These forums have been archived and are now read-only.

The new forums are live and can be found at https://forums.eveonline.com/

Missions & Complexes

 
  • Topic is locked indefinitely.
Previous page12
 

Drone boats useless in PvE?
Author
Previous Topic Next Topic
Brewlar Kuvakei
Adeptio Gloriae
#21 - 2012-12-28 15:42:15 UTC
sabre906 wrote:
Opertone wrote:
Sentry drones do most damage of all drones. Sentries are nearly untouched by new NPCs.

NPCs absolutely tear mediums apart, but have hard time hitting light and fast drones, like warriors II.

So, either sentries or fast small drones.


Rats aggro drones according to size. Sentry, like heavies, get aggro from full range of rat sizes, they just tank it better. And they're not the most dmging, heavies are. Mediums doesn't get aggro from BS rats. Light drones aggro frig rats, and not elite frig rats, only regular, that's why they stay alive.



Sentry tanks squat, they move at 0-1 m/s and will insta pop from any decent battleship agro never mind 15+ NPC's. heavies are also slow as **** and soon as they start taking flack they get nailed before you can recover them. Meds and smalls jsut get chewed alive the same way.

Use turrets.
Nad'x Hapax
Hapaxa
#22 - 2012-12-28 16:02:59 UTC
Rengerel en Distel wrote:
TPs don't hold aggro, but are still your friend.


Really!? Thing is that I grab aggro with it and as soon as I TP a frig that group wont target my drones/sentries. I rarely use my missiles (rattlesnake)
Nad'x Hapax
Hapaxa
#23 - 2012-12-28 16:06:58 UTC
Brewlar Kuvakei wrote:
If you read above there are many ideas about how to minimize aggro on your drones and they all work to slight degree's. In short Drone boats are no longer viable for PVE due to the effort and micro management now need to operate them. You will get far better ISK/phr and an easy time using a turret boat. The problem gets worse on a logarithmic scale the more dps your drones do compared to your highs.


This have always been true because of drone traveltime. But using sentries is way better than any missileboat out there (for example).
Nad'x Hapax
Hapaxa
#24 - 2012-12-28 16:08:58 UTC
Brewlar Kuvakei wrote:
NPC

NPCs will now only target drones in their size category.
Elite frigates and cruisers NPCs will go for small drones and above.
Frigates and Cruisers NPCs will go for medium drones and above.
Battleship NPCs will go for large drones.

From Retribution 1.07 patch notes.

This made the problem 99% worse, drone boats are simply not an option for competitive PVE, using turrets requires no micromanagement.

Drones have gone from the afk OP PVE boat of choice to useless in one patch. I'm not suggesting changing this back but players should change their strategy ie use turrets for NPC in non wormhole sec, just stating the facts.


U just want a SP refund. So to that I say something that I swore to never say... L...2...P
Nad'x Hapax
Hapaxa
#25 - 2012-12-28 16:12:50 UTC
sabre906 wrote:
Opertone wrote:
Sentry drones do most damage of all drones. Sentries are nearly untouched by new NPCs.

NPCs absolutely tear mediums apart, but have hard time hitting light and fast drones, like warriors II.

So, either sentries or fast small drones.


Rats aggro drones according to size. Sentry, like heavies, get aggro from full range of rat sizes, they just tank it better. And they're not the most dmging, heavies are. Mediums doesn't get aggro from BS rats. Light drones aggro frig rats, and not elite frig rats, only regular, that's why they stay alive.



Maybe this is how it should be but sentries rarely get aggro... from anything
bongpacks
Rules of Acquisition
#26 - 2013-01-29 06:48:02 UTC
Yeah I call BS on the claim that elite frigs don't aggro light drones. I just tried a sansha vigil in my gila for the first time after the patch and it took about an hour. My drones had barely left orbit when they were in armor from the 7 elite frigs in that complex. I had to just throw mediums at them to even have any chance of getting a drone into firing range and have them actually do any damage before having to call them back in. Truth is sometimes theres just not enough range between you and the frigs to pop em with sentries before they get to you and with elite frigates basically instalocking and popping your light drones and putting medium drones in hull before they can score a kill it's pretty much made drone boats worthless for PVE and made ships like the gila relics of the past. Not saying you should be able to afk missions, they could fix that with spawns, I'm just saying give the little guys a window of opportunity to at least make a dent before they 'splode.
Morrigan LeSante
Perkone
Caldari State
#27 - 2013-01-29 08:29:53 UTC
They're not useless, but if you're not using sentries, they've become a point-blank range, monumental pain in the arse boat to use.
Whang'Lo
Cosmically Irrelevant
#28 - 2013-01-29 11:57:44 UTC
Quote:
If you read above there are many ideas about how to minimize aggro on your drones and they all work to slight degree's. In short Drone boats are no longer viable for PVE due to the effort and micro management now need to operate them. You will get far better ISK/phr and an easy time using a turret boat. The problem gets worse on a logarithmic scale the more dps your drones do compared to your highs.

NPCs will now only target drones in their size category.
Elite frigates and cruisers NPCs will go for small drones and above.
Frigates and Cruisers NPCs will go for medium drones and above.
Battleship NPCs will go for large drones.

From Retribution 1.07 patch notes.

This made the problem 99% worse, drone boats are simply not an option for competitive PVE, using turrets requires no micromanagement.

Drones have gone from the afk OP PVE boat of choice to useless in one patch. I'm not suggesting changing this back but players should change their strategy ie use turrets for NPC in non wormhole sec, just stating the facts.



Before the patch I had a whole setup at a station for running level 4's, grinding LP.

Navy Domi, x10 of each drone type, noctis, etc etc.

Blasted right through level 4's.

After the patch, same thing.

Still blasts right through level 4's.

More DPS from the drones now because of the buff to the DDA's slightly more
drone agro.

People talk like drones didn't pull agro before the patch. This isn't true, they pulled agro
all the time. The AI is just a bit more aggressive now.

but when you say:

Quote:
In short Drone boats are no longer viable for PVE


You have to be trolling.


















[u]A Paranoid is just someone with all the facts - William Burroughs[/u]
Darius Brinn
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#29 - 2013-01-29 12:17:42 UTC
sabre906 wrote:
[quote=Risien Drogonne]Sentries aggro everything, they just don't instapop as often.


Sentries from an Ishtar, Gila, Dominix or Rattlesnake cannot be instapopped by ANY Lvl 4 mission. No matter if you get full aggro and then drop a single Sentry for it to get pwned on purpose.

Unless you are comatose or passed out, you can always scoop them up and most of the time not even into armor.
Previous page12