MalVortex
Reaper Industries
Cry Havoc.
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Posted - 2010.04.03 20:22:00 -
[1]
 Originally by: Wolfy Espada
huh kind of disappointed, whats the use of drone specialized ships if you can only field 5 at 1 time.
Drones are already quite good, I assure you. Dropping 25 light drones would be hilarious, but also massively game breaking (both in balance and server performance).
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1)about the 3 sizes, do the heavy ones do reduced damage to small ships like frigates or they can do maximum damage despite the ships signature?
Thats a somewhat complicated question. Drones have tracking just like guns do, and so the larger the drone is compared to their target, the more trouble they can run into in the "actually hitting it" department. Drones also try to orbit the target, and have mwd and non-mwd speeds... When combined, you will sometimes see the heavier drones orbit speed essentially equal your opponents orbit speed, which means they will trail the target, dropping the transversal and laying down the smack down.
Frigates are the biggest problem in this regard. Heavy drones hit cruisers muuuch harder than medium drones tend to hit frigates.
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2)wouldnt it be more logical to have drones that reach the maximum of bandwidth? like 3 heavy drones and 2 medium drones?
Yes, this maximizes your damage potential. Ships like the Vexor and Myrmidon often emply a 2/2/1 split of heavy/medium/light drones to maximize their drone damage output and utilization. However, those higher level drones do require a lot of skills to use well, and they need to be against a target they can actually hit.
For low level missions, a flight of hobgoblins will unleash far more destruction than a bunch of slow hamemrheads and ogres ever will.
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3)or many people in pvp have their ship fitted with smartbomb to kill the drones and you need the small ones so you can bring new ones after the first ones get destroyed?
Smartbombs tend to be pretty rare in PVP on sub-capitol ships. They not only take up the obvious highslot and fitting oppertunity cost, but they can't be used in highsec at all*, and in lowsec, will often invoke a GCC. One or two smartbombs will not do enough damage to destroy your drones quickly, so you will have time to recall the damaged drones and cycle them for a fresh flight, while letting the original set recharge.
Ships like the pilgrim and curse simply cap their targets out and kill the smartbomb's ability to activate. In general, smartbombs are not a good defense against drones at the subcapitol level.
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4)what exactly sentry drones are? and what are the disadvantages or advantages compared to heavy drones?
Sentry drones are a very unique drone, with the same size and bandwith requirements of heavies. Unlike every other drone, however, they are essentially stationary (1m/s velocity), and so stick in place wherever they are launched from. Instead of orbiting their target, sentries behave much more like large turrets, complete with long optimals and falloffs and low tracking values.
Due to their range, sentries can be dropped and immidielty engage targets at considerable distance. The shortest range (gardes) have a base range of 30km or so, which is instant, high damage on your target. Wardens can shoot out over 100km presuming you have the drone control range to issue the attack order that far.
The disadvantage to sentries is that they cannot return to you like other drones - if you leave their spot, you will have to either abandon them or drive back to pick them up. Their low tracking also makes them very ineffective at close range, just as you can get under the guns of large turrets. The reverse is also true though - if you drop sentries and fly 20km away from them, ships that come at you will be in prime range and transversal to get murdered by your waiting sentries.
They are a great drone and lend themselves to some unorthodox tactics, but heavy drones are going to serve you much better in close range, esp. against smaller targets.
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