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What is the best ship for solo exploration/scouting?

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Roi Hurutara
Native Freshfood
Minmatar Republic
#1 - 2012-12-27 10:11:51 UTC
Hi, I am interested in solo exploration/scout. I heard that T3 cruisers are no doubt the most versatile ships for this task. While it takes quite a long time to train T3 skills, I am aiming at covert ops. Can someone suggest which covert ops is the best?
Ovv Topik
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#2 - 2012-12-27 11:20:59 UTC
Hi, Welcome to New Eden!
Sounds like you’ve been doing your homework!
All 4 factions have a ship with scanning bonuses. They each have 7.5% scanning bonus per level of Frigate.
For you that’s the Probe which is great.
Progress from there is the Cheetah covops as you said, but you wont need that for a while. It’s bonus is 10% per level of covops.
You don’t have to fly Minmatar though if you prefer another faction. Differences are only minor.
Fly Safe!

"Nicknack, I'm in a shoe in space, on my computer, in my house, with a cup of coffee, in't that something." - Fly Safe PopPaddi. o7

Roi Hurutara
Native Freshfood
Minmatar Republic
#3 - 2012-12-27 11:32:09 UTC
Ovv Topik wrote:
Hi, Welcome to New Eden!
Sounds like you’ve been doing your homework!
All 4 factions have a ship with scanning bonuses. They each have 7.5% scanning bonus per level of Frigate.
For you that’s the Probe which is great.
Progress from there is the Cheetah covops as you said, but you wont need that for a while. It’s bonus is 10% per level of covops.
You don’t have to fly Minmatar though if you prefer another faction. Differences are only minor.
Fly Safe!


Thanks. I think for covert ops the most difference is speed and CPU, right? Since for covert ops I don't really need them to DPS or tank. Generally I believe Cheetah is no doubt fastest because it's a Minmatar ship :) And perhaps Caldari covert ops has the most CPU. However I am just think in theory, looking forward to any practical experience :D
Merouk Baas
#4 - 2012-12-27 11:32:38 UTC
All cov-ops frigates have the same cov-ops bonus, but they do have slightly varying slot layout and different weapon bonuses for the frigate skill.

You're probably not going to take the covops into a fight, though, because:

- the ship alone costs 40 million, and the fittings and rigs can cost another 40 million, with crap insurance

- you need to fit: cov-ops cloak and probe launcher, which leaves just 1 slot (or in one case, just drones) for a weapon, meaning your DPS will be laughable

- if you fit a combat probe launcher (you should), that takes out most of your CPU, which severely limits the resists you can put on, and forces you to fill the lows with co-processors so you can have your med slots filled (MWD, shield resists).

You'll probably end up using the cov-ops to probe out sites, then switch to a regular DPS frigate, cruiser, battlecruiser for actually taking out the sites you've found. This tactic works pretty well with just the T1 probing frigate instead of cov-ops, but the cov-ops is needed if you want to look around wormholes you find, because warping around cloaked is kinda necessary for that.
Roi Hurutara
Native Freshfood
Minmatar Republic
#5 - 2012-12-27 11:41:31 UTC
Merouk Baas wrote:
All cov-ops frigates have the same cov-ops bonus, but they do have slightly varying slot layout and different weapon bonuses for the frigate skill.

You're probably not going to take the covops into a fight, though, because:

- the ship alone costs 40 million, and the fittings and rigs can cost another 40 million, with crap insurance

- you need to fit: cov-ops cloak and probe launcher, which leaves just 1 slot (or in one case, just drones) for a weapon, meaning your DPS will be laughable

- if you fit a combat probe launcher (you should), that takes out most of your CPU, which severely limits the resists you can put on, and forces you to fill the lows with co-processors so you can have your med slots filled (MWD, shield resists).

You'll probably end up using the cov-ops to probe out sites, then switch to a regular DPS frigate, cruiser, battlecruiser for actually taking out the sites you've found. This tactic works pretty well with just the T1 probing frigate instead of cov-ops, but the cov-ops is needed if you want to look around wormholes you find, because warping around cloaked is kinda necessary for that.


Is there a single ship can complete scanning+fighting+hacking/analyzing? I guess only T3 cruisers?
Vilnius Zar
SDC Multi Ten
#6 - 2012-12-27 11:51:44 UTC
Which is best depends on what you're doing, generally I wouldn't use a covert ops for exploration unless it's your probing alt, for starter exploration doing radar sites all races have a t1 frig that works great for it. Would you want to do combat sites then you'll want to move on to more combat oriented ships which ultimately will be the T3.

For scouting it really depends on your role. If you just want to be a semi passive scout then any of them do fine, if you want to make slingshots and be a more actiev scout then speed is very useful and as such the minmatar Cheetah is great. Overall though the Amarr anathema is best as it can fit other stuff much more easily than the Cheetah, things like cynos, damps, points and whatnot.
Nefrin Maldoes
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#7 - 2012-12-27 13:06:52 UTC  |  Edited by: Nefrin Maldoes
The Probe is a great scanning ship but can't handle the sites at all.

Barring a T3, I've found the Pilgrim to be the best all-in-one ship, though very skill intensive to fly effectively. It can handle lowsec profession sites just fine, but combat sites are pretty much a no go.

If you need a fit, there are some on battleclinic, or you can reach me in game.

I got a like? When did this happen?
Roi Hurutara
Native Freshfood
Minmatar Republic
#8 - 2012-12-27 13:25:23 UTC  |  Edited by: Roi Hurutara
Nefrin Maldoes wrote:
The Probe is a great scanning ship but can't handle the sites at all.

Barring a T3, I've found the Pilgrim to be the best all-in-one ship, though very skill intensive to fly effectively. It can handle lowsec profession sites just fine, but combat sites are pretty much a no go.

If you need a fit, there are some on battleclinic, or you can reach me in game.


got the idea. it's fast, tanking and versatile with drones. btw with 5 light drones on probe, can probe handle all highsec site from 0.5 to 1.0?

EDIT: probe can only carry 3 light drones and a missile launcher..
Roi Hurutara
Native Freshfood
Minmatar Republic
#9 - 2012-12-27 13:37:39 UTC
Nefrin Maldoes wrote:
The Probe is a great scanning ship but can't handle the sites at all.

Barring a T3, I've found the Pilgrim to be the best all-in-one ship, though very skill intensive to fly effectively. It can handle lowsec profession sites just fine, but combat sites are pretty much a no go.

If you need a fit, there are some on battleclinic, or you can reach me in game.


And what do you think about its T1 version Arbitrator? Is it a ok all-in-one ship for probing (for rookes only)?
Merouk Baas
#10 - 2012-12-27 14:37:07 UTC
You can probably put a core probe launcher on any ship with a spare high slot; you'll be losing quite a bit of the sensor strength bonuses but if you offset that by training the probing skills higher, you should be able to still find sites while otherwise flying a combat ship.
Zaranya Amarr
Imperial Academy
Amarr Empire
#11 - 2012-12-27 14:55:35 UTC  |  Edited by: Zaranya Amarr
The Arbitrator is a solid bet for all-in-one exploration:

Some ideas:

Arbitrator, Starter

Low Slots

Medium Automated Carapace Restoration
Experimental Armor EM Hardener I <---- Change this to resist against specific NPC pirates you are fighting!
Experimental Armor Thermic Hardener I <------ Change this to resist against specific NPC pirates you are fighting!
Damage Control I <----- You can change this to an Armor hardener as well if you want!
Mark I Generator Refitting: Capacitor Power Relay

Mid Slots

Codebreaker I <---- You can change these depending on what you are exploring
Analyzer I <----- You can change these depending on what you are exploring
Experimental 10MN Afterburner I
F-b10 Nominal Capacitor Regenerator

High Slots

Core Probe Launcher I, Core Scanner Probe I
Salvager I
Drone Link Augmentor I
125mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I, EMP S <---- Use this to shoot at NPC's that haven't targeted you yet, when you want them to come engage you

Drones: You will need these to kill stuff

Hobgoblin I x5
Warrior I x5
Hammerhead I x5
Valkyrie I x5

This is a more advanced version. After this you should start looking into a cloaky pilgrim for low sec exploration sites (not combat) and then a T3 strategic cruiser for low sec combat sites and 0.0 sec exploration and (eventually) combat sites. Also, when you are short on time in real life (30 minutes or so), a cloaky T3 strategic cruiser will decimate low sec magnetometric and exploration sites and still provide a pleasant little addition to your wallet.


More Advanced Skills

Low Slots: Upgrade to these first!

Medium Armor Repairer II
Armor EM Hardener II
Armor Thermic Hardener II
Damage Control II
Capacitor Power Relay II

Med Slots: Save these for last but they make exploration extra easy!
Analyzer II
Codebreaker II
10MN Afterburner II
Cap Recharger II

High Slots: Do these fourth!

Salvager II
Core Probe Launcher II, Core Scanner Probe I
Drone Link Augmentor II
125mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I, EMP S

Rigs: Do these second!
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I

Drones: Do these third!

Hammerhead II x5
Valkyrie II x5
Hobgoblin II x5
Warrior II x5


Remember, these boats will work for most of the high sec stuff you need to do! You can make lots of tweaks to make it work for you and your budget.
Ohto Pach
Doomheim
#12 - 2012-12-27 17:02:39 UTC
There's no real reason to use a Pilgrim in lowsec when an Arbitrator clears every profession site (and gate camp) just fine. Running profession sites in highsec is a waste of time.

My take on the lowsec exploration boat:

[Arbitrator, Explo]
Damage Control II
Medium Armor Repairer II
Prototype Armor EM Hardener I
Prototype Armor Thermic Hardener I
Drone Damage Amplifier II

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Analyzer I
Codebreaker I
Large Peroxide Capacitor Power Cell

Salvager I
Improved Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher I, Sisters Core Scanner Probe I
Dual Afocal Light Maser I, Radio S

Medium Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Medium Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I


Hobgoblin II x5
Hammerhead II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5

Cap stable tank is unncecessary. Pulse the repper and kite the rats if large groups spawn. Swap the hardeners to suit the rat faction you are fighting against. Use Warriors/Valkyries if you are in Minmatari space - otherwise stick to Gallente drones. I would say that the cloak is the only mandatory T2 component in the fit to properly execute the MWD + cloak maneuver. If you actually need the ECM drones you are doing something terribly wrong.
Eternal Montage
Myriad Sequence
#13 - 2012-12-27 17:58:19 UTC  |  Edited by: Eternal Montage
Arbitrator and Vexor make great starter exploration boats. The drones reallly help because you need to use your highslots for other things like cloak, probe launcher, salvager, etc. and your mids for analyzer/codebreaker and lows for armor.

As for covops frigates, they're all pretty much the same aside from slot layout and some minor differences. For a scout you want to use a covops but i suggest using a separate one (one that is not fit for exploration) because the probing fit ones are significantly more expensive. I usually keep two Helios's around and one is fit with nanofiber internal structures, a shield tank and a covert cloak. It's great for scouting and also just getting around dangerous space, I use it probably more than any other ship--its crazy fast, has an awesome tank for a frigate and it cloaks. The thing literally never dies. I have a separate probing Helios that costs 4x as much and that is specifically for exploration and combat scanning. You absolutely need a t2 prober as an explorer at some point because you will find yourself in increasingly dangerous situations. You need one to be able to go into wormholes, and contrary to popular belief you should go into every wormhole whether or not you intend on farming it, they have a plethora of important uses including personal logistics.

I explore with a Loki generally and use a non-cloaky fit. I probe with a helios in one of the 5 next door systems and come back in the Loki. If I do an escalation I switch it to a cloaky fit but then it can't carry drones and it struggles with frigates so I'll use an extra tracking enhancer and a web just in case. Loki is a high performance exploration machine, but other than that, minmatar doesn't have much in the way of exploration. Gellente and Amarr seem best for low level exploration, yet Caldari and Minmatar have the strongest t3 cruisers for exploration. As an explorer myself, I found the most success in cross training. You might want to consider doing the same thing OR power training for the Loki. Just keep in mind how expensive a t3 is!

If you want to dip your toes and learn slowly and effectively here's what I suggest: First ninja salvage! You can almost entirely forgo missioning if you ninja salvage. You can make good isk and its a lot of fun because in a sense you're pvping. You will have a chance to interact competitively with other players and that in itself is an invaluable experience. Second I suggest you fit up a t1 cruiser and go to some deserted corners of highsec. Get a feel for it. There aren't much rewards for highsec exploration but its kind of like the lottery, there is a small chance of finding 400+ mil drops. You never know! Then from there maybe try out some lowsec exploration. The pilgrim is good for this because of the covert cloak but not entirely necessary, if you fly with someone else you don't need a covert cloak, but the improved is advisable. Also another trick you can do, is if you find a wormhole in highsec leading to lowsec or nullsec you can go through and probe that system or a system next door and find some high quality profession sites, that you can still do pretty easily. Check out sir livingston's videos on youtube for more information. Contact me in game if you have any questions or need ninja salvaging lessons (I'm a master ninja). Fly safe!

Edit: I think you could explore in a Rupture... I'll fool around with eft and let you know if its feasible
Eternal Montage
Myriad Sequence
#14 - 2012-12-27 18:13:03 UTC
Heres what I whipped up in 5 minutes. You could do a good amount of sites with this:

[Rupture, Exploration]

Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Damage Control II
Medium Armor Repairer II
Experimental Armor Thermic Hardener I
Experimental Armor Kinetic Hardener I

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Analyzer I
Codebreaker I
Cap Recharger II

Improved Cloaking Device II
Sisters Core Probe Launcher, Sisters Core Scanner Probe I
Salvager I
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M

Medium Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Medium Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I


Hobgoblin II x5
Hobgoblin II x1
ISD Cyberdyne
ISD Community Communications Liaisons
ISD Alliance
#15 - 2012-12-27 19:13:25 UTC
As many have stated, the Covert Ops ships are excellent exploration ships, and the Pilgrim is a solid T2 exploration cruiser. The T3's are your most versatile, however most skill and cost intensive. I would always recommend you work your way up, sharpening your teeth on T1 variants until you feel comfortable investing in the T2/T3 variants.


Practicing your scanning trade alone with a Probe or other CovOps, and playing around with the Arb or Vexor in lowsec exploration is a great place to start! Best of luck to you!

ISD Cyberdyne

Lieutenant Commander

Community Communication Liaisons (CCLs)

Interstellar Services Department
Mocam
Aliastra
Gallente Federation
#16 - 2012-12-27 20:13:01 UTC
ISD Cyberdyne wrote:
As many have stated, the Covert Ops ships are excellent exploration ships, and the Pilgrim is a solid T2 exploration cruiser. The T3's are your most versatile, however most skill and cost intensive. I would always recommend you work your way up, sharpening your teeth on T1 variants until you feel comfortable investing in the T2/T3 variants.


Practicing your scanning trade alone with a Probe or other CovOps, and playing around with the Arb or Vexor in lowsec exploration is a great place to start! Best of luck to you!


The problem I have with T2 cruiser logic over T3's is pretty simple.

Training for T3's is about 1 month more time than T2's and that's pretty close to the max extra time.

Costs are a consideration but focusing on earning and you're there - it's not that much longer to get 1.2 billion vs 250 million - about that 1 month training time at a moderate clip (we're talking about making less than 1 billion in a full month - that's the difference).

As such, that T2 will be used for maybe 1 month before it's retired for a T3 to replace it.

It's not a bad way to go (a month is a month after all) but I'd say go from the very cheap T1's, with perhaps T2 exploration frigate - to a T3 is a better option than mixing in other variants with the training those ships will need.
Kitty Bear
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#17 - 2012-12-27 21:46:21 UTC
The Gila works exceptionally well aswell
Combined with a Venture there is no site that can escape your attention.
Eternal Montage
Myriad Sequence
#18 - 2012-12-28 16:09:05 UTC
Mocam wrote:
ISD Cyberdyne wrote:
As many have stated, the Covert Ops ships are excellent exploration ships, and the Pilgrim is a solid T2 exploration cruiser. The T3's are your most versatile, however most skill and cost intensive. I would always recommend you work your way up, sharpening your teeth on T1 variants until you feel comfortable investing in the T2/T3 variants.


Practicing your scanning trade alone with a Probe or other CovOps, and playing around with the Arb or Vexor in lowsec exploration is a great place to start! Best of luck to you!


The problem I have with T2 cruiser logic over T3's is pretty simple.

Training for T3's is about 1 month more time than T2's and that's pretty close to the max extra time.

Costs are a consideration but focusing on earning and you're there - it's not that much longer to get 1.2 billion vs 250 million - about that 1 month training time at a moderate clip (we're talking about making less than 1 billion in a full month - that's the difference).

As such, that T2 will be used for maybe 1 month before it's retired for a T3 to replace it.

It's not a bad way to go (a month is a month after all) but I'd say go from the very cheap T1's, with perhaps T2 exploration frigate - to a T3 is a better option than mixing in other variants with the training those ships will need.


Yeah but, the Pilgrim is cheaper and you can put it in more risky situations. Everything you do in eve should be subject to a risk/benefit analysis before you do it. Even with a t3, a pilgrim or similar t2 still has its place imo.