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Vexor - Hotness or Loser Cruiser?
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Carolyn Naught
Federal Navy Academy
Gallente Federation
#1 - 2013-08-13 03:14:42 UTC
Hi there, still in the first couple of months of solid playtime, and am nervously skilling myself up to get a sturdy cruiser for PVE. I really like the look of the Vexor as a drone boat with some versatility for salvage, and just wondering what more skilled people thought. I've heard it's more skill heavy a path to go compared to other cruisers, but it both looks and seems like a craft I'd like. Thanks in advance!

It's all for naught!
Praxis Ginimic
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#2 - 2013-08-13 03:36:59 UTC
It is a bit more skill heavy than other options. Once you get your drone support skills up to par the vexor it's a beast. It is a wrecking ball is a cruiser for both pve and pvp.
Novah Soul
#3 - 2013-08-13 03:42:12 UTC
Carolyn Naught wrote:
Hi there, still in the first couple of months of solid playtime, and am nervously skilling myself up to get a sturdy cruiser for PVE. I really like the look of the Vexor as a drone boat with some versatility for salvage, and just wondering what more skilled people thought. I've heard it's more skill heavy a path to go compared to other cruisers, but it both looks and seems like a craft I'd like. Thanks in advance!

The vexor is honestly one of my favorite cruisers for it's sheer versatility. I usually use mine in a mix of pve mission running and exploration. Get yourself setup with t2 light drones and (preferably) a t2 armor tank and the rest is fairly easy. For most uses the highs/mids are pretty flexible.

A man is known by the quality of his friends. - Lex Luthor
ShahFluffers
Ice Fire Warriors
#4 - 2013-08-13 05:26:39 UTC  |  Edited by: ShahFluffers
I love my Vexor and all if its variations (Navy Vexor and Ishtar).

The long and short of it is this...

- it is a bit more skill intensive compared to other ships in its class (requires drone, hybrid, and tanking skills to get the most out of it).
- it is a bit more player intensive compared to other ships in its class (read: more micromanagement).
- it is a bit slower compared to other ships in its class.
- potentially it can be one of the most tanky or ganky ships in its class.
- it's a fair more flexible in that you can use the drones specifically for damage application while the ship itself is doing something else altogether (ex. supporting allies, employing Ewar against foes, staying out of the thick of things, etc).
- it's vulnerable to being "defanged" as half to most of your damage dealing abilities can be destroyed, lost, and/or left behind.
- it can be made into an excellent frigate/destroyer mulching device.
- you will usually be declared primary or secondary target in a PvP engagement.


That said...

- For PvE
-- use target painters to keep NPCs mainly focused on you (NPCs hate Ewar more than drones).
-- Gallente drones are preferred for most missions due to their high damage and damage type (Thermal damage, which is effective against most NPCs)

- For PvP...
-- you should try to "control" the engagement range. This is a brawler ship at its core so try not to chase targets around too much.
-- Minmatar drones are preferred due to their innate speed and tracking (exception; for Sentry Drones use Gallente).

How did you Veterans start?
Jeffrey Asher
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#5 - 2013-08-14 01:59:02 UTC  |  Edited by: Jeffrey Asher
Carolyn Naught wrote:
Hi there, still in the first couple of months of solid playtime, and am nervously skilling myself up to get a sturdy cruiser for PVE. I really like the look of the Vexor as a drone boat with some versatility for salvage, and just wondering what more skilled people thought. I've heard it's more skill heavy a path to go compared to other cruisers, but it both looks and seems like a craft I'd like. Thanks in advance!

HI,

I have been playing for about 3 1/2 months and fly the Vexor almost exclusively, apart from a Myrmidon for tougher missions.

It has a great drone capacity, you can carry a couple of Salvage drones so as not to worry about a salvage ship and spending time going back and forth between rooms with one, and I have found it to be quite a tough little nut in missions.

With some armour tank and a couple of Drone Damage II and drone range mods and Drone Interfacing 3 or 4, some Hobgoblin II's can rip through cruisers and battlecruisers fairly easily, with you being able to hold enough range to not take much damage. I find I rarely have to activate any armour rep with that combo. I'd say if you like using drones, it is definitely the way to go and well worth any slight extra time increase in skills. I trained the drone skills up first just because I liked them, so the Vexor was an easy fit.

Edit: as has been mentioned, but you might already know, fire a shot or two at each group of NPC's to have them aggro you before you send in your drones, and have a hot-key assigned for "Engage Target". Have the next target selected already, as your current one just starts flashing as it dies, hit the hot-key and the drones will attack the new target as quickly as is possible. You can rip through frigates one after the other very quickly this way, I often have trouble keeping up with continuing to target new ones.

Good hunting!

The power to cause pain is the only power that matters, the power to kill and destroy, because if you can't kill then you are always subject to those who can, and nothing and no one will ever save you.
Sabriz Adoudel
Move along there is nothing here
#6 - 2013-08-14 04:05:04 UTC
I *love* the Vexor and (at 30m SP) it is still my go-to ship for PVP engagements where I don't know what I will be up against. Mostly because the power contained in a 40m ISK fit is just incredible value.

However it is a skill-intensive boat to fly.

My suggestions for skills:

Drones:
Drones 5, Drone Interfacing 4 (look to get 5 within a year but it is a big train)
Combat Drone Operation 5 (for tech 2 medium and light drones, tech 2 heavies and sentries take a while to train into and faction drones, while a bit weaker and more expensive, have much lower skill requirements)
Gallente/Minmatar/Caldari Drone Specialisation 3. Don't even inject the Amarr version, Amarr drones are that bad.
Other good stuff in the drones tree

Guns:
I LOVE my tech 2 blasters, as I use the Vexor as a brawling platform. These, however, take 3 weeks to train (Small Hybrids 5, Medium Hybrids 5, Small Blaster Specialisation 4, Medium Specialisation 1) that you can spend elsewhere for now. When you do get the guns, you will also need Thermodynamics to 3 or so ASAP.

Tank:
Get all of the skills for a tech 2 armor tank, it is essential.

Utility:
I fit two tech 2 webs, an Experimental 10mn Afterburner and a Faint Epsilon Warp Scrambler in general.

Most of these skills will serve you well in other ships too.

I support the New Order and CODE. alliance. www.minerbumping.com
Celeste Taylor
Ruby Dynasty
#7 - 2013-08-14 10:24:17 UTC
Indeed a Vexor is a great ship even with lower SP, but my goodness it is nice with Drone skills at 5, especially since you can get all of the non-carrier ones maxed out in about 6 months. The idea in ranking up your tank, web skills and T2 blasters is also a great idea and will come in handy if you ever get a Vindicator. I'm almost done with large blasters 5 and Minmitar battleship 5 and I must admit I am favoring it over my old Navy Dominix for missioning.

So yeah Vexor is pretty awesome, and the skills you learn for it will be very useful for Gallente battleships.
Demica Diaz
SE-1
#8 - 2013-08-14 21:05:58 UTC
From Vexor you can jump into Ishtar which is amazing and even looks better. Bear
Marlin Spikes
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#9 - 2013-08-14 22:30:24 UTC
Personally, I like the Battle Badger Blink

All kidding aside...any ship is a good ship - Vexor included.

Don't get too wrapped up on which is best. There is no "best ship for pvp."

Here's what I would recommend: Pick a ship you like. Skill up everything that affects the ship and its modules before moving on to another ship. Watch videos or fly with someone that can teach you to fly that ship well. And finally, understand/learn game mechanics (timers, session changes, effect of speed/signature on damage, etc..)

Many folks think PVP = Launching drones, hitting F1, and approach/orbit. Those folks generally get popped.

hope this helps

Bombers Rule!!!
Jeffrey Asher
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#10 - 2013-08-14 23:06:54 UTC
Marlin Spikes wrote:
Personally, I like the Battle Badger Blink

All kidding aside...any ship is a good ship - Vexor included.

Don't get too wrapped up on which is best. There is no "best ship for pvp."

Here's what I would recommend: Pick a ship you like. Skill up everything that affects the ship and its modules before moving on to another ship. Watch videos or fly with someone that can teach you to fly that ship well. And finally, understand/learn game mechanics (timers, session changes, effect of speed/signature on damage, etc..)

Many folks think PVP = Launching drones, hitting F1, and approach/orbit. Those folks generally get popped.

hope this helps


Totally agree, that is great advice - picking a ship you like and learning it well have been the best advice I have had - and learning it VERY well before moving onto the next larger class of ship. Learn to fly that cruiser so that it is instinctive before moving to a battlecruiser.

I am having the most fun flying whatever the hell I want and I'd suggest do the same - if you like the look and idea of the Vexor and then other drone ships after that, run with it. I fly with people who hate drones and love missiles and we have a laugh, because we are all playing for fun.

In the beginning I got quite a lot of contradictory information about which was the best ship, or race/path of ships to follow and what I should be training for. In the end I just went with what I liked the look of and would give me the most enjoyment, and the drone/Gallente ship path is certainly doing that for me at the moment.

The power to cause pain is the only power that matters, the power to kill and destroy, because if you can't kill then you are always subject to those who can, and nothing and no one will ever save you.
Praxis Ginimic
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#11 - 2013-08-15 01:01:57 UTC  |  Edited by: Praxis Ginimic
That really is fantastic advice. I maxed out my skills for the incursus before moving into the vexor. It was a nice transition and when you do this it gets easy to be creative with the fits of versatile ships. For example, you can shield fit the vexor. It is a light tank, very light, but the amount of damage that it puts out almost feels like cheating. Now that all my drone skills are starting to top off I feel comfortable replacing the guns with energy neutralizes which is surprisingly effective against even T3's. Pick a ship and find all the ways to have fun with it.

Edited for stupid smart phone
Sabriz Adoudel
Move along there is nothing here
#12 - 2013-08-15 07:24:36 UTC
I wouldn't go as far as getting to near max skills before trying other ships. You can get to 70-80% of 'perfect' performance reasonably quickly, then try another ship.

Reason being, sometimes you will want a different ship for a specific task.

Taking highsec PVP to start with as an example, the Vexor is a great all-arounder, but you don't want to use it in situations where you want to engage at range - a good example would be if you intend to defend a POS in the context of a wardec, you will need a ship with longer range than a Vexor usually is effective at. As such it's good to be able to fly a Dominix and to have trained large energy neutralizers and Gallente Battleship 4, which I feel will make you a more rounded pilot than training one of the long training time Vexor skills like Gallente Cruiser 5.

(note, you'll want Gallente Cruiser 5 for sure in time, for flying Ishtars or Proteus hulls, but I'd get the generalization first).

I support the New Order and CODE. alliance. www.minerbumping.com
Praxis Ginimic
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#13 - 2013-08-15 07:39:20 UTC
True. You can take that too far though. I can fly anything sub-bs with reasonable skills but I never do and often feel that most of the skills are just wasted time that I might have sunk into better scanning or T3's or something.
Celeste Taylor
Ruby Dynasty
#14 - 2013-08-15 08:21:16 UTC
Sabriz Adoudel wrote:
(note, you'll want Gallente Cruiser 5 for sure in time, for flying Ishtars or Proteus hulls, but I'd get the generalization first).


Race cruiser 5 skills are good to get. I personally love T2 cruisers plus the level 5 bonuses work for standard cruisers too. If you get Caldari cruiser up to 5 you can pilot the dreaded Falcon (Arazus are fub too) which gets a hybrid bonus which you should probably have at least T2 medium hybrids by then. I never did like battlecruisers (although haven't tried the new Navy ones) preferring T2 cruisers or battleships. Others swear by T3 cruisers, but sadly they are the biggest hole in my skill training. I suppose I will one day fly a Tengu.
Sabriz Adoudel
Move along there is nothing here
#15 - 2013-08-15 11:05:37 UTC
Celeste Taylor wrote:
Sabriz Adoudel wrote:
(note, you'll want Gallente Cruiser 5 for sure in time, for flying Ishtars or Proteus hulls, but I'd get the generalization first).


Race cruiser 5 skills are good to get. I personally love T2 cruisers plus the level 5 bonuses work for standard cruisers too. If you get Caldari cruiser up to 5 you can pilot the dreaded Falcon (Arazus are fub too) which gets a hybrid bonus which you should probably have at least T2 medium hybrids by then. I never did like battlecruisers (although haven't tried the new Navy ones) preferring T2 cruisers or battleships. Others swear by T3 cruisers, but sadly they are the biggest hole in my skill training. I suppose I will one day fly a Tengu.



T3s basically allow you to have one ship that can do the jobs of 3 or 4 with a quick subsystem change. Interdiction nullified T3s are very hard to catch.

That said, I fly cheap. Despite having a good twelve to fifteen billion ISK in assets, I've never undocked in a ship worth more than half a billion including fit, and seldom in a ship over a quarter billion.

I support the New Order and CODE. alliance. www.minerbumping.com
Longinius Spear
Semper Ubi Sub Ubi
#16 - 2013-08-15 20:16:12 UTC
This little vexor puts out 690 dps, with a 27.5 k tank.. microwarp, scram and web.

I'm going to say its one of the pvp ships for its price/size range.

low slot 0" type="Drone Damage Amplifier II
low slot 1" type="Drone Damage Amplifier II
low slot 2" type="Damage Control II
low slot 3" type="Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
low slot 4" type="800mm Reinforced Steel Plates II
med slot 0" type="Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
med slot 1" type="Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I
med slot 2" type="Faint Epsilon Warp Scrambler I
med slot 3" type="ECCM - Magnetometric II
hi slot 0" type="Heavy Neutron Blaster II
hi slot 1" type="Heavy Neutron Blaster II
hi slot 2" type="Heavy Ion Blaster II
hi slot 3" type="Heavy Ion Blaster II
rig slot 0" type="Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
rig slot 1" type="Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
rig slot 2" type="Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
"drone bay" type="Hammerhead II
drone bay" type="Ogre II
"drone bay" type="Hammerhead II
"drone bay" type="Warrior II

Read more of my ramblings on my blog www.invadingyourhole.blogspot.com
Sabriz Adoudel
Move along there is nothing here
#17 - 2013-08-16 06:03:42 UTC
Longinius Spear wrote:
This little vexor puts out 690 dps, with a 27.5 k tank.. microwarp, scram and web.

I'm going to say its one of the pvp ships for its price/size range.

low slot 0" type="Drone Damage Amplifier II
low slot 1" type="Drone Damage Amplifier II
low slot 2" type="Damage Control II
low slot 3" type="Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
low slot 4" type="800mm Reinforced Steel Plates II
med slot 0" type="Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
med slot 1" type="Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I
med slot 2" type="Faint Epsilon Warp Scrambler I
med slot 3" type="ECCM - Magnetometric II
hi slot 0" type="Heavy Neutron Blaster II
hi slot 1" type="Heavy Neutron Blaster II
hi slot 2" type="Heavy Ion Blaster II
hi slot 3" type="Heavy Ion Blaster II
rig slot 0" type="Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
rig slot 1" type="Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
rig slot 2" type="Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
"drone bay" type="Hammerhead II
drone bay" type="Ogre II
"drone bay" type="Hammerhead II
"drone bay" type="Warrior II



This is similar to how I fit my Vexors, except I love dual webs (at the expense of the ECCM) and I never leave home without ECM drones. So much power in such a small hull.

Unlike smaller ships, you can kill an opponent 1v1 before their friends can arrive to save them.

I support the New Order and CODE. alliance. www.minerbumping.com