Vanguard wingmen questions

foxrockssocks

So I started my first Jem yesterday and I'm trying to figure out how these wingmen actually work. I don't mean the battle commands, that is straightforward enough, but I mean in regards to traits and abilities and such.

I picked up the gamma starter pack (T6 ship +stuff for 1500, good deal!) and the Dreadnought cruiser is a nice thing with a hangar and these wingmen. However, I have no idea what the wingmen count as. There are specific traits that affect pets, like the Breen Carrier Reactive Repair Nanites which gives hangar pets a heal, and the T6 Prometheus trait, Numerical Superiority, that specifically doesn't work with hangar pets but does work with ship separation, and then there is the escort carrier trait, Coordinated assault that just says pets. I have no idea what works with wingmen or even what should work. Then there are also the skill tree abilities giving hangar pets more health or damage or whatever, and I'm sure there is more than just that.

So the question is, how do wingmen work? Are they counted as hangar pets in that they get hangar pet buffs from traits and such, or are they not hangar pets so they don't get buffs from things that only affect hangar pets but will get and contribute to buffs from other things that affect allies and pets, or maybe because they are kinda their own thing they aren't affected by any of that?

seriousdave

I think thy're kinda their own thing, some things affect them, some not. I'm pretty sure they're not counted as "hangar pets" and don't get buffed by any of that stuff.
Though they get buffed from +polaron tac consoles but not form things like set bonuses or +weapon damage. They don't get the passives from consoles like DOMINO or the DPRM but they do get buffed by their active ability and even the good old Attack Pattern Alpha boosts their attacks.
It's a really odd case with no clear indication of what works.

tom61sto

They're more a part of your ship than pets, bizarrely. If you want to buff their damage, fit your ship with consoles that boost Polaron Damage and Critical Hit/damage, unlike Hangar pets, which the only console that affects them passively is the Swarm Matrix console from the current lockbox (there a few active console abilities too, but not many). I'm not sure if the non-you Allies abilities will affect the Wingmen too, but most Allies abilities will affect you too. Coordinated Assault does not affect the Wingmen, nor Superior Area Denial. I'm not sure on Numerical Superiority.