Drone mechanics: Difference between revisions

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{{Weapon Systems Links}}

Drones have a wide variety of applications: including combat, e-war, logistics, and mining. As they may be used differently in PvE and PvP, those aspects of combat are described separately.

== Drones in PvE ==

As you begin to fly medium and large ships, frigate-sized NPC enemies become increasingly hard to kill. It may sometimes be impossible to kill them using even medium-sized weapons once they settle into a close orbit around you. To compound the problem, in tougher exploration sites and level 3 and 4 missions frigates can be the most dangerous enemies, because they can [[Lexicon#point|warp-scramble]] and/or [[Lexicon#web|web]] you. (See [[Targeting#Targeting time|Targeting time]])

If you're flying a battleship with a reasonable drone bay and decent support skills, such that your primary weapons can kill cruisers reasonably fast, you may also want to consider bringing a flight of light drones and three or more [[Drones#Sentry Drones|sentry/heavy drones]]. The sentries or heavies can do some DPS to cruiser targets (sentries work quite well on them when their angular velocity is low) and can augment your DPS against battlecruisers and battleships. This may entail extra skill training.

==== NPCs targeting drones ====

Frigate rats may attack your light drones and above, cruiser rats may attack your medium drones and above, and battleship rats may attack your heavy/sentry drones. In particular, elite rats (see [[NPC Naming Convention]]) have a higher probability of attacking your drones. At the extreme end, [[Sleeper]] NPC are very fond of attacking drones, so much so that solo drone boats have a very difficult time in wormhole PvE.

=== Drones as a primary weapon ===

=== Sentry vs Heavy drones ===

When you start attempting level 4 missions or tougher combat sites, you will have to initially choose between using sentry drones and heavy attack drones for your main anti-battleship weapon (as their skill prerequisites are somewhat different, and training either kind to Tech 2 takes some time).

=== Drone brawling ===

Drone brawling means using light, medium and heavy drones, and flying your ship at close range to the enemies (often at high speed).

==== Ship fitting ====

==== Tactics ====

=== Drone sniping ===

Drone sniping means using sentry drones to destroy enemies at long range (often outside the effective range of their weapons). Tanking is less of an issue, though Tech 2 modules are still required in level 3 and 4 missions. On the other hand, good skills to increase locking range, drone control range, drone optimal range and drone damage are required.

While a sniping drone ships tends to have a weaker tank than a brawling ship, some tank is still necessary for occasions when enemy ships come into range (again, a Damage Control II is rarely a bad idea). It's essential to be able to target and hit NPCs at long ranges, so fit Omnidirectional Tracking Links (Omnidirectional Tracking Enhancers can be used if you have no mid-slots free, but the Links are better, as they can use scripts), Drone Link Augmentors, and (if needed) a Sensor Booster with a Targeting Range script.

In addition to your sentry drones, carry at least a flight of light drones (and, if you can, a flight of medium drones) to take out smaller enemies close in. For ships with large drone bays, it can be a good idea to carry one set of long-range, low-damage, and one set or short-range, high-damage sentry drones, to be swapped as the enemies approach.

The following ships are good choices as droneboats for high-level PvE content (level 4 missions, low- and nullsec combat sites):

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* Level 4 missions: heavy or sentry drones, and light drones

{| class="wikitable drones"  

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! rowspan=2 | Faction

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! <span style="cursor:help;" title="Best drone family to use.">Best</span>

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| [[File:logo_faction_angel_cartel.png|64px|link=|Angel Cartel]]

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| [[File:logo_faction_the_blood_raider_covenant.png|64px|link=|Blood Raiders]]

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| [[File:logo_faction_guristas_pirates.png|64px|link=|Guristas]]

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| [[File:logo_faction_mordus_legion.png|64px|link=|Mordu's Legion]]

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| [[File:icon_drone_bandwith.png|64px|link=|Rogue Drones]]<!-- if anyone has a more suitable icon, please put it in! :) -->

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| [[File:logo_faction_serpentis.png|64px|link=|Serpentis]]

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| [[File:logo_faction_sanshas_nation.png|64px|link=|Sansha's Nation]]<ref name="sansha">This only refers to the Sansha's Nation NPCs found in missions, anomalies, and belts. Sansha's Nation ships in [[Incursions]] have different characteristics.</ref>

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=== Salvage drones ===

=== Mining drones ===

=== Drone choice ===

Some ships have bandwidth and dronebays which let you choose between having a full flight of drones, or a smaller number of larger drones; usually the option of a full flight offers more DPS. The [[Rupture]], for example, could field five light scout drones with one spare, three medium drones, or four lights and one medium - four lights and one medium offer the most DPS, and five lights will outdamage three mediums. Light drones will also reach their targets faster and will damage frigate targets more.

A small number of battleships (the [[Hyperion]], [[Armageddon Navy Issue]], and the [[Vindicator]]) don't have any drone bonuses but still have the bandwidth and dronebay to field a full flight of heavy or sentry drones for a significant DPS boost. Additional dronebay space can be used to bring one or two extra flights of drones (a flight of light drones and a flight of light ECM drones, for example). In general, larger dronebays allows you the flexibility to bring multiple drone types, to best engage different enemy types. Alternatively, spare dronebay space can be used to bring EWAR or logistics drones (see below).

==== EWAR and combat utility drones ====

The one exception to this rule are ECM drones, as they are not subject to stacking penalties. While each ECM drone on its own is not particularly powerful, a full flight of them is surprisingly effective, particularly against small- and medium-sized ships with lower sensor strengths. You can use them to reduce the DPS you take over the course of a fight, or to give you an opportunity to escape by jamming enemy tackling ships; they are particularly effective in solo and small gangs.

Logistics drones can be useful, but can't really replace dedicated [[Cruiser#Logistics|logistics cruisers]]. A single flight won't be able to keep up with large amounts of damage, so to really be effective every gang member would need to bring them (at the cost of lost dps, as they could have brought combat drones instead). Additionally, they react more sluggishly than repair modules, as they first need to travel to their target in order to repair it.

=== Tactics ===

* Your drones are probably faster than you, and should be able to catch these ships

If you have a criminal flag, or an [[timers|aggression timer]], then sentry guns on gates and stations will see your drones as a valid target. Since sentry guns have perfect tracking, they will kill your drones very fast if they decide to shoot them. For this reason, drone boats are somewhat unpopular with lowsec pirates.

Small-scale battles between droneboats often involve a 'drone war', in which (since both ships have their DPS tied up in their drones) they both order their drones to attack the enemy's drones. In these engagements, smaller drones tend to beat larger drones (as they are much faster and more agile), and if it simply comes down to a battle of attrition then the ship with more dronebay space dedicated to light scouts will probably emerge victorious. However, you can try a few tricks to swing the contest your way. Consider that:

* To order drones to attack other drones, you need to have locks on the target drones

* Drones often require more micromanagement than launchers or turrets.

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== Fleet applications ==

=== Fleet composition ===

In fleet situations, drones can be used to temporarily mimic the capabilities of specialized fleet members, particularly in the case of EWAR drones. However, this application is generally ineffective over long engagements, and EWAR drones should be replaced by specialized ships once those ships arrive. For example, in all cases where webs are being applied, once additional tackle ships are in range, webbing drones are no longer needed. Drone ships, such as the {{sh|Vexor}} and {{sh|Myrmidon}} that have large drone capacities, can deploy the specialized drones to gain a tactical advantage, and then deploy combat drones to bring addition damage to play once the target is brought under control. In small gangs, the FC will likely need a dual roll ship to apply these drones effectively. In larger fleets, smaller ships like the {{sh|Algos}} can stay at range and allow the bulk of the fleet to focus on the primary target.

The primary question the FC must answer is "do I have the capacity to bring in a dedicated support ship, such as a {{sh|Blackbird}} for ECM". If so, then the dedicated support ship will always be a superior choice. But, if the FC is forced to forgo the support ship to have sufficient DPS to be effective, these drones can provide significant capability.

    

=== Fleet behavior ===

In order to be successful, pilots in drone-based and drone-augmented fleets should follow a specific series of steps when engaging:

=== Scenarios ===

==== Gate Camps ====

Null Sec gate camps often include [[Interdictors]] ({{sh|Eris}}, {{sh|Flycatcher}}, {{sh|Heretic}}, {{sh|Sabre}}) to provide temporary bubbles, as once they are up, no ship within the bubble can warp away. They are effective without having to target a ship, and they are short lived (2 minutes versus the Mobile Warp Disruptor's 30 day life span). In order to keep the target ship from warping off, it has to be kept in the bubble. This is more difficult than it sounds as the Interdiction Bubbles stay were they are launched. The Interdictor can launch more bubbles, but it has a limited supply and a long reload time.

==== Kiting takedowns ====

This situation is similar to the gate camp. The biggest problem with fighting kiting fleets is getting close enough to a target to provide an effective warp-in for the rest of the fleet. Given the long range of drones, if combat utility drones can be applied early, they can slow the target ship just enough to allow tackle to get close enough to provide an effective warp-in early in the engagement.

==== Freeing up a midslot ====

Many FCs prefer a shield tanked fleet to provide speed. But doing this in a PvP fleet can be difficult when you have less than 4 slots (1 for the MWD, 1 for a point or scram, 1 for a web, the rest for tank). If the ship has reasonable DPS without drones, then drones can replace the web. True, this web is not as effective as a module, but as discussed above, its greater operating range can tip the scales toward victory.

==== Disrupting enemy logistics ====

{{see also|Electronic Countermeasures}}

To examine the effectiveness of drones in this role, consider the following example:

or about 20%. This is not going to render the Guardian useless, but it will make it less effective.

==== Logistics support for tacklers ====

As shown in [[Drones#Logistics drones|Logistics Drones]], a full flight of five medium logistics drones can repair 120 DPS. This won't keep a tackle ship alive forever, but when taking down a single ship of T1 cruiser size or below, this can extend the tackle's life by 20% or more (assuming the DPS ship produces 600 DPS or less). For example, a Tristan can be armor fit to provide 5K EHP. Against a Thorax or Vexor with up to 600DPS, the Tristan may survive 10 seconds. Extending that time to 12 seconds with armor logi drones may just provide the additional lock time a larger, more capable ship needs to become effective on the field. If these drones are applied by dual role ship, it is unlikely that the fleet will be giving up DPS during the time the drones are supporting the tackle ship. To be most effective in the role, the dual role ship will need to have the tackle ship locked and the drones applied before the tackle engages.