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How do you handle drone aggro?
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HK -56
Doomheim
#1 - 2013-12-27 07:40:42 UTC
I hope this question hasn't already been beat to death.

I'm new to EVE and decide to run missions for ISK. Money seems good. The pacing of most missions matches my playstyle (exploration did not!). I fly a battleship into level 4 missions (Security). Ship is a Raven class, with lots of light drones in the bay. I am not too terrible at monitoring drones I think, its very similar to the Watch Lists in fleets.

However tonight, doing a mission on my own I had a problem that is more than annoying: Running The Assault against wicked Serpentis, my drones were getting smacked around hard. I recalled and let the launchers fly, hitting targets of size biggest to smallest (battleship -> battlecruiser -> cruiser -> destroyer -> frigate).

My missiles did little to deter the frigates. They were hitting for estimated 5% of their HP each volley and every time I would deploy drones to end the misery quicker, they would instantly (and I mean FAST!) shoot down my lovely little monsters.

Being able to activate the warp gate took forever because of the frigs. What do?
voetius
Grundrisse
#2 - 2013-12-27 08:37:13 UTC

Having done Serp Assault recently :

the gates in the first two rooms are not locked so you can jump straight through. Room 1 you are at the gate so you shouldn't have a problem, Room 2 you are about 6 - 7km from the gate, use your 100MN afterburner (*cough* *cough* ) sometimes you can get to the gate before the elite frigs are on top of you. They scram about 50% of the time so I assume this is where you are stuck as the gate isn't locked.

Probably you are having problems killing them because :

* you don't have webs
* you don't have painters
* you aren't using t2 drones
* you have T2 drones but don't have racial drone spec. IV and / or good drone skills
* you are using the wrong drones (use hobgoblins)

or some combination of the above.
Berasus
Ice station zebra
#3 - 2013-12-27 09:57:35 UTC  |  Edited by: Berasus
voetius wrote:

* you have T2 drones but don't have racial drone spec. IV and / or good drone skills.


Does racial drone spec actually affect light and medium drones. iirc it says it affects drones requiring racial spec which again iirc is only heavy t2. I have it anyway, trained it long ago before heavies were made infuriating by the drone aggro change:-) s but I always thought it didn't affect lights.

Back on topic. I can give plenty of advice about managing drone aggro (15m sp and none of it is in guns or missiles :p, all drones for weapons) but only for sentries :(. The only time I use anything else in pve now is when a frigate makes it to close orbiting range where sentries won't track it anymore. Then I just ignore it until its the last thing left alive and pop it with a set of lights. They aggrothe lights when u launch them but a couple frigates wwon't do any real damage to them before they die.

Kill the big stuff 1st. Ignore frigates unless they're webbing / scrambling you and kill them last. Get your scout drone skill and drone interfacing up as much as you can. Maybe the 1st few levels of drone durability as well. Don't send drones far out from your ship. They'll kill frigates alone faster then the frigates kill them and If necessary recall and relaunch


Of course the above may not necessarily apply as well to a ship not carrying 3 dda's and 3 omni tracking links :p
Morrigan LeSante
Perkone
Caldari State
#4 - 2013-12-27 11:15:43 UTC
There's a bunch of elite frigs and cruisers in that mission which means you have the following options.

1) Use them at point blank range.
2) Watch them with enough attention to make someone with OCD go blind.
2a) Have return to bay hotkeyed and mash it the instant you see them taking hits.
3) Hope the interface doesnt lag badly.

My preferred option?

4) Don't bother, it's pain in the ass and precision cruise missiles are FAR less hassle.
voetius
Grundrisse
#5 - 2013-12-27 11:17:34 UTC  |  Edited by: voetius
I did have to go and double-check :)

https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Amarr_Drone_Specialization

Amarr Drone Specialization

Specialization in the operation of advanced Amarr drones. 2% bonus per skill level to the damage of light, medium and heavy drones requiring Amarr Drone Specialization.

Edit : I tend to either lock the eilte frigs up at 50+ km and paint / blap them with sentries or let them get into their optimal at close range and use lights so I can immediately pull them and pop them out again if they get aggroed. I don't usually carry precisions for this reason but they could well be useful option in the sort term if you need to get T2 lights trained or improved.
Dirk Massive
D.O.O.M.
#6 - 2013-12-27 11:19:16 UTC
I don't fly missle boats, I fly Gallente, and blap blap with rails and blasters. I instapop the smallest ships first, then work my way up to the battleship rats. Able to hit the small ships using tracking computers, and weapon upgrades to improve tracking, and damage.

It's the small rats that attack your drones, the larger rats cant hit the drones hardly at all. Kill them first and your drones will thank you.

**Bringing WAR and TERROR to a system near you.... **
Berasus
Ice station zebra
#7 - 2013-12-27 11:23:13 UTC
Well, when you're right you're right :). Was that something they changed at some point? I think i trained that skill like 6 years ago now :p, my memmory may be failing.
The Djego
Hellequin Inc.
#8 - 2013-12-27 14:04:58 UTC
HK -56 wrote:
I hope this question hasn't already been beat to death.

I'm new to EVE and decide to run missions for ISK. Money seems good. The pacing of most missions matches my playstyle (exploration did not!). I fly a battleship into level 4 missions (Security). Ship is a Raven class, with lots of light drones in the bay. I am not too terrible at monitoring drones I think, its very similar to the Watch Lists in fleets.

However tonight, doing a mission on my own I had a problem that is more than annoying: Running The Assault against wicked Serpentis, my drones were getting smacked around hard. I recalled and let the launchers fly, hitting targets of size biggest to smallest (battleship -> battlecruiser -> cruiser -> destroyer -> frigate).

My missiles did little to deter the frigates. They were hitting for estimated 5% of their HP each volley and every time I would deploy drones to end the misery quicker, they would instantly (and I mean FAST!) shoot down my lovely little monsters.

Being able to activate the warp gate took forever because of the frigs. What do?


The Serpentis version of assault got a hidden agro mechanic, where spawns attack the 2. ship on grid or drones in the first pocket and the 2. pocket is a scoop/redeploy game at the beginning with the 4 elite frigs at the warpin(only really bearable with a ship with 90% web or a mwd fitted BS like a mach, useing kitting to get them done).

While I for myself just use mostly mwd fitted gunships, a CNR with 3 painters works, for extreme frig heavy stuff like buzz kill or silence the informant 2 painters + 1 web produces even better result vs elite frigs or spider drones. I for myself use sentry drones nearly exclusively and only lunch light drones when I absolutely have to.

Improve discharge rigging: https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=246166&find=unread
Antillie Sa'Kan
Imperial Shipment
Amarr Empire
#9 - 2013-12-27 17:16:56 UTC
Dirk Massive wrote:
I don't fly missle boats, I fly Gallente, and blap blap with rails and blasters. I instapop the smallest ships first, then work my way up to the battleship rats. Able to hit the small ships using tracking computers, and weapon upgrades to improve tracking, and damage.

It's the small rats that attack your drones, the larger rats cant hit the drones hardly at all. Kill them first and your drones will thank you.

This. The various Megathron hulls and the Vargur really shine here. Missiles may be more effective at lower SP levels and easier to use but in the end nothing beats properly trained guns.
Batelle
Federal Navy Academy
#10 - 2013-12-27 19:08:07 UTC
use sentries, never get aggro. Or when they do get aggro, they tend to tank like a boss. Also, a 6th sentry allows you to cycle out damaged ones without losing much dps.

"**CCP is changing policy, and has asked that we discontinue the bonus credit program after November 7th. So until then, enjoy a super-bonus of 1B Blink Credit for each 60-day GTC you buy!"**

Never forget.
Ibrahim Vaughn Holtzman
the holtzman experience
CAStabouts
#11 - 2013-12-30 06:11:21 UTC  |  Edited by: Ibrahim Vaughn Holtzman
Or simply see your drones as another type of ammo.
I don't much use T2 drones anymore; T1's are cheap as dirt, still do their thing admirably - especially in a 101% drone boat like the Dominix or Navy Vexor - and when they inevitably get destroyed it's no drama.
Just remember to occasionally make a 1000 pcs. buy order in some mission hub.
Auduin Samson
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#12 - 2013-12-30 12:20:28 UTC
I rat in null. I'm not sure if the mechanics are the same, but this is how I deal with frigates. This may or may not work for you.

Once elite frigs (In my case Sansha Loyal frigates) get too close for my sentries to hit, I pull them in and deploy light drones. After giving the order to attack, I IMMEDIATELY recall them. Due to the way timers end up working, they will start to fly at their target, turn around and come back. Almost always, this is enough time for the frigates to switch lock to the drones and start shooting at them. Once the drones are back in my hold, I wait till the frigates redbox me and send them back out to fight. This time though, the frigates won't switch targets and my drones can usually chew through two or three before they begin taking aggro again, allowing me to direct my missiles (I fly a Typhoon) at bigger stuff in the meantime.
Batelle
Federal Navy Academy
#13 - 2013-12-30 18:40:52 UTC
Ibrahim Vaughn Holtzman wrote:
Or simply see your drones as another type of ammo.
I don't much use T2 drones anymore; T1's are cheap as dirt, still do their thing admirably - especially in a 101% drone boat like the Dominix or Navy Vexor - and when they inevitably get destroyed it's no drama.
Just remember to occasionally make a 1000 pcs. buy order in some mission hub.



What?

"**CCP is changing policy, and has asked that we discontinue the bonus credit program after November 7th. So until then, enjoy a super-bonus of 1B Blink Credit for each 60-day GTC you buy!"**

Never forget.
Omega Sunset
Black.Omega
#14 - 2014-01-01 09:55:27 UTC  |  Edited by: Omega Sunset
HK -56 wrote:
(battleship -> battlecruiser -> cruiser -> destroyer -> frigate)


(frigate -> destroyer -> cruiser -> battlecruiser -> battleship)
Start with light drones, eliminate all the small ships. Then finish the large ships using med or large drones along with a web drone. Small drones are like 5k, bounties on most small ships are more, so I let them die (large CNR drone bay). Frigs are often the ones that will jam, scramble and web you, so I usually take them first, makes for better tanking. Cruisers seem to attack drones a lot. Once the cruisers are gone, drones tend to last a little longer. I often split my targets though, six cruise missiles and two rapid launcher heavies, assisting the drones on frigs with heavies and smashing cruisers with the cruise missiles. If my drones are not taking damage, I leave most of the cruisers for last, apart from the ones that jam, scramble and web. And if no damage to drones, I fly a web drone all the way through.

Yeah splitting may seem slower, but I'm trying to get web drones out and web/jammer frigs off me. And then heavy drones and webs on BS's. And you want to be able to tank fairly well, not being webbed helps, needless to say not being jammed either. hehe 15 BS's on me, I'm fooling with frigs.

—Ω—
Josef Djugashvilis
#15 - 2014-01-01 15:22:15 UTC
HK -56 wrote:
I hope this question hasn't already been beat to death.

I'm new to EVE and decide to run missions for ISK. Money seems good. The pacing of most missions matches my playstyle (exploration did not!). I fly a battleship into level 4 missions (Security). Ship is a Raven class, with lots of light drones in the bay. I am not too terrible at monitoring drones I think, its very similar to the Watch Lists in fleets.

However tonight, doing a mission on my own I had a problem that is more than annoying: Running The Assault against wicked Serpentis, my drones were getting smacked around hard. I recalled and let the launchers fly, hitting targets of size biggest to smallest (battleship -> battlecruiser -> cruiser -> destroyer -> frigate).

My missiles did little to deter the frigates. They were hitting for estimated 5% of their HP each volley and every time I would deploy drones to end the misery quicker, they would instantly (and I mean FAST!) shoot down my lovely little monsters.

Being able to activate the warp gate took forever because of the frigs. What do?


Regular Dominix + mjd + sentry drones.

Saves having to buy ammo as a bonus.

This is not a signature.
Holgrak Blacksmith
Prophets of Motav
#16 - 2014-01-02 00:22:58 UTC  |  Edited by: Holgrak Blacksmith
I have a capital shield transfer modul fitted.
Ireland VonVicious
Vicious Trading Company
#17 - 2014-01-02 00:43:43 UTC  |  Edited by: Ireland VonVicious
You have 75 m3 bay and 50 bandwidth with your Raven.

The drones you are looking for are Vespas.

They are great v.s. frigs.
They have the highest shield pool for medium drones so you can wash more damage easier.
Frigs ignore them a lot more than they do with lights.
They are have the best tracking/dps/speed ratio of all 4 races mediums.

Carry a set of hobs with the last 25 m3 if you happen to get something that seems too fast for them.

Other things that will help:

Target painter. (( These help drones too! ))
Web. (( If you already have a tp and need more help add this ))
T2 Cruise missile launchers.
The precision missiles can really help you mob up after the big things are dead if drones nee extra help.
Rigor rig. (( More than one is over kill ))
Get all your secondary drone and missile skills to 4.

Drone omni's can help but on a raven it's not worth wasting a mid slot.
IIshira
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#18 - 2014-01-02 03:35:05 UTC
What I do with my CNR is wait till the frigates get within 10km to send drones on them. You still have to watch them but at least you'll be able to bring them back. Sending them out further is pretty much suicide. You can TP and shoot frigates with precision cruise missiles but it doesn't seem worth it most of the time.

I know some pilots will use T1 drones as cannon fodder then just keep a flight of T2's to get them out of a bad spot.

If you're a missile pilot and you get a frigate heavy mission it's best to have a corp mate help out in a gun or sentry drone ship. You can do it in a Raven but there's nothing like having a someone come in and instapop those pesky frigates.
Ice Sharisa
Hamstered
#19 - 2014-01-02 03:59:43 UTC
HK -56 wrote:
I hope this question hasn't already been beat to death.

I'm new to EVE and decide to run missions for ISK. Money seems good. The pacing of most missions matches my playstyle (exploration did not!). I fly a battleship into level 4 missions (Security). Ship is a Raven class, with lots of light drones in the bay. I am not too terrible at monitoring drones I think, its very similar to the Watch Lists in fleets.

However tonight, doing a mission on my own I had a problem that is more than annoying: Running The Assault against wicked Serpentis, my drones were getting smacked around hard. I recalled and let the launchers fly, hitting targets of size biggest to smallest (battleship -> battlecruiser -> cruiser -> destroyer -> frigate).

My missiles did little to deter the frigates. They were hitting for estimated 5% of their HP each volley and every time I would deploy drones to end the misery quicker, they would instantly (and I mean FAST!) shoot down my lovely little monsters.

Being able to activate the warp gate took forever because of the frigs. What do?


Your doing WHAT? Seriously shoot up the sizes not down. Unless its a spawn trigger all the frigs/cruiser/batlle cruisers should already be dead before they get close to you. Also use only light drones or sentry, the others are just a waste.
IIshira
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#20 - 2014-01-02 04:19:23 UTC
Ice Sharisa wrote:
HK -56 wrote:
I hope this question hasn't already been beat to death.

I'm new to EVE and decide to run missions for ISK. Money seems good. The pacing of most missions matches my playstyle (exploration did not!). I fly a battleship into level 4 missions (Security). Ship is a Raven class, with lots of light drones in the bay. I am not too terrible at monitoring drones I think, its very similar to the Watch Lists in fleets.

However tonight, doing a mission on my own I had a problem that is more than annoying: Running The Assault against wicked Serpentis, my drones were getting smacked around hard. I recalled and let the launchers fly, hitting targets of size biggest to smallest (battleship -> battlecruiser -> cruiser -> destroyer -> frigate).

My missiles did little to deter the frigates. They were hitting for estimated 5% of their HP each volley and every time I would deploy drones to end the misery quicker, they would instantly (and I mean FAST!) shoot down my lovely little monsters.

Being able to activate the warp gate took forever because of the frigs. What do?


Your doing WHAT? Seriously shoot up the sizes not down. Unless its a spawn trigger all the frigs/cruiser/batlle cruisers should already be dead before they get close to you. Also use only light drones or sentry, the others are just a waste.


When I first started flying a Raven I would always kill the battleships first. The reason being is often it would take more volleys to kill a cruiser than a battleship. Skills, rigs, and implants help offset this. Even with very high skills the number of volleys it takes to kill a frigate is silly. By the time you kill that one frigate you could have had several larger ships dead and reduced incoming DPS.
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