How do drones work?
Equip a Dronelink, keep drones in cargo, press Q.
You'll need
Mining Drone- Fit the Dronelink while tethered to a refit terminal.
- Keep drones in cargo.
- Press Q while hovering a target or mineral fragment.
Good to know
- Dronelink bandwidth caps how many drones are out; cargo space caps how many you carry. A Drone Conduit or Swarm Protocol adds 2 bandwidth.
- Drone endurance sets how much heat your ship makes while drones are out, not flight time.
- Damaged drones repair in cargo using Veskar/Pirite.
- Utility mining-speed bonuses apply to drones too.
- Drones deal kinetic damage.
- NPC ships currently don't target drones, so they shine in PvE.
- The Quartermaster sells the Mining Drone blueprint: 160 Merits, 20 uses.
Warning
Drones are easy to counter in PvP. Rampart Gatlings intercept attack drones and flak shreds them.