Missions & Complexes

I'm in dire need of a good setup for running L4s with a friend that's very new to EVE. He can barely fly caldari destroyer with some light missiles and T1 tank.

My main on the other hand can fly all combat subcaps except Marauders, from all races, all weapon systems (T2 sentries/heavies included); any fit would be at least 95% of "All V" in terms of efficiency. However, I wouldn't want to spend more than 400m on a fit.

Now, since I haven't ran missions in a very long time and with the latest NPC AI craze, I'm not really sure of how to approach this. So

- is this setup Low SP+high SP viable? Can I draw aggro with my main without my friend being in danger of instapopping?
- what ship pair could we use? We intend to have him shoot the small targets while I deal with the big ones

*I'm a lazy player, I hate micromanagement and manual flying.

I would get him into a overtanked drake, although some cruiser might work also, if you fly, say, a dominix with a remote repper to two to put on him and he orbits you.

Heh, you got the point, I want him to feel involved a bit more than a glorified janitor and to get the taste of combat. I know he can do L2s for that as well but I wanted him to earn some iskies as well (we'd split 50/50).

As for the suggestion of getting him in a drake, that's too far, his char is just 5 days old.

Obviously, if L4s are no good, I can always scale down to L2s for a while; just thought it would be nice to earn decently at the same time.

I don't know how well it wold work but possiblly bring along a set of Logi drones, assign them to his destroyer, and use an autocannon machariel to keep the really heavy stuff at bay. large shield drones or 5 mediums should buff his tank to the point that he doesn't instapod.

^this

If anything, it'll make him feel like the lvl2s he's doing isn't worth his time after leeching lvl4s off you. He'll stop playing while skill queues pile up. After it's done he'll lose interest and go somewhere else.

The best thing you can do is get him into a good noob corp where he can run lvl2s with others of the same lvl.

Wait at least until he can do lvl3s before letting him into lvl4s with you. The goal has to be attainable. It's too far away at his current lvl2.

How about you get your friend on a RLML caracal and have him take care of the frigates so you can concentrate on the bigger ships? I had an alt sit on one of these and it was a real help. Just pack a flight of shield drones just in case.

That said, if you do all the work it's going to be very boring for your friend. Warp in, burn towards the enemy, rat pops when they get in range or they can't break the tank. That's why I think it would be better to get him in a specific role like anti-frigate or logi. If neither works drop the mission level and go run something more suitable for your friend. Lastly, there's the salvage alternative. Having a noctis follow you around can bring in a good amount of loot. The downside is that noctis has to wait in the previous room and it can be boring too.

When I was training up an alt, I used to have him flying a Destroyer in L4s with me as a frigate killer and salvager. I lost a lot of a lot of Catalysts.

It really only takes a few days to get into a T1 fit drake, or any BC, which will serve you both better than anything smaller. I have assisted a number of new players and anything less than a cruiser with low skills is just not going to make it. Carry some logi drones and a remote repper to keep them alive and a cruiser works out OK if it is long range fit.

As others have statwd dont get him used to lvl 4 mission income until he can contribute more and possible find someone else to run them with or he'll just become dependant on you to play the game. I would recommend grabbing a couple of destroyers and doing the sisters of eve epic arc together. Its a good introductory story.