Combat vs Beam drone

[Ruinae Retroque Rursus]

Which is better?

Beam I vs Combat I;
Beam II vs Combat II ?

[CobaltNinja]

Depends on your weapons. If you have weapons that are able to and effectively pierce shields, beam is a good option. If you don't, use combat (Engi Cruiser Layout A is a good example. You start out with a simple ion weapon and a Combat Drone. Use the ion weapon to pierce shields, and the drone to destroy the ships.

[Leylite]

Combat drones are more general-purpose and will work with nearly any build; beam drones are specialized and really only shine on ion-stacking builds, though they can find some niche use with some boarding ships if you need to get rid of Zoltan shields.

I like Combat II slightly more than Beam II though. It does eat 4 power compared to 3, but it does a great job pounding away at enemy shields for your other weapons to get through, and does tremendous damage when shields are down. It's expensive, both to buy in a store and get online, so usually I don't buy it, but if I happen to get it as a drop then the drone system option becomes more enticing. Beam II on the other hand is going to be too much power for not enough bang, if I don't already have the ion setup.

[Wasted]

combat 1 is the best most of the time because it uses only 2 power and can help you take down shields

[mkzzz12]

Combat are more versatile, you can use them as shield breaking, hull damage, even shooting down enemy defense drones. Beam drones are fine, but usually won't make as much of a difference to a loadout.

[anarcher]

Combat 2 is more useful if you have fast firing weapons too. If you have shieldbreakers (flak, ions, hacking), even the beam 1 is more useful.

[BaronVonBunghole]

Originally posted by aidenpons:

Which is better?

Beam I vs Combat I;
Beam II vs Combat II ?

If you can keep consistent hits on their shield, then beam drones can be incredibly lethal.

[Biohazard063]

Like most people said, depends on your build.
Beam drones can't miss but won't take down shields or start fires.

But I wouldn't really recommend offensive drones if there is a good alternative (like hacking), for the simple reason that it's random damage, you can't aim where they shoot. And they are a drain on rescources, unless you find a drone rec arm.

[mkzzz12]

Beam drones can start fires.

[anarcher]

Originally posted by mekloz:

Beam drones can start fires.

Combat drones also.

[DarkTwinge]

Might as well throw down some relevant data - average DPS against a 0-evasion Kestrel:
Combat 1: 0.34 (0.17 / power)
Beam 1: 0.33 (0.16 / power)
Beam 2: 0.43 (0.14 / power)
Combat 2: 0.57 (0.14 / power)

Interestingly Combat 1 actually has slightly higher DPS; Beam 1 can hit multiple rooms, but is slower every shot and thus lower DPS when it doesn't hit multiple rooms. This is only against 0 evasion though - Combats can miss while Beams can't.

If you have a method to lock down their shields (generally ion; could be Hacking, or the Crystal B crew punching it down), then Beam drones are superior. Otherwise, Combat is superior as it can still give utility popping a shield bubble.

[Ruinae Retroque Rursus]

Originally posted by Twinge:

Might as well throw down some relevant data - average DPS against a 0-evasion Kestrel:
Combat 1: 0.34 (0.17 / power)
Beam 1: 0.33 (0.16 / power)
Beam 2: 0.43 (0.14 / power)
Combat 2: 0.57 (0.14 / power).

Ooooh, thank you so much for that :D

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Also worth noting is that on very rare occasions a Combat 1 drone can shoot past a shield bubble. Theoretically give it enough time (like ten billion years) and it'll shoot down as many shield bubbles as you give it. (It fires at the end of its move, and it moves only a little distance it'll fire while the gap's still down). Beam Drones can't do that.

[Ichthyic]

beam drones cannot miss. this makes their dps actually HIGHER against ships with decent dodge later in a run.

[anarcher]

Nice necro.

[Ichthyic]

*yawn*

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by Biohazard063:

Like most people said, depends on your build.
Beam drones can't miss but won't take down shields or start fires.

Beam drones have the same base chance to start fires as combat drones (10%) and can hit multiple squares/rooms separately. They also (theoretically) cause more damage, but this requires that the shields be down and stay down.

Despite beam drones having nominally better dps (per power), though, combat drones are generally more useful for most practical purposes.