Missions & Complexes

Been flying some level 4 courier missions requiring some large cargo space. Been using my Mammoth. So, I'm wondering how to properly fit it.

Currently, it's fitted to lower its mass (for faster align/warp) and I stuck a cloak on it; as well as some shield extenders. Haven't had any real problems. A few pirates and/or troublemakers have attempted to target me and I've warped away before they could attack. I realize that probably won't help if I run into an organized gate-camp, but generally speaking...I don't see those in the low-population areas I usually fly in.

Just wondering what people would suggest for this. Thanks.

confirming the prowler is a neat little beast my alt has escaped many good null setup camps and bubbles, or i have been dealing with fail campers either way the t2 indys are great

In my experience with lo sec courier, the covert transport is at its most vulnerable at station camps when you exit the lo sec station. My hairiest experiences have been with station camps.

The main problem is that you will exit too close to the station to cloak and usually going in a direction opposite of where you want to go. The other problem is that the campers will usually litter the exit path with ships or cargo containers to make sure you hit something on the way out to interfere with cloak and alignment, which works very well thanks to the often "interesting" collision model in game that can really mess up a fast getaway. Oh, and they also stay cloaked in the path so you hit them when you get out.

So, you have a fast ghost transport ship that aligns and warps in sub 3 seconds with the right skills/implants which requires from the camping point of you a lot of luck and good skills to target and lock you before you zoom away. Improve your odds by figuring out how you're going to get out of the station BEFORE you dock. There are several solo methods (obviously, if you have a few pvp corp mates with you, things get a lot better real quick).

1) do nothing, rely on your agility, near insta-warp and a good deal of luck so you can align quickly and get out before anyone can target you.

2) fit a mwd and punch it when you exit so you put some distance to cloak, remember that they will see the last direction of travel and often give chase. So the moment you cloak, which you should do the instant you reach 2k from anything, change directions first, I like 90 degrees in a random direction away from the station. Your transport has very high mwd speeds (again, need good nav skills), all it takes is to cycle the mwd once, then hit cloak the moment you are >2k from the nearest object. If you hit something, keep the mwd punched so you accelerate quickly.

3) prior to docking, setup a warp-to point aligned with the exit path of the station as you can insta-warp if you have a point directly in front of the ship. In some cases, you get lucky and there's a planet, field or gate you can warp to, however, in some cases, there is nothing, so create it before you dock. You will insta warp. Helpful to select your destination wp before you undock so you just slam the warp to button when you exit.

When I arrive, I normally warp to 100km off the station cloaked to look for a camp and setup my exit strategy before I dock - I need to see what's going on. I can optionally setup a warp-to point aligned with the exit path of the station. It has to be > 150km out so you can warp to it from the exit ramp. You need to put a waypoint while you're cloaked before you dock of course so you cannot be seen and have to figure this out when it's too late. My first order of business when I arrive is to figure out which way the exit points as that's not always obvious, although you usually get a clue based on where the campers are. Warp to 0 and dock is not a good option in this case because while you will dock, getting out may not be simple.

Lastly, not a good idea to stay in the station for a while, because you won't know what changed outside unless you have a scout with you. Of course, you can always wait patiently and leave the next day as the camp will probably be gone by then, but that usually means no mission bonus because the timer will have expired.

Hope this helps,

z.

Invulnerability Hardener X2, Medium shield extender X3 in the mids
Warp Core Stabilizer X2, Nano X1, Cargo Expander X1


The shield will generally let you survive alphas while still giving you enough cargo to run level 4s. The STABs can hold off two long points or a single scram. Prototype shield in the high optional. This is a very cheap and low-skill fit, suitable for low sec courier missions. A brand new character could train up for this fit very easily.

@Daniel Plain
For those not heavily versed in combat, level 4 distribution missions are a viable alternative to rep grinding.
Distribution missions in high sec are hair-tearingly boring and pay poorly. Low sec dist missions make them more interesting, more rewarding AND if you run a bunch of them, you start to get a good feel for a patch of low sec..in terms of which gates and systems tend to be camped, who the local pirate corps are and their general hours of operaion.

If you intend to live in low sec, running distribution missions there first is a good way to map it out in ways that Dotlan might not be able to say.

In my case, the area I am used to has changed drastically since I last played - the agents that used to give me combat missions, are now Distribution agents and only give out courier missions under the new agent changes. I still run combat missions too, but the level 4 Distribution agents tend to send me into low-sec almost every time.

Over the years, I've gotten pretty good at being careful. But it's hard to be "careful" in an industrial ship. They tend to be too slow to be sneaky, and too fragile to be bold. I've tried piling on hull conversion mods and a cloak. It works pretty well, actually. Fast align and warp, and the cloak is there in case of trouble. But you lose cargo space.

The Prowler looks pretty awesome, despite the huge difference in cargo space from a Mammoth. Just trying to keep myself as safe as possible while avoiding hi-sec as much as possible (Pinstar is correct...hi-sec is seriously dull unless you're only interested in chatting with the locals).

Anyway, thanks again for all the info folks. All very helpful.

Oh, and P.S...while we're on the subject:

Cloaking devices. Can you activate them when you're already targeted and under attack? Haven't had the misfortune of being able to test that yet. And I'm also wondering what kind of actions will break the cloak-effect.

Nope once targeted you can't activate cloak. To break cloak either ECM burst (it's short range - 6km) or plain ecm + alot of luck.


EDIT : to be perfectly clear - once a ship is in the process of targeting your ship you can't cloak, doesn't have to be a complete target.
Also, if you are not skilled for a cloaky hauler fit your T1 for a 10mwd and do the cloak + mwd trick - in low sec this method is equally safe to T2 cloaky (if done correct).

I didn't know there was an 'invulnerability' when you first undock from a base...

Another reason I do courier missions, is because during the work-week, I only have maybe 2 hours per day to play and it's hard to finish a level 4 mission in under 2 hours (right now), so I'd be always forfeiting the bonus, and having to re-clear the stages every day after the maintenance. Which is cool if you're getting bounty...