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Thoughts on the Minelayer vs Drone Carrier.


Morgrid

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Yes, I know bombers are a love / hate topic. But I'm interested on what bomber you prefer?

 

M-7 is my go to ship right now, unless someone has it out for me personally, then out comes the Blackbolt.

 

Minelayer for Domination, Drone Carrier for TDM. Minelayer can drop Hyperspace Beacons for better offense, get rid of node campers while hugging the nodes themselves, and make held nodes extremely hard to cap. For TDM, though, you need repairs, and there's very few high traffic spots for the minelayer to drop their payload. Minelayers work great in tandem with a Drone Carrier in TDM, since they can protect the safety zone, but you need the Drone Carrier for the Minelayer to be worth it.

Edited by Vid-szhite
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I do best with the drone ship in all situations. (more damage, more kills, more assists, more healing) But that is my playstyle. I play both types of bombers. Initially, I rationalized the bombers much as other people have, thinking the mine laying would be better at holding sats. But for me, that is just not the case.

 

I think the mine range for activation on the AoE mines is the big issue. It is too close. IMHO, it makes the ship with mines more of a dogfighter. The drone ship can put out a drone which shoots 5k to 10k range, making them more effective in doing damage. The mines that both ships share have a good activation range, but are single target.

 

I think it is funny that people pidgeon hole bomber pilots into not being effective dogfighters. I don't make the top of the leaderboards by just dropping bombs. I use my blasters a lot in dogfights. It is a challenge when you are piloting a boat!

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Minelayer, just press two buttons and anyone around you explodes instantly. Drones have the downside of taking time to aim and only being able to attack one target at a time.

 

Yeah, but drones have more range and unless their LoS is tweaked they generally can't miss either and don't have any real evident firing arc. While I'm more partial to minelayers for actual sat defense, hard to ignore repair drone utility.

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Minelayer, just press two buttons and anyone around you explodes instantly. Drones have the downside of taking time to aim and only being able to attack one target at a time.

 

Mines also have an activation time.

 

Though if you're keeping track of where your mines are and how close the enemy is to them, you can detonate them manually by dropping another that exceeds the maximum amount of mines you can have out.

 

I can't even count the times anymore that I've done that to people fleeing, or coming in for the kill.

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Mines also have an activation time.

 

Though if you're keeping track of where your mines are and how close the enemy is to them, you can detonate them manually by dropping another that exceeds the maximum amount of mines you can have out.

 

I can't even count the times anymore that I've done that to people fleeing, or coming in for the kill.

 

Now that I think about it, I can recall a few times where I've deployed a seismic mine only to see an instant "Shayd's seismic mine killed X". Then when I look at my buffbar, I see my new seimic mine is still there. I'd always just assumed it was coincidental timing--that someone triggered my old mine right as I was placing a new one...

 

I always assumed they would just explode as if shot if you were over the limit. If not, I think that's a huge bug.

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Now that I think about it, I can recall a few times where I've deployed a seismic mine only to see an instant "Shayd's seismic mine killed X". Then when I look at my buffbar, I see my new seimic mine is still there. I'd always just assumed it was coincidental timing--that someone triggered my old mine right as I was placing a new one...

 

I always assumed they would just explode as if shot if you were over the limit. If not, I think that's a huge bug.

 

Now that you know this little trick, think of all the havok you can cause for the pubs!

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My Drone Carrier seems to kill more than my Minelayer, but the better pilots kill my drones faster than they can kill my mines...such is life.

 

to be fair thats because drones, as they have firing capability, have higher priority than a stationary mine thats passive til you get too close.

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Mines also have an activation time.

 

Though if you're keeping track of where your mines are and how close the enemy is to them, you can detonate them manually by dropping another that exceeds the maximum amount of mines you can have out.

 

I can't even count the times anymore that I've done that to people fleeing, or coming in for the kill.

 

Did not know that. Wow. If placed and timed right that gives you a free "extra" mine. They really should just fizzle out instead of exploding if you refresh/replace them.

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As others have noted, the minelayer is an area denial ship that's not very good at forward offense in open areas. But it is a mean crab-like ship in close quarters given enough time to lay mines. I rock the hyperspace beacon but I imagine that with overcharge shields AND shield power converter they can be really tough.

 

The drone carrier can push forward and set up defensive/offensive virtual nodes in space with mines, repair drone and offensive nodes. They work great posting up with a gunship to give mine/drone cover plus repairs while the gunship hits at range. Alternatively, two dronecarriers can set up a serious nest in mid-air.

 

Lots of fun!

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