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Brute Maximus
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Posted - 2008.01.25 23:05:00 -
[1]
I drive a maelstrom. Being a 2-3 month old char I have "gasp" NOT been doing lvl 4 yet, but rather focusing on lvl 3 as I skill up some. The Level three have now gotten so easy as it feels like a silly joke and a waste to do them.
As I drive a Mael and run 8 1400 scout arty's the long range bigger ships are not a problem. I only run into difficulty with the close stuff.
Yesterday I pushed to drone 5 and I m thinking of trying some lvl 4 misions now. The BIG question I have is what drone skills for a VERY VERY new char in a Maelstrom BS? I have heard many people say that med and light scout drones are sill the best for killing frigates and fast cruisers that get in close and under my artillery.
Should I skip heavy combat drones atm for all Med and Light drones skills to do level 4 mission?
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Matalino
Gallente Ki Tech Industries
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Posted - 2008.01.25 23:21:00 -
[2]
Originally by: Brute Maximus Should I skip heavy combat drones atm for all Med and Light drones skills to do level 4 mission?
I would recommend focusing on Light/Medium drones. Send your drones to deal with the close stuff that your guns would have a hard time tracking. once they clear that away they can provide a little extra DPS for whatever is left over.
Alternatively you could look at getting a set of webbing drones. I have no idea how effective they are, but just thought I would mention it as an experiemental alternative.
As for skills, Drones and Scout Drone Operation should be trained to level 5 as soon as possible. Get the other drone support skills to level 3 as well, as the first few levels don't take long. Bring stuff up to level 4 when it makes sense to do so.
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Wet Ferret
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Posted - 2008.01.26 11:19:00 -
[3]
Drones 5 (to use five drones, duh!) Scout Drone Operation 5 (to unlock the T2 drone skills) Drone Interfacing 2 Gallente Drone Specialization 2 Caldari Drone Specialization 2 Minmatar Drone Specialization 1 All other available drone support skills to level 2 or 3
This is a good quick-start, with the only long skills being Drones 5 and Scout Drones 5. This gives you access to T2 thermal drones (highest overall damage; best vs sansas, blood raiders, rogue drones), T2 kinetic drones (highest damage vs guristas, serpentis, angels, mercs; fast with good tracking) and T2 light explosive drones (low damage but fast with insane tracking, may be useful for swatting tacklers). From there you can kind of go where you want / need.
I haven't trained heavies yet as I fly Caldari and they're somewhat impractical to use. But I assume that higher support skills are really needed to make them worthwhile.
Just don't ever train Amarr drone spec. They really are crap...
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Rathawk
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Posted - 2008.01.26 11:33:00 -
[4]
Wet Ferret got it spot-on. The main drone objective for Level 4 missions is to take out those close-orbiting webbing/scrambling drones. T2 Medium drones are good for this and they pack enough of a puch to take out some cruisers as well while you focus your 1400's on the big dogs. I have skipped messing with T2 heavy drones, although I do have the T1 version that I almost never use anymore.
As a side note, don't overlook doing a lot of work on your shield skills, cap skills and BS skill so you'll be able to better tank the damage while your drones kill those frigates that don't let you warp out of the area. Make good use of that awesome shield tank that the Maelstrom gives you.
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Mordred Wolf
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Posted - 2008.01.27 03:02:00 -
[5]
In the short-term I would skip heavy combat drone and focus on medium drones, mainly because the T2 heavies need Heavy Drones 5 and that is a bit of an ask for a non-Gallente pilot early on.
Later on you will find running with 3 heavy drones and 5 lights will allow you to take out the light ships with the 5 lights and then switch to the 3 heavies and 2 lights to take out the battleships.
Arties aren't the most blazing damaging weapons, later on using T2 heavies will significantly reduce how long it takes to drop a battleship and it is all about efficiency for L4s. You don't really want to be there all day unloading endless streams of ammo slowly pecking at ship shields.
Mediums will give you a good balance early on to take out smalls and help on the heavy ships but eventually using T2 heavies with lights will maximise your dps. |
Mangus Thermopyle
Caldari Provisions
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Posted - 2008.01.27 11:08:00 -
[6]
Edited by: Mangus Thermopyle on 27/01/2008 11:08:34 I use sentry drones when doing missions in my domi, as well as some small ones for frigs and smaller ships (I never use heavy drones). With a 100m3 drone bay, I would recommend you train for sentries and light combat drones, so you could use 3 sentries or 5 light drones.
All types of sentries uses the same skills, so once you can use one you can use them all, which makes it easy to select them based on missions. And the t2 sentries rocks (longer range, better trackinng, more damage).
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KIMOSABEE
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Posted - 2008.01.27 15:39:00 -
[7]
Drones 5 Scout Drone Operation 5 Drone Interfacing 2 Gallente Drone Specialization 4 Combat Drone Operation 4
The only Pain here is to train the "Scout Drone Operation" to 5, now that you already have "Drones" 5. After that you don't need to train more drone skills to 5. I would recomend to train Gallente Drone Specialization, due to the fact that Gallente Drones are the more versatile of all.
I use t2 light and medium gallente drones for lvl4 missions and I don't worry about frigates and cruisers any more... My drones eat any small ship in no time
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Wet Ferret
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Posted - 2008.01.27 19:00:00 -
[8]
Edited by: Wet Ferret on 27/01/2008 19:00:47
Originally by: KIMOSABEE Drones 5 Scout Drone Operation 5 Drone Interfacing 2 Gallente Drone Specialization 4 Combat Drone Operation 4
The only Pain here is to train the "Scout Drone Operation" to 5, now that you already have "Drones" 5. After that you don't need to train more drone skills to 5. I would recomend to train Gallente Drone Specialization, due to the fact that Gallente Drones are the more versatile of all.
I use t2 light and medium gallente drones for lvl4 missions and I don't worry about frigates and cruisers any more... My drones eat any small ship in no time
It's more time efficient to train Drone Interfacing 3 than Combat Drone Operation 4. It's 15% more damage.
While Gallente drones have the best damage modifier but they are inferior in every other way to other drones, especially when it comes to their tracking which is sadly low. I like them for large target like BCs and BS but I much prefer the faster, better tracking Caldari drones for frigate work. If my math is right, they only do about 9.6% less damage overall given equal specialization skills.
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Ulstan
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Posted - 2008.01.28 16:21:00 -
[9]
Quote: If my math is right, they only do about 9.6% less damage overall given equal specialization skills.
But on frigates, the caldari drones outdamage the gallente drones?
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Wet Ferret
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Posted - 2008.01.28 19:07:00 -
[10]
Originally by: Ulstan
But on frigates, the caldari drones outdamage the gallente drones?
Not sure, though I'd like to assume that the superior tracking means yes. The higher velocity should allow them to maintain optimal range easier, too.
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Cryos Ylwan
Red Eye .Inc. Rare Faction
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Posted - 2008.01.28 19:33:00 -
[11]
Originally by: Wet Ferret Edited by: Wet Ferret on 26/01/2008 11:45:35 Drones 5 (to use five drones, duh!) Scout Drone Operation 5 (to unlock the T2 drone skills) Drone Interfacing 2 Gallente Drone Specialization 2 Caldari Drone Specialization 2 Minmatar Drone Specialization 1 All other available drone support skills to level 2 or 3
This is a good quick-start, with the only long skills being Drones 5 and Scout Drones 5. This gives you access to T2 thermal drones (highest overall damage; best vs mercs, sansas, blood raiders, rogue drones), T2 kinetic drones (highest damage vs guristas, serpentis, angels; fast with good tracking) and T2 light explosive drones (low damage but fast with insane tracking, may be useful for swatting tacklers). From there you can kind of go where you want / need.
I haven't trained heavies yet as I fly Caldari and they're somewhat impractical to use. But I assume that higher support skills are really needed to make them worthwhile.
Just don't ever train Amarr drone spec. They really are crap...
This. Maybe Drone Interfacing to 3, but other than that, this is what you want for starters, I'd say.
Originally by: Mangus Thermopyle Edited by: Mangus Thermopyle on 27/01/2008 11:08:34 I use sentry drones when doing missions in my domi, as well as some small ones for frigs and smaller ships (I never use heavy drones). With a 100m3 drone bay, I would recommend you train for sentries and light combat drones, so you could use 3 sentries or 5 light drones.
All types of sentries uses the same skills, so once you can use one you can use them all, which makes it easy to select them based on missions. And the t2 sentries rocks (longer range, better trackinng, more damage).
I don't think I'd go for sentries in a Maelstrom, and definitely not t2s. That would take something like 26+ days with high attributes, which I would think is time better spent in getting t2 heavy arties. As someone said, a r5 skill maxed in drones is asking a bit much for a non-Gallente pilot, at least at this stage in his career.
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Tyr Zewa
Caldari Tax Collectors
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Posted - 2008.01.29 08:55:00 -
[12]
Is there a trick to using drones without aggroing whole rooms? ;P
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Falka Lakadaka
Gallente
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Posted - 2008.01.29 11:58:00 -
[13]
Gallente Drone Spec II - definitely. The only drawback is if you lose them, they're 3 times the price of the others. These however have the best damage mod and the best damage dealing against most rats.
If you lose drones occasionally, Caldari Drone Spec II is useful for the cheaper kinetic damage drones. These do good damage, but at a third of the price can be left behind a little more readily.
As to keeping them focussed. Always direct them to a new target as soon as the last target is killed......don't wait, or they'll go off and choose their own target. If you can separate the rat groups, so that only one is within your drone control range, this also helps.
Cheers Falka
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Cryos Ylwan
Red Eye .Inc. Rare Faction
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Posted - 2008.01.29 19:02:00 -
[14]
Originally by: Tyr Zewa Is there a trick to using drones without aggroing whole rooms? ;P
Before you release them, get the rats to aggro on you (shoot at them, target paint them, etc.). Then you should be fine, unless you're in like, Worlds Collide lvl 4 room 2...rats seem to switch aggro in there.
And yeah, always keep an eye on the drones - I've even had mine go off mid-fight to attack random other targets.
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Tyr Zewa
Caldari Tax Collectors
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Posted - 2008.01.31 12:27:00 -
[15]
Originally by: Cryos Ylwan
Originally by: Tyr Zewa Is there a trick to using drones without aggroing whole rooms? ;P
Before you release them, get the rats to aggro on you (shoot at them, target paint them, etc.). Then you should be fine, unless you're in like, Worlds Collide lvl 4 room 2...rats seem to switch aggro in there.
And yeah, always keep an eye on the drones - I've even had mine go off mid-fight to attack random other targets.
i've managed to get full room aggro in some missions, by releasing drones :P
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