City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Devices: Gun Drone

Adeon Hawkwood

By Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2011-05-06 08:06 in Blasters

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grey Pilgrim View Post
In complete agreement with you on this. They're able to set it in all of two seconds... maybe less.
Personally I think that just decreasing the cast time for gun drone would be a huge buff. Gun Drone has a 7 second cast time and needs to be resummoned every 90seconds. Looking through the lists most other pet powers have cast times in the 2s-3.2s range (Demon Summoning has 4s, a few others have 1.17s) I don't see any logical reason for Gun Drone to need 7s. Sure it gives a decent Defiance bonus due to the long time but I would happily trade that for a 2.03s cast time (same time as the Spiderlings).

 

Posted

Just to update my earlier comments I now have a t4 reactive (75% chance of debuff/25% chance of fire dot) slotted and I have to say it really helps make Gun Drone better. Instead of just using it in rare instances where I thought i would have trouble I ran a few missions keeping it out almost the entire time. It shouldn't take a t4 incarnate power to make it a good pet so I would still love a change or two but I will say I've totally forgotten about any ideas of dropping the power and I think I'll be using it a lot more solo now.

"I think I'm cute. I've got gold medals.
I've got the moves that make them all tap out.
The Angle Slam, the Ankle Lock.
Marty Jannetty...still can't walk.
I'm just the sexy Kurt.
I'll make your ankle hurt.
I'm just the sexy Kurt.
I'll make your ankle hurt."
Kurt Angle

 

Posted

Reducing the cast time would also reduce its defiance buff - both in strength and duration. I'm not trying to say Gun Drone doesn't need a little love, just pointing out a possible consequence of it being changed. Personally, I would love it to be not interrupt-able at the very least. Such as waste of endurance if you get interrupted.

SG: Guadians of Paragon - VG: Paragon's Darkness
The Usual Suspects: Fimboolvetr (Icer Tank), Tsukiyomi (Mind/Psi/Ice Dom), Smiting Dragon (Dm/Sr Scrap), Widow Mortis (NW)
Up and Comers: Ameterasu (Km/Reg Scrap), Arrhymian (Elec/Nin Stalk), TDMKII (Bot/Traps MM)

 

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Another big problem with Gun Drone is finding it enough extra slots to be even vaguely useful. 4 total, I think, for Call to Arms to get the global recharge: A/D/R, E/D/R, A/D, A/D. (I've been trying and it seems to come down to, for my AR/Dev, either Gun Drone or Ignite. Don't like either power much, but since I'm doing more TFs and stuff, I think Ignite wins the slot race...)

 

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Even though +6.25% rech are coming out of the woodwork on most blasters, my gun drone is a mule for the 4 enh from the rech based pet set. That frees me up for Thunderstrike in something.

I forget I have it, but I always take it in respecs. And my AR/Dev definitely wins in the most respecs ever dept.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Infini View Post
Reducing the cast time would also reduce its defiance buff - both in strength and duration. I'm not trying to say Gun Drone doesn't need a little love, just pointing out a possible consequence of it being changed. Personally, I would love it to be not interrupt-able at the very least. Such as waste of endurance if you get interrupted.
I don't think anyone is going to argue that it should stay the same just for the Defiance boost. It's not a boost that you can keep up often, and I rarely am able to bring out my Gun Drone on a fast moving team... for AV fights, the silly thing will swing into melee range and promptly be smacked down for the exact reason I am staying at range.

I'm not exactly in love with Voltaic Sentinel, but it has a lot more going for it than Gun Drone.

Guide: Tanking, Wall of Fire Style (Updated for I19!), and the Four Rules of Tanking
Story Arc: Belated Justice, #88003
Synopsis: Explore the fine line between justice and vengeance as you help a hero of Talos Island bring his friend's murderer to justice.
Grey Pilgrim: Fire/Fire Tanker (50), Victory

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Infini View Post
Reducing the cast time would also reduce its defiance buff - both in strength and duration. I'm not trying to say Gun Drone doesn't need a little love, just pointing out a possible consequence of it being changed. Personally, I would love it to be not interrupt-able at the very least. Such as waste of endurance if you get interrupted.
I would happily trade the defiance boost for a faster cast time. If I want more damage I can use reds.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood View Post
I would happily trade the defiance boost for a faster cast time. If I want more damage I can use reds.
Or build-up. Uh, wait...

 

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Originally Posted by Zemblanity View Post
Or build-up. Uh, wait...
Yes, Devices lacks Build Up. However, Gun Drone makes a very poor replacement due to the obscene cast time and the fact that the damage boost is quite a bit less than Build Up. I have, on occasion, used the Defiance bonus from Gun Drone as a pseudo build-up when solo but trying to do so on a team is impractical at best, by the time Gun Drone is summoned most of the spawn is dead. So for now I stick to reds when I need more damage.

Now, this does suggest the interesting possibility of reducing the cast time on Gun Drone but leaving the Defiance Buff in place essentially turning it into a combination summon/weak Build Up power. I don't think that is necessary but it would be an interesting buff to Devices.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood View Post
Yes, Devices lacks Build Up. However, Gun Drone makes a very poor replacement due to the obscene cast time and the fact that the damage boost is quite a bit less than Build Up. I have, on occasion, used the Defiance bonus from Gun Drone as a pseudo build-up when solo but trying to do so on a team is impractical at best, by the time Gun Drone is summoned most of the spawn is dead. So for now I stick to reds when I need more damage.
On the other hand, the Gun Drone is summoned and ready from the start for the next spawn. Cast time lost for that spawn will be 0 seconds and the added DPS is pure gravy. Of course, you can summon even earlier, like when you enter a map, and you might not even miss that first spawn (depending on how aggressive your group is and how long it takes you to travel/zone). If you're on an active team, it won't draw aggro, so it'll last the whole duration, too.

Quote:
Now, this does suggest the interesting possibility of reducing the cast time on Gun Drone but leaving the Defiance Buff in place essentially turning it into a combination summon/weak Build Up power. I don't think that is necessary but it would be an interesting buff to Devices.
I'm all for reducing the cast time and/or eliminating the interrupt. I not quite sure if I agree with the calls for it to be the equal of the Malta drones, just because Malta Engineers don't hit like Blasters and the pet is a primary power of theirs. They're more like Gun Drone Masterminds. Maybe something in between would be more reasonable, but I'm not sure how far along the scale.

 

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Originally Posted by streetlight View Post
I'm all for reducing the cast time and/or eliminating the interrupt. I not quite sure if I agree with the calls for it to be the equal of the Malta drones, just because Malta Engineers don't hit like Blasters and the pet is a primary power of theirs. They're more like Gun Drone Masterminds. Maybe something in between would be more reasonable, but I'm not sure how far along the scale.
I'm not sure if you are thinking Malta Engineers just spit it out with no pause, but they don't. Their animation time is much more in line with Voltaic Sentinel, which would pretty good for me with Gun Drone.

Still, both pets run into the issue of needing to be summoned pretty often. A longer duration would make both powers a lot more fun to use, or at least not requiring being on the ground with them. I'd take a shorter animation for Gun Drone, but I'm not going to say it makes it all the way better, either.

Guide: Tanking, Wall of Fire Style (Updated for I19!), and the Four Rules of Tanking
Story Arc: Belated Justice, #88003
Synopsis: Explore the fine line between justice and vengeance as you help a hero of Talos Island bring his friend's murderer to justice.
Grey Pilgrim: Fire/Fire Tanker (50), Victory

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by streetlight View Post
On the other hand, the Gun Drone is summoned and ready from the start for the next spawn. Cast time lost for that spawn will be 0 seconds and the added DPS is pure gravy. Of course, you can summon even earlier, like when you enter a map, and you might not even miss that first spawn (depending on how aggressive your group is and how long it takes you to travel/zone). If you're on an active team, it won't draw aggro, so it'll last the whole duration, too.
I was referring to summoning the Gun Drone specifically to get the defiance buff as an erstz Build Up.

As for the damage of the Gun Drone itself, you could, in most realistic combat situations deal more damage by firing AoEs for those 7 seconds than the Gun Drone will do in it's entire life (and that assumes it fires every time its attack has recharged). Gun Drone is a way to front load a bit of damage if you either have the downtime or need the extra damage to win but on a team it's almost useless.

I'll also point out that it's the pet power with the longest activation time in the game (Demon Summoning comes second at 4s) yet it has the second shortest duration (I think).

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grey Pilgrim View Post
Still, both pets run into the issue of needing to be summoned pretty often. A longer duration would make both powers a lot more fun to use, or at least not requiring being on the ground with them.
Personally the duration never bothered me but then I don't use Hover.

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I'd take a longer animation for Gun Drone, but I'm not going to say it makes it all the way better, either.
I think it's pretty close. I'd like to see an AI improvement for it as well but for a Blaster Secondary I think the damage is about right for it.

I can see an argument for giving it the VS treatment where the duration and the recharge are equal but you can only have one out at a time although since it's so easy to perma it's not a major deal IMHO.

 

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Originally Posted by streetlight View Post
On the other hand, the Gun Drone is summoned and ready from the start for the next spawn.
Yes, but the odds are that the spawn'll be dead before the Drone wanders over. It moves slooooow...

 

Posted

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Originally Posted by Grey Pilgrim View Post
In complete agreement with you on this. They're able to set it in all of two seconds... maybe less. I know that an engineer can be signaled I am about by one tick of my damage aura on my Dark Scrapper, and get it out before the next hits (or maybe there is a miss in there)... the time is not long, whatever it is. The requirement to be on the ground is silly as well, but I'd at least take a change to the activation time.

Its suicidal need (along with every pet now) to get into melee makes it even worse. That's an arguably even bigger issue that the devs have to fix: some pets are made for melee, others are not. Gun Drone, by definition, should not want to get up close. Why this obvious issue with pet AI has been allowed to continue baffles me, especially since people now have more pets!
With castle and all the unwanted devs gone..still miss BAB...but anyway

This devteam is making our game better and better even after the F2P hit, it's safe to assume that if someone makes a brand new petition thread (not necro an old one) it'll get attention