"Slow Drone Boat"

Discussion
1

Educate me…

With the new faction having a heavy legendary cab with a perk for drones, the obvious implication that the slow drone boat might be a thing, again.

This is what Doc shared in another thread (truncated by me):

If it’s 5 pins wide, that leaves the little area between the “wings” just big enough for the Genesis, as well as the explicit drone benefits. If it’s 6, then there should be room for grenadiers, fuzes etc…

Long ago, I played tanky slow drone builds, but eventually felt they were a waste. I just couldn’t do well with them, anymore. I still have all my drone parts, but only use them on fast stealth builds. Some of you fine folks suggested in another thread that the slow drone boat was still viable, and with the upcoming cab, I figured I needed to re-train myself.

A couple of dozen matches later… um… either I hella suck, or drones aren’t really a thing (I don’t see anyone else playing them WELL, either).

I’m not saying they’re useless. I still had fun. BUT, I rarely broke the top 4 and never got MVP. I know the build is useful to a solid team, being that I was absorbing a ton of damage my more well-armed teammates would’ve otherwise taken, and those bots & mines did their thing, but still… I’m sure I would’ve been better with just about any other style of build.

So, I’m asking… If you’re using a drone boat, share the build & explain exactly how you’re using it. Clearly, I don’t have a clue.

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Get started idea listing:

trombone and fuze drones.
trombone and any distant drone…

It might be fun though… lol why do they all have trombone in them?

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Its probably a lighter heavy cab and goes 65km. Which means with cheetah amd sabbath wheels you can get up to some decent speeds. Close to 80km natural max speed, then add on the sabbath wheel buff and your pushing 90km add phobos and your close to 95km/h.

This cab is going to be nasty to deal with on sabbaths.

But i mean hey. U could go slow goliath tracks if you want and make a droneboat.

This cab could def be very annoying to deal with. Im not looking forward to the increased dammage on yauguai. I def could mess some people up with that cab useing some anihilators.

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A slow drone build?..I don’t know about that.

Won’t it be a sitting duck?
You pop the drone and it gets destroyed.

Often i feel the drones fall short of whatever i build.
I mean, you can build whatever, it may be the best build ever, the tankiest, the fastest and so on, but if the weapons don’t keep up… you end up with the opposite of a glass canon.

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I’m thinking that a heavy drone/skinner build might work, if you played it like a king/skinner build.
Although I guess the aiming mechanic wouldn’t be that important with that kind of play style.
I’m really curious about the range of the perk. If you can target someone from far away, that really opens up some new ways of playing them.

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I’m a bit sceptical about that cab
The perk it’s not anything special, to not say garbage like.
You don’t have any control in the cooldown times and in top of that the perk most certainly will countdown the active time of the drones.
They say the perk will increase substantially the damage output of the drones, but they didn’t say by how much, so instead 20 or 30 possible seconds you will get even less. Because as soon the perk ends the drones will be destroyed.
we have yet to know how long that perk will last.
Now, if they make the perk too strong they will nerf it eventually, if the perk will be more or less not here but not there either, you will end up with o benefits, with a placebo.
The problem is not damage output, they are DOT weapons but they don’t really have the time on their side.
IMO drones don’t need a damage buff, they need a durability/survivability buff. That would be a step in the right direction towards balancing in the long term and a fair one.
As is, drones are a no match to everything, everything can destroy them instantly.

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Well, the things you’re mentioning are also why this cabin could work. One of the big problems with most drones is that they’re mostly just like annoying mosquitoes most of the time. Only really a threat if you’re already close to death, and easy enough to destroy.
But if the drones could focus their attack on a single enemy and do more damage more quickly, they’d become something that enemies actually need to pay attention to and be wary of. Currently Yaoguai drones are close to that type of play, and they seem pretty popular at the moment compared to other drones. They don’t last long, but they do a lot of burst damage and target enemies better, plus the player has more control about who they attack.

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I wouldn’t mind to have the control of the targeting system in PVP
I’m noticing that my drones don’t target who i’m focusing in most of the times (propeller event) but perhaps they know best
In that mode i fight and pursuit by sound mostly, i don’t even see who i’m shooting most of the times, only a red dot in the map that i try to be close.

Then, not all drones are made equally and perhaps the perk won’t benefits them in an somewhat equal manner.
I’ve heard that Syndicate drones don’t have cooldown e.g. But they are fairly easy to get rid off.

Let’s wait and see.

If that perk will be useful or just a way to be out of ammo quicker.

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The only success I have with drones currently are:

2 MG’s + “Drone in back” type build
or
The purple drones you shoot.
or
Monster HP sponges + grenadiers or UPGRADED fuzes.

I build a “truck and trailer” with everything undermounted. Even if I am using aerial drones, I build them a cage and mount them lower into the frame.
I then make “passes” at the enemy, good teams catch on really fast and degun/destroy them while I take the dmg, bad teams I die with little or no score fairly fast.

Kinda like Kings, if you have a team that uses them as a defense line you are very likely to win easily, if you have a team that drives right on past…

I am plain excited for the shape of the cabin tbh. My build o meter is at full power.

this is what makes this cabin useful and even worth considering building with, there are already a bunch of heavies if you don’t care about the perk.

These are a bit OP atm though. A bit. They are better than legendary vultures and annihilators. Kinda telling what the new season will introduce.

Dronapocalypse 2053 inc.

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This is the Drone-Boat I’ve had for the longest. It’s almost always fun, usually does well, and occasionally I can get an MVP with it…

Maybe, I could do better if I turned down the silly a little, but whatever. The method is what’s relevant, and that is to be fully engaged with the enemy, fast and agile. Poop and scoot doesn’t work for me. The drones get lost, get destroyed, and then I get hunted down and crushed.

What does work for me is strategically timed drone-drops, coupled with aggressive passive-melee attacks, and the understanding that I’m a support vehicle.

I focus a lot on helping team-mates that are engaged, and possibly overwhelmed with the enemy. I hit and run, hoping to knock some tires off, free pinned team-mates, and plant my Drones. Either the enemy will turn his attention to me, and the chase is on, and that guy he was attacking is free to lay down some fire while I sponge the enemy’s fire (it’s necessarily a health brick), or I circle back and keep knocking the hell out of the kid’s wheels with aggressive hit and run passive-melee attacks.

Meanwhile the drones are doing their thing, and my close proximity to the enemy target (due to applied melee attacks) allows my daft wheeled drones to be able to find and focus on the target, rather than stare at walls or hunt for me like it’s lost. They sort of have ADS, because their A.I. and range sucks a little. The passive melee attack is very important for helping the wheeled drones know what their target is better.

I’m not using a stealth module. As a health brick tasked with sponging fire, I sort of need to be seen as a distraction from both my team-mates as a support vehicle, and from my vulnerable drones. Also, I’m using a combination of drones rather than a uniform group. I’ve got an Anaconda, Grenadier, and a Fuze in there, all assigned separate launch keys. This allows me a little more available strategy and flexibility for all the various situations that may occur. Strategy is important, and hanging back to read the field a little before you dive in is almost crucial.

I more often pick friendly targets that appear confident to assist as a support vehicle, rather than picking out enemy targets myself that might look vulnerable. That’s how I generally pick my targets; I don’t. My team-mates will. It’s important not to block your team-mate’s shots here, and be mindful of friendlies behind you trying to make difficult cannon shots and stuff. Understanding you’re a support vehicle, I think is important.

Going one on one with the enemy is a terrible strategy, IMO, and I think if you try that you will need to use the popular poop and scoot, stealth method. I don’t have much luck with that.

That build could probably use better melee, better wheels, and a stronger frame, but it works for me.

For me the features that make a good drone boat are speed, durability, and strong passive melee. Also, it’s important to briefly study the map at the beginning of the match, and then play my part as a support vehicle. Leave no man behind.

The speed nerf has made this strategy very difficult, and I don’t know how a heavy slow-boat will work…unless it’s flying.

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…Or you could just use a couple vultures on a naked frame with a Growl. They seem to be popular seal clubs and are effective that way, but IMO, that’s a yawn fest of boring exploitative cowardice.

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droneplatform1
droneplatform11920×1440 244 KB

My current drone platform. Yep I use an all purpose platform. PS goes up or down depending on the drone modules I stack in it.
As you see, I am currently working on the Annihilator banner unlock.

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I like it. It checks all the boxes for me. It looks swift, agile, durable, sharp and fashionable, and it’s got a good grill for smacking kids.

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Amen

Agreed

But, that thing clearly scoots… Folks were suggesting a slow drone boat - kinda’ tanky - is a thing. I’m assuming this cab is going to be much slower than the current drone cab (The Call?)

That’s exactly what I do… and I added those cool melee eagle parts to my drone build.

The other big weakness of drones, IMO, is that you can’t target specific parts. In pretty much every other match I play, I’m going for weapons or wheels first. Drones just aim dumbly for the center of the cab as far as I can tell. That’s a huge disadvantage - especially against a tanky enemy.

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Ya, it’s the call (curses to you, speed nerf!). It’s fairly speedy, was better before the speed nerf, and I struggle more with it now. I really don’t see how a slow heavy cab will be efficient as a drone platform…unless it flies. People here seem to think the chopper thing is over. I don’t. I think the only way this new cab makes any sense is as a flying drone-boat; a dieselpunk Airship. Unless it’s intended to fly, or the drone-perk is insanely OP, it’s a really ignorant idea, IMO.

Having said that, I too feel compelled to go and try to build a landlubber heavy-cab-drone-boat, and familiarize myself with the issues involved, and see if I can work those out a little.

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It all depends on the aiming system tbh. If it is good, the cabin will be viable, if it isn’t… it will sit next to my other heavies unused.

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My main build is 3 annihilators which i used to run on Hermits/Cheetah at very high speeds.
I switched from hermits to omnis and sacrificed some speed for maneuverability and durability…topping out at 90 mph but having greater success overall in game with drone play.

I love my drones but its hard to say anything good or bad about the new cab without knowing the real new cab speed. It could work for some builds but there’s also length of perk/damage boost to figure in to the equation with the speed thing so i guess we will have to see and test this thing with what we run when it gets here.

Im still excited to see whats up with it though. It will be hard for me to give up my Call cab triple drone perk though so it’s gonna have to be a damn good drone cab for me to main it with my annihilators.

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Don’t have an image as not running one right now. But I for a while had a “drone boat” that was a goliath tracked vehicle with twin sidekicks and a defensive MG.

Playing a slower drone boat is a lot different then playing a faster one. example with faster ones you want to focus hit and run and avoid conflict as much as possible while distracting. though you don’t want to stay to far a way as to be doing almost nothing for your team.

For slower drone boat that use tracks or augers you want to stay with your team and have as much part HP as possible you look unarmed and are a good distraction to allow your team to mop up the enemy as they focus you. As a slow drone boat the more guns aimed at you in a team fight the better as that is more guns not aimed at the DPS or DPH players.

Your job is to distract and let your drones pepper targets, either they ignore the drones and take a lot of easy damage or they fire at the drones wasting their damage on an easily respawned target as you sit there in the melee. IT is a loose loose for the enemy if they engage the melee with you.

The down side to this is you are not doing much in direct battle so you will get a lot of hate from your team as they don’t see wasted enemy DPS as saving seconds for their DPS.

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I have been trying every combination I can think of to make a tanky drone boat work. While some are okay, none are good. The only way I know to be successful with drones is to be fast and very aware.

If you’re not moving FAST, and thus your drones are moving FAST, they just get insta-killed.

Vultures kinda work if you just carefully pop them ahead of the front lines, then in the midsts of already engaged players, but dear gawd is that boring…

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Ya, it’s pretty mysterious, this cab. It’s gorgeous, I think, but it’s stats are are either really odd or unknown. The perk is weird for a heavy cab, I think.

However, it’s power-score is high so it’s intended for a richer PS bracket where people appear to be more prone to camping and launching attacks from a distance. In that scenario, I guess speed isn’t as much of an issue. It may work like any launchable drone does; The guy hides in the back, launches attacks from a safe distance that tend to be easily mitigated or avoided, then eventually he’s the last guy left and runs around for 2 minutes before ultimately loosing the match.

At lower power-scores, that strategy is actually pretty strong as a naked seal club, I think. I’ve seen some kids own the match that way, killing nearly the entire enemy team by themselves. I think that makes for a schitty game, but whatever.

If the new cab works like that in the higher power-scores, I expect a lot of complaining about it here on the forum. Nobody really cares about what happens in the cheap-seats, but they’ll raise hell if this thing behaves that way up in the balcony, probably.

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