Ships & Modules

you obviously know that tengu eats nighthawk for breakfast but at least your fit is cheap. if i were you i mihgt consider fitting a dcu and one invul to have a little better omnitank for when you get jumped but that's just a random thought.

edit: if you're tight on cpu try a fourth bcu and 2x purgers, maybe it's better

You can get very high kinetic and thermal resists on Nighthawk, so a cheap faction booster should do it. I use a Republic Fleet medium shield booster on my Tengu and half of the time I don't even have to run it. Even a T2 booster should be enough if you pay some attention and use an afterburner to mitigate missile damage.

I would drop this passive shield recharge however, it is really not needed. Instead, try to get your sensor strength up, it gets very annoying once Guristas start to jam you. I have always one midslot for ECCM reserved.

[Nighthawk, plex]
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
[empty low slot]
Damage Control II

Kinetic Deflection Field II
Kinetic Deflection Field II
ECCM - Gravimetric II
Republic Fleet Medium Shield Booster
10MN Afterburner II

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

Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer II
[empty rig slot]

Basically this should be enough for all Gurista plexes in lowsec. You can put in the remaining slots whatever you want. I would try to get this capstable maybe because if you get jammed, you have to endure for a while under NPC fire. Otherwise, NIghthawk and Tengu have no problems at all clearing Gurista plexes.

Don't get a nighthawk... Ship is pure garbage. Do yourself a favor and just get a drake, you will notice almost no difference unless you're fighting kin/therm heavy rats in which case the nighthawk like all caldari and gallente t2 does very well.

Think you have killed your own argument here my friend. 10-25% better which is arguable at that.... Now look at the cost difference, sp difference, as well as lack of insurance... You really want to spend 5x more on an "uninsurable" ship that gives you hardly an performance increase in lowsec?

Stop being daft...

The nighthawk is a fine ship, though I think CCP should increase its dps a bit, its silly a t3 cruiser out dps'es it. That said, passive nighthawk is fine if you need the buffer, it tanks a great deal and is fairly safe from ganks. Active shield nighthawk has much higher dps but not so much buffer and is weak to neuts. Personally I like the passive nighthawk when in fleets as I can still chew up the small to mid targets very fast while the gang takes out the larger ships. Calling it garbage or saying a drake is better is ridiculous.

That fit will work, but if you're using the NH because you don't want to spend isk on a tengu, then drop the faction stuff and tech 2 rig, keep it cheap.

You can go with an active tank and get a little more DPS out of the fit but either way is fine really.

BTW, A drake will work well enough if you're just trying to get used to low sec or whatever.