EVE New Citizens Q&A

I'm a new pilot in the eve, and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for frigates to use for level 1 missions and fittings?

I fly Gallente right now and have the ships given in tutorials.

I do not have a lot of isk to spend right now and am just looking for a sturdy trustworthy build for missioning.

Actually, fit rails. Blasters are very short range meaning you lose lots of time getting close in, also the npc do damage if you get close so you want to stay at range a bit. Use this and set your "keep at range" context button to 8000, if you have trouble hitting stuff or it starts to hurt a bit, select the target you're shooting and hit the range button.

[Catalyst, newbie]
Small Armor Repairer I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
Tracking Enhancer I

1MN Afterburner I
Stasis Webifier I

125mm Railgun I, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun I, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun I, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun I, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun I, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun I, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun I, Antimatter Charge S
[empty high slot]

[empty rig slot]
[empty rig slot]
[empty rig slot]

All T1 fit:

High power slots:
8x 125mm Compressed Coil Gun I (Antimatter for close range, Iron for mid-range)

Medium power slots:
1x 1MN Afterburner I
1x Cap Recharger I

Low power slots:
1x Small Automated Carapace Restoration
1x Damage Control I
1x Capacitor Power Relay I

Rigs:
1x Small Ancillary Current Router I
2x Small Capacitor Control Circuit I

Drones:
1x Warrior I


Try to use meta level 4 modules where possible (skills, wallet, CPU/PG/Cap). I don't know your skills, but you should be cap stable with all modules running. Use MWD when you get better skills, but only to close the range. Use AB while orbiting only when you have "Destroyers" and/or "Motion Prediction" trained well.

EDIT: forgot to mention - it's a Catalyst fit

The first thing I will say about fits - is that each fit is designed to be used in a specific manner. Take a fit that is designed to be used one way - try and use it in another - and you may well have a problem ... So - when you look at a fit - figure out what it does - and see if that is the way you want to use your ship. If not - use a different fit. There is no one right way to do things. It all depends on your goals and play style. Don't play someone elses game - play your own (unless of course you are in a fleet - then do what the FC says).

The discussion below is about PVE (mission running).


1) The Ships & Modules forum is a good place to look as ship fits is what it's all about.

2) There are two philosophies of engaging rats - Brawling and Kiting - keep in mind that Level I rats are mostly armed with short range, powerful weapons but still need to swarm you to be effective. Normally you should have no trouble with Level I missions in a destroyer - but - if you let yourself get swarmed you just might.

a) Brawling - you fit short range powerful weapons and a good tank - then dive right into them, relying on your ability to destroy them faster than they can break your tank. If you can pull that off - you'll kill them faster this way - if you can't pull it off you may need to warp out and repair and if you're not careful - or new and don't understand the approaching ship types and how powerful they are - you might lose a ship. Missionns such as Worlds Collide and Gone Berzerk can swarm you with rats.

b) Kiting - you approach the rats at an angle if there is more than one cluster of them, closing to the outside of one of the fringe groups so that you only agro one group at a time. Once you gain their agro (they start blinking at you) then you turn away - and use your after burner to control the range of the engagement. Since most low level mission rats use powerful, short range weapons - if you keep out of their range they can't touch you. This is the safer but less exciting way to kill the rats. Kite them properly and you need never fear any Level I mission. If you ever have to warp out - it is because you screwed up. Since you have rails your tracking isn't as good - so - by keeping the enemy to your stern and shooting over it - you minimize your deflection.


3) Weapons - Brawling: I don't brawl - so I'll not make recomedations here.

4) Weapons - Kiting: I kite. Now - if kiting is all about getting your range over the rats and/or hitting them with your best ammo while still out of their range - I have found working with such as five 150mm Rails works better for me than using eight 125's. The 150's pack a bigger punch individually and you are killing the rats so fast that the 125's greater rate of fire has less of a channce to come into play. The greater range of the 150's also allows you to use Anti-mater out to 18-20k meters and Iridium or Iron out to the limit if your targeting range.

5) Engagement Range: I prefer to have a nice cushion between my ability to deal good damage to the rats and their ability to hit me at all. Thus - I tend to engage them from 18 - 30 thousand meters. That way - if I make a mistake - I've got that extra cushion to get myself out of it before getting swarmed. Also note that if you do end up fighting someone that has a webber - and you can stay out of webbing range - they can't tackle you - which works better against rats than other people.

6) Tank - I tend to put some armor on the ship to give me a chance to get self out of trouble, an armor repairer to fix it ad a Damage Control Unit to give me some resistance to damage and that 50% reduction in damage to you hull. Now - there are several places where this is useful. a) the acceleration gate dumps you into a bunch of **** and you have to AB your way out of their before your rail guns can become effective. b) you get webbed by the stasis tower in Blockade and need some time to kill it so you can move again.

7) Controling the Engagement - I fly my ship. I don't trust some computer that litterally has rocks for brains to do it. This requires a little practice but is worth while (IMHO). Use your AB's to speed up and get distance from the rats - then turn them off until you need to gain some distance on them again. Watch your Capacitor if you're new. If you are running the AB and something else it's easy to exhaust your cap. Training your navigational skills - in addition to Energy Management and Energy Systems Operation will help with your cap.


8) Fit -

Catalyst

Lows

200mm Rolled Tungsten
Small Armor Repairer
DCU


Mid

Cold Gas Arc Jet Thrusters (Experimental now I think)
Option slot


Highs

150mm Rail
150mm Rail
150mm Rail
150mm Rail
150mm Rail
-
-
-

Rigs

None

Drone

Hobgoblin - or other depending on rat type.



Now ... about that Mid slot I labled as an option ... You can put a tracking computer in there or webber to slow fast rats that catch you - but one thing that I've found useful was a Civilian Shield Booster. Here - you hardly ever take damage to your armor - so this will speed up toping off your shields before going on to the next zone in the mission - just be aware that you are using your cap to do that - and - don't mistake this as being part of your tank - because it isn't.


.

Lots of guys like the 125's better but I think it's mostly because thhey hate empty slots. *shrug*

My counter argument was, as I said -

That with the added range of the 150's you had less to worry about getting swarmed.

I warnned them about keeping an eye on their AB and how to increase their capacitance.

I also mentioned that you could decrease the amount that tracking matters by shooting over your stern, although I didn't go into the details of that - which are - look at your ship from the stern, note the direction of the enemy fire and line yourself up with it - this will also put you on a course to get away from them as fast as possible - if you have more than one attacker - then line your self up with the center of their attack. Now - be aware that while this makes them easier for you to hit - it also makes you easier for them to hit - so - this is a tactic to be used by ships with greater tracking problems than the ships that are attacking them - not ships that have better tracking.

As to the difference in tracking between the 125's and the 150's - it's not enough to really matter - they both have poor tracking as opposed to the shorter rage weapons - like blasters. Since both have less effective tracking than a shorter range weapon - I prefer to maximize the advantages of the 150 and forgo the added tracking benefits of the 125's.

I also mentioned that if you were caught in a mess - that having a good tank - the 200mm Armor, Armor Repairer and DCU - would help you get out of it. If you've got a good tank it should last long enough to get you clear of the rats.

Now I didn't menntion that you should carry 3 types of charges - short, medium (or so) and long range. Start the mission with the short range charges loaded as that will give you the best killing power. If you get dumped into some **** - then you've got your close range charges already loaded - whereas - if you come in at range - you'll have time to load your long range charges.


As to FNG friendly fitting - I've got over 4 accounts with most of them fully populated with characters - and have hence run hundreds and hundreds of Level I missions. The biggest problem with cap that you have - is if you are trying to run your AB and Armor repairer at the same time - so any cap problems you can have with 125's you can have with 150's. The only cure for your cap problems - short of improving your cap skills - is to PAY ATTENTION. Use your AB when you NEED to use it and turn it off when you don't. Leaving it on - is what causes the most problems.

Which gets to the point - AGAIN - about the extra range of the 150's. That extra range allows you to screw up more and The "Opps they're closing on me!" phnomena is less of a crisis if you have more time to react to it.


As I said before - this is a fit that I have found works well for *me*. If someone else is more cofortable with the 125's then those will work too - I just prefer the 150's.

The point with every fit you use - is to understand WHY you are using what you are using. Why did you put on a tank as opposed to DPS mods? The stuff you put on there is going to effect how you use your ship. Fit your ship the way you intend to use it and use it the way you fit it.


Lastly, one of the purposes of posting a fit like this - is to point out that you don't have to use all your module slots. Just because you have a slot there - doesn't mean you have to use it. You can - but use it because you have a REASON to use it ... other than the fact that it's empty.

THINK about what you are doing. When you read a fit - note each module in it and not merely what that module does - but how it interacts with the other modules. A fit should be designed to be used in a specific way.


.

And now OP has two fits, knows our concerns, can try both of them and decide which is better for him. Really, there's no one universal, good-for-everyone fit, so the more propositions, the better.

BTW (to the OP) , you can always refit before the mission. If you feel that i.e. blasters will be more efficient in that particular mission, fit them. It's good to have at least few different fits saved, each for different situation. And one more thing - don't fly something you cannot afford to lose. That applies not only to the ship, but also (and later - especially) to modules. A shiny module for 1kk looks interesting, but it's a bad idea if you have only 1.5kk in your wallet. In the beginning, fit can double the price of a ship (that's often the case for destroyers, since turrets can be very expensive).