Ships & Modules

At the moment I'm sitting in my Absolution, with Command Ships at 5, and 18m total skillpoints (although inflated by the BC/destroyer skill split, so it's closer to about 10m combat related skill points), and T2 of both medium lasers. It would take about a month and a half to get all my subsystems up to 5 and to start flying around in the Legion. At the moment with my Absolution, one of the biggest issues I have with it is its range and speed for level 4's. My Abso fit is generally:
High-
6x Heavy Pulse II's
1x Nosferatu
Medium-
10mn AB II
Medium Cap Booster II (with 800's)
Tracking Computer II (optimal script)
Low-
2x Imp Navy Heat Sink II
1x Imp Navy EANM
1x Centum C-type MAR
2x mission specific hardener II's
1x DCU II
Rigs-
nano pump I
nano pump I

For my skills, this puts it at 520 dps multifreq, 480 scorch @ 25km optimal, 670 conflag, and 350-600 mission specific tank, and 400 m/s. On harder missions where I'll need the extra burst tank, I'll usually drop the DCU for an MAR II (giving 600-900 tank), or on easier missions I'll drop the DCU for another heat sink (590 multifreq dps).

Going with pretty much the same fitting pricetag (as I already own the modules), the Legion is showing 400-800 mission specific tank not reliant on cap booster, 640 m/s, and with two tracking computers and two heat sinks, 470 multifreq dps @14km, 600 dps conflag, and 430 scorch dps @ 42km.

The Legion definitely wins at mobility and range, which are the two things bothering me most right now. But are those two really worth the paper dps loss, the increased cost (which could be spent on extra pimp for the Abso), and the training time (which again could be spent on support skills to make my Abso even better).

Either case the rats will die laughing well before you can shoot them. Both ships are horrible choices for lvl 4s

A Legion will be quicker, even a Zealot is. The extra range lets you apply damage a lot quicker and with the extra speed 50km optimal range is hardly a issue. However if you tank it as hard as this absolution, you will a lot of performance, 2-3 slot tank is generally enough on the Legion if you watch range and transversal. If you are unsure, get a Zealot and try that out. The Legion is basically just a Zealot with a bit more dps, cap and tank.

If you insist on going with the Absolution, beams will be vastly superior in the majority of missions, for range reasons. For a few missions, like Damsel in Distress where the rats like to hug you a pulse Absolution will be brutally efficient tho.

But the real answer to Amarr missioning is the Apocalypse/Paladin to be honest.

^As Caius said, range is one of the biggest problems in missioning with an Absolution, you should use beams unless the mission is short ranged like Damsel.

Also more tank isn't whats holding you back, the main reason to get into a Legion/Zealot is the sweet sweet optimal range bonus. Even then a simple T2 Apocalypse will be outperform all these ships, because it can project it's dps to farther range. If you're going to do missions as a source of income seriously, you should really look into T2 Large Lasers and Amarr BS line.

HAM legion unless you're purely missioning in amarr space.

I second the arty Sleipnir. Choosable damage, fairly good projection. It's not the most efficient boat out there but it does hold its own.

Yes, you can mission in the Legion (laser or HAM) but it won't be very efficient and you will spend most of your time burning towards your targets to get in range.

I don't remember the HAM legion having decent DPS or range. Someone refresh my memory - what kind of DPS and range can you expect out of a HAM legion?

-Liang

Ah, yeah... a bit higher than I remember on DPS, but still pretty low. Thanks for the refresher.

-Liang

And as the general consensus seems to be to just use a BS, I guess I can entertain the thought. With large energy turret and Amarr BS skills both at 4, would the Abbadon or Apocalypse be better and why?