Ohh I like that idea. but make it high slot and the same powergrid as a gun. Also on top of the bandwidth it should add +1 drone. So say a frigate can fit the light version:
8MW 15 TF - 5 m3 drone space 5 mbit bandwidth, +1 drone. This way you have an enyo, and instead of fitting a rocket launcher you have the option to launch an additional drone.
Medium gives 10 m3 10 mbit +1 drone - 150? 100 ? mw 30 tf? - something like this
Heavy will be something like : 1500mw 50 tf - gives 25mb 25 m3 drone space and +1 drone(so now you can launch 6)
I actually like the basic idea - just shifting the damage output from whatever to drones.
But balancing would require a lot of work so it isn’t as easy as it looks at a first glance.
Especially ships like the Gila or the Rattlesnake with their +500% per drone would certainly be a problem. These 2 are very strong already.
Modules/rigs just modifying the drone stats work a lot better - and these already exist.
The issue is less about the damage drones do and more about changing complement in space (uncertainty). I don’t think we need more drones in space either (to the earlier reply).
The Gila/Rattlesnake issue is a real one. If this were to be implemented, the bandwidth on those ships would need to be changed to a “regular” bandwidth and the ship would then have a role “penalty” to that.
So for example… Gila base bandwidth would be 50 but it would have a penalty of -60% to it’s drone bandwidth… so the unmodded ship would have the same 20m3 bandwidth it has now. If it added 10m3 through mods… the base would go up to 60 and the ship would have a 24m3 bandwidth… not enough to add anything. At 15m3 added it would go up to 26m3… enough to add a light drone (not particularly useful for a Gila). It would need to add 25m3 to get an additional medium.
Instead of more drones I’d rather have a set of secondary small-medium turrets to run on my ships. Scrap my drone bay, give me that option instead and I’ll be a happy camper.
how about having a rig that increases drone and bandwidth thats is a pod on the exterior of your ship. However, it would have enormous trade offs such as 20-30 percent decrease to armour, structure and a 15 percent decrease in max velocity? I think this will be balanced.