Ships & Modules

I'm at a crossroads and need your help to choose a direction :
22m SP, specialized in drone boats, i used to fly Ishtar, Gila, navy Vexor... My main activity was solo ninja ratting in hostile null sec.

But i am extremly interested in wormspace life, especially fighting sleepers solo in C1-C2 (maybe even C3 ?).
My problem is that i don't know toward which ship aiming for this precise purpose.
I have been often told that drones are bad against sleepers. Maybe it's just rumours ? And do they mean heavies, sentries, or both ?
In that case, maybe i should train toward a T3 cruiser ? but which one ?
Or what about a T2 BC ?
I'm ready to cross train anything, be it hybrid, laser, missiles, projectiles, shield, armor... whatever ! But i want to be sure to train for the best ship for my purpose : solo C1-C2 or even C3.
Thank you in advance for your advices

Ps : please no T1

Since you are flying an Ishtar and a Gila you could train towards both the Proteus or Tengu. With both ships training hybrid turrets would be a must for maximum versatility.

Tengus can solo C1-3s pretty well, a Gila can aswell though.

The rumours you have heard are kind of right. Sleepers have a different AI and attack drones more frequently however if you are paying attention (which you should always be in wh space) then you can recall them when they get aggro.

Make sure you are being red-boxed before you launch your drones and having an EWAR (target painter) on the the sleepers draws their attention more towards you. Frigs are also more likely to go for drones than crusers or battleships.

Personally i find using drones pretty annoying against sleepers since you need to micro manage them, i prefer a tengu but fly what you like to fly.

Interestings answers so far, thank you
If i am to use sentries, i can as well stay in my Ishtar. The trick with a TP or RR is interesting.
But somehow, i find sniping, be it with sentries or turrets or missiles... boring.
I'd love a brawler.
Is there a ship i could use to brawl these sleepers ? Is it a possible tactic ?

This makes no sense. You specialize in sentry pansy boats. You're no brawler.

You want a brawler then the sliepnir is the way to go. It can handle C1 & C2 rapidly and with ease. C3 you'll have to invest in a shield booster of note. You can cheap out w/ XL ASB, but the 400s become problematic for a daytripper.

Deimos is also a good brawler and since you're doing the ishtard thing - you should already have decent skills. Do your fun gland a favor and just walk away from all those sissified drone boats. Cruiser/BC sentry boats are the cause - not the cure.

I solo'd c1's in a Stratios, did C2's with a friend doing Remote reps.

Ishtar could easily solo c2's and maybe even a c3, sleepers arent horrible drone killers like everyone makes them out to be, yeah they switch targets every once in a while so just pull your drones back in an if possible stay close to them.

Proteus would be fine solo in a c3, since you like droneboats I did two c3 sites in a drone boat proteus but wimped out after that because im scared of getting jumped and killed in my ship.

if you want something not hella expensive but that can still pack a punch, give the VNI a try, you need to pay heavy attention to your drones tho because losing one could mess you up.

I like to fly with one heavy DPS flight, salvage drone flight, med flight, and warrior flight. You could drop the med flight for ECM drones to be more safe but if you lose a heavy your severely gimped.

These are just some drone boats that come to mind, personally I dont like the Gila that much for this anymore, but its a solid ship and can probably do c2's solo.

While I agree that the sleeper cruisers are kinda custom made for killing sleeper, a Gila will do just fine up to class 3 - except for sleeper data and relic in a c3 since those are combat c4 sites.

For most sites in a c3 you can use the Phantasm, Gila or Orthrus. I only lost a Gila in a relic site once but none of the other three. You will have even less problems with those pirate ships in the lower classes, you don't even have to move your boat.

(Sidenote, I even ran c3 sites in my Confessor but I was with a corp mate and his svipul, so we were two)

If you venture in a wormhole, don't forget to look up the sites on eve-survival, so you don't mess up the triggers.