Missions & Complexes

Sup

So I had a fairly long break (give or take a year) and wonder, what the avg isk/hour for running L4s these days/is it worth doing?

And what would be a decent ship to run em in, I can fly any Caldari and Amarr ships up to Battleships (no tech2 BS yet), can only do L4s in Caldari Space for now, no tech2 Cruise/Torpedoes yet though, all t2 lasers available, support skills more or less equal for both can use tech2 drones etc. Looking at give or take 500ish Million ISK tops for a ship.

Any suggestions/help/alternatives would be highly appreciated.

LvL 4's "average" Isk/hr isn't as easy to list as different play styles and bigger wallets make the numbers range. I would say as an average you are looking at anywhere from what Brazys said of about 20-30 mil/hr for a T1 (weapons) fitted BS/T2 (weapons) fitted BC doing somewhere in the neighborhood of 650-800 DPS output. Those of us who have been around long enough to have the skills/Isk for a properly shiny Pirate BS/Maurader with full T2 (weapons) pushing 1500+ DPS can and do make 40-60+ mil/hr.

As for ship type, Raven/CNR is a time honored staple for LvL 4's and it's about to get a boost in DPS with the Cruise Missile buff of ~30% Damage increase. That also fits within your skill set and area of missions (Caldari). Really fly what you're good at/enjoy and fit it with mission spec resists/damage (for those who can change damage type) and you should be fine.

As far as ships are concerned, if your total budget for hull and fitting and rigging is in the 500M range, your best bet might be a standard Raven, due to its versatility (it can throw all types of damage, and mount a credible active shield tank against just about any adversary if you can use Tech II hardeners and shield boost amplifiers). It's not the most efficient ship, but you can use it until you can afford a Navy Raven and transfer the fits over. (The Navy Raven's currently running in the 400-450 million ISK range for the hull alone.) For offense, you'll probably want to invest in Caldari Navy Ballistic Controls; for defense, a Dread Guristas XL Shield Booster is a great value (equal performance to the CN XL booster at less than half the cost).

An alternative favorite mission runner is the Tengu, but I'm not sure an effective mission-running Tengu can be put together within that 500M budget. And Amarr T1 battleships have the problem that they're locked into EM/thermal damage, and you'll all too often find yourself shooting into the rats' peak resist. (One of the most lucrative missions I've found in Caldari space has been Angels Extravaganza, but Angels have heavy EM/thermal resists.)

Another variant you might look at is the Scorpion Navy Issue (about 300M for the hull these days); it has the advantage of a resistance bonus that gives it a massive tank, but doesn't have quite the range of a standard Raven or the raw punch of a CNR. On the other hand, with those resistance bonuses, you can fit a Raven-quality tank and still have room for target painters and the like.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ali1ztDnusURdGZ6d0s0dVpFMVFGM1Zpa1owcXpwX0E#gid=0

Sure you cant run missions without any breaks between them but you can get very close to my theoretical per minute income in that sheet.

The primary goal is to fly for a NPC Corp that sells items with a good ISK/LP relation.

That sheet is calculated with 1000 ISK/LP i never sell my LP store bought items under 3000 ISK/LP.

Forget to mention i am flying a Paladin, system sec = 0.6 and if there isnt to much Tracking disruption Sansha, Bloodraider, Drones and Mercs melt like a piece of butter in desert.

Mission with non matching damage and resist profiles e.g. AE i skip normally.

T3's can be expensive, but they can blitz 4's well
The Tengu is a good goto mission hull, it's not the best, it's not the fastest, but it will get the job done.





But as you place a high priority on isk/hr, the Tengu probably isn't for you.
Enjoy your new job, in whichever ship you decide to fly.

Running solo, I make about 20mil an hour off of bounties in most situations (about 5-6 mil per tick). This goes up a bit if you loot/salvage as well. I have middle of the road combat skills (T1 guns, T2 tank) and fly an AC maelstrom in Minmatar space, primarily against angels and mercenaries.

In my experience, a close range brawler will yield more isk/hour, but you are at a greater risk (IE you screw up aggro, everyone is shooting and webbing you right then and there). Snipe fits are (again, in my experience) slower but safer. When I started running L4s I flew as a sniper, then transitioned to autocannons for better DPS/tank as my skills allowed. If you can handle it, this might be the way for you to go, but if you loose a ship you will immediately be back several days or weeks, depending on how often you play and what you flew.

Which pirate ship or marauder is capable to do 1500+ DPS?

The ones in EFT.