Skill Discussions

Ok first - my char, been my char since I started him. Over 131 million SP and I've been around since 2009.

I used to use Heavy drones a long time back - rarely but I never bothered to take that skill all the way to 5. Recently I've been looking at my skills while wondering why the hell I might want to train that one up to 5.

I can use fighters and all small & medium drones. I have T2 sentries available... I can't think of a situation where I'd favor heavy drones over sentries or other types.

Theory crafting I can come up with a spot here or there but not for real planning and use.

As such - I figured I'd ask: Who uses these regularly and what for?

So buy the rare heavy and stick with a rattlesnake - which can field 1 of them at a time?

Interesting argument.

If you are engaging a stationary target that heavies can reach they do more damage than sentries (even before the sentry damage nerf) once they have reached the target. If you are moving you can keep heavies deployed whereas you'd have to scoop sentries.

Heavies are used in hq incursion fleets (as they tend to be mobile and two of the three main site types involve bashing a stationary tower) whereas sentries see some use in vg fleets (as they are often stationary and involve lots of smaller hp targets).

Heavies = mobility.
I think mine do 315 base damage, and I get to fly where ever I want and then recall them.
Much more useful than Sentries imo.

Not sure if I ever paid for a sentry drone.... I found all the ones I own on gates or stations, because pilots left them behind.


Edit for usage:
Mostly in PvP on BS or BC fights. I load them in hulls like the Navy Geddon, Typhoon, Megathron. Again, for big slow targets.
Almost any other targets I use Hobs first, or ECM drones, depends on the engagement. Hammerheads in some of my BC fits.

Whether or not you train to use T2 is up to you of course, but all I can say is

1. It is a rank 5 skill and you have 131m sp. Assuming you are a PVP/E pilot then within the next year or 2 you will wind up doing it just because it is one of the shortest skills left you have to do.

2. If and when a situation does arise that you need to use them, you wont want to have to wait 2-3 weeks for it to train.

Saying that, I have never used a T2 heavy drone on this char and I haven't found it to be any great disadvantage

[edit] not really sure why people are saying gecko's as the reason to train it to L5, since the Gecko is T1 and only requires the skill to L1. Obviously there is that 5% per level, but that's pretty much the same with all T1 weapon systems, and if you don't want the pain of training it to L5, you could easily do it to L4 to no massive disadvantage.

I might go that route eventually but I'm looking at what I'm aimed at and the heavies aren't something I've used in a couple years. As you say I will eventually run out of stuff ("eventually" looking like some point around 180m or so - friggn keep finding stuff going "that'd be cool to bring up..." *snicker*)

Right now I'm pushing up some drone skills a little bit farther (off-map training) - it's been a neglected area for quite some time due to mappings and what I've been pursuing but that is a skill I look at and wonder about.

I have full 5's for armor resists but only 4's on shield resists being as those help passive but not active and an invul is active while an EANM is passive, ... meh. "probably get to it later"...

The arguments based upon a gecko... Remember mining drones in the long ago? There were the ones you could loot from convoys and they flooded the market early on and were plentiful for years on end- mass quantities of them were out there that just slowly disappeared over time being as nobody was hitting convoys anymore.

The Gecko is just a specialty item that will keep climbing in price if a BP isn't released for it. (one might be - it is one of the few "gifts" that has seen huge use vs just hangar storage).

It just seems to be a niche/specialty skill but the discussion here has helped see where the skill is used.

It's mentioned above how it's used at times when mobility is needed but that's a fairly rare setup. Better using smaller drones to mess with all targets vs the heavies which are best suited to mess with other big ships. It works but it's limited.

For fast delivery of damage a sentry is superior being as it immediately starts to deliver damage vs flying to a target first - the old argument about using sentries for PVE comes out on this one.

Only when using specific drone boats do they now come into play and most such setups see fairly limited use. (PvP style - PvE style - still popular but Sentries > heavies mostly for PvE use - sans the Gecko)

As for smaller gangs - that's usually smaller ships best using medium drones vs a full battleship drone boat. Mediums deliver their DPS much more consistently than the heavies and work OK for frigates on up to battleships.

Again, I do see the niche potential but the skill does seem to not be as broadly applicable as sentries for heavier engagements or just keeping mediums around.

When u are not posbashing ishtar fleet since sentry nerf.
Carefull if ze enemyes haz smartbombs.

I do my fair share of drone boat flying in both pve and pvp.. and I honestly can't see a single reason to train heavy drones to 5 as they don't really get used that much. There are far more other arbitrary skills that could be trained to 5. Guess it depends what you do ???, and pvp doesn't appear to be your main activity.
I would probably train the skills for extra LP/rewards from missions before i did heavy drones to 5, maybe even train the new T3 destroyers to 5. I hardly ever mine but would probably train for t2 mining crystals before I did heavy drones 5.. hehe, sorry, not much help