Drones 102

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Contents

Class Information

This is a syllabus for a class provided by EVE University. This section contains information about this class and its contents. General Information includes materials to create a proper class listing on the EVE University forum. Additional resources and teaching tips are listed under Notes for the Teacher.

General information

Building upon the fundamentals introduced in Drones 101, this follow-up class explores advanced drones and related topics. Specifically, the course explores the capabilities of specialized drones for extended electronic warfare, combat utility, and logistics, and describes techniques for using these advanced drones effectively. It also provides an quick introduction to fighters and fighter bombers, as well as an overview of Tech I drone-carrying ships, and drone-enhancing modules and rigs.

Class contents:

Student requirements:

Additional information: This class is primarily lecture, followed by Q&A.

Notes for the teacher

Required materials:

While this syllabus is fairly detailed, teachers should not just recite this document. Make sure to read it thoroughly, use its structure as a guide for the structure of your class, but make it your own - feel free to insert your own insights and experiences as you cover the key points.

Class contents

Introduction

Welcome to this class on advanced drones, also known as Drones 102! Over the next hour, we shall review the different types of advanced drones available to EVE pilots, and discuss how to use them effectively. We'll also review the kinds of specialized modules and rigs that can help you to improve your use of drones.

This course builds upon the basic introduction to drones provided in Drones 101. If you are not familiar with the essentials of combat drones and how to use them, you may find much of the content presented in this program to be somewhat mystifying. Feel free to leave this class if you feel it is too advanced for you.

(Instructor should then introduce himself or herself - covering experience level and background.)

We have a few ground rules for this class:

Everyone ready? OK, then - let's begin....

Advanced Drone Types

As you already know, drones are capable of serving many different roles, and they come in a mix of racial flavors, sizes and tech levels. Combat and mining drones are the most commonly used types, but there are a number of advanced drones that require additional skills and expertise to master. This course will focus on the proper use of these advanced drone types.

In summary, these advanced drone types include:

Electronic Warfare Drones

Electronic warfare (EW) drones do not do damage like combat drones, but instead apply EWAR effects on their target, as determined by their racial type. There are three EW drones per race, reflecting the light scout, medium scout and heavy attack drones of the combat models. Pilots must have suitable EW skills to operate any of these drones. Note that these drones receive no benefits from a ship's bonuses for any EWAR capability - they fly and operate independently from your ship, and therefore do not receive those bonuses.

Tracking Disruption

These are Amarr EW drones, which reduce both the amount of damage and the chance to hit of a target ship's turrets; however, they have no effect on missile launchers.

Skills required:

Tracking Disruption EW drones:

Acolyte TD-300 Infiltrator TD-600 Praetor TD-900
Size m3 5 10 25
Velocity m/sec 3200 2750 2000
Optimal m 5K 7.5K 10K
ECM

The Caldari EW drones can jam a target ship's ability to target you. This not only drops current locks that target may have, but also makes them unable to lock again for a short time. These drones are roughly equivalent to multispectral jamming modules, not the more powerful race-specific jammers.

Skills required:

ECM EW drones:

Hornet EC-300 Vespa EC-600 Wasp EC-900
Size m3 5 10 25
Velocity m/sec 3200 2750 2000
Optimal m 5K 7.5K 10K

EC-300s (scout) have a jam strength of 1.0, EC-600s (medium) have a jam strength of 1.5, and EC-900s (heavy) have a jam strength of 2.0. ECM drones suffer no stacking penalty, but do not benefit from any pilot ECM-related skills, which are limited only to their ship.

Sensor Dampening

These Gallente drones specialize in reducing the range and speed of enemy targeting systems, forcing the target either to come closer to lock or will much longer to achieve a lock.

Skills required:

Sensor Dampening EW drones:

Hobgoblin SD-300 Hammerhead SD-600 Ogre SD-900
Size m3 5 10 25
Velocity m/sec 3200 2750 2000
Optimal m 5K 7.5K 10K
Target Painting

These Minmatar drones follow the principle of increasing a target's signature radius, essentially making it "bigger" and easier to hit in combat. This means that ships are able to lock on to that target faster and do greater damage with both turrets and missiles.

Skills required:

Target Painting EW drones:

Warrior TP-300 Valkyre TP-600 Berserker TP-900
Size m3 5 10 25
Velocity m/sec 3200 2750 2000
Optimal m 5K 7.5K 10K

Combat Utility Drones

Similar to EW drones, Combat Utility drones act like mobile Energy Neutralizer or Stasis Webifier modules.

Energy Neutralization

These drones drain the capacitor of the target vessel and come in three sizes. They are based on Amarr combat drone design.

Skills required:

Energy Neutralization EW drones:

Acolyte EV-300 Infiltrator EV-600 Praetor EV-900
Size m3 5 10 25
Velocity m/sec 3200 2750 2000
Optimal m 5K 7.5K 10K

All energy neut drones operate on a 6 second cycle - each cycle, they drain 5 (EV-300), 10 (EV-600) or 25 (EV-900) gigajoules (GJ). So, if someone has a 1,000 GJ capacitor, an EV-900 drone will drain it to zero (assuming that it is not recharging) in 40 cycles or 240 seconds: 4 minutes - which is forever in EVE combat time. If you have 5 of them going at the same time, that cuts it down to 8 cycles or 48 seconds - so the lesson is: if you use energy neut drones, use them on smaller ships, and use them in large groups.

Stasis Webification

These drones slow the sub-light speeds of the target, making them easier to hit and damage. They only come in one size, in a design similar to that of the heavy Minmatar drone: the Beserker.

Skills required:

Statis Webificiation drone:

Berserker SW-900
Size m3 25
Velocity m/sec 2000
Optimal m 10K

Logistics Drones

These drones repair either the shield or armor of their targets, instead of damaging them. Unfortunately, a pilot is not able to target him/herself, and so the use of these drones is restricted to fleetmates. Note that there are no hull repair drones.

Shield Repair

These drones repair the shield of the target ship, and use the designs of small, medium and heavy Caldari drones. They come in Tech I and Tech II varieties - Tech II are about 20% more effective in repairing shields than the Tech I versions.

Skills required:

Armor Repair

These drones repair the armor of the target, and use the designs of the small, medium and heavy Gallente drones. They also come in Tech I and Tech II varieties - Tech II are about 20% more effective in repairing armor than the Tech I versions.

Skills required:

Fighters and Fighter Bombers

For pilots with very advanced skills, there are two other types of drones: Fighters and Fighter Bombers.

Fighters are frigate-sized drones that do cruiser-level damage, and can only be fielded by carriers and supercarriers. They are capable of warping and as such they can pursue a target into warp. This means that the only escape from a fighter is to jump out of a system or to dock.

There is one model of fighter for each race - pilots may field fighters of any race if they have the appropriate skills. Note that unlike regular drones, fighters deliver two types of damage, a primary type and secondary type, depending on their racial type:

Drone Name Race Base Damage

(T2/T1)

Range Falloff Tracking Speed

(rad/sec)

Primary Damage Secondary Damage
Templar Amarr 200/100 4500 2500 0.075 EM Thermal
Dragonfly Caldari 213/106 5000 3500 0.0625 Kinetic Thermal
Firbolg Gallente 175/88 1500 3500 0.1 Thermal Kinetic
Einherji Minmatar 125/63 1000 5000 0.125 Explosive Kinetic

The skills required to field fighters, assuming that you can fly a carrier or supercarrier, include:

Fighter-bombers are a relatively new addition to EVE, and they have exactly one purpose: to destroy capital ships. They can be based only in Supercarrier class ships, and they launch specialized torpedoes capable of inflicting immense damage against capital vessels.

EVE University pilots will rarely see fighters and fighter-bombers outside of null-sec (0.0) space, where carriers and supercarriers are usually found. As a result, we shall not cover them in detail in this introductory-level class. Suffice it to say that if you do see fighters, your most prudent course of action is probably to run away - fast!

How to Use Advanced Drones Effectively

Most pilots never train the necessary skills to use advanced drones. On the rare occasion when they do, most pilots utilize them poorly, as just another combat drone added to the mix.

This trend works in your favor. If you can master and deploy advanced drones effectively, they can provide an element of surprise to your attack strategy and tactics, and can provide a significant competitive advantage.

The biggest threat to your drones is smartbomb-using battleships. If you see a ship using smartbombs, withdraw your surviving drones and pick a different target, or warp out. You can usually get a clue about whether a battleship is fitted for smartbombing by using the "Look At" option on your target - if you see that it does not have turrets fitted, chances are good that they are going to use smartbombs.

1-on-1 PvP with Advanced Drones

In a 1-on-1 PvP battle, advanced drone users have one major advantage over non-drone users: with multiple types of drones at your command, you have more options for confounding and frustrating your opponent.

Typically, a warp scrambler on your drone boat is a must for small PvP engagements. Multiple nos and neuts are also very useful for taking down your opponent's tank. A nossing Dominix with a Tech II armor tank and Tech II drones is one of the most fearsome opponents in EVE.

However, with advanced drones, even if you have only a moderately sized drone bay, you can deploy energy neutralizer drones. If you have a larger bay, consider adding a stasis webifier drone. These drones can do the jobs that your on-board modules would otherwise have to do, even if you are not piloting a true "drone boat". This frees up at least one high slot or one medium slot on your ship, so you can add another weapon for greater DPS, and either enhance your shield tank or improve your cap regeneration with mid-slot enhancements. Further, since the use of these advanced drones is so uncommon, most pilots realize too late how they are really being tackled or neutralized.

Use ECM drones in large numbers to increase your chance of getting a jam. They can come in very handy for breaking target locks, and escaping an adversary. Yes, you'll abandon your drones in that case, but that is a cheap price to pay for living to fight another day. Unlike the other three kinds of EWAR drones, ECM drones are unaffected by stacking penalties.

The chances of a full flight of five ECM drones jamming a target are related to the target's sensor strength, as follows:

5 x Scout ECM drones (Hornet EC-300):

Enemy Sensor Strength Chance to Jam
25 18%
20 23%
15 29%
10 41%
5 67%


5 x Medium ECM drones (Vespa EC-600):

Enemy Sensor Strength Chance to Jam
25 27%
20 32%
15 41%
10 56%
5 83%

Remember, ECM drones do not suffer any stacking penalties for multiple jam attempts. All it takes is one ECM drone to jam your target to break their lock, and any tackling mods will be broken, so that you escape.

By the way, a drone bay full of ECM drones in a Gallente EWAR ship with bonuses for sensor dampeners, such as the Celestis, is a particularly nasty combination for 1-on-1 PvP. While your drones and sensor damps confound your enemy, you can fire away with impunity.

Fleet PvP with Advanced Drones

Employing drones in fleet engagements can be extremely powerful, if well coordinated. Certainly, you can field damage dealing drones to increase fleet firepower, but if your fleet is bristling with high DPS battleships already, consider mixing in some advanced drones to enhance your fleet's effectiveness.

In fleet engagements, you generally want to set your drones to Aggressive mode - you'll be busy enough with your own ship to worry about directing drones against specific targets.

Repair drones can be especially useful in supporting the tanks of your front-line damage dealers in fleet. Unlike "spider tanking" - using on-board remote repair modules to support fleetmates - using repair drones does not require close formations of ships, and they do not use capacitor energy. Repair drones are also more handy for use after a battle than on-board repair modules, as they can quickly move from ship to ship to service them.

A mass of EWAR drones can be a powerful "secret weapon" against enemy fleets. If your fleet is short of tacklers, webifying drones can do a lot to hold targets in place - unfortunately, they only come in a large size (25m3), so only ships with a substantial drone bay can carry them. They are also slow-moving, so you have to be close to your target to deploy them effectively. However, a mass of light or medium jamming, neuting or dampening drones are rarely seen or expected - if you have the skills to field them, they can do a lot to ruin your opponents' day.

If your fleet is deployed in a defensive gate camp, where you are stationed at your optimal distance from the gate, consider using the "assist" command to deploy your advanced drones - select a fleetmate that is closer to the gate and station your drones around that pilot - when they engage the enemy, so will your drones.

Drone-Carrying Ships

Some ships receive bonuses to various aspects of drones - these are called "drone boats". Generally, these bonuses will be either to the number of drones that you can carry, the range that your drones can operate, or to the damage and hitpoints of your drones. For example, the Ishtar, a Gallente Tech II HAC (based on the Vexor design), receives these drone bonuses: a 10% bonus to drone hitpoints and damage per Gallente Cruiser skill level, a +5 km bonus to Scout and Heavy Drone operation range, and +50 m3 extra Drone Bay space per Heavy Assault Ship skill level.

Other ships also carry minor drone bonuses, most specifically the Tech II Logistics ships have repair amount bonuses to logistics drones of the type that the ship specializes in - for example the Gallente Oneiros (based on the Exequoror design) receives a 20% bonus to Armor Maintenance Bot transfer amount per Gallente Cruiser skill level.

Tech I drone-carrying vessels (sorted by drone bay size):

Evelopedia Table of Notable Drone Ships: http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Drones#Notable_drone_ships

Modules and Rigs for Drones

Pilots can enhance the effectiveness of their drones with specialized modules and rigs. Note that there are no implants that directly improve drone capabilities, unlike other weaponry.

Drone-related Ship Modules

Drone-related Rigs

There are several ship modifications available to help enhance the capabilities of your drones. They come in small, medium and large rig slots, and in Tech I and Tech II, varieties. Most of these enhancements will be of interest only to dedicated "drone boat" pilots. The Tech I versions all require training in the Drones Rigging I, Jury Rigging III, and Mechanic III.

Class Wrap-up

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