Bot Combat

NOTE: This information is extremely outdated.

Using Bots efficiently can be very difficult and expensive but also very rewarding. The most powerful bot class by far is Radiation Expert because unlike Seer or Drone Mastery, Radiation Experts get 3% additional bot stats along with 2% from the Bot Mastery class. However Seer gets a very handy Zerker bonus and Drone Mastery can rely on their Drones as well.

The 2 Methods of Bot Combat

There are 2 ways in which you can create a team of powerful combat bots and use them effectively in high level Dungeon Galaxies and uber zones. One way to to have many lower tech Bots, the other is to have fewer higher tech ones. Each method has advantages and disadvantages.

Having more lower tech bots means you can have more bots doing damage but also means only lower tech augs can be used. While this method might produce more damage collectively, the bots on their own will be comparatively weaker and if aggro switches to you bots it will die faster. This method is recommended for those who want high dps bots and a more defensive setup on their main ship. In this instance, having 3 or more Mzungu Liquid bots can be very damaging while the player could pilot a Pax augged to tank.

Alternatively, fewer higher tech bots can be used. This means you can use higher tech augs and create a more balanced setup. The bots will not provide as much dps but they will be able to tank more damage and generally have more hull for higher tech and larger gear. This also means the player can use a more balanced ship. Depending on the RC level, using 2 Wardens bots or 2 Porp+ bots while piloting an Izer can provide a better solo setup.

Free to Play tactics

Two methods that seem to work well are:

1. Placing drones and using x - "mark as enemy" to have them start the combat, even if you're only using one tech 1 drone it still gives a decent diversion. This works best if you keep up a higher dps than your individual bots so the AI targets you when the drone dies, then stop firing, allowing your bots to deal damage till it switches targets.

2. You can cycle most AI from bots to bots tanking with every single bots this is however almost impossible to do (figure it out yourself or you'll never be able to do it reliably) and rather risky as it drops your total dps and your bots (or you) will probably die if you mess up.

Both are delay tactics so they work best with the high dps t2 fleet build, but the switchoff is drastically easier with the quality build. You can do the bots switch following the drone delay or even use drones later in a long fight as a step in the switching cycle.

Augging Setups

Depending on the combat style effects what augs you'll need. I can only offer suggestions on how to aug higher tech bots and player ships as I haven't tried using lower tech ones. When augging your bots remember the following things:

1. bots rate of fire is capped at approx 0.8 secs, so try to boost damage more than rate of firing. Athena augs are much better than Ares. 2. You can't use fueled energies without considerable risk. So aug you bots to have high shield bank and not regen. Again Athena augs are nice for this. 3. Your bots will need agility, as bots aren't smart enough to dodge. Having at least on Ares aug or other turning increasing aug helps a lot.

So possible setups include:

• Ares, Athena, Athena
• Ares, Athena, Good Combi
• Exc, Athena, Athena
• Exc, Exc, Athena (more of a w20 setup)

When you come to augging you own ship there are also some things you need to consider. Remember that a Radiation Expert cannot dodge like a SD or tank like a Zerker so a Radiation Expert will need a few decent shield boosting augs. Seers on the other hand have the Zerker skill so you may consider boosting that or augging for more speed. As I am a Radiation Expert I can only offer advice on how to aug such ships:

• Equanimizer
  • Exc, Exc, Sup
  • Sup, Sup, Exc
  • Sup, RadEx Exp, PtE
• Death Striker

Gearing the bots

The gear used for bots is very different compared to player gear. Also depending on your combat method you will need to use different gear. Having lower tech bots will mean you have to use lighter gear so you bots can dodge more attacks. Higher tech bots can use heavier gear which provided more shield/energy/damage etc but means ur bots will need to tank. Here is a list of gear you bots should have if they are to survive in w3:

Weaponry

You will need at least on laser type weapon, preferably ethereal and/or with a lot of tracking. Example include:

• Venusian Ray
• Open Heart Laser
• Armageddon Laser

If you have higher tech slaves with more hull should also use a pulse type weapon, or other high dps medium range projectile weapon. Examples include:

• Rackham's Bigger Pulse
• Death Warmed Over
• Titan Pulse Gun+

It is also helpful to have an Excommunicator on your bots for Picks, Forgones and other AI with mining weaknesses.

Shielding

For higher tech botsuse a Shield with a large bank so if the bots gets the enemies' aggro it will be able to tank some damage until you spread the aggro evenly or take it off the bot again. Example include:

• Undershirt
• Anaconda Protoarmor
• Give and Take

Energies

High regen energies are essential but also look for a reasonable bank. Acceptable energies of this type include:

• Yallow
• Obsidian Ionizer
• Titan Energy+

Engine

For faster bots try to pick an engine with a lot of thrust so they can stop and start quickly. Examples include:

• Fission Thrust
• Bule Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster

For heavier, slower bots pick and engine with more turning, such as:

• Mzungu Flying Contrast
• Fission Thrust

Items

The following items are essential for you bots, and whereas some may seem obvious, you'd be surprised how often they can be forgotten:

• Overloader Stable 5 (Since the RoF is capped, this Overloader is perfect.)
• Shield Capacitor (Liberty Shield Cap IV is perfect for smaller bots, use V or VI for larger ones.)

Combat Techniques

Fleet Commander Combat is very different to Sniper or Speed Demon combat for example. Having only experienced Radiation Expert combat I can only comment on that. You must remember to keep the enemies' aggro or spread the aggro evenly because if the bots are augged for a big shield bank but low regen they will not survive constant attack. If you die, or one of you bot dies it is likely that everyone else will also. A balance is essential. There are a few techniques you can use to ensure your survival in battle:

1. Keep the enemies aggro and dodge the enemies' attacks while your bots do the damage. Circling the enemy at close range forces it to use it's pulses which are easily avoidable while keeping the enemy in position, making it an easy target for you bots. 2. Grab the enemies' aggro and fly out with an OBA and let your bots do the damage while the AI try and catch up with you. This only works if your bots are faster than the AI and you keep aggro long enough for the bots to make the kill.

...More on this to come...

Note

Still updating this page, will have it ready soon