Ships & Modules

I am Gallente, and at this stage would like to stay in the Gallente High-sec/Low-sec space using only Gallente spaceships.

At almost 5 weeks playing now, I have been setting goals of what ships I would like to pilot and what activities I would like to perform for the short to medium term; And I have come up with the Talos as preferred ship to aim for, and activities of PvE mission running, ratting & cosmic anomalies

But I would still like to be able to put up a good fight in PvP (for when I get attacked, which is only a matter of time)


The below fit is to provide a solid ship, at a reasonable coast, with reasonably low skill points to be affective, thus I have avoided using Tech 2, Faction, Officer, DED modules etc.
I am currently Level 4 most of the 'common to all ships' skills, and have a training plan to get them to level 5 within 2 months.





According to EFT (this is the best the ship will ever be)
37,547 EHP (17771 in shields)
557 DPS (2843 volley) + 79 DPS for the drones (317 volley)
It can lock targets at 87.5km
Not sure how to the shooting range is, but says 42+40 (so does mean I can hit targets as early as 82km?)
Signature radius is 333m
Speed 275m/s

I choose the 'Metastatis' rig for the tracking bonus; as I have read the large hybrids struggle to track smaller ships?
I also choose to use a 'Salvage' drone, so not to loose a weapon slot.
I expect the drones to be more for self-defence then actively attacking my targets.


[LOW SLOTS]
Pseudoelectron Containment Field I
Fourier Transform Tracking Program
Fourier Transform Tracking Program
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I

[MED SLOTS]
Large F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Large F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Large F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Large F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction

[HIGH SLOTS]
425mm Prototype Gauss Gun
425mm Prototype Gauss Gun
425mm Prototype Gauss Gun
425mm Prototype Gauss Gun
425mm Prototype Gauss Gun
425mm Prototype Gauss Gun
425mm Prototype Gauss Gun
425mm Prototype Gauss Gun

[RIG SLOTS]
Medium Hybrid Metastasis Adjuster I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

[DRONES]
Hobgoblin II
Salvage Drone I




So does this ship fit meet my expectations in reality?

Couple of things off the bat. First of all, attack battlecruisers are not particularly tanky. Your going to want to keep moving to help mitigate the damage, so I would recommend you drop one of those shield extenders for a prop mod (preferably a 10mn afterburner). Secondly, if you cannot fit a damage control II, then go for the meta 4 not the meta 3. That is to say, change out your Pseudoelectron Containment Field I for a Internal Force Field Array I.

Check your resistances as well. Depending on the NPC's your fighting you should be able to plug the resistance holes for them, thus increasing your tanking ability. But even if you don't want to do that, you can still try to round out your resistances with an omni-tank. For instance, your ship is going to have pretty minimal EM damage resistance. So fitting a medium Anti-EM rig would help round that out a bit.

Now, to explain your range:

42 will be your optimal range, and 40 will be your falloff range. You can hit targets with maximum effectiveness up until your falloff range (excluding transversal). However, your falloff range is the area in which you'll have decreased accuracy against your target. Surpassing your falloff range makes it very hard to hit your target. Keep in mind that these optimal and falloff ranges will change depending on your ammunition type. And yes, large guns will have trouble hitting targets that get close to you, due to transversal velocity, but that is what drones are for.

And don't try to PvP in this ship. PvPing involves entirely different mechanics. Namely that without having a warp disruptor on your ship your opponent (who'll most certainly have one fitted) will be able to leave at any time. Essentially, they'll be able to control the duration of any fight. And that does not bode well for you.

Personally, when I was flying a talos when I first got into level 4 missions my fit was:

High:
350mm Prototype Gauss Guns x8

Med:
10mn Afterburner II
Large Shield Extender x3

Low:
Damage Control II
Overdrive Injector II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II x3

Rig:
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I x2
Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I

Ammo: Caldari Navy Uranium Charge L

They've since slowed down the talos a bit so I don't know if it'll speed tank as well as it did for me (I mostly just orbited by targets at around 50-70km)

And remember to shoot frigates first. Last thing you want to do is get webbed/scrammed in a ship type not known for their tank.

Thanks for the replies.

Thanks Gigan for the build suggestion and explaining how the range worked.

And thanks Kairavi for suggesting the Vexor, I would be a fool to stick with the Talos if its a ganking magnet and I am not looking for PvP ;)

So thanks again

Much to learn, and much fun to be had!