Drone formations info

Hello pilots,

Recently I am trying to get a new drone formation that will help me in hunting NPC the most (I just love the PvE module of the game ). While I am trying to figure it out (also I would like to hear your advices which one is better for NPC hunting), I have some questions about some of them.

First, let's start with Moth formation. I personally have seen that this formation is SUPER good when hunting those big NPC's, like BKK with massive shield. What I don't understand in this formation is this: "But it weakens your shield strength at a rate of 1% per second." - What this exactly means? If I don't get attacked, I will still loose my shield? Or I will start losing my shield by 1% per second when someone attacks me?

Second, Barrage formation. I know that this formation is super great too . What I don't understand is this: "Shield Leech will, however, be reduced by 15%." - What this refers to? Which ammo type? Does this refers to the SAB-50 ammo only cause that ammo only does shield leech? Or it refers to the others ammo types too, like x1 ammo? If it refers to the SAB-50 only, that means if I don't ever use it on NPC, everything is going to be as usual, right?

And last, Bat formation. How good is this compared to the others that can be bought every day? I find it personally interesting (even though I don't have it), but what worries me is the 15% slow. Does that hurt much?

Also, anything else you want to share with me that I haven't mentioned will be much appreciated. I am flying Goliath, 22 PP for now (all focused on the defensive first row). Typical battle/speed configs for now Also, have Heart and Diamond formation, and enjoy both when it comes to fighting NPC.

Regards,
¤hüñ‡ë®¨¦MKЦ¨¤

 

What i can say is that moth is good only for gates .. You will start losing shield when you activate it ( so without being atacked ) .

Shield Leech is absorbtion of shield , so for Sab , Cbo , Sar-01 , Sar-02 and what is more .

About speed yes , you will fell it when you will try to escape of an enemy ..

Personally , i don't know what to say about pve formations because 100k uri for one is pretty expensive and you will need then pvp formations ( Chevron , Pincer .. ) .. Heart , Diamond , Moth are universal but Barrage and Bat are 100 % PVE . Chevron is pvp but it can also be pve especially with leonov , or pincer gives 3 % damage and the penetration doesn't really matter because you can't kill an alien in normal maps without its shield first .

 

Thank you for the reply and advices.

Anyone else? I like to hear more responses on this.

 

The Moth Formation will drain your shieldpower as long as it is equipped. Most people use it with a suicide configuration (low shieldpower, high damage/speed) for quick strikes in PvP, or it can be incredibly useful in Galaxy Gates due to the different HP/Shield ratio for NPCs in there.

As Jurjstyle has already said, both Barrage and Bat Formations are just for NPCs. They are the kind of formations you would really only consider using for Galaxy Gates or other NPC events, but they're not recommended for any PvP action.

The Shield Absorption reduction for the Barrage Formation is a penalty to your shield's ability to absorb damage - this means that more damage will go straight to your HP when you are attacked. It has no effect on your SAB ammo or anything similar.
The speed penalty for the Bat Formation is noticeable. I use this formation myself, and it basically feels like you've forgotten to put Promerium on your engines. You can get around it by changing your configuration to include some extra speed generators - not really an issue for Galaxy Gates since you don't need a ton of speed in there.
I would probably recommend the Bat Formation over the Barrage - more damage, and extra Experience as well.

If you're simply adventuring around in the usual maps, the Heart or Diamond Formations you have are more than fine. Your next choice of formation would depend on whether you're looking for an advantage in PvP or Gates.

 

First, thank you so much for the reply!

I find it pretty interesting that Bat formation, but the speed hurts me a bit. As I am flying Goliath with standard battle/speed configurations, that means on my battle configuration the speed will be 306, almost as without Promerium on engines. As I am usually either LoW or uppers hunting Kristallin, Kristallon or Boss Kristallon, most of the NPC will be really faster than me and that leads in constant getting low shields or hp on my ship, as the Goliath can't regenerate like the Aegis.

About the Hearth and Diamond, as I wrote on the first post I have them and use them every single moment. What I needed now, is something that can be as useful as them in uppers or Galaxy gates, cause at the moment I am really focusing on them. I don't know, maybe I need to think of some tactic how to use Moth ? I really see people lately using it on NPC with huge amounts of shields.

 

Moth is only good for pvp and gates .
Outside of gates moth doesn't work on npcs.
If you just doing npcs I would just stick to diamond or heart.

 

Yeah, I am doing mostly NPC. I have them both and I really enjoy them. But I think you have made a good point here, thank you!

 

Heart - running config , i run with it everytime im just moving , boxing or pallying

Moth - perfect formation , i always run with it in gates (it safes a lot of time and ammo- suciide config) or i use it when nme runs with 5% HP and 100% shields

Bat - good on NPC , especially when u sabing them , that formation hurts your speed well

 

Thank you for sharing your opinion!

 

moth works on cubes, i always moth cube star off wiv on x3 or summin b4 prots come out then carry on normally

 

There is no reson use moth formation on cubikon because you can't destroy HP faster than Shield on cubikon.
For cubikon best is bat, if you don't had luck have enough uridium or play on time when BP give chanse to buy bar formation than Barrage is good but you lose much hp on cubikon and my advice is don't use it because than you became easy target for enemy ships.

Barrage is good for colect price from galaxy gate because reise reward of experience, if you chase top user or lvl.

Moth formation is the most used formation in fights because from my experience have the biggest average dmg, only bad thing is that you lose 1% shield each secound, so moth formation only if you fly suicide configuration aka. full dmg max 2 shields in drones, for all other fights mix of heart, pincer, chevron and diamond.

 

Thank you for the reply. I may get moth for faster finishing off NPC in Galaxy Gates.

 

Hi, so here is my take. Moth formation is usually better suited for hunting and PVP. If you dont have the fire power needed to take down FE golis, then this may not be the formation for you. The bat is the best one suited for npcs, despite the loss of speed, you get the max damage allowed to a NPC as well as max rewards for ep and such. The Barrage is good if you cannot get the bat, shield leech is nothing really, u can use a crab formation to drain the shields and then switch to barrage to finish it off. I would also invest in heart formation too.