EVE New Citizens Q&A

Hello.

Yesterday I bought a PLEX and activated multiple character training with the idea that this character would use it to train skills for Faction Warfare. However based on advice and recommendations I have received I have decided to do it on my main who has 7mil SP instead.

I am using my main to run missions currently so I might potentially have an ISK gap. I know it is possible to make ISK in FW, but at the very least it will take me some time before I can earn enough to cover my losses.

I am therefore going to use this alt to run missions instead. My main is trained in Gallente ships, so ideally I dont want to use this alt to fly Gallente. That leaves me with Caldari, Minmatar and Amarr.

It would seem that the possible options for mission runner is:

Minmatar: Typhoon or Maelstrom (Typhoon looks Kickass!)
Amarr: Abbadon(wow...), Apocalypse and Armageddon
Caldari: Raven and Rokh(wow...)

Ideally I should be able to train to fly one of them within the next 30 days, though I do know that I would probably have to PLEX it another month to become really effective at it.

If you were in my situation with 30 days to train to fly a L4 Battleship, what ship would you choose to go for and what fit?

My order of preference for the above ships (based on looks) would be:
1. Typhoon
2. Abbadon
3. Rokh
4. Everything Else

P.S. I don't have to have the best possible with the best possible fitting. I want a ship that would be capable of doing it, and doing it well enough that I wont be in danger of exploding upon warp in. If it takes a little longer, then it takes a little longer! I dont play this game to min/max, I play it to have fun (and yes, I find running missions surprisingly fun, but then again I do 2 or 3 a day max)

P.P.S. I like playing my current ship on main as a MJD + Sniper, so would like to do that again on this alt.

I only have the one account. One character for FW and another for PVE.

Use the buddy invite system to start another account, 21 days for free, sub it for a month, cheaper than the cost of a plex and you can play both toons at the same time, which comes in handy.

On the which to train question it seems that missile boats are quite popular for missions due to being able to switch damage types, much the same as drones but you don't lose/gain range or damage amount.

Because I enjoy the PvE aspect of EVE as well even though it is 'unpopular' to admit that I enjoy being a carebear too. I bought the PLEX on the market, with ISK that I made myself ingame. I enjoy being self sufficient. Last time I played I funded myself with PLEX that I bought for real cash, and it killed the enjoyment for me so I quit playing. This time I made ISK ingame and I am loving it.

I made a skill plan for a sniping MJD Domi once as part of a discussion of how fast you could get into L4 missions, as a side effect to using drones it would also be ok efficient as soon as you got the ship skill (plan of course used remap (incl 1 bonus) and grouped training)

5 months - and its guns still mostly untrained if I remember correctly - but remapped into getting BS IV-V and guns trained.

I don't think you are gonna get anywhere with 1 PLEX for MCT.

RNI/Golem for Caldari.

Don't take a T1 tank BS for missions, you are there to kill.

just make a duct-taped sentry domi

faction sentries and MJD, the only important skills to max would be drone sharpshooting V and gallente BS 4.

None of the others will be anywhere near effective as this boat in that time.

Personally, I used the 20 day MCT for my other account to try and train a passive-tanked rattlesnake; as it turns out, I looked at it and decided it would be best to keep it going to fill out on a few skills, so I got myself an additional MCT.

For some reason I trained CPU and PGM to V almost right of the bat, but really all you'd need is Shield Rigging, the pre-requisites for Heavy Drones and Sentries. Then you have shield tank skills; Energy Grid Upgrades at 3/4 for the power relays, Shield Upgrades for the Rechargers, Tactical Shield Manipulation for the active fields. Additionally, filling out the pre-requisites for the MJD is also a good idea ( Edit: This would be mandatory, as you're going for a sniper fit). After that, skills like Drone Interfacing and Avionics if you can spare the time (although I'd make Avionics a priority), as well as Weapon Upgrades to 4 for the t2 damage amps.

From there it's just a case of levelling up the Gallente and Caldari trees until you have both battleship skills. Note (if this wasn't already obvious) that this is for a purely drone-based set-up, there just isn't the time to get decent missile skills as well, although I'd like to add that it only takes a few hours to train into medium/large remote reps if you really want to fill out the high slots (as I did).

I'd start off with levelling the spaceship command skills until you've got the required skills, maybe level up Caldari Battleship to 3 for a few extra resist points. After that, you can plan the tank and drone skills accordingly... it wouldn't be good to train too much of that first, only to find out that your MCT runs out 1 hour before your last battle-cruiser skill is about to hit level 3. Finally, I'd recommend getting faction sentries for the extra DPS if you need to snipe, seeing as it's only 2 per group and they're virtually indestructible with the Rattler's hull bonus.

And now, I wait with baited breath for someone to lay into me about a critical skill that I may have missed, or that it's simply not possible to get all that done in 30 days... (RIP finger-tips)

Second Edit: With a Gecko, the fit I came up with gets 690 dps. If you're purely focused on sniping, then you can save the 2 or so days I spent on getting Heavy Drone Operation to level 4. I haven't checked the DPS without a gecko in the drone bay, I'll do that the first chance I get. So far, nothing's gotten the shield below 60% (and that was up close and personal) so if you're sniping mainly, the tank won't be a problem.

With 30 days to train I agree with the level 3 mission ship instead. 30 days to train a level 4 character is possible but I do not think you would be as ISK effective as running 3's. Just my thoughts on this part.

Which ship?
I fly with others that use all of the ships you listed and they are all capable mission runners but most of them lack in some areas.

Do you plan on running missions in a specific area of EvE, if so what area?
Or are you likely to fly in many areas?
The answers to these would have a large impact on which ship I would recommend.

You can not efficiently or even safely run level 4s in 30 days.

Not true, there will just be certain L4s you shouldn't do.

If you just B-line for your chosen Battleship and get the requires skills to minimum or passable levels, you can fit the ships well enough to do most L4 missions. Hell, a good deal of them can be done in Battlecruisers.

Skip Worlds Collide, Massive Attack and [pirate] Extravaganza. The rest are doable with a shitfit.

It's not recommended, but certainly doable.