Skill Discussions

Hi guys !
I wanted to ask you about which minimum skills I need before I'll upgrade from Dessy to cruiser.

My character is for Security agent missions and right now I'm flying the dragoon (doing the career agent hubs for relations+cash while leveling up skills finished 8\12 hubs).

Basically right now I'm training destroyer 4 + 5 (finish in 9 days) for the ship skill updates this summer (got all faction frigs to rank 3 already).

my main weapon skill is Drone tree. I got drones V and around 350K SP invested there, my secondary is gunnery where I got gunnery IV and variety of support skills.

before I move up to my brand new arbi for solo Agent 2 missions and doing L3\4 with my corps members which skills is a MUST to train for it?

if you need me to specify my rank in any given skills just ask though I think you can see my skills\certifications on my profile.

thanks!

Keep doing what you're doing. The more skills in Drones the better if you're going to continue that progression. A few other suggestions:

- Obviously, Amarr Cruiser. Take it to III at least.
- I'd train for Remote Armor Repair if you haven't yet. With the new AI, your drones are going to get shot up, so you're going to want to be able to repair their non-regenerating tank. Stick one or two in your highs, your drones should be your DPS.
- You can train Tracking Disruption, I think the Arbi still has a bonus to that. It probably won't help much in PvE, but it's pretty popular in PvP right now.
- You may have trouble with the L3/4s. The AI now seems to pick on the lightest tank, which you're almost certainly going to have if you are bringing a cruiser into those missions.

-P.S. For L2s, I wouldn't bother fielding T2 drones. A full flight of T1s should be plenty enough to murder most things on the field (particularly if you have good skills). T2s are too expensive for those missions giving the risk of your drones getting popped.

I haven't done it in a while, but I remember fitting Medium Lasers is sometimes a ***** on the Cruisers. They may have changed the fitting requirements since then. You can certainly keep using lasers, but it will mostly be to try to maintain aggro or blap frigates that are burning straight toward your ship from range. Once tjhey get close to you, you're not going to be able to hit much, particularly with beams.

Once you get into your Arbi, just take it out and see which you prefer. T1 drones are a dime a dozen, so experimenting shouldn't be a problem.

As to your last question, I'd definitley work on your laser skills. While future BS rebalancing may change it, the Amarr don't currently have a dedicated drone Battleship yet, so you're going to need laser skills (they all build off each other) if you want to sit in a battleship.

Try to get T2 light drones asap, but do not neglect training drone support skills. The additional weapons on the Dragoon / Arbitrator / Prophecy line are just an addon. Personally I prefer missiles for damage projection and cap usage. Fighting at range allows you to focus your skill training on damage first, which I personally consider as beneficial for new characters with low skillpoints.

Edit: But I should add, that I'm a true Khanid zealot .

If you want to get into frigate PVP, absolutely train your small laser skills to get T2 Pulse + Scorch.

You can fit small lasers on a cruiser. I put small beams on an Abaddon once and ran a hi-sec anomaly for laughs once. The main issue is small lasers have garbage range for a cruiser. Granted, your drones are your DPS, so it shouldn't be a major issue. You'll also have plenty of CPU and PG to get away with weird firring shennanigans (oversized plates, etc).

Also, note that there are some L1 missions that won't let you take a cruiser in, so make sure you've got the correct ship before accepting (World's Collide being one of the more notable, I don't even think you can take a destroyer in that one).

I'm not sure I would recommend bringing an Arbi into a L4. L3s are possible, but probably iffy. If your corp mates jump in first and draw aggro, you may be able to get away with jumping in after and shredding the frigates.

It should be fine for L2s.

You're not going to get your drones much further than 50 km. Long range drones, the snipers are sentries. You need a bigger boat than an arbi to use sentries.

That TD bonus wasn't useful for missions anyway. Good decision. The skillset's the same really, you're just saving yourself the trouble of stopping to skillup amarr cruiser IV and V until later when you want T2 cruisers.

Sounds like a great idea Nalelmir. By the time you've become familiar with your prophecy, it well be time to move up to a battleship class hull. You're already on the right track. Your Prophecy should be fine for level 3s and probably level 4s with good tank skills.

they aren't free skill points as you can't reallocate them, they are just for show but it will mean you cut down your training time a little if you plan to fly all 4 races destroyers and battlecruisers.

If you want to go even further you'll want to train leadership 5 and subsequently warfare link specialist 4 and inject command ships before odyssey since that's changing as well.

leadership 5 is an extremely useful skill if you ever plan to fleet with anything so it's not a complete waste.

As for the arbitrator question:

t2 light drones and drone interfacing IV (preferable V but hey that's a 25 day train) along with most drone support skills to 4 (sharpshooting, navigation etc).

amarr cruiser 4

navigation 5 (will help on every ship you ever fly)

acceleration control 4 (5 is preferred however it's a long train)

afterburner 4 (for tech 2 ab)

Hull upgrades 5 (essential for armour tanking)

xxx armour compensation 4 (5 is preferable as the last level is more important than the first however that can come later)

mechanics 4 (5 preferable)

engineering 5 (essential)

electronics 5 (essential)

repair systems 4 (tech 2 armour reppers)

energy management 4 (5 preferred, cap is useful for almost every ship in the game)

energy systems operation 5 (cap skills always useful again)

armour rigging 4 (short train for some good benefits when using rigs)

jury rigging 3 (don't train it past 3 until you decide you want to use tech 2 rigs, which won't be until you start using very expensive ships)

long range targeting 4 (preferable 5, you will need 5 for logi anyway. Useful skill to have)

targeting 5 (no brainer)

multitasking 3 (never go above 3, you will never need to usually)

signature analysis (I have this at 5 for logistics but you can easily do without)

As for weapons: your main source of damage are drones. Also just because amarr are "usually" laser boats doesn't mean they all are. I would actually suggest using projectiles on the arbitrator as they are easy to fit and don't use cap.