Ships & Modules

I'm just about starting running level 2 missions for some corporations (grind standing for a bunch of corps) and I don't know which ship use. I can fly Gallente, Amarr and Caldari cruisers. Right now I'm thinking about use some of the following cruiser: Vexor, Thorax, Arbitrator or Caracal. The problem is that after EFT warrioring I'm still not sure which of the four cruisers will be the best one to use. Thorax is nice because of the instant damage of the turrets, caracal looks nice because of the long range of the missiles but its behind in tanking capabilities also the travel time of missiles is something that sometimes makes me mad, vexor and arbi looks very similar and the problem here is the drone travel time and aggro management.


Also after grinding the level 2 missions I'll start grinding the level 3 missions. Which BC should be a nice ship to run those level 3 missions? I know that the Drake is loved by a great part of the players since it has a very good tank and nice damage output, but there are other options that are effective like the Drake? The amarrian BCs look a bit behind since they only do EM/Thermal damage and I will run missions against almost all NPC pirate factions. Myrmidon looks interesting but again the drone management/aggro comes to my mind, maybe a gunboat BC, the Brutix or the Ferox?

Thanks.

Caracal for level 2's and a Drake for 3's.

Punisher for level 2s, Arbitrator for level 3s.

I cross trained all ships up to at least L3 battleships so I could use all factions before I decided who I want to settle with, with also gallente assault frigs (which are fun at least for L3)

That said, it wouldn't matter at all what you go for for L2 missions really, I just used whatever and it worked (L2's being taken within the first week of playing so not knowing much then and quite a while ago I can't really remember, think I just kept splashing out on different stuff until I found something I liked)

Ultimately you want to worry more about what you want for L4's, since when you're doing L3's then you'll just want to move up anyway.

A drake is a very solid ship, some love it, some hate it, some just want to bad mouth it as it's the FoTM type ship but all in all it does it's job and does it well...perhaps a little slow but with L3's, they're all done quickly anyway. The thing is, you can use the drake for L4's also. It tanks great and you have a choice of what damage type you want.

I started out with a domi for L3's (got ahead of myself but meh, got given to me and it worked) and ATM I fly a maelstrom. The damage is great with it and it can do L4's quick, my domi does them slow even though it has more SP assigned to it, however, with that said I feel extremely safe with the domi. If there's a harder mission or whatever, I'll often jump in the domi first. Hybrid weapons suck, but I've only got a couple weapons on it anyway, rest is for drone mods and being able to have lights, meds, heavies and sentries all in there with a mix of other drone goodies is nice. It's a safe bet and can lead you up towards a rattlesnake for pirate factions.

So it's really up to you, ignoring the L2's since it's been a while for myself, and I don't really remember them, I'd go for a drake for L3 or a vexor into Myrm into domi (for L2'-4) (Again, hybrids suck so if going Gallente, you want a drone boat). I've got all BC's and well, my choice as I said would be the drake, but when it comes to L4's I prefer the maelstrom and having the drake won't help you there..so really, I think you should decide what ship y ou want for L4's so you can train it while doing the L3's in the equivalent ship.

I'm running the same on one of my alts.
The drake does wonders in L3s.

Regarding gallente vs caldari ships (never used amarr), they require different skills and use different play style.
I used to run L2s with a vexor, but didn't like it that much. The Caracal even in low missiles skills was easier to go through missions.
Running L3s with a drake is not very fast, but its easy. I'm running them with a less than 1M sp character.

Arbitrators can do level 2s and 3s with relative ease. If you want to upgrade to a BC, and keep it "in the family", I used to use Harbingers and they're great, but IMO overkill for 3s, the Prophecy outfitted similarly is about 15 mil+ cheaper and eats level 3s for breakfast, I never dropped below 60% shields even on the hardest missions in my Prophecy and it cost me 40 mil insured and rigged, whereas Harbies are 33 mil as a base ship.

I've had no trouble doign L2 missions with an armor tanked Maller. I moved up to using a Navy Omen becuase I could but you can get by on the cheep with a t1 module fitted Maller with a TB and a Salv. For the L3 the Harbinger is you friend again as an armor tank and with a TB and Salv or as many as 2 of each for collecting your wrecks quickly.

Noob weighing in here, so take my words with a grain of salt...

But, I found it best to use the Harbinger on Level 2s for grinding standing status. 3s just took far longer, and didn't have a high enough standings reward to justify the increase in time. You can fit it with a MWD and stuff the lows for maximum gank, then blitz through missions. Sure, cruisers work fine. So do frigates, if you're so inclined. But going for overkill got my standing up far faster than I could manage in comparison to slogging through level 3s, which seemed to be a total time waster.

Really, there is no such thing as overkill when grinding status.

Put simply -- if you're just looking for standing and not for isk rewards, shoot for level 2s. Faster completion time, faster access to storyline missions, and overall better for getting access to level 4s. (And obviously, don't neglect the associated social skills. They'll save you many dull hours.)

I've been grinding standings with various corps lately with an ishkur. May not be the fastest, but it's been Hellas fun.

I was a bit away and could'nt answer befora, sorry.
I'm flying a Caracal, very good ship for L2, its very affective. Will probably be flying a Drake in L3.
Someone said that for the purpose of grinding standing it would be more effective to run L2 than L3 can anyone confirm this?