Skills:Drones
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Some training in the Drones category is essential for most PvE and PvP combat. Drones are a useful source of additional DPS, and they are also a key defence against small ships for large ships.
Almost every ship larger than a destroyer has a dronebay. Caldari ships tend to have the smallest dronebays, but even Caldari pilots should aim to be able to field a full flight of five light drones when they start flying battlecruisers.
You can find some particular recommendations for drone skills to train here.
Advanced Drone Interfacing
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allows the use of the Drone Control Unit module. One extra module can be fitted per skill level. Each fitted Drone Control Unit allows the operation of one extra drone. | Memory | Perception | 8x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drone Interfacing V, Drones V | 13.5M ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
Amarr Drone Specialization
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialization in the operation of advanced Amarr drones. 2% bonus to advanced Amarr drone damage per level. | Memory | Perception | 5x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones V | 2.2-3.2M ISK* | ||
| Notes | |||
| The Amarr Drone Specialization skill is not sold by NPC stations so prices will vary widely. | |||
Caldari Drone Specialization
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialization in the operation of advanced Caldari drones. 2% bonus to advanced Caldari drone damage per level. | Memory | Perception | 5x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones V | 2.2-2.8M ISK* | ||
| Notes | |||
| The Caldari Drone Specialization skill is not sold by NPC stations so prices will vary widely. | |||
Combat Drone Operation
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill at controlling scout drones. 5% Bonus to drone damage of light and medium drones per level. | Memory | Perception | 2x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones III | 45,000 ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| A 5% drone damage bonus is not to be sniffed at, and most combat pilots should train this skill to IV. |
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Drone Durability
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Increases drone hit points. 5% bonus to drone shield, armor and hull hit points per level. | Memory | Perception | 5x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones IV | 45,000 ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| Your drones are usually only attacked if you mismanage PvE aggro, or attack a frigate or another droneboat with them in PvP, so Durability may be a lower priority than some of the damage skills. But it's still an important drone support skill. |
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Drone Interfacing
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allows a captain to better maintain its drones. 20% bonus to drone damage, drone mining yield per level. | Memory | Perception | 5x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones V | 450,000 ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| Each level of Drone Interfacing is like having another drone. Excellent support skill. |
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| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill at controlling drones at high speeds. 5% increase in drone MicroWarpdrive speed per level. | Memory | Perception | 1x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones IV | 90,000 ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| Faster drones means they get to the target and deal damage, and then return to you when you need them back, quicker. High levels in Drone Navigation also help your drones chase fast PvP targets like interceptors. However, high levels may make your drones more prone to 'overshooting' targets because of their greater speed. |
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Drone Sharpshooting
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Increases drone optimal range. | Memory | Perception | 1x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones V | 135,000 ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| Possibly not so important for normal combat drones, which can move around on their own. If you rely on long-ranged, stationary sentry drones then this skill will help them. |
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Drones
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill at remote controlling drones. Can operate 1 drone per skill level. | Memory | Perception | 1x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| None | 18,000 ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| The basic skill of the Drones category. Prerequisite for most other drone skills and an essential skill to train to level V for any combat pilot who flies anything with a 25m3 or larger dronebay. |
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Electronic Warfare Drone Interfacing
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allows operation of electronic warfare drones. 3000m drone control range bonus per level. | Memory | Perception | 5x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones V, Electronic Warfare IV, Electronics I | 360,000 ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| The drone control range bonus applies to all types of drones, not just electronic warfare drones. ECM drones are a useful ace-in-the-hole in PvP. |
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Fighter Bombers
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allows operation of fighter bomber drones. 20% increase in fighter bomber damage per level. | Memory | Perception | 12x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Fighters V, Drone Interfacing V, Drones V, Leadership V | 100M ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| Only of interest to supercarrier pilots, since only supercarriers can use fighter bombers. |
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Fighters
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allows operation of fighter drones. 20% increase in fighter damage per level. | Memory | Perception | 12x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drone Interfacing V, Drones V, Leadership V | 45M ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| Only carriers and supercarriers can use fighters. |
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Gallente Drone Specialization
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialization in the operation of advanced Gallente drones. 2% bonus to advanced Gallente drone damage per level. | Memory | Perception | 5x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones V | 2.2-2.9M ISK* | ||
| Notes | |||
| The Gallente Drone Specialization skill is not sold by NPC stations so prices will vary widely. Gallente drones are very popular because they have good damage modifiers, and a damage type (thermal) which is reliably useful against most PvE and PvP enemies. | |||
Heavy Drone Operation
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill at controlling heavy combat drones. 5% Bonus to heavy drone damage per level. | Memory | Perception | 5x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones V | 342,000 ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| Not all races have subcapital ships with big enough dronebays to justify using heavy drones, but Gallente battleship pilots, Amarr pilots who fly the Armageddon and Minmatar pilots who fly the Typhoon should train for them. |
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Mining Drone Operation
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill at controlling mining drones. 5% Bonus to mining drone yield per skill level. | Memory | Perception | 2x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones I, Mining II | 36,000 ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| A useful support skill for miners. |
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Minmatar Drone Specialization
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialization in the operation of advanced Minmatar drones. 2% bonus to advanced Minmatar drone damage per level. | Memory | Perception | 5x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones V | 2.8-3.8M ISK* | ||
| Notes | |||
| The Minmatar Drone Specialization skill is not sold by NPC stations so prices will vary widely. Minmatar drones are very popular for PvP because they are the fastest drones and although they don't do as much raw damage as Gallente drones they do explosive damage, which hits most armor tanks hard. | |||
Repair Drone Operation
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allows operation of logistic drones. 5% increased repair amount per level. | Memory | Perception | 3x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones V, Drone Durability I | 180,000 ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| Repair drones can be a useful augmentation to a remote repair effort, but don't expect them to perform nearly as well as a properly fitted and piloted logistics ship. Remember that you can't order your drones to repair yourself. |
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Scout Drone Operation
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill at controlling scout combat drones.
|
Memory | Perception | 1x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drones I | 36,000 ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| A useful skill, and also the prerequisite for some more advanced drone skills. |
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Sentry Drone Interfacing
| Description | Primary | Secondary | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill at controlling sentry drones. 5% bonus to Sentry Drone damage per level. | Memory | Perception | 5x |
| Prerequisite Skills | NPC Price | ||
| Drone Interfacing IV, Drones V, Drone Sharpshooting IV | 405,000 ISK | ||
| Notes | |||
| Sentry drones are specialised, and large, and so like heavy drones they're mostly of interest to pilots who can fly ships with 125m3 or more of space in their dronebay. Level V lets you use T2 sentry drones. |
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