Drones: Difference between revisions

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[[Category:PvE]]

~~== Overview ==~~

In Eve, drones are semi-autonomous vehicles launched from larger spacecraft, designed to augment the launching ship's capabilities. All four races use drones, so every combat pilot is likely to use them sooner or later. This article explains how to load, deploy and control drones, and discusses the different types of drone available.

Drones are semi-autonomous vehicles launched from larger spacecraft designed to augment the launching ship's capabilities. Drones are stored in, and launched from the drone bay of a ship and require bandwidth to control. Up to five drones may be deployed at a given time given sufficient bandwidth and skills. The two exceptions to this limit are [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Carrier carriers] and the rare guardian vexor.<ref> [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Drones Drones, EveOnline Wiki]</ref>

==Drone Basics==

~~Bandwidth is~~ a ship ~~based constraint which dictates~~ the ~~number of active drones you are capable of fielding~~ in ~~space at~~ a ~~given time; drone bay size is another ship based constraint that dictates~~ the ~~number of deployable drones~~ (~~drones can not be deployed from the cargo hold~~) ~~you have at your overall disposal and the skill [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Drones Drones] allows the pilot to field one drone per level~~.

===Dronebay===

A ship must have a dronebay to use drones. You can find out if your ship has a dronebay, and how big it is, by looking at the Attributes tab in its Show Info window -- if it has a dronebay, it will tell you the dronebay's capacity in meters cubed (m3).

~~Drones~~ can be ~~instructed to commit to specific targets~~ but are ~~also able~~ to ~~take action~~ on ~~their own~~. ~~For example~~, ~~combat~~ drones ~~completing~~ the ~~destruction of a target~~ ship ~~that receive no further orders move autonomously onto a new~~ ship. ~~This provides~~ the ~~player~~ with ~~the option~~ to ~~let~~ the drones ~~"do~~ their ~~thing" while concentrating on other matters or~~ to ~~reel~~ them in ~~and concentrate on specific targets making for a very dynamic play style~~.

To open the dronebay, either right-click on your ship in your hangar and select 'open dronebay' or click on the dronebay button at the bottom left of the fitting screen (near the cargo hold button). You can load drones into your dronebay by dragging and dropping them into the dronebay window. Nothing else can be loaded into the dronebay. You can carry drones in your cargo hold, but you cannot use drones while they are in your cargohold, and you cannot transfer drones from your hold to your dronebay while you are in space.

===Drones in Space===

If you undock with drones in your dronebay you will see a new window for controlling drones appear on your screen. You can launch them by right-clicking on them in this window and selecting the launch option, or by selecting them in this window and then clicking the launch button in the selected item window.

You may only have a maximum of five drones in space at once -- one for every level you have trained in the [[Skills:Drones#Drones|Drones]] skill -- even if you can carry more in your dronebay. (The three exceptions to this limit are [[Capital_Ship#Carriers|carriers]], [[Capital_Ship#Supercarriers|supercarriers]] and the rare [http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Guardian-Vexor Guardian-Vexor].<ref> [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Drones Drones, EveOnline Wiki]</ref>)

===Bandwidth===

The other constraint on the drones you can launch is your ship's bandwidth -- again, you can find this on your ship's Attributes tab. Bandwidth represents your ship's ability to coordinate your drones, and bigger and more powerful drones always require more bandwidth (in fact, their bandwidth requirements in Mbit/sec is always the same number as their size in m3).

===Control and Behaviour===

Right-clicking in the drone control window on the drones you have in space lets you order them to attack your selected target, or to return and orbit you, or to return and dock with you and return to the dronebay. There is usually a short lag period before they actually perform your orders.

By default your drones are set to behave aggressively, which means they will attack anything hostile to you within their range. In the drone settings window, which you can access from the white triangle at the top left of the drone control window, you can set them to behave passively instead, which will make them simply orbit you until you order them to attack something.

There's much more to be said about the use of drones, some of which is covered below, but if you've read the above you should know the basics required to load and deploy drones in Eve.

== Drone Types ==

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 [[Category:PvE]]
-== Overview ==
+In Eve, drones are semi-autonomous vehicles launched from larger spacecraft, designed to augment the launching ship's capabilities. All four races use drones, so every combat pilot is likely to use them sooner or later. This article explains how to load, deploy and control drones, and discusses the different types of drone available.
-Drones are semi-autonomous vehicles launched from larger spacecraft designed to augment the launching ship's capabilities. Drones are stored in, and launched from the drone bay of a ship and require bandwidth to control. Up to five drones may be deployed at a given time given sufficient bandwidth and skills. The two exceptions to this limit are [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Carrier carriers] and the rare guardian vexor.<ref> [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Drones Drones, EveOnline Wiki]</ref>
+==Drone Basics==
-Bandwidth is a ship based constraint which dictates the number of active drones you are capable of fielding in space at a given time; drone bay size is another ship based constraint that dictates the number of deployable drones (drones can not be deployed from the cargo hold) you have at your overall disposal and the skill [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Drones Drones] allows the pilot to field one drone per level.
+===Dronebay===
+A ship must have a dronebay to use drones. You can find out if your ship has a dronebay, and how big it is, by looking at the Attributes tab in its Show Info window -- if it has a dronebay, it will tell you the dronebay's capacity in meters cubed (m3).
-Drones can be instructed to commit to specific targets but are also able to take action on their own. For example, combat drones completing the destruction of a target ship that receive no further orders move autonomously onto a new ship. This provides the player with the option to let the drones "do their thing" while concentrating on other matters or to reel them in and concentrate on specific targets making for a very dynamic play style.
+To open the dronebay, either right-click on your ship in your hangar and select 'open dronebay' or click on the dronebay button at the bottom left of the fitting screen (near the cargo hold button). You can load drones into your dronebay by dragging and dropping them into the dronebay window. Nothing else can be loaded into the dronebay. You can carry drones in your cargo hold, but you cannot use drones while they are in your cargohold, and you cannot transfer drones from your hold to your dronebay while you are in space.
+===Drones in Space===
+If you undock with drones in your dronebay you will see a new window for controlling drones appear on your screen. You can launch them by right-clicking on them in this window and selecting the launch option, or by selecting them in this window and then clicking the launch button in the selected item window.
+You may only have a maximum of five drones in space at once -- one for every level you have trained in the [[Skills:Drones#Drones|Drones]] skill -- even if you can carry more in your dronebay. (The three exceptions to this limit are [[Capital_Ship#Carriers|carriers]], [[Capital_Ship#Supercarriers|supercarriers]] and the rare [http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Guardian-Vexor Guardian-Vexor].<ref> [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Drones Drones, EveOnline Wiki]</ref>)
+===Bandwidth===
+The other constraint on the drones you can launch is your ship's bandwidth -- again, you can find this on your ship's Attributes tab. Bandwidth represents your ship's ability to coordinate your drones, and bigger and more powerful drones always require more bandwidth (in fact, their bandwidth requirements in Mbit/sec is always the same number as their size in m3).
+===Control and Behaviour===
+Right-clicking in the drone control window on the drones you have in space lets you order them to attack your selected target, or to return and orbit you, or to return and dock with you and return to the dronebay. There is usually a short lag period before they actually perform your orders.
+By default your drones are set to behave aggressively, which means they will attack anything hostile to you within their range. In the drone settings window, which you can access from the white triangle at the top left of the drone control window, you can set them to behave passively instead, which will make them simply orbit you until you order them to attack something.
+There's much more to be said about the use of drones, some of which is covered below, but if you've read the above you should know the basics required to load and deploy drones in Eve.
 == Drone Types ==