[Rooks]

267 of core
One caveat: if a drone is running any of its own autosofts, it cannot benefit from the RCC’s autosofts.

So it cant use its own autosofts and swarm

Also of note Page 269 of core

A drone has a number of slots to use for autosofts and cyberprograms equal to half its Device Rating, rounded up.

which according to the device ratings table on page 365 or 421 of core is either 2 or 3 if its a security drone

[UnLimiTeD]

I am not convinced that swarm is an autosoft.
It doesn't equal a skill on drones, it's just a program.

[Malevolence]

"The swarm uses the highest-rated of each autosoft running on any drone or the RCC, and the highest Sensor rating"

So, yes, with a swarm you can run autosofts on both the drone and the RCC, giving you effectively unlimited autosoft capacity. However, I am guessing that any autosofts running on the drone are still limited to the drones native pilot rating, so you can't load R5 autosofts on a Pilot R3 drone and have the swarm benefit from it. But you could upgrade the pilot on just one or two drones to allow you to run any R5 autosofts you want all at the same time.

[falar]

"The swarm uses the highest-rated of each autosoft running on any drone or the RCC, and the highest Sensor rating"

So, yes, with a swarm you can run autosofts on both the drone and the RCC, giving you effectively unlimited autosoft capacity. However, I am guessing that any autosofts running on the drone are still limited to the drones native pilot rating, so you can't load R5 autosofts on a Pilot R3 drone and have the swarm benefit from it. But you could upgrade the pilot on just one or two drones to allow you to run any R5 autosofts you want all at the same time.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this amazing side-benefit.

[gradivus]

"The swarm uses the highest-rated of each autosoft running on any drone or the RCC, and the highest Sensor rating"

So, yes, with a swarm you can run autosofts on both the drone and the RCC, giving you effectively unlimited autosoft capacity. However, I am guessing that any autosofts running on the drone are still limited to the drones native pilot rating, so you can't load R5 autosofts on a Pilot R3 drone and have the swarm benefit from it. But you could upgrade the pilot on just one or two drones to allow you to run any R5 autosofts you want all at the same time.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this amazing side-benefit.

Yes-it is.

Now, did the writer make an intentional rules change or did he forget that it's the drone or the RCCs autosofts and not both?

[Raven2049]

define how you are getting "unlimited autosoft capacity" from the above statements?

the way i am understanding it you can get your standard amt per drone x how ever many drones are in the swarm and then however many your RCC is setup to share. by no math is that ever going to be unlimited.

At MAX if every drone had a program carrier with VM, they could run 4 autosofts (5 if they are the security drones) and then with a program carrier w/VM on the Triox you can gain another 2 (effectively 3 because of VM) making it 10 (11). Best case scenario you have 10+(24*4) autosofts running. but one ounce of noise and your dead in the water.


or am i understanding this all incorrectly?

[gradivus]

define how you are getting "unlimited autosoft capacity" from the above statements?

the way i am understanding it you can get your standard amt per drone x how ever many drones are in the swarm and then however many your RCC is setup to share. by no math is that ever going to be unlimited.

At MAX if every drone had a program carrier with VM, they could run 4 autosofts (5 if they are the security drones) and then with a program carrier w/VM on the Triox you can gain another 2 (effectively 3 because of VM) making it 10 (11). Best case scenario you have 10+(24*4) autosofts running. but one ounce of noise and your dead in the water.


or am i understanding this all incorrectly?

I believe Malevolence use of 'effective unlimited autosoft capacity' refers to the fact that there are only a limited amount of autosofts and with a swarm you can effectively run every autosoft that pertains to that drone model.

As far as noise reduction, yes, the swarm is best off using as many drone mounted autosofts as possible to allow the RCC to perform noise reduction.

[Raven2049]

thats what i thought his intention was with that statement, and i had typed that line in the above comment, but it sounded like i was being an ass when i re-read it so i deleted it. (it was not my intention to do so, just curious as to if i was missing something)

[UnLimiTeD]

I wonder if it was just meant to use the highest of each drone or those of the RCC and they worded it poorly.
However, the interpretation makes sense: If each drone shares it's autosoft, only one needs to get them from the RCC and everyone gets them.
Swarm fixes a lot of problems. Though doesn't that mean you could run 1-Drone Swarms, hypothetically? Or add a Noizquito to any legitimate combat drone for twice the benefit?

[gradivus]

I wonder if it was just meant to use the highest of each drone or those of the RCC and they worded it poorly.
However, the interpretation makes sense: If each drone shares it's autosoft, only one needs to get them from the RCC and everyone gets them.
Swarm fixes a lot of problems. Though doesn't that mean you could run 1-Drone Swarms, hypothetically? Or add a Noizquito to any legitimate combat drone for twice the benefit?

Each swarm acts as a single drone with multiple, separate
“bodies.” Its Pilot rating is equal to the highest Pilot
rating of its member drones, or the Device Rating of
the RCC, whichever is higher. The swarm uses the highest-
rated of each autosoft running on any drone or the
RCC, and the highest Sensor rating. It uses the lowest of
the drones’ Handling, Speed, and Acceleration ratings.
When performing actions, the swarm gets a dice pool
and limit bonus equal to one less than the number of
drones in the swarm. <emphasis mine

Theoretically- no...throwing the hard cover core book at you.
Bodies and drones, highlighted above, are both plural.
Let's not get into the definition of the noun 'swarm'.
Sadly, two is a swarm, so yes you could add 1 microdrone to a combat for the benefits of a swarm. But really-why?. The microdrones are cheap enough- add five to give the combat drone +5DP and Limit to it's actions. With a DR6 RCC you could run 3 of these swarms.