Plasma Drone
- Method of deployment
- Arsenal
- Movement/positions
- Difficulty level buffs
- Threat level and priority
- Behavior
- Strengths
- Weaknesses/how to win against unit
- Battlefield Photo Captures
Name: Plasma Drone
Size: Small
Health type: Medium Infantry Health
Method of deployment
Plasma drones descend on the battlefield in clumps of 4, usually in swarms that collect together.
Arsenal
Plasma drones shoot plasma rockets at pilots, turrets, titans and harvesters.
Movement/positions
Plasma drones hover indefinitely on the battlefield. Plasma drones immediately go towards the harvester once they spawn, they follow a circular predictable path indefinitely. Plasma drones do not chase militia forces.
Difficulty level buffs
Plasma drones only deal more damage to titans and harvesters on harder difficulties like master.
Threat level and priority
Plasma drones are a serious threat to the harvester if left alive. Plasma drones should be focused once they spawn, one player should be tasked with the responsibility of clearing drones. Plasma drones deal huge amounts of damage to exposed titans.
Behavior
Once plasma drones descend on the battlefield they immediately follow a predictable path. Plasma drones fire upon any nearby enemies. Plasma rockets are slow but can stack up in damage. Once the plasma drone does one revolution it will rotate in a big circle on the map that allows them to hit and run the harvester. Plasma drones will not chase militia forces. Plasma drones will attack hostile turrets.
Strengths
Individually plasma drones are not much of a threat, however their strength comes from their numbers and the sheer combined firepower that can melt titans and harvesters. Drones are a serious nuisance and a distraction for militia forces. Drones will fire plasma rockets on any visible target, often prioritizing harvesters over titans.
Weaknesses/how to win against unit
Drones individually do not have a lot of health, as a pilot you have many options when dealing with drones. Accurate high damage hitscan weapons can destroy drones easily such as devotion, spitfire or many other weapons. Drones however having medium armour will require 2 shots from most precision weapons. The mag launcher anti Titan weapon can be used to kill drones easily, as drones are metallic they will draw in magnetic grenades. If drones are proven difficult to kill consider equipping the mag launcher for easy drone cleanup. Plasma rockets can kill you as a pilot but because they are slow, pilots can side step to avoid all of the plasma rockets. Avoid getting too close to the drones as death can be possible. Many of the ordinances won’t do much to drones but direct hits from thermite star will kill one. Gravity star can pull in plasma drones and their rockets making drone dispatch easier. A very useful pilot tactical against drones is the a-wall as it provides protection and amped attacks allowing you to kill plasma drones much easier. Holo pilots can also provide some benefit if the holos draw plasma rockets. Overall plasma drones are easy to dispatch for pilots. For titans some precautions should be in place but plasma drones are very easy to deal with.
Aoe abilities are a must when dealing with swarms of plasma drones, especially if the Titan is alone or if you are busy attacking other targets. Titan specific abilities like close range power shot, sword swing, cluster missile, splitter rifle alt fire, are needed. For all titans the electric smoke is very good for swarms so equipping counter ready is ideal, 2 electric smoke swarms are needed to kill plasma drones if they fly through them, if the drones are blocked by a Titan chassis then only one is needed. Most primary weapon fire can kill drones easily, the only Titan that has some trouble against drones is the Northstar Titan as each shot is a huge investment, other than that melee and defensive abilities counter drones very well, particle wall, gun shield, thermal shield and vortex shield will counter drones heavily. Thermal shield in particular is one of the best drone cleanup tools in frontier defense. The particular titans that should focus drones in order are Tone, Scorch, Monarch, Ion, Legion, Ronin and Northstar. Plasma rockets will chip away Titan health and even possibly doom Titian’s if the militia Titan doesn’t take proper measures to dash and use defensive abilities. Try your best by avoiding being hit by plasma rockets, arc traps don’t stun plasma drones but prevent plasma drones from firing, helping Titan and harvester survivability. On some maps plasma drones will fire at the harvester very early on so some titans or one Titan should be near the drone spawn point to draw plasma rocket fire. Other than that the plasma drones must be destroyed with haste so militia titans focus efforts elsewhere.
Battlefield Photo Captures
