Unleash the Droneswarm!

[MaxAstro]

Neinzul Enclave Starship Mk I - III + Neinzul Combat Carrier Mk I - III + my first ARS was Sentinel Frigates.

This is an ~incredibly~ satisfying way to play.  I pretty much just sit at my beachhead wormhole while my army of minions scour the planet clean. 

Minor text issue: The combat carrier's drones do not have "neinzul" in their name, while the enclave's drones do.  Also, the combat carrier's drones are ~significantly~ larger, but that might be intentional.

Anyway, loving it so far.

EDIT: I hate to say this, however, but Beam Drones might be a little... strong.  By my math, a full Mk I - III cap of drones (36) has a DPS of just over twelve THOUSAND, roughly equal to a full cap of Mk I - III heavy beam turrets.  o.O

By comparison, a cap of missile drones has a DPS of ~850, roughly half the DPS of a full cap of just Mk I missile turrets.

This may be why I just watched my droneswarm devour a MkIII fortress in ~30 seconds...

EDIT2: Actually, I was only counting ~half~ a cap when I did that math.  So an actual capfleet of beam drones is more like 24,000 DPS... just against single targets.

[Aklyon]

Well, the beam drones also have the railpod problem of self-destructive firepower, unlike the others who only have normal drone attrition.

[Arc-3N-4B]

Having tested out combat carriers myself, I have to agree that beam drones are monstrously powerful right now.

[The Hunter]

Something tells me their damage haven't been divided properly.

[MaxAstro]

I don't think that's it; dividing their damage by 100 would be way too much of a nerf.  Their damage should probably be 1/3 or 1/4 of what it is now.

[CodeMichael]

Early fights they dominated, but I'm not going to say how hard the nerfbat needs to land until I've had a chance to play with the higher marks.  They cost more than the base enclaves, so that's something.

[Cinth]

Early fights they dominated, but I'm not going to say how hard the nerfbat needs to land until I've had a chance to play with the higher marks.  They cost more than the base enclaves, so that's something.

Higher mark beam drones get more beams.  3xMk iirc, not in a game to check.

[MaxAstro]

The extra beams are not a linear increase in power, though, since they fan.  Basically just increases the chance of hitting multiple units, which is why I left number of beams out of the math. 

[Bognor]

Beam drones just had their damage reduced by two-thirds in the latest patch (link).

[Toranth]

Beam drones just had their damage reduced by two-thirds in the latest patch (link).

And 7.039 just fixed the scaling problem (?), so depending on what caps you used, the drones just got a 0%, 50%, 75%, or 87.5% reduction in damage.  I play on normal, so 50% damage reduction to all Enclave drones (old and NCC).

The Self-Attrition/Self-Damage fix to the Beam drones means they get only 1 shot.  It's a powerful shot, but immediately after they attrition to death (100% HP to dead in 2 seconds).

So, where do drones stand now?

Drone spawns:
8 drones every 7 seconds, lifespan of 30 seconds.

Type	Damage/reload	Per unit DPS	Damage over lifespan
Needler	14/2	7	210
Missile	30/5	6	180
MLRS	14x3/5	8.4	252
Laser	18/3	6	180

NCC

Type	Damage/reload	Per unit DPS	Damage over lifespan
Grav	60/4	15	480
Beam	400x3/7(*)	171*	1200
Rail	16x5/4	20	640
Spider	8x5/4	10	320

4 spawns can be alive simultaneously.

DPS per spawn:
Enclave:  55 DPS
NCC: 432 DPS (90 w/o Beam)

Max DPS with all drones:
Enclave:  220 DPS
NCC:  702 DPS

Total damage per spawn lifespan:
Enclave:  1,644
NCC:  5,280 (2,880 w/o Beam)

Starship DPS

Starship	DPS
Flagship	300
Bomber	1350
Leech	396
Raid	341
Plasma	1000
Spire	3200
Zenith	718
Enclave	220
NCC	702

So right now, the Enclave is the lowest damaging starship of all, even including Leech and Raid.
The Neinzul Combat Carrier is middle-tier: Not as good as Spire or Bomber, equal to Zenith.

However, the Beam drone is all out-of-whack compared to the other drones.  Sure, it gets only one hard to aim beam, but man does it do damage.

[Cinth]

Beam drones hit about as hard as a missile drone against something it has a bonus against.  That part feels ok.  If it is attritioning to fast then that can probably be adjusted.

[Toranth]

Beam drones hit about as hard as a missile drone against something it has a bonus against.  That part feels ok.  If it is attritioning to fast then that can probably be adjusted.

That's true, and I'd been ignoring that.  The Enclave drones all get a 5 modifier against some stuff, while of the NCC drones only the Rail drone gets a 5 multiplier.  The rest get no bonus at all.

If every drone got the bonus, then the Enclave actually jumps ahead of the NCC (slightly - 1100 vs 862).  The other starships also mostly jump, with only the Leech staying low.  The ones with multipliers have 4x bonuses, leaving them in the 1100-1300 range (Zenith to 2800).


Also, I finally took a look at the Grav drone.  It's Gravity effect is very minimal.

Mark	Max Speed
I	108
II	96
III	84
IV	72
V	60

For comparison, the Spire Gravity Drain max speed is 40 points lower at each mark.
Also, about 60% of ships already have a max speed slower than 72.

[Cinth]

I'd compare it to the speed of the drones rather than globally.  Also remember spiders will be eating engines. 

[Toranth]

I'd compare it to the speed of the drones rather than globally.  Also remember spiders will be eating engines.

Why would you compare it to the speed of the drone?  It's not like the drones are trying to chase down targets, and the Grav effect is supposed to help do that.
And if Spiders are damaging engines, then it actually makes the Grav effect even more worthless - Damage to engines reduces speed no matter what the current speed is, while the Grav effect only impacts those units currently moving faster than the Grav Max.
And anyway, the drone speed is 90 - Mk I and Mk II Grav Drones set the max speed to higher than that.

A Fighter's base speed is 84 - this is what the Mk III Grav Drone sets the max speed to.
Getting a Mk IV Grav drone - the first mark that will actually slow a Fighter - requires an Advanced Starship Constructor.
The median speed of all units, excluding Nebula units and Tackle drones/Spire Blades, is 72.  That's the Mk IV Grav Drone speed max.

In other words - Unlock the NCC, capture an ASC, spend 6500 K to get Mk IV NCCs, and then your Grav Drones will have no effect on 53% of units.
Compare that to a Mk I Spire Grave Drain, with a max speed of 68 - This impacts 51% of units.  By Mk IV, you impact 99%.

[Vacuity]

Why would you compare it to the speed of the drone?  It's not like the drones are trying to chase down targets, and the Grav effect is supposed to help do that.

Have you tried the Kite Flier AI yet?  How about a double Kite Flier/Speed Racer AI?  Anything that slows ships, be it grav effects or engine damage are a big help with that kind of opponent.

I'm not sure whether you're suggesting it's too weak and should have the gravity effect buffed, or it's useless and should have its gravity effect removed.  I'd strongly argue against the latter.