Drone use and recovery(?)...

GeminiFire · Post by **GeminiFire** » Sat, 9. Jul 11, 15:36

Recently I got a Attack warning from a fledgling CAG in Akeela's Beacon, and jumped my Skiron in to BitchSlap the Offender(s)...
What I saw was my Mistral wandering north, and six Drones mixing it up with 2 Susanovas and a Tonbo. For some reason, the Drones then wandered off, and I ordered each one, individually, to attack enemies. One by one, they turned back and attacked, but since they we one at a time, the 3 pirate ships manged to knock them out.
They started to head towards the Mistral, so, as an experiment, I released 3 MKII Drones and set them on the Pirates, as a group.

Holy Crap, Batman!!!

I set an external camera on a Susanova and watched it get clobbered and wasted inside of 30 seconds, and the same went for his 2 buddies.

I have not used drones much, and was surprised how well they were kickin' the crap out of the Pirates. I know these are great as distractions, but I had no idea they could actually take out an aggressor....
Bloody Lovely!!! I gotta start producing a S**tload of those...

Now for the Question(s) at hand.....

1. Were these Drones so effective because I was IS?

2. Will my CAGs use the MKII drones as well? I know they will replace use / replace regular Drones.

3. Is there a way to recover Drones (IS or OS)? Can this be done with a group?

I am going to set up a couple of Fabs at my Trading Fleet Outfitting Station, adjacent to the OTAS Shipyard. My new Game is beginning to "Wake up" and antagonist activity is on the rise. Time to start using Lasertowers and OS Rebalance (Gazz). (and MARS, of course)

Hints, Tips & Tricks are always appreciated....

What a Game, What a Life....

GF

p.s The new Hexa-Core is a Beast!

TTD · Post by **TTD** » Sat, 9. Jul 11, 18:15

I could be wrong but afaik Mk3 traders only restock with standard FDs.

But yes , Mk II FDs are pretty useful for personal backup.
Just add a few Laser Towers into the mix and you could take on quit big fry in a relatively small ship.

ancienthighway · Post by **ancienthighway** » Sat, 9. Jul 11, 18:42

Any ship with a free hanger bay can recover drones. Issue a follow command and they will dock automatically. MARS will launch and recover drones from any ship with a turret and the MARS software installed. MARS handles both MKI and MKII fighter drones.

SIMON POPPLEWELL · Post by **SIMON POPPLEWELL** » Sat, 9. Jul 11, 19:26

You want to see a 100 of them at work, pure carnage.

I actually stopped using them as they would kill the target before I even got into weapons range, where's the fun in that.

TTD · Post by **TTD** » Sat, 9. Jul 11, 19:40

SIMON POPPLEWELL wrote:You want to see a 100 of them at work, pure carnage. I actually stopped using them as they would kill the target before I even got into weapons range, where's the fun in that?

Watching the fireworks and hearing the explosions

Dantrithor · Post by **Dantrithor** » Sat, 9. Jul 11, 19:55

I've used dozens against Khaak capital ships for the fun factor (and they're quite effective in sheer numbers even after insta-hit KM2's).

First time I used them en masse was in X-Tension. Created a closed loop to build them. Then I jumped into a xenon sector with a TS (They were completely unarmed back then), and released 200-300 against a lone Xenon K.

I don't have to say that it crippled my FPS (0,2-0,4FPS). The drones completely surrounded the K, and stopped moving. The K did stop too, unable to find a clear path out of that.. cloud. At 20% shields or so, my computer crashed.

It was epic.

Hubert99 · Post by **Hubert99** » Sun, 10. Jul 11, 20:49

LOL. In those times, I didn't even knew how to start a computer. (I only got into games around the age of 26, could you believe it ?

)

Anyway, MKII drones are practicly inexpensive little fighters. You can always replace them easily, as you don't need to equip them, they are cheap and perform on the level of an M5. They will dock your Hyperion if one of the bays is free, although I found it take more time for them to dock, than it takes to kill the enemy.

In this case you can just fly over them, and they will be picked up automatically.

SIMON POPPLEWELL · Post by **SIMON POPPLEWELL** » Sun, 10. Jul 11, 21:10

Hubert99 wrote:LOL. In those times, I didn't even knew how to start a computer. (I only got into games around the age of 26, could you believe it ? )

Anyway, MKII drones are practicly inexpensive little fighters. You can always replace them easily, as you don't need to equip them, they are cheap and perform on the level of an M5. They will dock your Hyperion if one of the bays is free, although I found it take more time for them to dock, than it takes to kill the enemy. In this case you can just fly over them, and they will be picked up automatically.

Going OOS does speed up the docking process.

GeminiFire · Post by **GeminiFire** » Wed, 13. Jul 11, 17:28

ok. tried to use the MKII Drones and recover...

One of my SF Mistrals had released drones on a Khaak cluster, and I jumped in with my Skiron. 6 MKI Drones had taken out all but 3 scouts and a fighter. I released 25 MKII Drones and set them to "Attack All Enemies". I was fun to watch them chew up the KHAAK, and to see how ineffective the Kyon beams can be against a fast target...

After 2-3 minutes the remaining Khaak were toast, and I started to try to recover my Drones...

I tried a "Follow me" command and slowed to 40km/s. With no enemies present I expected them to land, but No Joy..

Next I tried "Protect ME", with no enemies present. Again, I expected them to eventually dock, but again, No Joy...

If i am missing something here, please enlighten me.

I was enjoying the show, so I was obviously IS...

I know I have been told that MARS does a good job of managing/recovering Drones, so I guess it is soon time to try to load my first script (eeeekkkk).
I am a bit nervous about scripts, but the instructions and assistance are good, and others use a LOT more than I am considering (mostly GAZZ scripts, MARS, OOS Rebalnce and Ring of Fire)...

I have attached 2 MKII Drone Fabs to my Fleet Fitting Complex near the OTAS Shipyard and sending my Frieghters (ALL Mistrals or SF Mistrals) with 6 Drones at least... (do i outfit MKIII Frieghters with MARS?)

As always, hints, tips and discussions are X-Universe Gold to me...

Thanx to all...
GF

CuriosityKillsTheMADCat

About recovering combat drones: There is a script called "Drone Keys V1.01" in the German S&M-Forum. It uses two hotkeys to launch and recover (!) combat drones.

MFG

CKTMC

PS: I don't know if an English version of that script exists, but even the German version should be quite easy to use - it uses only two hotkeys...

Edit: Spelling...

ancienthighway · Post by **ancienthighway** » Wed, 13. Jul 11, 19:47

GeminiFire wrote:ok. tried to use the MKII Drones and recover...

One of my SF Mistrals had released drones on a Khaak cluster, and I jumped in with my Skiron...

Neither the Mistral Nor Skiron have docking bays, so the drones won't land automatically. After having the drones follow you, and they are all bunched up behind you, command them to stop, then fly your ship over them to recover.

If you want them to land automatically, get a Zephyrus and keep one docking bay free. Have the drones follow or dock at it, then transfer the drones back to whatever ship you want them on.

GeminiFire · Post by **GeminiFire** » Wed, 13. Jul 11, 20:14

@ancienthighway....

"Neither the Mistral Nor Skiron have docking bays, so the drones won't land automatically...."

Aaaha!!! That is what i am missing....
I thought of cargo bay being needed, not Docking bay... Makes sense...

I have a used Magnatar I got on the cheap, and maybe will outfit it so it can function as a drone recovery ship as well as a claimed/used ship collector... or not... I do not sell these, so as I get a good stock in my storage ship, I may not worry about recevery of 3-5 Drones...

Thanx, One and All for the Input.....

Kudos to the Greatest Game and Community...
GF

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Drone use and recovery(?)...

Drone use and recovery(?)...