Long story short

• Drones will have a set of predefined abilities
• Drone abilities will get a balance update
• Drones will become part of the robot equipment and you won't need to pick them separately before deployment
• Сhips will also be removed. For each chip you'll have by when the update arrives, you will be compensated with new Microchip currency that can be used for upgrading drones

Details: overhaul goals

Starting with update 8.8, all new drones that will appear in the game will work in a new way, and the existing ones will undergo global changes. We want to achieve several goals with this update:

Streamlined systems

When drones first appeared in the game, one of the key features was the selection of drones just before robot deployment. You could also have more than five drones in the Hangar, which made it possible to select a drone for a specific combat situation. Need more repair? More damage? Perhaps, you needed a drone with protection from a specific status effect used by an enemy, like Lockdown or Freeze? Drones with various Chips made it possible to do this.

However, the time has shown that this feature was rarely used by players. Instead, drones started to be used with particular robots. Players took the strengths and weaknesses of the robot into account, further reinforcing their strengths or mitigating their weaknesses. Choosing drones for a specific combat situation quickly became a nice feature, which was unfortunately used by too few of the players.

We consider customization to be one of the primary features of our games, but our experience with Drones and Orbital Support has shown that systems that are easy to grasp can be just as interesting!

Additionally, many of you were not keen on the additional click that you had to make to select a drone during a robot’s deployment. While many have adapted over time, that still adds a delay which can become critical when you deploy a robot on a beacon that constantly changes sides. After the overhaul, Drones will become part of the equipment of the robot, so that the screen for selecting drones in battle and their separate Hangar will become unnecessary and will be removed.

Better balance

Since the release of the drones, we rarely rebalanced them, giving all of our attention to the robots and weapons. This one of the reasons that the Drone Overhaul will also include a rebalance. We will weaken things like Absorber shields that constantly interrupt battles and other inconveniences. As part of the rebalance, we will also change the Tier system for the drones and the power of various abilities.

More transparency

As they stand now, drones are completely unpredictable machines, making it difficult to think about tactics against them when in battle. The Chips allow you to set the drone up for a range of completely different purposes. The Drone Overhaul will reduce these options, but this will allow you to better understand what you can expect from your opponent. When you see the laser on the new Daltokki drone, you will know exactly what the upgraded “rabbit” drone is capable of. And if you need more information, you can check the enemy's Hangar, where the drones will also be displayed after the battle.

New Drones upgrade system

Each drone will have a certain set of abilities that get unlocked with Microchips. Leveling up drones will be similar to pilots or Titans — you will not need to look for a specific Microchip or try to get one by merging. When fully levelled, all of the drone’s abilities will become available immediately.

The maximum level of the drone and its number of abilities depends on its Tier:

•  Tier 1 drone – 3 levels, 1 ability
•  Tier 2 drone – 6 levels, 2 abilities
•  Tier 3 drone – 9 levels, 3 abilities
•  Tier 4 drone – 12 levels, 4 abilities

The drone's main ability is immediately available and becomes stronger as the drone levels up. Additional abilities are unlocked at levels 4, 9, and 12.

Though the changes are rather significant, we tried to keep the key features of various drones intact. So Armadillo still gives Defence Points with one of its abilities and Whiteout can still disable the enemy's abilities.

The old Microchips, which provided various abilities that you could add by inserting them into the drone, will be removed. All the Chips you have on your account will be compensated with the new Microchips, which can be used for drone upgrades.

The cost of upgrading a drone to maximum level depends on its Tier:

•  Tier 1 drone – 100 Microchips
•  Tier 2 drone – 390 Microchips
•  Tier 3 drone – 730 Microchips
•  Tier 4 drone – 1 000 Microchips. To fully upgrade a Tier 4 drone, you will also need 1 Upgrade Token.

Microchips will be awarded in Daily Tasks. You will also be able to purchase them in the Shop or as part of an Offer.

Compensation

For each chip you have you will receive a certain amount of the new currency.

• Tier 1 chip = 0.1 Microchips
• Tier 2 chip = 2 Microchips
• Tier 3 chip = 20 Microchips
• Tier 4 chip = 100 Microchips

For every 2500 Microchips you'll have after conversion you will receive an extra Upgrade token. If you'll get more than 5000 microchips from compensation you will also receive a new Daltokki T4 drone. All that should help you rebuild your hangars for the new meta and get fully prepared for facing off Gray Swarm in the new Extermination mode. 

Also, as part of Update 8.8, all players with an Account Level of 27+ will receive a Tier 4 Barrel drone, Upgrade Token and additional 1000 Microchips to upgrade drones. Check the in-game news daily after the new drones become available in the game!

Drones maintenance shutdown

Due to technical maintenance and our preparations for the coming update, the shutdown of old drones as well as the processing and introduction of new drones will be carried out sequentially. We apologize for any inconvenience

The Drone Shop and Microchip Shop were disabled on February 14th. The complete shutdown of old drones will be on February 20th. You won't be able to use drones in combat until the Drone Overhaul is enabled.

Drones will be back shortly after the release of Update 8.8.

Updated Drone tiers

DRONES
TIER 1
Starter	Sidekick	Defender	Fly
TIER 2
Sharpshooter	Discus	Good Guy
TIER 3
The Eye	Nebula	Octanian	Persephone
Ironhearth	Whiteout	Patron
TIER 4
Paralysis	Beak	Armadillo	Glider
Barrel	Reviver	Daltokki