EVE New Citizens Q&A

Okay so I am a returning player.
Right before I took my break, an expansion was released that made NPC's Primary drones. I came back to find that this is still the case...

So my question would be how are people still using/ recommending them? Do we now have to keep launching and retracting them every time they are prim'ed? I don't get how people still find them functional if this is the case. I use to end up losing plenty of drone because of this.

And look here, I'm not whining about it. I'm just asking, is there something that I'm missing here? Is there a way to get them to stop priming the drones so fast? Also, is there a way to figure out exactly when the drones have been targeted, other than monitoring their shields? I know it tells you in the overview, I've just forgotten what to look for.

I've found several things keep NPC's from targeting drones... including your ship doing damage, ewar (such as using target painters) and even the act of using a remote armor repairer on a drone that is being damaged by a rat.

I had similar questions when I came back after a long break... but from experimentation I found the change didn't have a huge impact. It's more active then just getting aggro, launching drones, turning on your armor reps and walking away for 10-20 minutes (which is often how you could run missions with drone boats before). But it doesn't feel like the drone boats are less effective. They just require a bit more of an active playstyle.

And if you go with a sniper fit using sentries and a MJD... it's not even THAT much more active.

Depends on the NPC's too.

Basic mission NPC's / rats:

1. Frigates ignore light drones, attack mediums and heavies.
2. Cruisers ignore light and medium, attack heavies.
3. Battleships ignore all.

The basic NPC's / rats will stay on you if you get their aggro when they spawn or you warp in.

The elite / boss / named NPCs in missions, as well as Sleepers / Drifters / etc., will ignore the above rules and switch to your drones based on "threat". They will likely switch to your drones if the drones are a significant portion of the damage output of your ship. However, as noted by the other posters above, the elites consider all forms of ewar and all forms of logistics / repairs as "huge threats" and will switch to the jammer / logistics ship pretty much instantly.

EDIT: As far as drones targeted, basically:

a. When the drones start taking damage, you can see it in the drone box.

b. When an NPC is shooting you, it has a red square in your Overview. When an NPC is merely target-locked on you (probably shooting your drones instead of you), it has a yellow box in your Overview. When an NPC hasn't targeted you at all (might still be shooting your drones), it has no box, but may be moving closer to your drones, so you'll likely see distance decreasing.

T2 drones draw more than their fair share of aggro, so I stick with T1s because they die less often and nobody cares if a T1 drone dies, much like you don't take a hamster to the vet.

Drone aggro is dependant on your NPC enemies race. Angels target the drones way more than blood raiders, as an example.