Drones: Difference between revisions

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[[Category:Ship Fitting]]

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.

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. See [[Using Drones]] for a detailed discussion of drone control and drone tactics for PvE and PvP.

==Drone Basics==

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|-

|}

~~== Mission Running ==~~

Drones are a very popular option for people wanting to get involved with PvE, they offer cap-free damage over a variable range of dps, tracking speeds and damage types (assuming you have enough room in your drone bay). Finding the right drone for the job however is very important as with any type of damage dealing.

~~=== Faction Considerations ===~~

When completing missions with a drone boat (the term for a ship designed primarily for fielding drones) information on what you are going to expect in terms of resistance is paramount. This information must mainly be the type of ships you are expecting to encounter and their faction. Each faction does and is weak to certain [[NPC Damage Types|damage types]] and the size of the enemy ships will help determine what size of drone to use (see the combat drone list above).

~~[[File:Drones.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Different light scout drone damage outputs on different faction targets]]~~

The chart to the right provides a mathematical example to the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of light scout drones<ref>[http://www.eve-ivy.com/forums//viewtopic.php?p=223943#p223943 E-Uni Forum Post: "PvE - Caldari - Battleship - Raven"]</ref>. A general way of displaying which racial drone damage type would be effective against which faction is displayed below (this does not account for the additional fighter damage type)<ref>[http://www.eve-ivy.com/oog/missions/rat.html Kelduum's Rat Info]</ref>:

~~{| class="wikitable" border="1"~~

|-

~~! Faction Name~~

~~! Weaknesses~~

~~! Best Drone Race~~

|-

~~| Angel Cartel~~

~~| Ex/Ki/Th~~

~~| Minmatar~~

|-

~~| Blood Raider~~

~~| EM/Th/Ki~~

~~| Amarr/Gallente~~

|-

~~| Guristas~~

~~| Ki/Th/Ex~~

~~| Caldari/Gallente~~

|-

~~| Sansha's Nation~~

~~| EM/Th/Ex~~

~~| Amarr/Gallente~~

|-

~~| Serpentis~~

~~| Ki/Th/EM~~

~~| Caldari/Gallente~~

|-

~~| Rogue Drones~~

~~| EM/Th/Ki~~

~~| Amarr/Gallente~~

|-

~~| Mercenary~~

~~| Th/Ki/Ex~~

~~| Gallente~~

|-

~~| Mordu's Legion~~

~~| Ki/Th/Ex~~

~~| Caldari/Gallente~~

|-

~~| EoM~~

~~| Ki/Ex/Th~~

~~| Caldari~~

|}

As you may notice in the above table, multiple races have been suggested for certain factions. This is because the base damage of each racial drone type has also been taken into account as well as the weaknesses of the enemy faction. The best example of this are the Gallente drones which offer higher dps than the other races' drones making them the choice against some factions even when they do not deal the damage type that faction is most weak to.

~~=== Strategies ===~~

The following are a collection of basic strategies for handling drone combat in a PvE scenario, this is certainly not comprehensive and is open to player style considerations and popular opinion, its is hoped that these will provide a baseline with which pilots may develop their own stratagem. Also see the [[Tips_and_Tricks#Drone_Usage|Tips and Tricks]] section on drones for information about drone use in combat.

~~'''Ship Tanking'''~~

When piloting drones into missions the usual strategy is for the drone boat to have a powerful active tank with combat drones suited for the factions and ships in the drone bay. The basic idea is for the pilot to gain and hold the aggro (attention) of the NPC pirates and then once achieved the appropriate drones are released and set on targets at the pilots discretion while the pilot fires their guns to aid with dps.

~~'''Alternative Ship Tanking'''~~

This method is a very slight variation and is often adopted by players who have progressed onto better ships with more slots at their disposal. Aggro is gained and held in the same manner as before, but when the drones are released to attack a targetted enemy, no more targets are made and the drones are left free to pick targets of their own choosing.

This leaves the pilot free to salvage wrecks, only changing drones if a new wave enters the room (to avoid the drones taking aggro) or if different sized drones are required to tackle larger/smaller ships.

~~'''Drone Tanking'''~~

Also referred to as drone seeding], this is a highly unorthodox tactic involves the use of multiple cheap (usually light) drones to speed tank the enemy while the player deals the majority of the damage without taking aggro. This method is mostly used in situations where the pilot is required to "punch above their weight" allowing them to complete a mission they would otherwise have to abandon. You can read more about drone tanking [[Drone_Tanking|here]].

~~== PvP ==~~

<i> NB: I have chosen to leave this section empty has I have had zero experience with using drones in PvP and am in no way qualified to even tabulate information on this topic. I gladly leave this in the hands of pilots with more experience in these matters.</i>

== Skills ==

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*[http://www.taultunleashed.com/phpbb2/about51871_Drone_Guide.html Taultunleashed Drone Guide]

*The [[Drones_101|Drones 101]] and [[Drones_102|Drones 102]] class syllabi

*[[Using Drones]]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 [[Category:Ship Fitting]]
-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.
+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. See [[Using Drones]] for a detailed discussion of drone control and drone tactics for PvE and PvP.
 ==Drone Basics==
@@ Line 284: / Line 284: @@
 |-
 |}
-== Mission Running ==
-Drones are a very popular option for people wanting to get involved with PvE, they offer cap-free damage over a variable range of dps, tracking speeds and damage types (assuming you have enough room in your drone bay). Finding the right drone for the job however is very important as with any type of damage dealing.
-=== Faction Considerations ===
-When completing missions with a drone boat (the term for a ship designed primarily for fielding drones) information on what you are going to expect in terms of resistance is paramount. This information must mainly be the type of ships you are expecting to encounter and their faction. Each faction does and is weak to certain [[NPC Damage Types|damage types]] and the size of the enemy ships will help determine what size of drone to use (see the combat drone list above).
-[[File:Drones.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Different light scout drone damage outputs on different faction targets]]
-The chart to the right provides a mathematical example to the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of light scout drones<ref>[http://www.eve-ivy.com/forums//viewtopic.php?p=223943#p223943 E-Uni Forum Post: "PvE - Caldari - Battleship - Raven"]</ref>. A general way of displaying which racial drone damage type would be effective against which faction is displayed below (this does not account for the additional fighter damage type)<ref>[http://www.eve-ivy.com/oog/missions/rat.html Kelduum's Rat Info]</ref>:
-{| class="wikitable" border="1"
-|-
-!  Faction Name
-!  Weaknesses
-!  Best Drone Race
-|-
-|  Angel Cartel
-|  Ex/Ki/Th
-|  Minmatar
-|-
-|  Blood Raider
-|  EM/Th/Ki
-|  Amarr/Gallente
-|-
-|  Guristas
-|  Ki/Th/Ex
-|  Caldari/Gallente
-|-
-|  Sansha's Nation
-|  EM/Th/Ex
-|  Amarr/Gallente
-|-
-|  Serpentis
-|  Ki/Th/EM
-|  Caldari/Gallente
-|-
-|  Rogue Drones
-|  EM/Th/Ki
-|  Amarr/Gallente
-|-
-|  Mercenary
-|  Th/Ki/Ex
-|  Gallente
-|-
-|  Mordu's Legion
-|  Ki/Th/Ex
-|  Caldari/Gallente
-|-
-|  EoM
-|  Ki/Ex/Th
-|  Caldari
-|}
-As you may notice in the above table, multiple races have been suggested for certain factions. This is because the base damage of each racial drone type has also been taken into account as well as the weaknesses of the enemy faction. The best example of this are the Gallente drones which offer higher dps than the other races' drones making them the choice against some factions even when they do not deal the damage type that faction is most weak to.
-=== Strategies ===
-The following are a collection of basic strategies for handling drone combat in a PvE scenario, this is certainly not comprehensive and is open to player style considerations and popular opinion, its is hoped that these will provide a baseline with which pilots may develop their own stratagem.  Also see the [[Tips_and_Tricks#Drone_Usage|Tips and Tricks]] section on drones for information about drone use in combat.
-'''Ship Tanking'''
-When piloting drones into missions the usual strategy is for the drone boat to have a powerful active tank with combat drones suited for the factions and ships in the drone bay. The basic idea is for the pilot to gain and hold the aggro (attention) of the NPC pirates and then once achieved the appropriate drones are released and set on targets at the pilots discretion while the pilot fires their guns to aid with dps.
-'''Alternative Ship Tanking'''
-This method is a very slight variation and is often adopted by players who have progressed onto better ships with more slots at their disposal. Aggro is gained and held in the same manner as before, but when the drones are released to attack a targetted enemy, no more targets are made and the drones are left free to pick targets of their own choosing.
-This leaves the pilot free to salvage wrecks, only changing drones if a new wave enters the room (to avoid the drones taking aggro) or if different sized drones are required to tackle larger/smaller ships.
-'''Drone Tanking'''
-Also referred to as drone seeding], this is a highly unorthodox tactic involves the use of multiple cheap (usually light) drones to speed tank the enemy while the player deals the majority of the damage without taking aggro. This method is mostly used in situations where the pilot is required to "punch above their weight" allowing them to complete a mission they would otherwise have to abandon. You can read more about drone tanking [[Drone_Tanking|here]].
-== PvP ==
-<i> NB: I have chosen to leave this section empty has I have had zero experience with using drones in PvP and am in no way qualified to even tabulate information on this topic. I gladly leave this in the hands of pilots with more experience in these matters.</i>
 == Skills ==
@@ Line 420: / Line 342: @@
 *[http://www.taultunleashed.com/phpbb2/about51871_Drone_Guide.html Taultunleashed Drone Guide]
 *The [[Drones_101|Drones 101]] and [[Drones_102|Drones 102]] class syllabi
+*[[Using Drones]]