Wormholes

Check out my blog post on the subject of spider-tanking shield-tanked battlecruisers in a C2/C3. In a C2, a duo suffices. In a C3, usually a trio or a quartet is a better bet if you're low-skilled and not in a T3. If you want to solo, buffer becomes a bit less important than active tanking. Realistically, if you have about 200DPS tank/gank, you're fine in any C2. More than fine, really; I like to run C2s in my shield-tanked Arbitrator with a bit over 100DPS of tank and about 250DPS of gank from drones.

http://splatus.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/not-sucking-in-shield-fleets/

Hope it helps a bit! My focus is obviously much more toward people fleeting for these things and just blitzing a dozen or two (2-4 minutes per site, at most 5 minutes warp-to-warp even in Data/Relic sites), which is the most common modus operandi in my alliance.

Mind posting that Arby fit for the curious? Mostly though I am doing all of this solo so spider tanking doesn't come into play. I am trying my best to avoid drones because of how quickly they are torn apart by the frigs, how do you keep them alive?

Hmm, Quick Reply always eats my replies. Let's try again...

There are a lot of ways to keep drones alive. My method in my Arbitrator is fairly easy: out-damage any individual drone by a substantial margin, and don't let them fly great distances to whelp on opponents. Try to keep your drones within about 30km or so. It's the flight time while webbed with their MWD on that gets them killed, so launch them once you're in HAM range. In a C2 the distance to the Sleepers isn't all that far (try a C4, 111km spawns, oy!), so an afterburner closes quickly.

Theoretical DPS with this fit is about 480DPS, cap stable, and regens 130HP/sec passive. With my admittedly poor skills, it's more like 320DPS using meta4 launchers and around 110HP/sec of regen. Substitute your small weapon of choice; I like lasers. You need less regen than a Drake because your signature is about half the size, but if you're concerned about your tank ability, drop a drone damage amp for another shield power relay. Still works fine, and considerably tankier.

Some will comment that the EM resists are low. I'm aware. But if you keep your AB on and your transversal high, the lasers miss a lot. The missiles, on the other hand, still pack a huge wallop despite the small-ish signature. Since most of the damage is Explosive, that's why I opted for an Invuln...

The best part? Leave your implants at home and you're only into this fit for about 35 million ISK. Cheaper than the hull alone of a Drake. The worst part? Your major DPS is destructible, which is a pain and requires some micro-management vs. sleepers.

Another fun fit is a Prophecy in a C2. I'll see if I can dig up my solo fit...

In truth, I prefer not to solo. Risk/Reward not high enough. If you see me somewhere, the chances are good I have a gang behind me somewhere...

I don't have the tech 2 launchers, but they would fit fine. I use the meta4, and they work pretty well. I'd appreciate the range or extra damage flexibility the tech 2 HAMs give, so they're on the training plan...

[Arbitrator, Arb Shieldtank]

Damage Control II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Beta Reactor Control: Shield Power Relay I
Beta Reactor Control: Shield Power Relay I

Experimental 10MN Afterburner I
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Inferno Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Inferno Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Small Focused Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Small Focused Pulse Laser II, Scorch S

Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I


Hammerhead II x5
Vespa EC-600 x5
Hammerhead II x2
Hobgoblin II x5
Hobgoblin II x1

After trying out a Harbi found in another thread, I realized where I went wrong. The drake makes everything harder than it needs to be being low DPS, slow, and really just good at being a brick. Fits that go 3x the speed with smaller sig radius need substantially less tank. Thanks for the suggestions and I am probably going to start trying out some t1 cruisers to see if it will make shooting sleepers a bit more exciting.

Domies!

For a C2 you shouldn't even need that much tank on a drake which gives you more options for higher dps and applying more of your dps on the smaller sleepers that make up most of C2 waves. Its a long time ago (before sleeper neuting worked even) but I seem to remember you only needed about 150-170dps passive regen on a drake to do C2s ok although you could get a bit more dps out of a drake back then than you can now which helped to offset need for tank a bit.

With drones and sleepers it used to be to use them at 30km for light drones, 20km for mediums and 10 km for heavy's.
Then you can still get them back into the bay when they start tacking damage.
But usualy when you are 3 or more people they stop attacking the drones.