Missions & Complexes

This topic comes up maybe couple of times a week. I tried to argue with people about that Vargur vs Mach comparison but they wont listen

Arguments like overall better ISK/h due to salvage abilities on the fly, better tracking, only slightly lower DPS, better tank, less ammo consumption all speak for the Vargur- but if people have such a boner for the Mach, just let them and fly smart yourself!

(for the record: I own both and flown both in missions countless times)

I see your argumentation and raise you:

- Vargur can lock up to 10 targets so you lose time only on your first lock and I rather have more targets locked, taking the speed into account with which npc's pop
- Vargur can lock targets farther away than Mach
- Sensor strength is only relevant vs Guristas, regarding point made above. Whoever flies against Guristas wastes ISK/h due to crap loot and salvage, so decide for yourself
- Vargur's speed is only relevant if you specifically fly missions with large distances to gates and specifically blitz. In all other scenarios you dont need that speed advantage (if we are talking about missions) Not that the difference is very large anyway.
- Mach's speed kinda works against her dronebay- if you use sentries you cant move or have to come back for them. Heavies are too slow to cover large distances if you fly around a lot. I tried using the drone bay and found it impractical, too much hassle as npc's pop very fast anyway.
- While Mach has 3 rigs I have yet to find the ideal combination: using a large burst aerator II leaves you with 50 cal left so you can only use one rig. Other rigs either dont boost the damage high enough or you use CCC's or other rigs which don't affect DPS. Vargur doesnt have that problem- a large burst aerator II + falloff rig is the best combination for DPS
- Base EHP is irrelevant in a mission scenario and Vargur has a better resistance profile, especially vs EM
- Look is subjective

Someone(tm) really needs to post mission times between a Mach and Vargur.

On paper, punching in the tracking formula with 0 transversal, a RF ammo Vargur matches the DPS of a T1 ammo Mach when the Mach is 10km closer to the target. (The Mach's speed lets it close the range faster.) With a 15km range advantage, the T1 ammo Mach gains about 4% DPS over the Vargur.

A RF ammo Mach with a 10km advantage gains a 14% DPS bump over the RF ammo Vargur. At 15km it's a 19% bump.

An AB Mach using T1 ammo probably doesn't really show much of an improvement over a Vargur. OTOH, a MWD Mach should be able to reduce the range quickly enough to significantly reduce the DPS loss caused by falloff. Add in the buffed Hail ammo in the winter expansion, and the MWD Mach should be noticeably faster at missioning over the Vargur. OTOH, last I checked, salvage was getting a buff (can convert t1 into t2 salvage) so the Vargur may have an isk advantage, but I doubt it would be enough to compensate.


On a side note, the Mach looks like it suffers from Peyronie's disease, which may affect your desire to fly one.