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Crane (or Bustard) for courier missions into high-sec?
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Salpad
Carebears with Attitude
#1 - 2012-10-12 14:48:22 UTC  |  Edited by: Salpad
I think Crane is the better of the two Caldari T2 Transports, for the occasional large-cargo courier mission into low-sec, but I'm not sure. Bustard is tankier, has more slots overall, and has built-in warp scramble resistance. Crane is much more agile, though, so I think that's what I'll go with.

But how to fit it. The Crane has decent cargo capacity already, and it's supposed to align fast, so what should I put in LOW slots? warp stabilizers? I'm thinking some kind of buffer tank in MID slots, with a LSE II if possible and a passive EM, otherwise just see what works best in terms of passive regen, EHP or resists.

Since I won't be flying this beast AFK, at least not when I go into low-sec, does it make sense to fit a Damage Control II? Does a Shield Booster make sense? Active Shield Hardeners? (HIGH slot empty, of course - why waste fitting capacity?)

Mainly, though, I'm unsure what to fit in the LOW slots. Do I need warp stabs? If I align fast, and am present-at-keyboard 100% of the time, will gate campers have time to lock me? I don't think I've ever tried flying through a low-sec gate camp before, in spite having played for over 5 years.

Also what about RIGs? I can fit cargo rigs, but as far as I know, the ship won't really need them. I assume any really large courier mission cargoes will be break-bulk meaning I can fly two trips if needed.

How much should I worry about sig bloat? A LSE II in a MID slot will probably do wonders for my shield tank, but if it causes my sig to bloat up, gate campers might be able to lock me faster.
Zhilia Mann
Tide Way Out Productions
#2 - 2012-10-12 15:18:10 UTC
The standard for Blockade Runners is hitting the 10,000m^3 mark, which allows you to haul cruisers. Unfortunately, the Crane requires T2 Cargohold Optimization rigs to get there (unlike the Viator and Prorator, which can hit the mark with T1 rigs, but also unlike the Prowler that can't get there at all). That more or less determines your rigs -- and they aren't cheap.

Obviously when you need to haul that much you fill your lows with Expanded Cargoholds. When you don't, a suitcase is a pretty good idea. Decloaking early in warp and activating the damage control mid-system before re-cloaking before you get to a gate can decrease the chances that you'll go down to a smartbomb camp. The other low might as well be an Expanded Cargohold all the time, which brings your normal cargo to 8033m^3.

In the mids you'll want a MWD; the Crane's grid requires named. The other three mids are your choice; I'd go with a mix of EM and explosive resistance amps. That will get your resists over 60 with the damage control active.

Honestly, it's hard to lose a Blockade Runner in low sec. Your worst enemies are actually lag and double-tapping your cloak on accident. Otherwise it's going to coast right on through all but the most sophisticated camps -- and those are few and far between.
Salpad
Carebears with Attitude
#3 - 2012-10-12 15:26:28 UTC
I don't think I need 8k m3 cargo, let alone 10k m3. It's just for courier missions, and I'd expect most of those to involve cargo loads that consist of multiple items rather than a single large one, so that I can fly several trips if needed.

After I wrote the OP, I looked at the list bonuses for the Crane, in-game, and was reminded that it can fit a T2 Cloak. I have Cloaking skill 5, but have never used it (after playing for over five years, you train a lot of stuff to max just in case you need it some day). Does a Cloak make sense in this context?

Another thing. I'm in the process of training the frigages for the other races, just in case that helps me score some extra Skill Points when the Destroyer/BC skill changes happen, so in theory it would be quite possible for me to train for one of Amarr/Gallente/Minmatar Industrial, in order to become able to use their Transports. It's a high-rank skill, though, and needs to be trained to 5. So I'm inclined to stick with Crane - or Bustard.
Zhilia Mann
Tide Way Out Productions
#4 - 2012-10-12 15:36:33 UTC
Yes, you absolutely want a cloak on there. I didn't mention it because I just assumed it was obvious. Covops cloaks are the absolute best thing to ever happen to dodging one's way through lowsec. When you land after jumping, just select your destination, warp to zero, and hit the cloak; no need to pulse it or anything as you can warp while cloaked with one. Note that this is in contrast to other cloaks which don't allow you to warp at all.

On training -- unless you need some extra flexibility around which ships to fly, don't bother. Every BR has its advantages (Prorator has the largest cargo or the largest tank but not at the same time, Viator has respectable cargo and gives access to the Iteron V, Crane can carry cruisers while having a solid tank plus unlocks the Charon, and the Prowler gets the unique ability to fit a probe launcher in addition to a cloak) but if all you're doing is courier missions it basically doesn't matter which you use.

IIRC, L4 couriers can ask you to carry up to 40,000m^3, so getting over 10,000m^3 is still a bit of an advantage as it reduces your number of trips to 4 (whereas 8,000m^3 gets you to 5; below that you're looking at 6). Your mileage may vary, but I hate running the same route several times over. Doubly so when you just know you're annoying someone camping a gate -- or worse, a station.
Salpad
Carebears with Attitude
#5 - 2012-10-12 15:47:48 UTC
I forgot this, but I actually have Gallente Industrial 5 already. I trained for Iteron Mark V years ago. So I have a choice of Caldari Transports or Gallente Transports.

Also, the courier mission agents will be in high-sec, and I'm expecting that only a few missions will involve trips into high-sec. For high-sec only I can easily fit a ship to carry 28k m3, IIRC even up to 37k or 38k m3 (I think Iteron Mark V with cargo rigs is 38k m3), or if I'm in that mood I can just use my Charon Freighter.

I'd just like to have a ship ready and fitted, if I get a mission into low-sec, while grinding standing.
Denal Umbra
Coffee Hub
#6 - 2012-10-12 15:53:15 UTC
A blockade runner aligns as fast as a cov ops frigate so you should work to boost that effectiveness even more. Fit a few inertia stabs or nanofibers in the lows and your golden. The rig choice depends on what you want to do with it.

If you are going to be running through loads of low sec gate camps, you might want some agility rigs there.
If not, or if you want more cargo space (loss of 0.2-0.3 seconds) then fit cargo rigs.
Marc Callan
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#7 - 2012-10-12 16:19:39 UTC
Actually, if you're just running courier missions, the Blockade Runner might be the better choice even for hi-sec missions, just because of how quickly it moves.

Inertial Stabilizers are a bad, bad, bad choice, though. They'll blow up your signature radius, and you'll find gate camps with Loki boosts that have a reasonable chance of catching you even if you make the best possible transit from gate cloak to covops cloak, so you do not want to give them any advantages. A Blockade Runner's best defense is getting its cloak engaged before hostiles can lock on; if you're targeted, you're doomed.

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." - Kurt Vonnegurt
Ginger Barbarella
#8 - 2012-10-12 21:22:16 UTC
If it's a section of low that either I'm not familiar with or I know can be dangerous, I use a Crane. If I know the lowsec system(s) or they're not that dangerous (I have a regular presence there), I just use an agility-fit Bustard. They have worked fine for me for years.

"Blow it all on Quafe and strippers." --- Sorlac