

I rock phracts with Dragons, just keep moving and turn against damage. Keep moving, haul ***. they have a harder time tracking you than you do them (most people you fight). Dragons make great hit and runners. Dragons are so damned good. People just don't know how to use them.

[Wormrex]

Dragons are actually Heavy that are mediums that thinks they are lights...

Which means they have a weapon load out like a medium, armor of a heavy, and works like a light.

You almost never play fair nor challenge anything in a frontal assault, ever.

I rig my dragon with 2 Large lasers for range, 2 medium pulse lasers and SRM6.
The results: a solid 39 alpha damage, which cores most back armor and even blows up lights in one shot, not using ballistics because I practically can't aim (or it is my latency of 300+) and overall you don't quite ever run out of fire power.

Because in a Flame you will have your lasers on your arms means you are using the dragon's highest arm twist in game to it's fullest potential for consistent pinpoint damage, which means cockpit blasting. Watch your heat though.

Circle things to hell and burn them down with your lasers, splat them for burst damage whenever you get to line up your cross.

Like most had advice, max armour and max speed, this increases your survival rate to fight another day.

Alternatively, you could always go 2 large lasers and a gauss for long range sniping, which would be better you don't use Flame for that.

Dragon I think is one of the harder mechs to pilot, rewarding though because you make lights run from you, heavies fear you when they see you, good luck.

[Kodjak]

Hi,

well, the Dragon was the very first Mech I used and I'm pretty used to it now. Equipped is:
Full Armor
1 ER PPC (for sniping at the beginning, later in brawling)
2 SRM4s
1 lrg laser
2 MGs

Most of the time I wait a bit with brawling, as the Dragon doesn't survive long when ur in the middle of the enemy team. Also, speed is the key, never stop!

I tried serveral builds of the Dragon, but that one I mentioned above fits the best for me. In my opinion the Dragon is a damn good supporter, but also difficult at the beginning in brawling, took me some time to get used to it.

Also, try to avoid a frontal approach on the enemy mass, otherwise you will never get close to them...