Alot of Napoleonic War's longevity can be thanked for its competitiveness. The game is skill based and balanced, thus whatever other players may throw at you may it be a bayonet, the sword or the pointy end of a lance, you have mostly yourself to blame if you die. Or you could have atleast blocked, stabbed slashed better.
Yet, alas, just like Native's horse archers, one scourge of an unit remains: The Dragoon.
This poor cripple who can bolster strength in neither strength of horse, melee nor firearms is today chosen for only one purpose. To try your luck at the Driveby Lottery.
I love playing the dragoon as a mounted infantry. I love it. But I do it knowing that I possess no extra health, my speed is low, my sword is short and my aim arse.
Therefore I say; Buff the athletics and aim, and remove the horseback firing. Let us enjoy a unit type with a nische and skill than becoming luck-goons with toons.
From the previous topic of "
Dragoons are getting ridiculous" on Taleworlds, are following points from dear Oposum:
"Dunno why people complain about dragoons, currently they're the weakest class in game. They're some strange hybrid between melee cav and ranged inf which sucks at shooting and melee (both dismounted and mounted).
Reason why we get so many hit-and-run dragoons is mostly because if they try anything else they will get slaughtered. Once in a blue moon dragoon will get a hit in driveby if he's lucky enough not to get raped by hussars. Dragoons are only somewhat dangerous when in large groups (as is anything else) or when they pull hit-and-run stuff in 1 vs 1.
All in all, dragoons would need some kind of rebalancing to make them actually useful instead of being markers for free kills in public server." (
Reference)
"Noones arguing that dragoons or drivebys are overpowered, we are trying to point out that it's annoying part of the game based completely on luck (yes, pointing your horse so your gun is remotely pointing towards enemy is quite easier than actually aiming at something) and should be removed in favor of making dragoons dedicated and useful class instead of the weakest and most annoying class in game. For some reason you're defending shooting from horseback when there's no real reason to do so." (
Reference)
"Firing from horseback have always been impossible to balance in Warband, you either got useless class which has only one purpose (to annoy people) or you get far overpowered class which slaughters everything in its way.
Removing firing from horseback while buffing dragoons athletics and 1h skill would turn them into mounted infantry which would be far better than useless class they are now (or turning them into medium cav)." (
Reference)