Attack of the Drones, Level 4

Last edited by JoannaDoe
Sat, 19 Dec 2015 10:27 UTC

Faction: Drones
Mission type: Encounter
Space type: Normal (MWD works)
Damage dealt: Exp/Therm - 2% EM, 35% Thermal, 21% Kinetic, 41% Explosive
Web/scramble: Elite Frigates (any Strain Alvi)
Extras: NA
Recommended damage dealing: EM (best all-round), Thermal (secondary)
Recommended ships: Sleipnir, Raven, Dominix, Abbadon, Drake, Apocalypse
Video: Ishtar blitz, Navy Raven, Dominix , Paladin , Arty Maelstrom

Single Pocket

Auto aggro from Initial Group at warp-in after several seconds.

EACH ship from the Initial Group triggers ONE of the spawns below.
For each ship killed, one Reinforcement Group will be spawned. These spawns may target drones/fleet members.

Important Notes:

As of october 2014 you may warp in at any range (warp cancel)... and sniper the NPCs away.
Note the ship type pattern for the four reinforcement groups - frigates / destroyers / cruisers / battlecruisers.
The ship numbers in a group will randomly vary between 2-3 for each type.
The mission completion trigger from the initial group is always the closest ship after you had warped in. (This applies as long as you did not use the the warp cancel trick.)
You can also visually identify the mission completion trigger ship if you zoom out your view. It forms the apex, i.e summit, of the "triangle" formed by the four initial ships.
Failing to identify the trigger from the initial group, you can always keep an eye out for the Battlecruiser Reinforcement Group spawn.
Reinforcement groups will target and attack any drones out when they spawn, keep an eye on your drones.

Attack of the Drones Bliz picture showing the layout of the starting spawn and the 'odd man out' that ends the mission

Initial Group (Auto-aggro): (20-28km)

4x Cruisers/Battlecruisers (Bomber Alvum)/(Defeater Alvatis) Trigger (each ship)

Frigate Reinforcement Group (Auto-aggro): (23-27km)

2-3x Elite Frigates (Strain Infester/Strain Splinter Alvi) Warp/Scramble
2-3x Battleships (Supreme Alvus Parasite/Alvus Ruler)

Destroyer Reinforcement Group (Auto-aggro): (23-27km)

2-3x Destroyers (Predator Alvior/Marauder)
2-3x Battleships (Supreme Alvus Parasite/Alvus Ruler)

Cruiser Reinforcement Group (Auto-aggro): (23-27km)

2-3x Cruiser (Nuker Alvum - Bomber Alvum) (Pre-QR in Italics)
2-3x Battleships (Supreme Alvus Parasite/Alvus Ruler)

Battlecruiser Reinforcement Group (Auto-aggro): (23-27km)

2-3x Battlecruisers (Striker Alvatis/Enforcer Alvatis - Siege/Defeater Alvatis) (Pre-QR in Italics)
2-3x Battleships (Supreme Alvus Parasite/Alvus Ruler)

Tips

To manage aggro, do not kill the trigger ships all at once. Eliminate an incoming reinforcement group first, before you trigger the next group.
You may warp-in at any distance : Inititate the first time warp, cancel it and then warp in at your preferred distance.
The Supreme Alvus Parasite/Alvus Ruler battleships can be sniped or outrun. Their max attack distance is around 35 km, and they move very slowly.
Mission is flagged completed once all ships from the Battlecruiser Reinforcement Group have been eliminated.
You do not have to kill all ships for this to be marked complete, just kill the ship circled above and the reinforcement group and the mission will be complete.

Blitz

Identify and kill the trigger ship which spawns the Battlecruiser Reinforcement Group. This is always the drone in the initial group that spawns closest to the beacon.
Kill all ships in the Battlecruiser Reinforcement Group.
No longer Blitzable after Dec 2015 Update, you have to kill all drones to complete the mission.

Bounty

8m to 10m (depends on spawns)
salvage 1,5m loot nothing

Mining

There are 2.221.119 units of Veldspar to mine.

Ships detail:

		Orbit	Max. Velocity	Shield (HP)	Armor (HP)	Shield Resistances (%)				Armor Resistances (%)				DPS (HP/s)
		Orbit	Max. Velocity	Shield (HP)	Armor (HP)	EM	EXP	KIN	TM	EM	EXP	KIN	TM	EM	EXP	KIN	TM
4x	Bomber Alvum	17,625m	450m/s	1600	650	27	57	47	37	27	57	47	37	-	20	-	-
3x	Strain Infester Alvi	1,800m	900m/s	125	350	19	55	44	32	19	55	44	32	-	3	9	-
12x	Supreme Alvus Parasite	33,750m	350m/s	3500	6500	44	74	64	54	44	74	64	54	-	-	12	48
3x	Predator Alvior	11,984m	500m/s	275	650	10	40	30	20	10	40	30	20	-	17	5	-
3x	Nuker Alvum	16,875m	450m/s	1600	650	29	59	49	39	29	59	49	39	-	10	-	-
3x	Striker Alvatis	5,000m	400m/s	1000	2000	30	60	50	40	30	60	50	40	-	12	42	-
28 total ships		Averages/Totals		57,400	91,550	40	70	60	50	41	71	61	51	-	206	312	576

CategoryMissions
CategoryLevel4

Comments [Hide comments/form]

I used T2 Kin/Expl/2 Invul hardeners on a Raven with a Large SB II and one Boost Amp. Sitting at 90km away from the beacon I had to tank virtually no damage at all except the tiny bit from the remaining triggers. Even at 40km away from the beacon the setup just did fine.

Easy mission for L4 beginners.

-- TomSchlong (2008-06-08 13:23:07)

I recommend taking just EM Missiles as these definatly did the most damage.

-- SyndicateUK (2008-06-09 01:13:09)

Recommended tank fit for Abaddon : 2x Explo hardeners , 1x kin , 1x therm , 1x Em. One heat sink and a LAR.

-- BlasTerd (2008-07-01 10:32:19)

A) Don't pop all of the tiny drones when you warp in, or you'll aggro everything.
B) Yeah, don't think of using explosive damage. That was just useless.

-- MrMike (2008-07-02 13:21:26)

You can initialize warp, then cancel it (Ctrl + Space) and then warp in at the desired range.

This works for every Encounter btw.

-- Sp4rt4nII70 (2008-07-07 15:58:39)

Blitz note: when you try to find the initial drone you need to kill for blitzing, look at the four drones and try to see how three of them form a semi-circle. The one your looking for is out of this semi-circle. In the picture above it would be the one up north. I did this mission three times and it never has been the Bomber Alvum, it's always been one of the others (Defeater Alvatis e.g.).

-- TomSchlong (2008-07-09 10:34:27)

Can anyone confirm that the "mission trigger is the closest drone" at warp-in? It typically sits about 20km, while the others are at 24-27km. I'm farming this mission (for a few days) to confirm, but it'll be nice if anyone else can post a note on it. The original visual method is a little unwieldy, imo.

-- SturmWolke (2008-07-09 12:32:10)

Yes SturmWolke, was the same for me everytime as well

-- CreatPosudol (2008-07-12 12:52:58)

I found the triggers to be random. A couple of times it even triggered on the small ships from the reinforcement spawn.

-- McRuder (2008-07-19 10:44:41)

Trigger worked for me on the blitz. in the picture it was the far top left trigger.

-- BoomShaka (2008-07-22 02:02:26)

To confrim the drone closest to u 20k away and as said top left in picture is the trigger

-- NeoXr2i (2008-09-20 16:45:53)

Great zydrine income from this one: 21 condensed alloy, 16 crystal compound, 23 dark compound, 88 gleaming alloy, 151 glossy compound, 69 lucent compound, 291 lustering alloy, 355 motley compound, 34 opulent compound, 203 plush compound!, 102 precious alloy, 66 sheen compound.

-- ChepeNolon (2008-11-23 08:06:38)

what good is "All Types"? Get rid of it - I'd rather have no help at all.

-- DanRayson (2008-12-14 17:55:40)

You can look up the damage types yourself at http://npc.elfarto.com/index.php

Supreme Alvus Parasite 90hp/s
EM: 0hp/s, Expl: 30hp/s, Kin: 12hp/s, Therm: 48hp/s

Alvus Ruler 128.73hp/s
EM: 24hp/s, Expl: 32.73hp/s, Kin: 48hp/s, Therm: 24hp/s

Siege Alvatis 57hp/s
EM: 0hp/s, Expl: 25hp/s, Kin: 6.40hp/s, Therm: 25.60hp/s

Defeater Alvatis 48.59hp/s
EM: 0hp/s, Expl: 31.09hp/s, Kin: 17.50hp/s, Therm: 0hp/s

Bomber Alvum 39.80hp/s
EM: 0hp/s, Expl: 35.40hp/s, Kin: 4.40hp/s, Therm: 0hp/s

-- KurullSkullsplitter (2008-12-22 20:22:58)

59 Veldspar roids - 2,221,119 Units
1 Scordite Roid - 49,119 Units

-- LynXeR (2009-01-11 19:22:19)

Alvus Rulers are no longer slow - speed varies form 180 to 260 m/s (most of the time the higher speed)

-- AhajaAegra (2009-02-03 17:14:01)

Confirming that the nearest initial cruiser is the blitz spawn. Took maybe 10 minutes in a passive tank Drake and never went below 90% shields (1 Photon, 2 Invuln, 3 LSE, 2 SPR).

-- OneShot (2009-03-08 23:33:38)

yep nice easy one this one

just shoot one then kill its spawn move on to next

-- MedWay (2009-03-12 15:49:25)

ishkur/nemesis dual run, finished in 20min.

-- MaciejSimm (2009-07-18 23:50:05)

same mission as "Duo of Death"

-- SpLend0r (2009-10-07 09:40:31)

Golem running Attack of the Drones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX5fQKmQii4

-- GreenGimp (2009-10-10 01:39:42)

In my experience, it's always a Defeater Alvatis that triggers the battlecruiser wave.

-- MagDovus (2009-10-18 12:44:38)

Here is a tip, before you start pewpewing, form a fleet by yourself (unless you're already in a fleet with friends), and tag each of the 4 triggers as A, B, C, and D. Make sure you have the tag column visible in the overview. Then it won't be as confusing.

-- Hobbes3 (2009-11-05 04:16:50)

Completed with Gila. Not a problem at all. Shot all Triggers first, but did not take any serious damage.
2x Faction Caldari Amps EM and Therman, 1x V-15 Invul, EM-Missiles and Amarr Heavy and Light Drones for EM-Damage.
Very easy.
regards

-- KnorKor (2009-12-22 05:10:01)

Was led to believe this was a walkover from past comments, but the first time I did it I thought it was surprisingly spicy in terms of DPS. Turns out I forgot my therm hardener that time. A corpie also nearly lost his Raven by omitting to fit therm hardeners for this mish recently. Should go without saying, but for the more senile among us, get your resists right!

Piece of cake with 1xLAR, 2xExp, 1Kin & 1Therm hardeners in an Abaddon.

-- LaIvasse (2010-01-10 09:28:54)

Done in T2 Paladin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCsZlhrCQ7Q

-- AsCendancy (2010-01-26 22:11:22)

About 11.5 mil ISK from the minerals (90% refine) at immediate sales prices in my mission system.

-- KenzRider (2010-02-06 20:26:20)

AhajaAegra says the Alvus Rulers are no longer slow. I dont know what he calls slow but my Hybrid Tank Drake (2xInvuln2, 2xLgExt2, 2x Sheild Recharger2..note there's no AB/MWD) easily outruns them.

-- TjanitN (2010-02-17 11:19:26)

Wasn't paying attention, got distracted in my Domi right after locking and destroying the first trigger. Careful! My drones were aggressive and popped the other 3 triggers at once, putting me face to face with 12 BSes dealing my weakest damage type (due to the very low base explo on the Domi).

Took several warp-in/warp-outs to finish it after that point.

-- WikiThaedius (2010-02-19 20:28:10)

I'm sure this is harder than before - bombers hit hard probably best to get rid of em first (along with elite frigs).

-- AceGarp (2010-03-30 19:05:56)

Total drone loot:
21 Condensed Alloy
11 Crystal Compound
28 Dark Compound
63 Gleaming Alloy
137 Glossy Compound
53 Lucent Compound
258 Lustering Alloy
296 Motley Compound
22 Opulent Compound
180 Plush Compound
74 Precious Alloy
40 Sheen Compound

Refined without Scrapmetal Reprocessing skill, but high standings and Refining 5:
581,561 Tritanium
151,202 Pyerite
50,496 Mexallon
22,856 Isogen
13,849 Nocxium
397 Megacyte
1815 Zydrine
43 Morphite

-- SusurrousEve (2010-04-07 17:27:18)

Easy mission.
Abaddon 8xMMPEB, 4xCR II, DC II, 2xExpl II, 1xKin II, 1xCPR, 1xHS II, 1xLAR II, 3xCCC I
17mil ISK

-- CatsCanFly (2010-04-20 00:52:03)

That ships info box is super-fucking-awesome, and it needs to be on every mission.

-- AsdayXyfu (2010-04-25 07:51:20)

yeah, it is really nice! and would be a nice feat to have on every mission description.. :)

-- RuFen (2010-04-26 18:46:29)

Each time, the blitz trigger has been the trigger closest on my overview (when warping to 0). I tag the triggers (to avoid accidentally killing them), then kill the Battlecruiser spawn trigger, warp out, warp back to 70, and snipe the ships to complete the mission.

-- KaedonRevkesch (2010-05-21 11:24:56)

Done in an active tanked raven with EM and therm hardeners and an invul field. This mission really was much more difficult than the comments made it seem, but I accidentally triggered all 4 spawns, and ended up with 8 BSs hitting me. The DPS is very very high if you pull all of them at once- its the first time I've actually had to warp out in ages.

-- FalRen (2010-07-28 22:04:59)

Done in Raven: 6x arbalest cruise launchers, 1x x-large booster I, 2x shield boost amplifiers I, 1x therm I, 1x explo I, 1x invul I, 1x dc I, 3x bcs II, 1x cap flux coil II; pilot = 1.8m sp
Warped to 0, no warp-outs, no problems.

-- CarolusLovita (2010-07-31 19:48:25)

Easy mission for any long range ship, 100km~ is plenty to snip everything smaller than a BS ignoring spawns. Align and kite to finish off the rest, nothing can hit effectively beyond 60m~ in the entire mission.

-- ShadowBuns (2011-01-25 06:14:28)

Non-blitz/Full clear according to current Jita prices

Loot: 10.21M
LP: 3885 x 1000 = 3.89M
Reward: 1.72M
Salvage: 0.57M
Bounty: 0M
---
Sum (no salvage): 5.61M
Sum (excl. LP): 12.5M
Sum: 16.39M

Mission (undock - reward): 20 min
Salvage (undock - dock): 10 min
---
Sum: 30 min

Ship: Raven (T2 some faction)
Pilot: 17.35M skill points

ISK/h: 32.78M/h
ISK/h (no salvage): 16.83M/h
ISK/h (blitz): ?

-- MagiX (2011-03-18 11:39:51)

I think this mission's mechanics may have changed from having one mission complete trigger spawn to having the entire room cleared to complete. I always run missions to achieve the objective first, then clean up additional ships just in case I have to leave(daughter may need attention or something). So on this mission I always completed the mission complete trigger chain first. The last time I ran it however, I did not get mission complete after that chain was destroyed, I only completed the mission after every last ship was gone.

-- ProgHouseDJ (2011-03-24 23:05:55)

Confirming that the BC group still triggers the mission as complete.

-- JubisMoonjuice (2011-04-07 10:53:06)

And yet another confirmation for the Blitz still working.

-- DrRoic (2011-05-31 04:44:16)

The completion wave was 2 BCs and 3 BSs for me. I killed the 2 BCs, and warped out and in at 100km and sniped the BSs easily. A lot of damage if you tank em up close.

-- ZikatArzi (2011-08-20 23:03:16)

9.3m bounty after drones stopped dropping alloys

-- KartofiusAlAndalus (2012-05-06 11:41:25)

2221119 Veldspar as said above, but also 49119 Scordite

-- VaerahVahrokha (2012-09-03 11:26:03)

The suggested Abaddon fit is ok but dropping the EM hardener for a DC II is preferable. Had no trouble tanking the entire thing without even caring about spawns. 6.7 mil bounty and around 1 mil in salvage.

-- KharDargo (2012-10-26 11:37:20)

Was running a reactive armor hardner on this one today 12/14/2012, and they did 0 explosive damage. The hardner was at almost 60% kinetic, with very little EM/Them.

-- CofDeath (2012-12-14 13:04:00)

Mission Ship: Scorpion Navy Issue
Omni Tank: 1014 (cap stabble, lazy fittings.)
Cruise Missles: 400ps - 130km range.
Drones: 5*Hobgoblin II - 78Dps

(low damage lazy farm ship, aggro full rooms.)

Salvage Ship: Noctis
High slots: 4*Small Tractor Beam I
High slots: 4*Salvager I
Mid slots: Experimental 10MN Afterburner I
Mid slots: Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Low Slots: 3* Expanded Cargohold II
Rigs: 3* Medium Salvage Tackle I
Cargohold: 3.000m3 +-

Tractor Beam Range: 80km
-----------------------------------
Mission: Attack of the Drones
Mission Time: 22 Minits
Mission LP/Bounty/Reward: 2254LP - 8.6M

Salvage Time: 7 Minits
Salvage Value: 0.3M

-- BasBoshoven (2013-02-24 15:09:59)

I took:
em 1% - Expl 62,4% - Kin 13,3% - Therm 23,3%
Take care, it seems to vary alot with what spawns you get.

-- KhurI (2013-12-04 16:18:30)

Confirm that Blitz still works post Rubicon. Drone closest beacon triggers BC/BS wave. Mission complete once they are eliminated.

-- YadoT (2014-01-10 04:13:00)

BS start atack about 45-50km

-- PawelloSolette (2014-04-04 04:26:23)

As of 204.08.11, the spawns have changed; each wave may spawn frigates, cruisers, or battleships. All spawn waves must be killed to finish mission.

-- JoshThomas (2014-08-11 21:12:07)

As of 02-Sep-2014, I can confirm that the Blitz still works, Killed the closest cruiser/BC then 3 cruisers/BC spawned along with 2 BSs, as soon as these 5 were killed the mission was done.

-- DrakeMcCann (2014-09-01 21:13:47)

Just did the mission with my Stratios. It was relatively easy, just have to kill one Bomber Alvum at a time, and then clean spawns, just as described. Used my curators to kill BSs. No loot unfortunately. Got 9 mil of bounty and 500 thousand salvage.

My fitting for this was as follows:
[Stratios, N7]
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Medium Armor Repairer II
Armor Thermic Hardener II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Armor Explosive Hardener II

Omnidirectional Tracking Link I
Cap Recharger II
Cap Recharger II
Cap Recharger II
10MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner

Focused Modulated Medium Energy Beam I
Focused Modulated Medium Energy Beam I
Focused Modulated Medium Energy Beam I
Focused Modulated Medium Energy Beam I
Drone Link Augmentor I

Medium Nanobot Accelerator I
Medium Anti-Explosive Pump I
Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I

Curator I x4
Hammerhead I x6
Berserker I x1
Warden I x4
Ogre I x2
Hobgoblin II x5

Microwave M x4
Tracking Speed Script x2
Gamma M x4
Optimal Range Script x1

-- BryndonRivers (2015-08-28 09:04:43)

19 Dec 2015 - tried the blitz method - no luck. Had to kill all the spawns to get the completion.

-- InfiniteDestruction (2015-12-19 07:07:11)

28 Dec 2015 - confirmed no blitz possible. Got the mission again just now. Popped the BC spawn (2 BS and 2 Enforcer Alvatis BCs). No completion. Popped the Frig spawn, Destroyer spawn and Cruiser spawns in that order and got the completion when the last rat in the cruiser spawn popped.

-- InfiniteDestruction (2015-12-28 09:48:29)

R and L Electronics has a G2800DXA
YAESU G2800DXA, G-2800DXA , 34 SQ FT ROTOR
RandL has link to Manufacturer info on the G2800DXA here.
R&L has a link to the Eham review on the G2800DXA here.