Fighter Drones

Merkaba777 · Post by **Merkaba777** » Sun, 28. Mar 10, 03:50

Hi all, I recently got this game and I'm loving it. Wish I found it when it first came out.

Anyway, I'm playing X3 TC. I'm not using anything addons/scripts at the moment as I'm not sure what that all is yet.

My question is regarding Fighter Drones.

Right now, I'm deploying them by just ejecting them from my Elite's hold, and then sending message to all to attack my target.

How do I get them back into my hold? or do they just travel with me?
What if I use a jump drive? too many questions, could someone just tell me what I need to know about them?

Thanks a ton!

Curudan · Post by **Curudan** » Sun, 28. Mar 10, 03:56

I think that if you leave the system, they will self destruct.

To get them back into your cargo hold, you need to either, run them over, or tell them to dock. They can only dock if you are flying a ship that has a hangar. If you are running them over, it helps to tell them to stop first.

Bill Huntington · Post by **Bill Huntington** » Sun, 28. Mar 10, 07:49

Welcome, Merkaba777!

The fighter drones are a great force multiplier. They do some damage, but it seems to me they mostly distract the enemy and do that very well. You can control them easily during combat with shift 6 and shift 7. After combat, just pick them up by running over them like Curudan said. first call them towards you with shift 7, then from the menu at the right, access a fighter drone, issue a stop order. Maybe start with 3. Pick them up. Then get some more, until you have them all, or their time runs out. You get better at it with practice. At first, don't try to save them all. They can last a long time if you pick them up after the battles. Sometimes you can see them on the main screen, on the little screen on the bottom right, or on the edges of the main screen. Whatever works. You have to be fast, of course. Try different things, and go with what works best for you.

I hope this helps.

Triaxx2 · Post by **Triaxx2** » Sun, 28. Mar 10, 19:13

Yes, they are indeed an effective force multiplier. I've even seen them swarm around and knock down M6's in R. They also make for great distractions if you're flying an M4 or M5 and run into something you can't handle. Drop them, and then boogie out.

Deleted User · Post by **Deleted User** » Sun, 28. Mar 10, 19:29

just get the regular fighter drones, the MK2 ones are a lil pricey for something you might be forced to abandon. Incidentally once you get to a certain point your MK3 traders will automatically buy a few and use em accordingly. Very HAndy

amtct · Post by **amtct** » Sun, 28. Mar 10, 19:34

ashkrowe wrote:just get the regular fighter drones, the MK2 ones are a lil pricey for something you might be forced to abandon.

I only get the Keris.Only the best for me and my ship

AgamemnonArgon · Post by **AgamemnonArgon** » Sun, 28. Mar 10, 19:55

Mk II Fighter drones carry HEPT's

SIMON POPPLEWELL · Post by **SIMON POPPLEWELL** » Sun, 28. Mar 10, 20:25

AgamemnonArgon wrote:Mk II Fighter drones carry HEPT's

They carry PACs, but they are the best if you can afford them. They can quite easily take down an M3 or even an M6 in large numbers. I never leave home without them.

Cpt.Jericho · Post by **Cpt.Jericho** » Sun, 28. Mar 10, 23:36

I hardly use them. But in X2 I learned to loath them. In X3 I don't mind them much because I always carry weapons which can get rid of this niusance pretty quick!
However, your UTs won't go far without them and you better be grateful for that.

perkint · Post by **perkint** » Mon, 29. Mar 10, 01:42

What's the difference between FD1, FD2 ane Keris?

Tim

Reimu Hakurei · Post by **Reimu Hakurei** » Mon, 29. Mar 10, 02:25

FD1: Single IRE, 400m/s speed, 50 hull
FD2: Dual PAC, 200m/s speed, 600 hull
Keris: Single EMPC, 180m/s speed, 3000 hull

Catra · Post by **Catra** » Mon, 29. Mar 10, 02:28

perkint wrote:What's the difference between FD1, FD2 ane Keris?

Tim

FD1 carries a single IRE and goes 400 m/s, has 50 hull

FD2 carries dual PACs and goes 200 m/s, has 600 hull

keris carries a single EMPC and goes 180 m/s, has 3000 hull

interestingly, the keris was apparently under development as a "super heavy" fighter drone as its shield was supposed to be 25 MJ, where the others were 1 MJ.

perkint · Post by **perkint** » Mon, 29. Mar 10, 02:38

Cheers Catra - shows how often I use drones - I thought they had no shields!

Tim

Catra · Post by **Catra** » Mon, 29. Mar 10, 02:42

they dont

it just shows up as 0 x 25 (for the keris) and 0 x 1 for the FD 1 & 2.

AL'42 · Post by **AL'42** » Tue, 30. Mar 10, 00:53

Curudan wrote:To get them back into your cargo hold, you need to either, run them over, or tell them to dock

The docking command is not available for fighter drones.

To get them to dock automatically (and reliably) issue global command to all drones to protect one of your ships that has a hangar (and is not under attack), and then jump out of sector in your personal ship.

GCU Grey Area · Post by **GCU Grey Area** » Tue, 30. Mar 10, 01:45

I'm a big fan of drones myself - very handy bits of kit.

I don't tend to bother with the hassle of collecting them after a battle, instead I build a small complex to manufacture them (a couple of drone factories with a silicon mine, massom mill & scruffin farm only costs 10 million or so) as soon as I can afford to at the start of each game, which means that for the rest of the game I can effectively treat them as disposable assets (c.f. missiles).

Generally prefer mk1 drones: they're smaller than mk2 drones (so I can pack twice as many into the same cargo space) & they're much faster, so they tend to work better as a distraction. Enormously useful in one-against-many capital ship engagements (e.g. high level patrol missions) & they're also ideal for shield suppression during boarding ops.

Deleted User · Post by **Deleted User** » Tue, 30. Mar 10, 02:45

Yeah, making them is cheap enough too. I don't think fighter drones can go through Jumpgates is their drawback. And correct me if I'm wrong but when a trader is attacked and deploys his drones, when he jumps he leaves em doesn't he? Just gets new ones later?

Post by **Nanook** » Tue, 30. Mar 10, 03:07

ashkrowe wrote:Yeah, making them is cheap enough too. I don't think fighter drones can go through Jumpgates is their drawback....

Not true. Go attack some freighter with a load of fighter drones and then try to escape to another sector. If that freighter was heading to the same sector, his drones will follow him through, and come for you if you're in scanner range. As a former pirate, I can tell you this is all too true.

Triaxx2 · Post by **Triaxx2** » Tue, 30. Mar 10, 05:24

Much better than missiles. Missiles tend to be easily out run. Drones keep hounding the enemy until they die or kill.

GCU Grey Area · Post by **GCU Grey Area** » Tue, 30. Mar 10, 06:17

Triaxx2 wrote:Much better than missiles. Missiles tend to be easily out run. Drones keep hounding the enemy until they die or kill.

Missiles are still very useful & definitely have their place in my armoury (normally several hundred of them).

The big limitation of drones is that they're only really effective when used as a swarm against a single target - ordering them to attack multiple targets is awkward, since every drone has to be given separate orders. Missiles are much better for that - it's easy to target several enemy ships in sequence & launch a missile (or a volley of missiles) at each one.

Consequently, I tend to use drone swarms only against capital ships, to cover my approach, then I use heavy artillery to finish them off. Flaks can deal with anything smaller, but only if it flies within a couple of km & not every enemy flies so conveniently close. For enemies who are further out missiles really are invaluable - they save me from the hassle of having to fly all over the sector, hunting down every last fighter to shoot it personally - currently mostly doing Legend rank anti-Xenon patrol & defend position missions & mashing capitals is much more fun than trying to chase down Xenon Ns while flying an Akuma...

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Fighter Drones

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