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| == Drone control == | | == Drone control == |
| === Commands ===
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| You can give the following commands to your drones. Each drone type has a few "primary commands", which relate to its function:
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| * '''{{co|wheat|Engage}}''': Orders your drone(s) to engage (attack, repair, jam, etc) the target you have currently locked. They will fly to your target, attempt to orbit it and engage it. Note that your drones will engage whatever you order them to do so, including your other drones or your fleetmates (which can easily happen by accident if you fly logistics and combat drones at the same time).
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| * '''{{co|wheat|Assist}}''': If you give this command your drones will assist a member of your fleet, and will engage whatever target they are attacking. This can useful for concentrating your fire while in a fleet (in [[Incursions]], this is referred to as a [[Roles_in_Incursions#Dronebunny|"dronebunny"]]), or to make sure your drones attack as quickly as possible in PvP (by ordering your drones to assist a fleetmat with a fast-locking ship). Note that your fleet member can't control your drones directly, and you remain responsible for any targets your drones attack (for instance, if your fleet member [[Timers|attacks a neutral target]] in high-sec, CONCORD will destroy both of your ships). <!-- for logistics drones, is there any difference between this and "engage"? -->
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| * '''{{co|wheat|Guard}}''': Similar to the "Assist" command, except that your drones will engage whatever ships attacks the fleet member you order your drones to guard.
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| * '''{{co|wheat|Mine}}''' and '''{{co|wheat|Mine Repeatedly}}''': Orders your mining drone(s) to mine the asteroid you have targeted for one cycle (60 seconds), then return to your ship, drop the mined ore off in your cargo or ore bay. If you give the "Mine" command, your drones will do this once and then orbit your ship to await further instructions; if you give the "Mine Repeatedly" command, they will immediately return to the asteroid after they have dropped off their ore at your ship and will continue mining. Unless you are micromanaging your drones, you should always use the "Mine Repeatedly" command.
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| * '''{{co|wheat|Salvage}}''': Orders your salvage drone(s) to salvage the wreck you have targeted; if you give this command without anything targeted, your salvage drones will automatically salvage every wreck ''belonging to you'' within your drone control range. To salvage wrecks belonging to other players (coloured yellow on the [[overview]]), you need to manually target them and give the "Salvage" command.
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| Additionally, you can give any drones these generic commands:
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| * '''{{co|wheat|Launch}}''': Launch the selected drone(s) from your drone bay into space.
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| * '''{{co|wheat|Return and Orbit}}''': Order your drone(s) to fly back to your ship and orbit it, awaiting further commands.
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| * '''{{co|wheat|Abandon Drone}}''': [[#Abandoned drones|Abandons]] your drones in space. While normally you would want to order your drones to return to your drone bay, in some situations (particularly PvP) this can take too long, and you may want to abandon your current drones in order to launch a different drone type which is better suited to engaging your current enemy.
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| * '''{{co|wheat|Return to Drone Bay}}''': Order your drone(s) in space to fly back to your ship and land in your ship's drone bay.
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| * '''{{co|wheat|Scoop to Drone Bay}}''': If your drone has become disabled in space (i.e. is no longer responding to commands), you can fly your ship to it and, once your are nearby (2500m), scoop the drone into your ship's drone bay. You can also scoop up drones abandoned by other players (if e.g. their ship was destroyed, or they warped off without docking their drones).
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| * '''{{co|wheat|Scoop to Cargo Bay}}''': Similar to the "Scoop to Drone Bay" command, but scoops the drone to your cargo bay instead of your drone bay. This is useful if your drone bay is already full.
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| You can give a drone commands either by right-clicking it, selecting it in the [[overview]] and using the overview buttons, or by using a radial menu (by long-clicking). Additionally, you can use [[Keyboard controls#Drones|hotkeys]] for some of these commands - learning these is a very good idea for drone ship pilots. Lastly, you can give "launch" and "return to drone bay" commands by dragging drones in the drone control window between the "drones in bay" to the "drones in space" sections.
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| Once you give a command to your drones, they start carrying it out in the next server tick. In practice, this means that your drones may take 1-2 seconds to respond after you give a command.
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| === Drone behavior settings ===
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| [[File:Drone options.png|thumb|right|Modify drone behavior.]]
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| You can modify your drones' default behavior through the drone control window.
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| ==== Passive ====
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| Your drones will not automatically attack hostile ships in this mode, but will stay in orbit around your ship until given a specific command. This is the default mode, and it's recommended to keep your drones in this mode for PvE (particularly when running missions, as you want to control which rats you aggro) and for most PvP.
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| ==== Aggressive ====
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| Your drones will automatically attack any entity (ship, sentry gun...) which attacks your ship. If you don't order them to attack a specific target, they will pick one at random (using the same logic as [[Missile_Launchers#Auto-Targeting_Missiles|auto-targeting missiles]]). Note that they will only react to hostiles which begin attacking you ''after'' the drones were launched - if a ship begins attacking you before you launch your drones, you would need to manually command them to attack.
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| This mode can be useful if you are being [[ECM|jammed]], as it gives you a chance to attack ''something'' at least. However, as your drones are fairly dumb in their target selection, in almost every other situation you want to command your drones manually. Additionally, this mode can be a liability when running missions, as your drones may inadvertently attack trigger NPCs, causing you to become overwhelmed with rats.
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| ==== Focus fire ====
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| If you tick this box, then all your drones in space will attack a single target (particularly if they are choosing their own targets in "Aggressive" mode). There is nearly no situation in which this box should not be checked.
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| ==== Attack and follow ====
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| This option applies to fighter and fighter-bomber drones (used by capital ships) only. As these drones have built-in warp drives, they can follow your targets even if they warp away - if you want to prevent this (and keep your drones with you), uncheck the box. Disabling the "attack and follow" setting is a good idea if you suspect that your target may warp to a [[POS]] - if your fighter drones follow, they will likely be destroyed by the POS' defences.
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| === Drone control range === | | === Drone control range === |
