Warfare & Tactics

Basically, see title. I'm not trolling, I've been away for just over 10 months.

This is currently how I see things, drone assist still works the same as when I left (and when I first subbed for that matter). And I see a lot of hate for drone assist from a lot of people, but no one in the threads I've read has said WHY? As it stands, it a game mechanic that has been around for a while, and as such I see it the same CONCORD. Both are game mechanics and both have parties that complain about the way these game mechanics work. hisec carebears complain about being ganked - and a yet undefined group of pvpers are moaning about drone assist.

TL;DR - I had a long break, isn't drone assist just another game mechanic?

Probably because I don't understand what the problem with drone assist is.

Is it not a game mechanic that's been untouched for several years? and now there suddenly tears, but why are there tears? (suddenly may have to be relatively relatively to the break I had :p )

The big complaint is about large fleets of Archons in nullsec (this doctrine is called "slowcats"). Essentially, you have a fleet of 250 archons all capable of fielding 10 drones. Everyone in the fleet then has the drones set to assist a fast locking sensor boosted smaller ship like a strategic cruiser. Every drone fires every 4 seconds. Assuming garde 1, no drone damage amps, that is 250 ships times 10 drones times 20 dps = 50,000 damage every second, or 200k every shot. Add in drone damage amps and tech 2 sentry drones and you "alpha" one dreadnaught off the field every 16 or 20 seconds (4 or 5 shots). Smaller ships, like battleships get blown away in a single shot.

It takes no skill of the player at the computer, just large blobs of slowcats. And because it takes no skill, the battle just boils down to who has the bigger blob. Because they are spider tanking each other (remote repairing each other), you have to kill the archon in a single server tick. If the ship survives the initial shot, it will be repaired back to full before you can shoot it again (due to TiDi).

This post explains it from the viewpoint of Goonswarm:
http://themittani.com/news/gsf-ceo-update-omegafleet-rising-0

Tactics to fight slowcat blobs:
1. Omegafleet plus FYF - get hundreds of Naglfars to alpha slowcats. Takes about 100 Naglfars to blap a slowcat in a single shot. Expect to lose a Naglfar every 16-20 seconds. Expect to blow away 1 slowcat every 36 seconds.
2. Drebuchet - Sucker them in to your POS and fling sieged dreadnaughts at the blobs. When the blobs are bowled out of spider tanking range, slowcats can be taken down by smaller gangs of tackle and subcaps using player skill.
3. Complain about drone assist and get it changed.
4. Surrender and train up to fly this year's "fit of the month" - arty Naglfars and Slowcats

My plans are to get blueprints for Naglfars and Archons and make them. The 34th rule of acquisition says that war is good for business.

1. pet gets killed by drone ship
2. pet gets killed again by drone ship
3. pet uses drone ship
4. pets get motivated by leadership and his pairs to hate the drone

I was recently in a militia fleet where the FC wanted to use drone assist on non-sentry boat ships. We were in Thoraxes and Vexors and primarily using heavies and medium drones. The fleet died horribly and the FC insisted that his drone assist tactic is still legit on non sentry boats.

I just facepalmed and vowed not to fly in his fleets for a few months.

This has nothing to do with the OP but felt compelled to share

Yeah. Just read up on CCP's latest changes to Omnidirectionals. Combined with the nerf to RLM mechanism, it just really shows how clueless CCP is about spaceships

Okay so I get the slowcat thing, but they were around way before I left. In fact, I even supported a PL slowcat fleet back in the delve "war" of 2012.

Why are jimmies being rustled all of a sudden? It's not because goons are on the receiving end now is it?

sure, sentries are old but ships have been rebalanced and modules have been added.

Tracking bonus on drone boats is relatively new (e.g dominix), drone mods aren't that old either. All combined makes them more powerful as they have ever been.

Not everyone was using RLM. Fozzie changed it for the sake of changing it.

Everyone in nullsec might be using sentries and unfortunately nullsec politics affects the rest of us

its not just slowcats.

in skirmish warfare, kiting ishtars are deadly.

If an ishtar locks you and starts shooting, your ship will be recieving 500-800dps within 0-150km of the ishtar's drones no matter how fast you go. Meanwhile, ishtar itself is kiting you at speeds close to 2 - 3km /s, depending on boosts/implants. Add to that sensor damps on the ishtar, and 1v1 ishtar is king.

Even ceptors can be killed off with clever piloting by the ishtar.

Ishtars are also not worrying too much ebout ewar - drones are independent more or less.

Clever use of abandon drone and reconnect to drone makes ishtars tactically very flexible.

Now imagine 3 ishtars assisting a ceptor on a gate or something. Big bubble is anchored, drones deployed around the gate at different points. Basically, a ceptor now has control of a makeshift turret set, if you will, that deals 1500dps, at a minimum, within 150km of it. Ishtars meanwhile are hovering safe, 100km+ away from the gate.

So, what do you do? Nothing thats what. Unless you have 2 logi in your small gang, you, whats the polite word, go away, because that ceptor with assist will take down your small gang in a minute.

And its all completely doable with 1 computer. ceptor is the main client, several ishtars are on the second screen just afk-orbiting. trouble? cloak up, recconect to drones later. otherwise, have fun.

No real counter either, drones are tanky as hell, and ishtars can drop 3 sets before refitting.