Ships & Modules

They should have fairly similar completion times, with the Mach slightly ahead. IIRC the rule of thumb is Mach if you're blitzing or have a salvaging alt, Vargur if you're salvaging as you go.

Get a Dominix. You can get over 900 DPS out of one, PVE-fit to tank over 1000 DPS against Guristas. You also save a lot of money.

I prefer the Vargur over pretty much all other mission ships under almost all circumstances.

Properly fit it will put out around 1200DPS, enough tank to go AFK, and do it at 444m/s. Total fit should be under 2b - expensive but I've yet to find something that completes most missions faster.

Edit: Numbers

DPS: 1187 w/ RF 4.3+70
Tank: 402/615 v Angels
Speed: 444m/s
Capacitor to run it all for 10min, or booster/ab forever(pulse)

Well, a Vargur with RF ammo puts out a bit more DPS than a T1 ammo Mach for the nearly the same or better falloff (depending on rigs.)
Vargur: 1026 DPS w/ 72km falloff
Mach: 918 DPS w/ 75km falloff
So if you're not using RF ammo on a Mach, then I would say the Vargur is "better."

However, the Mach can fit an MWD which, in theory, means you can improve DPS by quickly closing the range.

Personally, I've put off buying a Mach because the
* Mach would burn through a lot of RF ammo,
* Vargur has a better tank. With a Pithum C-Type medium being just about cap-stable, it's one less distraction when fiddling with tractors and salvagers
* Vargur has better targeting range. It's a minor advantage but it means you can pull far away NPC groups sooner.
* I would want more stats on just how often an MWD would improve mission times, and would the improvement provide more income than loot+salvage with a Vargur.
* the Mach looks like a bent phallus, whereas the Vargur looks like an Olde Time sailing ship that leisurely floats around blowing stuff up with near impunity.

EFT DPS != Applied DPS. Just because you can get to 900 DPS on EFT doesn't mean you'll actually be applying that DPS to the rats. Specifically, with the Domi, that's probably a blaster fit, which has next to no range and moves like a slug. And if that's with rails somehow, it would have next to no tracking anyways.

I have all Vs in both ships (except the t2 weapon specialization, which is at IV on both), and my Dominix—in practice—outperforms my Tengu in Guristas missions and in Guristas anomalies.

e: This is the wrong thread for that comment. Oops.

Equally pimped I'd say the vargur takes the cake in terms of isk made anyway. You need to factor in stuff like targeting range and ammo consumption when you get to that level really as it's about as good as it gets when it comes to tank and spank. The mach requires you to be more agressive though to compete with the vargur but this puts more pressure on your tank and capacitor.

Friends of mine who have tried both preferred the Mach for the superior gun DPS, speed and drone bay. If you're the salvaging/looting type then you might like the Vargur more. Also the Mach burns through ammo like you wouldn't believe, so if supplies are a consideration then the superior efficiency of the Vargur may come into play.

Hrmmm... eyeballing some spreadsheet graphs shows that a T1 ammo Mach needs to be roughly 11km closer to the target in order to match a RF ammo Vargur. Once you're inside of 20km, the RF Vargur tops the T1 Mach.

Roughly speaking, a RF ammo Mach has around a 3-5% DPS advantage over an RF ammo Vargur at the same range. If the RF Mach is 11km closer, then it does around 15% more DPS than the RF Vargur. At 10km, the advantage drops to 9%.


Theory-wise, an AB Mach with T1 ammo probably isn't going to be able to create the 11+ km range advantage to out DPS the RF Vargur, especially if the Vargur also has an AB. However a MWD Mach with RF ammo should be able to produce an 11km range advantage and thus should see a nice DPS bump over the RF Vargur. However, I would be concerned that with fast moving Angel NPCs that close the distance quickly, the RF Mach's MWD produced range advantage might not be terribly significant in the long run. OTOH, against spread out spawns or NPCs that orbit at long ranges, the MWD Mach could see an improvement in mission completion speeds.

Well I bought a Macharial with a decently pimp fit and I don't think I'll get in the Paladin again even on Sansha rats. This thing plows though missions with ease.

I run a Tengu Fleet booster alt for shield boosting. Another character in a Golem and another in a Rattlesnake. Another character follows those three in a Noctis for loot and salvage.

The Golem has been blowing up BSes faster, but the Mach isn't far behind and the RoF lets me one shot frigates (that are still out at range) and takes justa few seconds to take out cruisers as well. In "the Score" the gates are far away. The golem and rattler are plodding along at 131 m/s and 117 m/s repsectivly while the Mach is going 201 m/s with no speed mods.

God I love this ship....