When should I actually use drones?

[flygon]

Almost every time I get cool drones (hull repair, shield, etc) I end up selling them almost instantly since weapons/systems seem much preferable, and the 1+ drone drain per fight really hurts if you have hacking. Even on ships starting with drones I tend to sell them after not long, which seems like a waste of a system.

Which drones are worth keeping around, and are there any worth buying the system for? Seems to me like defense drones are worth having, but everything else seems not worth it to me.

[Skinny Pete]

I almost always buy Drone Control if it comes with DD, and almost always don't if it doesn't. The main consideration is what my final build against the Flagship looks like, so I take the decision more seriously if it's the last system I can buy.

Actually already having something like a Hull Repair drone or a DD II in storage makes it a lot more likely I go for the system at a store. If you have ridiculous luck and get a Drone Recovery Arm and a Hull Repair drone, it's pretty much a "push me to win" button.

I generally think the offensive drones are near worthless, though. On paper, the damage per second is potentially ridiculous, but if you have weapons that can take down the shields and any system you want, who cares? You're killing the ship anyway. I almost always sell those garbage combat drones because outside of a few situations, which you're usually not in, some nonsensical drone that just randomly shoots empty rooms is not what I want.

[New Moon On Monday]

I feel like Drone Control is the least of the optional systems, especially since Hacking is so good and both systems compete for drone parts.

Enemy missiles can be the bane of your existence. If I have options, I prefer Cloaking as a method of dodging missiles among other things. But you don't always have options, and the next best thing is Drone Control with that Defense Drone I. Defense Drone I also shoots down boarding drones and hacking drones, which is nice.

If you are only using your Drone System to deploy Defense I, then usually you will be alright if you use it with Hacking. There are a lot of battles where you won't need to deploy that Defense I. You do need to be on the lookout for those resource trades that give drone parts, or surrender offers with an unusually high number of drone parts. I hate to buy drone parts at stores, but that's an option, and better than running out when you need one.

Generally speaking, combat drones aren't as good as weapons when it comes to offense. But sometimes you get screwed in weapon choice, I hate to buy one if it's just a temporary fill-in for a weapon, but it's an option if you are getting desperate. If you find one for free when you already have Drone Control, it might be worth hanging on to until you are absolutely comfortable with your weapons (or its scrap value is the difference for buying something really special at a store). Same for Anti-Drone; I may not buy it, but if I get it for free, there are certainly battles where slowing down an enemy drone is high value.

With skilled micro-management (and I'm not skilled, just so-so) you can maneuver attack drones around anti-drone drones (power off when the anti-drone drone fires, power on until next anti-drone fire). You can also deploy, say, a Defense I and Combat I at the same time with a level 2 Drone Control, but switch power back and forth between the two. A Defense I only needs power when a projectile is incoming; a combat drone needs power to charge up, then power off until you need it to fire.

Boarding Drones would be better if you could choose where they land, but they routinely disappoint me. Anti-Personnel Drone and Repair Drones help if you have serious crew issues, but comparatively speaking, it's better to have crew than crew drones.

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by New Moon On Monday:

I feel like Drone Control is the least of the optional systems, especially since Hacking is so good and both systems compete for drone parts.

I would agree with that if it weren't for Mind Control being even dumber and more useless.

[flygon]

Originally posted by Skinny Pete:

Originally posted by New Moon On Monday:

I feel like Drone Control is the least of the optional systems, especially since Hacking is so good and both systems compete for drone parts.

I would agree with that if it weren't for Mind Control being even dumber and more useless.

I feel like I get a lot of value out of mind control. Great for securing crew kills, especially if you have hacking as well. And the reason I usually prefer it to drones is that the only cost is one power that you can often ignore if needed somewhere else.

[flygon]

These are some good takes, though they mostly fit with my original instinct that only 2-4 of the drones are actually high value. I probably should keep in mind the drones and drone parts I get early in the run and use that to decide whether to go for cloaking or drone control later in the game.

I guess when you compare it to cloaking, drone control does have the benefit of being half the price in stores. Although drone control you may need to upgrade unlike cloaking.

[Mike]

I'd say the most frequently useful drones are defence drones (mark 1 or 2) and combat drone mark 1. If I'm buying drone control early, then it's almost certainly for using one of these.

Defence drones make you significantly safer. They are not as good as cloaking, but they are much cheaper. Three shields and a defence drone makes you pretty safe in a lot of fights.

When the game doesn't give you weapons, a combat drone can save the run. You use it to break a shield, then fire your other weapons.

Offensive drones are also good against Zoltan Shields, and can be strong against the Flagship. Beam drone 2 is especially strong in these roles, as it does 2 damage to Zoltan Shields. In my shieldless runs with all ships, I used offensive drones a lot, but mostly just against the Flagship.

Other drones can be useful too, but usually not enough to buy the drone system. For example, I'll happily buy an Anti-drone if I already have drone control, but I won't buy the system just to run an Anti-drone.

Some drones are very niche, like Ion Intruder. Even that can be powerful though. It's not the most reliable thing, but neither is it always the insta-sell that people assume.

[Mike]

I should also clarify that drone control is not normally the system I am looking for in my games.

I would normally prefer hacking, cloaking, and maybe mind control. Hacking and cloaking are definitely the strongest systems.

But just like weapons, you have to choose from the options that are offered. Buying drone control can sometimes save a run.

It will be better to buy drone control now, if you need it, than wait for hacking and then die.

[Pack 4 Potatoes]

I happen to prefer drones over anything else. The ability to shoot incoming missiles mitigates a lot of damage you would take. Useful for the second half of the game, where missiles start doing 3-4 damage. Defense 1 is best. Defense 2 is good, but it requires more energy and it might shoot a laser when you need it to shoot a missile instead. Other drones are mostly useless, unless you get drone recovery arm. Hull repair is then great, because you're no longer wasting drone parts for the Defense drone and can use them for hull recovery instead. Drone recovery arm will also grab the hull repair drone, but only if you jump in the middle of it repairing you. This means just free hull repair. But, buying drones to repair your hull is also just cheaper than spending 4 scrape per point in hull repair. Anti-drone drone is also useful for the second phase of the flagship. It's also cheap and only uses 1 energy. But, then, all other drones are pretty useless and I end up selling them. Fire drone is too imprecise. And if you can take out their shields for combat and beam drones to be useful, then you might as well just keep hitting them whatever lasers you have on your ship instead.