Drone ship pve in highsec l4 not viable anymore.. fix suggestion included

[PI01_Wanga]

thanks to the ai keep switching aggro to drone make all drone ship unable to l4 farm succesfully. even battleship switch target and aggro drop midway after i dock and relaunch them constantly.

tested this on EOS with durability rig and implants. lost 1 light drone in process and almost all drone damaged.

due to this, i would like to suggest a fix to make drone pve content viable again. drone need to have rapid regen while dock in ship to regen lost hull/armor/shield. so we can carry 2 squadron of drone (250m3) and switch between them while 1 squadron repair on mothership.

what is your opinion?

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edit:
the reason i started playing eve online in 2016 is because i was looking for summoner play style mmorpg and found that eve online drone mechanism is similar to summoner.

over the years the fixes to combat bot and afk farming have make this game which attracted me to it in the first place started to lose appeal.

pls make drone ship pve viable again… at least in highsec.

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edit 2:
after thinking about it with all your input, i still think making drone auto repair on drone bay is good. perhaps i don’t mean fast repair like carrier mechanic, but maybe few minutes depending on the severity of the damage? this way, it will make sense to carry multiple squadron of the same type so while 1 squadron is being slowly repair, you can launch another one to take it’s place.

alternative suggestion by other/me:

1. make rats stop targeting drone but remove drone autotargeting so pilot need to manually target just like turrent. (@Ira_Infernus)
2. make drone consume ammo as well just like turret
3. increase drone bay capacity so we can carry enough squadron of the same type to finish 1 l4 mission like angel extravaganza and world collide without needing to dock up and repair.

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edit 3:
make drone repair on drone bay consume a little paste or something that cost isk. thanks to @Destiny_Corrupted for the suggestion.

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edit 4: courtesy of @Elena_Laskova
The drone controls available to players are very primitive, and inefficient to use.

• Player drone management could be improved via the GUI, using existing drone-management capabilities that currently take too long to apply in mid-fight
• Additional capabilities could be added. This would probably cost CCP more (so is less likely to be implemented) but it might be worth a separate discussion.

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edit 5: @Sima_Akitu

@Sima_Akitu

I partially agree with one of her suggestions for improvement, which is to repair the drones in the ship, and I would suggest the following.

• Add a fitting element to the drone.
  Take an existing drone and use it as a hull to load modules into it like we always do.
  This will make the drone more fit for purpose.
  For example.

1. rapid recovery of armor and shields.
2. higher resistance.
3. Higher offensive power
   It’s such an image that you’ll fit the ship.
   Of course, what about the operation of capacitors, modules, etc.
   What resources will you set up?
   Despite these issues, I think we can turn the drone weapon into something even more diverse and exciting.
   Finally, this text has been translated by a translation site.

i hope it will take up high slots modules. make sense as if you wanted to brawl with the drone repair highslot module or snipe with drone control range.

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edit 6: due to many repetitive arguments because some didn’t read through the entire topic (can’t blame you due to the many flame and troll post), i’ll post some response here so it doesn’t keep on getting repeated.

@PI01_Wanga

[Eos, Eos Singularity]

this is my ship bling fit EOS with max drone durability implants and drone skills tested on world collide mission and failed to complete it due to most drone damaged and losing 1 augmented hobgoblin. was constantly relaunching drone one by one and also by squadron but entire room keep changing aggro to drone.

sorry to disappoint some of you who have same idea as @Destiny_Corrupted… but it was done on singularity. i can’t even fly an EOS on tranquility.

rattlesnake is not a “Drone” ship cause their missile deal more damage then drone. so they are more of a missile ships. at best, they are hybrid. beside 125m3 drone ships with 2 gecko, 2 medium and 1 light can dish out more “drone” damage then rattlesnake with gecko. if you must insist rattlesnake is a drone ship as well due to it having drone role, let’s just agree to disagree and move on from this.

i know sentry sniper fit ship is doing fine. so does sniper turret and missile ships. give me one reason why it’s ok for brawlers turret and missile ships for pve but not brawlers drone ships for pve?

ccp already have mechanic to repair damage module from overheat without requiring special module fitted so don’t argue that it will break the game balance if they introduce a drone repair module specially to repair drone in drone bay.

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edit 7:

@PI01_Wanga

Sorry for not replying for so long

[Scoots_Choco]

@PI01_Wanga

tested this on EOS with durability rig and implants. lost 1 light drone

Why are you using a Light Drone with an Eos in the first place?

@PI01_Wanga

i would like to suggest a fix to make drone pve content viable again.

Drone PvE is already “viable”.

That’s not what you’re asking for. You’re actually trying to suggest a way to make it so that none of your drones ever take lasting damage so that you’re able to clear sites with little-to-no effort. Please, if you’re going to recommend garbage ideas, at least be honest about it.

@PI01_Wanga

drone need to have rapid regen while dock in ship to regen lost hull/armor/shield.

No, they don’t. This has such a huge impact for the rest of the game beyond your pathetic and narrow minded little mission running brain. At least take the time to understand how your suggestion would impact the entire game overall.

@PI01_Wanga

what is your opinion?

You’re bad at the game and want CCP to add this so that you can continue being bad, instead of improving your skills as a pilot.

[Ramona_McCandless]

@PI01_Wanga

over the years the fixes to combat bot and afk farming have make this game which attracted me to it in the first place started to lose appeal.

Good, thats the point of them

[Jonah_Gravenstein]

TL;DR “The things I farm aren’t as dumb as they used to be”

Meanwhile others adapt their game play to compensate for any changes to NPC AI.

[Terak_Romaller]

@Jonah_Gravenstein

TL;DR “The things I farm aren’t as dumb as they used to be”

This. Or more accurately: “I’m just farming ISK for some reason and CCP have succeeded in their stated objective of reducing that.”

@PI01_Wanga

…unable to l4 farm succesfully.

The idea that NPCs actively attack the things that are hurting them isn’t unreasonable - they attack a gunship or a missile ship that is firing on them, they use weapon and sensor disruption to degrade the attacker’s capabilities as well as direct fire. The anomaly was that they didn’t try to defeat drones, and that has been resolved (in part) by more aggressive NPC behaviour against drones.
Drones shouldn’t be a “magic kill feature” where they are blindly ignored by the target.

[Ms_Steak]

@PI01_Wanga

the reason i started playing eve online in 2016 is because i was looking for summoner play style mmorpg and found that eve online drone mechanism is similar to summoner.

They are not similar. The core concept is different: In EvE you have to take aggro of rats upon yourself and tank them to protect drones from damage, not fly around the mission site at 60km with impunity and wait while drones clear the field.

[Serene_Repose]

I mission level fours with drones, and no significant problems have me agonizing for change. True, the drone game is more challenging,and some do get lost, but that expense isn’t any more than gun ammo or missiles others must expend to run the same content. Honestly, before the changes it was shameful using the same five drones for months while others are paying running ammo expenses.

To find angst in using drones seems more the condition of someone who either wants to unleash them and go watch Family Guy reruns, or someone who couldn’t be bothered with training up the skills to V and being attentive, strategic and careful in their use.

So, as one who uses drones religiously to do lvl IVs I say there’s no problem here. This smacks of PEBCAK to me.

[Brun_Warbear]

@PI01_Wanga

over the years the fixes to combat bot and afk farming have make this game which attracted me to it in the first place started to lose appeal.

This just validates that the changes are working.

[Spc_One]

Drones are forbidden in PVE content.
That’s why NPC’s always target them first, if i use heavy drones they’re gone in 1 second.

Solution would be: NPC’s ignore drones for pve contetnt

But CCP does not want to do that, so they’re still forbidden in PVE.

[Ramona_McCandless]

@Spc_One

Drones are forbidden in PVE content.

Are you high?

[Ira_Infernus]

I think the drone aggro mechanisms in the low to mid end PVE are pretty terrible. A simple solution to everyone’s issues with drones would be to treat them like turrets and launchers. Make NPC’s not target drones, but the drones don’t automatically move on to the next target, you have to tell them to do that.

[Spc_One]

I am not high.
Long time ago, in 2014-2015 people were using drone ships in PLEXes, with passive shield tanks.
CCP told us they’re exploiting drone mechanics. after that they changed NPC’s so that they always instantly attack drones.
This change meant that drones are forbidden as NPC’s target them instantly, that’s why drones are useless in PVE.

I mostly use turrets and missiles for missions, before the change i was using drones alot in missions, but now they’re forbidden.

[Ramona_McCandless]

@Spc_One

This change meant that drones are forbidden as NPC’s target them instantly, that’s why drones are useless in PVE.

This is hyperbole and untrue.

[Surly_Bill]

I’ve read your issue and have prepared my reply…

[Brun_Warbear]

@Spc_One

they changed NPC’s so that they always instantly attack drones.

This is false.

[Jonah_Gravenstein]

I’ll lay odds that he’s leaving frigates on field and that they’re killing his light drones while they go and autokill all of the things; he should be prioritising his targets not letting the drones choose them at random.

Elite frigates are absolute bastards for murdering Henry the Hobgoblin II and his friends

[Ramona_McCandless]

Either that or he maxed out on overpriced top tier drones and got em swatted

[Jonah_Gravenstein]

When all else fails, break out the nasty drones. Bit pricey but nice, especially if you’re sat on a stockpile of one or both.

Geckos and their medium brothers the ‘subverted’ JVN-UC49

[Solstice_Projekt]

@PI01_Wanga

the reason i started playing eve online in 2016 is because i was looking for summoner play style mmorpg and found that eve online drone mechanism is similar to summoner.

over the years the fixes to combat bot and afk farming have make this game which attracted me to it in the first place started to lose appeal.

Meaning …

“I don’t actually want to play and instead want to command other things to play for me. That way I don’t actually need to invest any time, while still feeling good about myself. Not only that, this way I can earn real money I can sell on ebay without actually needing to do anything.”

Begone, or …
… rather …
… ■■■■ off.

[Rocket_Hellfire]

Almost like ai has ALWAYS aggro’d drones… If you can’t do IV’s easily in a Domi or Rattle then might I suggest taking your expert know-how and join the Star Citzen cul… er uh ‘community’.

“Can’t… do… easy… must…blame…the game…aaarrrrrggghhh…”