First off.  How are drones in combat?  Are they good in PvP and PvE?

I am debating on going with Drones for mining and having the turret used for defence.  However, if combat droids are better and a mining laser I may go that route.  So, how are they?  OK?  Good in PvE, absolutely teh suk in PvP????

My retreiver (tech 1 mining barge) uses 5 combat drones to protect itself in empire (high sec) space.  More specifically I use light scout drones, usually Hobgoblins unless I know the pirates in an area have a particular weakness.

As far as full-time things, you can't really use all drones unless you are Gallente, and even then it is dicey. Most use turrets in addition to drones for PvP and PvE.

You can get all the drone skills you'll need for casual use in 1M or so SP;

Drones V

Scout Drones V

Drone Interfacing IV

support skills to 3, spec skills to 2-3

This will allow you to use T2 light/medium drones reasonably effectively, and I highly recommend at least this skill level.

For PvP, you'll eventually want T2 sentries and Drone Interfacing V as well. Bouncer IIs rock!

EDIT: Drones are extremely useful in PvP and PvE. if you're flying a ship with a drone bay, you'd be mad not to use it.

I am Gallente and planned on jury rigging my Iteron with the drones for either support or mining in 1.0 space.  Just for starters and while I skill up in the game and determine which direction I want to go.

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Originally posted by NovaKayne
I am Gallente and planned on jury rigging my Iteron with the drones for either support or mining in 1.0 space.  Just for starters and while I skill up in the game and determine which direction I want to go.

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Industrials do not carry drones.

I thought you can rig a drone using the rig slot?

Originally posted by NovaKayne

I thought you can rig a drone using the rig slot?

 

No indy's will always be a sitting duck but you can cloak them, and the T2 variety can use the covert op cloak that makes them almost invulnerable in empire and low sec.

Drones biggest advantage is that they are not limited to a narrow range. In this way they are very similar to missiles. They will attack anything within a set distance with fairly equal force. This is highly advantageous. All other weapons systems (except missiles) are only effective within a narrow band.

The down side is that's it's another system you have to train, but if you plan on flying Gallente ships it's a no brainer.

So, if you try to use turrets for mining defense you will only be able to hit the rats that orbit within your turrets range : /

Vexor is a nice early ship to shoot for if you like drones.

Farther down the line the Dominix and Ishtar are nice too.

Actually the Dominix is possibly the most versatile ship in the game.  You can do damn near anything with it.

Drones are a huge part of pvp. I used to think i wouldnt like them due to micro management (till i figured out how to map out drone orders on my keyboard). They add a nice chunk of DPS especially when using medium drones+. They are great for just about everything, even taking out other drones.

 Drones are important for PVE, PVP, and mining.

Drone importance for each race in order of importance: Gallente->Minmatar/Caldari->Amarr

Drones are a destructable weapon system, so whilst they are an effective, powerful and versatile tool, they are far more fragile than standard weapon systems.

Gun/Missile turrets cannot be shot off your hull, and only stop firing when

a) they are out of ammo/overheated

b) your target is dead

c) your suddenly in your pod

Originally posted by NovaKayne

I thought you can rig a drone using the rig slot?

 

Only ships with a drone bay can deploy drones. There is no way to add a drone bay to a ship that does not have one.
 

Exception: If you are fleeted up with a drone carrying ship, they can assign their drones to your temporary control (which they can withdraw at any time and only works whil;e you are on the same grid). This is commonly done in PvP eg: the slow-locking battleships in the fleet will assign their sentry drones to a fast locking interceptor, eg: Carriers will assign Fighters to heavy ships to greatly increase their DPS. No-one is going to assign drones to an Industrial or Mining Barge though. You will also need to have the Drones skill trained - you can be assigned one drone for each level of the skill you have.

All the mining barges have a drone bay. If you want to be a miner, you'd be very well advised to train at least T2 light/medium drones, as they will be your only defence. It's worth noting that once you are in a Hulk and have top shield skills, and good drone skills as well, you can actually farm some rat spawns while you mine, which can greatly increase your ISK per hour.

Since as a miner you will want to be able to use T2 scout drones anyway, you will be able to fly ships like the Vexor in PvP quite well without having to train gunnery.

Yeah I am an obvious n00b to the game.  Did some more investigation and found where I had assumed I could do that.

I do plan on training up drones for various reasons.  I like the idea of being able to use them in combat as well as for mining purposes.  At least with all of the appropriate skills.

Originally posted by NovaKayne

Yeah I am an obvious n00b to the game.  Did some more investigation and found where I had assumed I could do that.

 

I do plan on training up drones for various reasons.  I like the idea of being able to use them in combat as well as for mining purposes.  At least with all of the appropriate skills.

Actually, you're not a n00b, you're just a new player asking questions.

A n00b would have skipped the research, bought the ship and the drones, then posted a bitter whine about how stupid the game is because his awesome drone carrying hauler didn't work out.

My only problem with Drones was that they are so vulnerable, they are hard to hit but when they get hit it is bad.  Also you can't have a few extra stashed in your main storage bay that you can have moved into your drone bay if a few get destroyed during missions.  Other then that, they eat ship alive, I loved using mine, set them on those stupid towers that slow you down or kill your energy.  A few seconds later those are dead and your drones are eating the ships attacking you.  Very much a good thing I think...hehe.  I would get the drone skills up and some turret skills as well, and even missles.  Sometimes a target that is affecting you from a LONG ways away makes it difficult to send drones in to kill it while you are being attacked by ships, nice to fire a missle or two to destroy it and get moving normal speed at least.

It is worth mentioning that sleepers eat drones like popcorn.

Unless you micromanage the bejeesus out of them or keep the sleepers really pissed at something else, every drone launch against the sleepers is a suicide mission.

If you want to do wormhole work train up another primary weapons system.

thanks for all of the input.  I am sure they will not be the primary weapons system I will train in.  I am not even sure that combat is anything I am going to specialize in.  Might be more of a, meh lets go shoot something besides a roid thing.  Or maybe some support combat in PvP with the corp.

With that in mind.  Has anyone had any experience with the Drones related to ECM or SUPPORT?  I read up about the various types that can supress tracking or propulsion or boost shield regen or rebuild armor/ structure.  Are these effective uses or just not a good use of the drone capability and other items do the job better?

Kinda struck me as a ninja  hack to get some ECM counter measures when you have most of your skills in Drones.  If you spent the time to spec on the other devices you get more for your effort.

Addition to the post:  Something else, do drones you release to another pilot to control count against the number of droness you can have in use?

Actually ALL of the combat utility/ ECM/ logistics drones can be useful under the right circumstances.

I've even used the oft-maligned web drones with success on occasion.  I always keep 5 small ECMs on hand if I have spare dronebay.

Originally posted by NovaKayne

Addition to the post:  Something else, do drones you release to another pilot to control count against the number of droness you can have in use?

Yes.  Regular drones can be assigned to assist or protect pilots in local space.

Fighters (carriers only, and I assume the forthcoming fighter-bombers for whatever the new motherships are called) can actually be assigned to other players to control, but still count toward your drone total.  Fighters will warp with the assigned pilot to non deadspace areas within the system, and can also be tasked to follow targets in warp.

To actually GIVE a drone to another pilot in space you can launch/ abandon and allow the pilot to scoop it into his dronebay.  Abandoned drones do not count toward bandwidth/ number of controlled drones.

Originally posted by Malcanis

Originally posted by NovaKayne

Yeah I am an obvious n00b to the game.  Did some more investigation and found where I had assumed I could do that.

 

I do plan on training up drones for various reasons.  I like the idea of being able to use them in combat as well as for mining purposes.  At least with all of the appropriate skills.

 

Actually, you're not a n00b, you're just a new player asking questions.

A n00b would have skipped the research, bought the ship and the drones, then posted a bitter whine about how stupid the game is because his awesome drone carrying hauler didn't work out.

 

TBH, I cannot say I was not let down a bit that my aewsome drone carrying hauler idea did not pan out.  Damned haulers with their huge cargo and 1 turret slot!!!!

I remember when I started I tried for a couple hours to figure out how to get the mining laser to deposit ore directly into my jetcan.

I was crestfallen when I realized I had to move it one load at a time lol.

You will run into occasional folks that say RTFM (which is kinda funny because there is no manual) but most people are happy to help and remember exactly how overwhelming both the universe and the interface can be : )

EvE's documentation is notoriously incomplete and inaccurate. Sometimes I find myself suspecting that this is a deliberate ploy by CCP to encourage player interaction.