Best Drones For Specific Enemies

PvE Gameplay Center PvE Ships & Modules
,
1

A pet peeve of mine is constantly coming across PVE’rs that use Gallente drones for all targets simply because they have the highest base damage or they are simply too lazy to switch based on the enemy they are fighting. I can’t do anything about the lazy people but I can help educate those interested in maxing out their applied drone dps versus specific NPC factions.

I made myself a table of effective drone dps versus different factions some years ago before you could show info on NPCs to see their resistances and I’ll post it here for everyone who wants to use it. This table was made on the ingame notepad so I don’t know how well its format will hold up here.

A final disclaimer, none of this applies to sentries, I quit using them after their massive nerf several years ago and now use heavies with drone navigation computers and omi tracking links instead.

Before we dive in here is the TLDR:
Don’t ever use Gallente drones for PVE, (unless their Augmented) they are the slowest, have the worst tracking, and pretty much never hit a NPCs lowest resist. Use Caldari drones against Caldari and Gallente type enemies. Use Minmatar drones against Minmatar type enemies. Use Amarr drones against Amarr type enemies and Rogue drones.

The data below is based on an unmodified damaging shot from a Tech II drone against a specific enemy faction. Skills and different tech levels of drones will not change the ratio of damage between the different empire’s drones against a specific faction. The only exception to this are Integrated and Augmented drones which I may cover at some point in the future.

Standard Medium Combat Drone Info

A = Amarr
C = Caldari
G = Gallente
M = Minmatar
S = ‘Subverted’ JVN-UC49 x0.5 (2 Mediums = 1 ‘Subverted’)

Combat Drones

Base Damage

A = 53.76
C = 57.6
G = 61.44
M = 49.92
S = 54.4

Base Tracking

A = 0.96
C = 0.78
G = 0.696
M = 1.044
S = 0.65

Base Speed

A = 2,760
C = 2,268
G = 2,016
M = 3,000
S = 1,680

Effective Damage Versus NPCs

Amarr Navy / Blood Raiders / Sansha’s Nation / Rogue Drones

A = 27.4176
C = 17.856
G = 25.1904
M = 10.4832
S = 23.04

Caldari Navy / Guristas

A = 11.2896
C = 29.386
G = 25.1904
M = 15.4752
S = 23.04

Gallente Navy / Serpentis

A = 16.6656
C = 29.386
G = 25.1904
M = 10.4832
S = 23.04

Minmatar Navy / Angel Cartel

A = 11.2896
C = 23.616
G = 19.0464
M = 25.4592
S = 23.04

Mordus Legion

A = 21.504
C = 28.8
G = 12.288
M = 15.026
S = 22.4

Standard Heavy Combat Drone Info

A = Amarr
C = Caldari
G = Gallente
M = Minmatar
F = Gecko x0.5 (2 Heavies = 1 Gecko)

Combat Drones

Base Damage

A = 107.52
C = 115.2
G = 122.88
M = 99.84
F = 131.2

Base Tracking

A = 0.756
C = 0.642
G = 0.54
M = 0.852
F = 0.85

Base Speed

A = 1,656
C = 1,350
G = 1,200
M = 1,800
F = 1,820

Effective Damage Versus NPCs

Amarr Navy / Blood Raiders / Sansha’s Nation / Rogue Drones

A = 54.8352
C = 35.712
G = 50.3808
M = 20.9664
F = 47.232

Caldari Navy / Guristas

A = 22.5792
C = 58.772
G = 50.3808
M = 30.9504
F = 47.232

Gallente Navy / Serpentis

A = 33.3312
C = 58.772
G = 50.3808
M = 20.9664
F = 47.232

Minmatar Navy / Angel Cartel

A = 22.5792
C = 47.232
G = 38.0928
M = 50.9184
F = 47.232

Mordus Legion

A = 43.008
C = 57.6
G = 24.576
M = 30.052
F = 45.92

I determined the NPC faction resists to base my calculations on from the highest tier standard Battleship (eg Core Lord Admiral or Pith Usurper) as their resists are amongst the highest for standard non Elite NPCs and all the lesser NPCs follow the same ratio albeit with lower overall resists. Elite ships generally follow the same ratios, just with much higher resists.

I omitted Light drones because they follow the same ratios as mediums and heavies but do not posses any unique drones like the Gecko to compare against.

5 Likes
2

Here is a table of the base damage of a full flight of drones at specific bandwidths. Once again the damage is based on an unmodified Tech II drone.

Total Normal Drone Damage

A = Amarr
C = Caldari
G = Gallente
M = Minmatar
F = Gecko
S = ‘Subverted’ JVN-UC49

Base Total Damage

25 Mbit/sec (5 Lights)

A = 168.0
C = 180.0
G = 192.0
M = 156.0
S = 108.8 (1 Subverted)

50 Mbit/sec (5 Mediums)

A = 268.8
C = 288.0
G = 307.2
M = 249.6
F = 262.4 (1 Gecko)
S = 217.6 (2 Subverted)

50 Mbit/sec (2 Subverted, 2 Lights)

SA = 284.8
SC = 289.6
SG = 294.4
SM = 280.0

75 Mbit/sec (2 Heavies, 1 Medium, 2 Lights)

A = 356.16
C = 381.6
G = 407.04
M = 330.72
F = 262.4 (1 Gecko)
S = 326.4 (3 Subverted)

75 Mbit/sec (1 Gecko, 2 Mediums, 1 Light)

FA = 403.52
FC = 413.6
FG = 423.68
FM = 393.44

75 Mbit/sec (3 Subverted, 1 Medium, 1 Light)

SA = 413.76
SC = 420.0
SG = 426.24
SM = 407.52

100 Mbit/sec (3 Heavies, 2 Mediums)

A = 430.08
C = 460.8
G = 491.52
M = 399.36
F = 524.8 (2 Geckos)
S = 544.0 (5 Subverted)

100 Mbit/sec (1 Gecko, 1 Heavy, 2 Mediums, 1 Light)

FA = 511.04
FC = 528.8
FG = 546.56
FM = 493.28

100 Mbit/sec (1 Gecko, 2 Subverted, 2 Lights)

FSA = 547.2
FSC = 552.0
FSG = 556.8
FSM = 542.4

125 Mbit/sec (5 Heavies)

A = 537.6
C = 576.0
G = 614.4
M = 499.2
F = 524.8 (2 Geckos)
S = 544.0 (5 Subverted)

125 Mbit/sec (2 Geckos, 2 Mediums, 1 Light)

FA = 665.92
FC = 676.0
FG = 686.08
FM = 655.84

125 Mbit/sec (2 Geckos, 1 Subverted, 1 Light)

FSA = 667.2
FSC = 669.6
FSG = 672.0
FSM = 664.8

3

Thanks for this list! I was wondering about these stats just yesterday, so it’s nice to see these stats next to eachother. :grin:

It’s interesting to see how picking the right type of drone vs the wrong type of drone can mean a dps difference of more than a factor 2.

For the NPC resists, did you only look at the resists of their main tank type or at the resists of all three (shield/armour/hull) combined?

4

It would seem that the talk of Caldari drones been the over all best was right then for the most part with Amarr coming a close second. The only real change is vs EM weak enemys or when using Geckos for PVE.

5

I looked at the main tank, so for Guristas that would be shield, for Serpentis it would be armor and so on.
It should be noted that majority of standard npc’s have the same resists on both shield and armor. Those that don’t still generally follow same ratios between their resists with few exceptions.

Here is the ship I based my Guristas resists on: EVE - Entity: Pith Usurper

3 Likes
6

but did you consider tracking of the drones in your dpscalculations ?

I still see a lot of glancing shots on cruisers with navy issue wasps on a dominix (lvl 4 Battle ships).

hence why I even bothered to look at this thread deciding whether medium drones may be better than heavies for cruisers

edit: actually even battle ships stil lreceive a lot of glancing and grazing hits o.O

1 Like
7

I think not, as OP has separate stats listed for tracking, and the equation would involve the stats of the target ship, a la signature size and velocity, etc. Optimal range, falloff and drone speed would also effect actual applied damage. OP looks to have calculated the damage vs rats with the damage profile of the drones and resistance profile of the rats. I think this is well informative enough for PVE. With PVP, speed and tracking would be much more pertinent, because sometimes in PVP it’s a question of which drones can keep up with the target and even apply damage at all. Or in most cases there’s only enough room in the bay for one flight so you either pack ec-300s or Warriors.

8

The DPS is based off raw damage alone. That being said, I’ve never had any issues with heavies tracking and obliterating cruisers. In fact, on drone boats, my heavies even track destroyers well, they only struggle with frigates and even then they eventually destroy them.

I do run my drone boats with an omni-directional tracking link scripted with a tracking speed script and have perfect drone skills. Even with perfect tracking, you can still get glancing and grazing hits, it is just RNG, however you should get more better quality hits with good tracking than low quality hits. If you are getting more glancing and grazing hits on battleships than higher quality hits, I suspect it is a skill issue.

1 Like
9

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.