Skills:Drones
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.
Basic
Drones
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1x |
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30k ISK |
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V |
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None |
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Drone Damage Amplifier; T1, T2 and Faction drones; Scout Drone Operation; Mining Drone Operation |
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Amarr Offensive Systems; Gallente Offensive Systems; Combat Drone Operation |
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Certain heavy drones; Electronic Warfare Drone Interfacing; Drone Sharpshooting; Repair Drone Operation; Heavy Drone Operation; Drone Interfacing; Amarr Drone Specialization; Minimatar Drone Specialization; Gallente Drone Specialization; Caldari_Drone_Specialization |
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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. |
Scout Drone Operation
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Scout Drone Operation |
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<span style="cursor: help;" title="The skillbook for this skill costs Scout Drone Operation ISK">Scout Drone Operation ISK |
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<span style="cursor: help;" title="Alpha pilot can train and use this skill to at most level Unknown">Unknown |
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Drones I |
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T1 and Faction scount drones |
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Black Eagle Drone Link Augmentor |
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T2 scount drones |
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A useful skill, and also the prerequisite for some more advanced drone skills. |
Combat Drone Operation
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Combat Drone Operation |
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<span style="cursor: help;" title="The skillbook for this skill costs Combat Drone Operation ISK">Combat Drone Operation ISK |
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<span style="cursor: help;" title="Alpha pilot can train and use this skill to at most level Unknown">Unknown |
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Drones III |
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Drone Link Augmentor I |
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Drone Link Augmentor II |
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A 5% drone damage bonus is not to be sniffed at, and most combat pilots should train this skill to IV. |
Drone Interfacing
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5x |
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750k ISK |
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III |
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Drones V |
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Sentry Drone Interfacing |
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Fighters; Amarr Carrier; Caldari Carrier; Gallente Carrier; Minimatar Carrier; Advanced Drone Interfacing |
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Each level of Drone Interfacing is like having another drone. Excellent support skill. |
Advanced
Heavy Drone Operation
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5x |
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500k ISK |
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III |
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Drones V |
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T1 and Faction heavy drones |
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T2 heavy drones |
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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. |
Advanced Drone Interfacing
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Advanced Drone Interfacing |
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<span style="cursor: help;" title="The skillbook for this skill costs Advanced Drone Interfacing ISK">Advanced Drone Interfacing ISK |
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<span style="cursor: help;" title="Alpha pilot can train and use this skill to at most level Unknown">Unknown |
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Drone Interfacing V; Drones V |
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Drone Control Unit I |
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Electronic Warfare Drone Interfacing
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Electronic Warfare Drone Interfacing |
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<span style="cursor: help;" title="The skillbook for this skill costs Electronic Warfare Drone Interfacing ISK">Electronic Warfare Drone Interfacing ISK |
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<span style="cursor: help;" title="Alpha pilot can train and use this skill to at most level Unknown">Unknown |
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Drones V; Electronic Warfare IV; Electronics I |
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Small electronic warfare drones |
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Medium electronic warfare drones |
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Large electronic warfare drones |
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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. |
Sentry Drone Interfacing
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5x |
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650k ISK |
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Alpha pilot can not train this skill. |
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Drone Interfacing IV Drones V; Drone Sharpshooting IV |
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T1 and Faction sentry drones |
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T2 sentry drones |
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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. |
Support
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1x |
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100k ISK |
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IV |
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Drones IV |
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Light webifier drone |
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Medium webifier drone |
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Drone Navigation Computer I; Heavy webifier drone |
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Drone Navigateion Computer II |
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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. |
Drone Durability
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5x |
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100k ISK |
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IV |
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Drones IV |
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Repair Drone Operation |
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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. |
{{Skill
|skill=Drone Sharpshooting
|desc=Increases drone optimal range.
|1=Memory
|2=Perception
|mult=1x
|price=135,000 ISK
|pre=Drones V
|reqI=T1 and Faction omnidirectional tracking links
|reqIV=[[Skills:Drones#Sentry_Drone_Interfacing|Sentry Drone Interfacing]
|reqV=T2 omnidirectional tracking link
|notes=5% optimal range per level. 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.
}}
Racial Drone Specialization
Amarr Drone Specialization
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5x |
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2-4M ISK |
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II |
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Drones V |
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Medium T2 and Faction Amarr drones |
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Heavy T2 and Faction Amarr drones |
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The Amarr Drone Specialization skill is not sold by NPC stations so prices will vary widely. |
Caldari Drone Specialization
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5x |
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3-9M ISK |
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II |
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Drones V |
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Light T2 and Faction Caldari drones |
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Medium T2 and Faction Caldari drones |
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Heavy T2 and Faction Caldari Drones |
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The Caldari Drone Specialization skill is not sold by NPC stations so prices will vary widely. |
Gallente Drone Specialization
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5x |
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3-9M ISK |
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II |
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Drones V |
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Light T2 and Faction Gallente drones |
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Medium T2 and Faction Gallente drones |
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Heavy T2 and Faction Gallente drones |
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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. |
Minmatar Drone Specialization
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5x |
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3-9M ISK |
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II |
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Drones V |
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Light T2 and Faction Minmatar drones |
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Medium T2 and Faction Minmatar drones |
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Heavy T2 and Faction Minmatar drones |
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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. |
Non-combat drones
Mining Drone Operation
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2x |
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50k ISK |
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Alpha pilot can not train this skill. |
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Drones I; Mining II |
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T1 mining drones |
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T2 mining drones |
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A useful support skill for miners. |
Repair Drone Operation
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3x |
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200k ISK |
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II |
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Drones V Drone Durability I |
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Light T1 maintenance bots |
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Medium T1 maintenance bots |
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T2 light and medium maintenance bots |
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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. |
Salvage Drone Operation
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4x |
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500k ISK |
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Alpha pilot can not train this skill. |
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Drones IV; Salvaging II; Mechanics III; Survey III; Electronics I |
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Salvage Drone I |
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Salvage drones are a relatively new addition to the selection of drones. They salvage loots and return and salvage to your cargo hold. |
Fighters
Fighters
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12x |
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75M ISK |
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Alpha pilot can not train this skill. |
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Drone InterfacingV V; Drones V; Leadership V |
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Fighter craft |
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Fighter Bombers |
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Only carriers and supercarriers can use fighters. |
Fighter Bombers
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Fighter Bombers |
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<span style="cursor: help;" title="The skillbook for this skill costs Fighter Bombers ISK">Fighter Bombers ISK |
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<span style="cursor: help;" title="Alpha pilot can train and use this skill to at most level Unknown">Unknown |
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Fighters V; Drone Interfacing V; Drones V; Leadership V |
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Fighter bomber craft |
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Only of interest to supercarrier pilots, since only supercarriers can use fighter bombers. |