Drone Question

General discussions about the games by Egosoft including X-BTF, XT, X², X³: Reunion, X³: Terran Conflict and X³: Albion Prelude.

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Mahadev
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Drone Question

Post by Mahadev » Tue, 10. Nov 15, 00:36

In X3Ap there seems to be a Drone Hauler. How does this software work and is it worth buying the Griffin as a drone M7?
I know how to drop drones out of the cargo hold and then is global commands to let them attack, but don't really know how to collect them. So usually I use drones like expendable ordnance.
I want to use more drones in the future. Any good tips?

ancienthighway
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Post by ancienthighway » Tue, 10. Nov 15, 01:08

Any ship that has an open landing bay can recover drones by giving them the order "follow me".

As a carry over from TC, I used the Griffin initially, but then found out the Boron Guppy has, in addition to the fighter docks, a landing dock for TS/TP ships (I tried docking an M6, but it won't). With it's 12 docks, dock 10 fighters, one transport, and keep one dock open for drones, and you've got a missile boat that can stand off from the battle while the fighters and drones move in close. Salvage and resupply are enhanced with the transport.

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Fenris321
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Post by Fenris321 » Tue, 10. Nov 15, 01:20

The software doesn't do anything:
Like the other M7Cs, they are described in-game as "Drone frigates" and carry a built-in component called a "Drone Hauler", but this has no effect on gameplay, and the ships are no better or worse at using drones.
I've always thought that the software was going to be something else added to the game and they ran out of time or just never got around to it. But that's just a guess and I've never seen anything in writing to back that up.

@ancienthighway

That's cool, I never noticed that about the Guppy. I think I took one look at the Griffon's shields, Laser cap, and recharge and never looked any further .... I really need to start using carriers like carriers and not like over sized fighters with more fighters in them.

ancienthighway
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Post by ancienthighway » Tue, 10. Nov 15, 02:47

There is one other M7C that will carry a transport, I think the Paranid one. I remember looking at the two and decided the Guppy was the way to go. It's great for UFJD also.

Alan Phipps
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Post by Alan Phipps » Tue, 10. Nov 15, 11:47

@ Mahadev: There's some more discussion here about the X3AP drone frigates and drone haulers which I believe were basically carried-in from older X3:R XTM design work.
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pref
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Post by pref » Tue, 10. Nov 15, 13:01

Good to know about the TS docking capability.. would have never guessed that.

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Fenris321
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Post by Fenris321 » Tue, 10. Nov 15, 14:46

Out of curiosity what is the most drones anyone here has deployed at once?

I've always wanted to fill up a Mammoth's cargo bay with about 10,000, go into a Xenon sector and have them attack everything.

But:
1) I don't think I've ever made more than a few hundred for personal use.

2) With my computer I'd probably only get 1 frame every few seconds if it didn't just outright lockup or crash the game.

Personally I only ever use 5 drones at a time since I don't want an "I Win" button ... still it'd be kind of cool to see several thousand drones attacking ships :D

devilofbelfast
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Post by devilofbelfast » Tue, 10. Nov 15, 15:15

hi, if you want to spam drones do it in small batches of 50 or so, assuming they are just going onto 'attack all enemies'. This will let you see quickly how many your computer can handle without too much slowdown. I have been able to launch about 750 without it being a complete slideshow by doing it in batches and allowing them time to get about 10km away.

Also mix it up, about 50-50% mk1's and mk2's. The mk1's will keep turrets busy with their high speed while the mk2's will do significant damage in large swarms.

If you just dump the full amount a lot of them will crash into your ship and die very very quickly
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Mahadev
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Post by Mahadev » Thu, 12. Nov 15, 00:19

Thank you all for your help and imput

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