Let's Discuss Drones!

[TaffyTank 1,890]

14 hours ago, D.A.R.K.N.E.S.S said:

agreed that hornet is broken... but a maxed out defender drone was equally as broken - it basically gave a mobile titan's dome for 15 seconds pre-nerf. This was definitely needed and it your anger is just because you had the drone pre-nerf and probably put a lot of resources into upgrading it to abuse this power it used to have. 

 

I was gonna get this drone anyway and if anything this change makes me want to get it more - I was doing just fine without it and now if it's gonna last the entire duration of my double armor, even better. 

Regarding someone being angry about this nerf...How do you think a Defender user that blew 500k+ crystals earned as a free player or someone that recently blew hard cash for it is going to react to this nerf?

A Drone they spent loads of hours earning has had its defensive power slashed in half. The 30 second active duration is totally pointless for most types of player. A camper sniper or heavy hull user might get decent use of the 30 IF they avoid enemy OD's or other Drone users, but most players wont. As I said above, this game is a slaughterfest now, loads of ways to get one-shotted or destroyed extremely quickly, even with a def boost. Best use for pre-nerf Defender in current Tanki was in short bursts of attacks before enemy has time to take you out, not anymore.

Now yes, it needed a tweak of the 200%, but a straight 50% nerf of the paramater that attracted players to buy it is totally ludicrous. Basically, it's like admitting it was totally dumb to have such a big Def boost in the game for so long.

This is one of a few reasons this game loses players. They dump OP nonsense into the game which annoys anyone that doesn't own it. People then start buying that OP gear for cash and by the time f2p have blown loads of crystals MU'ing it, they then nerf it, which annoys everyone effected. Especially now there's such a sly way of announcing these rebalances, on a locked Patch update topic hidden away on an obscure part of forum that no-one can comment on. Some will be using this drone, eating up their supplies not realizing how junk it is now.

Funny thing is seeing people content that others get their gear nerfed, when this buff/nerf mess is gonna end up contributing to the demise of the game they enjoy. How can someone spend money on this game or play to earn gear with confidence that their gear won't be nerfed to oblivion soon?

Edited July 1, 2020 by TaffyTank

[cosmic666 1,055]

2 hours ago, TaffyTank said:

Regarding someone being angry about this nerf...How do you think a Defender user that blew 500k+ crystals earned as a free player or someone that recently blew hard cash for it is going to react to this nerf?

A Drone they spent loads of hours earning has had its defensive power slashed in half. The 30 second active duration is totally pointless for most types of player. A camper sniper or heavy hull user might get decent use of the 30 IF they avoid enemy OD's or other Drone users, but most players wont. As I said above, this game is a slaughterfest now, loads of ways to get one-shotted or destroyed extremely quickly, even with a def boost. Best use for pre-nerf Defender in current Tanki was in short bursts of attacks before enemy has time to take you out, not anymore.

Now yes, it needed a tweak of the 200%, but a straight 50% nerf of the paramater that attracted players to buy it is totally ludicrous. Basically, it's like admitting it was totally dumb to have such a big Def boost in the game for so long.

This is one of a few reasons this game loses players. They dump OP nonsense into the game which annoys anyone that doesn't own it. People then start buying that OP gear for cash and by the time f2p have blown loads of crystals MU'ing it, they then nerf it, which annoys everyone effected. Especially now there's such a sly way of announcing these rebalances, on a locked Patch update topic hidden away on an obscure part of forum that no-one can comment on. Some will be using this drone, eating up their supplies not realizing how junk it is now.

Funny thing is seeing people content that others get their gear nerfed, when this buff/nerf mess is gonna end up contributing to the demise of the game they enjoy. How can someone spend money on this game or play to earn gear with confidence that their gear won't be nerfed to oblivion soon?

Well said, i bought defender because SPRINTER in my opinion was of no use anymore due to the fact the hull alts were just to much cope with, (a decision i made after many many battles.) It was also acquired because the unbalanced MM was constantly putting me up against ranks way above me when i was at the low to mid ranks.The devs are very adept at luring players in to either buy for cash or get equipment from hard earned cry in battles, and then after a couple months something changes within the game and it's usually the stuff you have spent a long time upgrading and rely on the most to get you through these unbalanced times in TO. As most of the players recognise, HORNET more than any other piece of equipment is dominating battles, especially when paired with certain turrets, MAGNUM,VULCAN,RAIL,(being the worst offenders). Now these turrets are ok to come up against in battle with the exception when they are paired with HORNET,so with all these nerfs / buffs going on within the game why has HORNET not been nerfed in line with the balancing to other pieces of equipment the devs feel is required for reasons they NEVER EVER  explain. Defender along with all the other DRONES did/does not need a rebalancing (nerf) as it done ok when encountering all the various hull/turret alts that are currently in the game. Notice i said it was doing OK  not brilliant but just ok. I will admit defender is a superb drone to go into battle with and it has saved me quite a few times when normally i would have been taken out,especially when there are 2 players going after you in battle,(i have that effect on some players),but to nerf it by 50% is just totally unfair and deff not in line with any balancing that could be considered fair. The devs have shown over these last couple of years that any rebalancing they do in the game is not because it's in the best interests of the players, but because it serves their purpose to do so, and that usually involves generating as much $$$ as they possibly can from any and all updates they introduce into the game. I have said this before, i and most of the sensible intelligent players understand the need to generate cash within the game, we accept this without complaint, but to constantly almost on a weekly/monthly basis rework certain aspects of the game that impacts lots of players in a detrimental way is just becoming too much to handle, even for buyers who must be fed up of putting cash into the game (cash you rely on) just to see there time, effort, and CASH ultimately going down the drain of despair when there fav combo /drone etc is made useless. If a mod reads this i would kindly ask that you forward this to THE dev who makes the changes within the game, and i would ask him/her to rethink the changes they have made and come up with a more reasonable solution that does not impact players in such a harsh and unfair way. I rely on defender, but if it must have a nerf then i think 25% reduction is a more plausible reduction than a whopping 50%. As it stands i no longer play this game on 2 accounts due to the constant changes being made that affect game play to such a degree that it has in my opinion made these accounts to weak to compete in the current set up. (they are both legend with fully upgraded garages,) but as yet neither have any hull alts which is a must have when you go into any battle. The reason for no alts, far to much cash / crystals needed to make them viable in competing against other legends. As always you make the calls as to how things pan out in the game, but if you keep changing things around at the current rate you are, then more players will just sit on the sidelines and drastically cut their game time down as going into battle especially with the unbalanced MM is just not worth it anymore.This is my feedback on the VERY RECENT changes you have made....... Now if you don't mind i need a lie down after that before i retest my NEW defender drone........(not looking forward to it at all.)   

[cosmic666 1,055]

19 hours ago, D.A.R.K.N.E.S.S said:

agreed that hornet is broken... but a maxed out defender drone was equally as broken - it basically gave a mobile titan's dome for 15 seconds pre-nerf. This was definitely needed and it your anger is just because you had the drone pre-nerf and probably put a lot of resources into upgrading it to abuse this power it used to have. 

 

I was gonna get this drone anyway and if anything this change makes me want to get it more - I was doing just fine without it and now if it's gonna last the entire duration of my double armor, even better. 

Have fun coming up against mag/hornet vulcan/hornet because the encounter if your very skilled and unbelievably lucky will last about 0.05 secs and thats with the reworked defender drone. You deserve everything you get against these HORNET players. 

[cosmic666 1,055]

Ok tested it out... can only manage to handle 5 mines instead of 7, of the 5 tests i done with mines it managed 6 twice as the mines have a average damage output which is crazy for a static mine. this nerf is very bad but for anyone who has never used defender then obvs they will not see anything but a rosy picture because of the 30 secs they get which by the way defender used to have only a few weeks ago then they took it away and now its back to offset the armour they have took away ....probs their plan all along actually. no matter i'm sure it's all for the greater good of us players.

[cosmic666 1,055]

Time for bed, hopefully when i wake up the nerfed defender drone will just have been a bad dream, and actually it was HORNET that got a well deserved (blitz) of a nerf. 

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

16 minutes ago, cosmic666 said:

Time for bed, hopefully when i wake up the nerfed defender drone will just have been a bad dream, and actually it was HORNET that got a well deserved (blitz) of a nerf. 

As a max-Defender user, is the nerf that bad? I noticed now that when my team dogpiles their damage onto the person they die significantly faster than before if they don't have protection against the turrets shooting them. 

[cosmic666 1,055]

10 hours ago, TheCongoSpider said:

As a max-Defender user, is the nerf that bad? I noticed now that when my team dogpiles their damage onto the person they die significantly faster than before if they don't have protection against the turrets shooting them. 

Have not been on account since nerf and don't intend to. kinda gets you down when a very good acc is rendered half as good as it used to be, defender was only drone i used and took me quite awhile to max out not to mention a hell of a lot of cry. 

[tankpod1 27]

defender drone has been nerfed.... I’m so sad  

Plz restore it to original plz!!!

[DieselPlatinum 5,121]

4 hours ago, tankpod1 said:

defender drone has been nerfed.... I’m so sad  

Plz restore it to original plz!!!

Lol, why?

It was overpowered in the first place. Acted like a mobile titans dome which lasted a bit longer and can be used on any hull, specifically hornet.

[NooNooHead 121]

The defender drone with the hornet combo definitely required a nerf as there was no defense that can counter it effectively. We shouldn't have to deal with any combos that can rack up 30+ kills in MM. The developers chose the drone. Was there an official explanation of what happened?

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

Just now, At_Shin said:

I have heard that drones always exhaust 1 battery at the start of a battle. If the battle lasts 7 minutes then does the drone exhaust 8 or 7 batteries at the end? Also, what happens when I equip a drone in mid battle? Does that exhaust 1 battery too? Or none?

7 in total. And no, it will not exhaust another battery upon materialising with a new drone mid-battle. However, if you unequip your drone then equip it again mid-battle, it will exhaust one battery upon materialising. 

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

4 minutes ago, At_Shin said:

So It is not profitable to equip a drone (when I hadn't equipped any drone previously) in mid battle. Thank you spider. 

Well that will depend on the drone you equipped and how upgraded it is. Something like an unupgraded Assault Drone would barely give you value if you equipped it mid-battle. An unupgraded Driver with Viking would need to be equipped as early in the battle as possible to get value out of it. The other hulls shouldn't be too bad with an unupgraded Driver.

Something like a Trickster Drone (that doesn't need upgrades) would have great value instantly. 

 

You consume a maximum of 7 batteries in a battle if you stayed from the start till the end. If you equipped the drone and materialised at 4 minutes and 10 seconds remaining, it will deduct one at 4:10, another at 3:10, another at 2:10, another at 1:10, and the last one at 0:10, 5 batteries in total. If you're meticulous with the value you want from your drone, equip the drone when the seconds on the timer is around 40/50 seconds. That allows you to more time having the drone equipped while also using 5 batteries. 

 

Someone who first materialises with a drone equipped at 6:50 will get more value from the 7 batteries than someone who first materialises at 6:15

[wolverine848 13,097]

59 minutes ago, At_Shin said:

So It is not profitable to equip a drone (when I hadn't equipped any drone previously) in mid battle. Thank you spider. 

Depends on your definition of "profitable".  If you don't pay for batteries, using them costs you nothing.

If you are having trouble completing a mission without a drone it could certainly be worth it to equip one part-way through the battle.

[wolverine848 13,097]

For Defender drone, what does "Increases Double Armor active time by 30.0" mean?

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

Just now, wolverine848 said:

For Defender drone, what does "Increases Double Armor active time by 30.0" mean?

Was that exactly what it said in your garage? On mobile, it has Power up duration: 30.0

 

That means the effect of the increased armour lasts for 30 seconds.

[wolverine848 13,097]

5 minutes ago, TheCongoSpider said:

Was that exactly what it said in your garage? On mobile, it has Power up duration: 30.0

 

That means the effect of the increased armour lasts for 30 seconds.

That's what it says in my garage on HTML-PC.

Wording is quite misleading -  by using "increases" and "active time" in same sentence one could take it as boosting the time your DA lasts by +30 seconds.

They should be using the description for mobile in ALL cases.

Edited July 29, 2020 by wolverine848

[cosmic666 1,055]

25 minutes ago, wolverine848 said:

That's what it says in my garage on HTML-PC.

Wording is quite misleading -  by using "increases" and "active time" in same sentence one could take it as boosting the time your DA lasts by +30 seconds.

They should be using the description for mobile in ALL cases.

In html5 you will see 2 double armour, one of them is defender activated the other is normal. your normal 1 lasts longer than defender 1. That's it in a nutshell. 

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

1 hour ago, cosmic666 said:

In html5 you will see 2 double armour, one of them is defender activated the other is normal. your normal 1 lasts longer than defender 1. That's it in a nutshell. 

Both the duration of the Defender effect and the duration of the DA supply is the same. The only way the DA duration will last longer is if you pick up a double armour drop box during the 3-second cooldown of the drone, someone with the Engineer/Supplier Drone activates it and shares the DA supply with you, or a Dictator shares their Overdrive with you after you activated the drone.

 

[cosmic666 1,055]

12 minutes ago, TheCongoSpider said:

Both the duration of the Defender effect and the duration of the DA supply is the same. The only way the DA duration will last longer is if you pick up a double armour drop box during the 3-second cooldown of the drone, someone with the Engineer/Supplier Drone activates it and shares the DA supply with you, or a Dictator shares their Overdrive with you after you activated the drone.

 

Yip your right, you would think i would notice that being a defender player, but i didn't. I stand corrected....not for the last time i reckon.

 

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

10 minutes ago, At_Shin said:

Is the miner drone good?

When it has some upgrades on it, yes, it is. It's one of things I'm having fun with in the game right now besides Assault Rounds. Keep in mind that you'd use this for defence if you want as much value out of it as possible. Using this drone whole you're off attacking in the enemy base is wasting it's potential. 

 

It allows you to quickly place mines by manually activating supplies to reduce the cooldown of the mines, and if you die, some mines will not be destroyed. What makes it great is that the only plausible way to counter it is for enemies to run over the mines. It has a 10-second cooldown which starts immediately as you die. It takes ~9.5 seconds to go from being dead to materialising. This allows it so that there is a very, very small window in which enemies can kill you and your mines disappear, which is only available to Hornets as in that 0.5-second window, you'd have spawn protection. 

 

Miner allows you to place the mines however you want. Saboteur has a fixed pattern. You can place multiple mines on top one another and kill someone who thinks it's only one mine. Just like Saboteur, it allows you to shut down a pathway for the enemies. A Defender drone can counter it by running over more mines before it dies. 

 

 

Recommended hull: Titan

Why? Because you're manually using supplies to reduce the mine cooldowns, there will be the 30-second smart cooldowns after the duration of the supplies end. There will be downtime where you aren't able to place mines or manually use supplies. Titan's OD helps with your survivability with its long-lasting duration of protection. It keeps you alive longer to block off the pathway and create pressure for the enemies. Mammoth can work as well but Titan should be more reliable. 

 

Last point - Ideally, you would want to have an EMP Gauss on the enemy team if you're using Miner. The order in which you activate supplies for maximum value is:

 

Mine -> speed boost. Your DA and DD will be on a 5-second cooldown and your mine will be on a 10-second cooldown. Assess the situation at this time. Best case scenario, no one is threatening you so you use your mine and then DA or DD depending on the situation then. Repair kits can come in the equation at any time you are injured, but look at your mine cooldown and then look at the situation in front of you. Best case scenario, you can wait the 10 seconds to use a mine then use repair kit. Worst case scenario, you'd need to use the repair kit as quickly as possible and lose out on what was aforementioned. Use your Titan OD when necessary for survival or holding the chokepoint until you get back your supplies. 

 

An EMP Gauss can set all of your supplies to a 5-second cooldown. So if you are in the 20-25 second downtime for your supplies and an EMP Gauss catches you with the splash, you can now start over the process above 20 seconds faster. Essentially, an EMP Gauss reduces your downtime. Out of all the drones that reduce the cooldown of a specific supply, Miner benefits the most from being hit by an EMP Gauss. Surviving a Hunter OD is also beneficial for Miner. 

 

 

 

Your foreboding presence of being alive and in the same position for most of the battle will likely prompt enemies to come deal with you. They will kill you and then run straight over your mines and die. They can keep trying to kill you, but that will not destroy the mines. The only way to get rid of the mines is for them to run over it. 

 

Recommended modes: CTF, RGB and ASL (blue team). 

It can work in TDM but only if enemies are hellbent on destroying you in particular. 

 

It takes time to set up but the reward for doing so is worth it personally. If you're planning on buying this drone, do note that it indirectly increases your repair kit consumption. A high placing in battles isn't guaranteed with this drone like it is with Defender or Booster. If you're simply looking to have some fun while defending your team's flag or rugby capture point, this drone is for you. 

 

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

@At_Shin I forgot to show you these. These are some of the things I pull off with Miner. 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is my favourite chokepoint. Yes there are many alternative routes to take but they can't take this one. That Mammoth Striker was targeting for the majority of the battle. 

 

 

 

[wolverine848 13,097]

For Miner?  I do the top road in highways - before enemy can climb to top.

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

17 minutes ago, wolverine848 said:

For Miner?  I do the top road in highways - before enemy can climb to top.

In Highways I mine the Nuclear Supply box bridge. 

[wolverine848 13,097]

2 hours ago, TheCongoSpider said:

In Highways I mine the Nuclear Supply box bridge. 

That too.

[Cleric 1,385]

Back in the game not long ago, what is the best drone for Vulcan + Titan?

Edited August 12, 2020 by Aegis