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Aggroing of drones with new NPC AI....
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Serptimis
Ministry of War
Amarr Empire
#21 - 2012-12-04 20:16:24 UTC
baltec1 wrote:
Some Rando wrote:
Huh, maybe CCP are trying to move L4s back to group activities.

Or at the very least make them slightly more risky.

Between the nerf to HML on the Tengu and this nerf to drones, will probably make Lvl4's that little bit more difficult alright.
viziel
Sarum Industrial Cartel
#22 - 2012-12-04 20:18:07 UTC
PLZ FIX
Basileus
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#23 - 2012-12-04 20:19:20 UTC
As a drone producer I am so happy I pee'd a little
As a mission whore drone user I tend to rate the change as **** on a stick.
Obsidian Dagger
Nitrus Nine
#24 - 2012-12-04 20:20:08 UTC
The drone bay, now a perfect place to carry 5x Mining Drone I, 5x Salvaging Drone I, and some cheap hornets to throw out for a few seconds to distract the scrambling frigates in missions while you warp away.
Rengerel en Distel
#25 - 2012-12-04 20:20:50 UTC
Kenneth O'Hara wrote:
Welcome to the life of a wormholer. I'm not even sure if the bug works against sleepers since they have been doing this since they came around. It's about time you missioners had a challenge. Oh, what's that? I've never done lvl 4s because I live in w-space... let me just say before this patch, lvl 4s were way easier to solo than even a c2 wormhole anom.


The difference being you don't get waves of 20 or 30 rats at a time in WHs? And even with sleepers, they have a 2 min timer, so you just have to time your aggro.

With the increase in shiptoasting, the Report timer needs to be shortened.
Alysa Taal
State War Academy
Caldari State
#26 - 2012-12-04 20:22:28 UTC
Obsidian Dagger wrote:
The drone bay, now a perfect place to carry 5x Mining Drone I, 5x Salvaging Drone I, and some cheap hornets to throw out for a few seconds to distract the scrambling frigates in missions while you warp away.


Good idea with the distraction!!

Betting 100 ISK that will be the one time it doesnt switch agro :)
baltec1
Bat Country
Pandemic Horde
#27 - 2012-12-04 20:22:45 UTC
Ocih wrote:
Just another example of cart before the horse. Drones weren't designed to take full aggro and they are the only way to really kill frigates in a level 4 mission.

When I did these missions in the nightmare I never needed the drones and that was with tachyons.
Obsidian Dagger
Nitrus Nine
#28 - 2012-12-04 20:23:33 UTC
Alysa Taal wrote:
Obsidian Dagger wrote:
The drone bay, now a perfect place to carry 5x Mining Drone I, 5x Salvaging Drone I, and some cheap hornets to throw out for a few seconds to distract the scrambling frigates in missions while you warp away.


Good idea with the distraction!!

Betting 100 ISK that will be the one time it doesnt switch agro :)



QFT
Ranger 1
Ranger Corp
Vae. Victis.
#29 - 2012-12-04 20:25:52 UTC
Rengerel en Distel wrote:
Release drones, don't send them. When they get aggro, recall them. Wait a sec, then relaunch them. You've now got aggro until the next wave.

This.

Yes, some tweaks will need to be made in some missions (already acknowledged) and the drone UI needs to be upgraded (already in discussion). Until then use this simple tactic, just remember to anticipate the next wave of NPC's and get your drones back under your wing until you can rinse and repeat.

View the latest EVE Online developments and other game related news and gameplay by visiting Ranger 1 Presents: Virtual Realms.
Ocih
Space Mermaids
#30 - 2012-12-04 20:26:25 UTC
baltec1 wrote:
Ocih wrote:
Just another example of cart before the horse. Drones weren't designed to take full aggro and they are the only way to really kill frigates in a level 4 mission.

When I did these missions in the nightmare I never needed the drones and that was with tachyons.


If you get them all before they close on you. Many level 4's they plant you on top of the spawns but I suppose you just insta popped the 90% resist frigates at 2200 meters with your uber leet skillz
fukier
Gallente Federation
#31 - 2012-12-04 20:31:19 UTC
yeah it hurts but afk domi lev iv was way to big of a isk faucet to let continue...

personally i would love to see small and medium sentry drones

and the ability to repair drones in your bay using nano repair paste...

this would offest some of the wtf my drones are dead now feeling...
At the end of the game both the pawn and the Queen go in the same box.
Obsidian Dagger
Nitrus Nine
#32 - 2012-12-04 20:32:18 UTC
baltec1 wrote:
Ocih wrote:
Just another example of cart before the horse. Drones weren't designed to take full aggro and they are the only way to really kill frigates in a level 4 mission.

When I did these missions in the nightmare I never needed the drones and that was with tachyons.



My current plan is to carry a selection of T1 laser crystals and swap them out when I have to take out frigates, and keep drones for cruisers and salvaging and stuff.

The thing about using drones for killing frigates is not that it is impossible to kill frigates with BS weapons, but that it DOES need more skillpoints invested in gunnery, and that's really going to slow down the careers of newer carebears. It also means a greater chance of losing your ship (NOT something carebears are willing to risk), if you are on the edge of losing your tank and are unexpectedly scrambled by an angel spy or something.

The only functional solution is more skillpoints in tracking and falloff affecting skills, and maybe some tracking computers loaded with scripts. But since that will a: take training time away from mining skills and b: impact tank, a lot of carebears are going to lose a lot of ships very quickly.

They will adapt, carebears in particular and EvE players in general usually do (or stop playing), but for the short term, it's going to be a great sellers market.

Especially for drone manufacturers.
Kenneth O'Hara
Sebiestor Tribe
#33 - 2012-12-04 20:35:05 UTC
Ocih wrote:
Just another example of cart before the horse. Drones weren't designed to take full aggro and they are the only way to really kill frigates in a level 4 mission.

Not really, you could kite and then warp out and back to gate to reset distance and pop them from a good range. Completely doable with an arty fit maelstrom though it is a pain and time consuming.

Bring Saede Riordan back!! Never Forget! _"__Operation Godzilla Smacks Zeus"  ~__Graygor _
Sergeant Acht Scultz
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#34 - 2012-12-04 20:35:12 UTC
Ocih wrote:
baltec1 wrote:
Ocih wrote:
Just another example of cart before the horse. Drones weren't designed to take full aggro and they are the only way to really kill frigates in a level 4 mission.

When I did these missions in the nightmare I never needed the drones and that was with tachyons.


If you get them all before they close on you. Many level 4's they plant you on top of the spawns but I suppose you just insta popped the 90% resist frigates at 2200 meters with your uber leet skillz



He's telling jokes, not only this would be impossible even with a blaster fit and web but even less with a Nightmare, mwahaha nice joke however. Or maybe that was back in 1589 DC? -whatever

Quote:
Just another example of cart before the horse. Drones weren't designed to take full aggro and they are the only way to really kill frigates in a level 4 mission.


Seems CCP wants to make NPC rats look more like players pvp ship acting, so who would not kill drones?
So, when are NPC's sending ECM300's against us? Lol

Silly choices, are silly!

removed inappropriate ASCII art signature - CCP Eterne
Warde Guildencrantz
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#35 - 2012-12-04 20:35:27 UTC
put a remote rep on your ship and start repping your drones. Now you will have full aggro and they will avoid shooting your drones for the most part (they tend to shoot anything that is giving reps.)

however, for that to happen you need to be close to the drones.

TunDraGon ~ Low sec piracy since 2003 ~ Youtube ~ Join Us
Generals4
#36 - 2012-12-04 20:37:57 UTC
If WH'ers can deal with it so can mission runners.

_-Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily. _
Mithrantir Ob'lontra
Ixion Defence Systems
#37 - 2012-12-04 20:41:52 UTC
Chip Whittley wrote:
Toku Jiang wrote:
Chip Whittley wrote:
Anybody else noticing this today? In level 4 missions, in my Domi, I throw my drones out after all npcs lock me, and almost immediately they're switching aggro to the drones, and the drones are dying. Some missions more than others, but it is in every mission. I don't usually lose drones, butI've lost a bay's worth of them just this morning....



Read the patch notes, and the dev blogs from some time ago. The new AI will have the NPC rats switching targets now. So you can't just warp into a mission, collect all the aggro on your domi, then pop drones and eat popcorn. The NPC's will switch up, target your drones and kill them, especially frigates.


Well, I'm actively doing the missions, selecting targets, and keeping an eye on drone health bars, not "popping drone and eating popcorn". They're still dying especially with heavies, on targets that are 20K out.

So are drone boats just useless and broken now, until further notice? Should i just start training for that CNR? ....

You can also train and use sentries (especially the T2 ones).
Stay right next to them and easily scoop them in drone bay once they start taking damage.
No More Heroes
Boomer Humor
Snuffed Out
#38 - 2012-12-04 20:43:15 UTC
Chip Whittley wrote:
Anybody else noticing this today? In level 4 missions, in my Domi, I throw my drones out after all npcs lock me, and almost immediately they're switching aggro to the drones, and the drones are dying. Some missions more than others, but it is in every mission. I don't usually lose drones, but I've lost a bay's worth of them just this morning....


This is a great change. Well done CCP- PVE should be challenging.

.
Rengerel en Distel
#39 - 2012-12-04 20:44:58 UTC
No More Heroes wrote:
Chip Whittley wrote:
Anybody else noticing this today? In level 4 missions, in my Domi, I throw my drones out after all npcs lock me, and almost immediately they're switching aggro to the drones, and the drones are dying. Some missions more than others, but it is in every mission. I don't usually lose drones, but I've lost a bay's worth of them just this morning....


This is a great change. Well done CCP- PVE should be challenging.


Should be challenging if you're in a drone boat, no one else need be bothered.

With the increase in shiptoasting, the Report timer needs to be shortened.
starbelt stacy
State War Academy
Caldari State
#40 - 2012-12-04 20:46:55 UTC
this is nothing but a backdoor nerf to level 4 mission runners and to make it so there is more incentive to buy plex with real money, plain and simple.

drone aggro means it takes so much longer to do a mission most wont bother and just buy plex.

ive spent months training my drone skills only for them to be practically useless doing level 4's to say im not a happy teddy is a understatement.
tried out angel extravaganza and my drones were instantly targeted and popped within 10 seconds of launch the drones that were targeted wouldnt return to drone bay either.

ive cancelled my subs for my 2 accounts already while i try and come up with a differant gameplan for doing level 4's


and no ... you cant have my stuff!!!