Drone Formations FAQ

DRONE FORMATIONS FAQ
Last updated 2012, November 3rd


Greetings Space Pilot,

As of today, you will have the ability to change your drones' formation. Not only will it change the look of their formation on your screen, but it will also provide modifications to your firepower or shields, among other things.


Go find out about those new Drone Formations now!




INDEX:


Drone Formations Quick Overview
(below)

> The Drone Formations <

>Effects introduced in drone formations <

>Questions / Answers.<


Drone Formations Quick Overview:


​

Drone Formations	Formation Benefits	Formation Negatives
F-01-TU: Turtle	Increases shield power by 10%	The laser and rocket damage decrease by 7.5%.
F-02-AR: Arrow	Increases rocket damage by 20%	It reduces laser damage by 3%.
F-03-LA: Lance	Increses Mine Damage by 50%
F-04-ST: Star	Increases rocket damage by 25%, Evasion 10%	The rocket launcher reload time increases by 33%, as well.
F-05-PI: Pincer	Increases laser damage by 3% against other players and provides an additional 5% honor point bonus.	It reduces shield penetration by 10%
F-06-DA: Double Arrow	Increases shield penetration by 10%, Rocket damage 30%	reduces shield power by 20%.
F-07-DI: Diamond	Your shield regenerates 1% of your max shield power per second, up to a maximum of 5,000 per second.	Hit points are reduced by 30%.
F-08-CH: Chevron	Increases rocket damage by 65%	It reduces ship hit points by 20%.
F-09-MO: Moth	Increases shield penetration by 20%. Hit points are also increased by 20%.	It weakens your shield strength at a rate of 5% per second.
F-10-CR: Crab	Increases shield absorption by 15%	reduces speed by 20%.
F-11-HE: Heart	Increases your shield power by 20% and your hit points by 20%.	Laser damage is, reduced by 5%.
F-12-BA: Barrage	Increases laser damage to NPCs by 5% and provides an additional 5% XP from NPC kills.	Shield Leech will be reduced by 15%.
F-13-BT: Bat	Increase damage and experience on aliens by 8%	Decreases speed by a -15%
F-14-RG: Ring	Shield points are increased by 85%	The laser damage is reduced by 40%, and cooldown times for rockets and rocket launchers are increased by 40%.
F-15-DL: Drill	Laser damage is increased by 20%	The shield points are reduced by 25%, shield spread by 5%, and speed by 5%.
F-16-VT: Veteran	Honor is increased by 20%	The laser damage, hit points, and shield points are all decreased by 20%.
F-17-DM: Dome	Shield points are increased by 25% and regenerate by 0.1% per second. Cooldown times for rockets and rocket launchers are reduced by 25%;	The laser damage is reduced by 50%, and speed is reduced by 100%.
F-18-DW: Wheel	Speed is increased by 5%	laser damage is reduced by 20%, and this formation drains shields by 5% per second.
F-19- X : X	Hit points are increased by 8%, and in PvE play only, laser damage is increased by 5% and XP earned from PvE is increased by 5%	No Honor is earned, and PvP lasers cause no damage.
F-20-WV: Wave	Drones will make waves, but otherwise this formation grants neither benefits	nor penalties.

You can only get that Drone Formation (F03-LA : Lance Formation) if you have invited at least 25 friends that have reached level 7 (or higher) **DURING**SPECIAL**INVITE**EVENT**ONLY**.

The "Bat" Formation was initially only available during the Halloween 2012 event, but it sometimes appears in the SHOP for limited periods.


Thank you to TheWhiteHat for the assistance on this thread.​

 

The Drone Formations


F-00-ZE: Zero 00

This is the standard default formation for drones.
• No bonuses/penalties.
• This formation can be actively selected.
• Drones will change to Zero formation automatically if the player drops below 6 drones or sells their current formation.



F-01-TU: Turtle Formation



Increases shield power by 10%, but laser and rocket damage decreases by 7.5%.



F-02-AR: Arrow Formation



Increases damage of conventional rockets by 20%, but laser damage decreases by 3%.



F-03-LA: Lance Formation



The Lance F-03-LA will increase your mine damage by 50%.

You can only get that Drone Formation if you have invited at least 25 friends that have reached level 7 (or higher).



F-04-ST: Star Formation



Increases conventional rockets damage by 25%, but rocket launcher reload time increases by 33%. Evasion 10%.



F-05-PI: Pincer Formation



Increases laser damage by 3% against other players and provides an additional 5% honor point bonus. However, it reduces shield penetration by 10%.



F-06-DA: Double Arrow Formation



Increases shield penetration by 10%, but reduces shield power by 20%. Rocket Damage 30%.



F-07-DI: Diamond Formation



Your shield regenerates 1% of your max shield power per second (up to a maximum of 5,000 per second), but hit points are reduced by 30%.



F-08-CH: Chevron Formation



Increases conventional rockets damage by 65%, but reduces ship hit points by 20%.



F-09-MO: Moth Formation



Increases shield penetration by 20%. Increases hit points by 20% as well. But weakens your shield power at a rate of 1% per second.



F-10-CR: Crab Formation



Increases shield absorption by 20%, but reduces speed by 15%.



F-11-HE: Heart Formation



Increases you shield power by 20% and your hit points by 20%. Reduces, however, laser damage by 5%.



F-12-BA: Barrage Formation



Increases laser damage on NPCs by 5% and provides an additional 5% of EP. Shield absorption, however, will be reduced by 15%.



F-13-BT: Bat Formation



Increases damages on NPCs by 8% and provides an additional 8% of EP. Speed, however, will be reduced by 15%.

Only available during specific Special Events.



3D Formations

F-14-RG: Ring Formation


This formation has a special look in the 3D client.

Augment your drone control unit with the Ring Formation.

Shield points are increased by 180%; however, laser damage is reduced by 40%, and cool down times for rockets and rocket launchers are increased by 40%.


As long as you have 4 or more drones, you can use this formation any time after you‘ve purchased it.



F-15-DL: Drill Formation


This formation has a special look in the 3D client.

Augment your drone control unit with the Drill Formation.

Laser damage is increased by 20%; however, shield points are reduced by 25%, shield spread by 5%, and speed by 5%.


As long as you have 4 or more drones, you can use this formation any time after you‘ve purchased it.


F-16-BT: Veteran Formation


This formation has a special look in the 3D client.

Augment your drone control unit with the Veteran Formation.

Honor is increased by 20%; however, laser damage, hit points, and shield points are all decreased by 20%.


As long as you have 4 or more drones, you can use this formation any time after you‘ve purchased it.





F-17-DM: Dome Formation


This formation has a special look in the 3D client.

Augment your drone control unit with the Dome Formation.

Shield points are increased by 25% and regenerate by 0.1% per second. Cool down times for rockets and rocket launchers are reduced by 25%; however, laser damage is reduced by 50%, and speed is reduced by 100%.


As long as you have 4 or more drones, you can use this formation any time after you‘ve purchased it.




F-18-DW: Wheel Formation



This formation has a special look in the 3D client.

Augment your drone control unit with the Wheel Formation.

Speed is increased by 5%; however, laser damage is reduced by 20%, and this formation drains shields by 5% per second.


As long as you have 4 or more drones, you can use this formation any time after you‘ve purchased it.



F-19-X: X Formation


This formation has a special look in the 3D client.

Augment your drone control unit with the X Formation.

Hit points are increased by 8%, and in PvE play only, laser damage is increased by 1% and XP earned from PvE is increased by 5%; however, no Honor is earned, and PvP lasers cause no damage.

As long as you have 4 or more drones, you can use this formation any time after you‘ve purchased it.




F-20-WV: Wave Formation



This formation has a special look in the 3D client.

Jazz up your drones with the Wave Formation!

Drones will make waves, but otherwise this formation grants neither benefits nor penalties.

As long as you have 4 or more drones, you can use this formation any time after you‘ve purchased it.

 

Effects introduced in drone formations


Shield absorption
Shield absorption boosts the percentage of damage that the shields can take. The percentage is added to the current shield absorption rate.

Example:
with 80% absorption you can get a boost of 20% to reach 100% shield absorption.


Shield penetration
Shield penetration reduces the percentage of damage that an opponent’s shield can absorb. This can be used to push damage through to a ships health to destroy it quickly.


Drain Shields
Drain shields is a drawback added to formations that reduces your shields over time. It will drain your shields leaving you vulnerable. Use it for hit and run attacks.


Shield Regeneration
Shield regeneration grants in combat shield regeneration. It will be added to your normal shield regeneration out of combat.


Cooldowns
Increased or lowered cooldowns are applied across all types of ammunition in a category. If a formation is changed while a Cooldown is active ( a reloading rocket for example) the cooldown will stay the same length.

​

 

Questions / Answers.


Q: Wouldn’t drone formations with just 2 drones look silly?
A: Yes, they would, and that is why you need at least 6 drones to activate a formation. If you have less than 6 drones; the Drone Formations will be grayed out.


Q: I use the simple view, how can I see the formations?
A: There is a little icon right beside the Hitpoints/Shield bar that shows you the formation that the drones of the ship currently have.


Q: When switching to a formation that boosts health or shields, will this be added instantly?
A: Your maximum health and shields will increase immediately but you won’t instantly gain that amount to current health. It has to build up to the maximum.

Example:
A ship with 100 health switches to a formation with +10% health. Its max health becomes 110 and its current health stays at 100. The ship repairs itself so current and max health are 110. It then switches to a formation with -10% health. Its max health becomes 90 and its current health drops to 90.


Q: Will my formations be saved along with a configuration?
A: No, you will be able to freely switch between Drone Formations regardless of configuration.


Q: Are the bonuses/penalties applied to equipment on ship or only to the one on drones?
A: They are applied to both ship & drones.


Q: Are Hellstorms conventional rockets?
A: No they are not.


Specific drone formation questions:

F03 - Lance Formation

Q: What if you lay a "super" mine while wearing the formation and then you change formation before the mine detonates? Is it still a super mine? Same question the other way, if you lay a mine with any formation active but the lance one, but you switch to the Lance formation before the mine detonates, will it be affected by the formation bonus?
A: Lance formation buffs affect any mine that is deployed while the formation is active so it will keep its boosted value if you switch away from the Lance formation.


Q: Does this affect only standard mines? What about the DDM and other special mines? What about smart bombs?
A: The drone formation should only effect mines with damage values so the DDM should be included. Smart bombs shouldn’t be included as they are made from mines but not mines themselves.


Q: So if you have your pilot bio maxed out, you will get 100% damage increase? or a 50% of the remaining 50% meaning 75% total?
A: The percentages should be cumulative with 50% of 50% giving a total 75% increase in damage.


Q: Is there any visual effect to the "super mines"?
A: There isn’t any extra visual effect to differentiate the Lance Formations mines.

Q: This drone formation comes in place of the special Goli design for the time of the offer, or does it come on the top of it?
A: The drone formation will replace the ship design as a reward for the duration of the Friend Invite Event.


Q: What about people who have already invited 25 friends confirmed, and who already have the ignite design? Can they participate? Can they win the prices?
A: For the duration of this friend invite event the counter of invites (e.g invites =25) should be reset to zero, at the end of the event the counter sets to the value before the event began (e.g =25).​