Assembly Hall

Drones are still viable against the current NPC AI in missions. I know this because I've spent my time since Retribution's release doing L4's in a Dominix. I've lost a grand total of one light T2 drone so far, and that was because I forgot to repair it and sent it out mostly dead to begin with. If I can do it, anyone can do it, because I'm certainly no master mission runner.

But that doesn't mean no work needs to be done. The AI certainly needs tweaks, which has already been discussed in countless threads before. When and why certain NPC's target drones is not very intelligent right now and needs to be further upgraded. Drone UI and control from the player's perspective could also use some love and updating.

The big change I would suggest, though, is increasing NPC lock time against drones. As it stands right now, when they do target them, it takes them almost no time to do so and start damaging them. I'm not suggesting some ridiculous delay, but something rather small that would give the drones a little more time to do something useful before getting shredded.

And drones do take a lot of damage fast, even with my near max drone skills (including Durability IV, I think). But I think the damage they take is good incentive to train Drone Durability up. That said, it should be balanced by a slightly longer lock/engage time delay for NPC's against drones. I can imagine that drones without ship bonuses like the Domi's may get wiped out almost instantly.

I have no doubts about that. And it's exactly why it took me a single mission to decide there's no point in using heavy drones anymore. Which doesn't bother me at all, I have other options.

Like I said, some changes and tweaks are needed. But sending heavies out to 20 km is no longer a good idea. Use other options.

Nope. But that isn't a valid comparison since CCP hasn't made drones obsolete.

You can even still use heavies if you want, just don't use them for things orbiting more than 8 km or so away. And don't use them until Cruisers and smaller have been destroyed. You really don't need heavies for Cruisers anyway, since T2 Mediums do just fine there and are generally ignored by Cruisers right now. Or fit guns and ammo that have the appropriate range and tracking speed to take out targets in any "holes" you may have in your current drone coverage for a mission (as dictated by size, orbiting distance, and what you expect the kill order to be).

Those are some of your options. Other options include using Sentries. All this works for me, including using the heavies as stated above. Like I said before - if I can do it, anyone can.

I'm not arguing that things shouldn't be adjusted. More work needs to be done, including adding in my suggestion of giving the NPC's a small delay in how long it takes them to target drones (which keeps my posts OT here). What I am saying is that drones have in no way been made obsolete for running missions (at least L4 missions - can't comment on others).

Maybe Heavy drones aren't supposed to be used against cruiser sized targets?

If the new rat AI means that you have to pick the right tool for the job, rather than mindlessly spamming Ogres at everything, that's a positive development, not something to cry and wail about because CCP is making missioners and ratters engage their brains for once.

That's odd. If what you said is true, how am I completing solo L4 missions in my drone boat Dominix without ever having to use my guns? And I can do most of them in good time even without those guns.

How about active self repairing drones?
Drones that can repair their shields or armor when being attacked.

Small drones will have low repping ability. May be able to tank one non elite NPC frigate with decent skills. Multiple NPC frigates or one elite NPC frigate would have no difficulty killing it. Medium and heavy drones follow suit similar to small drones. Sentry drones should be rebalanced as a PvP sniping drone.

Or how about a module that, when active, remote repairs drones that are close by. When this module is active and a drone receives damage to its armor and/or hull, it ceases its attack and returns to your ship to be remote repaired. Then it jumps back into the fight.

It would require a complete rebalance of drones though. Probably not the best ideas but it's better than what everyone else is suggesting, which is nothing.

Ask yourself, how have people been doing this for ages in wormholes.

Pro tip get sentry drones and rep them.

I have plenty of ideas on how to rebalance drones, though they were thought up before these changes were even announced never the less they are still quite valid.

Exactly right - as a drone-boat L4 mission runner, I *like* the improved NPC AI - it makes missions a bit more challenging. It just takes some creativity to come up with new tactics. I've found this approach to be especially effective - I think someone suggested something similar earlier in this forum: http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Drones_101#The_Stoneloon_Maneuver

I see no reason to "rebalance" drones at this time - we just need to rebalance our use of them.

If heavy drones are no longer feasible, then drones are imbalanced.

Pretty simple.