Ships & Modules

I would have argued that better damage is preferred over better application - afterall 100% of 500 DPS is less than 70% of 800 DPS. Maybe the best way to say it is that applied damage trumps all, given you have enough tank. And you usually do. :)

-Liang

Well before the patch Abaddon >>> Apocalypse in my opinion. However with the changes to the speed and tracking, I get fairly competitive L4 times with the navy apoc even for stuff where the Abaddon shines, because the higher tracking and range equalize the dps against sub BS targets(not to 100% but it is fairly equal if you look at the volley count) more or less and it mostly only comes down to 1-2 more volleys for the BS. The high speed actually make her a lot better in situations where the npc groups are not packed in front of you.

Overall the apoc tanks better in a high dps fitting(lower sig, better cap, higher speed), reaches out further and can deal with small stuff quicker. The Abaddon on the other hand is still king when it comes down to situations where you can fully utilize DPS on the target(5-40km with tons of BS\BC stuff), however this situations are in the minority in amarr L4 and Abaddon is a bit to slow to adjust ranges like the Apoc can now(and even on the move with a mwd the tracking bonus helps immensely to keep the dps up).

I would say Apoc and Abaddon are fairly equal now, while the navy apoc with the extra speed, lock speed, extra low + sentry(another 90 DPS) pulls slightly ahead in overall performance and is more enjoyable to fly.

Amarr BS are fully flyable without scorch, I would even say the conflagration option is more important. I very rarely use scorch on the navy Apoc(with 91+16km), it is very handy on the Abaddon(66+16km) but you have to think twice if it is worth the extra cap on the Abaddon compared to standard within 50km(44+16km range).

The new apoc is the better option if you start out with Amarr BS, the cap is better, you got the extra range, speed and tracking really helps. Abaddon is harder to play, quite a bit more flimsy with the resist nerf and can only utilize her full potential with T2 guns(mostly looking at conflag and 4HS to nuke short range themed missions).

If you are bound and determined to stay sub bs and lasers you might consider the oracle. It is VERY far from ideal. But will give you the good mobility of the Lego with the DPS of a bs to get the gank to tank ratio where L4 is viable.

As said in a number of ways. Amarr ships are beautiful. But they don't perform well in standard missions or many pave situations (outside blood space). You are likely better off blitzing L3 than struggling with L4 while training up for either sentries or macherial.

a tach oracle will work in any mission without webbing frigates right on top of you. if you put an MWD on it, you can kite and snipe almost anything in amarr space.
ofc if you DO get webbed (for example in silence the informant or damsel), you will die in a glorious fire.

Like I said its possible but really it won't be worth more than the thrill. The Lego is really susceptible to the same issues as well. Particularly to spider drones. Once it gets webbed and scrammed its a really expensive coffin most of the time. And for my money, running L3s in an AF is way more fun. And who doesn't think the ret and veng are sexy internet spaceships.

Cs5 but can't fly a legion or a zealot. Only 670dps with Cs5. Really? Sad.

Train for a nightmare for lv4. The abso doesn't have any range at all for pve.

If you can't fit an Abso for lvl4's doing it quite well you're doing it wrong sry.

Personally, legion. Being able to switch out for drones or missiles against EM/Thermal-resistant NPCs or when you're bored of just using lasers is, at least to me, a great thing.

Skip level 4's, blitz level 3's.

It's quite fun doing it with another buddy and eventually have remote reps (spider tank), 2 marauders can clean lvl4's so fats it largely compensates for the spread of rewards + you can salvage while shooting.