These forums have been archived and are now read-only.

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

Ships & Modules

 
  • Topic is locked indefinitely.
123Next pageLast page
 

Are drones still useless in PvE?
Author
Previous Topic Next Topic
Riot Girl
You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack
#1 - 2013-04-05 06:55:36 UTC
I've been away for a few months, when I last played the AI had been changed and made drones useless I think?

Oh god.
Paikis
Vapour Holdings
#2 - 2013-04-05 07:26:27 UTC
You think wrong. Drones were never useless, the players trying to AFK with them were (are) useless.
Wash Hemah
Walden 2.0
#3 - 2013-04-05 07:34:54 UTC
Drones are only as bad as the players who control them.
Keilateau Shakor
Shakor Freight and Mining Service
#4 - 2013-04-05 07:44:56 UTC
Conforming that drones work reasonably well in various PVE activities for anyone with half a brain and a bit of attention.
Andracin
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#5 - 2013-04-05 08:17:31 UTC
Andracin wrote:
Try this link for more information: Retribution AI changes

pretty much all the wails came from people who afk'd lvl 4 missions in a dominix with ogre II's. The AI will mostly target drones of its size or larger, meaning a cruiser rat in a mission should not be shooting at a hobs or warriors. I have ran a few lvl 4's on my alt recently just to see if it was as bad as the tears would seem, but really it's not.

Heavy: don't drop till only battleships are left

Medium: don't drop till all frigates are dead

Light: mostly safe if you already have aggro but watch out for elite frigates. Expect to have to recall them several times before all the frigates are cleared

Sentries: Either scoop when they get aggro or remote rep. I have actually rr'd a sentry while it was more or less getting primaried and it tanked surprisingly well, when it was almost out of shield I recalled it but I killed alot of stuff before I had to pull them in.

There are people who run more missions than I do...I rather pirate my weasly black guts out Pirate
Riot Girl
You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack
#6 - 2013-04-05 09:37:17 UTC
So you just need to be careful with Frigates. Thanks.

Oh god.
Katran Luftschreck
Royal Ammatar Engineering Corps
#7 - 2013-04-05 10:18:03 UTC
A lot of non-drone people will tell you a lot of crap they read from each other about drones being fine as if it were the truth.

Actual drone users will tell you that they're full of crap.

Frigates are not all you have to worry about. Every rat on the screen can and most likely will target your drones, regardless of the size of the rat or your drones.

You have been warned. Start training for a Tengu now.

http://youtu.be/t0q2F8NsYQ0
Paikis
Vapour Holdings
#8 - 2013-04-05 10:50:56 UTC
Katran Luftschreck wrote:
Actual drone users will tell you that they're full of crap.


You are bad and you should feel bad.
Riot Girl
You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack
#9 - 2013-04-05 10:52:10 UTC
Well I am training for a Tengu but I was just wondering if the drones were still viable for rats. I just tested some light drones out on my Sacrilege and they seemed fine and worked pretty much the same way as I've always used them. Basically just use them on the small stuff and pull them in when new stuff spawns.

Oh god.
Drake Doe
88Th Tax Haven
#10 - 2013-04-05 11:40:04 UTC
That explains why I see so many ratting carriers.

"The homogenization of EVE began when Gallente and Caldari started sharing a weapon system."---Vermaak Doe-- "Ohh squabbles ohh I love my dust trolls like watching an episode of Maury with less " Is he my Dad " but more of " My Neighbor took a dump on my lawn " good episode! pops more corn" ---Evernub--
Morrigan LeSante
Perkone
Caldari State
#11 - 2013-04-05 12:43:09 UTC  |  Edited by: Morrigan LeSante
Riot Girl wrote:
So you just need to be careful with Frigates. Thanks.


More specifically, dont issue mediums out further than perhaps 10-15km, the latter distance is only for the faster ones and even then they're not worth the trouble. Lights you need only care about elite frigs, but I still wouldnt send them out far at all. Heavies are utterly worthless.

Sentries still kick all kinds of ass.

So in summary, to use them effectively, use sentries and lights basically exclusively.
Riot Girl
You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack
#12 - 2013-04-05 13:08:04 UTC
Thanks, I think I only used the light ones anyway. I think I remember the mediums being too slow for my purposes.

Oh god.
Caleidascope
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#13 - 2013-04-05 15:18:35 UTC
Yes, they are mostly useless for my missile boats.

I carry light scouts now, the elite rat frigates kill them, so I kill elite rats with missiles, then release my light scouts and let them chew the regular rat frigs.

The other day I tried Garde to deal with rat frigs, they could not hit rat frigs that were under 5000 meters. I added omnidirectional tracking link, it did not help. So I unloaded them and put light scouts back in the drone bay. Light scouts are not great since elites kill them, but it is better then sentries that don't hit jack.

Life is short and dinner time is chancy

Eat dessert first!
Morrigan LeSante
Perkone
Caldari State
#14 - 2013-04-05 15:30:49 UTC
I use sentries on my missile boat to pop BCs and up. Anything else is a bit of a crapshoot (although dessies die in a fire).

Bouncers chew up the angel BCs pretty good. Dont need to mind, and its faster if I shoot them but usually its a sufficiently target rich environment that it sames me some ammo
Caleidascope
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#15 - 2013-04-05 15:40:28 UTC
Morrigan LeSante wrote:
I use sentries on my missile boat to pop BCs and up. Anything else is a bit of a crapshoot (although dessies die in a fire).

Bouncers chew up the angel BCs pretty good. Dont need to mind, and its faster if I shoot them but usually its a sufficiently target rich environment that it sames me some ammo

I know what you mean.

In my case I run LMJD fit, if rat bs and rat bc are closer than 60km, then I did something wrong. So my rat bs and rat bc are anywhere from 90-150km away from me, sentry drones can not reach that far, and my little experiment showed that they can not deal with rat frigs either, that makes them useless to me.

Like I said earlier, light scouts are not great, but at least they can kill the regular rat frigs so I don't waste cruise missiles on them.

Life is short and dinner time is chancy

Eat dessert first!
Hakaimono
Native Freshfood
Minmatar Republic
#16 - 2013-04-05 15:41:34 UTC
Even unbonused guns can kill frigs. Hit them first then deploy drones if any left get too close.
Never had sentries get aggro as long as I kept shooting.
Not sure if RR causes aggro, but ewar will get their attention if you can spare a mid.
Decaneos
Casalt Corp
CAStabouts
#17 - 2013-04-05 15:41:50 UTC
rofl, sentrys combined with MJD make for the best pve platform around.......feel quite sad for people who still having troubles with drones.
Caleidascope
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#18 - 2013-04-05 15:47:59 UTC
Decaneos wrote:
rofl, sentrys combined with MJD make for the best pve platform around.......feel quite sad for people who still having troubles with drones.

Mine are missile bs. I get no bonus to drones.

Which one are you running? Domi? Navy Domi?

Life is short and dinner time is chancy

Eat dessert first!
Kalihira
Ultramar Independent Contracting
#19 - 2013-04-05 15:52:01 UTC
Decaneos wrote:
rofl, sentrys combined with MJD make for the best pve platform around.......feel quite sad for people who still having troubles with drones.


this..

i use my ishtar for plexing, 100nm AB + wardens gets the job done easily. swap to gardes for anything > 30 km and a flight of lights for anything < BV that gets too close/ transversal. been thinking about getting a rattler for it... although that might be a terribad idea in hostile space
Daniel Plain
Doomheim
#20 - 2013-04-05 15:53:52 UTC
Paikis wrote:
Katran Luftschreck wrote:
Actual drone users will tell you that they're full of crap.


You are bad and you should feel bad.

what he said.

I should buy an Ishtar.
123Next pageLast page