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5 light drones vs .3/.4 belt rats
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Pinstar Colton
Sweet Asteroid Acres
#1 - 2012-05-14 14:29:29 UTC
Could 5 light drones (backed up with decent drone skills) hold their own against your average belt rat spawn in .4 and.3 space? (Assuming they are in a ship that doesn't give them any ship-based bonuses to damage or HP).

Just looking for a proof of concept.

In the cat-and-mouse game that is low sec, there is no shame in learning to be a better mouse.

Alara IonStorm
#2 - 2012-05-14 14:44:03 UTC
Take out Frigate and Cruiser rats easy enough, Battlecruisers will take some time to chew through and Battleship rats will tank you.
Salpad
Carebears with Attitude
#3 - 2012-05-14 14:54:03 UTC
Pinstar Colton wrote:
Could 5 light drones (backed up with decent drone skills) hold their own against your average belt rat spawn in .4 and.3 space? (Assuming they are in a ship that doesn't give them any ship-based bonuses to damage or HP).

Just looking for a proof of concept.


All I can say is, they work superbly against 0.5 belt rats, with uber drone skillz.

So the question becomes: how does belt rat badassedness progress as system security level goes down? Does it progress in a calm andorderly fashion, with 0.4 belt rats being a bit tougher than 0.5 belt rats, and 0.3 ones being a bit tougher again? Or is there a marked jump right between 0.5 and 0.4?
Pinstar Colton
Sweet Asteroid Acres
#4 - 2012-05-14 14:54:53 UTC
I've only ever seen frigates and cruiser spawns out in .3 and .4. Are BC/BS rats rare spawns?

In the cat-and-mouse game that is low sec, there is no shame in learning to be a better mouse.

Alara IonStorm
#5 - 2012-05-14 14:56:51 UTC
Pinstar Colton wrote:
I've only ever seen frigates and cruiser spawns out in .3 and .4. Are BC/BS rats rare spawns?

Yes. Battlecruisers aren't that rare and once and a while you run into a 375 to 500k ISK Battleship.
Maeltstome
Ten Thousand Days
#6 - 2012-05-14 15:03:13 UTC
yes. However there is nothing wrong with a bit of extra dps. I sometimes fit small energy weapons on my drone boats for the ammo-less'ish approach to more DPSand to fill up my highs.
Pinstar Colton
Sweet Asteroid Acres
#7 - 2012-05-14 15:05:54 UTC
Maeltstome wrote:
yes. However there is nothing wrong with a bit of extra dps. I sometimes fit small energy weapons on my drone boats for the ammo-less'ish approach to more DPSand to fill up my highs.


My intent is to see if the 5 drones that a Retriever can field can fight off the belt rats while I mine. (Obviously I know they won't hold a candle to any player pirates that might find me).

In the cat-and-mouse game that is low sec, there is no shame in learning to be a better mouse.

Petrus Blackshell
Rifterlings
#8 - 2012-05-14 15:07:47 UTC
Pinstar Colton wrote:
Maeltstome wrote:
yes. However there is nothing wrong with a bit of extra dps. I sometimes fit small energy weapons on my drone boats for the ammo-less'ish approach to more DPSand to fill up my highs.


My intent is to see if the 5 drones that a Retriever can field can fight off the belt rats while I mine. (Obviously I know they won't hold a candle to any player pirates that might find me).

Most likely not (or at least, not reliably), especially if you draw fire from the rats.

Accidentally The Whole Frigate - For-newbies blog (currently on pause)
mxzf
Shovel Bros
#9 - 2012-05-14 15:19:33 UTC
Yes, 5 T2 light drones with good skills can take out most lowsec belt spawns.

No, they probably can't take them out before your wet tissue tank on the Ret gets blown to pieces.

Also, mining in lowsec is typically a bad idea, especially in a mining barge like that. You'll make more ISK/h in highsec due to not needing to replace ships that rats and players blow up.
Pinstar Colton
Sweet Asteroid Acres
#10 - 2012-05-14 15:21:51 UTC
Thank you all for the helpful feedback.

In the cat-and-mouse game that is low sec, there is no shame in learning to be a better mouse.

Zhilia Mann
Tide Way Out Productions
#11 - 2012-05-14 15:49:55 UTC
Pinstar Colton wrote:
My intent is to see if the 5 drones that a Retriever can field can fight off the belt rats while I mine. (Obviously I know they won't hold a candle to any player pirates that might find me).


It won't work. I used to run a Covetor in .3 before BS spawns were introduced. The drones could draw some agro and take down tacklers, but I usually had to dock and grab my Ferox (yes, before Drakes) to clear harder hitters.

That could still work, but it's not exactly efficient.