Drogue Chute

[Spud Nick]

Maybe it's just my poor piloting skills but I find drogue chute to be less than effective when dealing with balloon popping weapons. Once my balloon is gone I will turn on drogue chute to slow my decent only to have the enemy still in gun arcs popping my balloon again or worse.

For the most part I have found it better to just drop below there gun arcs and maneuver around terrain. The only success I have had with this tool was in a metamidion against a blender fish. Head to head I was able to keep my guns in arc as we slowly fell downward.

Is it just bad judgment on my part? Is there a time to use it and a time not too? I would like to hear your thoughts. Do you guys on The Lucky Duck see a lot of pilots using this tool when you fight them? If so, do you find it easier to kill them?

[HamsterIV]

It feels like a very passive tool which doesn't sit will with me. When my balloon gets popped I start screaming and smacking that thing like a monkey on meth. If I took Drogue Chute I would have to sit back with the tool on and hope that my crew can fix the balloon and kill the enemy without my help. That is not my style of captaining.

[geggis]

Head to head I was able to keep my guns in arc as we slowly fell downward.

As a Mobula pilot, that's pretty much how I use them if I get caught up in carronade fire. Full throttle backwards, drogue chute on, yell for help from other captain(s), balloon engineer camping balloon while the other two crew members try to blast/fire stack the carronade(s) out. The drogue chute has saved our ship so many times, usually buying us enough time for our ally to come and save us, or for us to out-gun the enemy. I don't leave home without it!

[Zenark]

It keeps you alive long enough for your ally to come help, I've also used it on Sniper ships as a sort of braking system.... When I used to fly Sniper ships.

[RearAdmiralZill]

Altitude is > Drouge Chute, but it is finite if you get into that locked state, which is where Drouge can mean life/death. The 3v3 tourney taught me that good lesson.

[Garou]

If you're up against any sort of 'blender' build it can mean the difference between survival and a frustrating death to the canyon floor (or whatever map you happen to be on). Sometimes all it takes is buying some time, be it for your ally, your engies, or your gunners, to get you out of it. Personally, I view it as a 'trust' tool: You're using it and putting your faith in your crew and your ally to get you out of the situation.

[Surette]

Altitude is > Drouge Chute, but it is finite if you get into that locked state, which is where Drouge can mean life/death. The 3v3 tourney taught me that good lesson.

This. We would've lost the 3v3 had it not been for drogue chute, which is enough for me to take it when I'm going against carronades.

[Gambrill]

Take it with impact bumpers too. That way when you land on the ground its not as badly damaged

[NoWuffo]

A lotta times I'll bring it with my Junker build for a secondary reason. Yes, the junker's balloon is a huge target and goes down easily to caronades, but often I'm loading up with 2 or 3 artemis launchers, so I throw out the chute passively when going for long range disable shots. The cut to the engine output allows me to make micro-corrections and adjustments on the helm without throwing off my gunner's shots too much. I've found it helps, especially when all of the enemy's guns/engines are out at long range, and then we swoop in for the easy kill.

[Kitty.Hawk]

I have been using it more and more on my Carronade Junker build. The basic idea for it is give my carronade gunners a bit of extra time to pop the enemy balloon. And since the enemy usually lacks chute, they will drop while I stay relatively high. From there, I am open to many different tactics. Go down to engage them, stay up and repair, or even turning to engage their ally.

[Skrimskraw]

If I see a carronade or a LJ I always bring a drogue chute, it prevents you from taking significant damage from the bottom of the maps, giving your ally time to help or kill an enemy.

[Subarco]

Main thing is that it buys time. For the few seconds you can still strike back. For allies to come help you out. For keeping the enemy's attention away from something else. There's often no escape from determined balloon poppers so the only thing you can do is to delay.

[Crafeksterty]

But it still does not combat baloon popping. In a way Drogue Chute is Fine. It really is, but the baloon cannot keep itself alive and the ship still wont be able to keep their guns on them if their are slowly descenting.

If we "BUFF" the drogue chute, then future adjustments to carronades/flachette or the baloon   could make the drogue chute too powerfull.
Lets count all the times the baloon failed on us rather than the actual drogue chute.

I still keep drogue chute on me versus flachette weapons anyway.

[Gambrill]

But it still does not combat baloon popping. In a way Drogue Chute is Fine. It really is, but the baloon cannot keep itself alive and the ship still wont be able to keep their guns on them if their are slowly descenting.

If we "BUFF" the drogue chute, then future adjustments to carronades/flachette or the baloon   could make the drogue chute too powerfull.
Lets count all the times the baloon failed on us rather than the actual drogue chute.

I still keep drogue chute on me versus flachette weapons anyway.

It's not meant to combat it! Thats the point. If it was able to counter it fully then nobody would take a carronade. It's just a time buyer to get your ally to back you up. If you notice they have a balloon popper on their team you should stick close by your ally. the few extra seconds could save you from hitting the floor a second time (because you may bounce) you may still hit the floor but at a heavily reduced speed meaning less damage aswell.

[Sammy B. T.]

A drogue chute on a Pyra is extremely effective for keeping guns in arc due to how highly placed those guns are. If a Blenderfish is fighting a Pyra it is forced to move to blind spots instead of just balloon lock. A good chain gunner means a bad goldfish and if kept in arc, means a great counter,