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what size drone for the job?
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Leaky Johnson
Dogs of Capitalism Stellar Trade Clearinghouse
#1 - 2015-06-28 20:27:24 UTC
Can anyone give me a quick rundown of what size drone should be used for Frigates destroyers Cruisers..etc?
Hengle Teron
Red Sky Morning
The Amarr Militia.
#2 - 2015-06-28 20:37:07 UTC
heavies can kill all
Amak Boma
Dragon Factory
xX SERENITY Xx
#3 - 2015-06-28 22:52:16 UTC
light drone - to erease frigates and destroyers
medium drones to erease cruisers , industrials and battlecruisers
heavy drones - for shooting battleships battlecruisers , freighters and other big ships
sentry drones - cruisers battlecrusiers and battleships also t1 haulers
fighters - for blowing up battleships and other capitals
fighter bomber - to blow up another capital ship.
Zappity
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#4 - 2015-06-28 22:54:23 UTC
Heavies can do cruisers and below when the targets are webbed. Drones whatsit with optimal range script helps a lot, too. Otherwise the drones MWD to the target, turn MWD off and are rapidly out of range.

Zappity's Adventures for a taste of lowsec and nullsec.
Aquila Sagitta
Blue-Fire
#5 - 2015-06-29 01:11:13 UTC
smaller then Cruiser within 30km
  • slower than 2000m/s Ogres
  • slower than 3000m/s Berserkers
  • otherwise Warriors

    • Cruiser or bigger within 30km
  • less than 2000m/s Hammerheads
  • less than 3000m/s Valks
  • otherwise Warriors (Acolytes for shield tankers)

    • Outside of 30km
  • Sentry of choice
    • otherwise Warriors

    Note: Anything greater than 5000m/s don't bother unless you have mods to make your drones go faster

    Blue-Fire Best Fire
    Chainsaw Plankton
    FaDoyToy
    #6 - 2015-06-29 03:40:47 UTC
    because of how drone mechanics work sometimes a drone can hit a smaller target very well, other times not at all. Where smaller drones can nearly always hit bigger targets.

    @ChainsawPlankto on twitter
    Do Little
    Bluenose Trading
    #7 - 2015-06-29 11:16:56 UTC
    I fly a ship that is bonused for medium drones (Gila) so there is a lot of incentive to make them work for all targets. To improve performance against smaller targets I fit an Omnidirectional Tracking Link with tracking script and a Medium Drone Speed Augmentor rig (can also use a Drone Navigation Computer for extra speed if you have a spare midslot).

    Small drones will still have a speed/tracking advantage but the mediums hit hard enough (at least on this ship) so even a glancing blow is lethal.
    Memphis Baas
    #8 - 2015-06-29 12:04:17 UTC  |  Edited by: Memphis Baas
    If you don't have the drone support skills trained, then as indicated in the second post: light for frigates, medium for cruisers, heavy or sentry for battleships, etc. If you train the drone support skills to 4-5, and by the time you start using Tech 2 drones, the skills will allow you to hit one size smaller (so you can hit frigates with mediums and cruisers with heavies).

    For PVE missions, keep in mind that generic NPCs will switch targets to kill larger size drones; frigates will ignore light drones but will shoot mediums and heavies, cruisers will ignore light and medium and will shoot heavy, etc. Officer NPCs, Sleepers, and other advanced-AI NPCs will of course shoot all drones, based on perceived threat.

    PVP players will obviously not follow any set rules and will shoot your drones as they see fit. That's why most drone ships have cargo bays that can fit several sets. You'll also need to enhance the drones with drone upgrade modules in your medium or low slots to actually get PVP performance out of them (for example, you need the fastest drones, Warrior II's, and drone speed and range modules in your ship slots, to catch interceptors, and even then it's difficult - they move so fast and they can get out of range).

    As far as defending against them, drones and missiles are where you start paying attention to your ship's signature radius and speed. As a very specific example, a frigate is much tougher than a destroyer in certain situations because the destroyer's larger sig radius means it will take full damage from medium drones and missiles, where the frigate will only be in danger from light drones and missiles. As a more generic tactic, some modules (MWD's, shield extenders) increase your signature radius, and if your ship relies on being small and fast to survive, you may not want that.