Missions & Complexes

I heard people say drake -> tengu is better than raven -> CNR, is this still true?

For Lvl 4's I tried the Scorp Navy Issue and dismissed it.

However, I recently discovered a new love (or maybe just a new somewhat liking) of the Scorp Naval Issue for Null sec anoms. The extra resistance seems to allow more staying power in higher level anoms without having to warp out. Warping out in 0.0 is less convenient because because you can't just dock at a station like you can in Highsec and get insta shields and cap back. You have to sit and WAIT.

When you say a couple of days I hope you're just talking about the Caldari Battleship skill.

I can't say much about the Tengu since I don't fly one but I think the Drake is better for newer pilots

Depends what you need it for. Tengu is better in a large variety of situations from exploration to those pesky level 4s where the acceleration gate is 40 km away, but when it comes to sheer damage output on large targets (Cruiser and up), CNR wins hands down, no questions asked and at 200 km, if you can target your enemies that far out :) Problem is, people take a CNR, because they heard it's great, fit it like crap with bad skills and then cry when they deal less damage than in a Drake.

On the other hand, Tengu's multirole use can come in handy when you want to do more than just missioning. So think carefully what you want to do and pick accordingly. Or, you can do it like me and get both, then use them in what they're good for.

My transition for L4's went Raven > CNR > Golem. I can't believe that this hasn't been mentioned yet. The transition into a Marauder is pretty natural from flying a Caldari BS.

The Golem is an absolute beast for L4's, it just sucks at pretty much everything else.

5/6 rounds of Torpedoes destroys most BS's.
1/2 shot Cruisers / Destroyers.
Drones for Frigates.

High slots -
Torp Launcher II x 4

Med slots -
2 x Target Painter
3 x Mission specific hardeners
1 x Large Shield Booster
1 x Large Shield Boost Amplifier

Low slots -
3 x BCU
1 x Damage Control

I average around 8/10 mil ISK per tick in bounties.

I am building a mission-runner alt and plan to use them to grind up corp standings (which probably means L3's rather than L4's). Training time, and even profit, matters less to me than speedily burning through missions in order to rack up standings. Oh, and once that's done the character will be used for PvP. :o

So, based on what you say here, I would be better off going for a Navy Raven rather than a Tengu for this purpose?

Because, quite frankly, I don't like the Golem. I mean, it's a decent ship when big targets are close, but when you have to shoot stuff that's 100 km away and more, it just plain sucks. It packs up a lot of theoretical dps, but when you actually have to apply it on something else than BS... so I can kill cruisers in one shot? Awesome, now I just need to wait 2 more launcher cycles to reapply target painters! Meanwhile the CNR/Tengu/Machariel will proceed to tear apart their targets at almost the same speed.

Long story short, it's just not worth the hassle to enjoy those 2-3 missions you might do a wee bit faster than competition.

@bree: grats on a solid, graceful choice. It may not be the fastest killer, but it's definitely one of the most graceful designs in game and easy on skills as well. May your investment serve you many hours.

The CNR usually sucks up isk and ends up needing dead-space mods to be better then the Scorpion Navy Issue. The scorpion navy issue however can fit plenty of tank while still having all 3 rigs free for missile rigs and not cost you billions of isk

The Tengu is not a bad ship. It is certainly up there in terms of missioning. HOWEVER.

1. Its tank is based on speed. If you get webbed, you're going to get mauled.
2. Its DPS is limited to Kinetic damage. The second you need to shoot anything else, it becomes an inferior choice.
3. It doesn't have any drones. If you need to kill frigates, you have to target and shoot every one of them.

I have a preference for a Caldari Navy Raven because it does not suffer from any of those problems.

1. It's tank is based on pulsing a shield booster, not on speed. It doesn't matter if you're sitting completely still, you can still tank those level 4s.
2. It has about the same DPS as a Tengu... and then it has drones on top of that. 3 Rigor rigs and a target painter mean you can apply that damage to cruisers quite nicely.
3. It has drones. Target one frigate at the start of the mission and tell your drones to kill it. Ignore frigates for the rest of the mission.



The CNR does not require pimping. A pure T2 fit will give you all the tank you need, and more DPS than a scorpion. And you can fit a target painter and use all three rigs for Rigors to apply your DPS to cruisers.

I'd like to see this mythical SNI fit that does more DPS than a ship with the same damage bonus and an extra launcher.

Just so you can EFT it, here's mt T2 (mostly) fit:

[Raven Navy Issue, PvE]
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Drone Damage Amplifier II

Heavy Capacitor Booster II, Cap Booster 800
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron
Large Shield Booster II
Kinetic Deflection Field II
Thermic Dissipation Field II
Thermic Dissipation Field II

Cruise Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Cruise Missile
Cruise Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Cruise Missile
Cruise Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Cruise Missile
Cruise Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Cruise Missile
Cruise Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Cruise Missile
Cruise Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Cruise Missile
Cruise Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Cruise Missile
[empty high slot]

Large Warhead Rigor Catalyst I
Large Warhead Rigor Catalyst I
Large Warhead Rigor Catalyst I


Hobgoblin II x5
Hammerhead II x5

There's no doubt that a SNI tanks better, but who cares? My CNR doesn't die and it does a full 20% more damage.