In one run of HBS battletech I made a "no fun allowed lance" Start with a kintaro with double plus inferno rockets that could consistently put 100+ heat into any mech instantly turning it off Add a catapult with two LRM20s that had bonus stability damage so that anything it shot at would could then be knocked over by breathing on it hard enough. Then a hatchetman optimized for melee combat so that its axe hits hits harder than an AC20 and just tears limbs off like tissue paper. Finally a Dragon with a PPC and three double plus srm6s to get free called shots on the shut down or knocked down mechs and core them. It was a lot of fun. For me. And for no one else.
Unfortunately there are a lot of Mechs it doesn´t outgun. The damage output of the Dragon is not impressive to put it midly. The Grand Dragon with the PPC is better though.
Sadly this is the reverse of my experience. It's to slow to get away without being cored in the back, and does not have enough firepower to stand it's ground. To me the dragon and most 60t mechs fall into that sweet spot of bellow average at everything and good at nothing. (mind you this is not from table top experience but of the MechWarrior games, So keep that in mind.) pitiful firepower and even worse "utility" just because you have a weapon for every range does not mean you will win. If your not able to capitalize on any specific range you end up pecking at the enemy at all rages instead of dealing real damage.
The dragon is one of those mechs that is built around running up to something and punching it to death. The weapons are there to prevent the pilot from getting bored. Any interpretation that doesn't support punching something to death leaves the Dragon as a terrible mech.
This, though I punched with lbx10 4xmls srm6, right in the back armor. Used that speed to get there, right when they couldn't handled it. Hot as hell, near no ammo, but faster than a slow light mech, good times.
People tend to think of it as an under powered Heavy Mech. It you look at it as a Medium however it's fairly decent. Kind of similar to the much loved Centurion in it's load out. Just faster and tougher.
The Centurion carries an AC/10 and still weighs 10 tons less while costing 1.5M C-Bills fewer. I'll take a Centurion over a Dragon 1N every single day and twice on Sunday.
@@rylian21 For that tonnage difference you could easily put an AC/10 into a ShadowHawk aswell, which would be much more well protected than on the Centurion's torso.
@@sarbe6625 Don't forget, the 3025 mechs were deliberately designed to be imperfect. Can we, as players, make better mechs just considering the game rules and not in-universe procurement troubles, politics, costs, etc? Sure, sure we can. But where's the fun in that?
The problem with the early dragons is all the ammo they carry. If either torso armor is breached you are a critical roll away from blowing up. I love the Dragon and have a fond memory of kicking the leg off a spider with one.
I do agree that many 3025 mechs had nonsensical ammo placement. Like the Marauder, with the lone ammo bin as the sole critical target in the left torso. That would be one of the ~very few~ changes I would make when playing classic BT.
By far one of my favorite heavies. It’s tougher than it gets credit for being. If it weren’t for the Kuritan stench emanating from the chassis, I’d have one in every lance.
Is it underpowered compared to a 4/6 heavy mech? Yes, but given that it's a heavy mech with 5/8 movement, it excels at commanding a medium lance. Unlike the Quickdraw, it didn't attempt the devastatingly inefficient 60-ton jump solution for movement, rolling those savings into armour and weaponry. I do not begrudge it the AC/5 - in-universe they had trouble with the PPC variant, so until that was solved, the autocannon was the best solution. Bear in mind, almost all of the mechs were specifically designed to be not 100% efficient. That was intentional. As a result, the Dragon and Thunderbolt remain my favourite heavy mechs. Much love! This video earned you a sub!
It's not just that either. They were designed to be realistic in the sense that irl, a lot of weapon systems aren't 100% effective, and they're not min-maxed for various reasons. It's more of what you'd want in an actual scenario. People also like to 1v1 mechs, the game isn't mostly 1v1, it's 4v4 or 5v8. And under those circumstances, along with terrain, the Dragon becomes a lot deadlier than it is on paper.
@@BigRed40TECH Absolutely that you're rarely 1v1. And even 4v4 or whatever you have, remember *it's a game*. Have fun! Remember the in-universe limitations - For example, House Marik has trouble getting PPCs in the 3025 era! Would you rather have an AC5 or... nothing? Granted the FWL doesn't have many Dragons but you get the idea. There's endless lore in this setting, and your sweet minmaxed mech is taking that PPC away from some other unit that needs it! :)
I love this thing in MWO. Heavy armour, high speed, perfect for shoot n scoot especially when modified with a high pinpoint damage weapon serving as a "main gun".
The special dragon you can get in mw5 is a 120 mph speed demon with a ac20, srm6 and 3 ml ... 13 tons of armor to if I figured it out right. Back in the day i was in a game with a lance that had 2 standard dragons. They were instrumental in my dismantling of the other player. People don't think about the 8 hex charge till you do it to them. Then they panic a little.
The Dragon was a nightmare in MWO beta! When physical attacks were a thing the dragon was able to knock down any other mech on the field with the exception of the Atlas!
The DRG-1G Grand Dragon is pretty solid. It's quite speedy with good firepower and armor protection so it can handle most mission types well. The baseline -1N is okay, and prone to ammunition explosions, but it has great heat control for its weapons load out, and can take on most mechs its size or lighter and hold it's own.
Though it's armament is lacking, being outgunned by the lighter Centurion, and outmaneuvered by mechs like the Dervish and the Quickdraw, this design is...pretty okay at most things, often nicely slotted in any Heavy Lance as a skirmisher or a heavy wall for medium recon Lances
The Grand Dragon with the PPC definitely feels like its hits a bit harder, and I do think it gets a bit of a bad rap on firepower, as it does carry more armour than the Centurion, and its got better range capabilities than the Quickdaw. :)
@@BigRed40TECH There is a reason the Draconis Combine keeps using it, and there are more than factionalism that keeps the other powers from using them often. Also in 'Heir to the Dragon' even Theodore Kurita doesn't like the Dragon, but he got an Orion - alot of Heavy Mechs period are worse than the Orion, so that is a unfair comparison.
It's below average at everything, good at nothing. enough armor and speed to push into the enemy and break up the cohesion, but without swift cooperation from the rest of the lace to capitalize on that it will quickly be focused down. Not a fantastic mech, or even a good one, but in the numbers the DCMS throws these poor things at the enemy it works out, if not in the most wasteful way possible.
@@thecommenter9678 I mean, running at medium mech speeds with heavy mech levels of armor is arguably above average in at least a couple categories. Though yea, it's not exactly specialized enough to shine in any one way. But I guess that's probably part of why the combine loves them. It's almost like a decent blanket answer to a lot of situations, and they can just bring more specialized mechs in to back it up.
According to MW5 Luthien Armor Works was furious when the SLDF rejected it for an upgraded Shadow Hawk. So they built it in series and the DCMS snapped it up. I've used a few of these and they're incredible. I prefer an AC10 in the arm and an SRM2. It's so maneuverable too!! And the Grand Dragon is a powerhouse: the PPC is a huge improvement.
Fast, balanced loadout, great at butchering unarmed civilians? This is the heart and soul of the Draconis Combine! For real, though. I love this machine's design. In the video games I tend to switch the LRMs for SRMs but the Dragon feels like a proper core unit, a main battle tank on legs. Thanks for the vid, Big Red!
In HBS's Battletech my Dekker somehow survived 4 Spiders going boom, So i slapped him into a dragon to serve as a heavy scout. Haven't gone boom since.
The Dragon not only works well but it works well within the DCMS battlefield doctrine of using larger numbers of lighter battlemechs. The dragon is a jack of all trades fast heavy that can keep up with medium mechs filling out any role that a medium lance might find itself lacking in.
The dragon first appeared in the original mech warrior book, along with the blackjack I think. The book came out concurrent with the three box sets of Battle, City & Aero tech.
The Grand Dragon I can get behind; A PPC, a few medium lasers, and a LRM system allows it to function as a beefier Centurion. That said, I'd rather field a mixed Lance of Rifleman and hunchbacks over a Lance of Dragons. Though slower, the cheaper hunchbacks pack some significant firepower and armor for brawling, and when backed up by the Direct fire support of a Rifleman or two... eh, the Dragon by comparison seems better suited to harassment or distraction, and there is a fleet of lower weight and cheaper mechs that can fulfill its role better.
@@BigRed40TECH And that's the thing - if you need the speed, the Dragon's got it. The 50-ton mechs moving 4/6 have a lot of power, don't get me wrong, they're amazing! But if you need faster, you could do a LOT worse than 60 tonners moving 5/8. Unless you consider (super expensive) XL engines, 60 tons is the best for moving that fast. The Dragon is a great heavy response mech. Love it!
One of my favorite mechs in all Battletech pc games. There he is sometimes more sometimes less versatile. Best of all he comes with two mods in Mechwarrior 5 Mercenary, the mods create an exact image according to Loor :).
Dragon is like that guy who after a few pistol rounds missed his vitals still comes swinging with broken bottles and the odd bar chair. Under gunned unless you're in a bar fight but not fast enough to get there unless you get lucky. Definitely put a loose cannon pilot in it who everyone at the pub hates because he's always body checking people as he thinks they're his buds.
This mech is deadly when used in numbers and if it uses it's mobility to keep it's opponents on the back foot. Overrunning defenders before they can react and generally creating havoc.
I love this big, stupid, zippy mech. If your heavy mech can effectively flank the great majority of other heavy mechs, you've got something special. That, and it has three of my favorite weapon systems in the whole setting. The economical LRM10, the wonderfully balanced AC/5, and the ever-present, utilitarian Medium Laser. Though I do really like the PPC version, too.
Great video! I'm big fan of the combine. I'm currently building a kuritan lance of a charger, hunchback, jenner and panther. I'm gonna eventually purchase the lance with the dragon in it and start another lance. Thanks for the great content!
I was never impressed with the Dragon. I killed it with most other heavy mechs and a few mediums in war games and unless they were massed they never felt like a threat in battles. The later upgrades got a little scary though. Mike loved the Grand Dragon which made me hunt it down with my Crusader every time he fielded one. He really hated that lol.
I agree with the assessment, if the damned thing was cheaper and mass produced, it would make a perfectly good shock trooper sort of mech. enough armor and speed to make killing each one a pain, once they break up your defenses you could charge in the real mechs and actually good pilots. But aside from that the dragons firepower is so spread over the ranges and so limited in total impact you end up with something that is below average at everything and good at nothing. it's a meat shield and to expensive if you ask me for even that.
100% Despite it not being as good of a brawler as a Quickdaw, it's such a good all-arounder and its so well armoured for its size and speed, I think it's the best 60 tonner of the Succession Wars.
Ugh I remember the day when the GM plopped this on the table we knew we were in for a Bad Time by the time we could bring it down out of the 8 Mechs in our lance only 4 were left to board the Dropship 3 were utterly destroyed and 1 mech disabled and left behind 2 pilots killed 1 captured and 1 forced into retirement due to injuries so the Dragon is not to be ignored
There is a mission in MW2 Mercs where you need to protect a newbie prince piloting a Dragon. When I see what it has I understand why it was destroyed by opponents and why mission was so tough. I am not a fan of this mech. It looks cool, but it is not a mech for beginners.
For the BV I really like the Dragon. Fast and versatile for that heavy scout role, hang around the edges and harass bigger mechs while the big boys either pound them or draw their fire while he gets in behind or chase down faster moving pests and crush them in close.
Nice overview again :-) The dragon is a cheap mech and that's what makes it useful...packs enough of a punch to deal with the mediums and lights that its likely to go up against and quick enough to run away from anything that can kick its butt....Nice cheap mech for a merc with a budget :-)
Now I’m thinking about a custom franken mech, take most of WHM-7K and replace the left arm and PPC with the left arm of a Grand Dragon, for 70-ton punching.
I went and designed it, and its freaking scary, 1.716 BV for 10.93 mil Cbills. 4/6/3 on a standard 280, 1xERPPC+CAP, 4xML, 3xSSRM2, 1 ton of reloads, CASE II, Targeting Computer, plus it punches. 16 DHS. Torso twist to take hits on the empty left side. Oh yeah, 14 tons of armor. Alphas for 40 heat, sinks 32, heat delta of 8. Punch holes with the ERPPC at range, drop the PPC and exploit with laser and streak up closer, then punching.
As a true MechWarrior one of my superstitions is that Dragons are bad luck. Every time I deploy one in a Battletech game my mission goes tits up. When I drive one myself in a MechWarrior game I always suffer an uncomfortable amount of lucky hits in vital parts by the enemy. When my enemy deploys one I always have a much easier time tearing their formation to shreds because it's got just too little speed to be properly evasive but is has just too little armor to make up for that. Meanwhile it's firepower package is not particularly impressive either. Sure that AC/10 can pack a punch, but it's extremely exposed on that arm and way too easy to remove with some coordinated focus fire. And once that is gone there's not much left. In short, the Dragon is a heavy mech trying to be a light and it shows. In comparison the Shadowhawk which it is supposed to replace is a much more balanced and adaptable platform.
@@BigRed40TECH Only because the higher tonnage allows it to pack some bigger guns. If you take other factors in account it's worse. And like I said, it's just bad luck.
The Dragon is like a 40ton mech with the same conceptual flaws(Master of None), even more so because it has no Jump Jets, and if you customize it to use Heavy Jump Jets they weight twice as much. As a result I like upgrading the models.
If you can't get your hands on a Grand Dragon, consider getting refit to the -1C instead. The -1N struggles to actually hit that 20 point damage threshold in practice anyway, so you may as well maximize your raw bulk by lowering the AC/5 to a /2 and plink away lucky hits in exchange for being only .5 tons off (I think) from the infamously beefy Thunderbolt while being 5 tons lighter and a whole speed bracket higher. Warhammers and Marauders will constantly give you shit for being undergunned but guess what you're going to be the one that gets to go home alive for having more speed and armor than they do. Having multiple ammo bins also means that unlike several rivals in both the medium and heavy weights that there's basically no downside for you trying out specialty ammunition while still hanging on to your reliable standard ammo. Keep an eagle eye out for any enemy standing next to a level 1 hill too, you can kick their head off in one kick if you're smart and lucky with your positioning.
Wait, wait...They replaced the Shadowhawk, a mech that's actually good, with the Dragon? Only the Draconis Combine could be so damn stupid. Well, them and clan Smoke Jaguar.
@@BigRed40TECH After hundreds, almost thousands of hours of playing mechwarrior 5 and mechwarrior online, I have to know...What drugs are you tripping on? As filthy, Clan Wolf scum, I will admit that the Shadowhawk is the finest 55 ton mech the IS has to offer. It can even hold it's ground against clan mechs with a good pilot. I can jump into a Hawk and kick some butt online. As for a Dragon? I wouldn't pilot one of you paid me. It's fat, slow, barely more firepower and armor than a Shadowhawk with a big, ugly center torso that's easy to hit. I'd rather pilot an Urbanmech and put a bigger engine in it so it can move faster. Shadowhawk>Urbanmech>Dragon. But hey, you do you. If you wanna pilot that walking coffin that's called a Dragon then enjoy yourself.
The shadow hawk is a bit pants to be fair....some may have a lot of armour for their size making thier survivability high but apart from that take a centurion :-)
The only Shadow Hawk that's good at introductory tech levels is the -2K and that's a Kurita native design anyway. The DCMS has plenty of other heavy mechs to do heavy mech things such as the Warhammer-6K, but the main reason to take things like the Centurion over a Dragon is because you like AC/10s more than having better speed and structure+armor points. At least the dragon doesn't have an SRM-2 slapped on that's just there to make you explode even more than you were going to.
Honestly I think the Dragon is an excellent design ... for the speed and tonnage. The Dragon is also a poster child for designing mechs with appropriate speed for the tonnage. The Dragon has above average speed for a heavy mech. It has good armor for the tonnage. Armor, Engine and Weapons are a holy trinity for Battlemech design. You can do well in two of the areas, doing well in 3 is the territory of Clan Mechs because they cheat. Ahem, I mean you can't have all three be excellent. The Dragon is slightly fast, and it is slightly under gunned for the tonnage. The Dragon feels like it is massively faster than its 4/6 cousins, but that is just because of the number rounding in its favor on a 5/8 speed. The truth of the matter is that the Dragon loses in a 1 on 1 fight between it and other 60 ton mechs with 4/6 movement. Scouting is often given as an excuse for the Dragon as a battlefield role. Honestly, light mechs fill that role better than a Dragon ever could. The only way a heavy scout mech makes sense is if you're forming an invasion force and you have very limited transport space. In that case ... you're better off with a Steiner scout lance of 4 Atlas. If you have a factory pumping out the engine for a Dragon, you could retool to produce Marauders instead. The additional expense is 100% worth the extra investment even if you can only produce one of the "bad" designs of the Marauder. As you move up in weight, speed becomes increasingly expensive. In my opinion, successful designs stop at 4 base speed for heavy mechs, and 3 for assault mechs. The tonnage to push a mech of that weight faster than that eats up too much tonnage to make it worth investing a frame that big.
I think the Dragon consistently can get into better firing positions and better modifiers to hit than its other heavy cousins. W5 is a huge boon when your opponent has to run 5 to achieve the same modifier. And that extra movement can mean getting on side, or even getting to the rear for melee strikes. Definitely not to be slept on imo.
My only gripe with Dragon is the same as with Vulture, where the cockpit is. I would prefer is the cockpit was in the protruding chest kinda like in Archer, otherwise I really like the Dragon, a descent scout for a heavy lance.
It’s like every time I obtain a new mech in mechwarrior 5 the video of that mech appear on my RUclips page from your page i gm have to sub to your pages
One best heavys of 3025. Not because it's super strong or hits really hard. It's just so flexible that it can fit into most scenarios. Nothing brings the rage when kill a warhammer with one.
Hello Red. Ah, yes, the Dragon. The 'pain in my ass' that Kurita Players would crow over (at the time, I was playing Davion forces, before turning Mercenary and going my own way). Back 'in the day', Dragons were hard hitting, relatively fast, and very durable. As said, they were a pain in my posterior. Then the 'Draks' put a Gauss Rifle on it! Oh, the horror! At least until they met my own heavy Mech with Gauss... two of them. Oh, the howls of 'unfair!', and, 'that's not canon!'. Overall, the Dragon is a 'good' Mech design. Too bad, you have to play Kurita to field it in numbers. Just goes to show that the Universe is unfair.
Kind of represents the DCMS's dislike for mediums. Fact that they often use this, quickdraw and Ost series instead. My personal opinion I've never been a fan of it. Its a bully wanting to tear apart mechs smaller than it, but it generally wilts to larger heavies. Part of it is it isn't my style I leave mobility to my lights and light mediums, but some people do have luck with it and one of the reasons I traded my extra I got in a blind box.
I actually genuinely dig the Dragon. There are some mediums I do think are better such as the WVR-6M, but by and large it's a hard hitting heavy for its weight, and can really do any role. I used to not respect it a while ago, but I've learned how dangerous it can be. And much like the Centurion, multiplying the number of Dragons in a lance or company, increases their worth overall.
I once heard someone describe the Dragon as a heavier Shadowhawk. I had to correct them and tell them it is a *better* Shadowhawk. I often see the comparison to the Centurion as well, given that they have basically identical loadouts with the exception of the Centurion having a heavier autocannon, but that’s thinking in such two dimensional terms. The dragon is faster, has better melee capabilities, and is more heavily armored. Having an AC10 is nice, but it’s on a *very* slow medium mech with medium mech armor. I’ve found the Dragon is more capable in most circumstances as it runs cooler, the AC5 and LRM10 match up in a similar range bracket nicely, and having a minimum range on the AC5 isn’t as big of a handicap when the Dragon is so good at outrunning and clobbering anything its’ own weight or lower. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Centurion, but I think the Dragon compares favorably with it when you take a closer look. Only thing I wish it had was jump jets.
always felt like it was some kinda zombie mech in MW5... its still freaking alive after unloading my whole arsenal at it, and it still keeps on coming, one of the three mechs i hate facing, the dragon, the wolverine and the quickdraw... blasted things are so hard to put down, and i don't know why...
IT was intended as a successor to the SHD-2H and SHD-2K within the DCAF ok, but why was it designed without jump capacity. This is the one thing that I really do not like about it. IF they had given the Dragon jets, even a reduced amount like the Shadow Hawk has it would be a great mech but without it, it lacks. Also, I would have preferred to see the AC installed in the torso because the arm, while offering a greater ark of fire, simply is much more of a target. Still, it is a beloved and iconic Draconis mech.
60 ton mechs in and of themselves are a category with few outstanding or even desirable mechs to me. They are typically not fast enough to get away from light mechs (Which many can outgun them) and not enough firepower to kill a threat before they themselves are killed despite the dragons armor, it's low firepower means it won't beat through the enemy fast enough to make up for it.
I have always waffled on the Dragon. I want to like it, but I keep getting distracted by the Grand Dragon and the Crab. Really, I think its the AC/5. I just...don't like AC/5s. Even on my beloved Zeus!
Considering the kurita forces are all about honorable single combat and everything like that they couldn't have picked the worst Mech to represent them Warhammer or a awesome should have been there mech a choice The Wolverine should have been there go to battlemech if you want to win one-on-one battles but no it has the namesake a dragon....
@@BigRed40TECH a couple mods to make the dragon S tier. First strip 1 ton each ac5 ammo and lrm ammo. Move ac5 ammo to the right arm in the top bracket, reducing ammo explosion possibilities to on 1 in 6 in a 50% chance. In the opposite torso add a forward facing medium laser and a heat sink. Bob's your uncle, you've got a disgustingly nasty brawler.
Yeah, the speed is nice, but it really doesn't have enough firepower to make it count when it's up against anything in its own weight class. It also looks dumb.
I don't particularly care for the standard Dragon. It's fast, and that's cool, but that speed is a trade-off paid for with pathetic armament. There are light mechs capable of hitting harder. Way overrated mech in the SW era, but gets modestly better later on.
Ah the Dragon, how hubris, vanity and stupidity of the DCMS rolled up into one battlemech. While the writers have decided in their hubris to give the two most disliked factions of Battletech (for reason) plot armor recently. The Dragon is by far the worst fielded 60 tonner that deserves gauss round after gauss round to the cockpit.
To be honest for a mech called "the dragon" I'm not particularly impressed with this mech... I'd have expected something with more punch or even presence.
try to think of it less like a heavy mech and more like a chunky medium mech. that's where its strength is. Not taking on a black knight or marauder, but running circles around a centurion while having similar damage output and tons of armor
@@hmad898 still the "Dragon?" to be named for one of the mightiest beasts of mythology and to many in Asian culture a beast of divine presence rationalizing it as a heavy medium mech doesn't do it justice. I feel like House Kurita dishonored the name Dragon with that mech.
honestly i hate this mech, it's really underpowered when it comes to heavys, i feel like it's a meduim and only classed as a heavy because of it's armor and engine
Any particular reason why? I mostly watched Kerensky vs. Amaris series. I'm guessing its because Kurita played a major role in the fall of the Star League.
He hates Liao more, vut generally he hates the honor bound hypocrisy. The DCMS is famous for saying the right and honorable things while quietly massacred cities that didn't comply with said code to the t.
In one run of HBS battletech I made a "no fun allowed lance"
Start with a kintaro with double plus inferno rockets that could consistently put 100+ heat into any mech instantly turning it off
Add a catapult with two LRM20s that had bonus stability damage so that anything it shot at would could then be knocked over by breathing on it hard enough.
Then a hatchetman optimized for melee combat so that its axe hits hits harder than an AC20 and just tears limbs off like tissue paper.
Finally a Dragon with a PPC and three double plus srm6s to get free called shots on the shut down or knocked down mechs and core them.
It was a lot of fun. For me. And for no one else.
that is a most horrific build, reminds me of my inferno srm build in MW5
How well was ypur heat management?
House Kurita approves of this lance
The Dragon, able to out run anything it can't outgun and outgun anything it can't outrun.
Unfortunately there are a lot of Mechs it doesn´t outgun. The damage output of the Dragon is not impressive to put it midly.
The Grand Dragon with the PPC is better though.
Based
Sadly this is the reverse of my experience. It's to slow to get away without being cored in the back, and does not have enough firepower to stand it's ground.
To me the dragon and most 60t mechs fall into that sweet spot of bellow average at everything and good at nothing. (mind you this is not from table top experience but of the MechWarrior games, So keep that in mind.) pitiful firepower and even worse "utility" just because you have a weapon for every range does not mean you will win.
If your not able to capitalize on any specific range you end up pecking at the enemy at all rages instead of dealing real damage.
The dragon is one of those mechs that is built around running up to something and punching it to death.
The weapons are there to prevent the pilot from getting bored.
Any interpretation that doesn't support punching something to death leaves the Dragon as a terrible mech.
This, though I punched with lbx10 4xmls srm6, right in the back armor. Used that speed to get there, right when they couldn't handled it. Hot as hell, near no ammo, but faster than a slow light mech, good times.
Looks like I'm not getting the deposit back on MWO
People tend to think of it as an under powered Heavy Mech. It you look at it as a Medium however it's fairly decent. Kind of similar to the much loved Centurion in it's load out. Just faster and tougher.
Too bad the maintenance and repair costs still have heavy mech pricetags.
The Centurion carries an AC/10 and still weighs 10 tons less while costing 1.5M C-Bills fewer. I'll take a Centurion over a Dragon 1N every single day and twice on Sunday.
@@rylian21 For that tonnage difference you could easily put an AC/10 into a ShadowHawk aswell, which would be much more well protected than on the Centurion's torso.
But faster than most heavy mechs. Comparing it to 4/6 mechs is to ignore its main advantage.
@@sarbe6625 Don't forget, the 3025 mechs were deliberately designed to be imperfect. Can we, as players, make better mechs just considering the game rules and not in-universe procurement troubles, politics, costs, etc? Sure, sure we can. But where's the fun in that?
The problem with the early dragons is all the ammo they carry. If either torso armor is breached you are a critical roll away from blowing up. I love the Dragon and have a fond memory of kicking the leg off a spider with one.
I do agree that many 3025 mechs had nonsensical ammo placement. Like the Marauder, with the lone ammo bin as the sole critical target in the left torso. That would be one of the ~very few~ changes I would make when playing classic BT.
Easily one of the most underrated mechs. My favorite as a kid, still is today.
It's definitely more solid than given credit for.
By far one of my favorite heavies. It’s tougher than it gets credit for being. If it weren’t for the Kuritan stench emanating from the chassis, I’d have one in every lance.
Its really hard to scrub it out of the cockpit.
All this battletech lore is really making me want to build a lance I’m thinking something with the banshee and a firestarter
Banshee's great. Firestarter is also amazing. New plastic Firestarter should be coming out with the Kickstarter this Fall. :)
People love dissing on the Banshee until one runs up and pops a fist into your now-destroyed faceplate, or takes off a leg with a kick.
It's not a mech I'd use, not my style, but it's one I've learned not to underestimate when it's fielded against me.
Is it underpowered compared to a 4/6 heavy mech? Yes, but given that it's a heavy mech with 5/8 movement, it excels at commanding a medium lance. Unlike the Quickdraw, it didn't attempt the devastatingly inefficient 60-ton jump solution for movement, rolling those savings into armour and weaponry. I do not begrudge it the AC/5 - in-universe they had trouble with the PPC variant, so until that was solved, the autocannon was the best solution. Bear in mind, almost all of the mechs were specifically designed to be not 100% efficient. That was intentional. As a result, the Dragon and Thunderbolt remain my favourite heavy mechs. Much love! This video earned you a sub!
It's not just that either. They were designed to be realistic in the sense that irl, a lot of weapon systems aren't 100% effective, and they're not min-maxed for various reasons. It's more of what you'd want in an actual scenario. People also like to 1v1 mechs, the game isn't mostly 1v1, it's 4v4 or 5v8. And under those circumstances, along with terrain, the Dragon becomes a lot deadlier than it is on paper.
@@BigRed40TECH Absolutely that you're rarely 1v1. And even 4v4 or whatever you have, remember *it's a game*. Have fun! Remember the in-universe limitations - For example, House Marik has trouble getting PPCs in the 3025 era! Would you rather have an AC5 or... nothing? Granted the FWL doesn't have many Dragons but you get the idea. There's endless lore in this setting, and your sweet minmaxed mech is taking that PPC away from some other unit that needs it! :)
I love this thing in MWO. Heavy armour, high speed, perfect for shoot n scoot especially when modified with a high pinpoint damage weapon serving as a "main gun".
Mine rocks an XL 360
Lbx10
4 med lasers
And it has good armor quirks
Very fast flanker
I went with a standard sized light engine and a gauss rifle instead, (at least, I think it was a light?) and ER meds instead of standard ones.
The special dragon you can get in mw5 is a 120 mph speed demon with a ac20, srm6 and 3 ml ... 13 tons of armor to if I figured it out right.
Back in the day i was in a game with a lance that had 2 standard dragons. They were instrumental in my dismantling of the other player. People don't think about the 8 hex charge till you do it to them. Then they panic a little.
I ran something similar during the beta for MWO.
The Dragon was a nightmare in MWO beta! When physical attacks were a thing the dragon was able to knock down any other mech on the field with the exception of the Atlas!
The DRG-1G Grand Dragon is pretty solid. It's quite speedy with good firepower and armor protection so it can handle most mission types well. The baseline -1N is okay, and prone to ammunition explosions, but it has great heat control for its weapons load out, and can take on most mechs its size or lighter and hold it's own.
Though it's armament is lacking, being outgunned by the lighter Centurion, and outmaneuvered by mechs like the Dervish and the Quickdraw, this design is...pretty okay at most things, often nicely slotted in any Heavy Lance as a skirmisher or a heavy wall for medium recon Lances
The Grand Dragon with the PPC definitely feels like its hits a bit harder, and I do think it gets a bit of a bad rap on firepower, as it does carry more armour than the Centurion, and its got better range capabilities than the Quickdaw. :)
@@BigRed40TECH There is a reason the Draconis Combine keeps using it, and there are more than factionalism that keeps the other powers from using them often.
Also in 'Heir to the Dragon' even Theodore Kurita doesn't like the Dragon, but he got an Orion - alot of Heavy Mechs period are worse than the Orion, so that is a unfair comparison.
It's below average at everything, good at nothing. enough armor and speed to push into the enemy and break up the cohesion, but without swift cooperation from the rest of the lace to capitalize on that it will quickly be focused down. Not a fantastic mech, or even a good one, but in the numbers the DCMS throws these poor things at the enemy it works out, if not in the most wasteful way possible.
@@thecommenter9678 I mean, running at medium mech speeds with heavy mech levels of armor is arguably above average in at least a couple categories. Though yea, it's not exactly specialized enough to shine in any one way.
But I guess that's probably part of why the combine loves them. It's almost like a decent blanket answer to a lot of situations, and they can just bring more specialized mechs in to back it up.
According to MW5 Luthien Armor Works was furious when the SLDF rejected it for an upgraded Shadow Hawk. So they built it in series and the DCMS snapped it up.
I've used a few of these and they're incredible. I prefer an AC10 in the arm and an SRM2. It's so maneuverable too!!
And the Grand Dragon is a powerhouse: the PPC is a huge improvement.
To quote one Tex Talks Battletech:
"A most excellent mech!"
Fast, balanced loadout, great at butchering unarmed civilians? This is the heart and soul of the Draconis Combine!
For real, though. I love this machine's design. In the video games I tend to switch the LRMs for SRMs but the Dragon feels like a proper core unit, a main battle tank on legs. Thanks for the vid, Big Red!
SRM 6 definitely fits it better when you want something that comes in and hits hard in close.
In HBS's Battletech my Dekker somehow survived 4 Spiders going boom, So i slapped him into a dragon to serve as a heavy scout. Haven't gone boom since.
Fond memories of using this baby in MWO. Its hitboxes made dabbing an effective way to protect your ballistic arm with 3 overquirked UAC/2s.
My first tank heavy mech in Battletech 2018 videogame!
Always liked the Dragon mech, I usually played Kurita so played the mech alot
The Dragon not only works well but it works well within the DCMS battlefield doctrine of using larger numbers of lighter battlemechs. The dragon is a jack of all trades fast heavy that can keep up with medium mechs filling out any role that a medium lance might find itself lacking in.
Another favorite of mine from the CCG. Can't wait to find one and pilot it in MW5.
The dragon first appeared in the original mech warrior book, along with the blackjack I think.
The book came out concurrent with the three box sets of
Battle, City & Aero tech.
The Grand Dragon I can get behind; A PPC, a few medium lasers, and a LRM system allows it to function as a beefier Centurion. That said, I'd rather field a mixed Lance of Rifleman and hunchbacks over a Lance of Dragons. Though slower, the cheaper hunchbacks pack some significant firepower and armor for brawling, and when backed up by the Direct fire support of a Rifleman or two... eh, the Dragon by comparison seems better suited to harassment or distraction, and there is a fleet of lower weight and cheaper mechs that can fulfill its role better.
A faster*, beefier centurion.
One thing people always forget is that the Dragon runs 8, and the Centurion runs 6. :)
@@BigRed40TECH Not sure that's a big enough trade-off for having a 60-ton mech armed like a 50-tonner.
@@rylian21 It's the difference between walking and being +2 to hit, or walking and being +1 to hit in a lot of instances.
@@BigRed40TECH And that's the thing - if you need the speed, the Dragon's got it. The 50-ton mechs moving 4/6 have a lot of power, don't get me wrong, they're amazing! But if you need faster, you could do a LOT worse than 60 tonners moving 5/8. Unless you consider (super expensive) XL engines, 60 tons is the best for moving that fast. The Dragon is a great heavy response mech. Love it!
@@randomnetsurfer And better yet, it's got 10 tons of armour, which also goes above the Centurion, and is on par with the Hunchback.
One of my favorite mechs in all Battletech pc games. There he is sometimes more sometimes less versatile. Best of all he comes with two mods in Mechwarrior 5 Mercenary, the mods create an exact image according to Loor :).
Dragon is like that guy who after a few pistol rounds missed his vitals still comes swinging with broken bottles and the odd bar chair.
Under gunned unless you're in a bar fight but not fast enough to get there unless you get lucky.
Definitely put a loose cannon pilot in it who everyone at the pub hates because he's always body checking people as he thinks they're his buds.
I'm a simple woman. I see a 'Mech with a Vlar 300 engine, I smash that like button.
Love the Dragon. It can take a beating and keep on eating. 🎉
This mech is deadly when used in numbers and if it uses it's mobility to keep it's opponents on the back foot. Overrunning defenders before they can react and generally creating havoc.
I love the Dragon. :D
I love this big, stupid, zippy mech. If your heavy mech can effectively flank the great majority of other heavy mechs, you've got something special. That, and it has three of my favorite weapon systems in the whole setting. The economical LRM10, the wonderfully balanced AC/5, and the ever-present, utilitarian Medium Laser. Though I do really like the PPC version, too.
Sees runtime less than 6 minutes. Oh how far we have come.
Great video! I'm big fan of the combine. I'm currently building a kuritan lance of a charger, hunchback, jenner and panther. I'm gonna eventually purchase the lance with the dragon in it and start another lance. Thanks for the great content!
I'm building a company with one lance that is x3 Dragons and a Wolverine :D
Thank you love this mech Hail the Dragon
I was never impressed with the Dragon. I killed it with most other heavy mechs and a few mediums in war games and unless they were massed they never felt like a threat in battles. The later upgrades got a little scary though. Mike loved the Grand Dragon which made me hunt it down with my Crusader every time he fielded one. He really hated that lol.
They could take a punishing though and rarely took a critical hit to the head (Battletech video game)
I agree with the assessment, if the damned thing was cheaper and mass produced, it would make a perfectly good shock trooper sort of mech. enough armor and speed to make killing each one a pain, once they break up your defenses you could charge in the real mechs and actually good pilots. But aside from that the dragons firepower is so spread over the ranges and so limited in total impact you end up with something that is below average at everything and good at nothing. it's a meat shield and to expensive if you ask me for even that.
The dragon is proof that 60 tonners can be good, and that's in spite of Kurita's Magic Bushido Hands
100%
Despite it not being as good of a brawler as a Quickdaw, it's such a good all-arounder and its so well armoured for its size and speed, I think it's the best 60 tonner of the Succession Wars.
Don't you mean "Bull-shite-o?"
Loved this mech after playing the HBS game. Just sprinting up to other mechs and shotgunning all your close range weapons in their face
I think I had around 27 of the buggers in my bays in MWO by the time the clan mechs were put in. I had A LOT of builds for them.
WHAT! I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I'M ON CRUSADE AGAINST HOUSE KURITA!
The Coordinator accepts your service and will reward you.
Tell the coordinator.
Rex patrum
In cielis
Peccata mundi delis
Rex patrum
Ignis imperia
Remember when House Kurita declared war on a mercenary unit... And lost?
@@patrickkenyon2326 I do. lol
@@patrickkenyon2326 Remember when House Kurita had an effective Military?
Neither do I.
Next DRG I get I'm painting it up in a John Deere paint scheme
Ah yes... The dragon... An honorable mech. No match for the Steiner scout squad:p
One of my most Favoarate Heavys of all time.
Ugh I remember the day when the GM plopped this on the table we knew we were in for a Bad Time by the time we could bring it down out of the 8 Mechs in our lance only 4 were left to board the Dropship 3 were utterly destroyed and 1 mech disabled and left behind 2 pilots killed 1 captured and 1 forced into retirement due to injuries so the Dragon is not to be ignored
The dragon I got in mw5 is pretty sweet. AC20 BF that it got as its main gun is pretty sweet
There is a mission in MW2 Mercs where you need to protect a newbie prince piloting a Dragon. When I see what it has I understand why it was destroyed by opponents and why mission was so tough. I am not a fan of this mech. It looks cool, but it is not a mech for beginners.
It's a great Mech imo. I used to think otherwise, but the more I've played the more I've come to appreciate its talents.
@@BigRed40TECH How is it talented?
@@Battletechfan Just a turn of phrase. I appreciate its capabilities.
For the BV I really like the Dragon. Fast and versatile for that heavy scout role, hang around the edges and harass bigger mechs while the big boys either pound them or draw their fire while he gets in behind or chase down faster moving pests and crush them in close.
Definitely. It's super solid.
Nice overview again :-) The dragon is a cheap mech and that's what makes it useful...packs enough of a punch to deal with the mediums and lights that its likely to go up against and quick enough to run away from anything that can kick its butt....Nice cheap mech for a merc with a budget :-)
I like this mech, 60 tons are some of my favourite mechs. Can be a tad hard to make it work right
Double Melee Dragons in Base Vanilla Battletech (The Steam Game) is BRUTALLY effective.
Just like double Headshot Sniping Marauder.
Now I’m thinking about a custom franken mech, take most of WHM-7K and replace the left arm and PPC with the left arm of a Grand Dragon, for 70-ton punching.
I went and designed it, and its freaking scary, 1.716 BV for 10.93 mil Cbills. 4/6/3 on a standard 280, 1xERPPC+CAP, 4xML, 3xSSRM2, 1 ton of reloads, CASE II, Targeting Computer, plus it punches. 16 DHS. Torso twist to take hits on the empty left side. Oh yeah, 14 tons of armor. Alphas for 40 heat, sinks 32, heat delta of 8.
Punch holes with the ERPPC at range, drop the PPC and exploit with laser and streak up closer, then punching.
As a true MechWarrior one of my superstitions is that Dragons are bad luck. Every time I deploy one in a Battletech game my mission goes tits up. When I drive one myself in a MechWarrior game I always suffer an uncomfortable amount of lucky hits in vital parts by the enemy. When my enemy deploys one I always have a much easier time tearing their formation to shreds because it's got just too little speed to be properly evasive but is has just too little armor to make up for that. Meanwhile it's firepower package is not particularly impressive either. Sure that AC/10 can pack a punch, but it's extremely exposed on that arm and way too easy to remove with some coordinated focus fire. And once that is gone there's not much left.
In short, the Dragon is a heavy mech trying to be a light and it shows. In comparison the Shadowhawk which it is supposed to replace is a much more balanced and adaptable platform.
The Dragon is farrrr superior to a Shadowhaw. :\
@@BigRed40TECH Only because the higher tonnage allows it to pack some bigger guns.
If you take other factors in account it's worse.
And like I said, it's just bad luck.
The Dragon is like a 40ton mech with the same conceptual flaws(Master of None), even more so because it has no Jump Jets, and if you customize it to use Heavy Jump Jets they weight twice as much. As a result I like upgrading the models.
Reminds me of a bigger Vindicator.
If you can't get your hands on a Grand Dragon, consider getting refit to the -1C instead. The -1N struggles to actually hit that 20 point damage threshold in practice anyway, so you may as well maximize your raw bulk by lowering the AC/5 to a /2 and plink away lucky hits in exchange for being only .5 tons off (I think) from the infamously beefy Thunderbolt while being 5 tons lighter and a whole speed bracket higher. Warhammers and Marauders will constantly give you shit for being undergunned but guess what you're going to be the one that gets to go home alive for having more speed and armor than they do. Having multiple ammo bins also means that unlike several rivals in both the medium and heavy weights that there's basically no downside for you trying out specialty ammunition while still hanging on to your reliable standard ammo. Keep an eagle eye out for any enemy standing next to a level 1 hill too, you can kick their head off in one kick if you're smart and lucky with your positioning.
Wait, wait...They replaced the Shadowhawk, a mech that's actually good, with the Dragon? Only the Draconis Combine could be so damn stupid. Well, them and clan Smoke Jaguar.
Shadowhawk's a questionable mech in terms of its quality. lol
@@BigRed40TECH After hundreds, almost thousands of hours of playing mechwarrior 5 and mechwarrior online, I have to know...What drugs are you tripping on? As filthy, Clan Wolf scum, I will admit that the Shadowhawk is the finest 55 ton mech the IS has to offer. It can even hold it's ground against clan mechs with a good pilot. I can jump into a Hawk and kick some butt online. As for a Dragon? I wouldn't pilot one of you paid me. It's fat, slow, barely more firepower and armor than a Shadowhawk with a big, ugly center torso that's easy to hit. I'd rather pilot an Urbanmech and put a bigger engine in it so it can move faster. Shadowhawk>Urbanmech>Dragon. But hey, you do you. If you wanna pilot that walking coffin that's called a Dragon then enjoy yourself.
The shadow hawk is a bit pants to be fair....some may have a lot of armour for their size making thier survivability high but apart from that take a centurion :-)
The only Shadow Hawk that's good at introductory tech levels is the -2K and that's a Kurita native design anyway. The DCMS has plenty of other heavy mechs to do heavy mech things such as the Warhammer-6K, but the main reason to take things like the Centurion over a Dragon is because you like AC/10s more than having better speed and structure+armor points. At least the dragon doesn't have an SRM-2 slapped on that's just there to make you explode even more than you were going to.
"Rock And Stone!"
Honestly I think the Dragon is an excellent design ... for the speed and tonnage. The Dragon is also a poster child for designing mechs with appropriate speed for the tonnage. The Dragon has above average speed for a heavy mech. It has good armor for the tonnage. Armor, Engine and Weapons are a holy trinity for Battlemech design. You can do well in two of the areas, doing well in 3 is the territory of Clan Mechs because they cheat. Ahem, I mean you can't have all three be excellent. The Dragon is slightly fast, and it is slightly under gunned for the tonnage. The Dragon feels like it is massively faster than its 4/6 cousins, but that is just because of the number rounding in its favor on a 5/8 speed. The truth of the matter is that the Dragon loses in a 1 on 1 fight between it and other 60 ton mechs with 4/6 movement.
Scouting is often given as an excuse for the Dragon as a battlefield role. Honestly, light mechs fill that role better than a Dragon ever could. The only way a heavy scout mech makes sense is if you're forming an invasion force and you have very limited transport space. In that case ... you're better off with a Steiner scout lance of 4 Atlas. If you have a factory pumping out the engine for a Dragon, you could retool to produce Marauders instead. The additional expense is 100% worth the extra investment even if you can only produce one of the "bad" designs of the Marauder.
As you move up in weight, speed becomes increasingly expensive. In my opinion, successful designs stop at 4 base speed for heavy mechs, and 3 for assault mechs. The tonnage to push a mech of that weight faster than that eats up too much tonnage to make it worth investing a frame that big.
I think the Dragon consistently can get into better firing positions and better modifiers to hit than its other heavy cousins. W5 is a huge boon when your opponent has to run 5 to achieve the same modifier. And that extra movement can mean getting on side, or even getting to the rear for melee strikes. Definitely not to be slept on imo.
My only gripe with Dragon is the same as with Vulture, where the cockpit is. I would prefer is the cockpit was in the protruding chest kinda like in Archer, otherwise I really like the Dragon, a descent scout for a heavy lance.
Unless your Steiner then they might be a little on the light side :P
I mean that’s literally the worst spot to put the cockpit it would be a shoot me sign on it’s chest
@@32pixels8 True enough, but battletech does it really ofter, look at Javelin, Locust, Cicada, Archer, and them 4 are all just from atop of my head :)
It’s like every time I obtain a new mech in mechwarrior 5 the video of that mech appear on my RUclips page from your page i gm have to sub to your pages
This thing isn’t that scary, but it will wreck you if you disregard it.
One best heavys of 3025. Not because it's super strong or hits really hard. It's just so flexible that it can fit into most scenarios. Nothing brings the rage when kill a warhammer with one.
Hello Red.
Ah, yes, the Dragon. The 'pain in my ass' that Kurita Players would crow over (at the time, I was playing Davion forces, before turning Mercenary and going my own way). Back 'in the day', Dragons were hard hitting, relatively fast, and very durable. As said, they were a pain in my posterior.
Then the 'Draks' put a Gauss Rifle on it! Oh, the horror! At least until they met my own heavy Mech with Gauss... two of them. Oh, the howls of 'unfair!', and, 'that's not canon!'.
Overall, the Dragon is a 'good' Mech design. Too bad, you have to play Kurita to field it in numbers. Just goes to show that the Universe is unfair.
Gotta go FAST! vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
I have no luck running Dragons. They die so quickly when I run them. I have had better luck running Quickdraws and Lancelots.
Really? I'm surprised. I've always found Quickdraws go down fast.
@@BigRed40TECH I agree completely. But the dice gods hate me when I run Dragons and Centurions.
Kind of represents the DCMS's dislike for mediums. Fact that they often use this, quickdraw and Ost series instead. My personal opinion I've never been a fan of it. Its a bully wanting to tear apart mechs smaller than it, but it generally wilts to larger heavies. Part of it is it isn't my style I leave mobility to my lights and light mediums, but some people do have luck with it and one of the reasons I traded my extra I got in a blind box.
I actually genuinely dig the Dragon. There are some mediums I do think are better such as the WVR-6M, but by and large it's a hard hitting heavy for its weight, and can really do any role. I used to not respect it a while ago, but I've learned how dangerous it can be.
And much like the Centurion, multiplying the number of Dragons in a lance or company, increases their worth overall.
@@BigRed40TECH With some fiddling to give it a bigger gun, I don't mind it.
To me the Dragon is a sign of bad luck.
@@sarbe6625 Its true.
I once heard someone describe the Dragon as a heavier Shadowhawk.
I had to correct them and tell them it is a *better* Shadowhawk.
I often see the comparison to the Centurion as well, given that they have basically identical loadouts with the exception of the Centurion having a heavier autocannon, but that’s thinking in such two dimensional terms. The dragon is faster, has better melee capabilities, and is more heavily armored. Having an AC10 is nice, but it’s on a *very* slow medium mech with medium mech armor. I’ve found the Dragon is more capable in most circumstances as it runs cooler, the AC5 and LRM10 match up in a similar range bracket nicely, and having a minimum range on the AC5 isn’t as big of a handicap when the Dragon is so good at outrunning and clobbering anything its’ own weight or lower.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the Centurion, but I think the Dragon compares favorably with it when you take a closer look.
Only thing I wish it had was jump jets.
always felt like it was some kinda zombie mech in MW5... its still freaking alive after unloading my whole arsenal at it, and it still keeps on coming, one of the three mechs i hate facing, the dragon, the wolverine and the quickdraw... blasted things are so hard to put down, and i don't know why...
IT was intended as a successor to the SHD-2H and SHD-2K within the DCAF ok, but why was it designed without jump capacity. This is the one thing that I really do not like about it. IF they had given the Dragon jets, even a reduced amount like the Shadow Hawk has it would be a great mech but without it, it lacks.
Also, I would have preferred to see the AC installed in the torso because the arm, while offering a greater ark of fire, simply is much more of a target.
Still, it is a beloved and iconic Draconis mech.
I wish there was a turret arm variant in mwo and mw5😊
60 ton mechs in and of themselves are a category with few outstanding or even desirable mechs to me.
They are typically not fast enough to get away from light mechs (Which many can outgun them) and not enough firepower to kill a threat before they themselves are killed despite the dragons armor, it's low firepower means it won't beat through the enemy fast enough to make up for it.
The Dragon kind feels like a Shadowhawk or Wolverine with slightly more firepower and no JJ's.
I love Kurita, and I've used Dragons extensively, but they are a joke offensively.
I have always waffled on the Dragon. I want to like it, but I keep getting distracted by the Grand Dragon and the Crab.
Really, I think its the AC/5.
I just...don't like AC/5s. Even on my beloved Zeus!
BlackKnight next, please????
Ah, the Dragon, my ugly-duckling fave.
Cool mech needs more purple
It is a big medium.
Big and beautiful.
Rip out the missles, put in an AC10 and a Large Laser.
Now you are approaching something more usefull.
The big bad dragon
Bad-Dragon ripped off Battletech, you heard it here first. :P
Delete this comment before I conveniently forget what the Ares Conventions are.
Considering the kurita forces are all about honorable single combat and everything like that they couldn't have picked the worst Mech to represent them Warhammer or a awesome should have been there mech a choice The Wolverine should have been there go to battlemech if you want to win one-on-one battles but no it has the namesake a dragon....
Or even better I'm bloody well thunderbolt
I'm not a great fan simply because of how much ammo the damn thing carries. You're really asking to blow up the instant a side torso takes a crit.
Welcome to the Succession Wars! lol
@@BigRed40TECH a couple mods to make the dragon S tier. First strip 1 ton each ac5 ammo and lrm ammo. Move ac5 ammo to the right arm in the top bracket, reducing ammo explosion possibilities to on 1 in 6 in a 50% chance.
In the opposite torso add a forward facing medium laser and a heat sink.
Bob's your uncle, you've got a disgustingly nasty brawler.
Yeah, the speed is nice, but it really doesn't have enough firepower to make it count when it's up against anything in its own weight class.
It also looks dumb.
I don't particularly care for the standard Dragon. It's fast, and that's cool, but that speed is a trade-off paid for with pathetic armament. There are light mechs capable of hitting harder. Way overrated mech in the SW era, but gets modestly better later on.
I think it's pretty good personally, but we're always free to disagree. :)
@@BigRed40TECH If you have a Mechwarrior who's good at melee piloting it, then it gets a bit scary.
Ah the Dragon, how hubris, vanity and stupidity of the DCMS rolled up into one battlemech.
While the writers have decided in their hubris to give the two most disliked factions of Battletech (for reason) plot armor recently. The Dragon is by far the worst fielded 60 tonner that deserves gauss round after gauss round to the cockpit.
To be honest for a mech called "the dragon" I'm not particularly impressed with this mech... I'd have expected something with more punch or even presence.
try to think of it less like a heavy mech and more like a chunky medium mech. that's where its strength is. Not taking on a black knight or marauder, but running circles around a centurion while having similar damage output and tons of armor
@@hmad898 still the "Dragon?" to be named for one of the mightiest beasts of mythology and to many in Asian culture a beast of divine presence rationalizing it as a heavy medium mech doesn't do it justice. I feel like House Kurita dishonored the name Dragon with that mech.
@@Isharu fair enough
honestly i hate this mech, it's really underpowered when it comes to heavys, i feel like it's a meduim and only classed as a heavy because of it's armor and engine
Tex from Tex Talks Battletech HATES House Kurita.😂😂😂
Any particular reason why? I mostly watched Kerensky vs. Amaris series.
I'm guessing its because Kurita played a major role in the fall of the Star League.
He hates Liao more, vut generally he hates the honor bound hypocrisy. The DCMS is famous for saying the right and honorable things while quietly massacred cities that didn't comply with said code to the t.
@@BigRed40TECH He hates Capellans too, so make of that what you will.
@@Gigas0101 ???