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Q: How do I use sentry drones for L4 missions effectively
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Strawhat Husky
Doomheim
#1 - 2011-12-21 15:19:10 UTC  |  Edited by: Strawhat Husky
Hi there, I have recently started doing L4 misisons after a very long period of farming L3. I have the money to get a Rattlesnake+fits (more than 2bill; however not gonna spend that much, <1bill for sure). I'm really liking drones so far, but for the record I've never used sentries in missions. I know the machariel is great and all, but I wont be able to fit in T2 cannons on it, and I'm training for a fully T2 fitted Loki in the mean while. So this Rattlesnake is more for fun till I can fly that Loki fully to the max of the class.

My question is before I step into my Rattlesnake is: how do I use sentry drones effectively:
1. So I warp in the pocket I'm surrounded by all these terrifying pirates. I fly like 80-100km out of their range, deploy my sentries(5 of them; the bouncers) and start chipping away. Am i right here?
2. What kill order do I follow with sentries? Like BS>Cruiser>Frigates?
3. What other drones do I bring? On some bclinic fits I see people bringing medium drones as the smallest and no heavies. So they use Bouncers for long range(>50km), Gardes for medium (<50km) and medium drones for <10km. Is this the right thing to do?
4. Now a question about the Rattlesnake or sentry drone boats in general. When I go clearing that pockets, is the basic idea just going: fly, deploy drones, kill, fly to next group, deploy drones, kill, and repeat? I'm asking because people on bclinic say the Rattlesnake is overtanked and can easily tank all L4, however is the tank enough so that I have to kill group by group or can I mindleslly start shooting at groups, not caring if I pull aggro from others.

Well thats it for now, thanks for reading and I'm appreciating ANY help. If you have time to place some constructive feedback , have any tips or adivce, want to declare love to someone you know, or just wanna brag about yer big strong ship...then please do :D

ps. This is an alt
gfldex
#2 - 2011-12-21 15:30:29 UTC
Sentries are turrets.

If you take all the sand out of the box, only the cat poo will remain.
Strawhat Husky
Doomheim
#3 - 2011-12-21 15:33:10 UTC
gfldex wrote:
Sentries are turrets.


Ok thanks for that, makes life much easier for getting my ranges right.
Liam Mirren
#4 - 2011-12-21 15:40:43 UTC
First of all, not so sure a Rattlesnake is a sound choice if you want to get used to doing lvl 4s in a droneboat. Apart from that it seems your training is a bit all over the place and most importantly; if you have skills (even if just T1 guns) to fly a Mach, why the hell would you want to use a Rattler?

Onto your questions:

1 You warp in and aggro (by launching some missiles) the correct npc/group, once you have aggro you launch your sentry and start attacking the targets. If your drones get aggro you have to recall them (remember to stay close to them), wait till you regain aggro and then launch again.

2 killing order depends on what is the most dangerous/annoying to you, it can be that hard hitting BS or perhaps the ECM boat or scrambling frigate. Use www.eve-survival.org to figure it out

3 a flight of lights and mediums is obvious, then it depends on what you fight. If kin/therm based you bring Wardens and gardes, if Minnie based you bring Bouncers and Berserkers. If Amarr based it's Curators and Gardes.

4 Rattler is seriously overtanked but never flown one so can't tell if it could cope with everything, essentially see #1 and #2



Remember; to make a sentry boat work you need the following:

- at least 1 but preferably 2 Omnidirectional Tracking Links
- 1 or 2 Drone Link Augmenters (Ishtar doesn't need them)
- 1 or 2 Sentry Damage Augmentor rigs

So if you see a fit with no omnis and zero damage rigs you KNOW it's a crapfit, why waste all that isk to end up with mediocre dps and damage projection.

Excellence is not a skill, it's an attitude.
Strawhat Husky
Doomheim
#5 - 2011-12-21 15:51:02 UTC  |  Edited by: Strawhat Husky
Liam Mirren wrote:
First of all, not so sure a Rattlesnake is a sound choice if you want to get used to doing lvl 4s in a droneboat. Apart from that it seems your training is a bit all over the place and most importantly; if you have skills (even if just T1 guns) to fly a Mach, why the hell would you want to use a Rattler?

Onto your questions:

1 You warp in and aggro (by launching some missiles) the correct npc/group, once you have aggro you launch your sentry and start attacking the targets. If your drones get aggro you have to recall them (remember to stay close to them), wait till you regain aggro and then launch again.

2 killing order depends on what is the most dangerous/annoying to you, it can be that hard hitting BS or perhaps the ECM boat or scrambling frigate. Use www.eve-survival.org to figure it out

3 a flight of lights and mediums is obvious, then it depends on what you fight. If kin/therm based you bring Wardens and gardes, if Minnie based you bring Bouncers and Berserkers. If Amarr based it's Curators and Gardes.

4 Rattler is seriously overtanked but never flown one so can't tell if it could cope with everything, essentially see #1 and #2



Remember; to make a sentry boat work you need the following:

- at least 1 but preferably 2 Omnidirectional Tracking Links
- 1 or 2 Drone Link Augmenters (Ishtar doesn't need them)
- 1 or 2 Sentry Damage Augmentor rigs

So if you see a fit with no omnis and zero damage rigs you KNOW it's a crapfit, why waste all that isk to end up with mediocre dps and damage projection.


Ya you are right I have a large spread in my skills. Its mainly because I have been lurking like boss aka login-set skills-log out play habit for a few years. But the thing with the Loki, I just need to get the cruiser V which takes at least a few weeks. In the meantime I want to sit back, relax and not micro too much while doing missions. I read the Rattlesnake is the perfect afk boat ever so thats why I choose thee and its cheaper than a Machariel. I do understand that you can blitz and go sharkmode in missions with a Machariel, but I'll be doing that alot more when I get my Loki and join the fleets for some WH or w/e. So Rattle for the funzies.

The requirements you named are included in the fit I made.

The fit Ill be doing is this:

[Rattlesnake]
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Damage Control II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II

Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Invulnerability Field II
Invulnerability Field II
Omnidirectional Tracking Link II
Omnidirectional Tracking Link II
Omnidirectional Tracking Link II

'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I
'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I
'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I
'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I
Drone Link Augmentor I
Drone Link Augmentor I

Large Sentry Damage Augmentor I
Large Core Defence Field Purger I
Large Core Defence Field Purger I


Missiontype sentries and drones
Liam Mirren
#6 - 2011-12-21 16:06:10 UTC  |  Edited by: Liam Mirren
That won't have nearly enough tank, you either have to pimp fit it like you have a faction fetish (I would urge you not to) or you need to focus your tank more resist wise. Realise that because of how droneboats work, you have to gain aggro before applying your main DPS, they tend to need more tank than turret/missile focussed ships.

As said, never flown one (I have flown domis and Ishtars) but looking at some numbers I'd opt for something like this.

[Rattlesnake, idea]
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II

Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Heat Dissipation Field II
Ballistic Deflection Field II
Invulnerability Field II
Omnidirectional Tracking Link II
Omnidirectional Tracking Link II

'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I, Paradise Cruise Missile
'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I, Paradise Cruise Missile
'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I, Paradise Cruise Missile
'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I, Paradise Cruise Missile
Drone Link Augmentor I
Drone Link Augmentor I

Large Sentry Damage Augmentor I
Large Core Defence Field Purger I
Large Core Defence Field Purger I

Excellence is not a skill, it's an attitude.
Mara Rinn
Cosmic Goo Convertor
#7 - 2011-12-22 12:00:35 UTC
Yikes! Passive tanking costs you heaps of DPS. Here's a better fit:

[Rattlesnake, idea]
Damage Control II
Sensor Amplifier II
Sensor Amplifier II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II

X-Large Shield Booster II
Shield Boost Amplifier II
2 x Shield Hardener II (NPC's prime damage type)
1 x Shield Hardener II (NPC's secondary damage type)
Omnidirectional Tracking Link II
Omnidirectional Tracking Link II

'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I
'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I
'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I
'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I
Drone Link Augmentor I
Drone Link Augmentor I

Large Sentry Damage Augmentor I
Large Drone Scope I
Large Core Defence Field Purger I



I expect a Dominix with rails will out-DPS this boat, since the Dominix can fit two Sentry Damage Augmentor rigs. The advantage the Rattlesnake has over the Dominix is the awesome shield tank (as opposed to the Dominix having a kick-arse armour tank)

Bouncer IIs will be good to about 20km against Angel Cartel. Inside that range, switch to Valkyries (and against Angels, use Devastator missiles)

Against EOM, Serpentis, Guristas and Mercenaries use Wardens, switch to Hammerheads or Vespas for short range (and Wrath missiles).

Against Blood Raiders, use Curators, switch to Hammerheads for short range (and Paradise missiles).

You will also want a flight of light drones to attack frigate at close range: warriors against Angel, hobgoblins against pretty much everything else.

Day 0 Advice for New Players
Liam Mirren
#8 - 2011-12-22 13:24:29 UTC  |  Edited by: Liam Mirren
Your fit has CPU issues, easily solvable but still. Also, the "vast" dps difference from mine is a 3rd BCS while having non-bonused missiles so it's not a huge dps hit. Most importantly; your fit requires attention due to active tanking purely based on recharge so it's not that easy to use for many. Would the OP want to pay attention he'd fly a Mach, he's looking at the Rattler to NOT have to use braincells, so active non-perma tanking is out, kinda.


And yeah, I'm personally not a fan of the Rattler but I can see the ease of use that some people might enjoy.

Excellence is not a skill, it's an attitude.
J'Poll
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#9 - 2012-01-12 16:35:07 UTC
Why would you want to play a MMO in afk mode. Might as wel stick to single player games then.

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