Ships & Modules

Yeah, you're going to have to be way more specific for anyone to say anything remotely helpful.

What kind of PVE?

Well, this is pure theory, but I'd say this :

- First, drones : 2 mediums and 3 lights of your favorite flavor as your attack wing, 1 heavy repair bot to patch them up after combat.
- Then, drone boosting modules : 1 drone damage amplifier in low, 1 drone navigation computer and omnidirectionnal tracking link in med.
- Finally, patch the holes : afterburner, railguns/blasters, drone link augmentor, armor repairer, maybe a plate ?

On paper, the ship looks paper thin with good offense, but I just bought one and I'm still thinking about a fit ...

Keep in mind that drones took a huge hit with the new NPC AI, so I don't really know if it's viable ...

I'll get back to you later, after some tests

Well, I've been running a bunch of level 2 missions in a "lolfit" Algos, the only one that caused a headache was The Blockade against Guristas, I was jammed for two minutes in a row, and the waves kept coming ... had to warp out once or twice to break the jamming cycle. Here's my fit :

Highs : 5x 75mm railgun T2 with Spike S + 1x Salvager II

Mediums : 1 MN Afterburner II, Omnidirectional Tracking Link II, Drone Navigation Computer II

Lows : Drone Damage Amplifier II, Small Armor Repairer II, Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II

Rigs : Small Drone Speed Augmentator I, 2x Small Processor Overclocking Unit I (need the cpu rigs to online everything)

Drones : 5x Salvage drone 2 Mediums and 3 Lights of the right damage type for the mission.

~200 DPS with my drone skills, plus ~65 DPS from the guns, optimal of 16kms and falloff of 19 kms, I'm eating cruisers, destroyers and frigates for breakfast, and I rarely got into armor ... that the small rep can patch if needed.

I think that with a cloak instead of the Salvager in highs, it could even be a decent belt ratter in low sec, the 350m³ of cargo hold + salvage drone mean it can operate for a long time roaming space.

EDIT : no way to fit an Improved Cloaking Device II on it, a Prototype Cloaking Device I will have to do ... stay tuned for more tests tomorrow !

I think you have to have good drone skills to make this ship really sing. I like

5 x hobgoblin, 5 salvage drone, 2 backup combat drones
Rigs: Small drone durability, Small Processor Overclocking Unit I + whatever else
Low: Drone damage amp II, DC II, power diagnostic II,
Mid: Limited 1 mn MWD, Adaptive Invulnerability II, Med Azeotropic ward
High: small tractor and/or whatever else fits (something long range helps)

It seems to me that the best tank for this ship is distance, and with good drone skills you should be able to stay 30 - 50 km out form target. I have used this ship effectively this way in solo L3 missions and low sec. ratting - both with ease.

Yup, and they do a tremendous job too !

The silly thing is, I had the skill for them trained 3 years ago ... and they came in Retribution !

Selling a bunch of those in Lonetrek BTW, cheapish ...

I have tested them on mission wrecks, they can access up to BS wrecks in L4 missions, even if they need a couple of cycles ... nice addition to the game.

I don't know, sorry ... they can salvage "elite" wrecks in missions, but I don't have any PvP experience with them

Yes they can. I havent met any wreck they cant salvage yet. Then again, i have only tried it on AF one, mebbe larger wrecks are no go.

Logical, and I didn't even think of it ... time to uncheck "focused fire" and manually direct them ... thank you ! (for pointing the obvious to my delirious brain)