EVE New Citizens Q&A

I just started running Level 3 missions and my drones are just getting obliterated right and left.

I've been using the Google machine to find some sort of solution and Ih ave read an ECM burst will help keep agro off the drones but most of this information looks dated. Does this still work well?

Lacking that solution, any other good suggestions on helping me keep my drones alive? Should I just be managing them more manually?

Point of reference, I am current flying a Drake and using Hobgoblin II's. I can use other drones also if they will be more effective?

Thanks for any help.

Don't use ECM burst in high sec. If you accidentally hit some neutral party, including structures, you'll get concorded. Some other ewar like a target painter would be a better option.

The drone navigation and done durability skills can help you keep them alive. Also keep in mind certain size rats are more likely to shoot certain size drones. You may just need to kill the frigates first or something.

1) Wait till you get aggro to launch drones.
2) Recall drones that get aggro and relaunch.
3) fly a ship that a majority of dps comes from your ship not from drones.

I seriously have never had this issue with drones. occasionally one will take damage and ill recall and relaunch. But this might be once in every 50 waves if that much even when i leave them out between waves. I dont think ive lost a drone to rat fire in nearly a year.

Rats agro drones smaller than them a lot. If you're using mediums while there are still frigates or destroyers that's the problem. The rats sometimes switch aggro now even if you use the right size. You just have to keep an eye on them and don't send them super far away.

How to keep drones alive:

1. Wait until all the rats in the overview have red brackets, meaning they've targeted you and are shooting your ship.

2. Use drones that are equal or smaller than the rats - small for frigates, medium for cruiser rats, heavy for battleship rats.

3. Keep in mind that NPCs usually come in groups, 1 cruiser and several frigates supporting it, or one battleship, several cruisers, and several frigates, and these groups attack as one entity. So to keep your drones alive, put out the small drones and kill all the small ships first, then recall and go to bigger drones. You need a good tank to withstand the damage from the big NPCs while you kill the small. (Which is why people use gun ships: the guns shoot the big NPCs first, and the few small drones that the ship has for self defense can go after the frigates).

4. Named NPCs / Officer NPCs have special AI (similar to sleepers in wormholes) and will switch to drones regardless of size. Use a gun ship instead of a drone ship for them.

5. Use EVE Survival to get complete spoilers about each mission, including when each wave of NPC's appears (you need to recall drones until the new wave locks and starts shooting you), whether there are bosses, or in what order to kill the NPCs for minimum aggro.

Don't use drones

Targeted ECM module >> Target painter for agro. Burst just asking to be CONCORDED.

However, I've never bothered doing that.

For level 3, an attack priority of:

* If the frigates are at max range, you can usually alpha the non-elites with turrets / missiles / sentries. Once they are in orbit around you, only light drones are worth using.
* Destroyers, as they only take one volley (or two).
* Battlecruisers, as they are the biggest threat, but few in number.
* Cruisers.
* Frigates.

If using drones for primary damage, use sentry drones and orbit them. Re-launch as necessary.

If using medium drones for primary damage, don't let them get further than 15 km from you.

If using heavy drones for primary damage, don't let them get further than 10 km from you.

Otherwise sending light drones after frigates when you start on the cruisers, should help keep them safe.

I used ECM burst exactly one time in HS.

Posting ship you are using would help to some degree then we know what you are flying and any bonuses it may give to your drones.

Most of the ideas above will help to some degree or another but there is no absolute way to keep your drones from drawing agro if they are in space so your best bet is to control the ranges you use them at.

Range as in they are to far away from your ship is a major cause of drone loss. A good way to determine what is a decent max range from your ship you should send your drones is recall time. Start with ranges that allow for you to recall them in 6-8 seconds and then adjust from there based on your experiences.

As others have noted drones durability will help with this and in some cases ship skills may help as well.

I have never been a fan of using EWAR to control agro on your drones since it does not work in all situations. Even if it does work for awhile at some point the NPC will switch back to your drones and then you have to deal with the potential for loss.

Depending on the ship you are flying sentry drones are an option you should be considering if you are into level 3 missions, especially since they are a level 4 drones pilots best friends.

CCP has modified npc aggro so that they are much more likely to attack drones. It is just a fact of life that if you use drones in PvE, you are going to lose them from time to time.

Instead of stressing and micromanaging your drones to save them, just use cheap T1 drones and let the NPCs target them if they want. Replace as needed. The t1s are so incredibly cheap that it should not be a problem. Yes, you lose DPS if your drones die, but you lose DPS by constantly microing and recalling/relaunching them too.