How good is a droner spy? / A question about LOM

[Shadow Walker]

Is it better than being a rifle spy?

Second question : Do you loose skill points when loming (if it's a very high level skill)?

[Maarten]

Depends on your playing style...

Droners do less damage then rifles, but you will almost never die, because you always put your body away in a safe place before launching a drone. Which also has a down side: your CON hardly levels. But I would recommend keeping your LE in until you're good enough to be of any use in OP fights because a lot of people will shoot at a helpless meatsack if they see one.
Also, droners can almost never loot their kills. So don't make a droner if you want to go rare hunting.

And yes, you will lose XP in the main skill when you LoM...

[JustIn_Case]

Yes you loose skill points. The higher skill level the more you xp loose (but less levels....)

Rifle vs Drones..depends on what you want to do. Mob hunting or PvP.

[___T-X____]

I run a Droner /spy clan on pluto. Leveling is boring as hell, but droning is fun, i say do it.

PM me if your on pluto, we have the full droning resource.

[Richard Slade]

And good note is that
1)n00b droners can go solo into aggie
2)They lvl dex and int like mad but nothing else....

My li'l cutie has int/dex 50/50 (yes they go with each other as droner) and not a single lvl in con or psi :rolleyes:

[Shadow Walker]

When I talk about skills points I dont talk about Xp. I mean I have 120 in hack if I decide if I decide to lom it all. Will I get back EVERY SINGLE POINT I put in my hacking skill (If I also get back the levels of Xp I lost by loming I mean).

If I ue a loming pill will my hacking skill go back to 119 and will I have 5 points in skill back?

Aout droning how are spying drones? This type that doesn't attack are they fast? Can they change area?

[Helen Angilley]

Droning is not for the lazy or those after instant gratification.

[Richard Slade]

YES
YOU KEEP THE POINTS
All you lose is xp, nothing else.

I'm a lom junkie, and have loomed +1k points in total so trust me I know by now
;)

And no, no drone can zone from it's master.
However the scouters are friggin' fast yes. And they can zoom
And fly high high high...

[Brammers]

Originally posted by Shadow Walker
Is it better than being a rifle spy?


Well I've definatly say yes! I've done Riffles, LOM'ed to Pistols and Drones, then LOM'ed to just drones.

I'm almosted capped (2-3 levels in DEX to go) I capped my CON when I was using pistols and riffles.

Spy drones - SR1, MR1, and the LR1 they can travel pretty quick, and have a zone lens on them. If you got a good WPW you can cover the whole zone with them! :)

[Shadow Walker]

Thanks Richard Slade (I could swear I saw you on saturn)... 120 in hack = 53 in hack + 84 in implant + 19 in weapon lore if my calculation are exact :) When you are not in OP wars hacking is a shit...

[Richard Slade]

Originally posted by Shadow Walker
Thanks Richard Slade (I could swear I saw you on saturn)...
I wonder why shadow, I wonder why.. Cuz I always hang around with Minkey maybe..?

[Shadow Walker]

Brammers can you tell me more precisly why you prefer droning than rifles? It's such a pain to lom anyway I'll see when the spy PA will be out :)

[Shadow Walker]

lol Ok richard Slade must be that :) What is you class and faction?

Ho if you see Minkey and/or Daphne Broon give them my email : ymehdi@hotmail.com I need to talk to them a bit (an inside neocron email would be fine). Thanks a lot.

[Richard Slade]

Originally posted by Shadow Walker
lol Ok richard Slade must be that :) What is you class and faction?
No I'm NOT joining comOT again if that's what u think
I'm droner (duh) spy and FA. With Slade =)

[Shadow Walker]

ROFL Have I got such a reputation for recruitment? :) Sorry I can't meet a potent player whithout thinking if he could be a good recruit or not :lol:

So culd you mail those 2 people please (Daphne Broon and Minkey)? I had been away for more than 2 weeks and still have to wait 4 days to play again so I need some news :)

Thanks ;)

[X Kitty X]

Originally posted by Maarten
Depends on your playing style...

Droners do less damage then rifles, but you will almost never die, because you always put your body away in a safe place before launching a drone. Which also has a down side: your CON hardly levels... Also, droners can almost never loot their kills. So don't make a droner if you want to go rare hunting.


LOL - Almost never die - well in theory yes. You can't tell what's attacking you. I wish I never died but afraid it happens. You can be careful and engage from a distance though which is advantageous.

As for CON mine is nearly capped - not a problem, shoot yourself a bit, stand next to mobs etc. It is so easy to level CON don't know why people moan.

As for loot I think it is easier with a droner spy - kill stuff from a distance, make sure area clear (you get a good view with a drone) then run up to mob and loot/hack it. I have no problems getting rares - i can solo warbots easy with 1 drone and hack them to my heart's content.

Droning is brilliant. Best fun in Neocron if you ask me, and I've tried lots of different set ups, characters etc... even sexed a Drom. But droning is the best. (sad 14year old translation = it pwnz).

As for LOMming, it takes time, so read a book or something.

Droning ain't easy but it sure is satisfying.

[Brammers]

Originally posted by Shadow Walker
Brammers can you tell me more precisly why you prefer droning than rifles? It's such a pain to lom anyway I'll see when the spy PA will be out :)

For a start there seems to be no end of spies with <insert uber choice of riffle> about, and not many droners about. Besides "flying" a weapon needs a bit of skill, but the one thing I love is at a op war is chasing a fleeing tank :D

I started with riffles, because at the time I was a clueless nOOb! So I thought lets try that. Then came pistols which wasn't as good as riffles for me, but I didn't have very much weapon lore. Also I was dual classing and a pistol-droner, and one of them had to go. Pistol combat went and hello more drone combat.

Tip for you - make sure you have a researcher and constructor who can make up your drones, they are the droner's best friends. (Or do one of the skills yourself like I do)

[Jesterthegreat]

pistol spy all the way... dronin is for pussies and rifles is hybrid range / damage (JOKING! not flaming... lol i am not serious ^.^)

seriously i think pistol > drone + rifle... pistol spies need skill

[Shadow Walker]

More questions for the droners : how do you save your ass in PVP? Is the implant set up easy to find? Damages depends of will power or of remote control? Does it repair itself when you make it come back to your hand? Will there be a droner PA? And last question is there lot a rare drones?

Thanks for all your answers

[Jesterthegreat]

Originally posted by Shadow Walker
More questions for the droners : how do you save your ass in PVP? Is the implant set up easy to find? Damages depends of will power or of remote control? Does it repair itself when you make it come back to your hand? Will there be a droner PA? And last question is there lot a rare drones?

Thanks for all your answers

gimp and use stealth
RCL iirc
droner imps in now... simple
drone is at full health... but lower con when returned to hand
droner spy gets PA
2 rare drones (Particle Nemisis and Punisher)

[X Kitty X]

Originally posted by Shadow Walker
More questions for the droners : how do you save your ass in PVP? Is the implant set up easy to find? Damages depends of will power or of remote control? Does it repair itself when you make it come back to your hand? Will there be a droner PA? And last question is there lot a rare drones?

Thanks for all your answers

Well you find a good hiding place and hit them with Particle Nemesis drones or Kamikaze drones (self-destructing massive damage). Droning is a completely different playing style to anything else. You have to think.

Implant set-up - yeah easy to get good stuff. There's droner implants at Cryton's which are good such as Drone Combat eye and Drone Distance Interface. Basically you want to pump up your dexterity so dex booster, vehicle interface possibly, etc etc. I have +25 dex from my implants plus loads of extra remote control and willpower.

Drones self-repair and reload when dropped and used again. Press esc to drop a drone. You can also repair it whilst in use by right-clicking - it uses some of its ammo to repair itself. So in theory you can keep using the same drones over and over (will need repairing eventually). You can fly it back to your body or you can drop it somewhere and go pick it up. You normally carry a few drones - I have at least 6 on me at any time.... my main drones plus a couple of Kamikaze drones for emergency use.

Willpower and Remote Control both affect damage and distance - can't remember which does which the most off the top of my head. It's 40/60 each way basically. In the player guides section of the forum is a BRILLIANT droner guide - there is over 15 pages of top tips - go look at it NOW! it will tell you all you need to know.

Droner PA you ask? Well there is Spy PA coming soon (next patch apparantly) and there is a RCL boosting version of it (well 3 actually for different levels) so yes - thats droner 'armour'

[Brammers]

Originally posted by Shadow Walker
More questions for the droners : how do you save your ass in PVP? Is the implant set up easy to find? Damages depends of will power or of remote control? Does it repair itself when you make it come back to your hand? Will there be a droner PA? And last question is there lot a rare drones?

Thanks for all your answers

Save your ass, when a tank finds your droning body? You run! When a tank finds your PB20 drone, you kill him!

The skill that effects damage is RCL where WPW effects the range of your drone.

When you launch a drone, it looses about 3% condition, it takes damage when fighting a mob, and if you drop the drop in time (Before it's destroyed), and re-launch the drone, it's health is back to full. But eventually you will have a pile of wrecked drones which can be fixed if you have repair skill.

Rare drones, there are 2 - The Nemesis (TL116) and the Punisher (TL122) they can be BP'ed but the constructed version is nowhere near as good as the original rare version.

My implant setup consists of lots of DEX boosting implants including the mindcontrol chips. There are also droning eyes as well. Also there is a special riggers chip for droners, but the parts dont drop in retail, and the MC5 version does drop and goes for about 15 million. :wtf:

Droner PA - there was talk about the spy PA boosting DEX and RCL, then it changed to WPW, and it's back on the drawing board last I heard.

[Shadow Walker]

I'm getting used to my rifles and was one level away fom the silent hunter (+18 in dex by the implants) but droning seems to be an interesting way to fight... I'll loose lot of levels by lomings everything but maybe that worth it. Where is that player guide? last question : you buy munitions for drones?

Thanks for you answer... my strengh and con caped from a long time maybe it's time to reconvert... As a spy I'm very interesting by the spying drones... We'll i'll see in 4 days when I'll finally get back to my computer.

[Brammers]

Nope you dont buy ammo for the drones. When you launch the drone it has a limited amount of ammo, which can be replenished by relaunching the drone.

[X Kitty X]

Originally posted by Shadow Walker
Where is that player guide? last question : you buy munitions for drones?


http://neocron.jafc.de/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44740 is the player guide and it is brilliant

No need to buy ammo for drones - they come fully loaded and reload themselves everytime you use them. Most have a few minutes of constant firepower - if it runs out just relaunch it and you are ready to fire again.

[Richard Slade]

Well I'll sen a mail to Daphne for you but if I know Minkey right he's so damn bored in school right now that he's already read this thread and will see for himself, if not I'll tell him during the rare hunt today - Cheers mate

[Richard Slade]

Originally posted by X Kitty X
http://neocron.jafc.de/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44740 is the player guide and it is brilliant

No need to buy ammo for drones - they come fully loaded and reload themselves everytime you use them. Most have a few minutes of constant firepower - if it runs out just relaunch it and you are ready to fire again.

HOWEVER you should know that just firing the damn things will take away the durability so you NEED a repair skill
(Which I, OF COURSE doesn't have.........:wtf: )

[X Kitty X]

I don't have any repair skill - just get someone to repair them for you. Not a major problem. Or get new ones made. It is useful yeah, but not necessary. Construction and research are equally usefull skills - i don't have any - invest my points in other more useful things.

Oh and always get drones constructed for you.

[Mirco]

Droning

LvL in the graves=boring takes forever

LvL in caves=Droner becomes super leech due to difficulty keeping up with team and spending 8 %quality loss each launch for a drone is not worth it. Drone doesnt take alot of damage there.

Researching and Construction

A big pain in the ass. Takes forever and costs alot of money compaired to your income. Especially the rare ones.

Rares

Not many rares to be looking out for.

You can sell alot of shit and make money that way cause you dont need the rares.

PvP

Your targets now is almost only tanks. PPUs you cant kill, APU just have to aim their Holy Crahn Fart at the drone and its dead.
PEs and Spies stealth and dissapear.

Almost never killed? Yea sure. Everytime you are out running from a to b you are the easiest, high ranked target around. Forget about fighting back, all you can do is hold up and wait for death. Luckily it takes about 2 secs for a CS smurf or anyone else for that matter do kill you so you dont have to wait long. Or do a kami-suicide. When I was droning, I needed to get fast as hell to an asg. If I made it I was safe. A droner needs a stealth device or a hovertech.

Problem with being caught running as a droner. You get raped. No really RAPED. You cant do shit and thats the worst part. I dont mind dying as long Im having a little fun doing so.

[Ehyuko]

Between droning, rifles and pistols, I think droning is the most challenging in terms of actually fighting, if you have a lower end machine droning is likely easier then trying to circle straft with pistols or snipe at teleporting targets with rifles.

I find drones to have many more drawbacks then rifles, but I also find droning more entertaining. In the end it's really what you perfer, all weapons have their strong points and weaknesses but drones are MUCH different then rifles, cannons or pistols so it takes a bit of getting used to.

So in short it's best to try them both out either through LoMing or alternate characters and then make your own decision.

[Shadow Walker]

I will try droning soon, but I can tell that using a rifle with a spy is not easier.

For leveling the strongest mob you can mass kill with a 57/60 spy to make Xp is WB and you are dead in 2 shots with a caped constitution (the droner level lot faster in the graves).

In PVP any high level character can kill you in 2/3 shots and the rifles are so long to aim (yeah even with more than 140 WL) that you are almost sure to loose if you fight inside. And if you get caught outside before you are caped the better thing to do is stealth and run (with a silent hunter you can hunt back but it's not so easy :)). At least if you loose a drone you don't die like a shit and don't have to spend money to have your back-pack back and poke and loose the thing in your belt. Anyway PPu are almost god against energy weapon, APU seems to be lot easier to kill with an armored drone (Well if you am for someone around your level of course), PE can't stealth for more than 10 seconds just get close enough and they won't be able to hide, spies well they can stealth longer surely enough to get away from anyone when they are very strong but they can't fight back (or they'll have to find you by keeping stealthed).

Well to conclude I would say the problem is not the weapon you use, the spies are just the hardest class to play in Neocron for the moment. And some experienced player seems to think that you have the better survival rate by being a droner high level enough to stealth or a very high level pure combat rifle spy. Anyway I made up my mind you get better dex bonus with a droner (the droner are for the moment the only one who can use the rare stealth needing 120 in dex without drugs I think), faster leveling, very interesting weapons and lower mortality

Well that's just my opinion. I hope I won't loose too much evels by loming...