Flying a bomber and against, drones feel very squishy.

 

I find that that drones are pretty much just mines that have more than one use. The difference is that mines are practically a death sentence if you trip off 2 or more, while drones might take out your shields at best before you are out or range. When I am flying my Flashfire, I can shoot down drones in 2 hits, and often they don't pose much of a threat unless they sneak up on you. In which case, I would just afterburn in a straight or corkscrew direction (To getting hit by a rail gun from a player gunship), get out of its pitiful range, and take that drone out.

 

Drones do not have enough health to be deployed in a combat zone, nor do they have enough range to be useful from a safe position. Honestly, I am not sure if anyone is actually stupid enough to be taken out by one at near full hull and shield. Since for a missile drone to be effective, you must be within 5km, and the rail gun drone does not fire fast enough to prevent shield regen from starting.

 

Flying a drone bomber myself, I find the one minute cool down to be excessive for something so fragile

Instead of buffing drones in damage or shield, I rather have them be mobile so it actually take some aiming to shoot them down.

 

Anyways, that's just my opinion. If there is some hidden benefits with drones that I didn't take into consideration, I would love to hear it.

(No Sarcasm, since i have a bomber)

A buffed up drone takes me about 2 seconds to kill, that's only a little less than most ships, so their health isn't a problem, the reason you're losing them so fast is because they are an instant target because if left alone they're as dangerous as a gunship.

 

A single drone won't be any problem in a 1v1 situation, but in a large dogfight or group battle, people can't pay attention to everything. That's where a drone that always hits comes in handy, and, some would say, might be a little overpowered, rather than the contrast.

 

Drone carriers aren't overpowered by any means, but they certainly aren't less powerful than any other class, it's just a matter of rock paper scissors.

 

(Basically, I understand your lust for power, I miss my OP rocket pods, but the game seems balanced enough as it is and a boost to drone health or drone laying time would upset the balance horribly)

 

also, if you approach a mine in your flashfire and slow down for the time to fire those shots, a good player will kill you. So feel free to consider yourself a dispenser of distractions of deadly design.

Edited February 21, 2014 by Nocher

A buffed up drone takes me about 2 seconds to kill, that's only a little less than most ships, so their health isn't a problem, the reason you're losing them so fast is because they are an instant target because if left alone they're as dangerous as a gunship.

 

A single drone won't be any problem in a 1v1 situation, but in a large dogfight or group battle, people can't pay attention to everything. That's where a drone that always hits comes in handy, and, some would say, might be a little overpowered, rather than the contrast.

 

Drone carriers aren't overpowered by any means, but they certainly aren't less powerful than any other class, it's just a matter of rock paper scissors.

 

(Basically, I understand your lust for power, I miss my OP rocket pods, but the game seems balanced enough as it is and a boost to drone health or drone laying time would upset the balance horribly)

 

also, if you approach a mine in your flashfire and slow down for the time to fire those shots, a good player will kill you. So feel free to consider yourself a dispenser of distractions of deadly design.

 

I see what you mean, and your points are valid, however I feel that you may have misunderstood some parts of my post.

A drone is definitely no more dangerous than any player ships (which I accept). A rail gun drone takes 5.5 seconds shortest to charge, while delivering only around 500~800 damage. The problem isn't the attacks, it is that drones do not attack consistently enough to stop shield regen by themselves. Any laser drones have too short a range.

 

I'm not saying we should all have 3 drones out at all times, but rather, I would like to see a CD reduction when all your drones are blow up. Or the ability to re-position them when needed.

 

Also, on a Scout to Scout note, the only time I become stationary is when I pop DF. I assure you it is rather safe, and allows to fire for a longer period before I have to suffer from tracking penalty or be forced to re-position my self.

(Again, being off topic, I am not sure why they nerfed rocket pods while leaving the other armor pene weapons untouched, but I would love to see a drone with rocket pods[Drones have no tracking penalty btw].)

 

A drone by itself can put out moderate dps, but it is paper thin and range is its enemy. I just want some QoL improvements such as notifications of when your drone is blown up(with map indications}, or the ability to take in your own drone, get a CD reset, and deploy it somewhere else.

 

Sometimes i get so bored waiting for the CD that i take my flying brick into mid and dog fight with heavy cannons. It is actually pretty effective, partly because I am an experienced Flashfire pilot, but mostly because the poor bugger chasing me have no idea he is about to eat a seeker mine.

Edited February 21, 2014 by MrWoolie

I generally don't think drones are a problem. I think the fact that they are so important is why they die.

 

The "5.5 seconds" isn't right. A drone takes 0 seconds to aquire, and 3.5 or 4 seconds to shoot, then has a 2 second refractory period. That averages out to 5.5, but that's over a long period of time.

 

 

I would be ok with any of the following though:

 

1- A weaker drone that is very hard to kill (like harder to kill than a bomber, but less than a third the damage of the other drones).

2- A weaker drone that has a very short cooldown (like 30 second cooldown, but half the damage or something).

3- A mobile drone, balanced around that fact.

Thought about it a bit and I might have an idea.

 

Something that might make us both happy might be a slight reduction in cooldown in exchange for only being able to have 1 out at a time? Points with a bomber alone for 2 minutes would be less invincible and you'd be more able to handle attackers or attacking with a quicker cooldown. And you'd be more powerful in team deathmatch overall, without letting a team create a bramble wall for their enemy.

Edited February 21, 2014 by Nocher

Drones make their mark when setting up an exclusion zone, which is what bombers excel at. Rail/Missle Drone + Repair and 3 Seeker Mines and you have a nice little nest. An entrenched bomber is a problem, even in TDM. A key point to TDM is that unless you have solid team covering your 6 at all times, your "nest" cant be at the front lines or you will be picked apart by faster ships or gunships. Give your team a safe haven to run to if they are being dogged by the enemy and guard it with a combo of your mines, drones, and your own blasters.

 

Should be straight forward in Domination, though another key point is drone placement. I will tuck repair drones under the sat while I will put my attack drone at the "south pole". The attack drone is a more vulnerable in this spot but if ignored it has a wide field to strike and will hit anything on the underside of the sat.

I would be ok with any of the following though:

 

1- A weaker drone that is very hard to kill (like harder to kill than a bomber, but less than a third the damage of the other drones).

2- A weaker drone that has a very short cooldown (like 30 second cooldown, but half the damage or something).

3- A mobile drone, balanced around that fact.

 

Actually, after giving it some thought, I realized that the first option would be overpowered if the drone attacks in a consistent manner (cannon, not rail). Since a drone with health equivalent to a bomber is several times its current rate.

Number two is actually great (maybe even op), there should be an option to spec into this.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Thought about it a bit and I might have an idea.

 

Something that might make us both happy might be a slight reduction in cooldown in exchange for only being able to have 1 out at a time? Points with a bomber alone for 2 minutes would be less invincible and you'd be more able to handle attackers or attacking with a quicker cooldown. And you'd be more powerful in team deathmatch overall, without letting a team create a bramble wall for their enemy.

 

For a "slight" reduction, we are talking about at least 15 seconds right? And yes, you rarely get the chance to pop out more than one drone anyways. Waiting for drones to come off CD is like watching the paint dry; and at the same time, you want someone to come into your and be rewarded for your patience, but you also don't want them to come because they would probably blow something up and destroy your "hard" work.

 

Drones make their mark when setting up an exclusion zone, which is what bombers excel at. Rail/Missle Drone + Repair and 3 Seeker Mines and you have a nice little nest. An entrenched bomber is a problem, even in TDM. A key point to TDM is that unless you have solid team covering your 6 at all times, your "nest" cant be at the front lines or you will be picked apart by faster ships or gunships. Give your team a safe haven to run to if they are being dogged by the enemy and guard it with a combo of your mines, drones, and your own blasters.

 

Should be straight forward in Domination, though another key point is drone placement. I will tuck repair drones under the sat while I will put my attack drone at the "south pole". The attack drone is a more vulnerable in this spot but if ignored it has a wide field to strike and will hit anything on the underside of the sat.

 

Good points, I too have concluded that underneath the sat is the best place to be from my countless gunship involved deaths. Due to their natural positioning, the top lip of the structure provides natural cover for you and the person being repaired. While we lose nothing in return because all our drones are updated with the latest edition of OS Wallhack.

Drone cooldown is just fine. They last 3 minutes and the cooldown is 1/3 to 1/2 of that. If you are losing them too quickly you need to question where you are placing them. The vast majority of my drones last their entire duration, and at the very least 1 minute so that I am ready to drop another as soon as it is destroyed. If I am facing opponents that destroy them too quickly, then perhaps there is something else going on. Either they are simply good pilots whom are situationally aware or perhaps I am outnumbered and they have the luxury of ignoring me and going for the drones. Edited February 21, 2014 by Coldcrush

I hope you all realize that unless a tier of upgrades specifically says that the number of active drones allowed increases by 1, that a new drone "kills" the old. And there is only 1 drone that you can put 2 out with... the interdiction drone, which is the shortest range with laser only.

I hope you all realize that unless a tier of upgrades specifically says that the number of active drones allowed increases by 1, that a new drone "kills" the old. And there is only 1 drone that you can put 2 out with... the interdiction drone, which is the shortest range with laser only.

 

ah, seems that was changed from the pts, never really checked it in detail since.

 

How about a total amount of mines+drones? If you have the drone out, you can use less mines, but the CD on the drone is set so that it would be 45 seconds after upgrades? would that be a fairer exchange?

Well each weapon type (seeker mine, seismic mine, etc.) has a different default and upgrade limit. The limit is more what they can do individually than what it totals with other weapon load outs...

 

I'm pretty sure that the total is no more than 5 weapons, with a repair/hyperspace beacon drone as a utility one as well

Edited February 21, 2014 by Zharik

As a Legion (only ship I fly) I can have a maximum of 3 seekers, 2 interdiction drones, and 1 repair drone out a any given time. So yes a total of 5 *sentries*, but both rail and missile drones are limited to one regardless of upgrades.

I dont know if they are underpowered,but I do know you need to place them strategically. If guarding a satellite,place them in an area that they can shoot from but are not easily seen and is inconvenient to get at. Dont place your repair and your railgun/missle drones next to eachother and make certain mines somewhat overlap the area needed to hit the drone if they come in with guns. Layer your defenses and protect them. Or get a strike with protons to protect them when you have them maxed and they have reloads