If you want a good response, make sure you explain the problem.
Again. No changed priorities and no changes in weapons for a very long time.
The defense attacks the weapon it considers most powerful (or dangerous).
This could be the drones (potential damage per drone, quality of the drone and its ammunition, number of drones, number of missiles used per drone per attack) compared to the same for each weapon.
Next attack may be treated differently if the numbers changed as a result of previous attacks and the responding unit might be a different one if it is deemed more effective in the case of the new attack.
I do not know the composition of your previous attacks and the composition of the defense in previous attacks.
Unit sizes are smaller now than before, (all of them are smaller), and quality may play stronger now with more weapons and ammo upgraded across the worlds.
Exactly. It would appear that previously the defending interceptors attacked the attacking drones and the fighter planes at the same time, so less fighter planes were lost in the first hit but several drones were lost. Several interceptors were killed by the fighter planes, then I presume the next round of calculation (is it 6 per attack?) would have a greater number of planes left to kill a greater number of interceptors as the interceptors would target the drones and FP again. And so on.
The final result being far more favorable to the attacker in terms of FPs lost to destroy an interceptor wing than if a wing of FP alone launched the attack. Of course it would cost many drones but this was calculated into it and the losses in terms of $$$ were still favorable.
Now the interceptors do not seem to target the ADs in the initial attacks, they go straight for the FPs, and only attack the drones when the FPs are destroyed.
I see the clause "A weapon that has no effect on a target is not included in the process. The weapon does not participate in the attack and does not take losses." This would explain why the drones are not targeted because the attacked target is normally a town or counties defences and they have no garrisons (C3s) hence nothing for the drones to attack so the war machine ignores them.
However, drones have been used in this manner for as long as I have been in the game and they always did act as 'shields'. Maybe the change came about by changing the targets that drones are effective against?
I have no idea...just trying to help you see what has caused this change.
Yeah, apparently you can't target a few things with drones. When you do the news comes up as weapons were not effective in the attack line, for example in some extreme cases I used them to destroy corporations, but they seem to have no effect now. Could be the same for cities and towns and so on, but I have not tried that.
That message comes up even if the weapon does actually do damage the target, but very marginally. Maybe a rounding error?
How about a quality issue? I'm can't be bothered to do a test as I have already changed my weapons to deal with this change in the war engine. Maybe, because of the greater influence of quality in the game, if your fighters and ammo are greater quality than the attack drones the interceptors hit the fighters first?
If the FP and AD are in the same unit then the quality of the unit should be an average. There should be no distinction between the two weapons quality.
The only explanation I can see is that the targets drones are effective against has been changed.
It would be really helpful of the gamemasters to refute or confirm this.
A
Ashur Banipal
All worlds
I used them last night and they worked. The ADs took hits while FP destroyed DIWs.
Another option is to first attack with drones only, when that attack is finished; then launch the fighters in a second attack.
Is that too simple to work?
But Ashur, what were you attacking? It makes a difference as to if the AD attack or not and hence take int fire and absorb the punishment.
Michael - you completely miss the point.
Mizore - Be nice, lol.
Lol Mizore.
I can't confirm Ashur's results. Just a few days ago I fought a c3 and to my dismay, fighters were being targeted in a fighter/drone combo wing.
It surprised me because I was getting used to using a high quality wing around 250 fighting quality and losing about 25 planes per attack. Seemed easier than recreating wings that get creamed because you have less weapons actually attacking an air defense wing with combo wings. Losing drones is ideal but if that is not happening, just go with a 500 fighter wing at a decent quality. And please, never use bombers to shield, that is just disgustingly wasteful given these weapons are no longer traded on the open market and have to be produced by players.
